Delaware Township Mills in the 19th Century
Mill Owners and Operators
The earliest mill owners were millers themselves. But the more successful the mill, the more help was needed to run it. Millers hired laborers or indentured servants, and it was fairly common for millers to own one or two slaves. In the 1780s, there were about 50 slaves in Amwell Township, many of them owned by millers. In Delaware Township, Samuel Opdycke owned the mill that later was known as Sergeant’s Mill. His slave was named Robbin and was bequeathed to him in his father’s will, written in 1777. When Robbin died, he was buried on the hillside near the mill. Other early mill owners of Delaware Township who might have owned slaves were Peter Rittenhouse and his son Elisha, Charles Woolverton and his son John, …