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From:
Subject: [DEV] WILLCOX Paper Mill
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:04:50 EDT

Hi list,

I do have the following trivia that might be of interest to you --
this is from the Philadelphia Inquirer, on 28 Sept 1995:

[snip]
Next stop was Willcox Mill, "site of the second paper mill in America,"
according
to retired Philadelphia lawyer Mark Willcox, who was waiting at the old mill
site. 
His family has owned the place since 1720.

"This," he said proudly, gesturing to the ruins of the old stone building and
its
mill race, "was where they made the currency paper for the Continental
Congress. 
So when you hear people say the 'Continental wasn't worth the paper it was
printed
on,' they mean the Willcox paper it was printed on,"

What makes the Willcox property significant in Quaker and American history,
however, is that Thomas Willcox was a Catholic.  And it was in this house
that
the first Catholic Mass in Pennsylvania was publicly and legally celebrated
in 1720.

"Quakers believed religious liberty applied to everyone," said Dixon.  "So
they
allowed the Catholics to worship freely, even though they disagreed
vigorously
with their theology."
[snip]

MY NOTE: This paper mill was in Ivy Mills, Concord Twp., Delaware Co., PA,
USA. The Mark WILLCOX mentioned in the above article, is a descendant
of Thomas WILLCOX, b. 1689 in Exeter, Devon, England.

I wonder if the WILLCOX Family of Exeter, Devon, had anything to do with
paper mills?

Happy hunting, Helen (DCGS)

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