Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsWillcox Old Order Replaced By A New One
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
"The British are coming!" And, it became a challenge, to the Willcoxes, amongst others, to stop them. Now, for sure, was the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.
The Revolutionary War was a war of wits and diversion. Not only did men have to fight. There was a continual need for psychologically and physically upsetting the enemy; demoralizing him in any way possible. This took great caution and secrecy because many neighbors were still loyal to England and the king. You had to be careful. And so did the Willcoxes.
The Willcox men, because their businesses were so important to the war effort, had great opportunities for this sort of warfare. John, in North Carolina, made cannons and cannon balls for his country at his ironmaking establishment. He also was a member of The Regulators, a group of colonists dedicated to fighting the evils of corruption carried on by unscrupulous and mean-spirited agents of the Crown.
John was jailed and almost hanged for the above activities. The British and their cronies didn't seem to care much for people who made cannon balls (to be fired at them!) or for folks who attempted to "regulate" their money-making schemes. So, they sure didn't like John Willcox of Deep River, Gulf, North Carolina. In addition to all this, he served in the colonial assembly of North Carolina. All in all, he was a "thorn" in the side of the Redcoats and their allies. He was officially present on a British list containing the names of those they considered "outlaws." In short, he was "on their list."
And, up in Pennsylvania, his younger brother, Mark, papermaker, was also giving the British fits - every chance he got. He was also a "thorn."
"Ivy Mills" by Joseph Willcox, reports:
"Although he (Mark Willcox) was exempted from military duty, both by the Congress and of the Council of Safety, of his own State, he was the leader of a band that was actively engaged in obstructing the efforts of the British officers in obtaining supplies for their army, after the Battle of the Brandywine. He and his band were acting under the instructions of his neighbor and friend General Robinson, who lived at Naaman's Creek, now Claymont.
He told his son James (James Mark), the father of the writer (Joseph), that, for this offence, he was arrested at his house, at night, by the enemy, and taken to Philadelphia as a prisoner. Shortly afterwards a deputation of his neighbors, of the Society of Friends, went to Philadelphia, and, being non-combatants, they induced General Howe (the British commander) to release their friend the prisoner."
So goes the story of the Quakers who "sprung" the Catholic. It goes to show that the different faiths got mighty close when Liberty was at stake. Penn's "Holy Experiment," despite setbacks from time to time, seemed to work pretty good in this instance. They were dealing with the "big stuff" and forgetting the "little stuff." It would be nice if we could incorporate some of that quality into our religious thinking today.
But, we must go on to the next generation of Willcoxes. John died in 1793 and Mark passed on in 1827. The old order was gone and a new one was coming.
It was James Mark Willcox who really took over the paper mill from his father, Mark. His brother (yes, another John), had passed away in 1826, even a year before their father's death.
James Mark was a dynamo in the modernization of his family's papermaking business. Hardly had his father and brother left the confines of this Earth when he rebuilt the old hand mill and then built two new machine-powered mills at Glen Mills, about two and a half miles from Ivy Mills. Under his leadership the Willcoxes forged ahead in the paper revolution. The following announcement appeared in an article:
"Patented July 24th, 1866 (U.S. patent 56,650) is for fibers of color in the paper ("Safety Paper"). The patent was issued to James M. Willcox of the Ivy Mills Paper Company, which has had a long history of supplying hand-made security paper for bank notes."
Now times were changing. With the new plants at Glen Mills operating with state-of-the-art Fourdrinier machines and other modern processes, the Willcoxes continued to supply an ever-increasing amount of paper for the world.
One interesting entry in the Willcox journal was a paper order from South America which requested that the paper be wrapped in 125-pound packages because the paper had to be transported across that country on the backs of mules. Apparently no order was too small or too large, too customized or specified, to escape the "accepted" stamp of the Willcoxes. Early on, this literal stamp was a dove with a branch in its mouth. Later on, it was a sprig of ivy. These watermarks on their paper were being seen all over the world. The Willcoxes were in the papermaking business - "big-time."
But, there was also sorrow at the home of James M. Willcox. Hoping to help restore the health of his wife, James accompanied her to Savannah, Georgia.
His priest, Father Kenny, had this entry in his journal:
"Celebrated [Mass] at Jas. Willcox's, who is preparing for a voyage by sea to Savannah with his wife Eliza. She is so ill that I think the voyage not only useless, but calculate it must hurry her to that bourne from which there is no return."
Father Kenny's calculations were accurate. Eliza died in Savannah. Her well-meaning husband had tried his best but he could not stop the inevitable. We are all enrolled in that program. We just don't know the graduation date.
But James M. Willcox married again and his sons continued the great progress of the paper mills for many years.
And, now, let's look south to North Carolina. John, the patriot and Regulator and ironmaster, had a son named John, Jr., or John II. He is heading for Georgia, with a couple of brothers, and we will begin to look at some of those Willcoxes next week.
Credits:
Telfair History Book, 1807-1987;
Willcox Family information;
Ivy Mills/Willcox articles by Arden Skidmore;
John Willcox's Iron Enterprises by George Willcox;
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others;
Ivy Mills by Joseph Willcox;
various other sources.
