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AVRR TRIAL RUNS
Tom Marshall left the Friends of Auburn Heights with a rich history of the Auburn Valley Railroad as detailed in his weekly writings beginning in early 2001.
In 2006, Tom told us about his father, Clarence, buying castings in 1941 from Little Engines to construct a ¾-inch-scale 4-8-4 locomotive and tender. That locomotive, a ¾-inch-scale live steam model carrying a Lackawanna livery, is displayed in the museum. Having completed the construction of this locomotive in 1945, Clarence literally redoubled his efforts for his next project by purchasing the castings for a Little Engines 1½-inch-scale 4-8-4 locomotive and tender. As one of the first of a handful of machinists to purchase the castings in 1950, Tom tells us his father spent more than 7,500 hours constructing AVRR locomotive 401.
With 401 nearing completion, in March 1950 Clarence and Tom worked with Everett Hollingsworth to layout the original AVRR right-of-way around the Marshall Steam Museum and Auburn Heights Mansion. It was a simple, single loop of track following existing contours of the property. Tom writes that after constructing several passenger cars, the Auburn Valley Railroad debuted with the first passenger trains operating on T. Clarence Marshall’s 75th birthday, celebrated on August 5, 1960.
While the August 5, 1960, date represents the first time the AVRR carried passengers, anyone familiar with steam knows test runs are a necessity, especially for steam locomotives and automobiles that have never run or are returning to service from a rebuild. When did AVRR #401 make its first of several test runs on the newly laid tracks of the AVRR?
Answer
Searching Tom’s writings, we are unable to find mention of when AVRR 401 first ran on the then simpler track route around Auburn Heights. Tom does share that track-laying started at the turntable, a simple wooden truss back in those days, and proceeded around the property. Tom further writes that with 401 fired up on the turntable, he could make short test runs between a trestle that was still under construction behind the museum and the area of the present pond.
We recently stumbled upon an article in an archived copy of Steam Automobile magazine (Volume 2, Number 4, Summer 1960) that documents what we believe is the first running of AVRR 401 on the completed Auburn Heights track loop around the property, approximately two months after track layout and construction started!
73-YEAR FACELIFT
T. Clarence Marshall took an interest in motorized carriages and specifically steam carriages in the early 1900s, becoming a dealer of Stanley steam cars at Auburn Heights. Partnering with his son-in-law Norman Mancill, a dealership was established in Wilmington selling Paige and other brands. By the late teens, Clarence had discovered trapshooting and formed the Yorklyn Gun Club, operating from 1921 until 1950. Tom Marshall’s Weekly News articles, archived and available for reading on this website (http://auburnheights.org/weekly-news-archive/), document many of his father’s activities related to trapshooting and automobiles.
In 1940, Clarence acquired a Stanley steamer he had sold in 1913 as a dealer. Now, occasionally referred to as the “Becker car,” the Stanley Model 76 touring car is a cornerstone of the Marshall collection and a favorite of this writer. Clarence continued to host events at Yorklyn Gun Club in the 1930s and 1940s, but his interests were evolving towards collecting steam cars. With World War II recovery in full swing and additional Stanley cars and parts purchased during the war, the Carriage House was full. Wanting to further expand the collection, Clarence established his “museum” in a new custom-built structure on the Auburn Heights property.
While we often say that Clarence “built” the museum, the actual construction was performed by a family relative. What Marshall family member was responsible in 1947 for the physical construction of the building now known as the Marshall Steam Museum?
Answer
The Marshall Steam Museum building, as originally constructed, is of simple design. Constructed on sturdy concrete footers under the lawn are reinforced cinder block walls. Steel trusses, constructed in an “attic truss” design, support the roof while permitting much of the second floor to be open space for storage (and future use by FAH). This design offered another advantage that Clarence insisted upon; there are no posts on the first floor to navigate vehicles around! Tom Marshall mentioned on several occasions that the Marshall Steam Museum was the largest open-span building constructed in Delaware at the time of completion.
Paul Hannum was the Marshall family member who constructed the Marshall Steam Museum for Clarence. Hannum had been the contractor that added “garage” to the Carriage House (the current shop area and where the AVRR engines are stored; see the October 7, 2006, Weekly News article about the addition) in 1937. As the Marshall granite quarry, which supplied stone for the building of the mansion, Carriage House, and the additions to both, was nearly played out, the Marshall Steam Museum would be constructed primarily of cinder blocks. The burning of coal generates cinders as waste. Francis Straub in 1911 realized that cinders mixed with cement led to a different way of making concrete blocks. Differing from concrete blocks since a cinder block will take a cut nail, Straub patented the cinder block in 1917 (Patent 1,212,840). No doubt the recycling of waste materials for the new building pleased Clarence.
