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PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  SOCIETY 
OF  THE  COLONIAL  DAMES  OF  AMERICA— III 


Forges  and  Furnaces 

in  the 

Province  of  Pennsylvania 


PREPARED   BY 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON  HISTORICAL  RESEARCH 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  SOCIETY 

1914 


By  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  SOCIETY  OF  THE  COLONIAL  DAMES  OF  AMERICA 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


COMMITTEE  ON  HISTORICAL  RESEARCH. 

MRS.  JAMES  M.  LONGACRE,  Chairman, 

MRS.  WILLIAM  J.  ROSE, 

MRS.  FRANCIS  B.  GUMMERE, 

Miss  ANNE  HOLLINGSWORTH  WHARTON, 

MRS.  THOMAS  S.  KIRKBRIDE, 

MRS.  JOSEPH  P.  MUMFORD, 

Miss  SUSAN  CARPENTER  FRAZER, 

MRS.  ALFRED  COPE, 

MRS.  EDGAR  W.  BAIRD, 

MRS.  EDWARD  BROWNING  MEIGS, 

MRS.  ROBERT  E.  BROOKE. 


M3586S 


THIS  book,  a  tribute  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  to 
"the  days  of  old,  the  years  of  ancient  time,"  is  the 
labor  of  love  of  our  own  members.  As  far  as  possible  we 
have  gone  to  original  sources  for  information  and  verifica- 
tion, and  have  consulted  many  living  authorities,  whose 
valuable  counsel  has  been  freely  given  us.  We  wish  to 
express  our  indebtedness  particularly  to  Mr.  James  M1. 
Swank,  the  Hon.  S.  W.  Pennypacker,  President  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  John  W.  Jordan, 
the  Hon.  E.  W.  Biddle,  Dr.  Chas.  F.  Himes,  Mr.  H.  C. 
Grittinger,  Mr.  B.  F.  Fackenthal,  the  Hon.  W.  U.  Hensel, 
Mr.  J.  A.  Anderson,  Mr.  W.  M.  Mervine,  Miss  Martha 
Bladen  Clark,  Mrs.  A.  Saunders  Morris,  Col.  Henry  D. 
Paxson,  Mr.  Thomas  Eakins,  Mr.  P.  Hollingsworth 
Morris,  Mr.  Ernest  Spofford,  Mr.  B.  F.  Owen. 


"  If  you're  off  to  Philadelphia  this  morning 
And  wish  to  prove  the  truth  of  what  I  say 
I  pledge  my  word  you'll  find 
The  pleasant  land  behind 
Unaltered  since  Red  Jacket  rode  that  way. 

"  Still  the  pine  woods  scent  the  noon 
Still  the  cat  bird  sings  his  tune 
Still  autumn  sets  the  maple-forest  blazing. 
Still  the  grapevine  through  the  dusk 
Flings  her  soul-compelling  musk 
Still  the  fire  flies  in  the  corn  make  night  amazing! 

u  They  are  there,  there,  there,  with  Earth  immortal 
(Citizens  I  give  you  friendly  warning). 
The  things  that  truly  last  when  men  and  times  have 

passed, 
They  are  all  in  Pennsylvania  this  morning." 

Rudyard  Kipling. 


Vll 


i  •• 


FORGES  AND  FURNACES  IN  THE 
PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


Nearly  two  hundred  years  ago,  in  the  early  days  of  the 
"Holy  Experiment,"  the  wonderful  natural  resources  of 
the  province  of  Pennsylvania, — the  great  ore  beds,  the 
thickly  wooded  country  giving  endless  charcoal,  and  the 
strong  streams  promising  water  power, — impelled  many 
capable  and  hopeful  men  to  attempt  the  making  of  iron. 
Besides  capacity  and  hope,  however,  money  was  needed  for 
even  the  smallest  beginnings;  and  in  going  over  the  records 
one  finds,  in  many  cases,  that  a  few  years  sufficed  to  bring 
the  undertaking  either  to  permanent  grief  or  to  a  new 
owner.  While  this  was  the  fate  of  some,  others,  faithful 
to  the  early  visions  of  being  great  ironmasters,  held  on  their 
way  and  realized  their  dreams ; — handing  down  to  our  day 
their  names,  their  industries,  and  their  fortunes.  We  still 
have  with  us  the  descendants  of  Thomas  Rutter,  and 
Thomas  Potts,  and  Anthony  Morris;  of  James  Logan,  and 
Peter  Grubb,  and  Robert  Coleman;  and  of  many  others. 

Of  those  who  fell  by  the  wayside,  the  "  iron  band  of 
Circumstance"  being  too  much  for  them,  the  most  noted 
possibly  is  Henry  William  Stiegel; — and  why  should  we 
doubt  that  the  place  he  occupies  in  our  tradition  and  his- 
tory ; — picturesque,  brilliant,  unfortunate, — may  be  to  him 
some  compensation  if  his  shade  ever  returns  for  the  yearly 
Giving  of  the  Red  Rose  in  his  memory? 

As  far  as  it  is  possible,  some  account  of  each  of  these 
pioneers  will  be  given  in  the  sketches  which  follow,  of 
the  forges  and  furnaces  started  in  Pennsylvania  before 


FURNACES   IN  THE 


17  %6.>l:  -\^e;rffiist  Hi§claim  however  any  intention  to  touch 
on  the  scientific  side  of  the  making  of  iron  ;  that  is  utterly 
beyond  our  scope:  we  shall  be  satisfied  if  we  are  able  to 
give  glimpses  of  the  life  on  these  great  estates  (for 
"  great"  many  of  them  grew  to  be),  and  to  put  on  record 
the  names  more  or  less  important,  of  the  founders  of  the 
early  wealth  of  Pennsylvania. 

Until  1682,  the  year  of  Penn's  arrival,  the  settlers  on 
the  Delaware,  under  the  Swedes,  the  Dutch,  and  the  Duke 
of  York,  seem  to  have  made  no  effort  to  manufacture  iron 
in  any  form.  The  energy  of  Penn  changed  all  that.  He 
wrote  in  1683  °f  the  existence  of  "mineral  of  iron  and 
copper  in  various  places."  Having  iron  furnaces  himself 
at  Hawkhurst  in  England,  he  naturally  wished  to  encour- 
age the  manufacture  of  iron  in  his  own  province.  Al- 
though there  is  no  record  of  the  Proprietor's  connection 
with  any  iron  making  in  Pennsylvania,  there  are  a  few  allu- 
sions to  a  mining  venture  of  which  he  had  great  hope, 
which  seem  of  sufficient  interest  to  mention. 

A  contemporary  English  historian,  John  Oldmixon, 
gives  some  side  lights  on  Penn's  more  practical  and  worldly 
outlook,  of  a  kind  not  freely  afforded  us  by  his  biographers, 
but  which  tally  with  much  in  his  letters  to  his  Secretary 
Logan,  and  others,  when  dealing  with  personal  and  bus- 
iness matters.  Oldmixon  visited  the  Colonies  while  Penn 
was  here,  and  also  made  extensive  journeyings  in  the  West 
Indies.  In  speaking  of  the  notable  men  who  had  wel- 
comed him  on  his  arrival  he  says,1  "  Mr.  Docwra  and  Dr. 
Cox  were  both  so  kind  as  to  inform  me  fully  of  the  Jerseys, 
and  Mr.  Pen  did  me  the  same  favor  for  Pennsylvania. 
those  three  gentlemen  doing  me  the  Honour  to  admit  me 
into  their  Friendship."  "  Mr.  Pen,"  he  continues,  "was 
a  very  sanguine  person:  he  was  generous  and  free  of  his 

1  British  Empire  in  America,  II,  London,  1741. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  3 

Thoughts  and  Expressions,  which  were  not  always  suffi- 
ciently guarded/*  In  speaking  of  the  early  settlements 
here  he  says,  "Sir  William,  Mr.  Pen's  Father,  had  a 
Kinsman  who  was  one  of  the  first  planters  at  New  England, 
and  it  was  from  him  doubtless  that  he  had  exact  and  partic- 
ular Information  of  the  Advantages  that  might  be  made 
of  Lands  and  Settlements  in  this  Continent  of  America ;  but 
young  Mr.  Pen  having  filled  his  head  with  Quakerisms  did 
not  for  some  years  apply  himself  strenuously  to  solicit  the 
promised  Grant,  till  at  last  finding  his  friends  the  Quakers 
were  harassed  all  over  England  by  Spiritual  Courts,  he 
resolved  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  as  many  of  them  as 
would  go  with  him  and  remove  to  the  Country  of  which 
he  obtained  the  Grant"  (in  I68I).1  Dean  Swift  said  of 
this  many-sided  Penn  that  he  talked  very  agreeably  and 
with  great  spirit.  While  dwelling  on  his  gayer  side, 
the  comment  of  Friends  in  Reading  Meeting  might  be 
recalled:  that  he  was  "facetious  in  conversation."  He 
rarely  made  use  of  the  terms  "Thee"  and  "Thou," 
and  as  is  well  known  he  wore  buckles  and  wigs;  the 
latter  from  necessity,  it  is  said,  having  early  lost  his 
hair.  With  much  political  acumen  and  experience  he  was 
not  a  skillful  judge  of  character;  hence  arose  many  of  his 
difficulties.  A  fortunate  man  in  many  respects,  he  was  for 
years  especially  favored  in  the  devotion  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Province,  James  Logan,  who  agreed  and  remon- 
strated with  him,  advised  and  obeyed  him,  in  the  most 
faithful  and  patient  fashion. 

Anxious  and  harried  as  Penn  was  in  his  later  years  by 
stress  of  political,  financial,  and  family  troubles,  he  seems, 
at  this  time,  to  have  had  a  short  period  of  confident  expec- 
tation as  to  the  relief  that  might  come  to  him  if  mines  of 
value  were  actually  discovered  in  his  Pennsylvania  domin- 

1  British  Empire  in  America,  II. 


4  FORGES  AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

ions.  Rumors  reached  him  in  1708,  only  four  years  be- 
fore his  final  breakdown  from  paralysis,  that  the  King  of 
the  Shawnee  Indians  was  quietly  working  mines  for 
Mitchel,  a  "Swiss  acquainted  with  mining "  and  others, 
including  Governor  Evans.  His  eager  pleasure  is  shown 
in  the  following  letter  to  Logan:  "I  am  glad  .  .  .  that 
mines  so  rich  are  so  certainly  found,  for  that  will  clear  the 
country  and  me  of  all  other  encumbrances,  and  enable  me 
to  reward  those  that  have  approved  themselves  faithful  to 
me  and  my  just  interest.  Clap  somebody  upon  them,  as 
servants  for  me,  and  by  next  opportunity  send  me  some  of 
the  ore,  to  get  it  tried  by  some  of  the  ablest  separators 
here."  And  later  he  writes :  "  Pray  go  to  the  bottom  with 
Colonel  Evans  about  the  mines,  and  what  has  become  of 
Mitchel?  Who  are  let  in  the  secret  where  they  are?" 

To  this  Logan  replies,  in  due  time,  that  he  is  trying  to 
get  the  desired  information.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  path  of  the  faithful  Secretary  was  seldom  other  than 
thorny:  constant  watchfulness  was  needed  as  early  as  1707 
to  circumvent  the  French  in  their  efforts  to  undermine 
the  allegiance  of  the  Indians  to  their  English  neighbors, 
and  trading  among  the  Indians  was  not  allowed  except 
under  special  license.  Despite  prohibitions  the  Frenchmen 
crept  in,  as  traders,  miners,  or  colonists.1  A  few  of  them, 
James  Le  Tort,  for  example,  and  Peter  Bezalion  (whose 
grave  is  in  the  Episcopal  Churchyard  at  Compass,  in  Lan- 
caster county;  he  died  in  1742,  aged  eighty  years)  were 
licensed  and  valuable  traders ;  valued,  that  is,  except  when 
they  seemed  to  swerve  from  their  allegiance,  in  which  case 
they  were  called  to  Philadelphia  and  given  a  taste  of  jail 
life.  Mitchel  and  T.  Grey  are  also  mentioned  in  the 
Colonial  Records  as  fellow  workers. 

Disappointment,  his  usual  portion  in  his  later  years,  was 

1  Lancaster  County  Indians,  by  H.  Frank  Eshleman,  p.  173. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  5 

again  meted  out  to  Penn :  and  he  writes  to  Logan  early  in 
the  next  year:  "Mitchel  has  been  with  me,  and  by  him 
and  T.  Grey  I  learn  the  misunderstanding  between  the  late 
Governor  and  thy  self,  if  they  say  true,  has  cost  me  dear: 
for  they  assure  me  he  and  company  may,  and  they  believe 
do,  make  £100.  if  not  twice  told,  weekly.  The  Indians 
chiefly  discovered  the  mine  and  work  it  on  the  spot,  and 
he  told  me  the  way  of  it.  It  is  the  King  of  the  Shawnee 
Indians,  and  some  few  of  his  subjects  that  perform  the 
business  for  him,  viz.,  Colonel  Evans." 

Logan  somewhat  later  writes  of  Evans,  "That  story  of 
his  getting,  by  the  mines,  I  believe  to  be  very  fiction.  Evans 
has  been  very  free  with  me  upon  that  head  (mines). 
There  has  been  none  opened,  and  I  f  ear  Mitchel  has  tricked 
us  all, — he  has  gone  over  to  England  with  an  intention 
we  believe  of  putting  his  countrymen,  the  Swiss,  upon  pur- 
chasing from  the  Queen  a  tract  beyond  the  Potomac, 
where,  he  thinks,  they  lie.  It  will  therefore  nearly  con- 
cern thee  to  have  an  eye  to  all  his  motions.  He  is  subtile 
and  scarce  to  be  trusted."1 

These  debatable  mines  may  possibly  have  been  the  cop- 
per mines  on  Mine  Ridge,  a  few  miles  south  of  Lancaster, 
near  the  Philadelphia  Pike,  where,  "  in  1843  tne  remains  of 
an  ancient  shaft  were  visible.  They  were  supposed  to 
have  been  opened  by  French  adventurers  or  persons  from 
Maryland,  about  the  time  of  Penn."2  An  early  mention 
of  iron  in  the  Province  is  in  a  "  Description  of  Pennsyl- 
vania "  by  courtesy  called  "rhymed,"  written  in  1692  by 
Richard  Frame,  and  published  by  Bradford : 

"A  certain  place  here  is  where  some  begun 
To  try  some  mettle  and  have  made  it  run, 
Wherein  was  iron  absolutely  found 
At  once  was  known  about  some  forty  pound." 

1  Logan  and  Penn  Correspondence,  Vol.  II. 

2  Day's  Historical  Collections,  p.  388. 


6  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

But  just  where  this  "  mettle  "  was  found  he  does  not  say. 

Although  we  avoid  entirely,  and  that  for  the  best  of 
reasons,  the  scientific  and  technical  side  of  iron  making,  it 
seems  advisable  to  give,  as  concisely  as  possible,  the  prim- 
itive processes  of  the  early  forges  and  furnaces  and  the 
usual  method  of  charcoal  burning. 

Early  bloomaries  in  Pennsylvania  were  very  like  the 
Catalan  forge  or  bloomary  which  originated  in  Catalonia, 
Spain,  about  the  tenth  century.  They  were  not  unlike  a 
large  blacksmith  fire  with  a  deep  fire  pot,  in  which  the 
blast  was  introduced  at  the  side  instead  of  the  bottom  of 
the  fire,  and  while  yielding  but  a  small  output  a  day  they 
were  used  on  account  of  the  small  expense  and  labor  in- 
volved in  their  erection.1 

In  the  fires  of  the  forges  pig  iron  was  converted  into 
blooms  which  were  usually  round  pieces  of  metal,  about  a 
foot  long.  The  word  bloomary  was  often  used  to  describe 
a  forge.  This  was  because  the  product  derived  from  the 
heated  ore  was  obtained  in  the  form  of  a  lump  or  bloom 
of  malleable  iron.  The  word  is  derived  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  bloma,  a  lump.  The  product  of  the  early  forges 
was  blooms  and  hammered  iron  in  the  shape  of  flat  or 
square  bars ;  these  were  shaped  into  vessels  by  blacksmiths 
and  skilled  artisans,  who  made  a  specialty  of  that  class 
of  work. 

As  a  rule  the  old  furnaces  were  built  into  the  side  of  a 
hill,  in  order  that  the  ore,  limestone,  and  charcoal  could 
be  filled  from  the  upper  level  into  the  stack.  Built  upon 
one  general  principle,  the  charcoal  furnaces  varied  ma- 
terially in  size  and  appearance.  "The  interior  of  the 
furnace-stack  was  lined  with  a  wall  of  fire  brick,  or  else 
with  fine-grained  white  sandstone,  both  of  which  were  well 
adapted  to  resist  the  extraordinary  heat  to  which  it  was 

1  Cornwall  Furnace  and  Ore  Banks,  by  H.  C.  Grittinger. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  7 

exposed.  The  lining  was  constructed  a  few  inches  from 
the  main  stack,  the  space  between  being  filled  with  frag- 
ments of  stone,  sand,  and  occasionally  coarse  mortar.  This 
served  to  protect  the  stack  from  the  decomposing  effect 
of  heat.  The  furnace  stack  was,  moreover,  secured  from 
expansion  by  strong  iron  girders  embedded  in  it.  The 
quantity  of  material  filled  in  the  top  of  the  furnace  stack 
was  measured  and  called  a  charge.  There  were  two  charges 
or  heats  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 

The  iron,  melted  in  the  furnace  and  run  into  "  pigs  "  in 
the  sand  bed  was  not  fit  for  other  than  casting  use  until  it 
had  been  re-heated,  puddled  in  a  forge,  and  hammered 
into  blooms.  Puddling  meant  stirring  and  turning  it  with 
long  iron  bars  in  a  small  oven.  In  this  way  certain  im- 
purities were  eliminated. 

Two  and  one-half  tons  of  ore,  and  180  bushels  of  char- 
coal produced  about  one  ton  of  metal.  The  output  of  iron 
was  about  28  tons  a  week,  as  against  the  75  to  600  tons 
a  day  produced  by  the  modern  furnaces.  The  limestone 
introduced  was  for  fluxing  or  eliminating  impurities,  and 
the  quantity  used  depended  on  the  richness  or  metallic  con- 
tent of  the  ore.  "  Before  using  the  ore  it  was  washed  by 
a  big  water  wheel  attached  to  a  long  lateral  shaft  which 
had  heavy  iron  teeth  running  around  it  spirally  and  which 
revolved  in  a  trough.  The  teeth  stirred  the  ore  in  the 
water  and  finally  threw  it  out  in  a  pile  from  which  it  was 
gathered  up  in  a  cart.  Lumps  of  ore  that  were  too  large 
to  wash  were  purified  and  reduced  by  burning.  They 
were  stacked  in  the  oven,  charcoal  filled  between,  and  the 
huge  pieces  heated  enough  to  break  them."1  Besides  the 
ordinary  furnacemen,  cast  boys,  miners,  and  colliers,  there 
were  two  keepers  who  took  turns  of  twelve  hours  each  to 
watch  the  furnace,  a  master  miner,  a  chief  collier,  and  a 
manager. 

1  Pictorial  Sketch  Book  of  Pennsylvania,  by  Eli  Bowen. 


8  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

Charcoal  burning  required  both  skill  and  patience.  The 
process  was  intricate,  depending  for  success  on  the  state  of 
the  weather  as  well  as  on  the  watchfulness  of  the  colliers. 
Necessarily  there  was  great  difference  in  the  value  of  wood 
for  making  charcoal ;  the  more  compact  and  fine-grained  it 
was  the  better  coal  it  yielded,  chiefly  because  of  its  contain- 
ing less  water  and  sap.  Tough  oak,  therefore,  was  worth 
more  than  pine.  "The  trees  were  felled,  and  trimmed, 
and  cut  into  lengths  four  feet  long,  and  ranked  in  cords, 
by  the  wood  choppers,  who  were  paid  so  much  a  cord. 
They  were  followed  by  the  colliers,  who  stacked  the  wood 
in  a  conical  shape,  standing  the  sticks  on  end.  The  cones 
at  the  base  were  about  25  feet  in  diameter,  and  up  through 
the  middle  the  sticks  were  put  sufficiently  far  apart  to  form 
a  chimney.  After  the  wood  was  thus  carefully  arranged, 
brush  wood  and  loose  earth  were  thrown  over  the  pile,  so 
as  to  smother  the  flame,  and  prevent  it  bursting  out  from 
the  mass  of  wood.  For  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  fire 
all  around  the  wood,  holes  were  made  in  the  sides  to  create 
draft  through  which  the  watery  elements  of  the  wood 
were  expelled,  by  the  heat  of  the  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and 
carbon,  which  was,  in  turn,  held  in  check  by  the  exclusion  of 
atmospheric  air.  Were  the  air  allowed  to  circulate  the 
entire  mass  of  wood  would  be  reduced  to  ashes.  The 
burning  lasted  two  or  three  days  and  nights,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  wood, — and  the  success  attending  the 
operation.'* 

Nearly  all  Colonial  Furnaces  cast  stoves,  and  "hollow 
ware," — commonly  called  pots  and  kettles.  Of  the  deco- 
rations of  these  early  stoves  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote 
Mr.  Henry  C.  Mercer,  an  authority  on  the  subject.  He 
speaks  of  "  the  existence  of  plates  of  cast  iron  about  two 
feet  square,  elaborately  decorated  with  Biblical  scenes, 
hearts,  tulips,  mottoes,  and  Scriptural  quotations,"  which 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  9 

within  the  last  twenty-five  years  have  been  rescued  from 
scrap  heaps,  or  "  found  as  pavings  for  fireplaces,  smoke 
houses,  and  bake  ovens,  or  as  the  sluices  of  dams  and  the 
bridges  of  gutters."1  The  most  valued  plates  found  now 
are  those  of  the  five-plate  jamb  stove,  or  wall  warming 
stove.  "  Made  of  five  plates,  sometimes  without,  some- 
times with  a  sheet  iron  pipe,  and  sometimes  connecting  its 
smoke  egress  with  an  adjoining  chimney  through  the  wall 
brick  end,  it  was  cast  at  the  old  furnaces  in  Pennsylvania 
from  the  year  1741  or  earlier  until  about  the  year  1760. 
Built  with  an  open  end  against  a  wall  through  which  its 
fuel  was  introduced  from  outside  the  room  into  which  the 
stove  protruded,  it  is  to  this  wall  box  that  most  of  the 
important  decorated  plates  pertain."2  These  stove  plates 
were  evidently  intended,  as  the  tiles  of  the  times  were,  to 
instill  moral  lessons,  and,  with  the  accompanying  texts  or 
mottoes,  they  undoubtedly  served  as  object-primers  for 
young  intelligences. 

Carrying  their  moulds  from  furnace  to  furnace,  the  Ger- 
man workmen  wrought  well:  Many  of  their  designs  are 
imaginative  and  fine,  if  primitive,  and  the  elastic  and  pho- 
netic spelling  on  the  plates  is  more  than  interesting;  to  de- 
cipher it  is  an  art.  The  names  of  the  German  peasant 
artists  have  almost  entirely  perished ;  the  gathered-up  rem- 
nants, "  iron  heirlooms,"  show  indeed  a  "  leaven  of  art "  in 
even  the  early  household  necessities  of  the  Province. 

Firebacks  as  well  as  stoves  were  made  at  an  early  date. 
These  were  placed  at  the  back  of  the  open  fireplaces,  to 
protect  the  bricks  or  mortar; — often  there  were  side  pieces 
as  well,  forming  a  fireplace  lining.  Illustrations  of  these 

/*  The  Decorated   Stove  Plates   of  the   Pennsylvania   Germans,   by   H. 
C.  Mercer. 

2  The  Decorated  Stove  Plates  of  the  Pennsylvania  Germans,  by  H. 
C.  Mercer. 


10  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

and  the  stove  plates  will  be  given  in  connection  with  the 
furnaces  where  they  were  made,  as  far  as  we  have  been 
able  to  procure  them.  The  process  of  moulding  firebacks 
is  interesting.  The  patterns  were  made  in  wood,  and  then 
pressed  into  sand  which  had  been  wet  and  pounded,  to 
make  it  hard  and  unyielding  enough  to  retain  the  impres- 
sion of  the  wooden  pattern,  which  was  then  carefully  re- 
moved, and  the  melted  iron  allowed  to  flow  into  the  im- 
pression thus  made. 

It  may  be  well  to  begin  our  chronicles  of  the  early  iron 
works  and  their  owners,  with  a  quotation  from  J.  Leander 
Bishop's  "History  of  American  Manufactures":  "There 
are,"  he  says,  "  few  reliable  statistics  either  of  the  number 
or  product  of  iron  works  in  any  of  the  States  in  the  eight- 
eenth century."  With  these  chastening  words  perpetually 
in  mind,  we  go  on,  having  in  view  two  objects;  the  first,  to 
be  accurate  as  far  as  possible  within  our  narrow  limits; 
the  second,  to  bring  together,  in  fairly  chronological  order, 
some  of  the  overlooked  and  forgotten  details  of  early  pro- 
vincial existence,  in  the  great  State  of  which  we  are  so 
justly  proud. 

Augusta  M.  Longacre. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  II 

POOL  FORGE. 
PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  LATER  BERKS. 

The  first  successful  attempt  to  establish  iron  works 
in  Pennsylvania  was  that  of  Thomas  Rutter,  an  English 
Quaker,  who  about  1716  built  a  bloomary  forge  called 
Pool  on  Manatawny  Creek,  near  Pottstown.  Jona- 
than Dickinson  writing  in  1717  says,  "This  last  summer 
one  Thomas  Rutter,  a  smith,  who  lives  not  far  from 
Germantown,  hath  removed  further  up  in  the  country 
and  of  his  own  strength  hath  set  about  making  iron. 
Such  it  proves  to  be  as  is  highly  set  by,  by  all  the 
smiths  here,  who  say  that  the  best  of  Sweeds'  iron  doth  not 
exceed  it,  and  we  have  heard  of  others  that  are  going  on 
with  the  iron  works.  It  is  supposed  there  is  stone  (ore) 
sufficient  for  ages  to  come — and  in  all  likelihood  hemp 
and  iron  may  be  improved  and  transported  home — .  .  .  if 
not  discouraged." 

["American  iron  was  sent  to  England  in  1717  and  so 
much  jealousy  was  excited  by  it  in  the  mother-country  that 
in  1719  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Parliament  to  prevent 
the  erection  of  rolling  and  slitting  mills  here;  it  was  then 
rejected,  but  in  1750  such  an  act  was  finally  passed;  the 
exportation  of  pig  metal  to  England  free  of  duties  was 
however,  allowed."]1 

The  original  patent  of  William  Penn  to  Thomas  Rutter, 
of  three  hundred  acres  in  Manatawny,  issued  in  1714-15 
is  still  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant.  Two  Pool 
Forges  existed  here,  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  for 
a  short  time.  The  authorities  differ  as  to  their  dates  and 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  p.  26. 


12  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE  ^ 

precedence,  and  it  seems  probable  that  one  simply  suc- 
ceeded the  other,  under  the  same  owners.  Situated  about 
three  miles  above  Pottstown,  on  the  Manatawny,  this 
bloomary  forge  was  probably  of  the  most  primitive  de- 
scription, iron  being  made  directly  from  the  ore,  as  in  an 
ancient  Catalan  forge. 

In  a  list  of  passengers  from  London  to  Barbadoes  in 
1635,  is  the  name  of  Thomas  Rutter  aged  22.1  Whether 
this  Rutter  is  in  any  way  related  to  the  first  ironmaster  of 
the  same  name  is  dubious.  The  marriage  of  Thomas 
Rutter  and  Rebecca  Staples  took  place  in  Friends'  Meeting 
at  Pennsbury,  loth  month,  nth,  i685.2  On  Holmes's 
map  printed  in  Penn's  time  Thomas  Rutter  is  mentioned 
as  the  owner  of  a  tract  of  land  bordering  on  Germantown, 
opposite  Cresheim  Creek,  adjoining  that  of  Thomas  Mas- 
ters. The  place  was  called  Bristol  township,  and  is  not 
far  from  Milltown,  now  Abington.  Rutter  and  his  wife 
became  members  of  Abington  meeting  in  1685.  He  was 
a  Public  Friend  and  an  active  member  there  until  the 
schism  among  the  Quakers,  led  by  George  Keith  in  1.691. 
At  that  date  he  subscribed  his  name,  with  sixty-nine  others, 
to  the  paper  issued  at  Burlington  in  defence  of  Keith:  a 
document  not  sufficiently  well  known.  Rutter  was  bap- 
tized in  1691  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Killingworth,  and  as  he 
was  already  a  preacher,  he  now  set  forth  the  doctrines  of 
Keith,  who  taught  that  Christ  the  external  Word,  and  the 
visible  sacraments  He  commanded,  were  of  higher  value 
than  the  "inward  light."  Rutter  organized  several  so- 
cieties of  this  persuasion,  among  them  being  one  at  Lower 
Dublin  in  1697  in  the  house  of  Abraham  Pratt,  which, 
after  vicissitudes,  seems  to  have  developed  into  Trinity 

1  John  Camden  Hotten,  The  Original  Lists  of  Persons  of  Quality,  Emi- 
grants, Religious  Exiles,  etc.,  1600-1700. 

2  Records  of  Middletown  Monthly  Meeting,  Bucks  County. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  13 

Church,  Oxford,  one  of  our  most  venerated  churches, 
which  possesses  a  chalice  of  silver  presented  by  Queen 
Anne.  Evidently  a  man  of  general  interests,  Rutter  suc- 
ceeded Pastorius  in  1705-6  as  Bailiff  of  Germantown. 

In  1717  he  removed  "up  the  Schuylkill"  and  was  for 
years  active  in  every  phase  of  iron  making  as  then  under- 
stood. 

When  Rutter  and  Nutt  settled  on  the  Manatawny  and 
French  Creeks,  they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  Delaware  or 
Lenni  Lenape  Indians:  the  "original  people."  In  deal- 
ing with  them,  Penn,  Pastorius,  Rutter  and  Nutt  had  been 
friendly  and  earned  their  good  will.  William  Penn's 
estimate  of  the  Indian  character,  as  he  found  it,  is  so 
fine,  even  if  rose  colored,  that  part  of  it  must  be  quoted 
here.  Writing  to  the  Society  of  Free  Traders,  he  says: 
"In  liberality  they  excel;  nothing  is  too  good  for  their 
friend ;  give  them  a  fine  gun,  coat,  or  anything,  and  it  may 
pass  twenty  hands  before  it  sticks.  Light  of  heart,  strong 
affections,  but  soon  spent.  The  most  merry  creatures  that 
live:  feast  and  dance  perpetually;  they  never  have  much, 
nor  want  much :  wealth  circulateth  like  the  blood.  None 
shall  want  what  another  hath,  yet  exact  observers  of  prop- 
erty. Some  Kings  have  sold,  others  presented  me  with 
several  parcels  of  land;  the  pay  or  presents  I  made  them 
were  not  hoarded  by  the  particular  owners.  .  .  .  They 
care  for  little  because  they  want  but  little ;  and  the  reason 
is,  a  little  contents  them.  In  this  they  are  sufficiently 
revenged  on  us;  if  they  are  ignorant  of  our  pleasures, 
they  are  also  free  from  our  pains.  They  are  not  dis- 
quieted with  bills  of  lading  or  exchange,  nor  perplexed 
with  chancery  suits  or  exchequer  reckonings.  We  sweat 
and  toil  to  live;  their  pleasure  feeds  them,  I  mean  their 
hunting,  fishing  and  fowling,  and  this  table  is  spread 
everywhere.  They  eat  twice  a  day,  morning  and  evening, 


14  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

their  seats  and  table  are  the  ground.  Since  the  Europeans 
came  into  these  parts,  they  are  grown  great  lovers  of 
strong  liquors,  rum  especially ;  and  for  it  exchange  the  rich- 
est of  their  skins  and  furs.  If  they  are  heated  with  liquors, 
they  are  restless,  till  they  have  had  enough  to  sleep;  that 
is  their  cry, — Some  more  and  I  will  go  to  sleep.  Biit< 
when  drunk  they  are  one  of  the  most  wretched  spectacles 
in  the  world." 

After  the  noted  attack  on  Pool  Forge  in  May,  1728, 
by  unfriendly  Indians,  when  they  were  repulsed  with 
small  loss,  by  the  workmen,  there  was  a  call  sent  out  by 
Governor  Gordon,  to  Sassoonan,  the  King  of  the  Dela- 
wares,  and  the  other  chiefs,  to  a  council  or  treaty  at  Phil- 
adelphia ;  presents  were  prepared  for  them,  and  they  were 
hospitably  entertained  during  their  stay.  At  the  first  meet- 
ing, in  the  Court  House,  many  Indians,  Government  offi- 
cials, inhabitants  and  interpreters  being  present  the  Gov- 
ernor made  a  high  flown  and  conciliatory  speech,  gave 
presents  of  blankets  (Strouds,  a  kind  of  blanket  made  at 
Stroudwater4  in  England),  shirts,  powder,  lead,  knives, 
scissors, — and  finished  by  giving  to  the  relations  of  the 
deceased  Indians  "these  six  handkerchiefs  to  wipe  away 
their  tears"!  Another  meeting  was  held  the  next  day, 
but  the  excitement  was  so  great  that  the  Court  House  was 
too  small,  and  they  adjourned  to  the  great  Meeting  House, 
a  vast  audience  filling  the  house  and  all  its  galleries. 
Sassoonan,  on  being  called  to  speak,  asked  his  friend 
Thomas  Rutter,  Sr.,  "to  sitt  near  him,"  and  spoke  warmly 
of  what  he  would  do  to  clear  the  path  between  the  place 
where  he  lived  and  this  town,  he  would  "cutt  up  every 
bush  and  grub  that  may  stand  in  the  way."  As  applied  to 

1 "  A  town  long  famous  for  its  woolens,  and  supposed  to  owe  much  of 
its  prosperity  to  the  peculiar  qualities  of  the  stream  called  Stroudwater, 
which  is  admirably  adapted  for  dyeing  scarlet."  Lewis,  Topographical 
Dictionary  of  England. 


The  Arms  of  Great  Britain,  painted  on  the  panel  in  the  Court  House, 
behind  the  Judge's  chair,  1707.  Presented  to  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania  when  the  Court  House  was  taken  down,  1837. 


Stoveplate   from   old   house,    Chestnut   Hill. 
Philadelphia. 


The   Seal   of  the   City   of 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  15 

Rutter,  this  language  seems  to  show  his  standing  with 
neighboring  Red  men. 

Besides  the  first  forges,  Thomas  Rutter  with  others 
erected  the  first  blast  furnace,  Colebrookdale,  in  the  prov- 
ince. The  original  owners  of  Pool  Forge  and  Colebrook- 
dale Furnace  were  almost  identical. 

In  1731  Pool  Forge  was  owned  by 

Anthony  Morris %  part 

Alexander  Wooddrop %  part 

Samuel  Preston %e  part 

William  Attwood %e  part 

Jno.  Leacock VIQ  part 

Nath1.  ffrench    %6  part 

Geo.  Mifflin VIQ  part 

Tho3.  Potts  and  G.  Boon  .  .   M.6  part 
The  other  %  belonged  to  the  Rutters.1 

This  man  of  many  interests  and  enterprises  did  not  live 
out  his  allotted  years.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  Phil- 
adelphia, March  13,  1729-30,  has  this  entry:  "On  Sun- 
day night  last  died  here  Thomas  Rutter  senior.  He  was 
the  first  that  erected  an  iron  work  in  Pennsylvania."  At 
this  date  he  was  probably  a  little  over  sixty.  Among  the 
great  names  in  our  early  iron  industry,  those  of  Rutter  and 
Potts  stand  preeminent;  their  descendants  have  intermar- 
ried for  six  generations,  during  a  period  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  years.  The  list  of  forges  and  furnaces  on  the 
Manatawny  and  its  branches,  owned  by  the  families  of 
Rutter  and  Potts,  before  the  Revolution,  is  most  imposing. 
It  includes  Mount  Pleasant  Furnace  and  Forge,  Spring 
Forge,  Colebrookdale  Furnace  and  Forge,  Amity  Forge, 
Rutter's  Forge,  Pool  Forges,  Pine  Forge,  Little  Pine 
Forge  and  McCall's  Forge.2  Augusta  M.  Longacre. 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  p.  26. 

2  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  by  Mrs.  James. 


16  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


17*9  COVENTRY  FORGE. 

CHESTER  COUNTY. 

The  beginnings  of  this  noted  forge  on  French  Creek  are 
somewhat  misty.  Evidently  the  earliest  venture  of  Sam- 
uel Nutt,1  it  was  a  Catalan  forge,  and  dates  from  1718  or 
1719.  By  1724,  the  iron  made  there  was  in  demand. 

Just  when  William  Branson  became  a  partner  with  Sam- 
uel Nutt  is  uncertain,  but  it  was  before  1728,  for  there  is, 
in  an  early  newspaper,  the  offer  of  a  reward  of  forty 
shillings,  under  their  joint  names,  on  March  29th  of  that 
year,  for  one  Richard  Snaggs,  who  the  Weekly  Mercury 
of  Philadelphia  stated  had  deserted  from  the  works  on 
French  Creek.  The  following  winter,  Nutt  at  the  iron- 
works, and  Branson  at  Philadelphia,  offer  the  same  sum 
for  the  recovery  of  John  Bartam,  a  tailor,  and  Nathaniel 
Ford,  who  both  ran  away  from  the  works.2 

In  the  oldest  Coventry  Ledger  extant,  there  are  entries : 

"  Sept.  9,  1727 — To  William  Branson  "  etc 
His  name  occurs  frequently. 

"March  7,  1727. 

To  bringing  up  a  Cag  of  Rum  by  Anne  Robert's  Cart — 

6d  n 
"March  27,  1728.     To  the  weaving  of  n  yds  and  J^ 

Stuff  by  John  Hibbert,  omitted  last  reckoning, " 
"Nov.  27,  1729.     By  a  Bridal  for  the  Mrs." 

"  To  one  qt.  malossos  for  Indian  Daniel  taking  up  your 

pocket  book." 

1  For  Samuel  Nutt,  see  Reading  furnace. 

2  Futhey  and  Cope,  Chester  County,  344. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  17 

The  keeper  at  the  works  was  paid  twenty  shillings  per 
week.  An  ore  bed  was  discovered  at  Coventry  in  the  early 
days,  by  an  Indian.  The  reward,  which  was  given  to  his 
daughter,  was  an  iron  pot,  of  the  value  of  two  shillings.1 
There  was  an  agreement,  March  15,  1736,  between 
Samuel  Nutt  and  William  Branson  of  the  first  part,  and 
John  Potts,  of  the  second,  in  which  the  latter  agrees  to 
carry  on  a  furnace  called  "Redding"  recently  built  near 
Coventry,  for  the  two  former,  who  are  "joint  owners." 
William  Branson  had  taken  out  warrants  for  additional 
land  in  1733.  Some  of  this  property  adjoined  that  of 
Samuel  Nutt,  which  may  have  been  a  reason,  both  for 
their  partnership  and  for  the  disagreement  which  was  being 
adjusted  at  the  time  of  Samuel  Nutt's  death.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  surveys,  a  correspondent  writes  to  the  sur- 
veyor, November  26,  1735  :  "  I  have  not  seen  Samuel  Nutt 
since  I  received  thy  letter,  which  informs  me  of  his  returns 
being  sent  up.  I  hope  that  Wm.  Branson's  are  also  sent, 
that  thereby  the  long-depending  affair  between  them  may 
be  at  length  settled."2  A  man  of  enterprise,  Branson, 
on  the  dissolution  of  partnership  with  the  heirs  of  Samuel 
Nutt  in  1739,  is  said  to  have  taken  Reading  Furnace  as  his 
share;  and  a  little  later,  in  1742,  he  became  the  owner  of 
Windsor  in  Caernarvon  township,  and  built  a  forge  and 
the  mansion.3  He  was  also  the  pioneer  in  steel,  being  the 
owner  in  1737,  of  the  Vincent  Steel  Works  on  French 
Creek  in  Chester  county.  Just  when  Branson's  steel  fur- 
nace was  started  in  Philadelphia  is  not  certain,  but  it  is  said 
to  have  been  "near  where  Thomas  Penn  first  lived  on 
Upper  Chestnut  street."  The  other  one,  Stephen  PaschaFs, 
was  built  in  1747,  and  stood  on  a  lot  at  the  northwest  cor- 

1  Book  B.  Ledger,  Coventry,  in  collection  of  the  Hon.  S.  W.  Pennypacker. 

2  Pott  Memorial. 

3  See  Windsor  Forges. 


18  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

ner  of  Eighth  and  Walnut  Streets.  To  complete  the  list 
of  steel  works  in  Pennsylvania  at  that  time,  we  must  men- 
tion a  plating  forge  with  tilt  hammer  in  Byberry,  Philadel- 
phia county,  owned  by  John  Hall,  who  was  a  grandson  of 
Thomas  Rutter,  son  of  Joseph  and  Rebecca  Rutter  Hall. 
Of  the  Vincent  works,  Acrelius  says  in  1756:  "  At  Branz's 
works  there  is  a  steel  furnace,  built  with  a  draught  hole  and 
called  an  *  air  oven.'  In  this,  iron  bars  are  set  at  a  distance 
of  an  inch  apart.  Between  them  are  scattered  horn,  coal 
dust,  ashes,  etc.  The  iron  bars  are  thus  covered  with 
blisters  and  this  is  called  *  blister  steel.'  It  serves  as  the 
best  steel  to  put  upon  edge  tools."1 

William  Branson  was  the  son  of  Nathaniel  Branson,  of 
the  parish  of  Soning,  in  Berkshire,  England.  Nathaniel 
Branson  had  purchased  of  William  Penn  twelve  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  in  Pennsylvania,  but  he  never  came  out  to 
claim  his  tract.  By  deed  of  August  28,  1707,  this  tract 
was  conveyed  to  his  son,  William  Branson,  who  the  next 
year  became  a  passenger  on  the  Golden  Lion  and  who  took 
up  his  property  by  two  separate  warrants.  For  many 
years  he  lived  in  Philadelphia,  occupying  a  house  on  the 
east  side  of  Second  street.  His  four  daughters  became  the 
wives  of  well-known  Pennsylvanians :  Samuel  Flower, 
Bernhard  Van  Leer,  Lynford  Lardner,  and  Richard  Hock- 
ley.  He  died  in  1760.  It  is  so  difficult  to  obtain  any 
clear  information  as  to  the  ownership  of  the  Coventry 
Iron  Works  from  1740  on,  that  one  may  be  pardoned  for 
a  final  impression  that  "Anna  Nutt  and  Co.,"  were  large 
owners;  they  are  mentioned  in  a  petition,  1741,  as  "  owners 
of  ironworks  at  Coventry  and  Warwick  "  and  Mrs.  James 
tells  us  that  Mrs.  Robert  Grace  bought  back  part  of  the 
Coventry  estate.  Thomas  Potts  (1735-1785)  married 
Anna  Nutt  at  Coventry  in  1757,  and  established  himself 

1  Iron  Making  in  Pennsylvania,  Swank,  p.  23. 


\ 


:fc 


Stoveplate  supposed  to  have  been  cast  at  Coventry.  wY  B.'=  William 
Branson.  K.  T.  F.  =  Coventry  Furnace.  Owned  by  Mr.  A.  J.  Steinman, 
Lancaster. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  19 

in  business  in  Philadelphia,  for  the  sale  of  iron,  with  his 
uncle,  Thomas  Yorke.  By  his  marriage  a  share  in  the 
forges  and  furnaces  of  the  two  Samuel  Nutts  on  French 
Creek  came  into  his  hands.  In  1765  he  bought  from  his 
wife's  mother  and  her  husband,  Robert  Grace,  all  their 
rights  in  Coventry.  The  winter  house  of  Thomas  Potts 
and  his  wife  was  in  Front  Street,  Philadelphia,  then  a 
fashionable  quarter  of  the  city.  He  was  one  of  the  orig- 
inal members  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  was 
interested  in  the  navigation  of  the  Schuylkill  and  other 
large  State  interests,  and  a  warm  adherent  of  the  patriotic 
side,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  trouble  with  the  Mother 
country.  He  removed  to  Pottstown  in  1768,  where 
Washington  was  frequently  his  guest  at  the  Mansion.1 
For  years  he  was  a  member  of  Assembly.  Mrs.  Grace 
entertained  officers  of  the  Army  at  Coventry  Hall,  during 
their  stay  at  Valley  Forge. 

1  See  Pottsgrove  Forge. 


20  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


1719  COLEBROOKDALE  FURNACE. 

-20 

PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  LATER,  BERKS. 

Those  enterprising  colonists,  Thomas  Rutter  and 
Thomas  Potts,  having  demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  that 
the  early  experiments  at  the  mouth  of  the  Manatawny 
could  be  developed  into  a  great  iron  industry,  went  to  Phil- 
adelphia to  seek  capital  for  investment  in  their  new  enter- 
prise. The  time  had  come  when  they  could  no  longer 
work  single  handed.  The  expense  of  building  a  furnace  in 
those  early  days  was  about  five  hundred  pounds.  To  this 
must  be  added  the  wages  of  men  employed,  and  the  cost 
of  horses,  oxen  and  wagons  to  transport  the  wood  and 
iron.  An  area  of  woodland  two  miles  square  was  sufficient 
to  feed  the  furnace,  but  this  had  to  be  cut  and  made  into 
charcoal.  Without  capital  it  was  impossible  to  venture 
farther.  Accordingly  we  find  that  about  1720,  new  fur- 
naces were  projected  along  the  Manatawny,  and  one  on 
Iron  Stone  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  former.  This  was 
called  Colebrookdale,  and  was  managed  by  a  company  in- 
cluding Rutter  and  Potts  and  the  Philadelphians  Anthony 
Morris  and  James  Lewis.  The  original  lease  is  in- 
teresting : 

"Lease  Dated  the  13th  day  of  January  1724  Between 
Thomas  Rutter  senr  of  the  Ist  part,  Tho8  Rutter  and  John 
Rutter  of  the  2nd  part,  and  Evan  Owen,  Maurice  Morris, 
James  Lewis,  Robert  Griffith  and  Thomas  Marke  of  the 
third  part — 

"  For  a  certain  tract  of  Land  Scituate  upon  Ironstone 
River  in  Manatawny  in  the  County  of  Philadelphia  con- 
taining 100  acres,  To  hold  from  the  date  above,  for,  and 


Stove  plate  cast   at   Colebrookdale   Furnace.     Owned   by   the    Pennsylvania 
Museum   in   Memorial  Hall. 


Elijah  fed  by  ravens.     Mate  of  the  "  Seal  of  Philadelphia  "  plate. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  21 

during,  and  unto  the  full  end  and  Term  of  28  years  from 
thence  next  ensuing  and  fully  to  be  complete  and  ended — 
under  the  yearly  rent  of  L  30 

"Also  a  deed  of  copartnership  Between  the  said  parties. 
The  above  Lease  and  Deed  are  Left  in  the  hands  of 
Charles  Brockden  to  be  kept  indifferently  between  the 
parties  " 

2nd — "Thomas  Potts  senr  Leased  Colebrookdale  Fur- 
nace Jany  13th  1724  at  the  rate  of  48  Tonn  piggs  pr  annum 
Each  Tonn  being  valued  at  L  5 — How  much  does  the  Rent 
amount  to  to  the  13th  of  January  174%  being  24  years?"1 

Swank's  "History  of  Iron  Making  in  Pennsylvania" 
says: 

"The  first  furnace  in  England  to  cast  pots  and  kettles 
and  other  hollow  ware  by  the  use  of  sand  moulds,  was 
Abraham  Darby's  Colebrookdale  furnace  in  Shropshire, 
which  he  leased  in  1709.  It  was  a  small  charcoal  fur- 
nace and  had  been  in  existence  for  a  century.  He  died  in 
1717.  As  he  was  a  Contemporary  pioneer  in  the  iron 
business  and  a  Friend  or  Quaker,  as  were  most  of  the 
pioneer  iron  masters  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is  easy  to  imagine 
that  our  colonists  should  have  called  their  first  furnace 
after  the  Colebrookdale  furnace  in  Shropshire." 

