Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsWillcox Empire Keeps Growing To Supply Needs of Young America
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
We should be thankful for Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Willcox - they gave us "paper money." Taking this medium of finance quite for granted, we pay ten dollars or more for gas (a little bit of gas); seven or eight dollars for a meal (if we get a bargain); two bucks for a Sunday paper; a dollar here and a dollar there. It goes - and goes quickly. I suppose the money game has always been a busy and perplexing enterprise.
Sometimes even humorous. I remember the folks at Jacksonville, Georgia, telling me about a certain man, skilled in the science of high finance, running down the alleys of the old town to get away from anyone trying to pay him back for a loan. Asked why he ran from his debtors, his standard reply was, "I don't want the principal - I just want the in-trust (interest)!" He liked for the paper money to "grow." It might be difficult for him to operate without paper money.
And it is difficult to imagine a country without paper money. But, in 1729, in the age of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Willcox, paper money was not being used as the standard national currency. Gold, silver and barter (swapping) and other creative trade agreements were used. So, Benjamin Franklin with his printing press, and Thomas Willcox with his papermaking mill, probably were taking great risks when they ventured into these vocations. But they believed in what they were doing and obviously liked it because both were good at what they did.
The country probably would have not adopted paper as their standard of money had not "Gentle Ben" employed his great mind in writing and speaking for its issuance. But he did. In 1729, he made "A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of Paper Currency." In a nutshell, here are his four reasons for having paper money:
(1) A great Want of Money in any Trading Country, occasions Interest to be at a very high Rate.
(2) Want of Money in a Country reduces the Price of its Produce which is used in Trade: Because Trade being discouraged by it as above, there is a much less demand for that Produce.
(3) Want of Money in a Country discourages Labouring and Handicrafts Men (which are the chief Strength and Support of a People) from coming to settle in it, and induces many that were settled to leave the Country, and seek Entertainment and Employment in other Places, where they can be better paid.
(4) Want of Money in such a Country as ours, occasions a greater Consumption of English and European Goods, in Proportion to the Number of the People, than there would otherwise be.
The old statesman ended his argument with this conclusion:
"And if I were not sensible that the Gentlemen of Trade in England, to whom we have already parted with our Silver and Gold, are misinformed of our Circumstances, and therefore endeavour to have our Currency stinted to what it now is, I should think the Government at Home had some Reasons for discouraging and impoverishing this Province, which we are not acquainted with."
Yes, Ben Franklin and Tom Willcox were chomping at the bits to give us paper money but we must realize that the country was young, little, and feeling its way - with a Tory in every corner and some in the middle. But, notwithstanding this opposition and reluctance, Franklin prevailed and paper money was adopted and he was given the job of printing it. And Thomas Willcox had the job of making the paper.
One of the Willcox grandsons reported the following, relative to the work of his grandfather, Thomas Willcox:
"As there were few books then published in the colonies, the progress of the paper manufacture was very slow, and so continued until the dawn of the Revolution. My grandfather manufactured the paper for Dr. Franklin, who was publishing a newspaper in Philadelphia, and who was a frequent visitor at the mill. About the time my grandfather made the paper for the Continental money, he commenced making writing paper."
According to records, the Willcox mill did business with all the public officials who issued paper money during colonial days - and this continued at least 40 years before the Revolution.
During the Revolutionary period, the Willcoxes at Ivy Mills were associated with men like Franklin, Alexander Hamilton (later killed by Aaron Burr), John Adams (second President), and Robert Morris (chief finance wizard in the early days). It is said that the diary of Robert Morris is full of notes about his associations with the Willcoxes.
After Thomas made paper for a good while, he took his younger son, Mark, into the business. It is not clear just why the other sons were not interested but that's the way it goes sometimes. In fact, Mark had already established himself as a leading merchant of Philadelphia at the time he came to the paper mill. Like we said, the Willcoxes didn't let much grass grow under their feet.
With his father on in age now, Mark adapted quickly to the business and upon the solid foundation that Thomas Willcox laid, the younger man expanded the enterprise.
With the Revolution coming, Mark had his hands full. There was even a "paper famine," a severe shortage of paper, especially of the kind used in guns (wadding or packing). Also, during this tense and busy period, the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council ordered Colonel Andrew Boyd to seize all the paper at Ivy Mills and remove it to a safe place "as it is probable that the enemy (the British) will counteract the design unless you conduct yourself with great secrecy and dispatch."
All the commandeered paper was kept account of and paid for in full by the Continental authorities. The Willcoxes and the Government worked well together on many occasions - during the bad times and good times.
The Continental Congress gave Mark Willcox and Ivy Mills the go-ahead for the issuance of Continental bills on May 10, 1775, and on October 3, 1776, and approved the first loan of the new government to the extent of "five millions of continental dollars."
Mark Willcox, son of Thomas, was also given the green light to make the paper for the loan office certificates, part of these being delivered in March of 1777. With this, the Willcox mills made many subsequent sales of paper to the government and their fame spread throughout the land. Not only the Federal government, but Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and local governments and foreign powers were seeking the logo of Ivy Mills paper made by the Willcoxes. Theirs was the best.
Credits:
Telfair History Book, 1807-1987;
Willcox Family information;
Ivy Mills/Willcox articles by Arden Skidmore;
other information on Benjamin Franklin;
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others;
various other sources.
