The Jacob Broom House, also known historically as Hagley, is a historic house on Christchurch Road near

Montchanin, Delaware Montchanin is an unincorporated community in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. Montchanin is located at the intersection of Delaware Route 100 and Kirk Road to the northwest of Wilmington. The community received a post office and perman ...

. It was built in 1795 by

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Jacob Broom Jacob Broom (October 17, 1752 – April 25, 1810) was an American Founding Father, businessman, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. As a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was a signer of the United States Constituti ...

, one of the Delaware signers of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

. The house was purchased in 1802 by

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (; ; 24 June 1771 – 31 October 1834) was a French-American chemist and industrialist who founded the gunpowder manufacturer E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His descendants, the du Pont family, have ...

, progenitor of the prominent

Du Pont family The du Pont family () or Du Pont family is a prominent American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817). It has been one of the richest families in the United States since the mid-19th century, when it founded its fo ...

and founder of the

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

chemical concern, who established the

Eleutherian Mills From 1802 to 1921, Eleutherian Mills was a gunpowder mill site used for the manufacture of explosives founded by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, which grew into the DuPont company. The name also refers to the house on the hill above the mills, whi ...

below the house on the banks of Brandywine Creek. The house, which remains in the hands of Du Pont descendants, was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1974 for its association with Broom. and

Description and history

The Jacob Broom House is located northwest of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, on a terrace overlooking Brandywine Creek southeast of the village of Montchanin. It is located between the two portions of the

Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Pont ...

, which commemorates the early industrial history of the du Pont family. The central portion of the house is a -story masonry structure with a dormered gable roof and end chimneys. The main facade is four bays wide, with the entrance in the center-left bay.

(1752-1810) was born in Wilmington, trained as a surveyor, and had a long and varied career, operating several business ventures. In 1787 he was elected one of Delaware's delegates to the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

, which drafted the

. In 1795 he acquired about of land on the west bank of Brandywine Creek and established a cotton mill, building a long stone-lined raceway and dam. This house was built on a terrace overlooking the mill site and is the only significant structure associated with Broom's life. Broom's mill burned after a few years, and Broom sold the entire property in 1802 to

, a French immigrant. Du Pont brought detailed knowledge of the production of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

and soon established a powder mill on the property, using this house as an early residence and business headquarters. Successful in his business, du Pont later built the mansion house that is now part of the Hagley Museum complex. This house was occupied by Eleuthera du Pont Smith and her husband, Thomas Mackie Smith, until 1873 and by Francis G. du Pont until 1919. The house underwent significant additions during Francis' occupation, giving it a distinctly Victorian character while maintaining the core structure. The DuPont company purchased the building in 1919 and sold it in 1933 to Irene du Pont, who bought it for her daughter. The house remains in the family as a private residence, but most of the Victorian alterations have been removed, and more stylistically sympathetic additions have been made to it.

References

External links

Broom (Jacob) House
National Park Service {{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Delaware Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Houses in New Castle County, Delaware Houses completed in 1795 1795 establishments in Delaware National Register of Historic Places in New Castle County, Delaware Plantation houses in Delaware Homes of United States Founding Fathers

Description and history

See also

References

External links