Famous  as  the  first  blast  furnace  in  Pennsylvania,  Cole- 
brookdale had  a  long  and  prosperous  career.  It  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Potts  Memorial  as  still  standing  in  1785 
though  not  in  active  operation.  Though  Thomas  Rutter 
was  the  largest  owner,  the  management  from  the  first 
seems  to  have  devolved  on  Thomas  Potts.  Thomas 
Rutter  died  in  1730,  and  in  the  following  years  the  com- 
pany was  reorganized  by  the  persons  whose  names  are 
here  given  and  the  proportion  of  shares  held  by  each — 

1  Ledger  of  Colebrookdale  Furnace,  in  collection  of  the  Hon.  S.  W. 
Pennyp  acker. 


22  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

Nath1  ffrench  %2,  Alex.  Wooddrop  %2,  Sam1  Preston 
y±2  Wm  Attwood  %2,  Anth°  Morris  %2,  Jno  Leacock  %2, 
Geo  Mifflin  K2,  T.  Potts  and  G.  Boon  #2. 

Mrs.  James  in  the  Potts  Memorial  copies  the  record  of 
the  cost  of  this  rebuilding  verbatim,  the  oldest  document 
she  is  able  to  discover.  It  is  written  very  handsomely  on 
a  folio  sheet  of  paper,  and  is  Thomas  Potts's  account  with 
the  company.  Among  other  items  we  find 

"  %  gallon  of  Rum  given  to  the  workmen  at  the  Limekiln, 
%  Gallon  of  Rum  given  to  the  workmen  helping  up  with 

the  girders, 

To  paid  Timothy  Miller  for  dyett,  and  customary  allow- 
ance of  Rum  to  the  workmen  when  getting  Inn  Wall 
stones  over  the  Schuylkill  £1-5-8. 

An  interesting  item  in  the  Company's  minutes  reads  as 
follows — 

"  To  the  Persons  in  this  minitt  named,  viz :  Alexa  Wood- 
rupps,  Wm  Attwood,  Wm  Pyewell  for  Thomas  Rutter, 
Anth.  Morris,  George  Mifflin  and  Thos  Potts,  Being  a 
majority  of  the  Proprietors  of  Colbrook  ffurnace  Mett 
This  16  day  of  6  mo  1736. 

"  And  on  a  Complaint  y*  some  of  the  Ownra  of  sd  ffurnace 
were  deficient  in  finding  their  proportion  of  wood  for  Coal 
for  Carrying  on  the  Blast  of  sd  ffurnace  According  to 
articles  of  Agreement  with  Thomas  Potts,  Therefore  made 
Inquiry  Thereunto  And  find  that  there  is  a  deficiency 
Chargable  upon  the  Persons  under  named  And  it  is  now 
Agreed  &  Concluded  that  they  &  every  of  them  Immedi- 
ately find  &  Provide  the  Quantity  of  Woodland  annexed 
to  their  Names  and  y*  ye  possess  Thos.  Potts  with  the 
wood  thereon  Standing  for  the  use  of  the  sd.  Colebrook 
ffurnace  the  next  ensuing  Blast.  On  failure  whereof  'tis 
Concluded  &  Agreed  y*  the  sd.  Thomas  Potts  reserve  & 
Sell  so  much  of  their  part  &  share  of  the  Pigg  Iron  Cast, 
or  to  be  runn  &  Cast  as  shall  or  may  fully  purchase  or  pay 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  23 

for  their  full  Proportion  of  wood  according  to  the  undr 
Estimate  made  the  day  and  date  above,  viz — 

Thomas  Rutter,  deceased  to  make  good  5  5  acres  woodland 

John  Rutter  deceased  &  Thomas  Potts  75  Ditto 

Samuel  Preston  75  Ditto 

Edw'd  ffream  75  Do 

Nath1  ffrench  75  D° 

Jno  Leycock  75  Do 

Geo.  Boom  37%  Do 

417% 
Capt  Attwood. 

Taken  from  the  Minutes  of  sd  Comply  and  signed  by  us. 

ANTH°  MORRIS 
ALEXANDER  WOODROPP 
WILLIAM  PYEWELL 
GEORGE  MIFFLIN 
WM  ATTWOOD 
THOMAS  POTTS  " 

The  amount  of  wood  consumed  by  these  charcoal  fur- 
naces was  simply  enormous.  Some  of  them  when  in  blast 
used  from  five  to  six  thousand  cords  of  wood  annually, 
the  product  of  about  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  wood- 
land. This  was  an  advantage  to  the  infant  colony,  since 
lands  were  thereby  rapidly  cleared  which  might  be  used  for 
tillage. 

No  doubt  Indians  were  employed  to  some  extent  at  the 
forges  since  their  names  are  found  in  lists  of  workmen — as 
"Indian  John"  and  " Margalita " :  1728.  Though 
Thomas  Potts  was  connected  with  many  of  the  furnaces 
in  the  Manatawny  region,  Colebrookdale  was  the  scene  of 
his  greatest  activities.  He  became  possessed  of  g|reat 
estates  and  built  not  far  from  the  furnace  a  fine  mansion, 
still  standing,  called  Popodickon,  from  an  Indian  King, 


24  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

Popodick,  who  is  buried  under  a  magnificent  chestnut  tree 
about  five  hundred  yards  from  the  house.  Tradition  says 
the  Ironstone  Creek  was  originally  called  the  Popodick. 
When  in  1732  Benjamin  Franklin  established  the  Phila- 
delphia Library  Company  Thomas  Potts  was  one  of  the 
fifty  subscribers  to  the  project,  thus  indicating  his  interest 
in  literary  matters  as  well  as  in  extending  his  material  pos- 
sessions. Before  his  death  in  1752  in  the  seventy  second 
year  of  his  age,  he  saw  all  his  sons  and  daughters  married 
and  settled  around  him,  and  engaged  in  the  iron  business 
he  had  assisted  in  establishing.  In  his  will  he  leaves  his 
two  thirds  of  Colebrookdale  furnace  and  iron  mines  to  his 
son  Thomas,  who  by  his  marriage  with  Rebecca  Rutter 
was  already  part  owner  in  the  Colebrookdale  plant. 
Thomas  was  married  twice  and  had  seven  children  who 
lived  to  grow  up.  In  his  will  he  says:  "I  order  my 
part  of  the  furnace  with  lands,  together  with  house  and 
lands  I  now  live  on,  to  be  rented  out  till  my  son  David 
arrives  at  the  age  of  twenty  one  years,  and  if  he  inclines  to 
rent,  to  have  the  refusal."  But  David  did  not  take  the 
Colebrookdale  furnace,  nor  did  any  of  the  others  so  far  as 
we  can  learn,  succeed  to  this  fine  old  patrimony.  In  Nich- 
olas Scull's  map  of  Pennsylvania,  1759,  Colebrookdale 
furnace  is  located,  and  that  was  probably  the  period  of  its 
greatest  activity.  A  stove  plate  cast  at  the  furnace  in 
1763  was  exhibited  at  the  World's  Fair  in  Philadelphia. 

Mary  E.  Mum  ford. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  25 

READING  FURNACE. 
CHESTER  COUNTY. 

Reading  or  Redding  Furnace —  so  the  name  is  spelled  on 
old  plans  and  maps — on  French  Creek,  Chester  county, 
the  second  in  Pennsylvania,  was  built  probably  in  1720. 
It  is  said  its  site  was  at  or  near  Coventry  forge  of  earlier 
date.1  For  a  time  it  was  very  productive,  but  the  ore  ran 
out  and  it  was  then  dismantled  and  vacated.  This  is  the 
short  story  of  the  original  Reading  Furnace.  The  second 
of  the  same  name,  built  in  1736  or  1737,  was  a  mile  distant 
from  the  first. 

Their  founder  has  a  lasting  record.  As  the  quality  of 
the  root  or  the  seed  determines  after  growth,  so  does  Sam- 
uel Nutt,  land-buyer,  iron  worker  and  untiring  builder  of 
forges  and  furnaces  focus  in  himself,  as  it  were,  all  the  pos- 
sibilities of  Pennsylvania's  present  iron  industry.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Advanced  religious 
thought  and  convictions  doubtless  helped  to  draw  him  to 
Penn's  colony,  but  before  leaving  England  and  his  town  of 
Coventry  on  the  4th  of  May,  1714,  he  bought  of  Benjamin 
Weight  of  the  same  place  1250  acres  in  Pennsylvania, 
some  of  which  were  laid  out  in  Sadsbury  township.2  A 
characteristic  act  this,  and  before  touching  American  soil 
he  was  already  land-owner  by  purchase,  not  by  grant.  His 
certificate  from  the  monthly  meeting  of  Coventry  dated 
Second  month,  Seventh  day,  1714,  was  presented  to  Con- 
cord, Pa.,  meeting  on  the  Tenth  month,  Thirteenth  day 

1  History  of  Chester  County,  by  J.  Smith  Futhey  and  Gilbert  Cope,  p. 

345- 

2  Ibid.,  p.  670. 


26  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

of  the  same  year.1  There  followed  years  of  extraordinary 
initiative  and  accomplishment ;  his  energy  turned  the  hidden 
ore  of  the  primeval  forest  into  marketable  iron.  He  soon 
came  in  touch  with  Thomas  Rutter  and  Samuel  Savage, 
Rutter's  son-in-law.  These  men,  Rutter  and  Savage  and 
Nutt,  are  the  three  pioneers  of  Pennsylvania's  greatest  in- 
dustry— her  earliest  "  Iron  Kings."  Nutt  probably  in  his 
work  was  not  directly  associated  with  the  two  others,  but 
similar  interests  and  experiences  in  the  wild  region  of  the 
upper  Schuylkill  welded  these  men  together. 

In  Virginia  English  capitalists  helped  the  early  iron 
workers;  these  of  Pennsylvania  were  men  of  means,  as  well 
as  of  ability,  and  they  seem  to  have  had,  and  to  have  asked 
no  outside  aid. 

Having  taken  up  land  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Schuyl- 
kill, Nutt  went  thither  in  1716  or  1718,  and  built  there 
as  already  stated,  Coventry  Forge  and  later  Reading  fur- 
nace. He  is  said  to  have  returned  early  to  England  com- 
ing back  with  skilled  workmen,  and  at  French  Creek  the 
first  steel  in  America  was  made.2  The .  following  letter 
proves  that  he  had  set  up  a  forge  on  French  Creek  before 
July,  1720: 

"PHILADELPHIA,  July  2nd  1720. 
"My  Good  friend 

"  I  was  in  hopes  I  should  have  seen  thee  at  the  Forge 
before  this  time  but  suppose  some  other  Important  affairs 
Prevented  it — however  since  I  had  not  that  happiness;  I 
make  bold  to  Trouble  thee  with  a  ffew  Lines;  to  acquaint 
that  Wee  proceed  on;  In  our  Intentions  of  putting  up  an- 
other fforge  this  ffal  upon  the  ffrench  Creek  a  Little  above 
James  Peughs  upper  Line  and  shall  Dam  up  above  the 
fforks  of  the  North  &  South  Branches;  so  that  we  shall 

1  Ibid.,  p.  670. 

2  "  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,"  by  Mrs.  Thomas  Potts  James,  p.  31. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  27 

be  under  an  absolute  necessity  of  taking  up  all  that  Tract  as 
lyes  betwixt  the  said  James  Peughs  line  &  Phillip  Rodgers 
upon  the  North  branch  &  although  I  do  not  think  the  Land 
is  Inviting  to  any  other  body  to  meddle  with  it — yet  if  any 
one  should  attempt  to  do  so ;  I  desire  thee  to  Interpose  thy 
good  offices  In  our  favour  &  in  doing  so  thou  will  In  a 
Perticuler  manner  obleige  thy  ffr  to  serve  thee  at  all  times 

"Sam.  Nutt 

"  I  intend  to  take  a  turn  Down  Into  Chester  County  In  a 
Little  time  &  to  pay  thee  a  visit.  In  the  mean  time  pray 
give  my  Respects  to  thy  wife  &  family  and  accept  or  the 
same  Thy  Self  .  .  .  vale 

(Addressed) 

"To  Doctor  Isaac  Taylor  at  his  House  in  Thornbury  in 

Chester  County" 

From  1717  to  1721,  the  "absolute  necessity"  noted  in 
the  letter  to  Dr.  Taylor,  of  taking  up  land,  came  frequently 
upon  him  and  "very  inviting"  were  the  forest  acres — for 
on  October  2,  1717,  he  obtained  survey  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty,  an  iron  mine  therein  included.  This  tract  was 
patented  to  him  in  1718  and  the  warrant  for  taking  it  up 
dated  September  18,  1718,  called  for  four  hundred  acres. 
Another  warrant  October  2, 1718,  called  for  eight  hundred 
acres  near  the  branches  of  the  French  Creek;  three  hundred 
acres  of  this  were  laid  out  in  Coventry  two  years  later. 
Six  hundred  and  fifty  acres  on  French  Creek  including  the 
subsequent  site  of  the  Warwick  furnace,  were  conveyed  to 
him  on  May  2,  1719,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  more 
on  October  i,  1720.  On  May  23,  1721,  he  purchased 
from  James  Peugh  three  hundred  acres  on  French  Creek 
in  Coventry.1 

Years  elapse  and  no  more  is  heard  of  land  ventures  until 

1  History  of  Chester  County,  by  J.  Smith  Futhey  and  Gilbert  Cope, 
P.  344- 


28  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

January  6,  1732  or  1733,  when  James  Steel  wrote  from 
Philadelphia  to  John  Taylor,  the  surveyor : 

"  Our  ffrd  Saml  Nutt  having  paid  a  Good  sum  of  money 
to  me  for  the  Prop's  use  hath  requested  a  further  addition 
to  his  Lands  to  accommodate  his  Iron  Works,  which  the 
Proprietary  was  pleased  to  Grant  him.  I  doe  therefore 
request  thee  to  make  such  surveys  for  him  as  may  answer 
his  purpose." 

Long  before  this  latest  purchase,  iron  interests  came 
still  closer  to  him,  in  fact,  iron  entered  into  his  heart — 
happily  not  into  his  soul — for  in  1720,  or  soon  after,  he 
married  Anna,  daughter  of  Thomas  Rutter  and  widow  of 
Samuel  Savage,  and  thus  Anna  Nutt  was  daughter  of  one 
of  the  pioneers,  wife,  and  for  a  short  time,  widow  of  the 
second,  and  wife  of  the  third  whom  she  also  survived.1 

Some  of  the  acres  referred  to  in  the  following  order 
have  special  interest  in  connection  with  the  marriage : 

"  To  JACOB  TAYLOR  Surveyor.  General. 
"  By  the  commissioner  of  Property.          Pensihania.  ss. 

"  At  the  request  of  Samuel  Nutt  now  of  Chester  County 
that  we  would  Grant  him  to  take  up  near  the  Branches  of 
the  ffrench  Creek  the  quantity  of  Eight  hundred  acres  of 
Land  for  which  he  agrees  to  pay  to  the  use  of  the  Trustees 
Eighty  pounds  money  of  Pensilvania  for  the  whole,  and  the 
yearly  quit  rent  of  one  Shilling  Sterling  for  each  hundred 
acres.  These  are  to  authorize  and  require  thee  to  Survey 
or  cause  to  be  Surveyed  unto  the  said  Samuel  Nutt  at  or 
near  the  place  aforesaid  according  to  the  method  of  ye 
Townships  appointed,  the  said  quantity  of  Eight  hundred 
acres  of  Land  that  has  not  been  already  surveyed  nor 
appropriated  nor  is  Seated  by  the  Indians,  and  make  re- 
turns thereof  unto  the  Secretary's  office,  which  Survey  in 
case  the  said  Samuel  fulfil  the  above  agreement  within  .... 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  p.  29. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  29 

months  after  the  Date  hereof  shall  be  valid,  otherwise  the 
same  to  be  void  as  if  it  had  never  been  made,  or  this  War- 
rant ever  Granted.  Given  under  our  hands  and  Seal  of 
the  Province  of  Philadelphia  ye  2d  October.  Anno  D'ni 
1718. 

RICHARD  HILL, 
ISAAC  NORRIS 
JAMES  LOGAN." 

To  part  of  this  tract  Nutt  gave  the  name  of  Coventry 
and  from  it  to  Philadelphia  "  a  distance  of  40  miles  he  laid 
out,  it  is  believed,  and  made  at  his  own  expense  the  first 
road  of  any  extent  in  the  Province.  It  is  still  called  by 
aged  people  in  the  neighborhood  the  Nutt  or  Great  Road; 
it  passes  through  Valley  Forge,  crossing  the  creek  of  that 
name  near  Washington's  Headquarters."1 

On  a  hillside  within  these  acres,  near  the  branches  of 
the  French  Creek,  he  built  a  home  for  his  Anna  and  him- 
self like  the  old  houses  in  his  English  town — the  frame  of 
great  hewn  logs  between  which  were  cemented  stones.  No 
children  were  born  to  him  in  Coventry  Hall  but  devotion 
to  his  wife's  daughter,  Ruth  Savage,  caused  him  to  summon 
from  England  his  nephew,  Samuel  Nutt,  Jr.,  to  be  her  hus- 
band. Fortunately  the  young  people  approved  the  match 
and  the  wedding  took  place  Fifth  month,  seventeenth  day, 
Z733-  The  bride  could  not  have  been  sixteen  years  old; 
her  wedding  dress  was  of  brocade  with  high  heeled  buckled 
shoes  to  match,  and  tradition  says,  "her  rich  dowry  was 
far  outweighted  by  her  personal  and  mental  charms." 
Tradition  also  affirms  that  her  step-father,  Samuel  Nutt, 
was  the  younger  son  of  a  baronet  and  the  coat  of  arms  he 
brought  from  England  has  on  it  a  crescent,  the  mark  of  a 
second  son.2 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  p.  32. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  31. 


30  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

In  the  imagination  of  Mrs.  James — the  historian  of  the 
Potts  family — Samuel  Nutt  is  pictured  as  "  a  fine  English 
gentleman  with  no  sign  of  the  Quaker  garb  and  plainness ; 
the  careful  appointments  of  his  magnificent  horse,  his  lace 
ruffles  and  cocked  hat,  all  show  that  he  was  a  man  having 
authority."1  Authority  in  reality  he  had,  for  he  was  mem- 
ber of  Assembly  from  Chester  county  from  1723  to  1726 
and  when  a  new  Commission  of  Peace  was  issued  on  Pat- 
rick Gordon's  becoming  Governor,  Nutt  was  appointed  one 
of  his  Majesty's  Justices.  Other  indications  of  his  high 
standing  as  a  citizen  are  found.  In  1728,  he  was  chosen 
with  eleven  others  by  the  Governor  and  Council  to  run  a 
division  line  to  separate  Lancaster  county  for  the  old 
Chester  county,  though  he  does  not  appear  to  have  acted 
in  this  matter.  His  name  heads  a  list  of  taxables  in  1724. 
Emanuel  Swedenborg,  in  1734,  in  a  Latin  treatise  on  Iron 
writes:  UA  works  was  built  on  the  Schuylkill  River  by 
Master  Samuel  Nutt  with  furnaces  and  hearths."  In 
Bishop's  "History  of  American  Manufactures,"  we  read: 
"In  1718,  Jonathan  Dickinson  mentions  in  a  letter  that 
the  iron  works  forty  miles  up  the  Schuylkill  are  very 
great."  The  historian  adds:  "the  reference  here  was 
probably  to  the  Coventry  forge  on  French  Creek  in  Coven- 
try township,  Chester  Co.  This  bloomery  was  built  by  a 
person  named  Nutt  who  made  other  large  improvements 
at  the  place." 

The  nearness  of  Nutt's  furnace  and  home  to  the  scene  of 
the  only  hostility  of  the  period  in  Pennsylvania  between 
Indians  and  settlers,  explains  the  following  letter.  Mal- 
anton,  the  place  from  which  it  was  written,  is  a  misprint  for 
Morlatton,  near  Colebrookdale ;  part  of  it  is  now  called 
Douglassville.  It  is  forty-four  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
on  the  Reading  Railroad.  It  was  settled  early  by  the 

1  ibid.,  p.  51. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  31 

Swedes,  and  the  name  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  a 
district  in  Sweden.  An  old  Swedish  church  still  stands 
there,  called  St.  Gabriel's.  The  Governor  of  the  Province, 
news  of  trouble  having  reached  him,  had  visited  the  region. 
Believing  that  affairs  were  again  peaceful,  he  was  about 
to  return  to  Philadelphia  when  Nutt's  communication 
reached  him  by  express : 

"MALANTON,  May  n  1728 
"May  It  Please  The  Governour 

"Just  now  I  RVed  the  Disagreeable  news  that  one 
Walter  Winter  and  John  Winter  have  Murdered  one  In- 
dian Man  and  Two  Indian  Women  without  any  cause 
given  by  the  sd  Indians;  and  the  said  Winters  have  brought 
two  girls  (one  of  which  is  Crippled)  to  George  Boon's  to 
receive  some  Reward.  I  desire  the  Governour  may  see 
after  it  before  he  goes  Down,  for  most  certainly  such 
actions  will  create  the  greatest  antipathy  between  the  Sev- 
eral Nations  of  Indians  and  the  Christians.  The  Bearer 
John  Petty  has  heard  the  full  relation  of  this  matter,  to 
whom  I  shall  refer  the  Governour  for  a  more  full  account 
and  remain  the  Governour's  most  hearty  friend  and  Serv't 
to  Command. 

SAMLL  NUTT." 

Immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  the  Governor 
issued  a  proclamation,  commanding  the  people,  in  his 
Majesty's  name,  "  to  levy  Hue  and  Cry  with  Horse  and 
with  Foot  within  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,"  for  the 
apprehension  of  these  murderers  who  were  afterwards 
tried,  convicted  and  hanged. 

The  circumstances  connected  with  this  one  unfortunate 
episode  in  the  otherwise  peaceful  relations  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania colonists  and  the  Indians  are  strikingly  picturesque 
and  rich  in  the  coloring  of  the  wild  places  and  the  time. 

In  1736,  the  second  Reading  furnace  recently  built,  was 


32  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

handed  over  by  Samuel  Nutt  and  Wm.  Branson,  joint 
owners,  to  John  Potts,  to  carry  on  upon  the  following 
terms.1  He  was  "  to  cast  the  quantity  of  twenty-eight 
hundred  weight  of  Cart  Boxes,  Sash  Weights  or  any  other 
Particular  small  Castings  every  Month  during  the  Contin- 
uance of  the  said  Blast.  .  .  .  And  they  also  covenant  that 
ye  said  Owners  or  their  Clerks  or  Agents  for  the  Time 
being,  shall  deliver  no  Quantity  of  Rum  to  any  of  the 
People  Belonging  to  the  Furnace  or  therein  concerned, 
without  a  Note  or  Token  from  the  said  John  Potts  or  his 
Agents  or  Assistants."2 

In  an  inventory  taken  of  the  estate  of  Nutt  when  start- 
ing his  partnership  with  Branson,  mention  is  made  of  "  a 
ring  round  the  shaft  at  the  old  furnace."  and  of  u  one  tonn 
of  sow  mettle  at  the  new  furnace." 

Over  Nutt's  signature  we  have  a  glimpse  of  labor 
conditions  in  an  advertisement  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette,  July  1737,  for  a  run-away.  The  man  was  a  Re- 
demptioner  or  Redemptionist,  the  name  used  to  designate 
persons  sold  on  arrival  by  contractors  or  captains  of  ships 
to  pay  for  their  passage  from  abroad. 

"  FRENCH  CREEK  IRON  WORKS  CHESTER  COUNTY 

"July  34d  1737. 

"  Run  away  from  the  iron  works  aforesaid,  a  servant- 
man  David  McQuatty;  by  trade  a  Hammerer  &  Refiner, 
but  has  forermly  followed  shaloping  up  &  down  the  Bay 
from  Egg  Harbor.  He  is  a  Scotchman  but  speaks  pretty 
good  English,  middle  siz'd  about  28  years  of  age  of  a 
thin  visage  &  a  little  pockpetten,  with  a  Roman  nose  &  a 
few  spots  of  Gunpowder  under  his  right  eye. 

He  is  a  talkertive  man,  given  to  liquor,  &  then  very 
quarrelsome  He  has  such  a  trembling  in  ther  nerves  that 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  pp.  34  and  35. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  51. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  33 

he  can  hold  nothing  in  his  hands  steadily,  he  has  a  very 
small  mouth  and  thin  lips.  He  had  on  when  he  went  away, 
a  new  drugget  coat  &  jacket  of  a  kind  of  yellowish  or  snuff 
color — a  good  new  fine  shirt — a  new  castor  hat — a  dark- 
ish silk  handerkerchief — a  cotton  cap — a  pair  of  new  linen 
drawers  or  a  pair  of  Osenbrigs  trowers,  &  a  pair  of  Irge 
carved  brass  buckles  in  his  shoes. 

"Whoever  secures  the  said  servant  so  that  his  master 
may  have  him  again,  shall  have  £3  if  taken  up  in  this  Prov- 
ince, or  £5  if  taken  up  in  any  other  Province  &  all  reason- 
able charges  paid  by 

SAMUEL  NUTT  "* 

Samuel  Nutt  was  busied  with  his  chosen  work  until  the 
end,  for  he  died  in  1737.  The  inventory  of  his  estate 
taken  in  May,  1738,  is  divided  into  two  parts.  That 
which  he  held  in  company  with  Wm.  Branson  amounted  to 
£2912;  to  be  divided  equally  between  them.  His  private 
estate  amounted  to  £5444. 

The  following  extract  from  the  inventory  of  the  private 
estate  contains  items  characteristic  of  the  time : 

One  tonn  of  sow  mettle  at  new  ffurnace  L  5-105.0 

18  Stove  plates  10  cwt.  L.8-i6s.o 

The  mine  trace  containing  250  acres  of  land    L  1500-0.0 
650  acres  of  land  in  Nantmill  on  which  the 
new  ffurnace  is  building  with  Sundry  out- 
houses L  5  25-0.0 
267  acres  of  land  in  Coven tyr  being  the  land 

on  which  Samuel  Nutt's  house  stands  L  300.0.0 

A  negro  boy  named  "  Cudjo  "  L  30.0.0 

A  negro  boy  named  "George"  L  15.0.0 

2  hhds  Rum  L.26-is.o 

78  ells  Oxenbrigs2  L  7-75.0 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  pp.  51-52. 

2  Ozenbriggs.    A   very   heavy   linen,   made   originally    at   Osnabruck, 
Hanover,  used  in  great  quantities  in  America  during  Colonial  times  for 
shirts,  breeches  and  clothing  for  hard  use.     It  was  sold  in  large  bales, 
particularly  in  the  South,  for  use  by  the  slaves. 

4 


34  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

His  will,  dated  September  25,  1737,  bequeaths  one  half 
of  his  estate  in  Reading  furnace  and  Coventry  forge  to 
Samuel  Nutt,  Jr.  and  Rebecca,  his  wife,  and  the  other 
half  after  payment  of  some  legacies,  to  his  own  wife, 
Anna.  He  particularly  directs  that  she  is  to  have  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  land  on  the  South  Branch  of 
French  Creek  one  hundred  and  thirty  perches  in  length  on 
which  to  build  a  furnace,  and  leave  to  cut  as  much  timber 
upon  the  lands  adjacent  as  would  suffice  to  erect  the  same. 
His  idea  seemed  to  be  that  she  and  her  sons  might  carry  on 
this  establishment  while  her  son-in-law  managed  Cov- 
entry.1 

Nutt's  busy  brain  glowed,  while  his  mortal  life  flickered, 
with  thoughts  of  the  furnace  that  his  wife  and  her  sons 
were  yet  to  build.  He  then  lighted  fires  which  burned  for 
many  decades  and  the  land  on  which  stood  Warwick  fur- 
nace, is  still  owned  by  the  descendants  of  Anna,  wife  of 
Samuel  Nutt,  Sr.2 

For  forty  years,  from  the  time  of  Nutt's  death,  little  or 
nothing  is  found  recorded  of  the  Reading  furnace.  In 
1777  it  blazes  forth  with  unexpected  brilliancy;  for  a 
letter  from  Washington  written  on  his  memorable  way 
between  Brandywine  and  Valley  Forge  with  an  impover- 
ished army,  is  dated : 

"19  September  1777. 
"  READING  FURNACE,  6  o'clock  P.  M. 

"Dear  Sir.  I  have  received  yours  of  half  past  3  o'clock 
having  wrote  to  you  already  to  move  forward  upon  the 
enemy,  I  have  but  little  to  add — Generals  Maxwell  &  Potter 
are  ordered  to  do  the  same,  being  at  Potts'  Forge.  I  could 
wish  you  and  these  generals  would  act  in  conjunction  to 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  p.  53. 

2  History  of  Chester  County,  by  J.  Smith  Futhey  and  Gilbert  Cope, 
p.  211. 


Stoveplate,    Reading   Furnace,    1772.     Owned  by  the   Pennsylvania 
Museum  in  Memorial   Hall. 


Plate",    1766. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  35 

make  your  advance  more  formidable,  but  I  would  not  have 
too  much  time  delayed  on  this  account.  I  shall  follow  as 
speedily  as  possible  with  jaded  men — some  may  probably 
go  off  immediately  if  I  find  they  are  in  condition  for  it. 
The  horses  are  almost  all  out  upon  the  patrol.  Cartridges 
have  been  ordered  for  you.  Give  me  the  earliest  informa- 
tion of  everything  interesting,  &  of  your  moves,  that  I  may 
know  how  to  govern  mine  by  them. 

The  cutting  off  the  enemy's  baggage  would  be  a  great 
matter,  but  take  care  of  ambuscades, 

Yours  sincerely 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON.1 
Gen.  A.  Wayne 

Baker's  Itinerary  gives  details  of  Washington's  move- 
ments at  this  time2  but  makes  no  mention  of  Reading; 
this  letter  proves  his  presence  there. 

Here  its  story  ends  for  us.  Upon  the  foundations  of 
Colonial  government  and  English  traditions  rises  the 
changing  order  of  a  new  nation, — the  home  of  all  races, 
the  land  of  the  people's  rule.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  now 
that  Pennsylvania's  iron  wealth  is  one  of  the  largest  mate- 
rial assets  of  our  great  Republic,  that  Washington,  when 
his  faith  in  its  future  was  most  sorely  tried,  tarried  awhile 
at  Reading  Furnace. 

Eliza  B.  Kirkbride. 

1  Ege  Genealogy,  p.  79.    The  original  letter  is  in  the  Wayne  Collection, 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

2  Itinerary  of  Gen.  Washington,  by  Wm.  S.  Baker,  p.  91. 


36  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


1724  SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH'S  FURNACE. 

LOWER  COUNTIES. 

Sir  William  Keith,  the  last  deputy  governor  of  Penn- 
sylvania appointed  by  William  Penn,  was  born  in  England 
in  1680  and  died  in  that  country  in  1749.  He  was  heir  to 
an  empty  Scotch  title,  being  descended  through  the  re- 
nowned Keiths  of  Ludquahairn  from  many  of  the  nobility 
of  North  Britain,  his  own  family  having  been  formerly  rich 
and  powerful,  and  at  one  time  reckoned  amongst  the  great- 
est in  the  Kingdom  of  Scotland. 

Sir  William  had  been  well  educated  by  an  uncle,  and  in- 
herited much  of  the  ability  and  statesmanship  characteristic 
of  his  race  and  name. 

He  was  early  in  life  appointed  by  Queen  Anne,  Surveyor- 
general  of  the  royal  Customs  in  the  American  Colonies  at  a 
salary  of  500  pounds  per  annum.  He  spent  many  of  his 
days  at  this  time  in  the  colony  of  Virginia  where  the  gen- 
erous mode  of  living  of  the  wealthy  planters,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  Southern  women  were  much  to  his  taste. 

The  accession  of  the  Hanoverian  line  to  the  throne  cast 
Keith  out  of  office,  and  he  came  north  to  Philadelphia. 
Shortly  after  this,  having  obtained  through  the  influence 
of  his  friends  the  appointment  of  deputy  governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  he  immediately  brought  his  family  from 
England,  arriving  in  Philadelphia  on  the  3ist  of  May 
1717. 

The  governor's  household  consisted  of  his  second  wife, 
Lady  Keith,  her  daughter  by  a  former  marriage,  Anne 
Diggs,  his  three  sons,  Alexander  Henry,  Robert,  and  Wil- 
liam Keith  and  his  young  kinsman,  a  Scotch  physician, 


Weather  Vane   from    Residence   of   Sir   William   Keith,    Graeme   Park. 
Owned   by   the   Historical    Society    of    Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  37 

Thomas  Graeme,  who  later  married  his  stepdaughter, 
Anne  Diggs. 

In  1719  Sir  William  Keith  bought  a  large  tract  of 
twelve  hundred  acres  of  what  was  then  wild  land,  nineteen 
miles  from  Philadelphia  in  Horsham  township,  Mont- 
gomery county,  two  miles  northwest  of  the  Doylestown  and 
Willow  Grove  turnpikes,  and  in  1721  built  a  house  sixty- 
five  by  twenty-five  feet  in  size,  two  stories  high  with  a 
gambrel  roof,  the  walls  of  stone  and  over  two  feet  in  thick- 
ness, the  kitchen  and  offices  detached  and  flanking  each 
side  of  the  main  building.  The  drawing  room  is  a  fine 
room  for  those  times,  twenty-one  feet  square,  with  a  fire 
place  having  the  coat  of  arms  over  it,  and  adorned  with 
marbles  brought  from  England.  Dutch  tiles,  then  much 
in  fashion  in  the  colonies,  were  used  in  the  other  rooms. 
The  house  is  panelled  throughout  in  oak,  and  has 
a  good  colonial  stairway.  It  was  probably  finished  in 
1722,  this  being  confirmed  by  the  old  iron  weather  vane 
formerly  upon  it.  This  old  vane  was  in  1855  in  the  pos- 
session of  Hugh  Foulke  of  Gwynedd,  who  is  said  to  have 
purchased  it  from  the  Lukens  estate  in  1829  for  old  iron. 

"  It  was  of  wrought  iron,  thirty-eight  inches  in  length. 
The  part  bearing  *W.  K.  1722'  which  was  seventeen 
inches  in  length  was  cut  out  in  it  after  the  manner  of  a 
stencil.  At  the  lower  part  was  a  screw  with  which  it 
might  be  secured  to  its  place." 

There  is  also  an  iron  plate  in  a  hearth  in  a  second-story 
bedchamber  bearing  the  date  of  1728.  On  this  estate  Sir 
William  Keith  lived  in  great  style  with  seventeen  slaves, 
four  horses  for  his  coach,  seven  riding  horses  and  nine  for 
farm  work.  The  grounds  were  mostly  maintained  as  a 
hunting  park  and  stocked  with  deer  and  other  game. 

This  mansion  and  grounds  were  later  bought  by  Keith's 
son-in-law  Thomas  Graeme,  and  were  known  as  "  Graeme 


38  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

Park."  The  house  is  still  standing  though  in  very  bad 
repair,  and  the  grounds  left  to  run  wild.  Sir  William 
Keith's  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Fergusson,  inherited  the 
estate,  and  it  was  finally  sold  to  Samuel  Penrose  whose 
family  still  own  it. 

Sir  William  Keith's  administration  as  Governor  of  Penn- 
sylvania lasted  from  June  1717,  to  1726.  Probably  about 
1724  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Delaware  (then  part  of 
Pennsylvania)  at  Iron  Hill  on  Christiana  Creek,  near 
Newcastle,  where  he  built  the  first  iron  furnce  and  forge  in 
Delaware.  In  1717  he  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in 
London  that  uhe  had  found  great  plenty  of  iron  ore  in 
Pennsylvania." 

Emmanuel  Swedenborg  in  his  "DeFero"  printed  in 
1734,  mentions  smelting  works  on  Christiana  Creek  built 
by  Sir  William  Keith  in  the  latter  part  of  his  administra- 
tion, which  produced  large  quantities  of  iron  in  the  first 
two  years  of  their  existence,  but  were  abandoned  the  next 
year  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  smelting  the  ore.  All  traces 
of  this  forge  and  furnace  seem  to  have  disappeared,  nor  is 
there  to  be  found  any  specimen  of  the  work. 

Margaret  C.  Yarnall  Cope. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  39 

McCALL'S  OR  GLASGOW  FORGE.  1725 

PHILADELPHIA,  Now  MONTGOMERY  COUNTY. 

Along  the  banks  of  the  Manatawny  Creek,  which  rises 
in  Rockland  township,  Berks  county,  and  empties  into  the 
Schuylkill  River  at  Pottstown,  several  furnaces  were  sit- 
uated, among  them  McCall's  Forge  or  Glasgow  Forge,  by 
either  of  which  names,  according  to  Colonial  records,  the 
place  seems  to  have  been  equally  well  known.  The 
tract  of  land  containing  it  was  conveyed  in  trust  by  William 
Penn  to  his  son  John,  October  25,  1701,  and  comprised  all 
of  the  present  township  of  Douglas  and  the  upper  half  of 
Pottsgrove;  and  the  whole  of  Pottstown  to  the  Schuylkill, 
14,600  acres  in  all.  This  was  sold  by  John  Penn,  June 
20,  1735,  for  the  sum  of  two  thousand  guineas, — $9>333 
— to  George  McCall,  the  son  of  Samuel  McCall  of 
Glasgow,  Scotland.1  "  Fully  ten  years  before  the  date  of 
this  purchase,  in  company  with  Anthony  Morris,  3rd, 
George  McCall  had  erected  an  iron  forge  (called 
"McCall's  Forge,"  on  Scull's  map  of  1759)  at  Glasgow 
on  Manatawny  Creek,  which  he  named  for  the  place  of 
his  nativity.  Some  time  after,  he  engaged  Nicholas  Scull 
to  survey  plantations  on  a  certain  part  of  his  property  for 
which  he  permitted  his  five  sons  to  draw  lots." 

He  had  also  an  interest  in  Colbrookdale  Furnace,  then 
managed  by  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  which  supplied  McCalPs 
Forge  with  pig  iron.2  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  was  acting  for 
Anthony  Morris,  who  was  a  relative  of  his,  and  also  for 
George  McCall,  in  the  management  of  McCalPs  Forge. 

1  McCall  Family,  by  Frank  Willing  Leach. 

2  History  of  Montgomery  County,  by  W.  J.  Buck. 


40  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

A  merchant  of  note  and  enterprise,  McCall  rapidly  ac- 
quired a  fortune.  He  had  a  store  and  wharf  at  Plum 
Street ;  and  was  said  to  have  invested  largely  in  real  estate. 
In  1722,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  City  Council.  He 
married  Anne  Yeates  in  1716;  was  a  vestryman  of  Christ 
Church,  and  in  1718,  a  tenant  of  the  parsonage  house,  con- 
tributing largely  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  church.1  He  died 
in  1740,  and  by  his  will,  dated  September  21,  1739,  be- 
queathed 500  acres  of  what,  until  1753,  was  known  as 
McCall's  Manor,  to  his  son,  Alexander  McCall,  and  which 
subsequently  became  known  as  the  Forge  Tract.  Here 
the  McCalls,  Samuel,  Archibald  and  Alexander,  engaged 
extensively  in  manufacturing  interests,  and  operated  the 
old  forge  and  a  grist  and  saw  mill.  Samuel  McCall,  on 
September  8,  1752,  sold  the  old  forge  property  to  Joseph 
and  John  Potts  and  James  Hockley,  and  in  1789,  it  was 
sold  at  Sheriff's  sale  to  David  Rutter  and  Joseph  Potts,  Jr. 
Later  in  the  same  year  Rutter  sold  his  share  to  Samuel 
Potts,  and  it  continued  in  the  Potts  family  until  1832. 

In  1820,  there  were  at  the  place  a  small  sheet  iron  mill, 
two  bloomeries,  a  grist  mill,  a  saw  mill,  two  mansion 
houses,  ten  log  tenant  houses,  and  two  stone  tenant  houses, 
and  at  the  present  time  work  is  carried  on  there  by  the 
Glasgow  Iron  Works  and  Rolling  Mills. 

As  the  name  Manatawny  (meaning,  "the  place  where 
we  drink  ") ,  indicates,  there  were  a  number  of  Indian  tribes 
in  the  neighborhood,  who  viewed  with  dismay  the  large 
amount  of  wood  used  to  make  charcoal  for  the  furnaces. 
To  their  far-sighted  Chiefs,  this  wholesale  destruction  of 
woodland  presented  a  melancholy  picture  and  possibly  con- 
tributed not  a  little  to  their  disaffection. 

Probably  the  life  at  forge  or  furnace  in  those  days  dif- 
fered not  materially  from  that  of  the  sixties  in  the  last  cen- 

1  Descendants  of  Joran  Kyn,  by  Gregory  B.  Keen,  p.  7& 


»  PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  4! 

tury,  when  the  workmen  lived  scattered  over  several  miles 
of  country,  and  were  wakened  to  come  to  work  by  one 
long  blast  of  five  minutes,  blown  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  So  much  a  subconscious  part  of  the  day's  rou- 
tine had  this  whistle  become,  that  the  manager  of  one  iron 
works  was  startled  awake  one  morning  by  the  fact  that  the 
whistle  had  not  blown,  and  by  inquiring  the  reason  from 
the  engineer  later  in  the  day,  confirmed  the  impression  that 
"it  was  no  use  trying  to  fool  *  Mister'  even  when  he  was 
asleep." 

Margaret  Wister  Meigs. 


KURTZ'S  IRON  WORKS.  I726 

Kurtz,  possibly  an  Amish  Mennonite,  is  supposed  to 
have  established  iron  works  in  Lancaster  county  in  1726. 
Egle  says  on  Octorara  Creek.  These  works  are  said  by 
Day  to  have  been  the  first  in  the  county  although  Peter 
Grubb's  were  a  close  second.  Information  about  this 
undertaking  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  usual  records. 


42  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

I72g  ABBINGTON  FURNACE. 

LOWER  COUNTIES. 

In  1701  Welsh  settlers  coming  to  Delaware  from  the 
"Welsh  Tract"  in  Pennsylvania,  obtained  from  William 
Penn  a  grant  of  three  thousand  acres  of  land  which  was 
known  as  the  "Welsh  Tract."  Most  of  this  Welsh 
Tract,  of  the  lower  counties,  is  in  Pencader  Hundred. 

One  of  these  settlers,  James  James  by  name,  selected 
Iron  Hill  and  the  land  northward  to  Christiana  Creek, 
twelve  hundred  and  twenty-four  acres  in  all,  and  had  deed 
for  it  from  William  Penn  in  1703. 

Iron  Hill  is  the  most  marked  feature  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  is  mentioned  by  name  in  a  letter  of  May,  1661, 
in  which  Vice  Director  Hinijossa  relates  the  killing  there 
of  four  Englishmen  by  the  Indians. 

Part  of  this  land  coming  to  Samuel  James,  son  of  James 
James,  he  built  upon  it  a  forge  about  1723.  His  success, 
and  the  iron  ore  near  by  attracted  the  attention  of  some  of 
the  leading  iron  masters  in  Pennsylvania,  eight  of  whom 
formed  a  company  of  which  Thomas  Rutter  was  one,  and 
in  1726  erected  on  Christiana  Creek  a  furnace  and  forge  to 
be  called  "Abbington  Iron  Works."  They,  however, 
never  made  a  success  of  it;  Samuel  James  continued  the 
works  until  1735,  when  they  were  finally  sold  out  by  the 
sheriff.  Since  that  time  saw  mills  and  grist  mills  were 
operated  there  until  a  fire  in  1883  made  an  end  of  the 
whole  plant. 

Curiously  enough,  (1913)  the  site  of  these  old  iron 
works,  three  miles  from  Newark,  Delaware,  has  been 
bought  by  a  Philadelphia  capitalist,  and  is  now  in  the  hands 
of  experts,  German  and  American,  who  confidently  expect 
to  make  these  old  pits  profitable,  in  the  production  of 
platinum  and  gold. 

Margaret  C.  Yarnall  Cope. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  43 


DURHAM  FURNACE.  1727 

BUCKS  COUNTY. 

From  time  immemorial,  whenever  a  new  country  has 
been  about  to  be  settled,  there  has  been  included  in  its  con- 
cessions, charter  rights  or  other  legal  agreements,  some 
mention,  at  least,  of  the  mineral  wealth  which  later  occupa- 
tion of  the  territory  might  disclose.  The  "  Conditions  or 
Concessions  "  which  accompanied  William  Penn's  "  Frame 
of  Government,"  in  the  sixth  clause,  reads :  "  That  notwith- 
standing there  be  no  mention  made  in  the  several  Deeds 
made  to  the  purchasers,  yet  the  said  William  Penn  does 
accord  and  declare,  that  all  Rivers,  Rivulets,  Woods,  and 
Underwoods,  Waters,  Water-courses,  Quarries,  Mines, 
and  Minerals  (except  Mines  Royal)  shall  be  freely  and 
fully  enjoyed  and  wholly,  by  the  purchasers  into  whose  lot 
they  fall."1  But  however  far-reaching  their  outlook,  Wil- 
liam Penn  and  his  associates  little  dreamed  of  the  vast 
stores  of  wealth  and  energy  locked  up  in  the  coal  and  iron 
mines  of  his  beloved  Pennsylvania.  It  is  certain  that  the 
earliest  settlers  in  the  province, — the  Swedes, — were  in- 
formed of  the  existence  of  iron  ore  in  several  parts  of  the 
eastern  division  of  Pennsylvania,  but  meagre  resources  did 
not  permit  of  any  development  of  mining,  in  the  modern 
sense. 

Of  the  three  counties  into  which  Pennsylvania  was  orig- 
inally divided,  Bucks  was  the  easternmost.  The  subdi- 
visions of  this  county  into  townships,  left  one  of  the  small- 
est of  these,  known  as  Durham,  in  the  extreme  northeast- 
ern corner.  Much  earlier  in  date  than  its  neighbor, 

1  Colonial  Records  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I,  p.  xix. 


44  FORGES  AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

Northampton,  [Easton],  which  was  not  settled  until  1752, 
there  were  white  settlers  in  the  township  of  Durham  in 
1682.  James  Claypoole  wrote  on  June  4th  of  that  year: 
"We  are  to  send  one  hundred  men  to  Durham  to  build 
houses,  to  plant  and  improve  land,  and  to  set  up  a  glass- 
house for  bottles  and  drinking  glasses,  and  we  hope  to  have 
wine  and  oil  for  merchandise,  and  hemp  for  cordage,  and 
iron  and  lead  and  other  minerals."1  A  beautiful  stream, 
known  as  Durham  Creek,  enters  the  Delaware  in  the  ex- 
treme northern  portion  of  the  county,  and  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  its  mouth  are  the  remains  of  a  curious  cave, 
which  is  the  earliest  relic  of  the  white  man's  effort  to  heat 
and  mould  iron  near  the  spot.  This  great  natural  cavern 
was  regarded  as  a  wonder,  and  visited  by  every  newcomer 
or  prospective  settler,  and  famed  afar,  before  it  was  blasted 
and  its  beauty  ruined  in  order  to  quarry  its  limestone. 
The  frequent  Indian  village  sites  in  the  township  furnish  to 
the  antiquarian  many  fine  specimens  of  pipes,  pottery  and 
stone,  important  for  the  use  of  the  student. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  William  Penn  became  an 
owner  of  land  in  New  Jersey,  Andover  Township,  in  what 
is  now  Sussex  County,  by  a  warrant  from  the  Council  of 
Proprietors  dated  March  10,  1714.  Later  on,  about  1760, 
this  region,  containing  one  of  the  richest  mines  of  iron  ore 
in  New  Jersey,  was  opened  up  and  a  furnace  set  in  opera- 
tion. The  product  of  these  Andover  Iron  Works  was 
carried  upon  pack-horses  and  carts  down  the  valley  of  the 
Musconetcong  to  Durham  on  the  Delaware,  and  thence 
transported  on  "Durham  Boats"  to  Philadelphia. 