To understand the family connection, we start with Thomas Smedley Marshall, Clarence’s grandfather. Thomas S. Marshall, the 5th child of Robert Marshall and Mary Hoopes, established T. S. Marshall & Sons, making industrial rag papers on the family farm at Marshall’s Bridge in Kennett Township. Thomas S. Marshall and Mary Way raised three children: Israel Way Marshall, Mary E. Marshall (Mitchell), and Thomas Elwood Marshall. T. Clarence was the fourth child of Israel W. and Elizabeth Cloud Mitchell.
Thomas S. Marshall’s brothers, Caleb and John, became the first to commercially manufacture terne plate (iron sheets coated with an alloy of tin and lead, a predecessor to galvanized sheet metal) in America. Brother Abner discovered Kaolin clay (a rich white clay used for fine china and other uses) on his property running alongside Yorklyn Road and began the first commercial mining of Kaolin in Delaware. The middle child of Thomas’s five children, Martha Marshall married Thomas Hannum. Thomas and Martha’s eldest child, nicknamed “Marsh” for Marshall Hannum, was Israel Marshall’s cousin. Marsh’s eldest son, Paul Hannum, was not only a second cousin of T. Clarence, and he was the contractor responsible for actually designing, to Clarence’s requirements, and constructing the museum for Clarence in 1947. In April and May 1922, Paul Hannum was advertising for carpenters and laborers as the Evening Journal ad shows.
For a number of years, Clarence’s museum was packed full of vehicles. Thirty Stanley steam cars have passed through the collection over the years (for a listing see the March 7, 2016 newsletter). There were also White, Doble, Toledo, and Locomobile steam cars that Clarence stored in the museum building. While Clarence was in partnership with Frank Diver selling Packards, Clarence’s car trading included ownership of Pierce Arrow, Ford, Maxwell, Oldsmobile, and Rolls Royce automobiles among a few others. Once Clarence and Tom decided to open the property in April 1961 to raise funds for Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc., the collection in the museum was greatly reduced so that visitors might enjoy the mostly Stanley collection.
The museum building has probably never been totally emptied of vehicles until this past winter when the museum was cleaned out entirely for a facelift after 73 years. While the Marshalls maintained the building in excellent condition and no structural deficiencies required attention, the museum building’s amenities required updating for Friends of Auburn Heights events and use. The continually peeling gray-painted floor has been upgraded with an epoxy coating. An addition adds modern bathrooms, a dedicated room for the Lionel trains, and a lobby area with gift shop.
Stanley steam cars require non-freezing storage in the winter if their boilers and waters systems are not drained. Thus, a minimal heating system had been installed 73 years ago, which has since been upgraded with modern, efficient heat pumps that provide energy-efficient heating for visitors, humidity control, and cooling for the summer months, better protecting the collection. The original 3×2/3×2 windows were removed, restored, and reinstalled. The ceiling has been reinsulated using modern materials and covered with drywall to improve the building’s flammability ratings. For the time being, readers will have to follow our museum improvements virtually. FAH hopes to host limited groups in the not-too-distant future.
GRANULAR CARBON TELEPHONY
We know that the first telephone exchange for the Hockessin area was established December 30, 1899, by the Delaware & Atlantic Telegraph & Telephone Company. Located in Ball’s Drug Store, the switchboard initially served six subscribers, and within a couple months served a dozen Hockessin area subscribers, including the Marshall family and Marshall Brothers Company. We believe the pair of Kellogg Wooden Box Magneto-Battery, Grounding Key, Bridging telephones, as they were properly named, one possibly from the mansion and one from the mill office building (constructed 1895), were connected as a ‘private party line’ to the Hockessin Exchange.Answer
The Marshall Kellogg telephones contain few components: the oak box everything was enclosed within, transmitter (part you talked into), receiver (part of the handset that was held to the ear for listening), induction coil (an audio transformer), magneto (generated up to 90 volts to operate multiple ringers), ringer (containing two saucer bells), batteries (large 1-½ volt carbon-zinc dry cells), hook (switching mechanism the handset (receiver) rested on when not in use). Two copper-coated steel wires interconnected multiple telephones on the same circuit in what was referred to as a “party line.”
In order for the transmitter to create an electrical signal that represented the sounds impinging on the transmitter disk, a capsule full of carbon granules was shaken by the attached diaphragm. The transmitter’s diaphragm and capsule’s end plates must be orientated vertically so that the capsule’s electrode ends internally contacted the carbon granules. Attached to the diaphragm, the capsule created a variable resistance reflecting the diaphragm’s vibrations. As the capsule vibrated, creating a constantly varying resistance, a variable electrical signal resulted, representing the vibrations of the diaphragm.
