At the southeastern edge of Berks County, along the shore of the Schuylkill river sits the Brinton Lodge. The earliest section of this impressive estate dates to 1711. The 620 acres on which the small stone farm house was built was purchased by Thomas Millard from William Penn. Thomas Millard was born in 1668 in the British colony that is now the state of Massachusetts. He was amongst one of the earliest settlers to this region, only a few years after the Swedes of Morlatton Village, which is now considered Berks County’s oldest standing settlement just across the river. Thomas and wife Barbara had 15 children together, ten of which were born in the home.

The property stayed in the Millard family for two more generations until a grandson of Thomas, also named Thomas, sold it to John Kirlin in 1796. While there are no records of exact place of death from this time period, it is safe to assume that many members of the Millard family died here.

The Kirlin Family

The Kirlin family would own the home for nearly another century. John Kirlin was born in 1753 and married Eleanor Helena Umstead in 1774. A miller by trade, during the War of 1812 he owned and operated and gun-barrel and sickle manufacturing business near this site. His growing wealth allowed him to add considerable size to the Millard’s small stone house. It was nearly doubled in both width and depth as well as another story added on top. Son William ended up inheriting the estate after John’s death in 1821. At the time he had just been married to second wife Catherine who would give birth to three children in the home; Jacob, Elmira and Henry. William also had two living children from his first marriage; Eli and Jemima.

The 1850 census places 66-year-old William living in the home with 54-year-old wife Catharine, 35-year-old Jemima, 27-year-old Elmira and 21-year-old Henry. William would die in 1868 at age 81 and while there is no distinct record of it being in the house it would be surprising if it wasn’t. Daughter Elmira passed away in her bedroom in 1883, and mother Catherine the year after. During the Kirlin’s residence here along the river the Schuylkill Canal was built and no doubt played a part in the industrial success of the family gunsmith trade. After Elmira’s death the property changed hands three times within the decade, including a sheriff’s sale. In 1893 it ended up in the hands of Philadelphia resident John Marshall. Marshall was born in Reading in 1855 but became a doctor and professor of chemistry and toxicology at University of Pennsylvania and likely purchased this home as a part time residence closer to his family in Reading.

The Wittman Family

In 1908 the property was purchased by Noel Wittman and wife Helen Brooke. Wittman was involved in the iron industry of which his business was headquartered in Philadelphia, but he was also from Reading. Like Marshall, this area served as a perfect distance between cities. Wife Helen oversaw the construction of a considerable addition onto the already large home, bringing it to a whopping 16,800 square feet. They called their estate “Whitbrook”. Tragically, in 1910 the couple’s only child, 19-year old daughter Katharine, perished in the home of typhoid fever. Noel would die of a similar ailment in 1918. Helen continued to live in the mansion with her mother and multiple servants. With no heirs, Helen realized if she wanted to have any say in the future of Whitbrook, she would need to find someone to sell it to before her death. In 1927 she sold the property to Caleb Brinton and purchased a neighboring property, where she and her mother remained for the rest of their lives.

Caleb Brinton

Caleb Brinton was born in Gap, Lancaster County into a Quaker family in 1893. He moved to Reading around 1915 and immediately began in the business of running hotels. First, he was in charge of the Hotel Penn, which was on the northwest corner of 6th and Penn. Later the Mansion House on the southeast corner of 5th and Penn. He was drafted in 1917 to serve in World War I, where he was stationed in France in charge of commissary and feeding 6,000 soldiers thrice a day. Upon return he continued in the hostelry business and in 1924 took proprietorship of the Mineral Springs Hotel.

It is no surprise that after assuming ownership of the mansion in 1927 he turned it into the “Brinton Lodge”. Though it was a private establishment for an elite group of guests. Only the region’s wealthiest and most influential citizens were allowed inside. Even a few nationally renown figures, like Frank Sinatra, were known to frequent the parties at Brinton’s mansion while in town.

The few mentions of the place in the Reading Times in the late 1920s describe dinner and tea parties, but reality was much more debaucherous. As during this time it was the height of prohibition, parties at Brinton’s were known to get a little wild. Despite his Quaker roots, Caleb was known to appreciate women. Allegedly he used the third floor of the mansion as a place for prostitutes to “entertain” his male guests. It is said that the ladies would line up on the back stair case and party goers could take their pick.

In 1933 it was reported in the Reading Eagle that Caleb was being sued for $25,000 by a woman named Blanche Lessig for a breach of a promise of marriage. She claimed that in 1927 at the request of Caleb she obtained a divorce and that he paid for it. She alleged that he promised to marry her as soon as the divorce was granted. Lessig also claimed she lived in the mansion with Caleb between 1927 and 1932; when he became infatuated with another woman. Perhaps this woman was Ruth Moyer, who would end up marrying Caleb in 1936. The 1940 census places the couple living in the mansion with Caleb’s mother Annie (who would also die there in 1944). However by 1949 Ruth filed for divorce on the grounds of indignities.

In 1941 Caleb and his bartender were arrested and charged with selling alcohol on a Sunday.

Caleb found the body of his employee Charles M. Dotterer hanging in the basement of the mansion in 1957. Dotterer served as a handyman and gardener for the property, had never been married and had no family besides two living brothers. His third brother also committed suicide at age 22 in 1914.

The property was devastated by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The Schuylkill river flooded four feet above the floor of the second story of the home. After the waters receded, Caleb and his long-time partner Lillian returned to the property and cleaned what they could. They continued to live in the mud-filled mansion until Caleb suffered a heart attack on October 26th, 1974. Lillian tried to carry him upstairs to his bedroom, but he died on the floor just in front of the threshold. He would be the final of eight documented deaths to occur inside. A few years after his death partner Lillian sold the property as she was unable to care for it.

Modern Fine Dining

In 1980 Lawrence Schlipf and Morton Turnauer completed a fair amount of restoration to the structure and turned it into the fine dining experience it remained for the next few decades. The business was then purchased by Robert Covatta, who continued restaurant operation until the building was again ravaged by a flood in 2006. The business closed for a year to clean up, and never fully recovered. It would be defunct completely by 2009. In 2010 the property was sold via Sheriff’s sale, and was going to be razed for a parking lot before Timothy and Eileen Reeser stepped in and saved it. Parts of the roof were collapsing, and all of the interior plumbing had been removed when they assumed ownership. They spent the next few years bringing the property back into usable condition, and Hidden River Brewing began operating here in 2015. Unfortunately Timothy passed away in 2021, but Eileen still owns the building and hopes to eventually turn the third floor into an AirBnB.

The Brinton Lodge offers ghost tours of the property on certain Saturday nights; about an hour walkthrough with a knowledgeable guide, and then they set you loose with dowsing rods and EMF readers to go search for yourself. If you’re looking for a fun night out, I highly recommend the experience. First have dinner and a few beers at Hidden River and who knows, maybe you will catch a glimpse of one of the many souls who have met their end within its walls.