In  the  year  1717  (September  8th),  a  portion  of  Dur- 
ham township  was  patented  to  Jeremiah  Langhorne,  and 
John  Chapman.  Another,  of  twelve  hundred  acres,  was 
deeded  to  Langhorne  alone,  but  the  larger  part,  by  warrant 

1  Penn-Logan  Correspondence,  II,  p.  323. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  45 

and  survey,  became  the  property  of  James  Logan.  A 
famous  Indian  Treaty  was  begun  at  Durham  in  1734,  ad- 
journed to  Pennsbury,  and  finally  concluded  in  Philadel- 
phia, August  25,  1737.  The  infamous  "Walking  Pur- 
chase "  was  completed  through  this  section,  September  2Oth 
of  this  year. 

The  iron  ore  in  the  neighborhood  drew  the  attention  of 
the  settlers,  and  in  1726  a  company  was  formed  to  erect  a 
blast  furnace,  manufacture  pig-iron,  cast  pots  and  pans, 
and  make  firebacks.  The  furnace  was  located  at  the  vil- 
lage of  Durham,  near  a  school  and  church,  and  was  prob- 
ably the  second  erected  in  Pennsylvania.  James  Logan 
in  1728  wrote  to  William  Penn,  "There  are  four  furnaces 
in  blast  in  this  colony."  One  of  these  we  know  to  have 
been  Colebrookdale ;  it  is  probable  that  the  others,  besides 
Durham,  were  located  on  French  and  Christiana  Creeks. 

Among  the  fourteen  original  owners,  James  Logan  is 
said  to  have  held  one  fourth  part.  Jeremiah  Langhorne 
of  "  Trevose,"  Bensalem  Township,  "  Gentleman,"  was 
another  large  owner,  and  others  were  Anthony  Morris, 
brewer,  Chief  Justice  William  Allen,  from  whom  Allen- 
town  takes  its  name,  Joseph  Turner,  Robert  Ellis,  George 
Fitzwater,  Clement  Plumsted,  John  Hopkins,  and  Charles 
Read,  father-in-law  of  James  Logan,  all  described  as 
"merchants."  To  these  were  joined  Andrew  Bradford, 
the  famous  Colonial  printer,  and  Thomas  Lindley,  "  an- 
chorsmith."  Griffith  Owen  and  Samuel  Powel  were 
trustees. 

A  visitor  to  the  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia  in 
1876  might  have  seen  among  the  curiosities  connected  with 
the  manufacture  of  iron  and  the  industries,  an  old  stone  of 
peculiar  shape  bearing  the  date  1727.  This  was  the  key- 
stone of  Durham  Furnace,  of  honorable  history.  Opera- 
tions were  begun  at  the  new  furnace  in  the  autumn  of 


46  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

1727,   and  in  November  of  the  following  year  James 
Logan  shipped  three  tons  of  pig-iron  made  at  Durham  to 
England.     The  furnace  is  described1  as  built  of  stone, 
thirty  five  to  forty  feet  square,  widest  at  bottom,  and  thirty 
feet  high.     The  large  leather  bellows  used  to  increase  the 
blast  was  operated  by  a  water-wheel  turned  by  the  creek. 
The  iron  was  dug  close  by  the  furnace,  and  the  charcoal 
fuel  used  in  the  process  was  made  in  pits,  which  being  lo- 
cated close  at  hand,  filled  the  air  with  a  disagreeable  odor 
from  the  wigwam-like  structures  which  covered  them,  and 
in  which  the  wood  for  the  charcoal  was  burned.     From  the 
top  of  the  furnace,  into  which  were  poured  the  ore,  char- 
coal and  limestone,  issued  at  intervals  bright  flames  which 
lighted  up  the  picturesque  surroundings  when  the  blast  was 
forced,  and  illumined  the  dark  forest  and  its  darker  negro 
and  Indian  inhabitants,  as  the  twilight  shadows  fell.     The 
intermittent  character  of  the  work  permitted  the  farmhands, 
who  were  negro  slaves  during  most  of  the  colonial  period, 
to  pursue  their  work  on  the  farm  near  by  in  the  interval 
of  filling  and  drawing  off  the  ore.     When  the  iron  was 
ready  to  be  tapped,  a  horn  was  blown  and  the  slaves 
presented  themselves.     The  foreman  or  founder,  with  an 
iron  pole  or  bar,  opened  or  "  tapped  the  bottom  of  the  fur- 
nace, allowing  the  molten  iron  to  run  into  the  moulds  of 
sand  below.     Durham  turned  out  about  two  tons  of  iron 
in  the  day  of  twenty-four  hours.     Two  tons  of  iron  ore 
yielded  one  ton  of  pig-iron."     Acrelius,  writing  in  1758 
says,  "  Durham  may  be  regarded  as  the  best  ironworks  in 
the  country.     It  has  a  rich  supply  of  ore,  water,  sand  and 
limestone.     The  ore  is  so  near  the  furnace  and  the  furnace 
so  near  the  forges,  that  there  is  not  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
of  hauling  about  the  works.     The  forges  are  little  more 
than  a  mile  to  the  station  on  the  Delaware  River,  whence 
the  iron  is  conveyed  by  water  to  Philadelphia." 

*V.  Von  A.  Cabeen,  The  Colonel  and  the  Quaker,  p.  81. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  47 

Dr.  John  W.  Jordan  furnishes  an  interesting  item,  show- 
ing the  varied  existence  of  one  of  the  Durham  slaves  called 
Joseph,  or  "  Boston."  Born  in  Africa  in  1715,  at  the  age 
of  twelve  he  was  taken  with  a  cargo  of  slaves  to  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  where  he  was  sold  to  a  sea  captain, 
who  took  him  to  England  in  1727.  In  1732  he  was  sold 
to  the  Island  of  Montserrat,  and  thence  with  a  new  master 
was  brought  to  Durham  Furnace,  with  ten  other  slaves. 
In  1747  he  was  living  in  the  household  of  Squire  Nathaniel 
Irish,  and  while  there  was  married  to  "Hannah,"  but  his 
master  hired  him  to  a  furnace  in  New  Jersey.  In  1752  he 
was  baptized  by  the  Moravians  at  Bethlehem,  and  his 
owner,  John  Hackett,  of  the  Union  Iron  Works,  Hunter- 
don  County,  New  Jersey,  in  1760  sold  him  for  fifty  pounds 
to  the  Moravians.  He  died  on  September  29,  1781. 
"Hannah"  was  born  July  n,  1722,  at  Esopus,  New 
York,  and  in  1748,  with  her  son,  was  sold  to  the  Morav- 
ians for  seventy  pounds.  She  died  November  24,  1815. 

In  locating  their  furnaces  through  the  wilderness,  as  was 
necessary  in  order  to  procure  fuel  supplies,  these  pioneer 
iron-masters  were  obliged  to  reckon  with  the  Indians,  who 
were  becoming  increasingly  dangerous  upon  the  frontier. 
Nevertheless,  the  peaceable  Quaker  tactics  pursued  by  the 
furnace  owners  appear  to  have  succeeded  in  gaining  for 
them  general  immunity  from  disturbance.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  traffic  with  the  Moravians  near  the  middle 
of  the  century.  One  Durham  memorandum  reads — 

May  28,   1745. 
The  Moravian  Company, 

Dr.  To  Robert  Ellis  &  Co. 
For  i  ton  15  Ibs.  Bar  Iron £30  4" 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  as  early  as  1734  there 


48  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

were  two  furnaces  here,1  but  the  fact  that  Durham  was 
owned  by  a  large  company  may  partially  at  least  account 
for  its  neighborhood  being  very  sparsely  settled  before  the 
period  of  the  Revolution.  There  was  local  government, 
and  the  furnace  formed  not  only  the  industrial  but  the 
financial  and  social  centre,  around  which  all  the  interests  of 
the  community,  simple  and  primitive  to  a  degree,  revolved. 
Accounts  were  kept  here,  as  in  all  the  iron  manufactories  in 
the  colony,  with  every  purchaser,  and  the  transactions  were 
in  kind.  Trade  was  in  every  possible  commodity,  from 
tobacco,  bonnets,  shoes  and  tea,  to  oxen  and  hides,  wood 
and  lumber.  The  remarkable  collection  of  ledgers  and 
account  books  of  the  old  Pennsylvania  furnaces,  owned 
by  ex-Governor  Pennypacker,  shows  an  almost  patriarchal 
system  of  life  going  on  in  the  country  regions  about  these 
great  iron  centres,  each  a  complete  community  within  itself, 
supplying  all  the  actual  necessities  of  life,  and  for  those 
days,  even  some  of  the  luxuries,  if  among  these  we  include 
molasses,  rum,  and  tobacco!  The  private  account  books 
of  Richard  Backhouse,  who  bought  Durham  Furnace  when 
it  was  confiscated  during  the  Revolution,  are  among  the 
oldest  original  records  connected  with  Durham,  and  were 
given  to  ex-Governor  Pennypacker  in  1862  by  his  grand- 
father, one  of  the  owners.  They  begin  with  the  accounts 
of  a  village  store  keeper  in  Anne  Arundel  County,  Mary- 
land, and  name  payments  for  "  Rumm,  striped  linen,  osna- 
briggs,  flannel,  and  a  Boyes  Hatt,"  the  latter  probably  of 
beaver,  at  "  Three  and  six."  Osnabrigg  was  a  heavy  home- 
spun linen,  named  from  the  German  town  whence  it  came, 
and  largely  used  for  shirts  in  the  Colonial  period. 

Firebacks  and  stove  plates  were  made  at  Durham  from 
its  first  year,  1727,  until  1794,  when  operations  were  sus- 

*J.  M.  Swank,  Iron  Making  in  Pennsylvania,  p.  17.  Scull's  Map  of 
Pennsylvania  for  1759  shows  an  old  and  a  new  furnace  at  Durham,  as  well 
as  a  forge — a  second  forge  was  built  before  1770. 


'•••>'  t    4 


Fireback    at    Stenton,    the    residence    of    James    Logan.     Made    at 
Durham  Furnace. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  49 

pended.  A  fine  example  of  a  Durham  fireback  is  at  Swift- 
water  Inn,  near  Pocono,  in  Monroe  County.  The  earliest 
examples,  however,  of  Durham  firebacks  are  undoubt- 
edly those  at  Stenton,  the  home  of  James  Logan  near 
Philadelphia.  Here  may  be  seen  today  eight  of  these 
early  backs.  Three  of  them  bear  date  1728,  at  which  time 
James  Logan  was  owner  of  one  fourth  part  of  Durham 
Furnace;  this  was  also  the  year  in  which  was  made  the 
first  foreign  export.  On  one  of  the  backs  are  the  initials 
"I  L."  Stenton  was  built  in  this  year  and  there  is  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  the  backs  are  genuine  Durham  pro- 
ductions. In  order,  however,  to  render  assurance  doubly 
sure,  the  committee  were  gratified  to  be  able  to  refer  the 
question  to  an  expert.  Mr.  B.  F.  Fackenthal  of  Riegels- 
ville,1  for  years  a  student  of  the  history  of  the  iron  indus- 
try, and  a  scientific  chemist  in  this  department  of  the  arts, 
kindly  examined  into  the  matter  for  us,  and  we  are  glad  to 
be  able  to  quote  his  authority.  Borings  were  carefully 
made  by  him  September  12,  1912,  and  the  chemical  analy- 
sis that  followed  proved  clearly  that  the  iron  from  which 
the  interesting  old  backs  were  made,  was  of  the  same  com- 
position as  that  produced  at  Durham. 

The  decorative  stove  plates  of  a  rather  later  date  are 
even  more  attractive  to  the  antiquarian  than  the  firebacks. 
Many  of  these  have  inscriptions  in  German,  and  some 
light  is  cast  upon  this  feature  when  we  recall  that  the  Deed 
of  Partition  for  the  Durham  tract  was  drawn  in  1773 ;  that 
administration  as  a  township  began  in  Durham  June  13, 
1775 ;  and  that  after  one  thousand  acres  were  reserved  for 
the  purpose  of  the  furnace  and  iron  manufacture,  the  re- 
maining portion  of  the  tract  was  largely  settled  by  Ger- 
mans. Many  of  the  inscriptions  on  these  old  stoves  run 

1  Mr.  Fackenthal  was  until  recently  president  of  the  Thomas  Iron  Com- 
pany, of  Easton,  Pennsylvania. 


50  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

around  all  the  sides,  and  are  in  German.  One,  for  in- 
stance, known  as  the  "Adam  and  Eve,"  reads,  "Die 
Schlang  Adam  und  Efa  Betrug."  (The  snake  betrayed 
Adam  and  Eve).  Another  is  the  "Cain  and  Abel"; 
"  Cain  Seinen  Bruter  Awel  tot  Schlug."  (Cain  killed  his 
brother  Abel) .  Both  of  these  date  from  1741,  the  earliest 
preserved,  and  show  the  Durham  analysis.  Some  of  the 
plates  bear  towering  grenadiers,  and  refer  to  the  Hessians 
who  frequently  settled  in  this  country,  many  of  whom  never 
returned  to  their  native  land.  An  interesting  journal  of 
this  period  is  the  "Travels  Through  Berks  County  in 
1783,"  by  Dr.  John  D.  Schoepf,  Surgeon  of  German 
Auxiliary  Troops  in  the  Service  of  England.1 

Travelers  on  the  way  from  distant  points  often  made 
detours  to  see  the  wonders  of  the  furnace,  even  at  some 
expense  of  time  and  trouble,  for  colonial  roads  were  bad 
indeed.  Thus  Elizabeth  Drinker,  whose  Diary  is  a  mine 
of  information  as  to  the  mode  of  life  at  this  period,  men- 
tions a  visit  to  Durham.  Her  distances  are  not  accurate, 
but  the  trip  was  by  chaise  to  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  with 
digressions  for  visits.  She  writes  under  date 

"September  3,  1764. 

^  "  Left  home  after  dinner,  R.  Booth  on  Horseback,  and 
his  man  Robert,  H.  Drinker  and  Elizabeth"  (herself  and 
husband)  "in  chaise:  Drank  tea  at  Red  Lion,  13  miles 
from  Philadelphia,  lodged  at  Alex.  Brown's  13  miles  from 
town:  good  accommodations.  Breakfasted  there  ye  4th: 
then  went  to  James  Morgan's  at  Durham  Iron  Works,  48 
or  50  miles  from  home.  Roads  very  bad:  stayed  there  to 
dinner :  walked  to  the  furnace,  where  we  saw  them  at  work 
casting  iron  bars,  &c." 

The  pig-iron  and  other  products  of  Durham  furnace 
must,  when  completed,  be  transported  to  Philadelphia,  as 
the  nearest  distributing  centre.  The  broad  Delaware 

1  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  Vol.  V,  p.  74. 


nil 


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Cain  and  Abel.     Durham   Fvirnace.     Owned  by  Pennsylvania   Museum 
in    Memorial    Hall. 


Stoveplate,   Durham    Furnace.     Owned  by   Mr.   H.   C.   Mercer. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  51 

offered  of  course  the  only  means  of  transportation,  but 
there  lay  between  the  tidal  river,  which  begins  below 
Trenton,  and  the  reaches  of  the  upper  Delaware,  at  "  The 
Forks"  (the  early  name  for  the  point  where  the  Lehigh 
enters  the  Delaware,  at  what  is  now  Easton),  a  succes- 
sion of  rapids  and  falls  dangerous  in  the  extreme  for 
the  ordinary  boats  for  burden-carrying,  then  known  to  the 
Englishman.  Wells  Falls,  Foul  Rift  and  Rocky  Falls, 
still  bear  their  ancient  reputation  for  the  modern  canoeist. 
An  old  map  published  in  London,  in  1648,  calls  the  Falls 
at  Trenton  "The  Falls  of  Charles  River,"  by  which  name 
the  early  navigators  knew  the  Delaware.  These  later  be- 
came the  "  Falls  of  Delaware."  Fallsington  still  lingers  in 
memory  of  this.  The  rocky  channel,  in  a  distance  of 
thirty-five  hundred  feet,  has  a  fall  of  ten  feet.  No  ordi- 
nary craft  could  carry  a  load  through  this  rapid. 

In  the  solution  of  the  problem  Indian  woodcraft,  as 
often  before,  was  applied,  and  the  graceful  canoe  of  the 
aborigines  became  the  model  for  what  is  still  known  as  the 
"  Durham  boat."  Abraham  Haupt,  a  German  blacksmith 
whose  shop  stood  near  the  original  furnace,  some  distance 
back  from  the  river,  gives  the  earliest  information  regard- 
ing these  interesting  boats.  It  was  in  Haupt's  shop  that 
the  date-stone  referred  to  was  found,  used  by  his  men  for 
cracking  nuts,  which  accounts  for  the  depression  plainly 
shown  in  the  photograph!  Haupt  asserted  that  the  first 
Durham  boat  was  built  near  the  mouth  of  the  cave  by 
Robert  Durham,  engineer  and  manager  of  the  furnace, 
after  the  model  of  an  Indian  canoe,  and  that  the  works 
were  probably  named  after  the  builder  of  the  boat.  The 
boats  were  in  use  within  ten  years  after  the  first  shipment 
was  made,  and  the  Durhams  were  settled  in  Bucks  County 
as  early  as  1723.  These  boats  were  used  on  the  Delaware, 
and  also  on  the  Susquehanna,  for  more  than  a  century,  for 
every  purpose  of  freight  and  produce-carrying.  The  raft 


52  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

and  the  coal  "ark"  could  make  the  descent  of  the  river, 
under  skilled  guidance,  but  they  were  unable  to  perform 
the  return  journey,  and  were  themselves  sold  as  a  part  of 
the  cargo  upon  arrival  at  their  destination.  Only  the 
staunch  and  sharp  Durham  craft  could  be  forced  up  against 
the  swift  and  dangerous  current.1  The  shape  of  the  Dur- 
ham boat  was  very  long  in  proportion  to  its  width,  its  sides 
being  nearly  vertical,  a  slight  curvature  only  meeting  a 
similar  curve  at  the  bottom,  which  was  quite  flat.  Fore 
and  aft,  the  sides  were  straight  and  parallel,  curving  in  to 
meet  the  stem  and  stern  posts  at  about  fourteen  feet  from 
the  end,  at  which  point  the  boat  was  decked  over,  the 
middle  of  the  boat  being  open.  The  usual  length  was 
sixty  feet,  width  eight  feet,  with  a  depth  from  top  of  gun- 
wale to  the  twelve  inch  keel-plank  of  forty  two  inches, 
with  the  additional  height  of  some  ten  inches  at  the  ends. 
These  flat  boats,  with  no  loss  of  space,  usually  carried  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  tons  down  the  river.  The  return  journey, 
with  the  load  consisting  of  products  for  home  consumption 
and  Indian  trade  or  barter,  was  reduced  to  about  two  tons, 
from  the  necessity  to  maintain  the  readiest  response  to 
guidance  possible. 

Coming  down  stream,  the  boat  floated  with  the  current, 
aided  if  necessary,  by  a  pair  of  eighteen-foot  oars.  Mov- 
ing up-stream,  the  boat  was  propelled  by  "setting  poles," 
twelve  or  thirteen  feet  long,  and  shod  with  iron.  On  the 
thwarts  was  laid  on  each  side  a  plank  twelve  inches  wide. 
Along  these  walking-boards  two  members  of  the  usual 
crew  of  three,  starting  at  the  forward  end,  with  poles  on 
the  river  bottom,  the  tops  set  against  their  shoulders, 
walked  to  the  stern,  pushing  the  boat  forward,  and  rapidly 
returning  to  repeat  the  process.  The  captain  steered,  using 
an  oar  on  a  pivot  to  hold  the  boat  from  going  back  with 

1We  are  indebted  for  the  description  of  the  Durham  Boats  to  Navi- 
gation on  the  Upper  Delaware,  by  J.  A.  Anderson. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  53 

the  current,  or  when  necessary,  pushing  it  forward  by 
"setting"  with  a  pole  in  the  short  distance  which  the 
length  of  the  stern  deck  permitted.  The  steering  oar  was 
thirty  three  feet  long,  with  a  blade  twelve  inches  in  width. 
In  addition  to  this  equipment,  each  boat  carried  a  mast 
with  two  sails,  and  with  a  fair  wind  could  outsail  all  other 
craft  on  the  river.  The  lack  of  a  center-board,  as  well  as 
the  great  proportionate  length,  prevented  sailing  to  wind- 
ward, but  with  two  men  to  steer,  it  was  possible  to  sail  up 
the  rapids  with  a  fair  wind. 

The  Durham  boat  was  generally  painted  black,  prob- 
ably with  due  regard  to  the  effect  of  its  usual  inky  cargo  on 
any  other  color !  The  boat-horn  was  a  prominent  feature 
of  the  equipment.  Accommodations  for  the  crew  were  of 
the  most  primitive  character,  and  the  furniture  carried  of  the 
simplest.  A  large  iron  pot,  with  a  side  hole  near  the 
bottom  for  draught,  served  as  a  cook-stove,  with  pieces  of 
flat  iron  to  hold  the  pan.  There  was  a  coffee  pot,  a  water 
bucket,  and  for  each  man  a  tin  cup,  plate,  knife,  and  pos- 
sibly a  fork,  with  the  unfailing  gallon  jug  of  whiskey  for 
all.  An  old  boatman  has  stated  that  drinks  were  only 
taken  at  certain  places  on  the  river.  The  men  slept  on 
"  barn  feathers  "  or  straw,  in  the  forward  end  under  the 
deck,  dignified  by  the  name  of  "  cabin." 

The  men  who  formed  the  crews  of  these  romantic  boats 
were  a  hardy  lot.  Their  labor  was  severe  at  times,  but  they 
toiled  through  the  livelong  day  with  the  poles  at  their  mus- 
cular shoulders,  forcing  their  way  against  a  rapid  current 
at  the  rate  of  from  one  to  two  miles  an  hour.  The  boats 
drew  but  twenty  inches  of  water  when  loaded  with  fifteen 
tons  of  iron,  and  in  appearance  were  not  unlike  the  keel 
boats  of  the  western  rivers.  Jest  and  song  beguiled  the 
weary  hours  of  the  long  journey,  and  it  was  usual  for  sev- 
eral of  the  boats  to  go  in  company,  sometimes  as  many  as 
twenty-five  at  once  dotting  the  sweeps  of  the  river  under 


54  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

sail  in  a  fair  breeze,  when  the  effect  was  extremely  pictur- 
esque. The  Durham  boat  moved  so  easily  through  the 
water  that  she  left  the  run  aft  in  passing  almost  as  still 
as  she  found  it.  Clawson's  Tavern,  on  Water  Street 
above  Vine,  was  the  popular  resort  of  the  Durham  boat- 
men,1 who  made  fast  their  craft  below  this  point,  and  spent 
here  the  interval  before  their  return. 

The  Durham  boat  figures  in  an  important  incident  of  the 
Revolution,  and  was  evidently  known  favorably  to  General 
Washington  who,  when  preparing  to  abandon  the  line  on 
the  Hudson,  and  make  his  way  across  the  Jerseys,  wrote 
from  New  Brunswick  ordering  boats  to  be  collected  for  the 
expected  crossing  at  Trenton.  Trevelyan  states2  that  he 
made  a  point  of  securing  the  Durham  boats,  and  his  order 
mentions  the  fact  that  one  of  these  could  carry  a  regiment 
— a  pitiful  intimation  of  the  depleted  state  of  the  American 
army.  These  boats  were  again  brought  into  requisition  at 
McKonkey's  Ferry  for  the  attack  upon  Trenton,  and  about 
forty  were  on  the  Delaware  at  the  time.  The  form  of  the 
boat  as  shown  on  the  Trenton  Battle  Monument  is  more 
nearly  that  of  the  Durham  boat  than  those  drawn  in  E. 
Leutz's  picture  of  the  crossing.3  Besides  being  active 
and  hardy  to  an  unusual  degree,  these  boatmen  were  fear- 
less, sportive  and  trustworthy.  One  authority  states  that 
their  faithfulness  became  a  proverb,  and  that  their  stern 
honesty  was  such  that  no  single  instance  of  defalcation  is 
known  in  the  heavy  remittances  which  they  carried.4 

During  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  shot  and  shell  were 
made  at  Durham  in  large  quantities.5  In  the  year  1789 
twelve  slaves  escaped  from  Durham  Furnace  to  the  Brit- 

1  A.  Ritter,  Philadelphia  and  her  Merchants. 

2  G.  M.  Trevelyan,  History  of  the  American  Revolution,   II,   p.  21. 
Washington  to  Col.  Hampton,  1776. 

8  J.  A.  Anderson,  Navigation  of  the  Upper  Delaware. 

*  J.  A.  Anderson,  Ibid. 

5  Ringwalt,  Transportation  Systems  in  the  United  States. 


Durham  Boats.     Continental   Army  crossing  the  Delaware.     Bronze  Relief 
by  Thomas   Eakins.     Trenton  Battle  Monument. 


Stoveplate  door,  Durham   Furnace.     Owned  by  Mrs.  Arthur  Maginnis. 

Swiftwater. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  55 

ish  lines.1  During  this  year,  over  two  tons  of  shot  and 
shell  shipped  to  the  Continental  army  in  November  alone 
were  valued  at  £25  per  ton,  and  the  total  for  the  year  was 
£1,076,  is.  2.i/2d.  Three  and  nine  pound  shot  were  cast, 
and  some  double-headed.  The  shell  weighed  from  twenty 
to  sixty  or  more  pounds  each.  A  quantity  of  these  were 
left  until  so  late  as  1806,  piled  against  the  old  furnace 
walls.  Specimens  of  them  may  be  seen  in  the  Bucks 
County  Historical  Society's  collection  at  Doylestown, 
Pennsylvania. 

The  partnership  of  1726,  with  which  our  history  began, 
and  of  which  on  March  4,  1727,  Griffith  Owen  and  Samuel 
Powel  became  trustees,  was  to  continue,  according  to  the 
agreement,  for  fifty  one  years.  Before  that  period  of  time 
had  expired,  the  property  had  been  freed  of  the  trust,  and 
none  of  the  original  owners  remained,  having  been  re- 
moved by  death,  failure,  or  the  sale  of  their  interests.  An 
amicable  Deed  of  Partition  was  therefore  executed,  Decem- 
ber 14,  1773,  and  the  property,  which  had  been  added  to, 
then  comprised  over  eight  thousand  acres,  including  the 
entire  township  of  Durham  and  one  tier  of  farms  in  North- 
ampton County.  Included  in  the  tract  which  thus  fell  to 
Joseph  Galloway  and  his  wife  Grace,  the  daughter  of 
Lawrence  Growden,  were  the  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
nine  acres  and  forty  eight  perches  which  practically  consti- 
tute the  Durham  furnace  of  today.  Joseph  Galloway  thus 
became  the  first  individual  owner  of  the  furnace. 

At  this  period,  for  five  years,  the  furnace  was  leased  to 
George  Taylor,  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  per 
annum.  Taylor  was  born  in  Ireland,  came  to  Pennsyl- 
vania as  a  "  Redemptioner,"  and  at  one  time  was  a  " filler" 
at  Durham  furnace,  which  he  finally  leased  and  conducted 
alone.  At  the  summit  of  his  career,  he  had  the  honor  of 
signing  his  name  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

1  Pearce,  Annals  of  Luzerne. 


56  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

While  lessee  of  Durham,  he  cast  stoves  bearing  the  in- 
scription "Durham  Furnace,  1774."  A  plate  of  one  of 
these  stoves,  thus  inscribed,  is  fastened  against  one  of  the 
walls  of  the  Post  Office  at  Easton.  George  Taylor  died  hi 
1781. 

The  disturbances  of  the  Revolution  rendered  business 
very  uncertain.  Upon  the  charge  of  treason  against  Gal- 
loway, who  allied  himself  with  the  British,  his  property 
was  confiscated  and  sold  by  the  Commissioner  of  Forfeited 
Estates  and  confirmed  by  the  Council,  to  Richard  Back- 
house, September  14,  1779,  for  the  sum  of  £i2,8oo.1  The 
latter  appears  for  some  time  previous  to  have  had  an  offi- 
cial connection  with  the  works,  and  was  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  His  account  books  have  been  quoted. 

The  period  of  the  Revolution  finds  several  well  known 
names  in  the  history  of  the  country  directly  connected  with 
this  old  furnace.  There  is  a  long  list  of  the  forges  which 
Durham  supplied  with  pig-iron  for  manufacturing  pur- 
poses. Besides  George  Taylor,  the  name  of  George  Ross, 
another  signer,  meets  us  at  Bloomsbury  Forge,  New  Jersey, 
near  by,  where  much  material  was  sent ;  Ross  was  a  prom- 
inent owner.  James  Morgan,  of  an  old  Welsh  family  of 
the  name,  "  Iron  master,"  was  an  owner  of  Durham  before 
the  partition.  His  home  was  near  the  banks  of  Durham 
Creek,  not  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the 
works,  where  he  would  appear  to  have  been  actively  em- 
ployed. Here  his  son  Daniel  was  born  in  1736,  destined 
to  become  one  of  the  distinguished  generals  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. As  a  boy,  Daniel  assisted  his  father  at  the  furnace, 
and  tradition  even  makes  him  a  charcoal-burner.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  Daniel  enlisted  and  his  later  career 
is  matter  of  history.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
General's  father,  James  Morgan  (who  may  or  may 
not  have  held  an  interest  in  Valley  Forge  as  well),  in 
1762,  which  is  remarked  as  a  year  of  unusual  building 

1  Colonial  Records,  Vol.  XII,  p.  104. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  57 

activity  in  the  Colonial  period,  built  a  beautifully  simple, 
but  plain  and  substantial  house  for  himself  at  Lower  Prov- 
idence, Montgomery  County,  in  that  neighborhood,  which 
he  called  "  Mill  Grove."  The  date-stone  in  the  gable  re- 
mains, and  the  house  is  the  shrine  to  which  pilgrims  come 
to  revere  the  memory  of  a  later  distinguished  resident, 
John  James  La  Forest  Audubon,  the  great  ornithologist.1 

At  one  period  after  the  death  of  James  Logan,  the 
works  were  operated  under  the  name  of  William  Logan 
and  Company.  Part  owners  at  times  more  or  less  briefly, 
are  Richard  Peters,  Edward  Shippen,  Israel  Pemberton, 
and  Hon.  James  Hamilton,  who  for  a  time  held  an  interest 
when  Lieutenant  Governor,  in  1749.  Lawrence  Growden 
was  a  prominent  owner;  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Joseph  Gal- 
loway, died  in  1782.  Her  trustees  in  1803  succeeded  in  a 
suit  against  the  heirs  of  Richard  Backhouse  (died  1793), 
who  were  dispossessed  because  of  proof  that  Joseph  Gal- 
loway, who  devised  his  property  to  his  daughter  E.  Roberts 
of  London,  held  the  property  only  in  right  of  his  wife, 
Grace  Growden.  An  Act  of  Legislature  in  1808  appropri- 
ated $415  to  reimburse  Mary,  widow  of  R.  Backhouse,  to 
compensate  her  for  cost  of  defending  herself  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. 

Durham  remained  in  active  operation,  with  occasional 
periods  of  suspension  during  the  hard  times  of  the  war  and 
after,  until  1794,  when  it  finally  "blew  out."  In  1829 
the  old  furnace  was  demolished  to  make  room  for  a  grist 
mill.  Just  before  the  Civil  War  two  new  furnaces  were 
built,  using  anthracite  coal,  and  these  in  turn  made  way 
for  a  large  new  furnace  in  1874. 

Amelia  Mott  Gummere. 

1  Thomas,  brother  of  James  Morgan,  at  one  time  kept  an  inn  here.  In 
1771,  the  property  was  sold  to  Rowland  Evans.  It  was  bought  in  1776  by 
John  Penn,  and  after  several  transfers,  was  in  1789  sold  by  Augustine 
Prevost  to  John  Audubon,  the  Admiral,  and  father  of  the  famous  orni- 
thologist. (See  Eberlein  and  Lippincott,  "Colonial  Homes  of  Philadelphia 
and  its  Neighborhood,"  p.  1991.) 


58  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


1729  SPRING  FORGE.     I. 

PHILADELPHIA,  LATER  BERKS  COUNTY. 

Though  this  forge  was  of  undoubted  importance  among 
the  primitive  iron  works,  we  do  not  find  much  data  relating 
to  it  in  the  early  records  we  have  been  able  to  consult. 
The  date  of  its  construction  seems  to  have  been  1729, 
and  on  a  map  dated  1792  and  dedicated  to  Thomas 
Mifflin,  Governor*  Spring  Forge  is  indicated  on  the  Mana- 
tawny  Creek,  just  on  the  dividing  line  of  Amity  and  Dis- 
trict townships. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  personal  financial  venture  of 
Anthony  Morris  of  Philadelphia,  but  there  is  no  indication 
that  he  specially  managed  the  works  in  the  capacity  of 
director  or  iron-master.  His  interest  in  the  development 
of  the  iron  industry  was  so  keen,  and  his  help  of  such  im- 
portance that  it  may  be  well  to  sketch  briefly  the  life  of  this 
typical  colonial  citizen. 

Anthony  Morris,  3rd,  the  son  of  Anthony  Morris,  2nd, 
and  Mary  Jones  his  wife,  was  born  in  London,  March  16, 
1 68 1,  and  brought  by  his  parents  to  America  when  he 
was  about  ten  months  old.  He  was  destined  to  be  an 
important  member  of  the  infant  colony.  His  youthful 
education  was  probably  under  the  guidance  of  Enoch 
Flower,  master  of  a  public  school  which  the  early  Friends 
had  founded. 

In  the  simple  annals  of  the  day  we  are  told  that  he  was 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  apprenticed  for  a  period  of  seven 
years  to  learn  the  "  art  and  mistery  of  brewing."  In  the 
indenture,  still  extant,  he  promises  his  master  and  mistress 
that  "  he  will  well  and  faithfully  serve  them,  their  secrets 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  59 

he  shall  keep,  their  commands  lawful  and  honest  every 
word  he  shall  obey,  their  hurt  or  damage  he  shall  not  con- 
trive or  do,  nor  suffer  to  be  done ;  and  the  said  master  and 
mistress,  beside  teaching  all  the  mistery  and  art  of  brew- 
ing, promise  that  he  shall  be  allowed  sufficient  meat,  drink, 
washing,  lodging,  and  mending  of  his  linen  and  woolen 
cloathes,  and  that  they  shall  not  put  him  to  drive  the  dray 
or  cart,  carrying  of  casks,  grinding  at  the  hand-mill,  or 
such  like  slavish  work  not  fit  for  an  apprentice  of  his 
degree." 

Young  Anthony  "served  his  time"  to  such  good  pur- 
pose that  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  became  part  owner 
of  the  " brew-house  and  utensils"  of  his  father,  building 
up  a  business  which  has  since  been  carried  on  by  the  lineal 
descendants  of  these  pioneer  brewers. 

At  twenty-three  he  married  Phoebe  Guest,  whose  parents 
were  among  the  settlers  who  lived  for  a  time  in  caves  in 
the  bank  of  the  Delaware  until  they  could  build  houses  to 
dwell  in. 

Before  he  was  thirty  he  was  elected  to  the  common  coun- 
cil of  the  infant  city,  an  office  of  much  greater  dignity  than 
now,  the  tenure  of  which  was  for  life.  His  biographer  says 
of  him,  "  he  was  a  man  of  good  repute,  carriage,  bearing, 
and  estimation  and  filled  many  offices  with  credit."  He 
represented  his  city  in  the  Provincial  Assembly,  was  Asso- 
ciate Justice  of  the  local  court  and  was  one  of  the  com- 
mittee who  drew  up  an  address  to  Governor  Gordon  on 
his  arrival  in  Philadelphia. 

At  the  age  of  forty,  then,  Anthony  Morris  might  have 
been  described  as  a  "man  of  parts."  With  a  goodly  forr 
tune  acquired  in  the  brewing  house,  a  broad  outlook  as  a 
foremost  citizen  and  enterprising  business  man,  no  doubt 
he  had  a  keen  eye  to  the  possibility  of  developing  large 


60  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

fortunes  through  the  rich  natural  resources  of  this  favored 
colony. 

We  can  fancy  with  what  interest  he  followed  the  venture 
of  Thomas  Rutter  and  Thomas  Potts  when  they  opened 
up  the  iron  mines  in  the  trackless  forest  which  bordered 
the  Schuylkill  and  its  tributaries,  and  we  are  not  surprised 
to  find  him  furnishing  the  capital  which  should  give  their 
enterprise  success.  He  was  part  owner  of  Colebrookdale 
Furnace  in  Berks  county,  one  of  the  fourteen  founders  of 
Durham  Furnace,  Bucks  county,  also  a  shareholder  in 
Pool  and  other  forges. 

No  family  is  more  closely  connected  with  the  early  his- 
tory of  Pennsylvania  than  that  of  Morris,  and  none  has 
been  more  valued  for  its  business  ability  and  its  sturdy  and 
loyal  citizenship.  It  is  said  that  the  Anthony  Morris  now 
living  is  the  eighteenth  of  the  name. 

Mary  E.  Mumford. 


Fireback,  1734.  Found  in  West  Chester  by  Dr.  Wm.  T.  Sharpless. 
Design  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  fireback  in  residence  of  Mr.  Joseph  Ury 
Crawford,  Ury,  Foxchase. 


. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  6l 


EARLY   FIREBACKS. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  firebacks  in  Pennsylvania  is 
in  the  ancient  fireplace  of  the  entrance  hall  at  Harriton. 
Bryn  Mawr.  The  house  was  built  in  1704  by  Rowland 
Ellis,  one  of  the  settlers  of  the  Welsh  Tract,  and  has 
since  fortunately  undergone  very  little  alteration.  In  1719 
Richard  Harrison,  son-in-law  of  Isaac  Norris,  came  from 
Maryland  and  bought  the  estate.  Upon  the  marriage  of 
Hannah  Harrison,  his  daughter,  to  Charles  Thomson,  the 
distinguished  Secretary  of  the  Continental  Congress,  the 
latter,  in  1774,  became  master  of  Harriton,  which  has 
since  remained  in  the  possession  of  his  wife's  relatives,  in 
the  Morris  line. 

The  fireback  bears  the  date  MDCCXXVI,  with  a  very 
interesting  design  somewhat  resembling  a  true  lover's  knot 
at  the  side.  There  is  as  yet  uncertainty  as  to  its  origin. 
If  it  was  brought  from  Maryland,  it  probably  came  with 
Richard  Harrison,  fifteen  years  after  the  house  was  built. 
Its  rough  form  would  indicate  an  early  experiment  in  the 
moulding.  Several  of  the  owners  of  the  furnace  at  Dur- 
ham were  relatives  or  intimate  friends  of  the  Harrisons, 
and  it  is  possibly  one  of  the  first  made  at  that  place.  It  is, 
at  all  events,  noteworthy,  as  among  the  most  curious  speci- 
mens which  have  so  far  been  found  in  Pennsylvania. 

Another  fireback  bearing  date  1734,  was  brought  to  our 
notice  by  Dr.  William  T.  Sharpless,  of  West  Chester.  It 
resembles  in  shape  and  general  decoration,  the  Durham 
fireback,  of  1728,  at  Stenton.  We  cannot,  however,  say 
that  it  was  made  at  Durham  furnace. 


62  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 


Before  PINE  FORGE. 

1730 

PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  LATER  BERKS. 

While  the  exact  date  of  the  construction  of  Pine  Forge 
is  not  known,  it  was,  no  doubt,  among  the  earliest  of  those 
erected  in  the  Manatawny  district.  The  tradition  per- 
sists in  the  Rutter  family  that  here  the  pioneer  iron-master 
Thomas  Rutter  made  himself  a  home  and  laid  out  an 
estate.  The  original  patent  of  Wm-  Penn  conveying  these 
lands  to  Thomas  Rutter  is  preserved  among  the  archives 
of  the  family.  The  present  owner  of  the  property  says: 
"  It  is  supposed  that  Thomas  Rutter  (Ist)  must  have  come 
from  Warwickshire,  England,  as  the  many  old  homes  on 
the  estate  were  named  for  Warwickshire  places,  as  War- 
wick, Stowe,  Coventry,  Stratford,  and  Colebrookdale. 
Also  that  he  chose  this  grant  of  land  because  of  its  resem- 
blance to  the  Warwickshire  district,  a  similarity  often 
noticed  by  our  friends.  Another  tradition  we  cherish  is 
that  he  crossed  the  ocean  on  the  good  ship  '  Amity ' — and 
named  the  pretty  little  village  nearest  us  '  Amityville.' ' 
Thomas  Potts,  who  was  associated  with  Rutter  in  the  iron 
industry,  had  an  interest  in  the  Forge,  and  carried  on  the 
business,  while  his  son  John  in  his  will,  1767,  gives  the 
following  description  of  the  acres  accumulated  under  his 
management. 

" Item:  whereas  I  stand  seized  in  fee  simple  of  a  forge 
in  the  County  of  Berks  by  the  name  of  Pine  Forge,  with  the 
following  tract  of  land  thereunto  belonging;  viz.  300  acres 
which  I  purchased  from  Mary  Rees,  150  acres  which  I 
bought  from  Seeny  Savage,  200  acres  which  I  bought  from 
John  Jones,  150  which  I  bought  from  Marcus  Rulings  Jr. 


The  stream  at   Pine  Forge,  named  by  the  Indians  "  Manatawny,"   the 
place  where  we  drink. 


Mansion,   Pine   Forge. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  63 

125  acres  which  I  bought  from  the  Trustees  of  the  Loan 
Office,  and  100  acres  whereon  the  said  house  now  stands, 
containing  in  the  whole  1280  acres  of  land." 

If  he  had  an  idea  of  establishing  a  great  barony  after 
the  custom  of  his  English  forbears  his  plan  was  not  real- 
ized, for  after  his  death  the  lands  were  divided  and  sold  in 
.separate  lots.  The  Forge  with  three  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  surrounding  it  was  bought  by  David  Potts  for  the 
sum  of  two  thousand  pounds.  In  the  previous  year  he  had 
married  his  cousin  Anna,  daughter  of  John,  and  the  newly 
wedded  pair  settled  at  Pine  and  lived  there  until  they  died. 
Their  heirs  were  two  daughters,  and  the  property  was 
again  sold,  August,  1783,  this  time  to  David  Rutter,  the 
great-grandson  of  both  Thomas  Rutter  and  Thomas  Potts. 
He  married  about  this  time  his  cousin,  a  daughter  of  John 
Potts  the  royalist.  David  repaired  and  partially  rebuilt 
the  house,  and  carried  on  the  works  until  his  death  in  1815. 
It  is  a  singular  fact  that  in  this  country  where  no  entail 
exists,  the  old  demesne  at  Pine  (with  the  exception  of 
about  sixty  years,  1844  to  1907,  when  it  was  in  possession 
of  the  Bailey  family) ,  has  been  owned  and  occupied  by  the 
descendants  of  the  original  purchaser.  Constant  inter- 
marriage of  the  families  has  brought  this  about,  the  latest 
occurring  in  1913,  when  the  son  of  the  present  owner  mar- 
ried a  direct  descendant  of  Margaret  Rutter,  who  was 
born  at  Pine,  October  15,  1790,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  years  ago. 

There  is  every  evidence  that  the  group  of  early  forges 
and  furnaces  including  Pine,  Pool,  Colebrookdale,  War- 
wick had  a  general  interchange  in  their  business  affairs. 
Their  old  day-books  and  ledgers  in  the  possession  of  ex- 
Governor  Pennypacker,  at  Schwenksville,  Pa.,  show  that 
the  owners  of  these  plants  were  almost  identical. 

In  one  of  the  Pine  ledgers  we  find  a  statement  of  the 


64  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

output  of  Pool  Forge  from  May  to  November,  1734,  to 
be  one  hundred  and  twenty  tons  of  bar  iron  distributed 
among  the  following  men:  Capt.  Atwood,  Alex  Wood- 
ropp,  George  Mifling,  Thomas  Yorke,  Anthony  Morris, 
Nathaniel  French,  John  Leacock;  while  the  owners  of  Pine 
Forge  about  the  same  date  are  Thomas  Potts,  Geo.  Boone, 
John  Leacock,  George  Mifflin,  Alex  Woodropp,  Edward 
Farmer,  Wm-  Atwood,  Morris  Morris. 

Wm-  Bird  at  this  time,  1733,  was  cutting  wood  for  the 
use  of  Pine  Forge  at  two  shillings  ninepence  a  day.  Ten 
years  later,  1743,  we  find  him  renting  one  eighth  of  Pine 
Forge  at  forty  pounds  per  annum — the  modest  beginnings 
of  one  who  later  became  an  important  factor  in  the  iron 
industry. 

Thomas  Yorke,  after  a  few  active  years  in  the  forge 
country,  settled  in  Germantown  where  he  became  a  sort  of 
factor  or  agent  for  the  iron  interests.  In  an  entry  in  his 
day  book,  February  7,  1748,  he  speaks  of  his  one  third 
interest  in  Pool  Forge  as  yielding  62%oo  tons  of  "  Barr 
Iron,"  and  his  yield  from  %  of  Pine  Forge  as  6  tons. 

His  business  transactions  for  the  Pine  Forge  Colony, 
aside  from  his  iron  commissions,  cover  a  wide  field  of 
domestic  needs.  Under  date  of  January  3,  1 75  2,  he  charges 
the  estate  of  Thomas  Potts  with : 

Shillings.  pence. 

3  yds  Muzling 8 —  4 

1 2  Ibs  muscovado  sugar 8 —  6 

i .  Ib  Bohea  tea 7 — 

Ditto  for  Edward  West 7 

J4  Ib  cinnamon  . 6.  8 

i  oz  cloves 2.  6 

i  pair  of  gloves 2.  6 

i  oz  of  mace 3.  6 

Coffin  handle  &  Screws. 4  .5 

Sent  per  Tommy  West  for  ye  funeral. " 


Meadows  of  the  Manatawny,   Pine   Forge. 


Oldest   building   at    Pine    Forge,    showing   gong. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  65 

He  also  charges  shoes  and  gloves  and  other  articles 
bought  for  "Miss  Fanny"  and  her  bills  for  board  in 
Germantown  are  also  paid  by  him.  In  May,  1753,  he 
notes  "  paid  for  a  Quarters'  Schooling  of  your  sons  Samuel 
and  Johnny  at  G.  Academy  2£.  is." 

The  management  of  the  old  forges  was  patriarchal  in  its 
character.  The  Grist  mill,  saw  mill,  and  village  store  were 
all  under  the  control  of  the  Company.  One  could  recon- 
struct the  domestic  life  of  the  colonial  period  from  the  old 
accounts  preserved  in  day  book  and  ledger.  One  learns  the 
cost  of  foods  and  fabrics,  and  notes  the  frequent  use  of 
strong  drinks,  especially  of  rum.  One  finds  what  wages 
were  earned,  and  what  was  spent  for  daily  needs — down 
to  the  item  of  "  a  bleeding — one  shilling."  The  region  of 
the  old  Pine  Forge  is  teeming  with  the  human  interests  of 
an  earlier  day. 

Mary  E.  Mumford. 


66  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

1733  GREEN  LANE  FORGE. 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY. 

This  forge,  on  Perkiomen  Creek,  twenty  miles  north  of 
Norristown,  was  built  in  1733  by  Thomas  Maybury, 
"  The  foliage  covering  the  rocky  hills  north  and  west  of 
Perkiomen  Creek,  and  the  narrow  crooked  lane  that  led 
from  the  highway  around  the  base  of  the  hills,"  to  the 
forge,  are  responsible  for  the  attractive  name. 

The  earliest  settler  in  Marlborough  township  was 
Thomas  Maybury,  who  bought  in  1730  a  tract  of 
land,  twelve  hundred  and  forty  acres,  on  which  he  erected 
this  forge,  which  before  1747  was  supplied  with  pig  iron 
from  Durham  furnace.  He  married  a  descendant  of  the 
first  Thomas  Rutter. 

