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of wood for lumber was an easy step and by 1752 the sawmill that John Mills erected on Cutlass Creek was reputed to be one of the three largest in the colonies.
    Much of the lumber was hauled overland to Philadelphia. Hauling required wagons and John Mills started to build them. It was a logical enterprise. The wood came from his own sawmills and the iron forges to make the necessary metal parts were close at hand. He had already acquired a controlling interest in one forge and was a partner in another.
    The tide of emigration to the West had started to flow in earnest and the fame of the covered wagons that were built at Mills Landing spread through the taverns up and down the Eastern seaboard where men gathered to plan their treks to the lands beyond the Susquehanna. They came to Mills Landing to buy wagons and John Mills saw the chance to sell them other things as well. Great stone warehouses were built along the waterfront to house all manner of goods, but John Mills was a manufacturer at heart, not a trader, and soon there was a mill for the weaving of hempen canvas, a tannery and a harness factory, a pottery near the claybank on Cutlass Creek, and all manner of smaller shops. The wagon works suggested a natural expansion into agricultural implements and the Mills plow became as famous as the Mills wagon.
    A letter written in 1761 by one W. Crayton to his waiting compatriots in Philadelphia, describes the Mills Landing of that year.
    HONOURED SIRS :
    This is to send you the intelligence that you should come with All Haste and it is in no ways necessary to burthen yourself for this part of the journey since all that is needed by us for our westward venture can be Purchased Here to good advantage from Mr. John Mills who is the Proprietor of such as I am sure will Amaze you. The shops are of a magnitude that is beyond belief and the sound of the smiths so great and constant that is as if a great Battle was being fought even into the night.
    Our two waggons have been promised for the 9th instant but both taverns are crowded with those who wait before me and I do not view the date with Certainty. To hasten our departure I have ordered of Mr. Mills such articles as you will find on the list which I beg you to examine for your approval. The axes and scythes are of Superior Design and the chests are Iron Bound and most Nicely Made.
    There is one matter in which I do not feel free to act without your counsel and it is about Horses. On his plantation, which is on the high level above the town, Mr. Mills raises a fine beast which is called the Conestoga Horse and there are teams of such which are yet for sale although I cannot perceive if all will not soon be boughten by others which is one cause why I implore you to Hasten here.
    Do not Speak of this next matter to Mary but I have six jugs of Spirits made in Mr. Mills’ distillery. It is of Uncommon fineness and I mention it to add to your Haste in coming.
    It was in the same year as Crayton’s letter was written, 1761, that the town was formally laid out and renamed Millburgh. Prior to that time everything at Mills Landing was owned personally by John Mills, including more than two hundred stone houses which he had built for his employees. The favored workers were the English wheelwrights and carpenters whose emigration from England had been arranged by John Mills, and he carefully managed the sales of houses and lots so that all of his countrymen lived in the northern half of the town. The south half, where the mills and shops fronted the river, thus became the home of the German and Swiss ironworkers and was soon called “Dutchtown.” The two main east and west streets were named George and Frederick, recognizing the reigning kings of Great Britain and Germany.
    George Street and everything north became the “best” section of Millburgh. Social standing began to be measured by distance from the river. The mansion houses of those who grew rich from John