Early 1900s carbon capsule transmitters only operated if they were oriented so that the horn was horizontal! Position the transmitter’s horn vertically (i.e. transmitter horn pointed up or down) instead of horizontally, and the transmitter failed to function properly if at all. When the capsule was oriented horizontally, the carbon granules only contacted one end of the cylindrical capsule and a varying resistance could not be generated as the diaphragm vibrated! That is why candlestick telephones were always picked up using both hands; holding the handpiece to the ear and the candlestick base to the mouth. Wall phones, such as what the Marshalls had, were mounted with the transmitter at mouth height, and the handpiece was lifted off the hook and held to the ear.
Imagine today if capsules of carbon granules were still state of the art technology (they actually are still used for hazardous location microphones) and we could only use our mobile phones if the phone was held vertical! As the telephones aged, the carbon granules did break down by dusting, and the transmitter became less effective, requiring replacement of the transmitter capsule. It wasn’t until the later 1900s that the workhorse carbon microphone telephone transmitter was replaced with electronic microphones that did not rely on carbon capsules.
When the Marshall Steam Museum face lift is complete, and we’re permitted to host visitors at Steamin’ Days, the Kellogg telephones will be one of the new exhibit items to experience. Initially, due to COVID-19 museum touch guidelines, operating the Kellogg telephones will not be possible. Both telephones have been returned to full functionality nearly 125 years after they were originally constructed. Visitors eventually will be permitted to “ring up” the mating Kellogg phone on the museum’s “private party line” and hold a conversation with someone at the second Kellogg phone, much the same as Lizzy and Israel might have done in 1900 when Lizzy rang up Marshall Brothers Office to inform Israel and any guests that she was ready to serve dinner (what we call lunch today) or supper (what we call evening dinner today).
MAIL BY RAIL
In the 1870s, U.S. mail from Hockessin traveled by the Wilmington & Western Rail Road to Wilmington, Delaware, as Wilmington’s Post Office was the central distribution sorting and distribution location for the city and surrounding Delaware area. How would a letter, addressed to a resident of Kaolin, Pennsylvania, which is two miles from Hockessin, have traveled once it left Wilmington? For extra credit, what railroads would have been involved?
Answer
The following article is from the January 30, 1873 Every Evening and describes the route taken by a letter mailed in Hockessin and addressed to a family in Kaolin, PA. A two-mile “as the crow flies” distance involved a 95-mile journey via the U.S. Post Office. After being placed in a canvas bag with other Hockessin mail, the bag heads eastbound on a Wilmington & Western Rail Road coach to the U.S. Post Office complex inside Wilmington’s Customs House (built 1855) at 6th and King streets in Wilmington. To reach Philadelphia from Wilmington, the letter would have traveled on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore Railroad.
While not mentioned in the article, the West Chester & Philadelphia Rail Road would have moved the letter between Philadelphia and West Chester. At West Chester’s Post Office (established January 1, 1804), a change to the Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Rail Road would have routed the letter through Chadds Ford (Post Office was not established until April 1, 1904), Fairville (Post Office established March 20, 1849), Kennett Square (Post Office established July 1, 1803), Toughkenamon (Post Office established December 8, 1868), on its way to the Avondale Post Office (established December 29, 1828). The Kaolin Post Office (established on December 8, 1868) was serviced from the Avondale Post Office.
While the article cites an easterly route, at the time Landenberg had a Post Office (established November 17, 1848 as Chandlerville Post Office, later changing to Landenberg when the area adopted a new name by 1872.). Mail from the Landenberg Post Office in the 1870s would have traveled either east to Wilmington and on to Philadelphia for the northern states or south to Newark, Delaware, and on to Baltimore for delivery in the southern USA.
Interestingly the letter could have traveled from Hockessin to Landenberg on the Wilmington & Western Railroad. At Landenberg, the Pennsylvania & Delaware Rail Road would have been the mail carrier connecting Landenberg and Avondale. This route would have been approximately 30 miles in length.
Below is a section from a map dated 1871, “Map of the Rail Roads of Pennsylvania and Parts of Adjoining States,” showing the railroads that existed in northern Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. It provides a good reference for the railroad routes available at the time of the 1873 newspaper article. A couple interesting observations begin with “the wedge” shown for the intersection of the DE-MD-PA borders. An original proposed route for the Delaware & Chester County Rail Road Company, which was eventually renamed the Wilmington & Western Rail Road Company, was along Mill Creek instead of Red Clay Creek, and this map indicates the Mill Creek route.
WHEELIN’ & DEALIN’ CARS
Since the early beginnings of the Marshall Steam Team and eventually Friends of Auburn Heights, Tom Marshall told us of his father’s interest in automobiles. We know that Clarence was the authorized factory representative and dealer for the State of Delaware and Chester County, PA from 1910 until 1920 for the Stanley Motor Carriage Company. Francis I. du Pont, a chemist and older brother of E. Paul du Pont who built the DuPont automobile, took over the Delaware Stanley dealership from Clarence in 1920. Francis was more interested in acquiring Stanleys for experimentation than in selling cars, according to Tom. Clarence would later be associated with Frank W. Diver in operating the Packard Motor Company of Wilmington from 1922 until 1940.
Tom observed in a November 2015 writing that it appeared to him that his father had lost interest in automotive dealerships towards the end of Clarence’s Stanley dealership period at Auburn Heights. Was T. Clarence Marshall involved in any other automotive dealership interests during or after this time period and before he became involved with Frank Diver?
Answer
It is interesting to note in Tom’s November 2015 writings that he observed the largest activity selling Stanley steam cars and maintaining them at Auburn Heights was pre-1914. Research has uncovered that Clarence was financially, and no doubt operationally, involved in two automotive dealerships before partnering with Frank Diver, whom Clarence probably met in the late 1910s. We don’t recall Tom mentioning the names or history of these two dealerships in his writings, perhaps because they came and went before he was born.
Clarence’s oldest brother J. Warren ran National Fibre & Insulation Company, later to become National Vulcanized Fibre, in the early 1900s. Clarence sold Stanley cars and was responsible for the operation of Marshall Brothers Company. Their sister, Anna H., married Norman Bernard Mancill in 1912. Norman worked for American Roads Machinery Company in Kennett Square. Anna and Norman began living at Auburn Heights around 1917. Tom casually mentions Norman Mancill’s automotive interest in his writings as an ‘involvement’ but research has uncovered that it probably more than an involvement. Norman was heavily involved in the daily operation of two automotive dealerships partnering with his father-in-law, T. Clarence Marshall.
The Marshall-Mancill Auto Company began operation on Wilmington’s Shipley Street in early 1913. It would appear from various Marshall-Mancill Auto Company ads in local papers that Clarence and Norman sold late model used cars. Clarence’s existing Stanley dealership operation was no doubt the new car aspect for Marshall-Mancill. Manufacturers such as Overland, Hupmobile, Mitchell, Regal, Maxwell, Ford, and, of course, new and probably used Stanley steamers were offered. This might explain Tom Marshall’s observation that his father seemed to lose interest in the Auburn Heights Stanley business after 1914. Marshall-Mancill Auto also tried their hand at renting vehicles by the hour, day, or trip as the advertisement below indicates!
According to trade publications including Horseless Age, Motor Age, The Automobile, and others, Marshall-Mancill reorganized and incorporated as the Diamond State Automotive Company with a capital value of $25,000 in 1914. T. Clarence Marshall served as President, Norman B. Mancill Vice-President and J. F. Chapple as Treasurer. Mancill independently formed Delaware Tire & Supply Company at 218 Delaware Avenue to sell tires (Miller and Firestone) and automobile supplies (such as Stewart-Klaxon horns). The incorporators were Norman B. Mancill of Yorklyn, along with J. H. Bishop and P. L. Garret, both of Wilmington.
It appears from newspaper accounts that the name change coincided with the firm becoming a Paige-Detroit Motor Company dealer (Page-Detroit built Paige and Jewett brands; they became Graham-Paige in 1927). In 1916 Diamond State Automotive became a Regal Motor Car Company and a Mercer Automobile Company dealer for one year.
With the relocating of the Mancill family from Auburn Heights in 1917 to Wilmington, we see Diamond State Automotive advertising tapering off after 1918. About the same time, we note an increased presence of Packard Motor Car advertising in Wilmington newspapers. Norman Mancill left active dealership involvement and established a heavy earth-moving equipment contracting business. Norman and Anna Mancill later moved from Wilmington to a property that they named Linger Longer, located on Kennett Pike between Mendenhall and Hamorton, PA.
The late 1910s is more than likely the time frame when Clarence became increasingly interested in Packard automobiles. In July 1915, Packard opened the Packard Motor Car of Wilmington branch office, a satellite office of the main Philadelphia dealership, under the direction of J. H. Rosen. As space was available in the Diamond State Automobile’s building, Packard of Wilmington leased the space from Diamond State Automobile. The arrangement appears to have continued until E. F. Merrick was appointed Wilmington branch manager in June 1917 and relocated the Packard dealership to new quarters. After several more management changes and relocations, Frank W. Diver picked up the Packard dealership.
Diver had entered the automobile business in 1915 as a salesman with Sweeten-Wilmington Company, a Franklin Car Company dealer. Diver eventually became a salesman for Packard Motor Car of Wilmington, working through the Philadelphia office. With backing from T. Clarence Marshall, Diver formed Packard Motor Company of Wilmington in late 1922. Diver would go on to have a dealership on Pennsylvania Avenue between Union Street and Grant Avenue in the 1930s, selling Nash cars along with Packards. Clarence’s business association with Diver lasted until 1940.