Green  Lane  Forge  was  owned  by  Rev.  George  Michael 
Weiss  before  1763.  The  workmen  here,  at  one  time, 
were  chiefly  negro  slaves.  "For  many  years  the  best 
blooms  in  the  market  were  produced  here.  In  those  days 
the  country  blacksmith  purchased  his  bar  iron  at  the  forge, 
and  converted  it  into  the  hardware  used  in  building  houses, 
from  the  wrought  nails  in  the  floors,  to  the  hinges,  and 
latches  of  the  doors.  Iron  was  a  commodity  that  eighty 
years  ago  was  fashioned  into  a  thousand  forms  by  the  vil- 
lage smith ;  forms  which  are  now  produced  by  the  foundry, 
and  sold  at  the  village  store."  The  transition  has  changed 
the  face  of  affairs  at  this  village.  The  forge  has  long 
since  gone  into  decay;  "the  old  water  wheel,  the  huge 
bellows,  the  ore  crushers,  the  cone-like  charcoal  kilns,  the 
famous  weekly  teamsters  who  made  their  trips  to  town  and 
back ; — the  huntsman  and  his  hounds ; — these  are  all  gone ; 
— and  Green  Lane  is  an  ordinary  railroad  village."1 

1 T.  W.  Bean,  History  of  Montgomery  County,  p.  721. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  67 


THE  DAVID  JONES  FURNACE. 
LANCASTER  COUNTY. 

David  Jones,  who  built  one  of  the  first  furnaces  of  Co- 
lonial Days  in  eastern  Pennsylvania,  emigrated  from  Mer- 
ionethshire in  Wales  in  1721  and  settled  upon  the  Welsh 
reservation  at  Radnor  in  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania, 
where  that  clannish  people,  to  use  their  own  language,  "  de- 
sired to  be  by  themselves,  for  no  other  reason  or  purpose 
but  that  they  might  live  together  as  a  civil  society,  to  en- 
deavor to  decide  all  controversies  and  debates  amongst 
themselves  in  a  Gospel  order,  and  not  to  entangle  them- 
selves with  laws  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  also  to  preserve 
their  language  that  they  might  ever  keep  correspondence 
with  their  friends  in  the  land  of  their  nativity." 

David  Jones  with  many  of  his  countrymen  removed 
from  Radnor  in  1730  to  the  valley  of  the  Conestoga,  in 
Caernarvon  township,  Lancaster  county,  where  he  became 
an  extensive  land  owner  and  iron-master,  and  where 
there  are  old  mines  which  still  bear  his  name.  The  site 
of  the  old  Jones  furnaces,  or  "Jones's  mine  holes"  as  they 
were  called  in  the  quaint  language  of  that  day,  is  most 
picturesque.  In  this  place  his  three  sons  were  born :  John 
Jonathan  and  Caleb.  John  was  a  major  of  the  committee 
of  safety  in  1774  and  a  major  in  Grubb's  battalion  of 
militia.  Caleb  was  a  justice  of  the  Peace.  Jonathan 
Jones  was  born  in  1738.  He  was  appointed  a  captain  in 
the  regular  Continental  Army,  October,  1775 — promoted 
to  rank  of  major  after  active  service  in  Canada  in  1776, 
and  to  lieutenant-colonel  of  his  regiment,  March,  1777. 
His  constitution  was  so  shattered  by  the  hardships  and  ex- 


68  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

posure  of  the  campaign  against  Canada,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  return  home  in  the  winter  of  1776-77.  He  re- 
joined the  regiment  in  the  spring  of  1777,  the  command 
of  which  devolved  upon  him,  after  the  resignation  of  Col. 
James  Irvine.  Increasing  ill-health  obliged  him  to  resign 
his  commission  in  the  latter  part  of  July.  In  December, 
1778,  he  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania. His  health  continued  to  decline,  and  he  was 
shortly  afterwards  stricken  with  paralysis,  of  which  he 
died  in  September,  1782,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-four. 
He  was  buried  in  the  Bangor  churchyard  at  Churchtown. 
His  family  had  been  wardens  and  vestrymen  of  this  church 
from  its  earliest  foundation. 

Katharine  Jones  Wallace. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  69 


WARWICK  FURNACE.  J737 

CHESTER  COUNTY. 

Samuel  Nutt,  who  died  in  1737,  directed  in  his  will  that 
his  wife,  Anna,  "  shall  have  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land  on  the  South  branch  of  French  Creek,  on  which 
to  build  a  furnace,  and  also  leave  to  cut  as  much  timber  on 
lands  adjacent  as  shall  suffice  to  erect  the  same."1  This 
furnace,  called  Warwick,  was  begun  the  same  year,  and 
became  one  of  the  greatest  iron  works  of  Pennsylvania. 
When  in  blast,  from  five  to  six  thousand  cords  of  wood 
were  used  there  annually,  the  product  of  about  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  woodland.  The  cost  of  the  large 
bellows,  run  by  an  immense  water  wheel,  was  nearly  two 
hundred  pounds.  Twenty-five  tons  of  iron  a  week  was 
the  usual  product.  In  an  "Account  Book  of  Warwick 
Furnace"2  we  find  sundry  entries,  such  as  "  1759  April  23 
— Paid  the  County  Tax,  four  shillings."  "  Provincial 
Tax — four  shillings."  "  Potts  and  Rutter,  to  loads  pigg 
iron  from  27th  April  to  loth  May  1759,  n  tun."  "To 
Sarum  Forge,  from  4th  April  to  3rd  May  1759,  13  tuns 
and  15  Ibs.  pigg  iron." 

This  furnace  produced  both  pig  iron  and  castings,  the 
latter  being  stoves,  pots,  kettles,  andirons,  smoothing  irons, 
clock  weights  and  other  articles. 

William  Branson3  had  been  a  partner  with  Samuel  Nutt 
for  years.  This  partnership  was  continued  at  Warwick 
by  Anna  Nutt  and  her  son-in-law,  who  was  also  her  step- 

1  Potts  Memorial,  53. 

2  Collections  of  the  Hon.  S.  W.  Pennypacker. 

3  See  Coventry  Forge. 


70  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

son,  Samuel  Nutt,  Jr.,  until  the  death  of  the  latter  in  1739, 
the  value  of  the  property  having  in  the  meantime  greatly 
increased.  This  is  the  period  when  the  partnership  was 
dissolved,  Branson  taking  Reading  alone,  and  Warwick 
going  into  the  care  of  the  firm  trading  as  Anna  Nutt  and 
Company,  with  the  addition  of  Robert  Grace,  who  mar- 
ried the  young  widow  of  Samuel  Nutt,  Jr.,  in  1740.  The 
name  of  Nutt  then  became  extinct. 

Next  year,  the  new  partners  brought  suit  against  Bran- 
son, charging  him  with  taking  iron  ore  from  their  property, 
while  Branson,  by  John  Kinsey,  brought  a  counter  suit  for 
a  suitable  accounting  for  the  time  "  when  they  were  baliffs 
to  him,  the  said  W.  B."  They  made  the  defense  that  they 
had  never  been  his  bailiffs,  and  John  Tench  Francis,  their 
attorney,  appears  to  have  settled  the  matter  finally,  for  no 
other  proceedings  are  traceable. 

War  was  declared  with  Spain  in  1739,  and  in  response 
to  a  call  for  enlistments,  which  Governor  Thomas  in  his 
proclamation  of  April  14,  1740,  called:  "a  Glorious  un- 
dertaking," many  of  the  indentured  servants  at  the  fur- 
naces and  in  other  employ  departed  unceremoniously. 
Since  the  Governor  did  not  discountenance  this  proceeding, 
the  Assembly  could  only  endeavor  to  reimburse  the  mas- 
ters, and  on  June  4,  1741,  there  is  record  of  a  petition 
from  Anna  Nutt  and  Co.  for  several  hundred  pounds  dam- 
ages because  of  the  enlistment  of  ten  servants  at  one  time, 
some  of  them  colliers,  whose  abrupt  departure  had  put  a 
stop  to  the  works.1 

The  name  of  Robert  Grace  has  an  additional  interest  as 
the  friend  of  Benjamin  Franklin  and  the  first  manufacturer 
of  the  noted  Franklin  stoves.  Born  in  1709,  of  fine  Irish 
stock,  Grace  was  brought  up  in  the  house  of  his  grand- 
mother, whose  second  husband  was  Hugh  Lowden.  The 
house  was  on  the  north  side  of  High  Street,  below  Second, 

1  Futhey  &  Cope,  History  of  Chester  County,  p.  49.. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  71 

then  the  most  eligible  part  of  the  city.  The  Town  Hall 
or  Court  House  stood  in  the  center  of  the  street,  nearly  op- 
posite, where  all  royal  or  colonial  proclamations  were  read 
to  the  people  from  the  balcony.  When  Grace  was  seven- 
teen, this  house  became  his  property,  and  here  the  warm  and 
lifelong  friendship  with  Franklin  was  begun.  Franklin,  in 
his  Autobiography,  describes  Grace  as  a  young  man  of  some 
fortune,  generous,  lively,  witty,  fond  of  epigrams  but  more 
fond  of  his  friends.  In  the  well-appointed  rooms  of  this 
house  the  Junto  met,  and  the  first  public  library  in  Amer- 
ica was  organized  and  maintained  for  ten  years.  In  the 
inventory  of  furnishings  the  parlor  has:  "  i — 8  day  clock, 
2  black  walnut  tables,  carpet  and  looking  glass,  writing 
desk  and  spice  box.  20  leather  chairs,  couch  and  Squabb, 
i  Skreen,  i  great  Bible  and  stand,  2  pr.  dogs,  fire  shovel, 
Tongs,  Poker,  bellows  and  fender,  i  Jappanned  Montiff,1 
a  lamp,  glass  and  Earthernware."2 

Franklin's  gratitude  to  Grace  must  be  recorded  here. 
Franklin  and  Meredith,  his  partner  (about  1729)  had 
been  sued  for  £100.  uln  this  distress,"  he  says,  "two 
friends,  whose  kindness  I  never  have  forgotten,  nor  ever 
shall  forget  while  I  can  remember  anything,  came  to  me 
separately,  unknown  to  each,  and  without  any  application 
from  me  offered  each  of  them  to  advance  me  all  the  money 
that  should  be  necessary  to  enable  me  to  take  the  whole 
business  upon  myself, — but  they  did  not  like  my  continu- 
ing the  partnership  with  Meredith.  .  .  .  These  two  friends 
were  William  Coleman  and  Robert  Grace." 

Franklin  mentions,  in  the  codicil  to  his  will,  that  his 
reason  for  leaving  £2000  sterling  to  the  cities  of  Boston 
and  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  setting  up  young  mar- 
ried artificers  in  business  was  because  "  I  was  assisted  to  set 
up  my  business  in  Philadelphia  by  kind  loans  of  money 

1  Query,  were  monteiths  ever  japanned? 

2  Potts  Memorial. 


72  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

from  two  friends  there,  which  was  the  foundation  of  my 
fortune  and  of  all  the  utility  in  life  that  may  be  ascribed 
to  me."1 

The  Autobiography  of  Franklin  has  the  following  entry : 
"«  .  .  .  Having  in  1742  invented  an  open  fireplace  for 
the  better  warming  of  rooms,  and  at  the  same  time  saving 
fuel,  as  the  fresh  air  admitted  was  warmed  in  entering, 
I  made  a  present  of  the  model  to  Robert  Grace,  one  of 
my  early  friends,  who  having  an  iron  furnace,  found  the 
casting  of  the  plates  for  these  stoves  a  profitable  thing,  as 
they  were  growing  in  demand." 

These  stoves  were  manufactured  at  Warwick,  and  had 
the  words  "  Warwick  Furnace  "  cast  on  the  front  plate  in 
large  letters.3  They  were  very  popular  with  the  well-to-do 
for  the  next  fifty  years,  and  some  fine  examples  of  them  are 
still  extant.  Their  manufacture  was  evidently  remunera- 
tive, as  also  their  final  sale,  if  one  may  judge  from  an 
"Account  with  Benjamin  Franklin,"  in  a  Ledger  of  War- 
wick Furnace.2 

"174? 

Oct.  5  To  one  Tun  Fireplaces  pr 

Henry  Snyder. 

1751  July  15  To  two  tonn  Fire  Places 

pr.  Owen  Richards. 
Aug.  3.  To  one  tonn    Fire  places  pr. 

Andrew  Sping. 

"       6     "      "       "     ditto  pr.  Mathias  Brooks. 
"       19  "      "       "     pr.  Wm.  Ball's  team 

20  "      "       "      per  Saml.  Cryble. 
Oct.  26,  To  4  plates  of  ye  Neweste  Fashion  Stove 
15-4-6 

1752  Nov.  4.  To  22  Fireplace  plates 

per  Owen  Rodgers." 

1  Potts  Memorial. 

2  Collections  of  the  Hon.  S.  W.  Pennypacker. 

3  See  Sequence  of  Franklin  Fireplaces. 


Stoveplate,   John    Potts,    1757.     "The   life   of  Jesus   what   a   light." 


•**•«**•"    *  'V* 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  73 

Christopher  Sauer  was  one  of  the  first  agents  for  the  sale 
of  these  stoves. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  Franklin 
stoves  were  much  used  in  Paris.  One  of  the  French  min- 
isters was  asked  whether  he  had,  as  yet,  put  them  into  his 
reception  rooms.  "No,"  he  replied,  "for  the  English 
Ambassador  would  not  then  consent  to  warm  himself  at 
my  fire."1  In  the  eulogy  pronounced  by  Dr.  William 
Smith,  first  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  death  of  Dr.  Franklin,  he  speaks  of  "the  New  In- 
vented Pennsylvania  Fireplace,  the  open  stoves  now  in  gen- 
eral use,  to  the  comfort  of  thousands  who,  assembled  round 
them  in  the  wintry  night,  bless  the  name  of  the  inventor, 
which  they  yet  bear! "  At  the  end  of  this  book  a  short 
sequence  of  Franklin  fireplaces  will  be  found.  It  is  an 
imperfect  effort  to  show  the  earlier  shape  and  style  of 
these  stoves,  and  the  improvement  in  appearance  as  they 
were  gradually  made  at  many  different  furnaces. 

During  the  Revolution,  the  furnace  at  Warwick  was 
busily  engaged  in  casting  cannon  and  shell  for  the  govern- 
ment. Some  imperfect  cannon  are  said  to  be  still  im- 
bedded in  the  bank  of  French  Creek.  The  fact  that  it 
was  such  an  arsenal  of  supplies  led  to  its  choice  by  Wash- 
ington as  his  headquarters  after  the  battle  of  Brandywine, 
from  the  eighteenth  September,  1777,  until  the  twentieth, 
when  he  crossed  the  Schuylkill  at  Parker's  Ford,  in  at- 
tempting to  interfere  with  Howe's  march  to  Philadelphia. 
The  soldiers  took  from  the  inhabitants  everywhere,  all  the 
leaden  clock-weights  upon  which  they  could  lay  their  hands, 
in  order  to  run  them  into  bullets.  They  were  replaced  by 
iron  ones,  which  were  cast  at  Warwick  in  great  numbers. 

1  The  American  Revolution,  by  Sir  George  Otto  Trevelyan,  III,  p.  459. 


74  FORGES  AND  FURNACES  IN  THE 

WASHINGTON  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  CONGRESS. 

"Wednesday  Sept  17  1777 

At  Yellow  Springs. 

"Yesterday  the  enemy  moved  from  Concord  by  Edge- 
mont  Road  with  the  evident  design  to  gain  our  right  Flank. 
This  obliged  us  to  alter  our  position  and  march  to  this 
place,  from  whence  we  immediately  proceed  to  Warwick. 
We  Suffered  much  from  the  severe  weather  yesterday  and 
last  night,  being  unavoidably  Separated  from  our  tents 
and  baggage." 

On  the  1 8th  September,  1777,  at  Warwick,  Washington 
wrote:  "The  army  here  is  so  much  fatigued,  it  is  impos- 
sible I  should  move  them  this  afternoon.1'1 

("Part  of  the  army  went  to  Warwick  Furnace  on  the 
1 7th.  Warwick  is  8  miles  North  of  Yellow  Springs  &  9 
Miles  from  Schuylkill.  They  were  joined  by  rest  of  army 
on  day  following.  Warwick  Furnace  was  a  depot  of  manu- 
facture of  cannon — of  which  60  were  cast  for  Continental 
army  of  12  to  1 8  Ibs  calibre  in  1776 

From  note — "Itinerary.") 

Warwick  Furnace  and  its  adjoining  lands  have  never 
been  out  of  the  possession  of  the  descendants  of  the  elder 
Samuel  Nutt,  but  are  held  by  members  of  the  Potts  family : 
although  in  1771  Thomas  Rutter  purchased  therein  a  half 
interest  from  Samuel  Potts. 

Amelia  M.  Gummere, 
Augusta  M.  Longacre. 

1  Washington's  Itinerary,  by  W.  S.  Baker,  p.  91. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  75 


MOUNT  PLEASANT  FURNACE  AND  FORGE.          1739 

—40 
PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  LATER  BERKS. 

Situated  only  a  mile  apart,  on  Perkiomen  Creek,  about 
thirteen  miles  above  Pottstown,  this  furnace  and  forge 
were  undoubtedly  under  the  same  management,  although 
there  is  little  definite  knowledge  of  their  early  history. 
Mrs.  James  quotes  from  a  family  document:  "In  1743 
Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  gave  to  his  son  David1  one  full  and  un- 
divided sixth  part  in  a  certain  furnace  and  forge  com- 
monly called  Mount  Pleasant,  and  of  and  in  several  tracts 
of  land  thereunto  belonging."  No  remains  of  this  old 
forge  are  now  visible.  David  Potts,  born  1722,  carried 
on  the  Mount  Pleasant  works  until  his  death  in  1752. 
His  wife  was  Rebecca  Rutter,  granddaughter  of  the  first 
Thomas.  Of  the  frequent  intermarriages  in  the  iron- 
making  world  of  "  the  good  old  Colony  times,"  it  is  surely 
not  censorious  to  suggest  that  the  background  of  many 
acres  and  active  furnaces  undoubtedly  enhanced  the  charms 
of  the  daughters  of  Pennsylvania. 

Little  is  known  of  the  subsequent  history  of  Mount 
Pleasant.  "A  few  feet  of  crumbling  walls"  mark  the 
site.  Both  furnace  and  forge  are  mentioned  in  a  list  of 
the  iron  industries,  compiled  by  Samuel  Potts,  for  the  in- 
formation of  Congress  when  it  was  enacting  a  tariff  law  in 
1789.  It  must  therefore  have  been  active  at  that  date. 

1  Memorial  of  Thomas  Potts,  Jr.,  p.  120. 


76  FORGES  AND   FURNACES  IN  THE 


1740  HAY  CREEK  OR  BIRDSBORO  FORGES. 

CHESTER  COUNTY,  LATER  BERKS. 

William  Bird,  whose  marriage  is  recorded  in  the  old 
Swedish  church  register  at  Morlatton,  now  Douglassville, 
in  1735,  to  Brigetta  Hulings,  daughter  of  Marcus  Hul- 
ings,  built  the  first  of  these  forges  in  1740,  on  Hay  Creek 
near  its  entrance  into  the  Schuylkill  River  in  Berks  County. 
There  is  nothing  left  now  of  the  early  forges. 

He  obtained,  by  warrant  and  survey  much  property  in 
this  section  and  at  his  death  his  estate  is  reported  to  be 
"three  messuages  (dwellings)  3  forges,  .  .  .  2400  acres  in 
Union  and  Robeson  townships ;  one  messuage,  one  iron  fur- 
nace and  two  thousand  acres  in  Heidelberg  township." 
The  latter  is  the  Berkshire  Furnace.  We  find  according 
to  Montgomery1  "  The  Berkshire  Furnace  was  erected  by 
William  Bird  about  1760  .  .  .  the  name  first  given  to  it 
was  Roxborough." 

William  Bird's  widow  married  in  1762  John  Patton, 
whose  name  appears  in  partnership  with  George  Ege  in  the 
running  of  the  furnace. 

We  find  William  Bird's  tombstone  at  Douglassville 
which  is  four  miles  from  Birdsboro.  "  In  memory  of  Wm 
Bird  Esq.  who  departed  this  life  Nov.  16.  1761,  aged  55 
years." 

The  residence  built  by  William  Bird  is  still  standing, 
though  much  depreciated  in  value  by  the  encroachments 
of  the  town  and  of  the  Schuylkill  Canal.  Mark  Bird,  his 
son,  was  probably  born  here.  At  that  time,  it  is  said,  the 

1  History  of  Berks  County. 


.*, 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  77 

house  was  surrounded  by  a  deer  park,  sloping  to  the  river, 
which  must  have  been  a  means  of  communication  with 
other  places,  as  well  as  a  natural  beauty  of  the  property. 
Watson,  in  his  "Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  mentions  the 
interesting  circumstance  that  upon  the  occasion  of  thle 
wedding  of  Magdalena  Hulings,  a  native  of  Morlatton, 
and  daughter  of  one  of  the  early  settlers,  Marcus  Hulings, 
— to  Matthias  Holstein,  of  the  Swedes  Ford,  the  bride 
with  her  entire  retinue — made  the  journey  thither  in  the 
canoes.  So  cannot  we  picture  Marcus  Hulings*  other 
daughter  on  her  way  to  the  Bird  Iron  Works  ? 

Mark  Bird,  according  to  Montgomery,1  "after  his 
father's  death,  took  charge  of  the  estate,  and  by  partition 
proceedings  in  the  Orphans  Court  came  to  own  the  proper- 
ties. ...  By  the  time  the  Revolution  broke  out,  he  had 
enlarged  his  possessions  very  much  and  had  come  to  be 
one  of  the  richest  and  most  prominent  and  enterprising 
men  in  this  section  of  the  state. .  .  .  In  1775  and  '76  Mark 
Bird  was  the  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  2nd  Battalion  of 
the  County  Militia,  which  was  formed  out  of  companies 
in  the  vicinity  of  Birdsboro;  and  in  August,  1776,  as  a  col- 
onel he  fitted  out  three  hundred  men  of  his  battalion  with 
uniforms,  tents,  and  provisions,  at  his  own  expense." 

The  disturbance  of  business  by  the  Revolution,  and  the 
monetary  troubles  after  its  close,  brought  about  his  failure. 

"At  the  Sheriff's  Sale  in  1788  the  forge  property  was 
purchased  by  Cadwallader  Morris,  James  Wilson  and 
others  of  Philadelphia;  and  in  1796  John  Louis  Barde 
became  the  owner.  Matthew  Brooke  married  a  daughter 
of  Barde  and  subsequently  purchased  the  property.  It 
has  since  remained  in  the  Brooke  family."2  We  find  in 
Mr.  Swank's  "Iron  Making  in  Pennsylvania,"  page  30: 

1  Berks  County  in  the  Revolution. 

2  Montgomery,  History  of  Berks  County. 


78  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

"  Mark  Bird  built  a  rolling  and  slitting  mill  and  a  nail 
factory  at  Birdsboro  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution. 
He  also  built  Spring  Forge  in  Oley  Township  and  Gibral- 
tar forges  in  Robeson  Township.  At  Trenton,  New  Jer- 
sey, he  manufactured  wire.  The  town  of  Birdsboro,  in 
Berks  County  now  the  seat  of  the  extensive  iron  works  of 
Messrs  E.  &  G.  Brooke  was  named  after  William  Bird." 

Mark  Bird's  wife  was  Mary  Ross,  daughter  of  Rev. 
George  Ross.  His  daughter  married  James  Wilson,  the 
Signer. 

About  1788  Mark  Bird  moved  to  North  Carolina, 
where  he  died.  We  find  his  name,  together  with  that  of 
his  brother-in-law,  Edward  Biddle,  and  of  his  step-father, 
Colonel  John  Patton,  very  prominent  in  the  early  Revolu- 
tionary era. 

Cornelia  L.  E.  Brooke. 


•  PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  79 

NEW  PINE  FORGES. 
BERKS  COUNTY. 

Information  as  to  these  forges  in  Union  township  has 
been  gathered  exclusively  from  the  "Cole  Book"  and 
ledgers  in  the  manuscript  collections  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Historical  Society.  Evidently  William  Bird  was  the  owner, 
and  the  records  mention  a  Lower,  Middle,  and  Upper 
forge.  One  of  the  earliest  books  is  entitled  "New  Pine 
Forge  Cole  Book,"  1744-1760.  A  coal  book  gave  de- 
tails of  the  making  and  hauling  of  charcoal  and  its  later 
disposal.  A  heading,  for  a  carefully  spaced  page  runs: 
"Account  of  Coles  made  and  sent  to  Hopewell  Forge  by 
John  Surrie  for  the  year  1744."  "  Pigg  Iron  from  War- 
wick Furnace  upon  accott  of  Mr.  Robert  Grace.  For  the 
Euse  of  Mr.  Wm  Bird  at  Hopewell  Forge  for  the  year 
1744."  "Account  of  Pigg  Iron  sent  to  Hopewell  Forge 
anno  1745,  since  Silvanus  Maybury  came  to  work." 

Another:  "Oct.  1756.  New  Pine  Forges  to  Rokx- 
burry  Furnace,  Dr." 

An  interesting  entry  is:  "  Compiled  by  John  Fegan,  for 
the  Middle  Forge;  an  account  of  the  building  of  the 
Middle  Forge.  The  first  stone  laid  on  Foundation  July 
the  29th,  1757.  The  raffters  raised  August  19th,  The  Fore 
Bay  made  August  26th.  The  Covering  finished  September 
5th.  The  geers  raised  October  the  fifteenth.  The  Anvil 
Block  fixed  October  25*.  The  shafts  fixed  the  29th  d°. 
The  Chiefry  and  hammer  wheel  finished  November  the 
19th." 

From  New  Pine  Wast  Book: — "Dec.  1757.  John 
Huling  Dr  to  23  Shovel  plates. 

"  Francis  Morris  IX  to  i  Bake  Plate 


80  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

"Yorke  &  Potts  Dr.  to  i  ton  Barr  Iron  by  Andrew 
Huling." 

From  Cole  Book:  "The  new  wagon  measured  at  the 
Lower  Forge,  and  it  measured  8  Seams.  Each  seam 
Eleven  Bushel." 

"  Memorandum,  that  I  have  this  14th  day  of  November, 
1757  agreed  with  William  Bird  Esqr.  to  begin  ...  to 
serve  him  as  carter  for  i  year,  at  the  rate  of  L  19  per  year, 
meat,  drink,  washing  &  lodging. 

CONRAD  +  WISHON 

his  mark" 
Witness  present 

John  Fegan 

On  fly  leaf:  "Day  Book,  Kept  at  New  Pine,  Union 
Township,  County  of  Berks,  for  William  Bird  Esq.  1759." 

"  John  Lincoln  Cr.  by  self  and  boy  taking  3  tunn  barr 
iron  in  a  canoe  to  Spring  Mill,  Feb.  1760." 

"Patton  and  Bird"  the  owners  of  "Rocksburry"  Fur- 
nace a  frequent  term  from  1760:  and  in  1763,  "Patton 
and  Bird  Drs  for  the  stock  received  from  Wm  Bird." 

"  1760.     Jacob  Lenan  got  stoves,  midlen  and  small." 

"Paid  Mr.  Mark  Bird's  expences  to  Phila  i-n-6 — 
Sept.  1760." 

"22  July  1761,  Nicholas  Scull  for  hauling  i  Hhd  Rum 

I-O-O- 

"  Roxberry  "  Furnace  frequently  bought  bar  iron,  items 
at  store,  etc.  in  1760-61-62. 

"  Wood  taken  up  by  Stephen  Doughten  on  Abram  Lin- 
coln's Plantation  for  the  year  1760." 

"Reading,  March  17,  1764.  Mark  Bird  .  .  .  from 
the  time  his  partnership  broke  off,  at  14  Feb.  art  the 
Forge  " — etc. 

In  the  New  Pine  Forge  Ledger,  1775-1777,  the  follow- 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  8 1 

ing  names,  (with  others)  are  mentioned  under  Forge 
Charge.  John  Patton,  Paul  Zantzinger,  Curttis  Grubb, 
George  Ege,  Adam  Kalbach,  Joseph  Krebs,  Hanes  Zerby, 
Charles  Stedman,  James  Old,  George  Veneada,  Thomas 
Mayburry.  The  entries  in  this  book  end  April,  1778. 
The  rest  of  the  volume  is  filled  with  Charming  Forge 
accounts,  beginning  January,  1823. 

Additional  entries: 

d 

"Lawrence  Doyle,  Dr.  to  rum  when  you  was  sick.  .   4 

to  syder  when  you  was  ditto.   3" 

"Agreement  made  29th  of  February  1762  with  James 
Foley  and  Patton  and  Bird  to  do  team  work  for  one  year." 

"Agreement  on  the  part  of  Gabriel  Hughes  of  Exeter 
township  Berks  Co.  July  ist  1762  to  deliver  wood  to 
John  Patton." 

"Oct.  6th  1762  Agreement  between  John  Boyer  and 
Patton  and  Bird  to  drive  team  one  whole  year  from  the 
date  hereof,  for  the  due  performance  of  which  said  Patton 
promises  to  pay  him  the  sum  of  twenty  six  pounds  and 
two  pair  of  shoes." 

"Agreement  with  John  Shaw  July  23rd  1761  to  stock 
the  upper  Forge,  and  at  any  time  to  assist  in  stocking  at 
any  of  the  other  two  forges  when  he  has  not  stocking  to  do 
at  the  said  upper  forge.  The  said  Shaw  is  to  be  paid  for 
the  faithfull  performance  of  the  above  agreement  eighteen 
pounds  and  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  if  he  does  not  get  drunk 
above  once  in  three  months,  a  pair  of  stockings  and  his 
diet." 

"By  Negro  Dick's  board  21  Nov.  17  to  14  Feb.  1763 
— £10-0-0. 

New  Pine  Forges  Dr.  to  Rocksburry  Furnace  April  29, 
1760.  Mark  Bird,  To  Cash  paid  at  Roxburry  Furnace 


82  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

£20.     Bird  &  Patton  Dr.  To  hauling  3  tun  of  Stoves  from 
the  furnace  60-0. 

An  interesting  question  arises  from  the  finding  of  these 
old  ledgers  and  the  quaint  Cole  Book.  Were  these  the 
original  iron  works  of  William  Bird  (Hay  Creek  or  Birds- 
boro  forges)  under  a  name  unknown  until  now?  The 
writer  of  the  articles  on  Hay  Creek  Forges  and  Hopewell 
Furnace  is  quite  confident  they  are  the  same. 

Augusta  M.  Longacre. 


1742  HOPEWELL  FORGE. 

LANCASTER  COUNTY,  LATER  LEBANON. 

Peter  Grubb  erected  this  forge  on  Hammer  Creek,  six 
miles  southeast  of  Cornwall,  before  building  the  large 
blast  furnace  at  the  latter  place.  He  had  taken  up  the 
land  in  1737.  Hammer  Creek  was  the  largest  stream  in 
the  neighborhood  and  furnished  excellent  water  power. 
Two  Hopewell  forges  were  built  here,  but  at  what  time  is 
not  known.  Mr.  Grubb  may  have  run  one  as  a  bloomary 
or  Catalan  forge,  bringing  the  ore  from  Cornwall  for  that 
purpose.1  Here  Peter  Grubb  had  his  home.  He  was 
born  at  Marcus  Hook,  1707-8,  and  died  in  1754.  Com- 
ing into  possession  of  Curtiss  and  Peter  Grubb  at  their 
father's  death,  these  forges  became  finally  the  property  of 
Robert  Coleman  when  he  bought  Cornwall.  In  early 
life  he  had  been  here  as  a  clerk  with  the  Grubb  brothers, 
but  soon,  by  rapid  steps,  became  himself  an  iron  master. 

1 H.  C.  Grittinger,  Cornwall  Furnace  and  Ore  Banks,  p.  14. 


Stoveplate,  Joseph  and   Potiphar's  wife,    1749. 


Curtiss    Grubb's    Furnace.     "  In    God    is    my    Salvation. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  83 

CORNWALL  FURNACE. 
LANCASTER  COUNTY,  LATER  LEBANON. 

Foremost  among  the  natural  glories  of  Pennsylvania  are 
the  great  ore  banks  of  Cornwall.  Before  the  develop- 
ment and  opening  up  of  our  western  country,  no  traveler 
from  foreign  lands  was  content  until  he  had  seen  these 
mountains  of  magnetic  iron  ore;  three  solid  hills,  from 
which  rich  ore  was  dug,  at  very  low  cost.  They  were 
called  the  Large  Iron  Hill,  Middle  Hill  and  Grassy  Hill. 
Roughly  speaking,  the  total  area  of  these  ore  mines  is  some- 
thing approaching  one  hundred  and  ten  acres,  and  now, 
after  having  been  worked  for  one  hundred  and  seventy 
years,  they  seem  inexhaustible,  and  require  no  mining, 
simply  to  be  quarried. 

Acrelius,  the  Swedish  historian,  writing  in  1756,  of 
"  Cornwall,  or  Grubb's  Iron  Works  in  Lancaster  County," 
said:  "The  mine  is  rich  and  abundant,  forty  feet  deep, 
commencing  two  feet  under  the  earth's  surface.  .  .  .Peter 
Grubb  was  its  discoverer."  And  this  statement  of  the  old 
Swede  seems  to  be  the  final  verdict  to-day,  as  to  the  first 
recognition  of  the  possibilities  of  these  wonderful  hills. 
Mr.  H.  C.  Grittinger,  in  his  able  monograph  on  "  Corn- 
wall Furnace,"  says:  "  It  is  to  be  presumed  .  .  .  that  it  was 
Peter  Grubb  who  first  developed  and  used  the  ore,  as  the 
two  individuals  who  preceded  him  in  the  ownership  of  the 
land,  and  who  both  sold  their  holdings  for  nominal  amounts, 
evidently  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  ore  deposits;  and 
they  were  both  iron  masters,  and  members  of  the  com- 
pany that  had  built  and  were  operating  Durham  Furnace 
in  Bucks  County  in  1727." 

On  the  8th  day  of  May,   1732,  John,  Thomas,  and 


84  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

Richard  Penn,  for  the  sum  of  £500,  money  of  Pennsyl- 
vania (a  pound  Pennsylvania  currency  being  worth  $2.66- 
2/3  of  our  present  money)  granted  a  warrant  for  five 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  to 
Joseph  Turner  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  who  afterwards 
assigned  it  to  William  Allen.  By  agreement,  April  5, 
*734>  William  Allen  sold  three  hundred  of  the  five  thou- 
sand acres  of  the  land  called  for  in  the  warrant,  to  Peter 
Grubb  for  the  sum  of  £135,  who  procured  a  patent  deed 
for  it  from  the  proprietaries  on  the  3Oth  day  of  November, 
1737.  This  grant,  however,  did  not  entirely  embrace  the 
ore  hills,  so  the  evidently  clear-sighted  Peter  Grubb  made 
two  other  purchases  of  land  from  the  Proprietaries,  which 
made  him  sole  owner.  The  two  brothers,  Peter  and  Samuel, 
were  the  sons  of  John  Grubb,  who  came  from  Cornwall,  Eng- 
land, in  1692,  landing  near  Wilmington,  Lower  Counties, 
on  a  spot  afterwards  called  Grubb's  Landing.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Provincial  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
from  1694  to  1698.  He  is  buried  in  the  Swedes'  grave- 
yard, Wilmington.  Mr.  James  M.  Swank,  the  great  au- 
thority on  iron,  thinks  that  Peter  Grubb's  first  essay  in  iron 
making  was  with  a  bloomary  forge  in  1735,  near  the  site 
of  the  later  Cornwall  Furnace.  The  existence  of  this 
early  bloomary  is  attested  by  the  traditions  of  Cornwall. 
About  a  mile  from  the  great  furnace,  small  pieces  of  slag 
and  several  pieces  of  white  iron  were  found  by  Mr.  Grit- 
tinger,  one  of  which  he  presented  to  the  Lebanon  county 
Historical  Society  as  a  sample  of  the  first  iron  made  in 
Lebanon  county.  From  this  small  beginning — and  it  was 
so  small  that  the  spring  run  on  which  it  was  situated  was 
too  insignificant  to  furnish  water  power  to  run  the  bellows, 
so  that  it  must  have  been  worked  by  hand — from  this  has 
come  the  greatest  of  Pennsylvania  iron  industries. 


Cornwall   Ore  Banks.     View  from    Big  Hill. 


Cornwall   Ore  Banks,   Robesonia  Cut  and   Hoist. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  85 

An  indenture  in  possession  of  the  Grubb  family,  reads  as 
follows : 

"On  the  22nd  day  of  September  in  the  thirteenth  year 
of  the  reign  of  King  George  the  Second  over  Great  Britain, 
France  &c,  Anno  Domini  1739,  between  Peter  Grubb  of 
the  township  of  Warwick  in  the  County  of  Lancaster,  of 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  Iron  Master,  with  Samuel 
Grubb  of  East  Bradford,  in  the  County  of  Chester,  a  Char- 
coal Furnace  to  be  built,  &  to  be  called  Cornwall — " 

Planned  thus  in  1739,  and  first  in  blast  in  1742,  Corn- 
wall furnace,  about  the  size  of  Warwick  furnace,  began  its 
long  existence,  being  named  for  Peter  Grubb's  ancestral 
county  in  England.  Having  been  blown  by  its  owner 
for  three  years,  it  was,  in  1745,  along  with  the  Hopewell 
forge  which  belonged  to  Mr.  Grubb,  leased  to  twelve  per- 
sons,1 who  managed  it  for  a  few  years  only,  under  the 
name  of  the  Cornwall  Company.  For  the  remainder  of 
the  term  it  was  conducted  by  Jacob  Giles,  a  Quaker  of 
Baltimore.2 

Peter  Grubb  remained  sole  owner  of  the  ore  banks  un- 
til his  death,  in  1754,  when  they  became  the  property  of 
his  two  sons,  Curtis  and  Peter,  Curtis  as  elder  son,  under 
the  intestate  law  of  that  day,  receiving  two  thirds  and  Peter 
one  third.  These  men  have  a  patriotic  record,  having 
both  been  colonels  in  the  Revolution.  To  judge  from  an 
account  of  the  gayeties  of  Hessian  prisoners,  at  Hebron, 
Lebanon  county,  in  August,  1777,  the  officer  in  charge, 
Col.  Curtis  Grubb,  must  have  had  his  own  trials.  Much 
to  the  distress  of  church  members,  the  prisoners  were  quar- 
tered in  churches.  The  Moravian  church  seems  to  have 
suffered  most,  as  the  Hessians  destroyed  fences  and  other 
property,  and  taking  the  Church  violins,  solaced  themselves 
with  playing  and  dancing.3 

1  Acrelius,  1756,  speaks  of  its  being  rented  then  to  Gurrit  &  Co. 

2  Bishop,  American  Manufactures. 

3  Publications  of  the  Lebanon  County  Historical  Society. 


86  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN  THE 

Under  the  ownership  of  these  patriotic  colonels,  Corn- 
wall furnace,  during  the  war,  cast  cannon,  shot,  shell,  and 
stoves  for  the  Continental  Army.  A  letter  relative  to 
cannon  cast  at  Cornwall  is  interesting. 

"PHILADELPHIA  18  September  1776 
"  To  Col.  Peter  Grubb, 

"  Sir, — By  Capt.  Joy  I  understand  you  have  at  last  made 
some  i2-Pounders,  but  I  fear  they  are  heavier  than  they 
ought  to  be.  Those  made  by  Col.  Bird  weigh  but  27  c  and 
some  under. 

"  You  have  drawn  on  the  Committee  for  £1500,  it  is  not 
sent  because  the  matter  is  not  understood.  We  can't  sup- 
pose you  want  such  a  sum  to  carry  on  the  Works,  &  you 
certainly  don't  desire  the  Cannon  to  be  paid  for  before  they 
are  delivered. 

"  The  sum  you  draw  for  is  the  value  of  the  Guns  already 
made,  &  as  the  contract  was  made  with  your  Brother,  Col. 
Curtis  Grubb  (Tho'  you  may  be  equally  interested  with 
him),  yet  I  should  like  to  hear  from  him  before  so  large 
a  sum  was  paid;  however,  I  have  sent  you  by  Capt.  Dan'l 
Joy  one  thousand  dollars.  I  mentioned  to  Congress  your 
inclination  to  have  some  of  the  prisoners  from  Lancaster  to 
work  for  you,  but  it  was  supposed  the  Committee  of  Lan- 
caster would  object  to  it.  I  hope  you  will  make  all  ex- 
pedition in  making  the  Cannon  &  getting  them  down,  for 
they  are  much  wanted. 

"  The  Cannon  must  be  proved  with  two  shott,  or  they 
will  never  be  put  on  board  the  Ships.  I  am  your  hum'l 

Serv't."  R.  T.  PAINE."1 

In  1783  Curtis  granted  and  conveyed  inter  alia  to  Peter 
Grubb,  his  eldest  son,  and  to  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever, 
the  full  equal  undivided  one-sixth  part  of  all  his  estate, 
including  the  Cornwall  ore  banks  or  mine  hills.  In  1785, 
Peter  Grubb,  3rd,  son  of  Curtis  Grubb,  entered  into  articles 
of  agreement  with  Robert  Coleman  to  sell  and  convey 
to  him,  all  his  right,  title  and  interest  of,  in  and  to  the 

1  Egle,  History  of  Lebanon  County. 


Front  plate  of  Stove.     Cornwall   Furnace,    1772. 


Cornwall  Furnace,  1776. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  87 

said  undivided  one-sixth  part  of  the  estate  above  referred 
to.  In  1798  Robert  Coleman  had  purchased  from  the 
various  Grubb  heirs  five-sixths  of  the  ore  banks — the  re- 
maining one-sixth  being  held  by  Henry  Bates  Grubb. 

It  is  now  more  than  a  century  and  a  quarter  since  Robert 
Coleman  became  the  chief  owner  of  this  great  mine  so 
identified  with  his  name  and  that  of  his  heirs.  Although 
his  children  and  descendants  have  lived  at  Cornwall,  he  did 
not.  In  the  history  of  his  life,  in  his  own  handwriting 
(the  property  later  of  his  grandson,  George  Dawson  Cole- 
man) Robert  Coleman  states  that  he  was  born  near  Castle- 
finn  in  County  Donegal,  Ireland,  on  the  fourth  day  of 
November,  1748,  and  in  1764,  when  sixteen  years  of  age, 
came  to  America  to  seek  his  fortune.  His  capital  then 
consisted  of  a  sound  body  and  a  good  education,  the  latter 
not  a  common  thing  in  those  days.  He  brought  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Blair  McClenachan  and  the  Messrs. 
Biddle,  and  by  them  was  recommended  to  Mr.  Read,  Pro- 
thonotary,  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  in  whose  employ  as 
clerk  he  remained  nearly  two  years.  The  young  man, 
however,  had  higher  ambitions  than  being  a  clerk  in  an 
office,  and  like  many  of  his  day  and  since,  started  out  into 
the  wild  country  to  seek  his  fortune.  He  quickly  found 
himself  in  the  iron  ore  district  and  obtained  work  from 
the  Grubbs  at  Hopewell  Forges.  Six  months  after  he  got 
a  better  position  at  Quittapahilla  Forge  (afterward  known 
as  New  Market  Forge) ,  about  eight  miles  west  of  Lebanon, 
then  operated  under  a  lease  by  James  Old,  who  was  also 
the  owner  of  Speedwell  Forge,  located  on  Hammer  Creek, 
a  short  distance  below  the  Hopewell  Forges.  Mr.  Old 
found  the  young  man  so  intelligent,  industrious  and  gen- 
erally satisfactory,  that  when  he  moved  to  Reading 
Furnace  on  French  Creek  he  gave  Coleman  a  higher  posi- 
tion and  took  him  with  him.  While  at  this  furnace  Robert 
Coleman  married  Anne  Old,  a  daughter  of  his  employer, 


88  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

October  2,  1773.  Soon  after,  finding  that  he  had  accumu- 
lated enough  capital  to  set  out  for  himself,  he  rented  Sal- 
ford  Forge,  near  Norristown,  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

From  Salford  Forge  he  removed  in  1776  to  Elizabeth 
Furnace,  where  he  lived  until  1809.  He  never  made  his 
home  at  Cornwall,  although  his  interests  there  were  great, 
extending  even  to  the  beautiful  gardens  which  were  planned 
under  his  direction,  by  a  Frenchman,  who  also  laid  out 
the  gardens  at  his  home,  the  Mansion,  at  Elizabeth,  which 
Mr.  Coleman  practically  built  after  purchasing  the 
property.1 

A  man  of  strong  character,  and  great  capacity,  Robert 
Coleman  was  the  most  noted  iron  master  in  Pennsylvania. 
For  an  estimate  of  his  business  ability  by  a  contemporary, 
we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  from  Hazard's  Register  of 
1831  :  "  R.  Coleman  Esq.,  became  the  most  successful  pro- 
prietor of  iron  works:  to  untiring  industry  and  judicious 
management  he  added  the  utmost  probity  and  regularity  in 
his  dealings,  and  to  him  Lancaster  county  is  especially  in- 
debted for  the  celebrity  it  has  acquired  from  the  number 
and  magnitude  of  its  iron  works  and  the  excellence  of  its 
manufacture."  While,  during  the  struggle  of  the  Col- 
onies with  the  Mother  country  the  Grubb  brothers  were 
eminently  patriotic,  Robert  Coleman,  then  at  Elizabeth 
Furnace,  was  in  no  whit  behind  them. 

He  was  an  officer  in  the  Pennsylvania  militia  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  a  member  of  the  State  Convention 
which  framed  the  Constitution  of  1790,  and  a  member  of 
the  Legislature.  He  raised  and  commanded  a  troop  of 
cavalry  during  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  was  twice  a  Pres- 
idential elector,  and  an  Associate  Judge  in  Lancaster  for 
nearly  twenty  years.2 


notes  furnished  by  Mrs.  Horace  Brock,  great-granddaughter  of 
Robert  Coleman.    See  Salford  Forge. 

2  See  Elizabeth  Furnace  and  Salford  Forge. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  89 

He  retired  from  business  and  moved,  in  1809,  to  Lancas- 
ter, where  he  died  on  the  I4th  August,  1825. 

His  son,  James  Coleman,  inherited  Elizabeth,  while  the 
younger  sons,  T.  Bird  Coleman  and  William,  were  settled 
at  Cornwall.  Later  Robert  Coleman's  grandson,  Robert 
Coleman,  with  his  brother,  G.  Dawson  Coleman,  removed 
to  Lebanon  and  built  furnaces  there  on  the  Union  Canal, 
which  was  then  the  great  means  of  transportation.  Coal 
could  be  received  and  iron  shipped  from  there  better  than 
from  Cornwall  or  Elizabeth,  whence  they  had  to  be  hauled 
by  teams;  and  by  that  time  charcoal  furnaces  were  going 
out. 

"  Both  Cornwall  Furnace  and  the  early  bloomary  were 
near  the  old  road  that  had  been  the  original  thoroughfare 
through  the  southern  part  of  what  is  now  known  as  Leb- 
anon county  between  Harris's  Ferry  and  Philadelphia. 
On  some  of  the  old  maps  this  is  called  'The  Paxton 
Road':  tradition  says  the  name  was  given  because  'The 
Paxton  Boys'  had  marched  over  it  on  their  way  to  Phil- 
adelphia at  the  time  of  their  insurrection  in  February 


Of  the  output  of  these  great  mines  we  are  told  that 
"  prior  to  the  development  of  the  Lake  Superior  iron  ore 
region  the  Cornwall  mines  were  annually  the  most  produc- 
tive group  of  all  the  iron  ore  mines  in  this  country  and  this 
distinction  they  held  for  several  years  after  Lake  Superior 
ores  came  into  general  use." 

