Samuel Riddle (textile manufacturer)

Samuel Riddle (October 5, 1799 – February 19, 1888)[1] was a textile manufacturer from Belfast, Ireland who emigrated to the United States and owned several textile mills in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Samuel Riddle

Early Life

Riddle was born in 1800 near Belfast, Ireland. He received a private school education but quit when he was 14 years old to work in a textile mill. In 1823, Riddle sailed to Philadelphia, United States and began working at a cotton-mill in the Manayunk section of town.[2]

Career

In 1827, Riddle went into business for himself by renting a mill in Springdale, Pennsylvania with 480 mule spindles and 10 employees.[3] In 1830, Samuel Riddle along with his brother James moved operations to the Parkmount Mill on Chester Creek in Aston, Pennsylvania.[4] The Riddle brothers operated the Parkmount Mill until 1841 when it was leased to other manufacturers.[5] Riddle eventually owned 5 mills and employed 400 people.[6] The mills had approximately 10,400 cotton and woolen spindles as well as 270 power looms.[7]

Glen Riddle

In the 1840s, Riddle began building an estate of several hundred acres which he named Glen Riddle.[7] In the early 20th century, his son Samuel D. Riddle used the property to raise racehorses including Man O' War and War Admiral.[2] This area became the unincorporated community of Glen Riddle in Middletown Township.

Personal Life

Riddle was married to Linda Doyle. Together they had four children. Their son, Samuel Doyle Riddle was an American businessman and racehorse owner. Riddle died on February 19, 1888[8] and is interred at Middletown Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Elwyn, Pennsylvania.[1]

Notes
  1. "Samuel Riddle". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. Dixon, Mark E. "The Backstory Behind Samuel Riddle and John P. Crozer". www.mainlinetoday.com. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  3. Ridlon 1884, p. 155.
  4. Wallace, Anthony F.C. (2005). Rockdale: The Growth of an American Village in the Early Industrial Revolution. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-8032-9853-6. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  5. Ashmeade, Henry Graham (1884). History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co. p. 623. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  6. Wiley, Samuel T. (1894). Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Richmond, Indiana and New York: Gresham Publishing Company. p. 138. Retrieved 3 September 2017. parkmount mill.
  7. Ridlon 1884, p. 156.
  8. Atlantic Reporter, Volume 27. St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co. 1894. p. 570. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

References
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