Robert Dawson (Ireland c1753-1802) advertised that he used silk from Georgia and made the bolting cloth locally. In March 1796 he imported "raw silk" from London on the ship William Penn, and proposed a bill to remove the duty on silk. In May his patent was approved and he put the patent letter and long ad in a Lancaster, PA paper, where he had a bottling operation. A year later, by May 1797, he moved his silk bolting operation to Lancaster. Silk worked well to seive the flour even in hot or damp weather conditions. “Bolting well in wet weather, never requiring any knockers...” Apr 20, 1799.
Click to enlarge images.
The following advertisement about the Dawson manufactory appeared on the last page of Oliver Evans's The Young Mill-wright & Miller's Guide, 1795:
"WHEREAS Robert Dawson hath established in Wilmington a manufactory of bolting cloths, and being desirous to have them recommended to the public, has submitted to our examination some of each kind, (they also having been tried by several millers at this place.) We who are subscribers are willing to certify that those we have had experience of, or have seen tried, have answered well all the purposes of imported cloths; and as the silk, as well as manufacture, is of our own country, it is our opinion that they ought to obtain a decided preference to those fabricated in any foreign country.
(Signed)
"SAMUEL CANBY,
"TATNALL & LEA,
"SHIPLEY & POOLE."
Brandywine Mills,12th Mo. 9th, 1794."
1796 Robert Dawson patent 114X:
"Bolting cloths. Improvement in bolting cloth." May 12, 1796. Written material and images burned in patent office fire. The patent appeared in Lancaster paper in July 1796 with long ad - info and references, a year before his official move.
"A petition of Robert Dawson, of the borough of Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, was presented to the House and read, praying a remission of the duties on a box of raw silk, imported by the petitioner, in the ship William Penn, from London, for the purpose of manufacturing bolting cloths: also, that an act may be passed exempting from duty the article of raw silk, imported into the United States for the purpose of being manufactured.
Ordered, That the said petition be referred to the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures." [Journal of the House of Rep]
Committee of Commerce and Manufactures. House of Rep, January 9, 1797
"Robert Dawson states, that he is a manufacturer of bolting cloths, at Wilmington, in Delaware, in which article, raw silk is a component part that he has succeeded to make bolting cloths of better quality than those imported, and asks a repeal of the duties on raw silk, for his better encouragement.
Your committee are of opinion that the superiority of the workmanship of this manufacture will sufficiently recommend his article, without the proposed repeal, which could only tend to embarrass the revenue system: where-fore they recommend to the House to adopt the following resolution.
Resolved, that the prayer of the petitioner cannot be granted." [Documents, 1832]
"The process of bolting separates the fine from the inferior sort of maize-flour, but the latter is reground and mixed with the other. One third of a barrel sells for three dollars.
I likewise visited the manufactory for making bolting silk. The labourers are Irishmen; as well as the proprietor. This manufactory employs at present only three work-men: the silks are made to suit the different qualities of flour.
Though this manufactory has only been established a year, it is a profitable concern, and when more extensively known it will be much more so, as these silks are cheaper than those sent from Holland, and last longer, as those millers who use them have experienced. In a country like America where there are so many mills, the advantages of these bolters must be very great; in fact, almost all the millers use them in preference to linen cloths for bolting, as well as Thomas Lea. They are so useful, that an act of parliament has been made in England, to permit the importation of them into that country. The silk is brought from Georgia: if the Americans would plant mulberry trees, and raise silk-worms, this species of manufacture would be a source of great riches to the country." [Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, 1800].
Robert Dawson's ad on the last page, 4, of the The Delaware and Eastern-Shore Advertiser from before May until May 25, 1797. Click HERE for best image to enlarge.
Dawson announced his move to Lancaster in a May 9, 1797 letter on the front page of the Delaware Advertiser starting May 25, 1797 then for several months. HERE His ad for the bolting material was last printed in that same issue. At first he was on North Queen St. (1797) then to King St by 1799.
Dawson updated ad 1802-
Dawson died on April 28, 1802. His obit said he "was about 50 years of age, a native of Ireland, of urbane manners, upright & honest." [Lanc Intel, 1802] He was buried in the Saint James Episcopal Church Cemetery, Lancaster next to the first mayor John Passmore and his wives. His tombstone: In / memory of / Robert Dawson, / who died / April 28th, 1802, / in the 50th year of his age. [Inscriptions]
It is unclear who managed the business for five years (1802 to 1807) or if it was vacant for some reason before William Boys took it on.