"Down  to  1908  these  mines  had  produced  more  iron 
ore  than  any  other  single  iron  ore  property  in  the  United 
States,  including  the  most  productive  of  the  Lake  Superior 


mines."2 


Augusta  M.  Longacre. 


1  Grittinger,  Cornwall  Furnace  and  Ore  Banks,  p.  14. 

2  Swank,  Progressive  Pennsylvania,  p.  2191. 


90  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

1742  MOUNT  JOY,  OR  VALLEY  FORGE. 

CHESTER  COUNTY. 

Every  good  American  associates  with  Valley  Forge 
events  which  deal  with  military  rather  than  industrial  his- 
tory. Yet  an  early  forge  was  located  in  Chester  County 
on  the  western  side  of  Valley  Creek,  a  little  more  than 
half  a  mile  from  its  mouth.  The  "mountain"  opposite, 
from  which  the  forge  first  took  its  name,  is  said  to  have 
been  named  "Mount  Joy"  by  William  Penn,  who  also 
owned  a  manor  so  named  on  the  Schuylkill.  The  tradition 
is  that  a  nearby  hill  was  called  Mount  Misery  by  the 
Founder,  as  the  ascent  was  most  difficult. 

Evan- Ap-E van,  a  Welshman,  in  the  year  1686,  emi- 
grated from  his  native  land  to  take  up  and  occupy  a  tract 
of  land  comprising  some  two  thousand  acres,  including 
what  is  now  known  as  Valley  Forge.  Some  of  the  de- 
scendants are  still  in  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  original 
grant  of  1684,  to  Evan-Ap-Evan  by  the  proprietor.1 
Early  data  regarding  the  founders  are  very  difficult  to  ob- 
tain. It  is  certain  that  there  was  some  manufacture  of  iron 
products  at  this  spot  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Mr.  J.  M.  Swank2  mentions  an  early  and  misty 
tradition  that  the  forge  was  built  by  an  Englishman  named 
Walker,  who  came  over  with  William  Penn.  Possibly 
this  was  a  relative  of  the  later  owner,  for  there  are  in  the 
possession  of  ex-Governor  Pennypacker,  who  owns  a  large 
and  priceless  collection  of  original  ledgers  and  accounts, 
connected  with  some  of  the  earliest  Pennsylvania  iron- 

1  Henry  Woodman,   in  Bucks   County  Intelligencer   and  Moorestonvn 
Herald,  1*971    Art,  "  Valley  Forge." 

2  Ironmaking  in  Pennsylvania,  p.  28. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  91 

works,  the  ledgers  of  this  forge,  showing  the  ownership 
after  1742. 

In  that  year  a  forge  was  erected  under  the  firm  name 
of  Walker  and  Company,  by  Daniel  Walker,  Lewis  Evans 
and  Joseph  Williams.  They  sold  out  on  March  12,  1757, 
to  John  Potts,  of  Potts  Grove.  Indications  are  that  there 
was  an  earlier  forge,  for  Acrelius1  mentions  two  iron  works 
in  1759  in  the  "Great  Valley,"  and  Futhey  and  Cope,2  re- 
ferring to  these,  say  that  this  may  have  been  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Valley  Forge.  They  add,  "September  26, 
1751,  a  Stephen  Evans  and  Joseph  Williams  advertise  for 
sale  a  two  thirds  interest  in  three  hundred  and  seventy  five 
acres  near  the  mouth  of  Valley  Creek,  with  forge  and  saw 
mill  thereon." 

The  earliest  entry  in  the  account  book  referred  to  is 
dated  March  18,  1757.  The  firm  owned  two  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Chester  County,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  in  Philadelphia  County.  A  forge  and  saw 
mill  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek,  on  the  latter  tract. 
Daniel  Walker  had  held  a  mortgage  on  one  third  of  the 
tract,  which  he  had  foreclosed.  Ex-Governor  Penny- 
packer  owns  an  interesting  "  peel,"  made  by  Walker  and 
Company,  at  the  Valley  Forge  of  Mount  Joy.  It  is  a 
spade-shaped  implement,  with  a  very  long  handle,  used  by 
housewives  to  take  from  the  oven  the  bread  and  pies  which 
could  not  otherwise  be  reached  in  its  depths.  Under  the 
Potts  ownership,  James  Hockley  was  put  in  charge.  His 
name  occurs  in  a  cash  account  so  early  as  1738,  and  he  had 
probably  occupied  that  position  under  former  owners. 
"James  Hockley,  Cr.  by  cash  paid  toward  getting  Wag- 
gons to  go  to  Ohio,  two  and  six.  June  7,  1738."  "  Cash 
paid  to  yr.  Wife  five  shillings." 

1  History  of  New  Sweden. 

2  History  of  Chester  County,  Pa.,  p.  316. 


92  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

John  Potts  immediately  began  improvements  on  the 
property.  He  erected  a  grist  mill,  a  blacksmith  shop,  a 
cooper  shop,  and  started  a  store.  Samuel  Watkins,  a 
blacksmith,  was  paid  thirty  pounds  a  year.  People  as  far 
away  as  Coatesville  bought  their  shoes  at  the  forge  store, 
while  four  tons  of  iron  at  a  time  were  piled  up,  and  hauled 
by  wagon  to  Philadelphia.  The  work  was  done  by  negro 
slaves  and  by  two  white  men  classed  as  "  servants"  on  the 
books,  and  who  were  really  "  redemptioners,"  named 
Thomas  Connor  and  Henry  Seligman,  who  had  been 
bought  for  thirty  pounds  each.  Teamsters  were  paid 
twenty  pounds  a  year.  Candlesticks,  sleeve  buttons,  "  mo- 
haire,"  camblet,  and  "  callicoe,"  "  green  Knap,"  molasses, 
jacket  buttons,  men's  shoes  and  snuff  boxes,  molasses  and 
"  garters  for  your  wife  "  are  all  jumbled  up  promiscuously 
and  delightfully  in  the  accounts.  Philip  Piner  bought  a 
"  bake-plate  "  weighing  twenty-seven  pounds  at  three  pence 
per  pound,  for  which  he  paid  six  shillings  and  nine  pence. 
The  hire  of  a  pair  of  negroes  for  "Negro  Strephon" 
(probably  to  assist  him)  cost  one  shilling  and  six  pence. 

On  the  tenth  of  August,  1758,  "  a  heifer  hyde,  wt.  371 
Ibs."  was  sent  to  Isaac  Wayne,  and  October  24  of  the  same 
year,  "hydes"  were  sent  to  Isaac  Wayne's  son,  afterward 
famous  as  "  Mad  Anthony  "  Wayne.  The  "  First  Artikel " 
at  Mount  Joy  Forge  is  noted  as  having  cost  "  two  hundred 
shillings,"  but  very  unfortunately,  we  are  not  told  what 
the  "  artikel "  was. 

From  the  year  1771  Colonel  William  Dewees,  son  of 
William  Dewees,  Sheriff  of  Philadelphia,  was  associated 
with  the  Potts  family,  and  appears  to  have  been  a  resident 
manager  at  Mount  Joy.  In  1773  he  bought  an  interest  in 
the  business,  but  the  manufacture  of  iron  ceased  to  flourish 
on  Valley  Creek  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution. 
The  iron  used  at  Mount  Joy  was  brought  from  the  furnace 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  93 

at  Warwick  by  heavy  teams  over  a  road  which  Samuel 
Nutt,  Jr.,  of  the  latter  place,  had  been  at  great  pains  to 
open  and  improve.  Another  road  in  the  county  which  was 
located  and  built  through  his  father's  efforts  in  1735,  still 
bears  his  name. 

For  several  years  during  the  Revolution  the  forge  at 
Mount  Joy,  so  sadly  misnamed,  became  the  scene  of  far 
other  incidents.  Its  history  takes  on  the  red  hue  of  "  battle, 
murder  and  sudden  death,"  rather  than  the  fiery  glow  of 
a  great  iron  industry.  The  battle  of  the  Brandywine  was 
fought  September  n,  1777.  The  British  army  under 
General  Howe  lay  for  a  few  days  in  Tredyffrin  township, 
and  while  there,  a  detachment  was  sent  to  the  Valley 
Creek,  which  destroyed  Mount  Joy  Forge,  together  with 
property  belonging  to  William  Dewees  to  the  amount  of 
£4171  or  $11,000  Pennsylvania  currency,  including  utwo 
large  stone  dwelling  houses,  two  coal  houses,  four  hundred 
loads  of  coal  and  twenty  two  hundred  bushels  of  wheat  and 
rye  in  the  sheaf."  The  detachment  that  committed  this 
depredation  was  in  charge  of  Colonel  Gray,  the  superior 
officer  of  Major  Andre,  at  Paoli.  One  historian  of  this 
disaster  tells  us  that  his  mother,  as  a  young  girl,  accom- 
panied her  aunt  in  a  frightened  search  for  her  cousin  John, 
and  upon  their  return,  beheld  the  forge  a  smoking  ruin. 
The  conflagration  was  witnessed  from  the  top  of  Mount 
Joy,  the  hill  from  which  the  forge  took  its  name,  by 
Colonel  Caleb  North,  of  the  Continental  forces.  One  or 
two  venerable  trees  were  spared,  which  were  recently  living. 

The  massacre  at  Paoli  followed  in  a  few  days  (Septem- 
ber 19)  and  this  enabled  Howe  to  move  unmolested.  On 
the  twenty-third,  after  a  futile  attempt  to  cross  the  Schuyl- 
kill  at  Swede's  Ford,  he  made  a  successful  effort  by  divid- 
ing his  forces,  one  half  crossing  at  what  is  now  Phoenixville, 
and  the  other  at  Fatlands  Ford,  close  under  Mount  Joy, 


94  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

after  which  the  united  army  successfully  moved  toward 
Philadelphia,  which  it  triumphantly  entered  September  26. 

The  greater  interest  for  Valley  Forge,  however,  comes 
to  us  for  far  other  reasons  than  that  an  invading  army 
crossed  the  Schuylkill  at  this  point.  General  Washington, 
encamping  for  a  time  near  the  Perkiomen  Creek,  at  Penny- 
packer's  Mills,  disputed  the  possession  of  Philadelphia  with 
the  British  at  Germantown  in  October,  and  eventually  re- 
tired for  the  winter  to  those  quarters  which  have  since 
made  Valley  Forge  a  spot  so  famous  and  so  sad.  The  se- 
cluded situation  was  probably  the  chief  reason  for  its 
selection.  General  Washington  made  his  headquarters  in 
the  house  of  Isaac  Potts,  and  the  property  remained  in  the 
possession  of  that  family  for  many  years  after. 

The  firm  of  Potts  and  Rutter,  in  1757,  cast  at  War- 
wick a  bell,  marked  P.  R.  1757  which  was  used  to  call  the 
men  to  work  for  more  than  a  century.  'In  May,  1874, 
it  was  sent  to  Colonel  J.  M.  Fager  by  Thomas  W.  Potts, 
Jr.,  and  interest  is  doubly  given  to  this  old  bell  by  the  fact, 
that  while  Washington  was  at  Valley  Forge,  it  was  rung 
to  assemble  the  citizens  to  bury  the  cannon,  that  they  might 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  This  bell  was  pres- 
ented by  Colonel  Fager  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
was  an  object  of  great  interest  at  the  recent  reopening  of 
Congress  Hall. 

Directly  opposite  Valley  Forge  stands  a  fine  estate, 
called  Fatlands,  or  Vaux  Hill,  from  the  name  of  the  owner, 
James  Vaux,  who  came  to  America  from  England  just  be- 
fore the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  and  located  at  this 
point.  The  ford  leading  to  Valley  Forge  is  that  where 
General  Sullivan  was  deputed  by  Washington  to  construct 
a  pontoon  bridge.  Over  this,  at  the  evacuation  of  Valley 
Forge,  the  army  crossed,  passing  up  the  lane  near  the  man- 
sion. The  dam  constructed  for  the  later  forge  obliterated 


Bell  rung  at  Valley  Forge  as  signal  to  bury  the  cannon  on  alarm  of 
approach  of  enemy.  Cast  at  Warwick  Furnace,  1757.  Now  in  Congress 
Hall,  the  gift  of  Col.  Fager. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  95 

the  ford,  and  the  point  where  stood  the  bridge  is  marked 
by  a  small  monument. 

James  Vaux  was  a  Quaker,  and  with  the  non-partisan 
sentiments  of  his  sect — although  he  was  all  along  a  patriot, 
and  afterward  joined  the  militia — his  house  was  open  to 
all  comers.  After  the  retreat  from  Brandywine,  while 
the  Continentals  were  lying  at  Pottsgrove,  the  British  lay 
at  Valley  Forge.  Washington,  with  the  intention  of  in- 
specting the  enemy,  arrived  at  the  house  of  James  Vaux  on 
the  afternoon  of  September  21  and  obtained  an  excellent 
view  of  the  opposing  forces.  He  supped  and  passed  the 
night  with  his  host,  and  left  after  breakfast  next  morning. 

That  same  afternoon,  Sir  William  Howe  arrived,  re- 
marking to  his  host  that  from  what  he  had  seen  through 
his  glass,  he  thought  some  distinguished  rebel  officer  must 
have  been  there  the  night  before.  On  being  told  that  it 
was  Washington  himself,  he  was  greatly  vexed,  declaring 
that  had  he  known  his  identity,  he  would  have  tried  to 
make  him  prisoner !  Howe  also  supped  and  remained  over 
night,  sleeping  in  the  same  bed  occupied  by  the  "rebel" 
the  night  before. 

The  close  of  the  Revolution  saw  a  revival  of  the  iron 
industry,  and  a  second  forge  was  erected  on  the  Valley 
Creek,  three  quarters  of  a  mile  farther  down  the  stream. 
The  building  of  a  new  dam  raised  the  water  above  the 
level  of  the  old  site,  and  Mount  Joy  Forge  became  sub- 
merged. The  later  industry  which  sprang  up  on  the 
new  site  was  hereafter  known  as  Valley  Forge,  and  the  old 
name  was  forgotten. 

Amelia  Mott  Gummere. 


96  FORGES  AND   FURNACES  IN  THE 


1742  SARUM  IRONWORKS. 

CHESTER  COUNTY,  LATER  DELAWARE. 

At  an  early  day  between  1740  and  1750  there  were  two 
iron  enterprises,  a  forge  on  Crum  Creek,  and  a  rolling  and 
slitting  mill  on  Chester  Creek,  in  Thornbury  township, 
where  Glen  Mills  now  stand,  built  by  John  Taylor.  These 
were  named  Sarum  Ironworks. 

In  September,  1750,  John  Owen,  Sheriff  of  Chester 
County,  certified  to  the  Lieutenant  Governor  that  Sarum 
had  been  in  operation  until  June  of  that  year.  After  this 
time  the  British  government  had  interdicted  the  further 
employment  of  rolling  and  slitting  mills  in  the  Colonies. 

We  cannot  learn  whether  Mr.  Taylor  long  obeyed  this 
decree,  but  it  is  said  that  his  works  were  carried  on  with 
energy  until  his  death  in  1756. 

Acrelius,  writing  about  the  time  of  Taylor's  death,  says : 
"  Sarum  belongs  to  Taylor's  heirs,  has  three  stacks  and 
is  in  full  blast." 

Peter  Kalm  states  that  at  Chichester  (Marcus  Hook), 
"  They  build  here  every  year  a  number  of  small  ships  for 
sale,  and  from  an  iron  work  which  lies  higher  up  in  the 
country  they  carry  iron  bars  to  this  place  and  ship  them." 
This  "iron  work"  was  probably  Sarum. 

John  Taylor  was  the  descendant  of  an  English  settler  in 
the  province.  His  rolling  and  slitting  mill  was  the  first  in 
Pennsylvania. 

Margaret  C.  Yarnall  Cope. 


BBKrowSRV 


Stoveplate,   about    1756. 


Stoveplate,   1742.     The  Pharisee  and  the   Publican. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  97 


CRUM  CREEK  FORGE.  1742 

CHESTER  COUNTY,  NOW  DELAWARE. 

John  Crosby  and  Peter  Dicks  built  this  forge  on  Crum 
Creek  near  Chester,  about  1742.  In  Kalm's  Travels  into 
North  America,  1749,  we  find:  "About  two  miles  behind 
Chester  I  passed  by  an  iron  forge;  the  ore  however  is  not 
dug  here  but  30  miles  hence  where  it  is  first  melted  in  the 
oven  and  carried  to  this  place.  The  bellows  were  made  of 
leather  and  both  they  and  the  hammers  and  even  the  hearth 
were  but  small  in  proportion  to  ours.  All  the  machines 
were  worked  by  water,  the  iron  was  wrought  into  bars." 

Peter  Dicks,  a  Friend,  son  of  an  early  settler  in  Bir- 
mingham, married  Sarah  Powell  in  1716,  and  became  a 
man  of  note  in  his  neighborhood.  In  1756,  he  and  three 
others  vacated  their  seats  in  the  Assembly  at  the  request 
of  the  Council,  in  London,  as  it  was  desirable  that  there 
should  be  no  Quaker  in  the  Assembly  during  the  War.1 
He  was  also  the  owner  of  Peter  Dick's  Bloomary  in  York 
County. 

1  Hazard's  Register,  V,  p.  115. 


98  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


*743  WINDSOR  FORGES. 

LANCASTER  COUNTY. 

Although  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  may  not  have 
boasted  a  Tubal  Cain  as  early  as  Virginia,  for  so  Colonel 
William  Byrd  facetiously  dubbed  Governor  Spotswood,  it 
appears  that  she  outstripped  the  latter  colony  in  the  manu- 
facture of  bar  iron  which  was  made  in  Pennsylvania  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  Colonel  Byrd's 
entertaining  account  of  "A  Progress  to  the  Mines,"  he  re- 
corded in  September,  1732,  that  as  yet  there  was  no  forge 
erected  in  Virginia,  adding  that  Mr.  Chiswell,  manager 
at  one  of  the  Virginia  furnaces,  had  told  him  that  "  There 
was  a  very  good  one  set  up  at  the  head  of  the  Bay  in  Mary- 
land that  made  exceedingly  good  work.  He  let  me  know 
that  the  duty  in  England  upon  Bar  Iron  was  24  shillings  a 
Tun  and  that  it  sold  there  from  10  to  16  pounds  a  Tun. 
This  would  pay  the  charge  of  Forging  abundantly,  but  he 
doubted  the  Parliament  of  England  would  soon  forbid  us 
that  improvement  lest  after  that  we  shou'd  go  forth,  and 
manufacture  Our  Bars  into  all  Sorts  of  Ironware  as  they 
already  do  in  New  England  and  Pennsylvania." 

Most  of  the  early  Pennsylvania  furnaces  had  forges  con- 
nected with  them,  and  in  some  cases  forges  were  built 
without  furnaces,  as  were  Pool  Forges,  Coventry,  and 
Windsor  Forges,  all  in  Lancaster  County. 

During  the  summer  of  1910,  an  iron  marker  was  placed 
near  the  high  road  at  Coventryville,  and  a  granite  boulder 
in  a  field  nearby,  where  are  still  to  be  seen  the  remains  of 
an  old  forge.  The  tablet  and  boulder  were  erected  by 
the  Chester  County  Historical  Society  to  commemorate  the 


PROVINCE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  99 

founding  of  Coventry  Forge,  which  played  an  important 
part  in  the  iron  industry  of  Pennsylvania,  being  the  second 
in  the  Province!1  To  add  a  touch  of  picturesqueness  to 
the  historic  interest  of  Coventry  Forge  Mr.  George  B. 
Johnson  tells  us  that  Mordecai  Lincoln,  ancestor  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  was  part  owner  and  blacksmith  at  Coventry 
in  1725.2 

Of  somewhat  later  date  was  Windsor  Forges,  which 
with  its  post  office,  Churchtown,  is  situated  near  the  center 
of  Caernarvon  Township,  in  the  northeastern  portion  of 
Lancaster  County,  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Forest 
Hills  and  on  the  south  by  the  Welsh  Mountains.  In 
among  these  mountains  are  the  head-waters  of  the  Con- 
estoga,  the  Crooked  Creek  of  the  Indians  of  this  region. 
As  its  name  indicates,  Caernarvon  Township  was  settled  by 
a  colony  of  Welshmen,  some  of  whom  had  emigrated  to 
Chester  Valley  in  1700.  Tempted  by  a  desire  to  further 
explore  this  beautiful  and  fertile  region,  these  pioneers 
pushed  on  to  Lancaster  County;  among  them  was  John 
Jenkins,  son  of  David  Jenkins  who  came  to  Philadelphia 
from  Wales  in  1700.  John  Jenkins  and  his  family  are 
said  to  have  lived  in  a  cave  until  he  was  able  to  build  a 
block-house  for  their  accommodation.  Upon  the  Windsor 
Forges  property  the  remains  of  this  cave,  or  dugout,  are 
still  to  be  seen,  and  also  a  substantial  little  stone  house 
which  was  once  used  for  the  storing  of  ammunition  and 
food  in  case  of  an  attack  from  the  Indians.  Mrs.  John 
W.  Nevin,  a  direct  descendant  of  the  first  John  Jenkins,  in 
her  sketch  of  Windsor  Forges,  tells  of  an  Indian  settle- 
ment under  the  brow  of  Maxwell's  Hill  between  Church- 

1  The  writer  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  both  the  tablet  and  the  boulder 
in  September,  1913.    A.  H.  W. 

2  Address  delivered  at  Phoenixville,  July  &,  1910,  upon  early  iron  in- 
dustries of  Chester  County  and  their  relation  to  American  Independence, 
by  George  B.  Johnson,  Esq. 


100  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

town  and  Morgantown.  These  were  friendly  Indians,  she 
says,  as  her  father,  the  Honorable  Robert  Jenkins,  told  her 
of  hunting  and  fishing  with  them  in  his  boyhood.  This 
Indian  settlement  finally  became  a  part  of  the  farm  of  Mr. 
Jenkins,  and  the  ploughshare  of  the  white  man,  now  and 
again,  turned  up  Indian  relics.  At  a  solitary  place  on  the 
edge  of  the  mountain  a  large  stone  was  found,  some  years 
since,  bearing  a  rough  sketch  of  an  Indian  profile  and 
tomahawk  with  the  words  "  Wymus  grave."  "  Most  prob- 
ably," says  Mrs.  Nevin,  "Wymus  was  'the  last  of  the 
Mohegans.'  "* 

Nine  years  later  Mr.  John  Jenkins  sold  this  property  to 
William  Branson,  of  Philadelphia,  who  then  owned  Read- 
ing Furnace.  This  was  December  28,  1742,  and  soon 
after  this,  Branson  built  on  this  property  the  lower  Wind- 
sor Forge,  the  date  on  the  stone  over  the  door  was  1743. 
The  upper  forge  and  the  mansion  house  were  built  a  little 
later.  This  house  was  substantially  built,  as  its  appear- 
ance to-day  testifies,  and  not  being  disposed  to  belittle  the 
importance  of  his  possessions,  Mr.  Branson  named  his 
residence  Windsor  after  the  palace  of  the  King  of  England. 
The  old  house  has  evidently  been  added  to  at  different 
times,  but  a  portion  of  the  mansion  belongs  to  the  earliest 
period,  and  although  both  forges  have  long  since  disap- 
peared, it  is  still  in  excellent  condition.  The  lawn  at  the 
back  of  the  house  is  terraced  down  to  the  Conestoga,  mak- 
ing with  its  shrubbery,  fine  trees  and  parterres  of  old  fash- 


John  W.  Nevin,  whose  narrative  has  been  quoted  frequently  in 
this  sketch,  said  of  it:  "You  may  depend  on  this  account  being  thoroughly 
accurate,  as  it  is  taken  directly  from  the  old  account  books.  David  Jenkins 
was  my  grandfather.  My  father,  Robert  Jenkins,  inherited  Windsor  from 
his  father.  I  was  born  there."  The  writer  of  this  paper  regrets  that  she 
has  not  been  able  to  consult  the  "  account  books  "  of  which  Mrs.  Nevin 
speaks.  No  one  at  Windsor  Forges,  at  present,  seems  to  know  of  their 
existence. 


The  Mansion,  Windsor  Forges. 


Stone  house  built  at  Windsor  Forges  for  protection  from  Indians. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  IOI 

ioned  flowers  a  charmingly  picturesque  setting  for  the  long, 
low  mansion  with  its  many  latticed  windows.  This  fine 
old  house,  with  its  extended  facade  which  looks  out  upon 
the  road,  and  its  wide,  hospitable  doorway,  is  redolent  of 
cherished  memories  of  the  past.  These  memories,  the 
present  owner  of  Windsor  Forges  has  gathered  together, 
and  in  some  verses  in  which  she  laments  the  loss  of  a  beau- 
tiful old  tree  on  the  lawn,  she  has  taken  occasion  to  cele- 
brate the  virtues  of  several  chatelaines  of  the  mansion 
house.1  Of  Martha  Armour  of  Pequea,  wife  of  David 
Jenkins  who  worked  the  forges  in  1773,  herself  of  Scotch 
Irish  ancestry,  and  a  valiant  soul  like  many  of  her  race, 
Miss  Nevin  has  given  a  spirited  picture. 

"  Martha  Armour.     She  who  put  to  flight 
And  foiled  by  strategy  the  Doanes  one  night. 

"  Coming  one  day  from  harvesting  the  hay 
Men  found  her  by  the  old  well,  where  she  lay 
In  a  dead  faint,  her  baby  in  her  arms 
Held  tight,  and  screaming,  full  of  vague  alarms. 
They  '  brought  her  to,' 

But  all  she  knew  was  that  she  saw  her  child 
Fall  in  the  well.    Then  she  went  wild, 
This  only  she  remembered,  nothing  more; 
But  both  were  wringing  wet,  and  bruised  and  j&ore. 
How  she  got  up  none  knew.    Twas  thought 
Climbing,  the  baby  in  her  teeth  was  brought." 

With  Mr.  Branson  were  associated  in  his  business  at 
Windsor  Forges,  Samuel  Flower,  Richard  Hockley,  and 
Lynford  Lardner.2  These  three  gentlemen  afterwards 

1  These  verses  and  others  used  in  this  paper  were  written  by  Miss 
Blanche  Nevin,  the  well-known  sculptress,  who  still  lives  in  the  beautiful 
home  of  her  ancestors  where  she  cherishes  the  traditions  of  the  house,  and 
exercises  a  hospitality  like  that  of  an  earlier  time. 

2  Mr.  Lardner  married  Mr.  Branson's  daughter  Rebecca,  and  lived  in 
Philadelphia.     Among  other   claims   to   distinction    he   was   one   of   the 
founders  of  the  first  Dancing  Assembly  of  that  place. 


102  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

bought  out  Mr.  Branson's  interest  and  carried  on  the  work 
at  Windsor  Forges  for  thirty  years.  In  1773,  David 
Jenkins,  son  of  the  original  owner  John  Jenkins,  bought  a 
half  interest  in  the  company  for  2500  pounds,  and  later 
when  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  imminent,  the  remain- 
der, including  the  negro  slaves  and  the  stock  used  in  the 
business,  was  sold  to  him  for  the  sum  of  two  thousand 
four  hundred  pounds.  David  Jenkins  carried  on  the  works 
successfully  there  until  his  death,  in  1779,  when  he  left 
them  and  about  3000  acres  of  land  to  his  son  Robert  Jen- 
kins, including  the  upper  and  lower  forges  on  the  Con- 
estoga. 

The  other  sons  of  this  family  were  William,  an  eminent 
lawyer,  and  David,  a  farmer.  Both  David  Jenkins  and 
his  son  Robert  were  members  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legis- 
lature, and  the  latter  from  1807  to  1811  represented  his 
state  in  the  Congress  at  Washington,  or  as  his  biographer 
expresses  it  more  picturesquely,  "  sat  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress." Mr.  Jenkins'  services  were  given  during  the  im- 
portant years  before  our  second  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  in  the  heated  discussions  of  that  period  his  voice,  it  is 
said,  was  ever  raised  in  the  cause  of  justice  and  true 
patriotism. 

There  seems  to  have  been  an  unwritten  law  in  the  Jen- 
kins family  that  the  eldest  son  of  David  should  be  Robert 
and  vice  versa,  consequently  we  find  Davids  and  Roberts 
alternating  quite  regularly  in  the  ownership  of  Windsor 
Forges.  The  Honorable  Robert  Jenkins  was  in  possession 
of  the  forges  from  1799  until  his  death  in  1848,  his  son 
David  in  turn  carrying  on  the  works  until  his  death  in 
1850. 

The  establishment  of  iron  furnaces  drew  to  Caernarvon 
County,  at  an  early  date,  a  large  population  of  Welsh 
workmen,  who  were  skilled  operators.  The  first  David 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  103 

Jenkins  who  emigrated  from  Wales  in  1700  married  Re- 
becca Meredith  of  Philadelphia,  whose  ancestry  is  given 
in  the  following  lines  written  by  one  of  her  descendants : 

"...  grandchild  of  Colonel  Rush,  who  fled 
After  the  Roundheads  cut  off  King  Charles'  head 
Of  Cromwell's  army  he,  of  stubborn  faith, 
Whose  daughter — so  the  ancient  Bible  saith — 
Was  the  first  white  girl  born  of  Englishmen 
Within  the  settlement  of  William  Penn." 

Sarah  Aurelia  Rush,  said  to  be  the  first  girl  born  in 
Philadelphia,  was  the  mother  of  Rebecca  Meredith  who 
married  David  Jenkins. 

The  Honorable  Robert  Jenkins  married  Catherine  M. 
Carmichael,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Carmichael,  of 
Chester  County.  The  history  of  this  lady,  says  Mr. 
W.  U.  Hensel,  is  one  of  the  unwritten  romances  of  Lan- 
caster County.1  The  Rev.  John  Carmichael,  who  was 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  Forks  of  the 
Brandywine  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  illustrated 
upon  many  an  occasion  a  strength  and  loyalty  of  char- 
acter which  proved  his  daughter's  most  precious  heritage. 

While  the  patriot  army  was  encamped  at  Valley  Forge, 
during  the  severe  winter  of  1777  and  '78,  Mr.  Carmichael 
preached  to  the  soldiers  whenever  occasion  offered.  He 
also  impressed  upon  his  congregation  the  importance  of 
giving  everything  at  their  command  to  General  Wash- 
ington's destitute  army,  himself  setting  them  an  example 
by  stripping  his  own  home  of  every  commodity  that  could 
be  spared.  Upon  one  occasion  Mr.  Carmichael  appealed 
to  the  women  of  his  flock,  insistently  calling  upon  them 

1To  the  Honorable  W.  U.  Hensel,  whose  learning  and  accuracy  have 
made  him  par  excellence  the  historian  of  Lancaster  County,  the  writer  is 
indebted  for  valuable  data  and  suggestions  during  the  preparation  of  this 
paper. 


104  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

to  divest  themselves  and  their  children  of  all  superfluities 
in  the  way  of  clothing  and  food  for  the  benefit  of  the  suf- 
fering soldiers  at  Valley  Forge.  To  this  eloquent  appeal 
the  women  replied  that  they  had  given  everything  that  they 
could  spare  except  their  flannel  petticoats.  "  Cut  them 
off  and  send  them,"  was  the  resolute  answer. 

Although  we  may  be  at  a  loss  to  know  what  use  soldiers 
could  make  of  flannel  petticoats,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of 
the  patriotism  and  self  sacrifice  of  a  pastor  and  people  who 
could  so  deprive  themselves  of  the  necessities  of  life,  and 
as  a  proof  that  the  devotion  and  patriotic  service  of  this 
pastor  and  his  flock  were  appreciated  by  the  commander- 
in-chief,  there  has  been  preserved  a  letter  from  General 
Washington  in  which  he  thanks  Mr.  Carmichael  and  his 
congregation  for  their  generous  and  timely  donations  of 
clothing  and  other  necessities  for  the  use  of  his  army. 

Mr.  Carmichael  died  while  still  in  the  prime  of  life, 
leaving  his  daughter  Catherine,  aged  eleven,  in  the  care  of 
her  uncle,  the  Reverend  Robert  Smith,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Cedar  Grove.  After  the  death  of 
her  granduncle,  Dr.  Smith,  in  1793,  Catherine  Carmichael 
lived  for  several  years  with  a  relative  at  Strasburg,  Lancas- 
ter County,  and  later  receiving  a  cordial  invitation  from 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buckley  to  make  her  home  with  them,  she 
removed  from  Strasburg  to  the  vicinity  of  Pequea.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Buckley  treated  Miss  Carmichael  as  their  own 
daughter  and  in  their  hospitable  home,  which  was  the 
resort  of  many  interesting  people,  she  enjoyed  a  delightful 
social  life.  Here  Miss  Carmichael  met  one  of  the  favo- 
rite habitues  of  the  house,  Mr.  Robert  Jenkins  of  Windsor 
Forges,  whom  she  afterwards  married.  The  marriage 
was  from  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buckley  in  Septem- 
ber, 1799. 

During  her  residence  at  Windsor  Forges,  Mrs.  Jenkins 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  105 

took  great  pleasure  in  entertaining  pious  and  learned  men, 
and  in  elevating  the  character  and  improving  the  condition 
of  her  dependents.  Her  husband  being  engaged  in  cul- 
tivating the  land  and  carrying  on  the  forges,  had  neces- 
sarily a  number  of  hands  in  his  employ.  In  all  his  en- 
deavors to  do  them  good  he  was  assisted  by  his  wife's 
counsel  and  cooperation.  The  following  anecdote,  which 
illustrates  Mrs.  Jenkin's  strength  of  character  and  high 
principles,  was  related  by  the  Rev.  John  B.  Laman  in  a 
sermon  delivered  at  the  funeral  of  this  estimable  lady,  in 
September,  1856,  at  Cedar  Grove  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  At  this  period  and  in  this  section  of  our  country,  vice 
and  immorality  stalked  abroad  in  high  and  low  places. 
The  wine-cup  and  the  gambling-table  were  the  chief  sources 
of  amusement  among  many  of  the  rich  and  influential ;  and 
the  rum-bottle,  among  those  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life. 
In  the  midst  of  all  this,  what  could  a  tender  female  do? 
With  that  energy  and  decision  which  had  attended  her 
during  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  past,  Mrs.  Jenkins  re- 
solved to  do  what  she  could.  An  opportunity  soon  pre- 
sented itself  to  call  forth  her  efforts.  The  hands  engaged 
about  the  farm  and  forges  frequently  came  to  the  table  at 
their  boarding-house,  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  Mr.  Jen- 
kins, learning  this  fact,  had  endeavored  to  reform  them  in 
this  respect,  but  the  temptation  was  too  strong  to  yield  to 
his  efforts.  Mrs.  Jenkins,  at  length,  came  to  his  assistance, 
and,  with  all  the  influence  of  female  eloquence,  portrayed 
to  the  offenders  the  injury  they  were  doing  to  themselves, 
and  the  great  sin  they  were  committing  against  that  kind 
Being  whom  she  adored  as  her  God.  These  admonitions 
proving  ineffectual,  she  resolved  to  employ  more  decisive 
means.  ^  She  obtained,  through  one  of  the  domestics,  the 
bottles  in  which  the  hands  kept  their  rum.  When  the  din- 
ing hour  arrived  that  day,  they  were  surprised  and  cha- 
grined to  see  their  bottles  standing  in  a  row  upon  the  table, 
with  their  precious  contents  reflected  through  the  glass. 
At  this  moment  Mrs.  Jenkins  enters  the  room,  and  in  her 


106  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

usual  cheerful  manner,  says,  that  she  is  in  possession  of  a 
number  of  bottles  belonging  to  them,  which  she  desires  to 
restore  to  their  respective  owners,  and  hopes  they  will  now 
come  and  take  them.  As  none  of  the  offenders  were  will- 
ing to  acknowledge  the  ownership  of  the  bottles,  under  the 
circumstances,  she  says :  '  They  are  now  in  my  possession, 
and,  as  you  will  not  take  them,  they  are,  of  course,  at  my 
disposal.1  She  then  conveys  them  to  an  open  window,  and 
strikes  them  against  the  wall  until  they  fall  in  shivers  upon 
the  ground.  The  bottles  being  demolished  and  their  con- 
tents thus  destroyed,  she  turns  to  the  men  and  says,  in  a 
mild  but  decided  manner,  '  If  they  be  replaced  by  others, 
they  shall  share  the  same  fate.' " 

In  the  winter  of  1808,  while  Mr.  Jenkins  was  a  member 
of  Congress,  Mrs.  Jenkins  accompanied  him  to  Washing- 
ton, and  entered  into  the  social  life  of  the  capitol.  This 
was  during  President  Jefferson's  administration.  To  quote 
again  from  Mr.  Laman: 

"In  the  autumn  of  1824,  during  the  triumphal  passage 
of  Lafayette  through  the  country,  he  was  invited  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  to  visit  their  place. 
Mrs.  Jenkins  met  him  at  the  baptismal  ceremony  at  the 
house  of  George  B.  Porter  whose  child  was  named  for  the 
great  man.  Mrs.  Jenkins,  always  interested  in  the  relig- 
ious views  of  famous  people,  took  this  occasion  to  inform 
Lafayette  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  clergyman  who 
fiad  taken  a  very  active  stand  in  the  cause  of  liberty;  she 
was  accordingly  delighted  to  hear  the  great  man's  freely 
expressed  admiration  for  the  American  clergy  and  their 
high  moral  influence." 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  characteristics  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Jenkins  because  they  are  notable 
types,  admirably  representative  of  a  distinct  phase  of  Penn- 
sylvania life  in  the  last  century,  a  life  which  no  longer  exists, 
which  indeed  was  possible  only  in  earlier  days,  before  rail- 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  1 07 

roads,  telegraphs,  and  telephones  had  brought  the  whole 
world  in  touch.  In  that  earlier  time,  the  iron  furnace  with 
its  ubig  house,"  its  workmen's  houses,  and  several  depend- 
encies, formed  a  little  world  in  itself.  Indeed  the  relations 
then  existing  between  the  old  iron  master  and  his  workmen 
were  of  a  character  that  would  be  little  understood  by  the 
operator  in  iron  and  steel  industries  of  to-day.  The  work- 
men's homes  were  erected  on  "  the  Bank  "  near  the  furnace, 
that  being  the  name  commonly  given  to  this  settlement 
whether  really  on  the  bank  or  by  the  side  of  a  level  road. 
The  workmen's  houses  at  Windsor,  of  which  two  are  still 
standing,  were  built  near  the  winding  Conestoga.  In  these 
settlements  they  lived  their  lives  and  brought  up  their 
families,  father  and  son  working  for  the  iron  master  and 
his  son,  and  often  entertaining  for  them  an  affection  and 
loyalty  very  like  that  of  the  retainer  of  an  older  time. 

Only  those  who  have  lived  at  an  old  iron  furnace  have 
any  adequate  conception  of  the  almost  feudal  relations  ex- 
isting between  the  employer  and  employed.  It  was  a  con- 
dition of  interdependence  with  an  underlying  sense  of  pro- 
tection and  friendliness.  If  these  workmen  had  been 
called  upon  to  arm  themselves  and  go  forth  to  fight  for 
their  chief,  as  in  feudal  times,  they  would  doubtless  have 
gone  without  a  murmur.  As  it  was,  the  only  lists  that 
they  were  called  upon  to  enter  were  to  be  found  at  the 
polls.  At  election  times  the  hands  were  all  sent  in  huge 
wagons  to  vote  for  whatever  candidate  represented  the  pro- 
tective tariff,  the  fetish  of  the  iron  industry  in  the  early 
years  and  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  as  it  has  been 
in  later  times.  Even  if  the  farmers  in  the  surrounding 
country  represented  other  shades  of  political  belief,  the 
hands  at  the  furnace  were  true  blue  to  a  man,  not  in  any 
sense  feeling  that  they  were  " taking  orders"  from  their 
employer,  but  rather  as  reflecting  the  opinion  of  one  whom 


108  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

they  looked  up  to  and  considered  much  wiser  than  them- 
selves. In  material  things  these  work  people  were  child- 
like in  their  dependence  upon  the  "big  house,"  as  the  pro- 
prietor's mansion  was  called.  Their  supplies  came  from 
the  store,  which  was  not  called  the  company  store  in  those 
days,  but  simply  the  store,  and  was  an  actual  necessity  as 
the  nearest  town  and  base  of  supplies  was  often  separated 
from  the  furnace  by  from  twelve  to  twenty  miles  of  heavy 
clay  or  mud  roads.  To  the  wares  in  this  store  the  pro- 
prietor, in  many  cases,  gave  his  personal  supervision,  and 
there  being  no  middle  man  the  workman  whose  flitch  and 
flour,  coffee  and  sugar,  did  not  please  him  had  only  to 
speak  to  the  manager  or  to  the  iron  master  himself. 

In  some  of  its  phases  the  life  at  the  old  iron  furnaces  of 
Pennsylvania  was  like  that  upon  a  southern  plantation. 
Indeed,  the  early  iron  masters  frequently  spoke  of  their 
estates  as  plantations,  including  as  they  did  many  acres 
upon  which,  in  early  times,  slaves  were  employed.  The 
old  account  books  of  Windsor  Forges  give  a  long  list  of 
slaves  employed  at  the  works  and  upon  the  farm.  These 
slaves,  who  were  usually  Guinea  negroes,  were  frequently 
named  from  the  place  where  they  were  bought,  as  "  Phila- 
delphia Jim,"  "Lunnon  Boat"  and  "Slave  Boat  Swain," 
names  indicating  purchase  from  a  slave  ship.  Other 
negroes  were  given  or  retained  such  odd  names  as 
"Quash"  "Cooba"  and  "Negro  Mig."  In  the  second 
generation,  the  classic  names  of  Greece  and  Rome  prevailed 
and  "Pompey,"  "Caesar,"  and  "Scipio"  were  among  the 
names  at  Windsor  Forges.  The  women  slaves  were  often 
given  names  immortalized  by  English  poets  in  addresses  to 
their  mistresses,  as  "Chloe,"  "Phyllis,"  "  Priscilla," 
"Clarissa,"  "Diana"  and  "Venus."  By  the  laws  of 
Pennsylvania  there  was  gradual  emancipation  for  these 
slaves,  their  children  served  until  they  were  twenty-eight, 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  109 

the  children  of  the  third  generation  were  born  free  but  were 
bound  to  the  former  owner's  family  until  they  were  eight- 
een or  twenty-one.  Every  family  had  at  least  two  of  these 
servants  who  were  usually  faithful  and  took  great  pride  in 
the  members  of  the  family  to  which  they  belonged,  and 
by  whom  they  were  generally  treated  with  great  kindness. 
One  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  Churchtown  recently  re- 
called a  wedding  at  Windsor,  with  "  Quash  "  as  the  groom, 
when  the  fair  bride,  whose  name  she  forgot,  was  arrayed 
in  a  white  frock  with  low  neck  and  short  sleeves,  a  wreath 
of  marigolds  adorning  her  head.  This  wedding  was 
attended  by  members  of  the  Jenkins  family  who  provided 
a  generous  collation. 

In  cases  of  illness  the  "big  house"  was  invariably  ap- 
plied to,  and  severe  indeed  were  those  ailments  which  the 
iron  master's  wife  was  not  considered  able  to  relieve  with 
the  remedies  that  she  was  always  expected  to  have  within 
reach.  One  of  my  own  earliest  recollections  is  of  hearing 
the  wives  of  two  iron  masters  comparing  notes  with  regard 
to  their  medical  practice  among  the  furnace  hands.  One 
of  these  lovely  ladies,  whose  face  rises  before  me  as  I  write, 
had  supplied  herself  with  Dr.  Hering's  book,  and  a  box  of 
tiny  bottles  warranted  to  cure  all  ills  to  which  the  flesh  is 
heir,  with  these,  she  was  wont  to  say  that  she  practiced 
with  considerable  success.  The  other  lady,  being  the 
daughter  of  a  physician  of  the  older  school,  adhered,  in 
the  main,  to  the  more  heroic  system  of  her  fathers.  Both, 
being  wise  women,  used,  in  the  treatment  of  the  cases 
brought  to  them,  their  native  wit  and  common  sense  in  a 
larger  measure  than  the  drugs  in  their  medicine  closets. 

After  the  death  of  the  Honorable  Robert  Jenkins  the 
work  at  the  forges  at  Windsor  was  carried  on  by  his  son 
David  Jenkins,  who  was,  like  his  father,  a  kindly  and 
benevolent  employer,  deeply  interested  in  the  wellfare  of 


110  FORGES  AND  FURNACES   IN  THE 

his  workmen  and  their  families.  Mr.  David  Jenkins  was 
not  married,  and  after  his  death  in  1850  the  work  at  Wind- 
sor Forges  seems  to  have  been  abandoned  chiefly  on  account 
of  sharp  competition  in  the  iron  business,  the  lack  of  facili- 
ties for  transportation,  and  the  more  modern  machinery 
with  which  some  of  the  neighboring  furnaces  were 
equipped.  In  addition  to  these  causes,  the  scarcity  of 
wood,  which  seriously  interfered  with  the  iron  industry  in 
certain  localities  of  Pennsylvania,  may  have  had  much  to 
do  with  the  abandonment  of  the  forges  at  Windsor.  The 
charcoal  used  in  these  old  furnaces  and  forges  naturally  led 
to  the  despoiling  of  large  tracts  of  woodland.  At  one 
Pennsylvania  furnace,  where  the  writer  of  this  little  paper 
spent  many  years  of  her  childhood,  the  coal  for  the  fur- 
nace was  charred  in  the  South  mountain  and  carted  across, 
miles  of  bad  roads  to  the  furnace,  which  was  then  sur- 
rounded by  arable  land.  This  carting  of  the  charcoal,  of 
course,  added  materially  to  the  expenses  of  the  making  and 
moulding  of  iron. 

In  the  course  of  years  Lancaster,  which  was  at  one  time 
a  great  iron-making  county,  became  one  of  the  richest  of 
Pennsylvania's  agricultural  counties.  The  Indian  trails, 
over  which  the  German,  French,  and  English  artisans 
transported  their  iron  upon  pack  horses  to  the  neighbor- 
ing forges,  became  in  time  the  high  roads  over  which  grain 
was  conveyed  to  the  commercial  centers  of  the  Middle 
States.  With  the  abandonment  of  the  old  charcoal  fur- 
naces and  forges  there  passed  away  a  picturesque  and  in- 
dividual phase  of  the  rural  life  of  Pennsylvania. 

Anne  Hollingsworth  Wharton. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  Ill 


OLEY  FORGE. 

PHILADELPHIA  NOW  BERKS  COUNTY. 

When  the  forges  built  on  the  Manatawny  Creek  had 
been  in  operation  a  few  years,  and  had  demonstrated  that 
there  was  "money  in  it"  for  the  canny  investor,  Phila- 
delphia capital  began  to  flow  in  that  direction — and  in 
1744  one  John  Ross,  "Gentleman,"  formed  a  company 
and  took  into  partnership  two  men  from  the  iron  region, 
John  Yoder  and  John  Lesher  of  Oley.  About  ten  miles 
from  the  confluence  of  the  Manatawny  with  the  Schuylkill 
was  a  little  hamlet  called  "Oley  Churches"  and  the  place 
selected  for  the  new  Forge  was  about  one  quarter  of  a  mile 
south  of  the  quaintly  named  village.  They  purchased 
from  Sebastian  Graeff  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  acres  situated  along  the  Manatawny  Creek,  adjoin- 
ing lands  of  Robert  Stapleton  and  John  Yoder,  and  upon 
the  "Great  Road"  leading  to  Philadelphia.  Here  they 
erected  a  forge  for  the  purpose  of  "manufacturing  pig 
metal  into  bar  iron,"  constructed  a  water  pond,  water 
courses  and  the  necessary  buildings,  and  they  also  looked 
to  their  future  supply  of  wood  for  charcoal  by  purchasing 
warrants  for  taking  up  lands  on  the  adjacent  hills. 

