[1] Born in Attleboro in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1795,[2] Betts came to Wilmington in 1812.
[3] His company also manufactured a variety of wheels as well as pinions, shafts, pulleys, cogs, and other castings.
[6] The company built railroad cars at a plant at Water and West Streets.
(This main line survives today as part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.)
[2] The ship named after him, the Mahlon Betts, is claimed to be the first iron sailing yacht built in the United States.