Cyrill Pinchot (1797-1874)
Cyrill Constantine Désiré Pinchot, Logging Merchant, of Milford, Pennsylvania
He was born in Picardy, France, where he was strong supporter of Napoleon's Republic. In 1815, his father (Mayor of Breteuil-sur-Noye) raised a company of soldiers and with Cyrill placed in their command they were despatched to the Battle of Waterloo, only to arrive after Wellington's victory. Breteuil was then occupied by British troops and one of Cyrill's Royalist cousins brought him to the attention of the new officials. In 1816, fearing retribution, he fled first to New York City and then Milford, Pennsylvania, where there was a strong community of French Republican émigrés.
At Milford, he purchased 400-acres of meadow and woodland and built himself a house and store. Leaving his wife and mother to run the store, he travelled throughout Pennsylvania and New York buying tracts of land that he stripped of all natural resources, then using the profits to purchase ever larger tracts. By the 1850s, his success was reflected by virtue of him becoming the largest taxpayer in Milford. He is the ancestor of a notable American family associated with Grey Towers, now a National Historic Site.
At Milford, he purchased 400-acres of meadow and woodland and built himself a house and store. Leaving his wife and mother to run the store, he travelled throughout Pennsylvania and New York buying tracts of land that he stripped of all natural resources, then using the profits to purchase ever larger tracts. By the 1850s, his success was reflected by virtue of him becoming the largest taxpayer in Milford. He is the ancestor of a notable American family associated with Grey Towers, now a National Historic Site.
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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 29/09/2021 and last updated on 05/10/2021.