About

“Brandywine Banks” is a family history blog and website created to share information with family, friends and other individuals researching the Toy families of northern Delaware, descended from Daniel Toy (1789-1832) and Rosanna Coyle (1789-1879).

Brandywine Banks is just one of the many names for the community that grew up around the Hagley powder mill and other manufacturing sites on the Brandywine Creek.  This is the area where the Daniel and Rosanna arrived in 1818.  The last descendent left this area in 1977.  Other names for Brandywine Banks were Henry Clay Village, DuPont Banks and Rising Sun Village.

Rising Sun Village Postcard BW

I created this site to achieve a few things:

  • I believe the act of narration helps anyone be more precise about their genealogical conclusions and crystalize what they believe they know. Brandywine Banks gives me a reason to take some of the information I’ve collected about people, places, events and dates and turn then into written narratives.
  • Selfishly, I need some help!  I have only a few oral histories handed down to me along with a handful of photographs and other artifacts. But I know there are others just like me who have collected history, photographs and artifacts that will complement mine.  I hope that this blog will ‘beat the bushes’ an provide a way to collaborate with other family historians.
  • Not everyone in my family shares my passion for this research.  For those that do, this site provides a way to share what I discover with family members without needing to wait for a family party or reunion to do so. For the youngest members of the family (and those yet to come), I’m leaving a record to make their future research a bit easier.
  • Through research and information provided by people who have helped me along the way, I’ve discovered a number of resources, tips and tricks specific to researching a family history in Delaware.  This site provides a single place to document and link to the resources that I’ve found most useful.

I’m a Delaware native who has never left the state. I have worked as a systems analyst for almost thirty years but am a complete amateur when it comes to genealogy research. However, I try to apply the same focus, structure, and precision in the  documentation of family histories that I do in the design of complex information systems.

Reese Robinson