Spruance, William C. (William Corbit), 1873-1935

William C. Spruance, Jr., was an electrical engineer, an executive with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and a civic leader in Wilmington, Del. With the rank of colonel, he was chief of the Explosives and Loading Division of the Ordnance Department during World War I. Spruance amassed a collection of papers dealing with the history of his own family and that of his wife, Alice Moore Lea.

The Lea family were among the largest flour mill operators at the Brandywine Falls, north of Wilmington, since the 1770s, when Thomas Lea joined in partnership with Joseph Tatnall to operate mills on the north bank of the stream. After his death, his son, William Lea, took over operation of the mills in 1837. Tatnall & Lea was reorganized as William Lea & Sons in 1864 with the entry of Henry and Preston Lea into the business. The firm was incorporated as the William Lea & Sons Company in 1882. In 1901 the Lea Milling Company was formed and assumed operation of the mills under lease from the William Lea & Sons Company. The latter firm was dissolved on August 22, 1923, and succeeded by Lea & Company. The mill properties were sold in 1926, and Lea & Company was dissolved on June 20, 1927.

Preston Lea (1841-1916) was the son of William Lea and Governor of Delaware in 1905-1909.

William Corbit Spruance, Sr., was a lawyer and judge of Wilmington. He graduated from Princeton and studied law at Harvard and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1855. He was U.S. District Attorney for Delaware in 1876-1880.

Arthur Willing Spruance was the son of William C. Spruance, Sr., and a lawyer of Wilmington. He was a member of the State House of Representatives in 1909.

From the description of Lea Mills Collection, 1679-1938. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122503533