In  1750  John  Yoder  sold  out  his  one-third  interest  to 
John  Lesher,  and  Lesher  and  Ross  kept  their  respective 
holdings  until  the  death  of  the  latter.  John  Lesher 
(1711—1794)  was  born  in  Germany  and  came  to  Penn- 
sylvania in  1734.  Settling  in  Berks  County  near  the  Oley 
Churches,  he  became  one  of  the  strong  men  of  that  neigh- 
borhood and  for  fifty  years  was  identified  with  iron  inter- 


112  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

ests.  He  represented  the  county  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1776,  and  served  in  the  General  Assembly 
from  1776  until  1782.  While  in  the  Convention  he  was  a 
member  of  the  important  committee  which  prepared  and 
reported  the  "  Declaration  of  Rights."  During  the 
Revolution  he  acted  as  one  of  the  commissioners  for  pur- 
chasing army  supplies.  Suffering,  as  did  many  others, 
from  the  unceremonious  manner  in  which  supplies  for  the 
army  were  demanded  and  taken,  John  Lesher  wrote  to 
the  Supreme  Executive  Council  on  the  9  January,  1778  : 

"  I  conceive  it  to  be  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  that  I  am 
no  more  master  of  any  individual  thing  I  possess !  for  be- 
sides the  damages  I  have  heretofore  sustained  by  a  number 
of  troops  and  Continental  wagons  in  taking  from  me  8  tons 
of  hay,  destroyed  apples  sufficient  for  10  hhds.  of  cider, 
eating  up  my  pasture,  burning  my  fences,  etc.  and  two 
beeves,  I  was  obliged  to  buy  at  i  sh.  per  Ib.  to  answer 
their  immediate  want  of  provisions,,  and  at  several  other 
times  since,  I  have  supplied  detachments  from  the  army 
with  provisions.  There  has  been  lately  taken  from  me 
14  head  of  cattle  and  4  swine.  The  cattle  at  a  very  low 
estimate,  to  my  infinite  damage,  as  they  were  all  the  beef 
I  had  for  my  workmen  for  carrying  on  my  iron  works. 

"  I  had  rather  delivered  the  beef  and  reserved  the  hides, 
tallow,  etc.,  but  no  argument  would  prevail!  all  must  be 
delivered  to  a  number  of  armed  men  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  As  my  family,  which  I  am  necessitated  to  main- 
tain consists  of  nearly  thirty  persons,  not  reckoning  colliers, 
wood  cutters,  and  other  day  laborers !  My  provision  and 
forage  being  taken  from  me,  my  forge  must  stand  idle! 
My  furnace  (which  I  am  about  carrying  on)  must  of  con- 
sequence be  dropped !  which  will  be  a  loss  to  the  public  as 
well  as  myself  as  there  is  so  great  a  call  for  iron  at  present 
for  public  use,  and  some  forges  and  furnaces  must  of  nec- 
essity fail  for  want  of  wood  and  ore.  The  case  in  this 
neighborhood  is  truly  alarming  when  the  strongest  exer- 
tion of  economy  and  frugality  ought  to  be  practiced  by  all 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  113 

ranks  of  men!     Thereby  the  better  to  enable  us  to  repel 
the  designs  of  a  daring  Enemy  who  are  now  in  our  land. 

"  It  strikes  me  with  horror  to  see  a  number  of  our  own 
officers  and  soldiers  wantonly  waste  and  destroy  the  good 
people's  properties  by  such  conduct.  They  destroy  the 
cause  they  seek  to  maintain.  Instead  of  judicious  men 
appointed  in  ever}7  township,  or  as  the  case  may  require,  to 
proportion  the  demands  equal  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  every  farmer  and  the  general  benefit  of  the 
whole,  these  men  under  the  shadow  of  the  bayonet  and 
the  appellation  *  Tory '  act  as  they  please.  Our  wheat,  rye, 
oats  and  hay  taken  away  at  discretion  and  shamefully 
wasted  and  our  cattle  destroyed.  I  know  some  fanners 
who  have  not  a  bushel  of  oats  left  for  seed,  nor  beef  suffi- 
cient for  their  own  consumption,  while  others  lose  nothing 
— as  a  man  who  had  100  head  of  cattle  lost  not  one. 
Such  proceedings  I  think  to  be  very  partial.  Many  far- 
mers are  so  much  discouraged  by  such  conduct  that  I  have 
heard  several  say  they  would  neither  plow  nor  sow.  If 
this  takes  place  the  consequence  may  be  easily  foreseen, 
unless  some  speedy  and  effectual  method  be  taken  to  put 
a  stop  to  such  irregular  proceedings,  and  encouragement 
and  protection  extended  to  the  good  people  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. I  shudder  at  the  consequences.  I  humbly 
submit  the  whole  to  your  serious  consideration."1 

John  Ross  was  a  rather  picturesque  character,  an  officer 
of  the  King  and  a  half  brother  of  George  Ross,  Signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Graydon  says  of  him: 
"  Mr.  John  Ross,  who  loved  ease  and  Madeira  much  better 
than  liberty  and  strife,  declared  for  neutrality,  saying,  that 
let  who  would  be  king,  he  well  knew  that  he  would  be 
a  subject." 

In  the  settlement  of  his  estate  litigation  arose  with 
Lesher,  and  while  this  was  going  on  Lesher  sold  out  his 
two-thirds  to  his  son  Jacob,  an  iron  master,  and  his  sons-in- 

1  M.  L.  Montgomery's  History  of  Berks  County  in  the  Revolution. 
9 


114  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

law  John  Potts,  and  Jacob  Morgan.  After  a  number  of 
changes,  Frederick  Spang  of  Oley  became  the  owner  in 
1794,  and  he  and  his  descendants  carried  on  the  iron  busi- 
ness here  for  seventy  years;  the  plant  being  known  as  the 
Spang  Forge. 

Before  the  country  was  cleared  of  its  forests  the  Mana- 
tawny  and  its  affluents  had  a  sufficient  volume  to  operate 
numerous  mills  and  small  factories,  some  of  which  are  still 
carried  on.  The  stream  at  Oley  Forge  afforded  a  strong 
water  power,  the  dam  covering  about  forty  acres.  This 
perhaps  explains  why  Oley  Forge  had  a  continuous  history 
and  was  in  active  operation  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years.1 

Mary  E.  Mumford. 

1 M.  L.  Montgomery,  History  of  Berks  County. 


Harpsichord  of  H.  W.  Stiegel,  1765.  Presented  by  the  family  of  Mrs. 
Henry  Morris,  his  great-granddaughter,  to  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  115 

CHARMING  FORGE.  J749 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

A  forge  was  built  on  Tulpehocken  Creek,  some  miles 
north  of  Womelsdorf  in  1749,  by  John  George  Nikoll, 
a  hammersmith,  and  Michael  Miller.  Calling  it  Tulpe- 
hocken Eisenhammer,  they  immediately  "  at  their  joint  ex- 
pense erected  an  Iron  work,  or  Forge  and  Dam,  and  dug  a 
Race  or  water-course,  and  made  other  great  improvements 
for  the  commencing  of  forging  and  the  manufacturing  of 


iron." 


A  worn  account  book,  alphabetically  divided,  in  the 
Mss.  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  has  this 
inscription,  in  German  writing;  "Tulpehocken  Eisenham- 
mer, 1757,  Michael  Reis  and  [?]  brenner  in  company." 
Another,  similar,  dates  back  to  1754,  and  a  third,  dated 
1760,  has  the  name  Stein  added:  a  possible  partner. 

About  1762  Henry  William  Stiegel  bought  lands  adja- 
cent, from  Michael  Reis  and  Garrett  Brenner,  and  in 
February,  1763,  he  bought  an  undivided  half  of  the  Forge 
with  appurtenances  and  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine  acres 
of  land  from  C.  and  A.  Stedman.1  By  1770  he  had  added 
to  his  holdings  of  land  here  so  largely  that  he  owned 
thirty  seven  hundred  acres. 

Stiegel  called  this  Forge,  Charming;  the  name  being 
simply  descriptive  of  the  great  natural  beauty  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. In  his  desire  for  land  he  more  than  once  ex- 
changed tons  of  iron  bars  for  coveted  acres.  An  undoubt 
edly  industrious  man,  able  and  hopeful,  he  was  a  stimulant 
in  many  ways  to  his  contemporaries.  His  workmen,  who 

1  Ledger  of  Charming  Forge,  at  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


116  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

were  always  well  treated,  loved  him, — and  tried,  as  they 
could,  when  his  evil  days  came,  to  help  him.  The  musical 
interest  was  great,  between  them.  One  can  imagine  the 
pleasure  of  being  summoned  from  the  heat  of  forge  and 
furnace,  to  welcome  the  Master  on  his  return  home  by 
"playing  on  instruments."  And  these  same  instruments 
seem  to  have  cost  something.  In  a  valuation  of  his  pos- 
sessions, in  his  own  handwriting,  one  finds: 

L  S         d 

"  By  Musical  Instruments —          375          12         2 
House  Furniture —  483  o         5" 

and — 

"  My  clear  estate  after  deduction 

of  debts  is  worth  this  day,  July  i, 

1763,—  9891  o         5" 

Landed  property  (enumerated)   4540  o         o"1 

Of  all  these  musical  possessions  two  only  seem  to  be 
extant.  In  one  of  the  Museum  rooms  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Historical  Society  is  a  plain  oddly  shaped  harpsichord  on  a 
curious  trestle  support.  The  shape  really  is  not  sc  odd,  as 
it  strongly  resembles  that  of  a  "Baby  grand,"  and  the 
smooth  brown  wood  shows  no  breaks  or  marks.  Pur- 
chased by  Stiegel  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  it 
became  later  the  property  of  his  daughter  Elizabeth  who 
married  William  Old,  son  of  James  Old,  the  noted  iron- 
master. Descending  finally  to  her  granddaughter  Caro- 
line Old,  who,  in  1830  was  married  to  Henry  Morris,  so 
well  known  to  Philadelphians  of  a  generation  or  so  ago,  it 
rested  for  many  years  at  Solitude  the  charming!  "coun- 
try in  city"  home  of  Mr.  Morris.  At  Mrs.  Morris's 
death,  1889,  tne  harpsichord  was  given  by  the  family  to 
the  Historical  Society.  A  Stiegel  guitar  or  lute  also  the 

1  Ledger,  Elizabeth  Furnace  1762^-65,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  117 

property  of  Mrs.  Morris,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  James  Wood  of  Mount  Kisco. 

On  July,  i,  1763,  he  values  his  Manheim  town  and  lands, 
"  10  lots  Heidelberg  and  others,"  enumerated,  at  £4540. 

Two  or  three  of  Stiegel's  own  entries  in  the  day  book  are 
interesting:  as, —  a  long  account  with  "  Curtis  Grubb,"  in 
1773:  "By  Pigg  Mettal."  And,  much  later,  when  he 
no  longer  owned  the  forge, — in  1779,  "Daniel  Benezet's 
Account,  lent  by  Mr.  George  Ege,  pro  memoria, 

L       S       d 

Bonds  and  Mortgages  3000 

To  4  years  interest  on  same  720 

Ditto,  bill  the  Day  (illegible)  540 

Ditto,  to  September  1779,  Interest  900." 

By  1772  his  financial  embarrassments  were  beginning  to 
crowd  around  him.  In  a  Day  Book  of  Charming  Forge 
we  find  an  entry  showing  the  lease  on  May  i,  1772,  of 
"  one  full  undivided  half  part  of  Charming  Forge  with  all 
the  lands  and  estates  thereto  belonging  for  a  yearly  rent  to 
Mr.  Paul  Zantzinger  .  .  .  and  whereas  said  Paul  Zant- 
zinger  and  George  Ege  by  another  instrument  in  writing 
hath  mutually  agreed  to  carry  on  the  said  Forge  in  Com- 
pany, preparations  were  made  .  .  .  for  accounts  of  said 
company  the  transactions  and  accounts  of  which  are  as 
follows."1 

By  I775>  possibly  earlier,  George  Ege  was  the  sole  pos- 
sessor of  Charming  Forge,  as  the  inscription  in  one  of  the 
Day  Books  in  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  shows : 

"  Charming  Forge 

Day  Book,  May  Ist  1775 
George  Ege  Proprietor." 

1  See  Elizabeth  Furnace. 


118  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

The  George  Ege  here  mentioned,  was  Stiegel's  nephew 
by  marriage,  the  son  of  Michael  Ege,  who  served  in  the 
French  and  Indian  Wars,  and  grandson  of  Bernhard  Ege, 
who  came  to  this  country  in  1738  from  Wurtemburg.  On 
the  death  of  George  Ege  in  1759  his  widow  and  two  sons, 
George  and  Michael,  were  most  hospitably  taken  into 
Stiegel's  family  at  Elizabeth  Furnace,  George  then  being 
eleven  years  old.  These  boys  were  carefully  trained  by 
Stiegel  in  the  best  methods  of  iron  making,  and  in  after 
years  did  his  teaching  great  credit,  becoming,  the  one  in 
Berks  county,  the  other  in  York  and  Cumberland,  two  of 
the  greatest  iron  masters  in  the  country. 

In  July,  1776,  the  Executive  Council  of  Pennsylvania 
passed  a  resolution  authorizing  the  employment  of  Hessian 
prisoners  of  war,  at  Lancaster  and  Reading,  and  in  the 
furnaces  of  Chester,  Lancaster  and  Berks  counties,  which 
were  casting  cannon  and  shot  for  the  government.  Early 
in  1777  Mr.  Ege  purchased  from  Congress  the  services  of 
thirty-four  Hessian  prisoners  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  a 
channel  through  a  bed  of  rock  to  supply  his  slitting  mill 
with  water  power.  The  mill  race,  about  twenty  feet  wide, 
was  cut  through  a  mass  of  solid  slate  rock  as  smoothly  as 
if  done  by  a  broad-axe.  It  was  used  until  1887  when  the 
forge  was  abandoned.1  For  the  services  of  these  channel 
cutters  he  allowed  the  United  States  Government,  Novem- 
ber 5,  1782,  the  sum  of  £iO2O.3 

Augusta  M.  Longacre. 

1  Pennsylvania,  Colonial  and  Federal,  by  Jenkins. 

2  Ibid. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  1 19 


ELIZABETH  FURNACE. 
LANCASTER  COUNTY. 

About  1750  a  small  furnace  was  built  by  John  Jacob 
Huber,  a  German,  on  a  tributary  of  Conestoga  Creek,  near 
Brickersville,  in  Lancaster  county.  An  earlier  date  might 
possibly  be  given,  as,  in  Wast  Book  A,  Elizabeth  Furnace, 
1756*  there  is  an  entry  evidently  taken  from  another  book, 
— "  Began  to  take  the  hearth  out  of  the  Furnace,  Oct.  6, 

1746." 

Of  Huber,  personally,  little  is  known,  except  that  on  a 
stone  in  this  furnace  he  had  these  words  inscribed : 

"Jacob  Huber,  der  erste  Deutsche  Mann 
Der  das  Eisenwerk  vollfuhren  Kann." 

One  other  title  to  fame  he  has: — that,  on  the  7th  of 
November,  1752,  his  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was  married  to 
Heinrich  Wilhelm  Stiegel.  This  small  furnace  had  the 
fortune  to  be  owned  by  two  men,  Stiegel  and  Robert  Cole- 
man,  whose  names,  for  different  reasons,  are  to-day  per- 
haps the  best  known  among  the  earlier  Pennsylvania  iron 
masters. 

Many  tales  and  traditions  have  come  down  to  us,  of  the 
prosperities  and  adversities  of  Henry  William  Stiegel, 
popularly  called  Baron,  one  of  our  few  upper  class  Ger- 
man settlers.  Evidently  an  interesting  and  impressive 
personality,  he,  for  years  supplied  his  simple  country  neigh- 
bors with  dazzling  glimpses  of  the  "  pride  of  life";  and  it 
is  small  wonder  that  they  should  consider  him  an  amazing 
and  marvellous  creature,  of  a  kind  not  usually  abounding 

1  Manuscript  Collections,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 


120  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

among  Pennsylvania  Germans.  His  later  misfortunes 
have  overshadowed  the  remembrance  of  his  follies,  and 
with  the  latent  perfume  of  the  yearly  Feast  of  Roses,  his 
name  seems  to  come  softly  and  pleasantly  down  to  our 
time. 

Henry  William  Stiegel  came  to  Philadelphia  in  August, 
I75°>  by  the  ship  Nancy ,  from  Rotterdam  and  Cowes. 
He  was  then  about  twenty  years  old.  Sifting  the  evidence 
for  and  against  the  traditional  title  of  Baron,  which  per- 
sonally he  does  not  appear  to  have  claimed,  it  is  possible 
that  he  came  from  Mannheim,  Baden,  Germany,  after  hav- 
ing quarrelled  with  his  family ;  a  proof  of  this  is,  that  while 
in  after  life,  he  went  once  or  oftener  to  England,  he  seems 
to  have  made  no  effort  to  go  to  his  early  home.  He 
brought  with  him,  to  Pennsylvania,  a  considerable  sum  of 
money.  The  estimate  of  one  writer,  that  the  sum  was 
£40,000  is  questionable,  even  when  compared  with  Stiegel's 
lavish  outlay  later,  in  lands  and  buildings.1  If,  he  were 
of  noble  birth  he  must  have  changed  his  name,  as  "  Stiegel " 
is  not  to  be  found  in  the  nobility  lists  of  Germany.  He 
may  have  belonged  to  the  Stengels.  An  interested  inves- 
tigator, Dr.  J.  H.  Dubbs,  found  that  a  young  Stengel  had 
left  Mannheim  for  America  shortly  before  the  date  of 
Stiegel's  landing  here,  and  that  a  younger  line  of  the 
Stengels  belongs  in  Baden, — their  ancestral  home,  Strengel- 
hof,  being  near  Mannheim.  Once,  in  America,  Stiegel 
signed  his  name  "Henrich  (sic)  von  Stiegel,"  to  the  con- 
stitution of  the  old  Lutheran  Church  in  Brickersville.  Or- 
dinarily, his  signature  was  simply  Stiegel,  or  Henry  Wil- 
liam Stiegel.  However  this  may  be,  his  birth,  noble  or 
simple,  was  not  a  matter  of  great  moment  to  him,  in  his 
stirring  life  in  America.  Of  good  family  he  undoubtedly 

1  C.  F.  Hucfy  Mitteilungen  Des  Deutschcn  Pionier  Vereins  von  Phila- 
delphia, Fiinftes  Heft,  1907. 


House  of  Henry   William   Stiegel,  Elizabeth  Furnace.     His   offices 
at  rear  of  house. 


House   where  the  charcoal   was  stored  at   Elizabeth    Furnace. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  121 

was.  He  had  had  an  excellent  education,  and  was  a  man 
of  cultivation  and  taste :  this  is  shown  in  his  technical  and 
musical  knowledge,1  and  later  in  his  mode  of  life  and  the 
equipments  of  his  residences.  Of  distinct  capacity  and  en- 
terprise, he  was  also  sanguine,  credulously  trustful,  and 
with  a  great  love  of  ostentatious  living.  These  latter  ten- 
dencies, together  with  outward  circumstances  utterly  be- 
yond his  control — for  who  could  foresee  the  Revolutionary 
War? — brought  on  his  mortifying  failures. 

StiegePs  married  life,  with  Elizabeth  Huber,  was  happy 
and  short.  In  1757  he  bought  Huber's  furnace,  and  built 
on  the  old  site  a  much  larger  one,  naming  it  for  his  wife, 
Elizabeth.  She  died  in  February,  1758,  leaving  two 
daughters,  Barbara  and  Elizabeth. 

There  is  in  existence  a  stove  plate2  decorated  with  Heart 
and  Tulip,  bearing  thd  inscription: 

H.  William  Stiegel  und  Compagni  for  Elizabeth  1758. 

That  the  words  "  for  Elizabeth  "  are  to  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  his  dead  wife,  one  can  hardly  doubt;  even  though 
within  the  prescribed  year  of  mourning  after  her  death 
he  should  have  paid  her  that  subtlest  of  all  compliments 
according  to  some  philosophers,  a  speedy  remarriage,  and 
with  another  Elizabeth — Elizabeth  Wood,  or  Holz,  of 
Roxborough,  near  Philadelphia.  This  marriage  is  said  to 
be  on  record  at  St.  Michael's  Church,  Germantown.  They 
had  one  son,  Jacob. 

In  buying  Elizabeth  Furnace,  Stiegel  had  partners;  John 
Barr  and  the  Stedman  brothers,  Alexander  and  Charles; 
the  latter  of  Canadian  origin,  being  well-to-do  merchants 
in  Philadelphia.  An  unfortunate  connection  this  seems  to 

1  c.  F.  Huch. 

2  In  collection  of  G.  H.  Danner,  Manheim,  Pa. 


122  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

have  been.  In  his  transactions  with  the  Stedmans, 
through  a  number  of  years,  their  business  shrewdness  was 
greatly  superior  to  his.  They  apparently  tied  him  up  with 
contracts  in  which  the  advantage  was  generally  on  the  Sted- 
man  side,  while  Stiegel's  industry  and  enterprise  were  no 
match  for  their  clever  astuteness.  They  were  presumably 
men  of  importance  in  Philadelphia,  as  their  names,  as  also 
others  of  the  early  iron  masters,  are  on  the  Assembly  lists 
of  the  time. 

Another  hindrance  to  Stiegel's  permanent  success,  was 
the  buying  of  land,  in  unnecessary  quantities.  Evidently, 
he  brought  with  him  from  Germany  traces  of  the  tendency 
called  there  Erd-hunger;  and  this  adding  of  acre  to  acre 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  his  financial  embarrassment  and 
downfall.  For  a  period  of  at  least  ten  years,  however,  he 
prospered  greatly.  A  sister  of  StiegePs  second  wife, 
named  Anna  Catherine  Holz,  had  married  George  Michael 
Ege.  At  the  latter's  death  in  1759,  his  widow  and  two 
sons,  George  and  Michael,  were  taken  into  the  family  at 
Elizabeth  Furnace.  Stiegel,  the  guardian  of  his  nephews, 
educated  them,  and  had  them  trained  in  the  rudiments  of 
iron  making,  in  which  they  became  later,  experts.  Pros- 
perity marked  Elizabeth  Furnace  from  1760  on.  Seventy- 
five  persons  were  employed,  and,  near  by,  twenty-five  work- 
men's houses  were  built,  some  of  which  are  still  there.  In 
autumn  and  winter,  many  of  the  workmen  were  busy  felling 
wood  in  the  neighboring  hills,  for  charcoal  burning. 

A  list  of  all  Stoves  cast  at  Elizabeth  Furnace,  1771, 
includes 

L         S  d 

Bigg  10  plate  5         10 

Small  d°.  5 

Bigg  6  plate  5 

Middle  ditto  3 


.^^«iii| 


•**» 


•  TrWf.^v.l;r.'-"j^ 

jB-4^V^i—i*:  T?~ 
&•  f*;2T 


<&.•        -  •     ^-~~~*~~*~ 

'^^^?^§!^Srt 


•   *       fr1*-       I  ' -,    '    IMF*    •    W'J»        iP          * 

?:  S^TJ  S  !fiJ^"J-;; 


fK^TS5^P*J 


Mansion  of  H.   W.   Stiegel,  Manheim. 


Stoveplate,    called    the   Medallion   plate,    Elizabeth    Furnace,    1769.     Owned 
by  Mr.  M.  H.  Banner,  Manheim. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  123 

L  S  d 

Small  ditto  2  5 

Bigg  5  P\ate  5 

Middle  ditto  4 

Small       "  3 

Moravian  Stove  3 

An  open  6  plate  half  Stove  4         IO1 

On  the  20  September,  1762,  Stiegel  bought  two  hundred 
and  forty  three  acres  of  land  from  C.  and  A.  Stedman  and 
speedily  laid  out  a  town,  calling  it  after  his  supposedly 
native  place,  Manheim.  All  that  had  stood  there  before 
this  ambitious  planning,  were  two  little  block  houses;  by 
Stiegel's  energy  and  exertion,  however,  in  a  short  time  a 
number  of  buildings  were  erected  (sold  on  the  ground 
rent  plan),  and  early  in  1763  he  began  to  build  his  own 
mansion.  This  not  very  imposing  "castle"  as  the  neigh- 
bors called  it,  was  a  strong,  well-built  brick  house,  forty 
feet  square.  The  bricks  were  possibly  imported,  but  cer- 
tainly were  brought  from  Philadelphia  in  his  own  wagons.2 
The  interior  ornamentation,  tiles  and  furnishings,  probably 
came  from  England,  as  Stiegel  was  there  on  business  in 
that  year.  One  of  these  blue  tiles  is  to  be  seen  at  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  and  at  the  Museum  of 
Mr.  G.  H.  Banner  in  M'anheim  are  many  memorials  of 
Stiegel.  It  is  a  curious  thing  that  no  likeness  of  this 
widely  known  man  is  in  existence,  or,  if  in  existence,  it  is 
practically  unknown.  One  large  room  in  his  house  was 
fitted  up  as  a  chapel  where  he  held  religious  services  for 
his  family  and  workmen,  and  also  for  the  neighbors,  who 
came,  many  of  them,  on  foot,  and  often  from  a  distance 
of  ten  or  more  miles. 

Early  in  1763  Stiegel  bought  lands  adjacent  to  Tulpe- 

1  Ledger  of  Elizabeth  Furnace,  in  Manuscript  Collections,  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

2  C.  F.  Huch. 


124  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

hocken  Eisenhammer,  near  Womelsdorf  in  Berks  county. 
On  the  fifth  of  February,  1763,  he  bought  an  undivided 
half  of  that  forge,  with  eight  hundred  and  fifty  nine  acres, 
from  C.  and  A.  Stedman.  He  later  added  largely  to 
these  holdings  of  land,  and  called  the  Forge  Charming. 
The  Stedmans  retained  the  other  half  of  the  property. 

Extravagant,  kindly  and  sanguine,  Stiegel's  life  for 
some  years  now  was  outwardly  prosperous,  and  his  period 
of  ostentatious  living  came  to  its  height.  He  provided  his 
German  workmen  with  musical  instruments,  which,  with 
the  inborn  musical  talent  of  the  race,  they  used  with  skill 
and  pleasure.  The  story  goes,  that  when  he  returned  to 
Manheim  from  a  journey,  in  his  coach  and  four,  a  cannon 
was  fired,  at  some  distance  from  the  house,  and,  on  arriv- 
ing he  was  greeted  by  favorite  airs,  played  by  his  work- 
man band,  gathered  in  the  large  balcony  on  the  roof  of 
the  mansion.  An  attractive  picture,  if  somewhat  vain- 
glorious. He  built  also,  a  tower,  on  a  hill  not  far  from 
Elizabeth  Furnace,  called  to  this  day  Tower  or  Cannon 
Hill,  which,  except  the  foundations,  was  of  heavy  timber, 
fifty  feet  at  base,  seventy-five  feet  high  and  ten  feet  square 
at  the  top.  It  contained  a  number  of  rooms.  He  built 
this,  Heaven  alone  knows  why,  unless  possibly  to  enter- 
tain friends,  or  to  have  a  retreat  for  himself;  as,  with  all 
his  open  heartedness  he  was  suspicious  of  his  surroundings, 
fearing  robbery,  or  danger  to  life.1  On  this  structure,  he 
had  one  of  his  favorite  cannon  for  salutes. 

In  1772  he  gave  to  the  Lutheran  congregation  in  Man- 
heim a  piece  of  ground  on  which  to  build  a  church,  taking 
the  sum  of  five  shillings  to  make  the  transaction  legal,  and 
exacting  an  annual  rental  of  "  one  red  rose,  when  the  same 
shall  be  legally  demanded. "  After  disuse  for  many  years, 

1Ege  Genealogy. 


Cannon    Stove   made    by    Stiegel,    1759.     Owned    by    the   James    Spear 
Stove  and  Heating  Company,  Philadelphia. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  125 

this  custom  was  taken  up  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  and 
on  the  second  Sunday  in  June,  now,  the  "  Feast  of  Roses  " 
attracts  crowds  to  the  "Baron  Stiegel  Memorial  Church" 
(erected  in  1857),  in  whose  tower  a  peal  of  ten  bells  has 
been  dedicated  to  his  memory.  At  these  services,  a  de- 
scendant of  StiegePs  receives  the  red  rose,  addresses  are 
made,  and  the  chancel  is  often  filled  with  red  roses, 
dropped  there  by  the  audience,  individually,  as  a  tribute. 

First  in  Pennsylvania  to  attempt  the  making  of  flint 
glass,  he  did  more  than  attempt,  he  succeeded;  and  for 
ten  years  his  factory  made  bottles,  tumblers,  wine  glasses, 
vases,  jugs,  dishes,  playthings  and  colored  glass,  supplying 
the  needs  of  the  distant  colonies  as  well  as  his  own.  Bear- 
ing the  general  title,  "American  Flint  Glass,"  there  are 
three  old  account  books  in  the  manuscript  collections  of 
the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania.  The  earliest  one 
is  inscribed  "Ledger  A.  No.  i.  Begun  the  6th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1764,  for  Manheim  Glass  House,  by  Henry  William 
Stiegel."  This  is  probably  the  date  of  the  formal  opening 
of  the  works.  As  usual,  in  building  this  factory  his  ideas 
were  bold,  and  too  great  for  his  pocket.  On  the  corner 
of  Charlotte  and  Stiegel  Streets,  in  Manheim,  he  erected 
a  brick  building  so  large  that  a  double  team  could  drive 
in  and  turn  around.  The  height,  to  the  top  of  the  dome 
was  one  hundred  feet. 

To  quote  an  authority,  Dr.  Edwin  Atlee  Barber:  "He 
secured  skilled  workmen  from  the  best  factories  of  Europe, 
and  the  wares  produced  after  the  most  approved  methods 
of  the  period,  found  their  way  into  the  homes  of  the  well- 
to-do  people  of  that  day,  and  many  examples  are  still 
preserved.  Improvements  were  made  in  the  manufacture 
from  time  to  time,  as  is  shown  by  an  original  agreement 
dated  June  4,  1773,  in  possession  of  Mr.  George  H. 


126  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

Banner  of  Manheim,  between  Henry  William  Stiegel, 
owner  of  the  American  Flint  Glass  Manufactory  and  Laz- 
arus Isaac,  glass  cutter  of  Philadelphia,  described  as  '  cutter 
and  flowerer '  who  was  to  receive  wages  of  five  pounds  ten 
shillings  a  month.  By  the  term  Gutter'  we  do  not  un- 
derstand that  this  workman  actually  cut  and  polished 
glass  in  the  modern  sense,  as  no  examples  of  true  cut  glass 
have  come  to  light,  which  could  be  attributed  to  this  fac- 
tory, but  numerous  specimens  of  blown  glass,  ornamented 
with  surface  etched  or  engraved  designs  of  tulips  and  other 
floral  devices  have  survived,  which  were  made  at  these 
works.  In  these  pieces  the  '  cutting '  and  *  flowering '  have 
been  done  with  a  wheel  or  sharp  instrument,  the  strokes 
of  the  hand  work  being  distinctly  visible,  and  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  the  frosting  produced  by  means  of  acids.  The 
Stiegel  glassware  was  of  better  quality  than  any  produced 
elsewhere  in  the  colonies  down  to  the  period  when  its  man- 
ufacture ceased.  A  considerable  quantity  of  glass  must 
have  been  produced,  as  many  identified  pieces  are  to  be 
found  in  the  possession  of  collectors.  Mr.  Robert  Cole- 
man  Hemphill  of  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  possesses  a 
set  of  the  dark  blue  sugar  bowls,  which,  without  their  lids, 
now  serve  the  purpose  of  finger  bowls.  These  were  made 
for  his  ancestor,  Robert  Coleman."1  As  a  modem  touch 
one  might  say  that  a  Stiegel  tumbler  sold  in  New  York 
recently  (1913)  for  $21  and  a  Stiegel  mug  for  $19.  A 
number  of  letters  of  Stiegel's  to  John  Dickinson  (evidently 
his  creditor,  but,  as  evidently,  a  kindly  one),  are  among 
the  Logan  Papers  in  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  following  letter  is  inserted,  to  show  his  pleas- 
ure and  interest  in  his  newest  venture,  the  Glass  Works, 
and  his  amazingly  care-free  outlook,  even  when  telling  Mr. 

1  Bulletin  of  Pennsylvania  Museum,  January,  1906. 


Stove  door  plate,  cast  at  Elizabeth  Furnace.     Owned  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Museum   in    Memorial    Hall. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  127 

Dickinson  to  sell  the  iron  works,  on  which  the  latter  prob- 
ably had  a  mortgage  with  Daniel  Benezet. 

"ELIZABETH  FURNACE,  June  24th  1771 
"Sir 

"Your  favour  of  the  ist  instant  I  Received  and  am 
obliged  to  you,  I  make  no  Doubt  but  you  Recomand  and 
Encourage  the  Manufactory  all  you  can  as  an  undertaking 
so  advantageous  to  the  Good  of  the  province  and  Country 
— I  now  go  on  with  great  perfection  in  that  Art — so  that 
Alexand1".  Bartram  who  was  here  and  Viewed  the  same 
aknowledged  that  it  was  equal  with  any  that  ever  he  saw 
from  Great  Brittain  and  Agreed  with  me  for  a  large  Quan- 
tity with  a  resolution  to  stop  his  importation  and  Take  all 
from  me. — Concerning  the  works  they  are  too  High  and 
no  body  at  present  times  will  give  near  the  price  for  them, 
if  you  can  sell  them,  I  have  no  objection,  any  thing  I  can 
serve  you  In  you  will  freely  command — Mrs  Stiegel  joins 
me  in  our  best  Compliments  to  you  and  Spouse  and  am 

"Sir 

"  Your  most  Humble  Servant 
"HENRY  W.  STIEGEL." 

"  To  John  Dickinson  Esq*-"1 

i 

The  care-free  days  were  nearly  over,  however.  His 
reputation  as  a  rich  iron-master  was  a  soon  pricked  bubble. 
Daniel  Benezet  held  a  mortgage  for  £3,000  on  Stiegel]s 
share  of  Elizabeth  Furnace,  from  1768;  and  in  1770  his 
entire  Manheim  estate  was  mortgaged  to  Isaac  Cox  for 
£2,500. 

He  was  active  in  getting  up  a  Lottery  in  1765  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Pennsylvania  German  Society,  and  in  1773, 
one  seems  to  have  been  opened  to  which  his  own  name  was 
attached,  and  which  was  for  the  benefit  of  his  private  un- 
dertakings. There  is  a  Broadside  in  the  Historical  Soci- 
ety's Collections,  running  thus : 

1  Logan  Papers,  Vol.  38^  no.  87-,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


128  FORGES  AND  FURNACES  IN  THE 

"WRIT  OF  LEVARI  FACIAS 

"  1/3  part  of  Elizabeth  Furnace  seized  and  taken  in  Ex- 
ecution of  the  above  writ,  being  late  the  property  of  H.  W. 
Stiegel ;  to  be  sold  by 

"JOHN  FERREE 

Sheriff 
Lancaster 

"August  I3th,  1774" 

It  is  useless  to  detail  the  business  embarrassments  which 
were  now  overwhelming  him.  From  his  letters  one 
gathers  that  among  his  creditors,  Daniel  Benezet  and  John 
Dickinson  treated  him  with  great  consideration  and  for- 
bearance. Others  were  not  so  forbearing,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1774  he  was  arrested  for  debt,  and  lodged  in 
jail.  He  was  liberated  by  special  act  of  Legislature  passed 
December  24,  1774.  Under  the  title  Warrants  to  affix  the 
Great  Seal  we  find  the  following : 

"To  Edmund  Physick,  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  of 
Pennsylvania,  28  April  1775.  These  are  to  authorize  and 
require  you  to  affix  the  Great  Seal  to  ....  an  act  for  the 
relief  of  Henry  William  Stiegel,  a  languishing  prisoner  in 
the  Gaol  of  Philadelphia  County,  with  respect  to  the  im- 
prisonment of  his  person. 

"JOHN  PENN 

"Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province 
of  Pennsylvania."1 

Just  why  four  months  should  elapse  between  passing  the 
Act  which  promptly  liberated  the  prisoner,  and  the  affix- 
ing of  the  Great  Seal,  is  a  question. 

Early  in  1777  great  anxiety  was  felt  in  Philadelphia  as 
to  the  possible  approach  of  the  British  forces,  and  on  April 
14  Mrs.  Robert  Morris  wrote  to  her  mother,  Mrs.  Thomas 
White: 

1  Manuscript  Collections,  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 


Residence    of    Robert    Coleman,     Elizabeth     Furnace. 


A   corner   of   the   Coleman   garden,    Elizabeth    Furnace. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  129 

"We  are  preparing  for  another  flight,  in  packing  up 
our  furniture  and  removing  them  to  a  new  purchase  Mr. 
Morris  has  made  10  miles  from  Lancaster  no  other  than 
the  famous  house  that  belonged  to  Stedman  and  Stiegel  at 
the  Iron  Works,  where  you  know,  I  spent  six  weeks ;  so  am 
perfectly  well  acquainted  with  the  goodness  of  the  house 
and  the  situation.  The  reason  Mr.  Morris  made  this  pur- 
chase, he  looks  upon  the  other  not  secure  if  they  come  by 
water.  I  think  myself  very  lucky  in  having  this  asylum  it 
being  but  eight  miles,  fine  road,  from  Lancaster,  where  I 
expect  Mr.  Morris  will  be  if  he  quits  this,  besides  many  of 
my  friends  and  acquaintances.  So  I  will  now  solicit  the 
pleasure  of  your  company  at  this  once  famous  place,  in- 
stead of  Mennet,  where  perhaps  we  may  yet  trace  some 
vestages  of  the  late  owner's  folly  and  may  prove  a  useful 
lesson  to  his  successors."1 

In  a  private  record,  Mr.  Robert  Coleman,  of  Lebanon, 
wrote : 

"  In  the  year  1776,  possessed  of  but  a  small  capital,  and 
recently  married,  I  took  a  lease  for  the  Elizabeth  Furnace 
estate  for  the  term  of  seven  years,  not  anticipating  at  that 
time  that  before  the  expiration  of  the  lease  I  should  have  it 
in  my  power  to  become  owner  in  fee  simple  of  the  whole  or 
a  greater  part  of  the  estate.  Success  however  crowned  my 
endeavors.  A  new  and  regular  system  was  adopted,  by 
which  the  business  of  ironwork  was  made  to  resemble  more 
a  well-conducted  manufactory  than  the  scenes  of  confusion 
and  disorder  which  had  before  that  time  prevailed  in  that 
business.  During  the  continuance  of  the  lease  I  made 
several  purchases  of  lands  contiguous  to  the  estate,  and  in 
the  year  1780  I  purchased  from  John  Dickinson,  Esq.  the 
one  undivided  third  part  of  the  Elizabeth  Furnace  and 
lands  thereunto  belonging,  he  having  before  that  time  be- 
come the  owner  of  all  the  estate  and  interest  which  Alex- 
ander Stedman  held  in  the  same.  In  the  year  1784  I  pur- 
chased out  Mr.  Charles  Stedman,  who  also  held  an  undi- 
vided third  part  of  the  estate.  The  remaining  third  part 
of  the  original  estate  was  not  purchased  by  me  from  Daniel 

1  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  I,  p.  225. 


130  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

Benezet  until  the  year  1794,  he  either  not  being  inclined  to 
sell  or  asking  more  than  I  thought  it  expedient  to  give."1 

Having  been  placed  by  Robert  Coleman  at  Elizabeth 
Furnace  as  foreman,  Stiegel  wrote  to  Jasper  Yeates  of  his 
precarious  position,  and  soon  after,  large  orders  were  re- 
ceived from  the  government  for  shot  and  shell.  In  the 
spring  of  1777  the  furnace  became  overtaxed  and  he  sug- 
gested to  the  authorities  that  more  power  could  be  had  by 
conducting  the  water  from  Saw  Hole  around  the  base  of 
Cannon  Hill  to  Furnace  Run.  The  government  sent  him 
about  two  hundred  Hessian  prisoners,  taken  at  Trenton, 
to  dig  this  canal,  over  a  mile  in  length.  Many  of  the 
Hessians  remained  and  became  good  citizens;  it  is  just 
possible  that  they  may  have  been  induced  by  the  offer  of 
Congress  of  29  April,  1778,  under  which  "50  acres  of 
land  were  granted  to  any  private  soldier  who  deserted 
from  a  foreign  regiment  in  British  pay.  The  execution 
of  this  project  was  confided  to  Benjamin  Franklin,  who 
speedily  had  the  eloquence  of  Congress  translated  into 
very  plain  and  intelligible  German,  and  printed  inside  the 
covers  of  parcels  of  tobacco  made  up  in  imitation  of  those 
which  were  sold  across  the  counters  of  a  rural  store. 
Franklin  contrived  that  a  number  of  these  packages  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  General  Von  Hiester's  foragers,  and 
the  event  showed  that  many  a  Hessian  grenadier,  as  he 
ruminated  over  his  pipe,  had  dwelt  lovingly  on  the  tempt- 
ing offer  which  he  found  within  the  wrappers."2  In  pay- 
ment for  the  work  done  at  the  furnace  for  the  govern- 
ment, Hessian  prisoners  were  sent  there.  In  the  Pig 
Iron  Book,  under  date  of  August  14,  the  management 
is  credited  to  twenty- two  prisoners,  six  months,  twenty- 
four  and  one-half  days  at  eight  shillings  per  week,  and 
four  prisoners  at  forty-five  shillings  per  month. 

1  Iron  making  in  Pennsylvania,  by  James  Swank. 

2  The  American  Revolution,  Sir  George  Otto  Trevelyan,  III,  p.  29. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  131 

Stiegel  left  Elizabeth  finally  in  1778,  and  shortly  after, 
his  connection  with  iron  making  ended.  Few  and  evil,  from 
a  worldly  point  of  view,  were  his  last  years.  His  nephew, 
George  Ege,  had  been  the  owner  of  Charming  Forge  since 
1774.  Stiegel  seems  to  have  found  work  and  a  home 
there,  as  book-keeper.  Later,  for  a  while,  he  tried  to 
support  himself  and  his  wife  by  teaching  school.  His 
former  workmen  did  all  they  could;  they  cared  much  for 
him,  and  sent  their  children  to  be  taught.  He  struggled 
manfully  against  poverty  and  disaster,  until  the  death  of 
his  wife;  he  seems,  then,  to  have  gone  back  to  Charming 
to  die.  The  end  came  in  1783,  when  he  was  nearly  fifty- 
four  years  old. 

In  1776  Robert  Coleman's  residence  at  Elizabeth  Fur- 
nace began.  His  patriotism  has  been  spoken  of  else- 
where.1 Of  thd  other  aspects  of  his  life  there,  the  verse 
"Not  slothful  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit"  might  be 
quoted  as  a  condensed  description.  A  Sunday  School  was 
kept  up  there  for  the  children  on  the  place :  when  no  clergy- 
man was  available,  Mr.  Coleman  read  the  service.  When 
a  visiting  clergyman  arrived,  he  had  a  hearty  welcome 
(a  shade  less  warm  perhaps,  if  he  happened  to  have  Tory 
leanings)  and  immediately  the  unbaptized  children  on  the 
place,  whether  Mr.  Coleman's  or  those  of  his  workmen, 
were  summoned  to  be  christened.  When  the  reverend  vis- 
itor left  Elizabeth  his  usually  lean  pocket  book  was  com- 
fortably filled  and  he  was  sent  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

Robert  Coleman  had  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  enter- 
taining Washington  there,  as  friend  and  guest,  and  at  the 
request  of  his  host,  Washington,  later,  sat  for  a  portrait 
to  Gilbert  Stuart,  which  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  B.  Dawson 
Coleman.  On  retiring  from  business,  in  1809,  Mr. 
Coleman,  with  his  family,  removed  to  Lancaster,  where  for 

1  See  Cornwall  Furnace  and  Salford  Forge. 


132  FORGES   AND    FURNACES   IN   THE 

years  his  house  was  a  centre  for  the  social  life  of  the  time. 
It  was  probably  a  matter  of  the  slightest  moment  to  him, 
that  he  was  a  handsome  man,  with  the  Irish  beauty  of 
blue  eyes,  dark  lashes  and  hair,  which  some  of  his  children 
inherited.  There  are  many  traditions  yet  told  over  Lan- 
caster tea  cups,  of  the  lovely  Coleman  sisters,  Robert's 
daughters,  two  of  whom  died  young.  It  is  said,  one  can- 
not say  how  truly,  that  the  Rev.  William  A.  Muhlenberg 
later  the  founder  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  New  York,  who 
was  engaged  to  Sarah  Coleman,  threw  into  her  grave  the 
engagement  ring  and  the  rough  copy  of  a  hymn  he  had 
just  written, — "  I  would  not  live  alway." 

In  these  days,  when  people  are  so  afraid  to  take  stands, 
or  make  public  their  religious  beliefs  and  practices,  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  our  grandmothers  were  not.  Robert 
Coleman  and  his  wife,  Anne,  were  very  religious  and  not 
ashamed  of  their  religion.  They  were  liberal  supporters 
and  devoted  parishioners  of  St.  James'  parish.  As  there 
were  no  bishops  of  the  Episcopal  Church  until  after  the 
Revolution,  Anne  had  never  been  confirmed.  The  first 
time  a  bishop  came  to  St.  James',  Lancaster,  she  said  she 
wished  to  be  confirmed.  The  bishop  suggested  a  private 
service  for  her;  but  she  would  have  none  of  it.  So  at 
eighty  years  of  age,  she,  who  had  been  a  communicant  and 
leading  parishioner  for  years,  came  up  with  all  her  children 
to  receive  the  grace  of  confirmation.1  Robert  Coleman's 
active  and  beneficent  life  ended  on  the  fourteenth  of  August 
1825.  He  is  buried  in  St.  James'  Churchyard,  Lancaster. 

Elizabeth  Furnace  was  in  almost  continuance  operation, 
until  1856,  when  it  was  abandoned.  The  property  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  the  Coleman  family. 

Augusta  M.  Longacre. 

1  Notes  furnished  by  Mrs.  Horace  Brock,  great-granddaughter  of  Robert 
Coleman. 


Ten  Plate  Stove  cast  at  Hereford  Furnace,   1768,  by  Thomas  Maybury. 
Owned  by   Col.   Henry   D.   Paxson. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  133 


HEREFORD  FURNACE.  175° 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

For  this  paper  we  wish  to  give  full  credit  to  Mr.  H. 
Winslow  Fegley,  of  Reading,  from  whose  article,  "Old 
Charcoal  Furnaces  in  Eastern  Berks  County,"  it  is  taken. 

"The  first  map  made  of  Hereford  township  is  in  exist- 
ence, the  property  of  Horatio  K.  Schultz.  It  was  made 
by  David  Schultz  ( 17 17-1797) ,  an  able  colonist,  surveyor, 
scholar. 

Hereford  Furnace  stood  on  the  west  bank  of  the  west 
branch  of  Perkiomen  Creek.  It  was  in  blast  in  1753,  and 
stoves  were  cast  there  as  late  as  1767.  Of  Thomas  May- 
bury's  early  history  little  is  known.1  The  first  settlers  of 
Hereford  of  whom  we  have  a  record  are  mentioned  in 
Rupp's  History  as  settling  here  as  early  as  1732,  being 
the  time  when  the  Schwenkf elders — the  pilgrims  of  the 
Perkiomen  Valley — arrived  from  Europe.  Maybury  was 
a  power  in  the  neighborhood  and,  at  one  time,  a  rich  man, 
employing  fifty  to  one  hundred  men.  Some  of  them  were 
wood  choppers,  who  got  from  thirty  to  fifty  cents  a  cord  for 
cutting.  Then  came  the  teamsters,  who,  with  either  a  pair 
of  mules  or  a  yoke  of  oxen  hauled  the  logs  together. 
Each  boasted  as  to  his  ability  to  drive  a  mule  through  the 
cutting  over  stumps  and  stones  to  the  coal  hearth  without 
upsetting  his  load.  Some  of  the  haulers  used  a  horse  and 
sled,  the  runners  of  which  were  well  greased  with  bacon 
so  as  to  slide  the  load  over  the  small  stones  and  brush,  to 
the  hearth. 

