Mahlon Betts (1795–1867) was a carpenter, railroad car builder, shipwright, businessman, banker, and legislator who helped found three 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 ...

's major manufacturing enterprises: the Harlan and Hollingsworth Company, the Pusey and Jones Company, and the Betts Machine Company. Born in Attleboro in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, on March 16, 1795, Betts came to Wilmington in 1812. On November 8, 1818, he married Mary R. Seal at the Wilmington Friends Meeting. In 1828 (or 1829),Betts' bio
in "1836. Semi-centennial Memoir of the Harlan & Hollingsworth Company" he built a foundry at 8th and Orange Streets, which would operate as Betts & Seal until 1867. There he installed the state's first stationary steam engine. On March 1, 1836, Betts joined Samuel N. Pusey to launch Betts & Pusey, which built railroad cars at a plant at Water and West Streets. He eventually leased the foundry to his son Edward (1825–1917), who carried on the business. In 1837, Mahlon became a director of the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad.Railway Locomotives and Cars, Volume 6 (1838)
/ref> The railroad soon merged into the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

, which thenceforth operated the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. (This main line survives today as part of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's Northeast Corridor.) Betts became a director in the merged railroad, and his service as a railroad executive is noted on the 1839

Newkirk Viaduct Monument The Newkirk Viaduct Monument (also, Newkirk Monument) is a 15-foot white marble obelisk in the West Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Installed in 1839, it is inscribed with the names of 51 railroad builders and executives, ...

in Philadelphia. He was also a director of the National Bank of Wilmington and Brandywine, the president of the Mechanics Bank, and the president of First National Bank of Wilmington. In the 1840s, he served in the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisl ...

, first as a

representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

and then as a senator. Mahlon Betts died in Wilmington on March 4, 1867.

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External links

Probate inventory
performed April 2, 1867, by the Borough of Wilmington, New Castle County {{DEFAULTSORT:Betts, Mahlon American industrialists American carpenters American shipwrights American bankers 1795 births 1867 deaths Members of the Delaware House of Representatives Delaware state senators People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from Wilmington, Delaware 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople