Owner: Samuel Canby, James Canby, Edmund Canby
Industry type: Flour mill
Location: Brandywine Village
Active dates: c. 1770-1830
Summary: Originally trained as a carpenter and cabinet maker, Samuel Canby began operating a flour mill in Brandywine Village in 1770. His son, James, later took over the business and greatly expanded it, adding several additional mill seats on nearby Brandywine Village properties. In addition to his work at the mills, James Canby also helped to found the Philadelphia, Wimington, and Baltimore Railroad. James Canby's grandson, Edmund, took over the Canby Mills in the nineteenth century.
Citations: Conrad, Henry Clay. History of the State of Delaware, Vol. 2. Lancaster, Penn.: Wickersham Company, 1908.
Hancock, Harold. The Industrial Worker Along the Brandywine. Hagley Research Report, 1956.
Matson, Cathy and Wendy Woloson. PEAES Guide to Manuscripts and Print Resources for Research: Historical Society of Delaware.
Online sources / images: Mill Seats on the Brandywine River, map, 1813. Hagley Digital Archives.