“Broadhead Worsted Mill” in Jamestown, New York

A Broadhead Worsted Mill advertisement – http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.09486
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-09486 (digital file from original print) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

If you stroll around eBay long enough looking for memorabilia related to the Brodhead family and make use of alternate spellings to increase your odds, you’ll eventually run into advertising posters for Broadhead Worsted Mill in Jamestown, New York.

No, as the spelling strongly suggests, a descendant of Captain Daniel Brodhead and Ann Tye (arrived on these shores in1664, and both from Royston, West Riding, Yorkshire) was not involved in the Mill’s founding. Nonetheless, at some point it seems likely that we, the descendants of the Captain and his wife, share a common ancestor given the Mill’s founder, William Broadhead (1819-1910), also hailed from Yorkshire (from a town called Thornton). Royston is a very tiny village located to the northeast of Barnesley, and Thornton is a bit to the west of Bradford. The two are just about 25 miles apart.

Thornton and Royston are about 25 miles apart (cropped from the “New and improved map of England & Wales ” London : William Darton, 16th April 1823; Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650)

Per the Jamestown, New York, website, William had worked in Thornton as a blacksmith before emigrating to the US in 1843. He would have been about 24 years of age when he undertook that great adventure. It appears that initially he took up similar work in Jamestown, but eventually became interested in the textile industry.

“Wm. Broadhead” Image from The History of Chatauqua County, New York, Illustrated, Boston: W.A. Ferguson & Co., 1894, p. 808

Follow the website link above for the brief version of his life and career (or read the long version below). His was a fabulous success story. Like many who’ve achieved “the American dream,” he made significant contributions to his community. His two mills “employed thousands of persons”. The impact this one ambitious immigrant had was clearly exponential.

See Find a Grave for the grave of William Broadhead and other family members
See this listing on Realtor to view the home mansion William built for his family at 130 South Main Street in Jamestown, New York

Biographical information from The History of Chatauqua County, New York, Illustrated, Boston: W.A. Ferguson & Co., 1894, pp. 808-811