The  charcoal  burners  always  travelled  in  pairs,  and  as  the 

1  See  Green  Lane  Forge. 


134  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

charring  needed  constant  watching,  they  were  obliged  to 
remain  with  the  burning  heap.  While  one  was  on  active 
duty  for  twelve  hours  his  partner  was  in  the  hut,  sleeping. 
These  huts  were  made  of  saplings  and  the  interstices  filled 
with  leaves  and  earth.  In  such  huts  they  spent  many  days. 
Their  bill  of  fare  was  not  elaborate.  It  consisted  gen- 
erally of — breakfast,  flitch  and  potatoes;  dinner,  potatoes 
and  flitch,  and  for  supper,  meat  and  potatoes.  A  stove 
was  exhibited  at  the  World's  Fair  Chicago,  1893,  which 
was  three  feet  long,  one  foot  wide,  box  shape,  with  an 
oven  above.  On  both  sides  this  inscription  is  cast :  "  Here- 
ford Furnace,  1767,  Thomas  Maybury."  A  placard 
below  said  "  The  Oldest  Cooking  Stove  in  America."  It 
is  owned  by  the  Michigan  Stove  Company.  Besides 
stoves,  Maybury  manufactured  everything  the  earlier 
settlers  needed.  In  his  palmy  days,  on  his  trips  to  Phil- 
adelphia, he  would  get  ten  dollar  bills  changed  into  small 
coin.  On  returning  to  the  furnace  he  would  call  the  child- 
ren of  the  workmen  together,  and,  taking  one  handful  of 
coin  after  another,  throw  them  broadcast,  much  as  one 
feeds  chickens.  In  this  his  delight  is  said  to  have  almost 
equalled  that  of  the  children.  He  died  poor,  after  many 
years  of  toil.  His  bones  now  rest  beneath  large  trees,  just 
such  trees  as  he  had  cut  down  for  his  industries  and  on  the 
very  land  where  his  men  burned  the  charcoal.  Although 
unmarked,  generation  after  generation  respects  this  ground 
as  the  Maybury  burial  plot." 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  135 

QUITTAPAHILLA  FORGE.  J75<> 

LANCASTER  COUNTY,  LATER  LEBANON. 

This  forge,  called  afterwards  Newmarket,  was  built 
about  1750  on  land  taken  up  on  a  warrant  granted  to 
Gerrard  Etter,  a  German,  December  16,  1747.  It  was 
owned  and  partially  operated  by  him  and  his  son,  until 
1793)  when  it  was  sold  to  Adam  Orth. 

Leased  by  James  Old  in  1767,  it  was  operated  by  him 
for  several  years,  and  is  chiefly  noted  in  these  days  as  a 
place  where  Robert  Coleman  learned  much  of  the  mys- 
tery of  iron  making,  and  also  where  he  probably  first  met 
Anne  Old,  who  later  became  his  wife. 


MARIA  FORGE.  175* 

CARBON  COUNTY. 

Little  is  known  of  this  forge  beyond  the  name,  and  the 
fact  that  it  was  situated  on  Poco  Creek  near  Weissport.  A 
blast  furnace  was  built  later,  which  was  finally  abandoned 
in  1861.  The  owner,  Rev.  George  Michael  Weiss  or 
Weitzius,  was  a  native  of  the  Palatinate  on  the  Rhine. 
Coming  to  America  in  1727,  he  settled  at  Skippack,  Mont- 
gomery county,  and  seems  to  have  been  interested  in  both 
iron  making  and  the  cure  of  souls,  as  he  had  charge  of 
various  Reformed  congregations  in  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York.  He  died  about  1763,  and  is  buried  in  the  church  at 
New  Goshenhoppen.  On  his  tomb  are  these  words : 

"  Hier  ruhet  der  Ehr 

Herr  Weiss!"1 

!Life  of  Rev.  Wra.  Smith,  p.  89. 


136  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


I7Si  MARTIC  FORGE  AND  FURNACE. 

LANCASTER  COUNTY. 

On  Furnace  Run,  a  small  branch  of  Pequea  Creek  which 
runs  into  the  Susquehanna,  near  the  village  of  Coleman- 
ville,  in  Lancaster  county,  may  be  seen  to-day  an  old  cinder 
heap.  Inquisitive  minds  questioning  the  placing  of  the 
cinders  there,  will  find  that  this  is  all  that  remains  of  the 
old  furnace  with  the  odd  name  "  Martic." 

It  was  originally  called  Martock,  for  a  village  of  that 
name  in  Martock  hundred,  Somerset,  England,  evidently 
named  by  an  early  settler,  with  the  feeling  of  the  immigrant 
for  the  old  country.  "The  name  is  said  to  be  derived 
from  mart  and  oak,  from  the  fact  of  the  market  having 
formerly  been  held  under  an  oak  tree  in  the  old  English 
town,  the  site  of  which  tree  is  now  occupied  by  an  elegant 
fluted  column."1 

Martic  Furnace  was  built  in  1751  and  1752.  It  was 
built  and  run  by  the  brothers,  Thomas  and  William  Smith.2 
In  1752,  Thomas  was  sheriff  of  the  county  and  in  1769 
he  was  put  in  jail  for  debt.  Edward  Shippen  writes 
"  Tom  Smith,  the  Sheriff,  was  almost  ruined  by  the  office  " ; 
those  holding  such  an  office  to-day  seldom  have  this  ex- 
perience. 

In  the  same  year,  1769,  Martic  Furnace  and  Forge  were 
sold  by  the  sheriff,  the  advertisement  reading  thus : 

"  By  virtue  of  a  writ  to  me  directed,  will  be  exposed  to 
sale  by  public  vendue,  on  the  30  day  of  January  inst.,  at 
10  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  Martic  Furnace  in  Lancaster 

1  Lewis's  Topographical  Dictionary  of  England. 

2  History  of  Lancaster  County,  by  Ellis  and  Evans.    See  Chain  of  Title 
later. 


Stoveplate,    Martic    Furnace.     Owned   by   Mrs.   A.   J.    Steinman,    Lancaster. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  137 

County,  the  said  furnace  and  forge,  together  with  upwards 
of  3,400  acres  of  land  thereunto  belonging.  The  improve- 
ments at  both  furnace  and  forge  are  very  good,  viz. :  At 
the  furnace,  a  good  dwelling  house,  stores,  and  compting 
house,  a  large  coal  house,  with  eight  dwelling  houses  for 
labourers,  a  good  gristmill,  Smith's  and  Carpenter's  shops, 
6  good  log  stables,  with  4  bays  for  hay,  a  number  of  pot 
patterns,  and  some  flasks  for  ditto ;  stove  moulds,  &c.,  &c., 
a  good  mine  bank  abounding  with  plenty  of  ore,  so  con- 
venient that  one  team  can  haul  three  loads  a  day;  about 
15  acres  of  good  watered  meadow,  and  as  much  adjoining 
may  be  made :  The  Forge  is  about  4  miles  distant,  now  in 
good  order,  with  four  fires,  two  hammers,  and  very  good 
wooden  bellows,  a  dwelling-house,  store  and  compting 
house,  with  six  dwelling  houses  for  the  labourers,  two  very 
good  coal  houses,  large  enough  to  contain  six  months'  stock, 
three  stables,  Smith's  and  Carpenter's  shops,  two  acres  of 
meadow  made  and  about  1,500  cords  of  wood,  but  in  the 
woods  at  both  places;  there  is  plenty  of  water  at  said  works 
in  the  driest  season,  and  they  are  situated  in  a  plentiful 
part  of  the  country,  where  they  can  be  supplied  with  neces- 
saries on  the  lowest  terms :  And  to  be  sold  the  same  day,  a 
very  good  plantation,  containing  200  acres  of  patent  land, 
clear  of  quit-rent,  adjoining  the  lands  of  Benjamin  Ashle- 
man,  the  Widow  Haiman,  and  others,  in  Conestoga  town- 
ship. Also  two  slaves,  one  a  Mullatoe  man,  a  good  forge 
man,  and  the  other  a  Negro  man,  and  three  teams  of  horses 
with  waggons  and  gears  &c.  All  late  the  property  of 
Thomas  Smith,  James  Wallace,  and  James  Fulton :  seized 
and  taken  in  execution,  and  to  be  sold  by 

James  Webb,  Sheriff." 

A  glimpse  of  the  tragic  and  historic  side  of  Martic  is 
given  in  the  following  story  related  by  Ellis  and  Evans  in 
their  History  of  Lancaster  County. 

"  In  and  about  Lancaster  County,  there  was  a  group  of 
men  banded  together  to  drive  out  the  Indians,  and  under 
Capt.  Lazerus  Stewart,  these  men,,  who  were  called  the 


138  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

Paxton  Boys,  in  Dec.  1763,  started  toward  Conestoga,  an 
Indian  town,  purposing  to  destroy  it  and  its  people. 
They  did  murder  six  Indians  and  burned  their  buildings. 
One  boy  made  his  escape  and  gave  the  alarm  at  the  place 
of  Capt.  Thos.  McKee,  manager  of  the  '  Indian  Farm.' 
The  same  day,  Bill  Sock,  an  Indian  famous  in  those  parts, 
having  committed  numerous  murders  and  much  feared  and 
hated  by  his  neighbors,  went  with  several  other  Indians  to 
sell  baskets  and  brooms  at  the  Iron  Works  of  Thomas 
Smith,  (Mar tic  Furnace.)  When  Sock  and  those  who 
accompanied  him  did  not  return,  other  Indians  who  lived 
near  Harrisburg  Turnpike  became  much  alarmed  and 
decided  to  go  to  Lancaster — here  they  were  put  in  the 
work-house  for  safety — The  work-house  was  attached  to 
the  jail.  The  Paxton  Boys  had  murdered  the  others  and 
Herr,  who  resided  in  the  Manor  House,  brought  news  of 
the  dreadful  massacre.  On  Dec.  27,  1763,  Sheriff  Hay 
wrote  Gov.  John  Penn  that  fifty  or  sixty  Indians  had  been 
killed  by  the  Paxton  Boys.  This  band  of  men  became  so 
vicious  and  so  vindictive  that  the  Indians  were  afraid  to 
hunt  and  finally  were  driven  out  altogether,  and  the  iron- 
workers at  Martic  saw  no  more  of  the  red  men." 

The  furnace  went  out  of  blast  during  the  Revolution,  al- 
though it  was  in  existence  as  late  as  1793. 

The  forge  in  connection  with  Martic  Furnace  was 
started  in  I755-1  In  1760,  the  whole  property  was  sold 
to  William  and  Samuel  Webb  and  Ferguson  Mclllvaine. 
The  latter  became  manager. 

Many  times  did  the  property  change  hands  between 
1760  and  1883,  when  it  was  last  in  operation. 

Robert  S.  Potts,  who  died  in  1886,  the  last  owner  of  the 
Forge,  wrote: 

"  There  used  to  be  a  small  rolling  mill  near  the  Forge 
that  stopped  running  some  fifty  years  ago.  There  was  also 
a  charcoal  furnace  called  Martic  Six  miles  east  of  the 

1  Swank,  Progressive  Pennsylvania,  p.  187. 


Complete    Fiveplate    Stove,     1760.     Martic    Furnace.     Owned    by    Col. 
Henry   D.   Paxson. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  139 

Forge,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  its  history  be- 
yond the  fact  that  it  was  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Martic  Forge  Company;  when  that  was,  however,  or  how 
long  it  was  in  blast,  I  can  not  learn.  The  old  cinder  bank 
is  still  visible.  During  the  Revolution  round  iron  was 
drawn  under  the  hammer  at  the  forge  and  bored  out  for 
musket  barrels  at  a  boring  mill,  in  a  private  road,  doubtless 
with  a  view  to  prevent  discovery  by  the  enemy." 

One  thing  more  told  by  Robert  S.  Potts  is  that  negro 
slaves  were  employed  at  Martic  from  the  very  beginning, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  know  that  until  it  ceased  operation 
in  1883,  negroes  continued  to  be  the  chief  workmen.  A 
long  row  of  stone  houses  was  occupied  by  these  men. 

Through  the  interest  and  courtesy  of  Col.  Henry  D. 
Paxson  we  are  able  to  give  a  complete  Chain  of  Title  of 
Martic  Forge. 

CHAIN  OF  TITLE  OF  MARTIC  FORGE. 
1769. 

6th  Sept'r   James  Webb,  Esq.,  Sheriff,  sold  Furnace  and 

Forge  and  3404  acres  of  land   in   Martic 

Township    to    Ferguson    Mcllvaine,    as   the 

property  of  Thos.  Smith  &  Co. 

1 2th  Sept'r  Ferguson  Mcllvaine  sold  Furnace  and  Forge 

to  Adam  Hoopes. 
1770. 

2nd  June.  Adam  Hoopes  and  wife  conveyed  Furnace 
and  Forge  to  John  Malcolm,  George  Mun- 
roe,  Samuel  Patterson  and  John  McCalmont, 
to  each  one-fourth. 
1771. 

25th  May.  John  Malcolm  and  others  sold  the  one-eighth 
part  of  Martic  Forge  and  1275  acres  of  land 
to  Joseph  Musgrave. 
1772 

22nd  June.  John  Malcolm  and  others  sold  the  one-fourth 
part  of  Martic  Forge,  &c.,  to  John  Fox  and 


140  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

Daniel  Longstreth,  in  trust,  for  William  Juto, 
Robert  Harris,  James  Haldane,  William 
Hazlewood,  Nicholas  Barnard,  Stacy  Ne- 
pham,  Peter  Sutter,  James  Fulton,  Alexander 
Graham,  John  Kidd,  Peter  Young,  Anthony 
Yeldale,  James  Bernwick,  James  Longhead, 
John  Clark,  Zachariah  Nieman,  Robert 
Graves  and  the  said  John  Fox  and  Daniel 
Longstreth,  William  Hazlewood,  Peter  Sutter 
and  Alexander  Graham  each  to  have  one- 
thirty-five  part,  the  rest  to  have  two-thirty-five 
parts  each. 

1774. 

1 8th  Feb'y  John  Malcolm  and  others  sold  one-fourth  part 
of  Martic  Forge,  &c.,  to  William  Montgomery 
and  Matthew  Wilkin — to  each  a  moiety  of 
the  fourth  part. 

do.         John  Malcolm  and  others  sold  one-eighth  part 
of  Martic  Forge,  &c.,  to  Michael  Hillegas. 

1775- 
23d  Feb'y.  John  Malcolm  and  others  sold  one-eighth  part 

of  Martic  Forge,  &c.,  to  John  Welsh. 
1777. 

28th  Sept'r  Matthew  Wilkin  sold  a  moiety  of  one  fourth 
part  of  Martic  Forge,  &c.,  to  William  Mont- 
gomery, who  then  held  one-fourth  part  of  the 
Forge,  &c. 
8th  Dec'r.  William  Montgomery  sold  his  one-fourth  part 

of  the  Forge  and  lands  to  Michael  Hillegas. 
1788. 

5th  Sept'r.  Joseph  Musgrave  and  wife  sold  his  one-eighth 
part  of  Martic  Forge,  &c.,  to  Michael  Hille- 
gas. 

In  the  preceding  conveyances  to  Michael  Hil- 
legas, the  one  undivided  fourth  part  of  Martic 
equal  to  six-twenty-fourths,  purchased  from 
William  Montgomery;  the  one-eighth  part, 
equal  to  three-twenty-fourths,  purchased  from 


PROVINCE   OF    PENNSYLVANIA.  141 

Joseph  Musgrave:  and  the  one-fourth  part, 
equal  to  six-twenty-fourths,  purchased  from 
James  Fulton  and  others,  amounting  in  the 
whole  to  fifteen-twenty-fourth  parts,  were 
purchased  by  the  said  Michael  Hillegas  in 
partnership  with  Matthias  Slough  and  George 
Ege,  tho'  the  Deeds  were  in  the  name  of  M. 
Hillegas  alone.  These  are  only  conveyances 
for  twenty-one  thirty-five  parts  of  the  fourth 
purchased  from  James  Fulton  and  others — the 
remaining  fourteen-thirty-five  parts  being 
claimed  or  released. 

1783- 

26th  June.  Geo.  Ege  conveyed  his  interest,  amounting  to 
five-twenty-fourth  parts,  to  Matthias  Slough, 
who  then  held  ten  twenty-fourth-parts. 
1792. 

27th  Sept'r.  Michael  Hillegas  conveyed  to  Richard  Foot- 
man and  others,  surviving  assignees  of  Mat- 
thias Slough,  then  a  Bankrupt,  the  interest 
which  Matthias  Slough  owned  in  the  works 
and  the  title  to  which  was  in  his  own  name,  as 
well  as  Mr.  Ege's  share,  which  had  previously 
been  sold  by  him  to  Slough,  amounting  in  the 
whole  to  ten  twenty-fourth  parts  of  the  Forge, 
&c. 

1793- 

nth  March.  Richard  Footman  and  others,  surviving 
assignees  of  Matthias  Slough,  sold  his  share  in 
the  estate  (viz:  ten-twenty-fourth  parts 
thereof  to  Geo.  Ege) . 

1 3th  March.  Michael  Hillegas  sold  to  Robert  Coleman 
and  George  Ege  the  one-eighth  part,  equal  to 
three-twenty-fourths,  purchased  from  John 
Malcolm  and  others,  and  his  third  part  of 
fifteen  twenty-fourths,  equal  to  five  twenty- 
fourths,  which  he  held  in  partnership  with 
Matthias  Slough  and  Geo.  Ege,  the  whole 
amounting  to  eight-twenty-fourth-parts. 


142  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

1793- 

3Oth  Sept.  John  Miller,  Sheriff,  sold  the  one-eighth  part 
of  Martic  Forge  and  land,  to  Robert  Cole- 
man  and  Geo.  Ege,  late  the  property  of  John 
Welsh, 
1803. 

8th  July.  Geo.  Ege  sold  to  Robt.  Coleman  his  one-half 
of  all  the  Martic  Lands  purchased  and  held 
by  Robt.  Coleman  and  Geo.  Ege  in  Company 
or  granted  and  conveyed  to  them  in  Fee  as 
tenants  in  common — purchase  money  £2500. 
Same  day.  Geo.  Ege  sold  to  Robt.  Coleman  all  the  share 
and  interest  in  the  Martic  property  which  for- 
merly belonged  to  Matthias  Slough  and  which 
he  purchased  from  his  assignees — considera- 
tion £4000. 
1804. 

3Oth  Jany.  Robt.  Coleman  his  one  undivided  half  part  of 
Forge  and  lands  to  Edward  Brien  for  £6500. 

One  does  not  easily  fathom  the  motives  and  intentions  of 
those  who  preceded  us  in  Pennsylvania  by  a  century  or  so, 
but  to  a  casual  reader  of  the  names  of  purchasers  of  Martic 
on  June  22,  1772,  in  the  foregoing  Chain  of  Title,  it  seems 
as  if  taking  a  "  share  "  in  an  iron  property  had  been  a  rather 
popular  kind  of  speculation.  Reading  further  on,  we  find 
a  name,  known  to  students  of  American  History,  but  not  so 
familiar  as  it  should  be  in  our  own  state.  Michael  Hillegas 
was  a  Philadelphian  who,  distinguished  early  for  his  per- 
sonal gifts,  his  success  as  a  merchant,  and  his  philanthropy, 
became  later  the  first  Continental  Treasurer  (in  1775). 
In  1777  he  was  appointed  the  first  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,1  and  continued  in  that  responsible  office  until  1789. 

Mabel  Rogers  Balrd. 

1  Journals  of  Congress,  III,  301. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  143 


POTTSGROVE  FORGE.  **-  „ 

built 

PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  NOW  MONTGOMERY.  I7S2 

This  ancient  forge  takes  its  name  from  the  Potts  family, 
whose  annals  might  almost  be  said  to  cover  the  history  of 
the  iron  industry  in  eastern  Pennsylvania.  The  name  is 
connected  with  the  first  furnace  erected  by  the  earliest 
settlers  under  William  Penn,  and  in  continuous  line  they 
followed  the  manufacture  of  iron,  until  the  annual  output 
of  their  industries  was  reckoned  in  the  millions. 

The  German  colonists,  under  their  leader  Pastorius, 
must  be  credited  with  the  enterprise  which  first  opened  up 
the  rich  iron  deposits  of  eastern  Pennsylvania.  Letters  of 
William  Penn,  written  to  James  Logan  early  in  1700,  refer 
often  to  the  iron  mines  in  the  Schuylkill  region,  and  express 
a  great  desire  to  have  them  opened,  but  it  was  not  until 
1716  or  1717  that  Thomas  Rutter,  a  man  of  much  ability, 
who  had  succeeded  Pastorius  as  chief  magistrate,  left  the 
German  settlement  and  went  to  the  banks  of  the  Man- 
atawny,  a  stream  which  joins  the  Schuylkill  about  thirty- 
five  miles  above  Philadelphia. 

In  the  Germantown  colony  was  a  family  by  the  name 
of  Potts  recently  come  from  Wales.  Their  little  son, 
Thomas,  though  born  across  the  ocean,  was  brought  up 
among  these  Germans  who  had  transplanted  a  bit  of  the 
fatherland  to  this  country.  Their  language  was  to  him 
like  his  native  tongue,  and  his  marriage  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  to  Martha  Keurlis  (Kerlin),  a  member  of  one  of 
the  twelve  families  who  came  with  Pastorius  to  America, 
allied  him  still  closer  to  their  interests.  He  was  educated 
as  a  Quaker  and  from  the  record  of  his  marriage  it  would 


144  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

appear  that  both  he  and  his  bride  were  members  of  meet- 
ing. We  know  that  his  uncle,  Thomas  Potts,  senior,  was 
an  active  Friend,  and  that  Peter  Keurlis  was  nominally  one, 
and  that  the  young  people  conformed  to  Friends'  custom. 
They  passed,  as  it  is  called,  two  meetings,  and  at  a  monthly 
meeting  at  Abington,  third  month,  1699,  were  formally 
joined  "  in  the  unity  of  Friends." 

After  he  married,  young  Thomas  held  several  posts  of 
honor  in  the  settlement.  The  German  tongue  was  uni- 
versally used,  and  yet  the  presence  of  English  Quakers 
made  it  important  to  have  officials  who  could  speak  both 
languages.  He  was  influential  with  both  parties,  and  lived 
happily  in  or  near  Germantown,  until  the  death  of  his  wife, 
which  took  place  about  1716.  It  was  probably  while  his 
family  was  broken  up  by  this  affliction  that  he  was  induced 
by  Thomas  Rutter  to  emigrate  to  the  M  ana  tawny.  Here 
he  purchased  lands — married  a  second  time  (Magdelen 
Robeson)  about  1718, — and,  after  the  death  of  Rutter, 
became  the  principal  owner  and  manager  of  the  iron  works 
on  the  M  ana  tawny. 

History  gives  us  only  the  merest  glimpses  of  the  exist- 
ence of  this  early  forge;  the  "  Potts  Memorial"  says:  "A 
large  tract  of  land  was  owned  by  the  family,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  here  they  had  early  a  forge  or  furnace,  some 
remains  of  which  a  local  antiquary  said  he  had  seen  near 
the  river."  Andrew  Robeson,  whose  sister  was  the  second 
wife  of  Thomas  Potts,  wills  to  his  son  in  1719,  "that 
Foundement  and  the  house  where  John  Owen  lives  " — the 
word  foundement  being  an  obsolete  word  for  foundry.  It 
was  rebuilt  in  1752,  by  John  Potts  the  great  proprietor 
(son  of  Thomas  Potts,  Junior).  Confirmation  of  this  is 
to  be  found  in  the  following  entry  in  the  old  Day  Book  of 
the  Potts  Iron  Works.1 

1  Now  in  possession  of  Ex-Governor  Pennypacker. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  145 

"March  1759 — Credit  Henry  Read  hauling  one  day 
with  his  team  at  the  new  Forge — los." 

And  that  it  was  in  use  contemporaneously  with  the  larger 
enterprises  of  the  Valley,  Warwick  and  Pine  forges,  is 
shown  by  this  record, 

"  April  3rd  1758. 

Credit  Martin  Glass  for  sundry  work 
86%  days  at  Pottsgrove 
2iy2      "      "   Warwick 
117%      "      "   the  Valley 
Making  four  Racks 

a  garden  at  Pine  " 

Another  entry — Jan.  1758 

"  Smith  Shop  Dr.  to  Bar  Iron  L     S     d" 

made  and  drawn  at  Pottsgrove  112 

"Jan.  1758 

"  Sundry  accounts  Dr.  to  Michael  Paul 

Mt  Joy  Forge  for  hauling  1 8  tons  Pigg  Iron 
Pottsgrove  Forge  for  hauling  2  tons  Pigg  Iron — " 

The  old  forge  did  not  fade  from  memory,  even  when  its 
usefulness  was  passed — for  it  gave  its  name  to  the  district 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Schuylkill  and  the  Manatawny,  and 
the  town  laid  out  there  by  John  Potts  in  1752  was  called 
Pottsgrove.1  This  town  was!  laid  out  after  the  manner 
of  Germantown  in  one  long  street  a  hundred  feet  wide, 
called  after  the  English  custom,  High  Street.  The  lots 
were  sixty  feet  in  front,  extending  back  three  hundred  feet 
At  the  end  nearest  the  river  was  the  mansion  of  the 
founder,  looking  down  upon  the  town.  The  houses 

1  Afterwards  changed  to  Pottstown. 
ii 


146  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

erected  by  himself  and  his  sons  were  large  stone  buildings, 
intended  to  serve  many  generations.  John  Potts7  son 
Thomas,  at  his  father's  request,  occupied  the  mansion,  and 
was  living  there  in  1774.  No  doubt  during  the  years  of 
the  Revolution  Washington  was  often  his  guest,  and  it  was 
here  perhaps  that  the  great  Commander  formed  the  plan 
to  winter  his  army  at  Valley  Forge  on  the  property  of 
Thomas's  brothers  and  cousins  who  seem  to  have  willingly 
relinguished  their  houses  to  accommodate  the  general  and 
his  officers.1 

A  granite  tablet  has  been  recently  erected  by  the  Mont- 
gomery County  Historical  Society  (1913)  to  commemo- 
rate the  Continental  Army's  stay  at  Camp  Pottsgrove  in 
1777.  The  tablet  erected  reads  thus: 

"  Camp  Pottsgrove.  General  Washington's  Continen- 
tal Army  occupied  this  and  adjoining  farms  September  18 
to  26,  1777.  The  outposts  were  at  Washington  Hill, 
Pottstown,  Jackson  Hill,  near  Sanatoga ;  Swamp-door,  east 
of  Fagleysville.  Washington's  headquarters  with  Colonel 
Frederick  Antes  and  Samuel  Bertolet,  Frederick,  Pa. 
Erected  by  the  Historical  Society  of  Montgomery  County, 
Pa." 

Mary  E<  Mumford. 

*Mrs.  James'  Memorial. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  147 


OFFLEY'S  ANCHOR  FORGE.  *754 

PHILADELPHIA. 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  appear  to 
have  been  three  "iron  works"  in  the  city  proper  of  Phil- 
adelphia. Two  of  these  were  the  steel  furnaces  of  Paschal 
and  Branson.  The  third  was  an  important  and  conspic- 
uous feature  of  the  iron  industry  of  the  town,  and  was 
known  far  and  wide  as  the  "Anchor  Forge"  of  Daniel 
Offley,  who  manufactured  anchors  for  a  thriving  maritime 
trade,  and  who  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  the  famous 
Quaker  preacher  of  the  same  name. 

Daniel  Offley  (1724-1789)  established  this  business  on 
the  Front  Street  bank  of  the  Delaware  River,  opposite 
Union  Street,  about  1750-55.  His  father,  Caleb  Offley, 
of  Duck  Creek,  Newcastle  County,  was  the  son  of  Michael 
Offley,  who  in  1687  took  patent  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  a 
tract  of  land  in  the  Lower  Counties,  which  he  called  "  High 
Offley."  Except  for  two  years,  1848-50,  this  estate  has 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  family,  the  present  owner 
being  John  S.  Stockley,  Esq.,  whose  mother  was  Margaret 
Offley.1 

Daniel  Offley,  Jr.,  the  noted  Quaker  preacher,  was  prob- 
ably early  trained  in  his  father's  business,  the  making  of 
anchors,  many  being  made  by  them  for  the  use  of  the 
government.  Daniel,  Jr.,  and  his  brother  Caleb  signed 
the  "  Remonstrance  "  to  the  Governor's  Council  presented 

1  See  Family  Chart  of  Michael  Offley,  in  Mss.  at  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania.  This  chart  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Richard  P.  Tatum,  to 
•whose  courtesy  the  writer  is  indebted  for  the  genealogical  material  here 
used. 


148  FORGES  AND   FURNACES  IN  THE 

by  the  Friends,  September  6,  1777,  against  depriving  cer- 
tain of  their  fellow-citizens  of  their  liberty,  and  sending 
them  unheard  into  exile.1  On  July  4,  1789,  Daniel  Offley, 
Jr.,  Caleb  Offley  and  Henry  Shaw  were  imprisoned  by 
Captain  John  McCalla  for  a  refusal  to  pay  the  militia  tax. 
Caleb  was  discharged  a  few  days  later,  but  Daniel  re- 
mained in  prison  for  over  a  month,  when  Captain  Mc- 
Calla, on  August  9,  went  to  the  prison  between  eight  and 
nine  at  night  and  discharged  him  without  demanding  either 
fee  or  fine. 

The  personal  appearance  of  the  Quaker  ironmaster  must 
have  been  striking.  Several  traditions  unite  in  describing 
him  as  a  handsome,  powerfully  built,  blond  man,  with 
regular  features  and  muscular  body,  strong  and  broad- 
shouldered,  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height.  His  voice  was 
noted  for  its  quality  and  power.  It  rose  above  all  the  din 
when  the  iron  rang  upon  the  anvil;  and  when  speaking 
under  deep  emotion,  the  rich  melodious  tones  in  which  his 
sermons  were  delivered  lent  great  impressiveness  to  his 
message. 

Speaking  of  the  forge,  John  F.  Watson  remembered 
"looking  through  the  Front  Street  low  windows  down 
into  the  smoking  cavern  below,  fronting  on  Penn  Street, 
where,  through  the  thick  sulphurous  smoke,  aided  by  the 
glare  of  light  from  the  forge,  might  be  seen  Daniel  Offley, 
directing  the  strokes  of  a  dozen  hammer-men,  striking  with 
sledges  on  a  welding  heat  produced  on  an  immense  un- 
finished anchor,  swinging  from  the  forge  to  the  anvil  by 
a  ponderous  crane,  he  at  the  same  time  keeping  his  pierc- 
ing iron  voice  above  the  din  of  the  iron  sound."2  Watson 

1  Gilpin's  Exiles  in  Virginia. 

2  John  Fanning  Watson,  Annals  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania,  I, 
p.  430. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  149 

quotes,  with  no  clue  to  the  author,  the  following  lines 
written  upon  Offley  at  his  forge: 

"The  high  sun  sees  not  on  the  earth  such  fiery,  fearful  show; 
The  roof-ribs  swarth,  the  candent  hearth,  the  ruddy,  lurid  row 
Of  smiths  that  stand,  an  ardent  band,  like  men  before  the  foe, 
As,  quivering  through  his  fleece  of  flame,  the  sailing  monster,  slow 
Sinks  on  the  anvil ; — all  about,  the  faces  fiery  glow ; 
'  Hurrah ! '  they  shout,  '  leap  out,  leap  out ! '  bang,  bang,  the  sledges  go ! 
A  hailing  fount  of  fire  is  struck  at  every  squashing  blow, 
While  Offley  sternly  cries,  '  Strike !  Strike !  while  yet  our  heats  do  glow.' " 

Daniel  Offley  was  a  well-known  minister  among  the 
Friends.  In  1783,  in  company  with  George  Dillwyn,  he 
traveled  through  New  England,  and  through  the  neigh- 
boring states  of  Virginia,  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
with  the  endorsement  of  his  own  meeting.  In  November, 
1786,  he  went  with  Samuel  Emlen  to  the  Barbadoes,  where 
they  found  all  the  five  Quaker  meeting  houses  destroyed 
by  a  recent  hurricane,  but  were  aided  in  their  attempt  to 
hold  public  meetings  by  the  kind  attentions  of  the  governor. 
The  ship  they  made  the  voyage  in  was  the  Cyrus  of  White 
Haven.  Before  returning,  Daniel  Offley  included  in  his 
ministerial  visits  Antigua,  Tortola  and  Santa  Cruz. 

The  yellow  fever  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  August 
1793,  and  by  the  end  of  that  month  its  spread  had  become 
so  rapid  and  so  fatal,  that  most  of  the  well-to-do  citizens 
left  for  the  country.  Certain  persons,  however,  volun- 
teered to  assist  the  guardians  of  the  poor,  whose  hands 
were  too  full  to  care  for  all  the  destitute.  Daniel  Offley 
was  not  at  first  one  of  these,  but  at  the  end  of  a  few  days 
he  joined  the  faithful  band.  Very  soon  he  devoted  every 
moment  of  his  time  to  attendance  on  the  sick  and  the 
dying.  On  September  17,  he  called  on  Miss  Sarah  Rod- 
man, of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  who  was  near  her  end, 
and  on  the  twenty-fifth  he  comforted  her  sister,  Hannah 


150  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

Fisher,  with  the  remark,  "She  is  the  Lord's:  let  Him 
take  her."  He  watched  her  breathe  her  last  next  day,  and 
assisted  at  the  interment  which  followed  a  few  hours  later. 

There  are  horrors  of  that  period  in  Philadelphia  yet 
unwritten,  when  so  many  died  quite  unattended.  Wives 
fled  from  husbands  on  their  deathbeds,  and  husbands 
abandoned  wives;  parents  left  their  dying  children,  and 
children  neglected  aged  parents  in  distress.  The  cour- 
age of  those  who  remained  in  the  plague-smitten  city  may 
be  imagined,  when  the  bells  were  finally  forbidden  to  toll 
their  ceaseless  lament,  and  great  composure  was  needed 
merely  to  walk  down  the  street,  where  the  sick-cart  and 
the  hearse  were  met  at  every  hand.  Daniel  Offley  joined 
Doctor  Wistar,  and  these  two  were  together  faithful  at- 
tendants on  the  victims,  until  the  doctor  was  smitten;  he 
recovered,  and  survived  for  many  years.  Fatigued  by  six 
weeks  of  strenuous  labor,  under  such  awful  circumstances, 
Daniel  Offley  finally  fell  ill  on  the  third  of  October,  and 
lay,  patiently  awaiting  his  expected  end.  On  the  seventh 
he  told  his  distressed  wife  that  he  was  comfortable  in  mind 
and  ready  to  go,  and  on  the  eleventh,  he  died  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty-six. 

He  is  said  to  have  made  a  prophesy  regarding  the 
scourge  of  which  he  died,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Peter  Yarnall 
at  Concord,  Pennsylvania,  dated  8mo.  7,  1781.  He 
wrote:  "Oh,  Philadelphia!  Had  the  many  powerful  vis- 
itations which  have  been  extended  to  thee  been  reached 
forth  to  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  they  would  have  repented 
long  ago  in  dust  and  ashes.  ...  It  would  be  no  marvel 
at}  all  to  me  if  the  Lord's  anger  should  rise  yet  higher, 
and  he  should  pour  out  the'  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  this  once  favoured  city!"1  Margaret 
Morris,  the  widowed  daughter  of  Dr.  Richard  Hill,  wrote 

1  Biographical  Sketches  and  Anecdotes  of  Friends,  pp.  1316^137'. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  15! 

to  her  son,  Richard  Hill  Morris,  from  Philadelphia,  under 
date  "twelfth  of  tenth  month,  1793, "  herself  stripped  of 
her  children  by  the  plague,  "Last  night  D.  Offley  was 
carried  to  the  silent  grave." 

Amelia  Mott  Gummere. 


PETER  DICKS'  BLOOMARY  FORGE.  1755 

YORK  COUNTY. 

In  starting  this  forge,  about  1755,  on  a  branch  of  Co- 
dorus  Creek,  Peter  Dicks,1  of  Chester  County,  opened  ore 
mines  along  the  Southeast  slope  of  the  Pigeon  Hills  near 
Hanover.  No  information  seems  attainable  as  to  this 
enterprise,  except  that  Spring  Forge,  III,  is  said  to  have 
taken  the  place  of  it,  a  few  years  later. 

1  Prowell,  History  of  York  County. 


152  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


1755  ROXBOROUGH,  LATER  BERKSHIRE, 

FURNACE. 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

William  Bird,  an  Englishman,  built  this  furnace  in  Hei- 
delberg township  just  south  of  Wernersville.  Most 
authorities  give  1760  as  the  date,  but  an  entry  in  a  ledger 
of  the  New  Pine  Forges,1  which  were  also  his  enterprises 
gives:  "  Oct.  1756.  New  Pine  Forges  to  Roxkburry  Fur- 
nace Dr.,"  which  makes  1755  a  reasonable  inference.  Foe 
a  few  years  Wm.  Bird  was  sole  owner  here;  he  died  how- 
ever, in  1761,  in  middle  life,  like  many  other  early  iron- 
masters. They  worked  hard  in  those  days,  and  lived  well, 
they  hunted,  and,  at  times,  drank  deep;  need  this  have 
shortened  their  lives? 

Sometime  in  the  next  year  John  Patton  married  the 
widow  of  Mr.  Bird,  and  from  that  time  seems  to  have 
been  more  or  less  in  authority,  although  from  1764  George 
Ege  is  said  to  have  carried  the  furnace  on,  under  a  lease 
with  Mrs,  Bird-Patton,  until  he  purchased  the  property 
in  1790.  There  are  ledgers  and  journals  of  Berkshire 
Furnace  in  the  collections  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania,  from  which  we  give  some  extracts. 

"1767.  Nov.  9.     Spring  Forge,  Dr. 
i o  Beef  cattle  £33-0-0. 
Mark  Bird  n  ditto,  £33-15-0 

1769.  John  Old,  to  pigg  mettal 
Great  Spring  Dr.  to  P.  Herlinger 
Spring  Forge,  Dr.  to  castings 

1  Manuscript  Collections,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  153 

1774.  Anthony  Rush,  work  and  wages  for  15  months  & 

20%  days  in  the  Mine  Hole  £43-6-3 

"April  1774,  John  Lesher  Dr.  to  Pigg  Mettle  Charm- 
ing Forge  Dr.  to  Pigg  Mettle  pr.  the  Forge  Team  Mark 
Bird  Esq.  Dr.  to  Pigg  Mettle  for  3  tons  Piggs  for  John 
Old,  pr.  Furnace  Teams  sent  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Fricker 
in  Reading.  May  1774,  Curtis  Grubb  Dr.  to  forge  cast- 
ings sent  to  Womelsdorf." 

There  is  evidently  a  close  connection  with  a  "Spring" 
work  of  some  kind.  The  "Spring  Book"  is  constantly 
alluded  to,  also  a  mention  of  harvest  at  Great  Spring. 

"  To  sundrie  in  old  Spring  Book 

1776.  Sept.  Geo.  Ege  Dr.  to  Pigg  Iron  delivered  this 
month,  1 6  tons — £112. 

1776.  Aug.  Owen  Biddle,   Dr.   for  ace*.   Committee  of 
Safety  To  Cannon  Shot,  18  p'd'rs,  I2d°.  32  d°.  24  d°. 
6  d°.  4  d°. 

1777.  March  31.     To  Cannon  Shot — sent  by  Conrad 
Wanamaker  to  Reading." 

In  1783  George  Ege  rendered  an  account  to  the  "  United 
States  "  for  shot  and  shell  furnished  the  government,  Nov- 
ember 14,  1780,  to  the  value  of  £2894-11-6. 

John  Patton  in  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  War  dated 
"Berkshire  Furnace,  12  Aug.  1780,"  speaks  of  it  conclu- 
sively as  "my  Furnace."  It  is  said  that  Ege  removed 
"  Berkshire  "  to  Robesonia,  towards  1800.  Just  when  the 
change  of  name  occurred  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  In 
the  Ledgers  of  New  Pine  Forges,  "  Roxkburry  "  Furnace 
is  mentioned  from  1756  to  1763,  possibly  later.  The  led- 
gers and  journals  of  Berkshire  Furnace  run  from  1767  on. 

Augusta  M.  Longacre. 


154  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

1759  HOPEWELL  FURNACE. 

BERKS   COUNTY. 

The  early  pre-Revolutionary  history  of  the  furnace  is 
somewhat  shrouded  in  obscurity.  Tradition  gives  the  date 
of  1759  for  the  building  of  the  furnace  and  the  iron  mas- 
ter's house.  Mr.  Swank,  in  his  " Ironmaking,"  says: 
"Hopewell  Furnace  was  built  in  1759  by  William  Bird." 
A  forge  was  evidently  in  operation  before  the  furnace  and 
we  have  interesting  proof  of  the  early  date  of  the  same,  as 
it  is  spoken  of  in  the  article  in  this  volume  entitled  New 
Pine  Forges.  In  this  old  record  we  have  account  of  iron 
delivered  to  Mr.  William  Bird  at  Hopewell  Forge,  from 
Warwick  Furnace,  a  near  neighbor,  in  1744.  In  1772, 
after  the  death  of  Wm.  Bird,  when  his  son  Mark  had  ac- 
quired the  property,  we  have  evidence  of  a  prosperous  iron 
business  by  the  stoves,  cast  with  much-detailed  designs, 
and  marked  with  Mark  Bird's  name.  The  Revolutionary 
spirit  is  shown  in  a  motto  on  one  of  these  which  reads  "  Be 
Liberty  Thine."1 

On  Scull's  map  of  1759,  we  find  the  old  road  running 
from  Lancaster  through  what  is  now  Morgantown,  and 
then  down  the  French  Creek  Valley  to  Valley  Forge.  The 
first  twenty  miles  from  Lancaster,  it  is  marked  "  to  Wind- 
sor Forge." 

After  this  is  passed  it  is  marked  "  to  Reading  Forge." 
This  was  evidently  the  old  highway  between  the  French 
Creek  Iron  Works,  both  to  Lancaster  and  to  Philadelphia. 
Hopewell  is  four  miles  from  this  road,  and  the  stoves  made 
there  were  transported  by  wagon  from  the  furnace,  not  set 
up,  but  in  their  separate  parts,  through  the  neighborhood, 
and  to  Philadelphia.  The  road  is  now  called  the  Ridge 
Road,  before  reaching  Morgantown,  where  the  old  Cones- 

1  See  Sequence  of  Franklin  Fireplaces. 


Hopewell  Blast  Furnace.     Built  by  William  Bird,   1759. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  155 

toga  Road  runs  into  it,  and  from  there  to  Lancaster,  the 
Conestoga  Turnpike. 

In  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,1  we  find  an  account 
of  Washington's  troops,  after  the  battle  of  Brandywine, 
and  before  the  battle  of  Germantown,  in  September,  1777 : 
"All  day,  and  for  a  great  part  of  the  night  they  marched 
under  a  cold  and  pelting  rain,  and  through  deep  and  miry 
roads  to  the  Yellow  Springs,  thence  to  French  Creek.  A 
weary  march  in  stormy  weather  for  troops  destitute  of 
every  comfort,  and  nearly  a  thousand  of  them  actually 
barefooted.  At  Warwick  Furnace  ammunition  and  a  few 
muskets  were  obtained  to  aid  in  disputing  the  passage 
of  the  Schuylkill,  and  the  advance  of  the  enemy  on  Phil- 
adelphia." 

Warwick  Furnace  is  about  seven  miles  from  Hopewell, 
and  at  both  of  these  places  cannon  were  cast  for  the  Revo- 
lutionary Army,  and  buried  for  safe  keeping,  when  the 
arrival  of  the  British  was  feared  at  the  time  of  their  ad- 
vance up  the  Schuylkill  River. 

"On  the  2ist,  Sir  William  Howe  made  a  rapid  march 
high  up  the  Schuylkill  on  the  road  leading  to  Reading,  as 
if  he  intended  either  to  capture  the  military  stores  there, 
or  to  turn  the  right  flank  of  the  American  Army.  Wash- 
ington kept  pace  with  him  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
up  to  Pottsgrove,  about  thirty  miles  from  Philadelphia."2 

The  iron  ore  which  supplied  the  furnace  was  derived 
from  the  Hopewell  Mine,  nearby.  The  fuel  was  charcoal. 
Some  of  the  iron  from  the  furnace  was  worked  in  forges  at 
Birdsboro,  four  miles  away.  At  a  later  date,  we  have  this 
description,  taken  from  a  local  paper.  "The  land  cdn- 
nected  with  the  furnace  property  was  5,163  acres,  prin- 
cipally woodland.  It  was  a  cold  blast  one-stack  furnace. 
Hematite  and  magnetic  ores  were  used.  Fifteen  thousand 

1  Page  214. 

2  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  p.  217. 


156  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

cords  of  wood  were  consumed  annually  in  creating  char- 
coal, and  170  men  and  boys  were  employed.  The  dwell- 
ers in  this  little  town  were  iron  moulders,  furnacemen, 
wood  cutters,  charcoal  burners  and  teamsters.  Fifty  years 
ago  the  village  contained  two  hundred  souls.  The  making 
of  pig  iron  smelted  from  ore  dug  in  underground  mines, 
which  were  scarce  two  miles  away,  and  converting  this  iron 
into  ten-plate  stoves  was  its  chief  industry.  A  charcoal 
furnace  stood  almost  in  the  center  of  the  village,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Hopewell  hills,  and  here  the  raw  ores  were  con- 
verted into  the,  at  that  time,  celebrated  Hopewell  stoves. 
These  stoves  were  used  in  the  kitchen  and  parlor  and 
sometimes  in  the  bed  room,  by  rich  and  poor  alike,  until 
supplanted,  some  years  later,  by  the  cook  stove,  the  range 
and  the  heater.  Water  from  the  Hopewell  Creek  fur- 
nished the  motive  power.  A  dam  was  constructed  one 
quarter  of  a  mile  above  the  furnace,  and  from  there  the 
water  for  power  purposes  was  directed  into  a  race,  and 
carried  with  slight  incline  to  the  big  water  wheel,  with 
sufficient  force  to  keep  it  in  motion  and  drive  the  machin- 
ery of  the  entire  plant." 

To  revert  to  the  Revolutionary  time; — we  find  two 
records  of  supplies  forwarded  by  Mark  Bird.1  On  May 
1 8,  1776,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Committee  of  Safety 
of  Philadelphia,  in  which  he  made  mention  of  muskets, 
etc.,  as  follows: 

"  If  the  Committee  of  Safety  will  send  me  the  price  of 
100  muskets  and  accoutrements,  with  orders  on  the  Com- 
missioners to  deliver  to  me  such  as  they  have  ready  on  my 
paying  what  they  cost,  I  am  of  the  opinion  in  two  weeks 
after  the  receipt  of  their  orders  and  cash,  I  shall  be  able  to 
deliver  in  Philadelphia  the  number  mentioned.  If  each 
County  will  do  the  same,  all  the  troops  now  in  the  pay  of 
the  Continent  and  this  Province  may  be  armed  in  three 

1  Montgomery,  Berks  County  in  the  Revolution. 


OJ 

a 

c 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  157 

weeks  from  this  date.  I  mean  Continental  troops  in  the 
barracks  at  Philadelphia.  I  am  convinced  you  may  col- 
lect in  the  different  counties  one  thousand  muskets,  but 
few  accoutrements.  If  you  send  the  cash  to  the  different 
counties  to  some  person  you  can  confide  in,  the  arms  will  be 
ready  immediately,  but  till  you  send  the  cash  to  pay  the 
smiths,  they  will  deny  giving  up  the  muskets.  They  like 
to  see  the  cash  without  having  the  trouble  of  going  so  far 
as  Philadelphia  for  it." 

