William Poole Bancroft
| William Poole Bancroft | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 12, 1835 Wilmington, Delaware, United States |
| Died | April 20, 1928 (aged 92) |
| Occupation | Industrialist & Conservationist |
William Poole Bancroft (July 12, 1835 – April 20, 1928) was an American industrialist who later became an important figure in the land conservation movement. His belief that the beauty of the Brandywine region should be protected against urban sprawl for future generations led to him purchasing large amounts of land which eventually became state and federally owned park land.
William Poole Bancroft was born on July 12, 1835 in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. His father was Joseph Bancroft, a member of a prominent Quaker family who started his own milling company, Bancroft Mills, in 1831, just a few years before William's birth. His mother was Sarah Poole, the daughter of a Quaker miller and silversmith, William Poole, after whom Bancroft was named. William had a younger brother, Samuel, who was born in 1840.
Both of his parents were Quakers, and his father in particular was very religious and active in the Quaker community. William was educated according to Joseph's religious values, and he emphasized the importance of hard work in his children. William began working at the family mills part-time at seven, and progressed to full-time employment in 1849 at 14. The Civil War proved extremely profitable to the company due to increased demand for its products, and in 1865, when Bancroft was 30 years old, his father managed to pay off all of the company's business debts. This allowed Joseph to reorganize the company as Joseph Bancroft & Sons, making William and Samuel full partners.
The partnership increased Bancroft's wealth dramatically, and the mills continued to grow and prosper, soon becoming the largest textile mill in the United States. Joseph died in 1874, leaving his two sons to run the company by themselves. William then married Emma Cooper in 1876.
Working on his family's mill along the Brandywine River, Bancroft began to appreciate the value of the river and the scenic beauty of its surroundings. He also observed with growing concern the growth of the city of Wilmington, imagining a distant future in which it and Philadelphia would eventually meet and leave no more open and green lands for the people to enjoy. With this in mind, he set about using his wealth to purchase as much land as he could in the Brandywine Valley to be preserved for coming generations. He later described this passion, saying "For many years, I had been saying that I wished someone would gather up the rough land along the Brandywine above Rockland and hold it for the future Wilmington, a Wilmington of hundreds of thousands of people... and I concluded that perhaps I ought to do something toward what I had been wishing others would do." He also said, "It has been a hobby, or a concern with me, for more than twenty-six years, to endeavor to get park land for the advantage of the people of Wilmington and its vicinity."
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