John Dorrance, Sr.

WIKIPEDIA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorrance_Mansion
"John Dorrance, Sr., bought an interest in Bristol Mills about 1827 and later bought out his partners. The mills themselves were first constructed in 1701. Dorrance became a director in companies involved in steamboat lines, railroads, and shipping.[4] He participated in local business, politics, and government from 1835 to 1860. During this time the mills sold corn meal to the West Indies and to Southern States. "

Source (attached) for this description of his Delaware River mansion

"John Dorrance, Sr. acquired the lot on which his mansion was built in 1860. He was living across the street at the time in a house which he had purchased in 1828 and which he continued to own until his death. A house on the newly purchased lot was demolished before construction of the mansion began in 1862. Dorrance came to Bristol in the 1820s and purchased an interest in the Bristol Mills which dated back to 1701. He eventually bought out his partners to become the sole owner. Prior to the Civil War, the mill supplied large amounts of corn meal to the south and West Indies. When the mill was sold after Dorrance's death by his sons, the property was comprised of grist and saw mills, a lumber yard, canal stables, coal sheds, a blacksmith shop, a store, two dwellings and a mill race and pond. Besides his involvement in local commerce, Dorrance was also active in various improvement projects including the digging of the Bristol portion of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal and the construction of the Trenton and Bristol Railroad in 1834. Dorrance was also involved in the short-lived Neshaminy Lock Navigation Company and the Bristol Building Association. He was an original shareholder of the former which of the former which was chartered in 1832 to establish lock navigation in the Neshaminy Creek. The project was later abandoned. The Bristol Building Association, of which Dorrance was a director, was the second building and loan association organized in Pennsylvania. It closed in 1859, twelve years after its founding. In partnership with Henry Wright, Dorrance acquired a farm and divided the land into building lots and opened Dorrance, Washington, and Lafayette Streets, thus enabling further expansion and development of Bristol. In addition to his business pursuits, Dorrance was also active in Bristol politics. He served as a member of the Borough Council for nine terms between 1835 and 1860. Although Dorrance built the house toward the end of his illustrious career and only lived there six years before his death, it is the one extant building with the closest association to him and his business career. The Mansion, as commissioned by Dorrance, signifies the success, wealth, and stature he was able to achieve through his ownership of the Bristol Mills. As one of the earliest nineteenth century mansions, it set the standard for later buildings on Radcliffe Street. Ownership of the Mansion passed to his sons after Dorrance's death in 1869. John Dorrance, Jr. purchased his brother's interest in 1879 and bequeathed the Mansion to his son, G. Morris Dorrance. The Mansion passed out of the Dorrance Family in 1921. Shortly thereafter, it was acquired by the Bristol Knights of Columbus who owned it for sixty years. In 1982 it was sold for use again as a residence. Despite its longtime non-residential use, the Mansion retains all of its original interior features."

~• from http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Bucks_County/Bristol_Borough/Dorrance_Mansion.html''

Descendants and the Campbell Soup Co.

(cursory examination of later family) retrieved from wikipedia December 2017

"After (John Dorrance Sr.'s) death in 1869, Dorrance's sons sold the mills, which included a mill race and pond, a saw mill as well as the grist mill, a lumber yard, canal stables, coal sheds, a blacksmith shop, a store, and two houses. Dorrance's sons inherited the mansion and John, Jr. bought out his brother in 1879. The son of John, Jr., G. Morris Dorrance, later inherited the mansion. The Dorrance family kept the mansion until 1921; soon afterwards it was bought by the Bristol Knights of Columbus. The mansion returned to use as a private residence in 1982.[2]

Another son of John Dorrance, Sr., Arthur was an early investor and manager of the Campbell Soup Company. Arthur hired his nephew, John Thompson Dorrance, sometimes known as John Dorrance III, who developed the company's condensed soup line, and in 1915 became sole owner of the company.[5][6] John Thompson Dorrance's grandson, also known as John Dorrance III, sold his share of the company in 1995-96 for about $1.5 billion, and with a 2009 net worth of $2.3 billion was listed as number 296 in the Forbes list of the world's richest people.[7]

Mapping

• this 1850 map shows J. Dorrance by the Bristol Mill Pond (west shore)
  • http://ancestortracks.com/PhiSur_Bristol(Bucks)_1850.jpg