Brookeville,
Montgomery County, Maryland Founded and owned by
David Newlin, c. 1798-1828
Information:
Newlin's mill cottage was home to whoever operated the mill. It still
stands today.
John O. Brostrup, 1936. Historic American Buildings Survey. Library
of Congress.
Some time
before 1798, Montgomery County resident David
Newlin obtained a three acre parcel
of land in a tract known as "Brooke Grove."1By
1804, he had constructed a saw mill, a plaster mill, and an oil mill
capable of producing high quality linseed and castor oil.2
During
the War of 1812, after the United States had enacted embargoes
that blocked the
importation of British goods such as manufactured wool and cotton, and
domestic manufacturing once again became a viable business option,
Newlin opened the Brookeville
Woolen Mill about one mile east of
Brookeville.3
Despite a short period of prosperity for Newlin, the
embargoes were lifted at the end of the war, and profitability of
domestic woolen manufacturing took a steep downturn.4By
1826, Newlin had sold his failing woolen mill to Jehu Price.5
In an attempt to
save the remainder of his struggling mill business in
following years,
Newlin amassed several thousand dollars of debt to his neighbors,
including prominent Brookeville resident Caleb
Bentley. In October of 1828, after a lengthy
legal battle over Newlin's debts,
Bentley acquired Newlin's oil and grist mills at no cost by outbidding
all other
potential buyers in an auction that he held himself.6
Newlin's son
Atemus eventually regained control of the oil and grist mills, and
after going through
several changes of ownership, the mills ceased operations in the early
1900s.
For a more detailed description of Newlin's Mill and its
operations, see the biography of David
Newlin.
Jackson Gilman-Forlini
and Kyle Bacon, DAR
Research Fellows, 2012
