Published
Mills · 1794–1857
Smith’s Bridge & the Smith Mills
The maternal line. A grist mill and saw mill on the Brandywine, bought in 1794 and held sixty-three years. Three bridges have carried the name; the present covered span is a 2002 replica.
Schoolmastering · 1760–1801
“& Schoolmaster — 2s 6d”
Two Chester County rates charge James Rigby a trade levy as a schoolmaster, in Upper and Lower Chichester. The 1793 septennial enumeration of Aston states the occupation outright.
Nail-making · 1790s–1850s
The nail makers
Eli Rigby and his son Seth were both nail makers, first at Doe Run in Chester County and later in Delaware County. Machine-cut nails ended the hand trade during Eli’s working life.
Coming
- The Media undertakers — George H. Rigby (1837–1881), “General Furnishing Undertaker,” and the funeral home his family ran for four generations.
- Millwrights — William Henry Rigby’s trade across four censuses, and what “miller” in a family memoir actually turned out to mean.
- The kaolin works at Brandywine Summit, and the white clay under the hill.