Gwin (Gwynn, Gwynne) Grist Mill

 (Excerpted from Verreeville by Leon Sharlip)

 The Gwin Mill antedated the Saunders-Dale Mill in Holmesburg by ten years. This would place the date at 1687, thereby making Gwin the second oldest mill in Pennsylvania. Only Swedish Governor Printz’ mill on Cobbs Creek, circa 1645, preceded it.

Since the Swedes also settled in this area around the Ury House in 1645, there exists the possibility of a mill having been built on the Pennypack at an even earlier date.

Originally the land was acquired by John Mason, who received the grant from William Penn.

The importance of the site began with the construction of a water powered grist mill by Morris Gwin in 1687, only five years after the settlement of Philadelphia. Because of the size of the mill complexes, and the urgent need for grist mills in the life of the colonists, early roads became a priority. They made it possible for farmers to take their wheat, oats, barley, rye, and corn to be ground into flour. The first public road opened to the Gwin Mill, Sept. 3, 1716, was Shady Lane, although it might have been a private road before then. It connected with Pine Road, which was opened in 1705 by cutting through a magnificent pine forest. In 1736 Shady Lane was extended to Jenkintown.

In Davis’ “History of Bucks County”, there was an article indicating road construction to enable Welsh farmers from the New Wales area to haul their grains to Gwin’s Mill and later to the Saunders -Dale Mill in Holmesburg as well. The trail they pioneered became Welsh Road. Mr. Willet reported that Welsh farmers traveled in convoys of 30 to 40 wagons, riding shotgun to protect themselves from raids by predatory Indians and renegade Whites. Many family stories also cite instances of danger surrounding these necessary trips.

  The Verree Gristmill and Verreeville

 Before the Revolution, the Gwin Mill was already in ruins when bought by Robert Verree. John Paul Verree reported that when his grandfather built the new stone mill during the Revolution, that the remains of the old Gwin Mill had to be removed, and at that time appeared to be a hundred years old.

The Verrees were of French descent. Originally, the family name was Verrier. In French, the final “r” is silent so their name was Anglicized as Verree.

An examination of the structure of the Verree House reveals there were as many as three major remodeling jobs. The small section on the south end, exhibits construction techniques from the earliest period, and is thought to have been the original house of Robert Gwin. The northern extension is the largest. The construction and architectural details date this section to 1765-75. The west wing was the last addition. It was added to the southern section during the mid-19th century by John Paul Verree. Upon examining the support beams in the basement, Peter Kurtz, curator of the Pennypack Environmental Center, found them to be of chestnut wood, a tree that was destroyed by blight in the early 1900’s.

 On April 30, 1778, the mill was raided by the Queens Rangers under the command of Major John Simcoe. After setting out on a foraging expedition, the British marched up the King’s Highway (Frankford Avenue), and then followed Welsh Road until they met and defeated the Bucks County Militia commanded by General John Lacey at the Battle of Crooked Billet now called Hatboro. General Lacey was trying to keep supplies from reaching the British in Philadelphia. Contrariwise, Major Simcoe was attempting to amass supplies for the British while denying them to Washington.

Taking a side-swipe at the Verree Mill, the British tore the bolting cloth and put the mill out of commission temporarily. It was rumored that the mill had been supplying Washington at Valley Forge.

The raiding party spread panic among the local farmers, some of whom hid their cattle, horses, and livestock behind the great rock in what is now Lorimer Park. The British nonetheless commandeered many animals and horses, which they later abandoned in Doylestown.

In addition to the grist mill, a fulling mill for the finishing of cloth was located on the hillside just south of the creek. A sawmill was built on Paul’s Run directly on the east side of the road within sight of the Verree house.

James Verree, son of Robert, added an axe, shovel, and hatchet factory and a rolling mill to the grist mill, there being an abundance of water at that time. The Verree sharp edge tools were sold all over the East in those days.

Fulling Mills worked homespun cloth into wearable fabric. When woven cloth came off the loom, it had loose weave, was dirty and generally unattractive. “Full” was the process when carefully controlled, which cleaned, felted and shrank the cloth.

In 1814, Lower Dublin Township built a bridge over the Pennypack Creek at Verree Road uniting the north and south sections of Verreeville.

In 1817, James’ son, John Paul Verree, was born. He was the last member to carry the family name but the most famous of the clan and one of the most eminent Philadelphians of his time.

He eventually inherited the entire estate with its grist mill, sawmill, sharp tool edge factory and fulling mill, together with a very large farm operation, the old fashioned stone house, barn, loft, carriage house, stable, and workers quarters. The house was described as baronial in appearance, reminding one of the old mansions of the iron mongers In Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Since there was no public transportation, workers had to live nearby. It is believed there were once 24 workers’ houses sheltering about 100 people. The bustling little village became known as Verreeville and Verree Road was then known as Verreeville Road.

The Reverend Samuel Hotchkin wrote,” The town nestled in a pretty valley, amid wooded bills, while the babbling Pennypack Creek ran along beside them, talking of the time when the sound of the hammer and the noise of the workmen enlivened it. Mrs. Ingham’s (J.P.Verree’s sister) stone residence with its terraced lawn was very pictureque.”