William Boys introductory ad [Lanc Intel, 1807]-
Bolting mill - How it worked
Middletown, PA. near Lancaster, 1796.
"The bolting mill is a six-sided cylinder, about twelve feet in length and one foot in diameter, covered at about every two feet with white silk* of various finenesses. It is inclined in an angle of 45 or 50 degrees, and turned round by a movement connected with the water wheel. It separates the flour into superfine, tail flour, midlings, sheep stuff, shorts, and bran; sometimes the tail stuff and middlings are dressed over again, and in some cases a bolting machine is appropriated to the middlings. In the year 1796 the prices of the several articles at these mills were as follow:
s. d.
Superfine flour per sack 37 6
Tail flour do. 30 0
Middlings do. 22 6
Sheep stuff do. 4 6
Shorts do. 2 1 1/2
Bran do. 0 4 1/2
32. A load of wheat of sixty bushels, at that time, was about twelve guineas; this cost fifteen shillings grinding; the waste in grinding is about twelve pounds per hundred weight, and sixty bushels will make twelve barrels of flour of 196 pounds each, i.e. somewhat more than three bushels to a hundred weight. The offal pays the expense of grinding and barrels. The flour is then sent to the Philadelphia market [in 1796, the capital of the US], and costs for carriage, at six shillings per barrel, about three pounds twelve shillings. It there fetches about thirty shillings a barrel, or eighteen pounds for the load.
*The brass wire bolting machines are not yet introduced into America." [Edlin, 1805]
To help announce three upcoming mill talks, I had planned to use the wonderful excerpt from Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, and the sentence from 1853 (just above this paragraph) stating the manufactory was in Wilmington. This week I was looking in a few editions of Oliver Evans's book for images to use, and at the end of the 1795 edition was an ad with the owner's name! Led to finding more on Dawson in Google books, newspapers, etc. Have not yet found personal info on Dawson, so if I do, I will add later.
SOURCES
Annals of the Congress of the United States 1854
Delaware and Eastern-Shore Advertiser. May 15 & 25, 1797 UDel HERE
Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Vol V. 1832
Edlin, Abraham. A Treatise on the Art of Bread-making. London: 1805
Ellis, Franklin. History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 1883
Evans, Oliver. The Young Mill-wright & Miller's Guide. In five parts… Phila: 1795. Internet Archive. (whole mill image) HERE
Evans, Oliver. The Young Mill-wright and Miller’s Guide. Phila: 1826. (images)
Inscriptions on tombstones in the graveyard adjoining St. James’s Church, Lancaster copied by William Frederic Worner; LancasterHistory online
Lancaster Intelligencer: July 1, 1796 (Patent and long ad with references); July 1, 1797 (dated May 26, move to Lancaster); July 28, 1898 (Bottled Hare); Apr 20, 1799 (Bottery cellar); Mar 27 1802 (updated ad); May 1, 1802 (obit); May 27, 1808 (Boys); Mar 17 1810 (sell contents). newspapers.com
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the Year: 1853. United States. Department of Agriculture. 1854
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, François-Alexandre-Frédéric duc de La. Travels Through the United States of North America… 1795, 1796, and 1797. 2d ed. Volume 3. London: 1800.
The Taverns of Early Lancaster and the Later-Day Hotels. H. Ray Woerner. LancasterHistory online.
Brandywine Mills painting by Bass Otis c1840. U of Delaware Postcard archives. wiki art.
Brandywine Mills HERE.
Mills taped talks HERE
Mills HERE
UPCOMING MILL TALKS
Jun 12 Mon 3 London Windmills and Watermills. “from ones which have been restored to those that exist as street names only.” Rob Smith, Footprints of London. £10.00 HERE
Jun 17 Sat 6-11AM Mayen: Making Millstones for the Roman (and Medieval) world. Dr. Birgitta Hoffmann. MANCENT, The Manchester ContinuingEducationNetwork. £20(tape)–£35 HERE. Past related 4 hour talks: North Africa and the Grain Supply of the City of Rome (Mar 2023); Watermills - not just for flour. (Jan 2023)
Jul 26 Wed 7AM Windmills and the Danger of Wind Loss. “Dutch planning law recognises and regulates wind loss resulting from new buildings close to a Windmill.” Steve Temple. SPAB The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. UK £9 live & tape 10 days HERE
THIS WEEK'S TALKS deleted
CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE
©2023 Patricia Bixler Reber
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