Also  February  19,  1778,  a  report  was  made  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive Council  that  Colonel  Mark  Bird  had  sent  by  water 
to  Philadelphia  one  thousand  barrels  of  flour  during  some 
time  previous. 

We  also  have  an  account  in  Montgomery's  "  History  of 
Berks  County"  of  Mark  Bird's  embarrassments.  The 
first  mention  of  Hopewell  Furnace  is  suggested  in  a  mort- 
gage dated  1772,  made  by  him  to  his  sister  Maria  and 
brothers  William  and  James,  to  secure  the  payment  of  cer- 
tain trust  moneys.  Becoming  subsequently  embarrassed 
he,  in  1785,  was  first  compelled  to  borrow  money  (200,- 
ooo  Spanish  milled  dollars)  from  John  Nixon,  a  merchant 
of  Philadelphia,  on  a  mortgage  in  which,  among  other 
properties,  he  describes  the  Birdsboro  Iron  Works  and 
eight  thousand  acres  of  land,  which  included  the  Hopewell 
Furnace  property;  and  then,  finding  he  is  insolvent,  he,  in 
1786,  transferred  the  property  to  Nixon  in  trust  to  sell 
and  satisfy  debts,  etc.  Nixon,  accordingly,  exposed  it  to 
public  sale  and  in  1788,  transferred  one-third  to  Cad- 
walader  Morris  and  two-thirds  to  James  Old,  both  iron 
masters.  At  that  time  the  furnace  lands  comprised  five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  acres.  In  1790, 
Cadwalader  Morris  sold  his  one-third  of  the  premises  to 
Benjamin  Morris,  and  in  1791,  James  Old  sold  his  two- 
thirds  to  the  same  person.  In  1793,  Benjamin  Morris  re- 
sold the  entire  furnace  property  to  James  Old.  After  the 


158  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

lapse  of  seven  years,  Old  became  embarrassed,  and  was 
forced  to  yield  up  his  title  through  the  law  and  the  sheriff 
to  his  creditor,  Benjamin  Morris,  who  bought  it  at  the 
sale.  This  was  in  1800.  In  August,  1800,  Morris  sold 
it  to  Daniel  Buckley  of  Lancaster  county,  Thomas  Brooke 
of  Montgomery  county  and  Matthew  Brooke,  Jr.,  of  Berks 
county  for  10,000  pounds.  The  furnace  was  rebuilt  in 
that  year. 

Matthew  Brooke  died  in  1821,  after  which  time  the 
Hopewell  estate  was  divided,  and  one-third  of  the  land 
was  given  to  Birdsboro.  The  furnace  and  surrounding 
woodlands,  farms,  etc.,  are  now  the  personal  property  of 
Mrs.  Edward  Brooke  of  Birdsboro,  great-granddaughter 
of  Thomas  Brooke. 

Hopewell  Furnace  to-day  is  not  dismantled,  although 
idle  for  many  years.  The  iron  master's  house  is  in  good 
repair,  and  the  village  street  of  iron  workers'  homes  is 
much  as  it  must  have  been  in  Revolutionary  times. 

Cornelia  L.  E.  Brooke. 


Before  SPRING    FORGE    II. 

1760 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

This  forge  was  situated  on  Pine  Creek,  a  branch  of  the 
Manatawny,  four  miles  north  of  Oley  Churches  in  District 
Township.  "Its  history  is  obscure.  In  1760  Rebecca 
Potts  purchased  at  sheriff's  sale  a  one-sixth  interest  in  it. 
In  1773,  her  executor  sold  it  and  a  like  interest  in  six  tracts 
of  land  together  containing  eight  hundred  and  thirty  eight 
acres  to  John  Old,  an  iron  master  of  District  Township. 
In  1778,  a  part  interest  passed  to  Mark  Bird."1 

1  M.  L.  Montgomery,  History  of  Berks  County. 


The  Mansion,   Hopewell   Furnace. 


Village    street,    with    workmen's    houses,    Hopewell    Furnace. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  159 


SPEEDWELL  FORGE.  177° 

LANCASTER  COUNTY,  LATER  LEBANON. 

On  Hammer  Creek,  a  short  distance  below  the  Lower 
Hopewell  Forge,  James  Old,  about  1760,  erected  this 
chafery  or  bar  iron  forge,  on  land  bought  from  David 
Caldwell,  who  had  purchased  it  from  Jacob  Huber,  the 
warrantee  who  had  first  owned  Elizabeth  Furnace.  The 
name  of  James  Old  Stands  high  in  the  record  of  the  early 
iron  masters.  A  native  of  Wales,  he  developed  rapidly 
into  a  man  of  enterprise  and  ambition.  He  married  Mar- 
garetta,  daughter  of  Gabriel  Davies,  and  had  at  least  two 
noted  ironmasters  as  sons-in-law,  Cyrus  Jacobs,  of  Pool 
and  Spring  Forges  on  Conestoga  Creek,  and  Robert  Cole- 
man,  both  having  been  in  his  employ.  Coleman  came  to 
Speedwell  as  clerk  from  Quittapahilla,  and  made  such  a 
good  impression  on  Old  that  when  the  latter  removed  in 
1768  or  thereabouts,  to  Reading  Furnace,  he  took  Coleman 
with  him,  and  at  Reading  Furnace,  in  1773,  Coleman  mar- 
ried Anne  Old.  Margaretta  Old  married  Cyrus  Jacobs,  and 
her  brother  William  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Henry  Wm.  Stiegel,  on  March  23,  1773;  and,  in  the  end- 
less sequence  of  "  iron  "  marriages,  William's  son  Joseph 
married  later  Rebecca,  the  only  daughter  of  George  Ege. 
James  Old  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  in  1791-92- 
93.  His  son  William  seems  to  have  inherited  Speedwell 
and  to  have  lived  here.  We  have  the  testimony  of  Haz- 
ard's Register  that  "  the  Olds  were  known  as  industrious, 
punctual  and  prudent  ironmasters." 


160  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


1761  MARY  ANN  FURNACE. 

YORK  COUNTY. 

Three  noted  men,  patriots  and  statesmen,  were  interested 
in  the  building  and  early  running  of  this,  the  first  blast 
furnace  west  of  the  Susquehanna, — George  Ross  the 
Signer,  George  Stevenson,  one  of  the  first  lawyers  in  York 
county,  and  William  Thompson,  Stevenson's  brother-in- 
law,  later  distinguished  as  a  general  in  the  Revolution. 
From  an  entry  in  a  "Mary  Ann  Wast  Book,  No.  i.  Jan. 
1762  J>1  to  the  effect  that  "Cash  was  debtor  to  Messrs. 
Stevenson  and  Ross  for  £50  rec'd  of  George  Ross  last 
Dec1". "  it  is  evident  that  this  furnace  was  established  in 
1761. 

The  four-acre  tract  of  land  on  which  it  was  built  had 
been  leased  by  Ross,  probably  from  John  Hunseker,  a 
German,  who  had  it  by  grant  from  the  Penns.  Furnace 
Creek  ran  through  the  property  which  had  been  named  by 
William  Matthews,  the  Quaker  surveyor,  "Friendship." 
The  title  of  the  furnace  "  Mary  Ann  "  is  said  to  have  been 
given  by  Ross  to  combine  the  names  of  his  wife  Ann  Law- 
ler,  with  that  of  his  mother-in-law,  Mary  Lawler  of  Lan- 
caster. This  is  just  possible!  In  1763,  the  owners  peti- 
tioned the  York  County  Court  for  a  road  from  their  "  fur- 
nace lately  built  at  great  expense"  to  connect  with  the 
road  to  the  Conewago  settlement,  leading  to  Baltimore, 
and  in  1766,  they  petitioned  for  another  road  from  their 
furnace  to  the  Monocacy  Road. 

A  few  entries  in  the  Mary  Ann  Account  Books  are  of 
interest:  "March  1762.  To  Cash  Received  of  George 

1  Manuscript  Collections,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  l6l 

Stevenson  Esqr.  by  William  Thompson,  L5 "  "Feb. 
1762.  Store  Dr.  to  George  Stevenson  Esqr.  for  i  Hhd 
Molasses,  109  gallons,  17.  n.  3.  To  D°  i  Hhd  Whis- 
key, 99  g118  12-7-6"  There  is  also  an  "Account  of  Sun- 
drys  in  Stock  rec'd  from  George  Stevenson  Esqr.  viz,  Jan- 
uary 12 — 1762, — i  Feather  Bed  Bolster  and  Pillows,  i 
Sute  courtains,  i  new  Bed  Tick,  i  Bed  quilt,  3  Rugs,  I 
Bedstead  and  Cord,  i  Trunk,  i  Canister,  i  Tea  pot,  3 
stone  cups  and  saucers,  3  axes,  i  Table  cloath." 

In  combination  with  the  names  and  date  of  the  Mary 
Ann  Stove  plate,  the  following  entry  seems  to  settle  defi- 
nitively the  fact  of  Ross,  Stevenson  and  Thompson  being 
the  first  owners  of  this  furnace : 

"  I  promise  to  pay,  or  cause  to  be  paid  to  Messrs.  Ross, 
Stevenson  and  Thompson,  ironmasters  in  Compa,  the  full 
sum  of  Jacob  Miller's  debt  in  Their  Book  at  Mary  Ann 
Furnace,  the  eighth  day  of  January,  1763.  .  .  .  N.  B. 
This  note  is  on  condition  that  any  of  the  above  Compa  does 
not  take  said  Miller  before  he  gets  to  Lancaster. 

WM  SMITH 
Test: 
Thomas  B.  Barr— " 

It  is  probable  that  this  early  partnership  was  of  short 
duration;  the  ledgers  preserved  at  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania,  are  naturally  not  consecutive  as  to  date, 
and  as  George  Stevenson  removed  permanently,  in  1765, 
to  Carlisle,  Cumberland  county,  where  he  took  later  an 
active  interest  in  iron  works,  his  connection  with  this  fur- 
nace had  then  very  likely  ended. 

On  the  stove  plate  made  at  Mary  Ann  Furnace  in  1763, 
the  placing  of  the  names  of  the  proprietors  is  more  than 
ingenious.  The  heart  and  tulip  design  so  evidently  be- 
loved of  the  German  workman,  is  there,  as  well  as  the 


12 


162  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

arch  and  columns;  "Mary  Ann  Furnace"  in  the  middle 
line,  is  placed  correctly.  Then  begins  the  trouble — to  put 
Ross,  Stevenson  and  Thompson  in  the  cramped  space  left. 
The  result  is  not  exactly  happy,  but  with  effort  one  can 
decipher,  on  the  upper  line,  "  George  Ross  George  Stev — " 
and  as  "William  Thompson"  fills  the  lower  line  neatly, 
the  remainder  of  Stev  comes  in  above,  EN  and  SON  on 
either  side  of  the  conventional  tulip. 

George  Ross  (1730-1779),  son  of  George  Ross,  "the 
Rector,"  of  Newcastle,  Lower  Counties,  and  Catherine 
Van  Gezel,  was  of  excellent  Scotch  stock  (the  family 
traced  their  descent  from  the  Earls  of  Ross),  a  man  of 
parts,  who  had  had  a  classical  education.  He  read  law 
with  his  half  brother  John,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Lan- 
caster bar  in  1750.  Marrying  in  1751,  he  rose  rapidly  in 
his  profession,  which  did  not  prevent  an  interest  in  the 
making  of  iron.  The  records  show  that  he  was  an  iron 
master  when  he  died.  In  1768  he  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  from  this  time  on, 
his  short  life  of  forty-nine  years  was  crowded  with  civic 
and  patriotic  duties,  while  the  state  and  general  govern- 
ments honored  him  with  many  positions  of  trust.  He  was 
a  leader  in  the  Assembly  in  encouraging  measures  for  the 
defense  of  Pennsylvania  against  British  encroachments. 
In  1775,  Governor  Penn  having  written  a  message  disap- 
proving any  protective  measures  on  the  part  of  the  colonies, 
Mr.;  Ross  drew  up  a  strong  and  convincing  reply.1  He 
was  a  steadfast  friend  of  the  Indian,  serving  as  Commis- 
sioner at  Fort  Pitt  in  1776,  a  member  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety  for  Pennsylvania,  Vice-President  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  Colonel  of  the  First  Battalion  of  Asso- 
ciators  for  Lancaster  county,  Member  of  the  Continental 

1  From  paper  by  Charles  Willson  Peale,*  read  before  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  163 

Congress, — and  as  a  fitting  climax,  he  signed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  He  took  his  seat  in  Congress  on  the 
twentieth  of  July,  1776,  and  he  signed  his  name  on  the 
second  of  August. 

George  Ross  as  a  signer  did  not  sit  in  the  Continental 
Congress  from  November  3,  1775,  to  July  20,  1776,  in 
which  interval  the  vote  of  adoption  took  place.  Not  alone 
from  Pennsylvania,  but  from  other  colonies  as  well,  dele- 
gates who  occupied  seats  on  the  Fourth  of  July  and  voted 
for  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration,  ceased  to  be  members 
before  the  second  of  August,  when  the  signing  took  place, 
while  some  who  were  not  members  on  the  fourth  of  July, 
became  members  before  the  day  of  signing. 

Ill  health  forced  him  to  retire  in  January,  1777.  On 
leaving  office  the  citizens  of  Lancaster  voted  him  a  piece  of 
silver  to  cost  £150,  which  he  declined  to  receive.  In  the 
minutes  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council,  Philadelphia, 
March  i,  1779,  we  find: 

"Resolved,  That  the  Honorable  George  Ross,  Esquire, 
be  commissioned  Judge  of  the  Admiralty  of  this  State, 
under  the  late  Act  of  Assembly :  That  this  Board  highly 
approve  the  firmness  and  ability  he  has  hitherto  shown  in 
the  discharge  of  his  said  office." 

His  house  in  Lancaster  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Court  House,  East  King  and  Duke  Streets,  and  his  coun- 
try home  was  a  farm  in  what  was  then  a  suburb  of  Lan- 
caster, now  a  part  of  the  city,  and  called  in  his  honor,  Ross- 
mere.  He  was  a  Churchman  by  inheritance,  and  was 
vestryman  and  warden  of  St.  James'  Church,  Lancaster, 
contributing  liberally  to  its  various  interests.  Genial,  kind 
and  considerate,  his  sense  of  humor  evidently  lightened  the 
cares  of  his  strenuous  life.  He  died  on  July  14,  1779. 
A  Philadelphia  newspaper1  of  July  15  has  this  entry: 

1  Pennsylvania  Packet,  July  15,  1779. 


164  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

"  Yesterday  died  at  his  seat  near  the  city,  the  Honorable 
George  Ross,  Judge  of  Admiralty  of  this  state."  He  was 
interred  in  the  church  yard  of  Christ's  Church,  Philadel- 
phia.1 

From  the  Minutes  of  the  Executive  Council,  Philadel- 
phia, Wednesday,  July  14,  1779: 

"Information  was  received  of  the  death  of  the  Hon- 
ourable George  Ross  Esquire,  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Ad- 
miralty, and  an  invitation  to  his  funeral,  to-morrow,  at 
nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon. 

"Resolved,  That  this  Board  will  attend  the  said  funeral, 
and  proceed  from  the  Council  Chamber  to  the  late  dwell- 
ing house  in  North  St.  Hudson's  Square."2 

A  letter  from  Edward  Burd  to  Jasper  Yeates,  July, 
1 779,  says: 

"  Poor  Mr.  Ross  is  gone  at  last.  I  was  one  of  his  Car- 
riers. He  said  he  was  going  to  a  cooler  climate,  and  be- 
haved in  the  same  cheerful  way  at  his  exit  as  he  did  all  thro 
the  different  trying  scenes  of  life."3 

George  Stevenson,  who  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1718, 
of  excellent  parentage,  had  been  destined  by  his  fam- 
ily to  the  ministry.  He  studied  at  Trinity  College,  but, 
not  taking  kindly  to  an  ecclesiastical  life,  he  left  Ireland 
abruptly  for  America  about  1741,  where  school  teaching  at 
Newcastle,  Lower  Counties,  occupied  him  for  a  short  time. 
He  soon  found  a  larger  field  for  his  capacities.  "  It  is  said 
that  Thomas  Cookson,  deputy  surveyor  of  Lancaster 
county,  who  surveyed  the  York  townlands  in  1741,  never 

1  Records  of  Christ  Church. 

2  Colonial  Records,  XII.  46. 

3  Burd  Papers,  p.  112. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  165 

returned  the  survey  into  office.  To  supply  this  deficiency 
George  Stevenson  resurveyed  them  in  December,  I742."1 
He  is  mentioned  as  a  deputy  surveyor  under  Nicholas 
Scull. 

He  married  Jane  Geddes,  daughter  of  Henry  Geddes, 
of  Mill  Creek  Hundred,  and  moved  to  York  in  1744. 
She  died  before  1748,  as  Stevenson  is  mentioned  in  a  deed 
recorded  at  Newcastle  in  that  year,  as  "George  Steven- 
son Esq.  of  York  Co.  Pa.,  as  guardian  of  his  sons  Henry 
and  George  by  late  wife,  Jane  Geddes."  Some  years 
after,  he  married  Mary  Thompson,  widow  of  Col.  Thomas 
Cookson. 

Many  offices  and  honors  in  the  newly  created  York 
county  fell  to  Stevenson  in  1749.  He  was  made  justice 
of  the  peace,  register  of  wills,  clerk  of  orphans'  court,  pro- 
thonotary2  and  clerk  of  quarter  sessions,  and  in  the  next 
year  was  given  a  title  which  is  probably  unique  in  this  coun- 
try, and  never  used,  before  or  since — that  of  Chief  Ranger 
of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  To  quote  again  the 
History  of  York  County.3 

"  George  Stevenson  who  was  so  much  honored  in  the 
early  days  of  this  county,  supported  an  office  which  is  now 
unknown  to  our  laws.  James  Hamilton,  deputy  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  constituted  him  7th  January,  1750,  Chief 
Ranger  of  and  for  the  Country  of  York  granting  *  full 
power  and  authority  to  range,  view  &  inspect  all  our  woods 
&  lands  within  the  said  county  &  to  seize,  take  up  &  ap- 
propriate to  our  use  all  &  every  such  wild  colts  &  young 
horses,  cattle  &  swine  as  shall  be  found  ...  not  marked, 
etc/ ' 

There  is  another  commission  extant  beginning  "  George 

1York  County,  by  Carter  and  Glossbrenner,  p.  37. 

2  Commission  now  owned  by  his  great-granddaughter,  Miss  Anne  Mc- 
Clintock. 

3  Carter  and  Glossbrenner,  p.  138. 


166  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

the  Third,  etc.  etc.  to  Robert  Strettell,  William  Till,  Ben- 
jamin Shoemaker,  Lawrence  Growden,  Joseph  Turner, 
.William  Logan,  Richard  Peters,  Lynford  Lardner,  Ben- 
jamin Chew  and  Thomas  Cadwallader  Esqrs,  members  of 
the  Proprietary  and  Governor's  Council,  and  to  Thomas 
Armor,  John  Blackburn,  Patrick  Watson,  George  Steven- 
son, John  Pope,  Hance  Hamilton,  Richard  Brown,  Hugh 
Whiteford,  Michael  Banner,  Martin  Eykelburger,  Archi- 
bald McGrew,  David  Kirkpatrick  and  Abraham  Noblitt 
of  the  County  of  York  and  Province  of  Pennsylvania, 
Esquires,  greeting " — "which,  with  many  words,  goes  on 
to  make  the  above  named,  Justices,  of  the  Peace,  and  of  the 
County  Court  of  Common  Pleas  etc., — the  date  being  23rd 
day  of  April  1761 — "and  in  the  first  year  of  our  Reign" 
— It  is  signed  by  James  Hamilton,  and  although  under 
glass,  is  crumbling. 

As  his  letters  in  the  "  Colonial  Records "  and 
"  Archives  "  show,  he  was  active  in  the  troublous  times  of 
1755-6,  and  was  appointed  by  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  then 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  King's  forces  in  America,  on 
a  commission  to  audit  accounts  of  Fort  Duquesne. 

On  Scull's  map  of  1759  "  Stevenson's"  is  just  north  of 
York.  Removing  about  1765  to  Carlisle,  he  became  one 
of  the  leading  lawyers  there,  and  was  largely  interested  in 
iron-making  ventures  in  the  neighborhood,  chiefly  at  Pine 
Grove,  where,  according  to  the  records,  he  was  an  owner 
for  eight  or  ten  years  from  1764.  He  had  one  son, 
George,  afterwards  so  well  known  for  his  service  during 
the  Revolution,  and  as  a  leading  citizen  in  Pittsburgh  and 
Wilmington;  and  three  daughters: — Nancy,  married  to 
John  Holmes  of  Baltimore;  Catherine,  married  to  John 
Wilkins  of  Pittsburgh,  and  Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Dr.  James  Armstrong,  son  of  General  John  Armstrong. 

Of  Brigadier  General  Thompson,  the  third  of  these 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  167 

early  partners,  our  knowledge  is  limited,  but  full  of  inter- 
est. Born  about  1736,  his  birthplace  is  not  known.  He 
owned  and  lived  upon,  a  farm  near  Carlisle,  on  the  Con- 
odoguinet  Creek,  and  probably  belonged  by  family  or 
personal  ties  to  the  group  of  Scotch-Irishmen  of  the  better 
class,  who  fought  so  bravely  and  persistently  as  frontiers- 
men, for  "their  hearthstones  and  their  fires"  against  the 
slowly  retreating  but  naturally  vindictive  Indians.  When 
twenty  years  old  Thompson  served  under  Colonel  John 
Armstrong  in  the  noted  fight  at  Kittaning,  and  in  1758  was 
made  a  Captain  of  Light  Horse.  The  relations  of  these 
three  partners  were  evidently  friendly,  as  on  March  29, 
1762,  Thompson  (then  Stevenson's  brother-in-law)  mar- 
ried Catherine  Ross,  a  sister  of  George  Ross. 

"  In  the  public  library  of  Carlisle,  Cumberland  County, 
there  is  hanging  upon  the  wall,  the  commission  issued  to 
William  Thompson  on  June  25th,  1775,  as  "Colonel  of 
the  Battalion  of  Rifle  Men  Rais'd  in  the  Province  of  Penn- 
sylvania "  This  was  probably  the  first  commission  issued 
to  a  Colonel,  and  was  certainly  the  first  one  that  was  issued 
and  made  operative  by  acceptance.  I  think  that  Colonel 
Thompson's  troops  were  the  first  that  were  mustered  in  by 
order  of  Congress,  and  they  were  the  first  soldiers  to  reach 
Boston  from  south  of  the  Hudson  River."1 

These  riflemen  are  described  by  Thatcher  as  being  re 
markably  stout  and  hardy  men,  many  six  feet  in  height, 
dressed  in  white  frocks  or  rifle  shirts  and  round  hats,  and 
of  great  accuracy  of  aim,  striking  a  mark  with  certainty  at 
two  hundred  yards  distance.  One  company,  while  on 
quick  advance  fired  their  balls  into  a  target  of  seven  inches 
diameter  at  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards. 
"On  the  20th  April,  1776,  Congress  urged  Washington 

i  Letter  of  the  Hon.  E.  W.  Biddle,  Carlisle. 


168  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

to  hurry  troops  destined  for  Quebec,  and  on  the  2ist  he 
despatched  four  battalions  under  Thompson  of  Pennsyl- 
vania as  Brigadier."  Of  the  Canadian  campaign,  a  for- 
lorn hope,  indeed,  though  so  bravely  contested,  no  more  in- 
teresting account  can  be  found  than  that  of  Bancroft.  For 
our  purpose,  a  few  words  will  suffice  to  tell  of  the  disaster 
at  Three  Rivers : 

"As  day  began  to  appear  (June  8th,  1776)  the  Ameri- 
cans who  were  marching  under  the  bank  of  the  River  were 
cannonaded  from  the  ships;  undismayed,  they  took  their 
way  through  a  thickly  wooded  swamp,  above  their  knees  in 
mire  and  water,  and  after  a  most  wearisome  struggle  of 
four  hours,  reached  an  open  piece  of  ground  where  they 
endeavored  to  form.  Wayne  began  the  attack  .  .  .  they 
displayed  undisputed  gallantry,  but  being  outnumbered 
more  than  three  to  one,  were  compelled  to  retire.  .  .  . 
Thompson  and  Irvine,  who  were  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  party,  were  betrayed  by  the  Canadians,  and  taken 
prisoners."1 

The  next  mention  we  have  is  "  As  prisoners,  I3th  June, 
General  Thompson  and  Mr.  Bird  ordered  on  board  Blonde 
ship  of  War,"  and  on  the  twenty-fifth  General  Thompson 
transferred  to  the  Union  transport."2  Although  not 
regularly  exchanged  until  October  26,  1780,  General 
Thompson  was  paroled  and  allowed  to  return  to  his  family 
in  I777-3  He  died  at  Carlisle  September  3rd,  1781  and 
is  buried  in  the  old  graveyard.  His  widow  Catherine 
drew  a  pension  from  the  State.4 

Definite  information  as  to  the  later  proprietors  of 
"  Mary  Ann  "  is  to  be  had  in  a  Day  Book  for  1773? 

1  Bancroft,  V,  pp.  291-29$. 

2  Journal  of  Colonel  William  Irvine,  of  the  Sixth. 

3  History  of  Cumberland  County,  by  C.  P.  Wing,  p.  Six. 
*  Colonial  Records,  XV,  p.  286. 

5  Manuscript  Collections,  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  169 

L         S       d. 

"March  31.     To  George  Ross,  for  half  357     10     o34 
To  George  Ege  for  d° 

Then  in  a  Day  Book,  1774  "George  Ross  and  George 
Ege,  joint  Proprietors."  And  on  March  3ist,  1775, 
"  George  Ege,  Dr.  to  George  Ross,  for  i  year's  rent,  Fur- 
nace and  Forge — Lcoo. 

L       S     d. 

To  George  Ross  for  half  the  profits       361  5 

George  Ege  for  t'other  half  361  5  " 

According  to  entries  found  in  these  books  the  relation 
between  this  furnace  and  Spring  Forge  on  the  Codorus, 
some  miles  above  York,  were  close,  and  possibly  the 
"Forge"  mentioned  above  was  Spring  Forge;  as  in  some 
books  the  entries  for  either  are  mingled  indiscriminately. 
For  instance,  March,  1772,  "Spring  Forge  Dr.  to  John 
GigerL66  Si—" 

Like  most  of  the  furnaces  during  the  Revolutionary 
period  "  Mary  Ann  "  manufactured  cannon  balls  and  grape 
shot  for  our  army  and  navy.  Some  balls  were  found  on 
the  farm  where  the  furnace  had  been.  They  varied  in  size 
from  a  minie  ball  to  a  four-inch  cannon  ball.  In  operation 
for  over  fifty  years,  and  having  passed  through  the  own- 
erships of  John  Steinmetz  and  John  Brinton,  both  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  finally  of  David  Meyer,  these  noted  iron 
works  ceased  to  exist  early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  In 
the  pits  where  the  charcoal  was  burned,  the  soil  is  yet  black 
along  the  hillside,  and  the  race  through  which  the  water 
passed,  is  still  there. 

Caroline  Hale  Steinman. 
Augusta  M.  Longacre. 

1  See  Charming  Forge. 


170        FORGES  AND  FURNACES  IN  THE 


About  MOSELEM  FORGE. 

1760 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

A  valuable  ore  bed  called  the  "  Moselem  mine "  was 
known  as  early  as  1750  to  the  iron  workers  of  the  M ana- 
tawny  region,  and  contributed  of  its  rich  deposits  to  the 
Oley,  Spring  and  other  forges. 

Finally  a  forge  was  erected  on  Moselem  Creek  near  by, 
in  the  township  of  Richmond,  Berks  county.  The  date 
is  not  known,  but  it  must  have  been  considerably  earlier 
than  1767. 

For  we  find  from  the  records  that  in  August,  1767, 
"  Jacob  Shoffer  of  Manatawny,  yeoman,  for  the  considera- 
tion of  five  hundred  pounds  sold  one  undivided  fourth  part 
of  a  tract  of  land  containing  one  hundred  and  seventy  five 
acres  situate  on  the  Moselem  Creek  in  Richmond  township, 
also  one  fourth  part  of  all  forges,  mills,  etc  thereon  erected, 
to  Christian  Lower  of  Tulpehocken,  a  blacksmith."1 

The  forge  is  also  referred  to  in  a  description  of  a  road 
laid  out  in  1768  leading  from  the  Moselem  Forge  to  Read- 
ing. The  records  of  its  history  are  very  meagre. 

1  History  of  Berks  county,  by  M.  L.  Montgomery. 


PROVINCE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  171 


SPRING  FORGE  III.  About 

1762 
YORK  COUNTY. 

It  seems  evident  that  this  forge  on  the  Codorus,  some 
miles  above  York,  was  in  close  relations  with  the  Mary 
Ann  Furnace,  and  was  probably  owned  by  George  Ross, 
with  or  without  the  other  partners.  A  "  Spring  Forge"  is 
frequently  mentioned  in  the  Mary  Ann  Ledgers  and  account 
books  and  the  expression  "  at  the  Spring  "  is  used.  Entries 
in  a  Mary  Ann  Ledger  run : 

"  March  1772.     Spring  Forge  to  John  Giger  Dr.  £66-1- 
Spring  Forge  to  Edward  Musgrove  Dr.  5-1-4" 

Michael  Ege,  George  Ege's  brother,  afterwards  of 
note  as  an  iron-master  in  Cumberland  County,  worked 
here  as  a  youth;  and  married  Dorothea  Wolff,  of  this 
neighborhood.  One  authority  says  briefly,  of  this  forge, 
that  it  was  built  to  take  the  place  of  Peter  Dick's  bloomary, 
and  was  active  many  years. 


172  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


1762  CARLISLE  IRON  WORKS. 

BOILING  SPRINGS,  CUMBERLAND  COUNTY. 

An  early  forge,  built  probably  after  1750,  is  said  to  have 
preceded  this  well-known  furnace.  In  1762,  Richard 
Peters,  of  Philadelphia,  obtained  a  patent  for  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  acres  of  land  called  Boiling  Spring, 
and  immediately  executed  a  deed  to  John  S.  Rigby  and 
Company  for  twenty-nine  acres  "on  which  they  had  al- 
ready commenced  the  erection  of  a  blast  furnace."  At  the 
same  time  they  bought  two  ore  banks  at  the  foot  of  South 
Mountain,  and  shortly  after  added  sixteen  hundred  and 
fourteen  acres  of  land,  so  situated  that  they  embraced  all 
the  land  between  these  ore  banks.  These  tracts  were  then 
called  the  Carlisle  Iron  Works.  Shortly  after,  John  Arm- 
strong and  Robert  Thornburg  became  part  owners,  and  to 
Thornburg's  skilled  management  much  of  the  success  of  the 
works  is  due.  He  died  in  1774. 

As  so  often  happened  in  Pennsylvania,  the  iron-making 
interest  of  a  father,  in  this  case  Anthony  Morris,  3rd,1  the 
well-known  iron  investor,  was  reproduced  here  in  his  sons, 
Samuel  and  John,  who  with  Francis  Sanderson  and  Robert 
Thornburg  bought  this  furnace  from  Rigby  in  1764.  It  is 
said  that  in  1768  Michael  Ege,  Amos  Stilwell  and  Robert 
Thornburg  bought  out  the  former  owners,  and  that  finally  in 
1792,  Michael  Ege  became  sole  owner.2  Boiling  Springs 
produced  twelve  to  fifteen  tons  of  metal  a  week,  making  as 
did  most  of  the  early  furnaces  "  loops  "  and  blooms  chiefly, 
but  also  stoves,  fire  backs  and  hollow  ware.  The  illustra- 

1  See  Spring  Forge  and  Colebrookdale. 

2  Blast  Furnaces  of  Cumberland  County,  by  B.  K.  Goodyear. 


Stoveplate   cast   at    Carlisle   Iron   Works,    1764.     Owned   by   the    Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  173 

tion,  a  stove  plate,  shows  the  usual  irregular  and  quaint 
style  of  inscription  of  the  travelling  German  workman,  and 
may  be  deciphered  thus : 

1764 

Mr.  Thornburgh, — A  for  Armstrong.  M  for  Morris, 
and  Seandson  for  Sanderson.  It  looks  as  if  Thornburg 
and  Sanderson  loomed  larger  in  the  minds  of  the  workmen 
than  did  either  Armstrong  or  Morris,  but  in  one  way  or 
another  all  the  partners  are  commemorated. 

Writing  to  James  Young,  Esq.,  Paymaster,  from  Phila- 
delphia on  January  28,  1764,  John  Penn,  Esq.,  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, says:  "When  you  arrive  at  Carlisle  you 
will  immediately  engage  the  gunsmiths  or  armourers  in 
and  about  that  place,  and  order  them  to  repair  such  arms 
of  the  Provincial  troops  as  are  out  of  order,  as  fast  as 
they  arrive  there."1 

In  1776  and  throughout  the  War,  anthracite  coal  was 
taken  in  arks  from  the  Wyoming  mines,  above  Wilkes- 
Barre,  down  the  Susquehanna,  to  the  Armory  at  Carlisle. 
The  first  cargo  sent  down  the  Susquehanna  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  shipment  of  anthracite  coal  made  in  this 
country. 

"  During  the  Revolution  the  Continental  Congress  es- 
tablished and  maintained  an  Armory  at  Carlisle  where 
muskets,  swords  and  wrought  iron  cannon  of  great  strength 
were  made."2  In  an  unfinished]  paper  by  the  late'  C.  P. 
Humrich,  Esq.,  on  "  Washingtonburg  "  the  early  name  for 
the  Carlisle  Barracks,  it  is  stated  that  a  company  of  Artific- 
ers were  stationed  there  from  1777  to  1781  and  probably 
later,  whose  "duties  were  to  cast  cannon,  bore  guns,  and 

iRupp's  Cumberland  County,  p.  401. 

2  Jenkins,  Pennsylvania  Colonial  and  Federal. 


174  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

prepare  ammunition  for  the  use  of  the  Army."  A  com- 
pany with  similar  duties  was  also  located  in  Philadelphia.1 

And  just  here  let  us  try  to  clear  up  the  insistent  tradi- 
tions of  the  wonderful  wrought  iron  cannon  of  Cumberland 
county.  Many  of  the  books  on  Pennsylvania  mention 
them,  with  varying  details.  Briefly,  the  tale  is,  that  Wil- 
liam Dunning  of  Middlesex,  in  this  county,  made,  presum- 
ably about  1776,  two  wrought  iron  cannon  of  great 
strength,  one  of  which  was  in  use  at  the  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine,  was  captured  by  the  British,  and  deposited  finally  in 
the  Tower  of  London.  The  story  runs  that  the  British 
government  offered  a  large  sum  of  money  and  an  annuity 
to  the  person  who  would  instruct  them  in  the  manufacture 
of  that  article;  Dunning's  patriotism,  however,  withstood 
the  alluring  offers.  He  attempted  another  and  larger 
cannon,  but  could  get  no  one  to  assist  him  who  could  endure 
the  heat,  which  was  so  great  as  to  melt  the  lead  buttons  on 
his  clothes.  This  unfinished  piece  is  said  to  have  a  resting 
place,  now,  near  Carlisle,  but  just  where,  no  one  knows. 

William  Dunning  died  December  19,  1830,  aged  93,  at 
his  home  near  Newville.2  To  settle  the  question  of  the 
wrought  iron  cannon  reposing  in  the  Tower  of  London, 
the  authorities  there  were  written  to,  who  promptly  replied, 
in  the  following  courteous  letter: 

"THE  ARMOURIES 
TOWER  OF  LONDON 
LONDON,  E.  C. 
12.  3-  13- 
"Madam: 

"  The  Governor  of  the  Tower  has  handed  me  your  letter 
of  the  4th  March.  I  regret  to  say  that  I  cannot  trace  the 
cannon  which  you  mention. 

1  The  Hon.  E.  W.  Biddle,  Carlisle. 

2  Hazard's  Register,  VII,  p.  48. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  175 

"  It  is  more  than  probable  that  it  was  destroyed  in  the 
fire  of  October  3Oth,  1841,  which  destroyed  the  Grand 
Storehouse  which  contained  the  "Train  of  Artillery." 

"Yours  faithfully, 
CHARLES  ffouLKES 

Curator 
Mrs.  Longacre 

In  any  event — we  have  the  glory  of  the  tradition,  and 
possibly  a  cannon. 

Michael  Ege,  brother  of  George,  the  noted  ironmaster 
of  Berks  county,  was  born  1753,  and  brought  up  at 
Charming  Forge,  by  his  Uncle  Stiegel.  He  was  employed 
first  at  Spring  Forge,  York  county,  and  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen married  Anna  Dorothea  Wolff,  daughter  of  a  well-to- 
do  German  farmer.  Soon  after  his  marriage  he  settled  at 
Boiling  Springs,  Cumberland  county.  By  1786  he  was 
part  owner  of  the  Carlisle  Iron  Works,  there,  and  in  1792, 
became  sole  owner.  A  few  years  later  he  built  a  mansion, 
beautiful  for  situation,  with  graduated  terraces  leading 
down  to  the  Boiling  Springs  lake  and  stream.  He  brought 
up  three  sons  in  the  iron  interest,  and  had  several  other 
ventures  himself,  notably  Pine  Grove  Furnace.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-two  in  1815,  leaving  a  comfortable  for- 
tune to  his  children. 

Augusta  M.  Longacre. 


1 76  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

1765  OLEY  FURNACE. 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

About  the  year  1760  a  valuable  deposit  of  iron  ore  was 
found  on  Furnace  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Little  Mana- 
tawny,  in  Oley  township,  a  short  distance  north  of  Fried- 
ensburg,  and  near  the  line  between  Oley  and  Ruscomb- 
Manor  townships.  This  ore  was  doubtless  used  in  the 
forges  in  that  vicinity,  notably  the  "Oley"  and  the 
"  Spring."  A  few  years  later,  probably  in  1765,  a  furnace 
was  erected  near  the  mountain,  known  as  the  Oley  Furnace. 
It  was  built  most  probably  by  Dietrich  Welcker,1  an  iron 
master  of  Skippack,  and  it  is  possible  that  William  May- 
bury  was  a  joint  owner  in  the  beginning.  In  1768  the  fur- 
nace was  certainly  in  existence  and  in  operation,  for 
Welcker  at  that  time  borrowed  one  hundred  pounds  from 
John  Lesher,  iron  master,  of  Oley  Forge,  and  executed  a 
mortgage  to  him,  in  which  the  furnace  is  mentioned,  and 
five  tracts  of  land. 

During  the  Revolution  Oley  Furnace  became  the  prop- 
erty of  General  Daniel  Udree,  and  was  carried  on  in  con- 
nection with  the  Rockland  Forges  situated  several  miles  to 
the  northeast.  Eventually  the  works  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Clymer  family,  and  was  known  for  some  time 
as  the  Clymer  Iron  Works.  A  plate  with  "  1770  "  on  it  is 
built  into  the  stack,  but  it  must  relate  to  some  other  fact 
than  the  beginning  of  the  furnace.  Beside  that  obtained 
from  its  own  mine,  ore  was  supplied  to  it  from  the  Mose- 
lem  mine,  in  Richmond  township,  lying  eight  miles  to  the 
northwest.2 

1  He  may  have  been  a  son  of  Dietrich  Welcker,  who  in  17516  kept  an 
inn  at  Skippack,  Montgomery  county,  where  the  sign,  a  Weeping  Willow, 
hung  for  many  years. 

2  Berks  County,  by  M.  L.  Montgomery. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  177 


CODORUS  FORGE  AND  FURNACE.  1765 

YORK  COUNTY. 

A  furnace  and  forge  were  erected  by  William  Bennett 
on  Codorus  Creek  near  its  junction  with  the  Susquehanna, 
in  Hellam  township  in  1765,  and  continued  under  his 
management  until  May,  1771,  when  they  were  sold  by  the 
sheriff  to  Charles  Hamilton.  Hamilton  in  turn  sold  them, 
November,  1771,  to  James  Smith,  the  Signer,  who  besides 
his  mental  capacity  and  learning  had  a  great  fund  of  humor. 
This  seems  to  have  sustained  him  in  that  bitter  school  of 
experience,  iron  making.  Many  were  the  gibes  and  jests 
he  directed  against  the  two  managers  he  had  at  Codorus 
Forge.  One,  he  said,  was  a  knave,  and  the  other  a  fool. 
After  losing  £5000  in  this  venture,  James  Smith,  in  April, 
1778,  sold  the  forge  and  furnace  to  Thomas  Neil.1  These 
works  are  said  to  have  made  ammunition  for  the  army 
during  the  revolution. 

1York  County,  by  Carter  and  Glossbrenner. 


1 78  FORGES  AND   FURNACES  IN  THE 


Before  WINDSOR  FURNACE. 

1768 

BERKS  COUNTY. 

With  the  enterprising  industry  so  characteristic  of  the 
German,  many  of  the  settlers  of  Berks  County  undertook 
almost  single  handed  the  manufacture  of  iron  wares,  most 
of  them  of  simple  domestic  use,  but  cast  in  forms  of  real 
beauty. 

One  of  these  settlers  began  his  work  so  early  that  his 
little  enterprise  gave  its  name  to  the  pretty  stream  he  made 
use  of  under  the  shadow  of  Blue  Mountain,  and  which  is 
still  known  as  "  Furnace  Creek."  In  course  of  time  the 
water  power  was  further  utilized;  and  when,  in  1768,  the 
estate  was  sold  to  Jacob  Winey,  of  Philadelphia  by  one 
Henry  Moll,  who  had  bought  it  at  sheriff's  sale  from  Fred- 
erick Delaplank,  a  reputed  iron-master,  it  is  described  as 
comprising  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres  of  land,  to- 
gether with  a  forge  for  the  manufacture  of  bar  iron,  a 
grist-mill  and  a  saw-mill. 

After  this  sale,  work  at  the  forge  seems  to  have  been 
discontinued  for  a  time,  and  we  next  learn  of  the  establish- 
ment of  a  small  charcoal  furnace  on  the  site,  by  Valentine 
Eckert,  an  enterprising  iron  master  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  county.  Later  George  Reagen  became  the  manager, 
and  the  plant  was  operated  in  connection  with  Union  Fur- 
nace and  the  forges  in  Albany  township.1 

Though  the  furnace  has  had  a  checkered  existence,  and 
has  been  out  of  commission  at  times,  it  is  entitled  to  special 
consideration  for  remarkable  artistic  work,  done\  early  in 

1  Berks  County,  by  M.  L.  Montgomery. 


•  -•• 


Crucifix    cast    at    Windsor    Furnace,    Berks    County.     Owned    by    Mrs 
George   de    Benneville   Keim. 


PROVINCE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  179 

the  last  century,  under  the  management  of  Jones,  Keim 
&  Company.  This  firm  made  castings  of  various;  kinds 
with  definite  artistic  intention,  one  of  its  most  admired 
productions  being  a  copy  of  the  Last  Supper  after  the 
celebrated  painting  at  Milan  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  This 
was  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  Exchange  by  D.  M. 
Keim.  Cast  directly  from  pure  ore,  in  common  sand,  and 
oiled,  it  was  the  first  attempt  to  bring  to  perfection  cast- 
ings of  this  description.  A  crucifix,  also  of  great  beauty, 
is  given  among  our  illustrations,  as  showing  the  height 
to  which  Pennsylvania  finally  attained  in  this  art.  While 
this  work  was  done  long  after  our  colonial  date,  yet  the 
furnace  which  had  the  honor  of  accomplishing  it  was  dis- 
tinctly a  colonial  furnace ;  so,  technically,  we  are  within  our 
limits,  and  the  beauty  of  these  castings  is  an  ample  excuse, 
if  any  is  needed.  Mr.  George  May  Keim  (1805-1861), 
a  well-known  Philadelphian,  was  an  owner  of  Windsor  Fur- 
nace, and  a  member  of  the  Keim  family  so  long  identified 
with  the  State. 


180  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


1768  GULF  FORGE. 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY. 

Gulf  Forge,  on  Gulf  Creek  in  upper  Merion  township, 
Montgomery  County,  near  the  village  of  Gulf  Mills,  is 
mentioned  as  existing  in  1768,  and  shown  on  Scull's  map 
of  1770,  but  no  trace  of  it  is  now  to  be  found,  nor  is  any 
information  obtainable  on  the  subject.  By  those  who  know 
this  beautiful  neighborhood,  a  description  of  "  The  Gulf," 
from  Buck's  History  of  Montgomery  County,  will  not  be 
considered  too  irrelevant. 

"The  Gulf  is  where  the  Gulf  Creek  passes  thro'  the 
Gulf  Hill  and  for  the  purpose  of  a  passage,  has  cleft  it  to 
its  base.  The  stream  and  the  wood  by  its  side  wind 
thro'  it  somewhat  in  the  shape  of  an  S,  and  at  the  nar- 
rowest part  there  is  just  room  enough  for  both,  the  whole 
width  not  being  more  than  forty  feet.  The  hills  on  either 
side  are  pretty  steep  and  are  covered  with  rocks,  bushes, 
and  trees  to  their  summits.  Near  the  old  Gulf  Mill  on 
the  South  side  of  the  entrance,  a  rock  juts  out  at  the  road- 
side to  an  elevation  of  about  fifteen  feet,  which  has  shel- 
tered people  from  the  rain." 


Harriton,  Bryn  Mawr.  Showing  cheese-room.  Residence  of  Charles 
Thomson,  Secretary  of  Continental  Congress.  Now  owned  by  George 
Vaux. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  l8l 


PINE  GROVE  FURNACE. 
CUMBERLAND  COUNTY. 

The  furnace  I  knew  best  was  Pine  Grove,  with  its 
twenty-seven  thousand  acres  of  woodland,  nestled  in  the 
South  Mountain,  midway  between  Carlisle  and  Gettysburg, 
about  fifteen!  miles  from  either.  In  placing  charcoal  fur- 
naces, streams  and  forests  were  the  first  consideration, — 
the  one  to  furnish  power,  and  the  other  to  provide  char- 
coal. The  next  essential,  iron  ore,  could  be  hauled  from 
adjacent  mines.  At  Pine  Grove  this  was  found  in  the  sur- 
rounding hills.  A  vivid  recollection  remains  with  me  of 
the  working  of  the  furnace,  the  molten  iron  and  all  that, 
but  as  the  early  process  is  given  in  our  introduction,  I  shall 
not  repeat  it.  In  making  charcoal  the  chestnut,  oak,  and 
hickory  of  the  forest  were  cut  into  prescribed  lengths  by 
the  wood-cutters,  to  be  later  piled  on  end  in  a  cone-shaped 
stack  about  six  feet  high  and  slowly  charred  for  a  week 
or  so,  for  use  in  the  furnace.  The  wagons  that  brought 
it  in,  were  long  with  high  sides,  and  drawn  by  six  mules. 
Each  board  of  the  bottom  was  moveable  with  a  heavy 
iron  ring  in  the  end.  These  were  drawn  by  detaching  the 
leading  mules  from  the  tongue  of  the  wagon  and  hooking 
their  chains  into  the  rings  in  the  board  at  the  back  of  the 
wagon  and  thereby  drawing  out  of  the  bottom  a  board  at 
a  time,  which  deposited  the  coal  where  it  was  wanted,  at 
the  "  coal  house." 

Furnaces  were  often  called  by  women's  names,  a  compli- 
ment personally  to  members  of  the  family,  and  the  fires, 
when  convenient,  lighted  by  women.  I  know  of  an  in- 


i 

182  FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 

stance  during  the  Civil  War,  when,  at  the  "  blowing  in  "  of 
a  furnace  great  care  was  taken  not  to  light  the  fire  with  a 
Democratic  newspaper !  When  a  bride  visited  a  furnace, 
her  slipper  was  taken  (ladies  did  not  wear  shoes)  and  kept 
by  the  men  until  she  promised  a  "treat." 

While  my  recollection,  naturally,  does  not  go  back  to 
colonial  days,  I  am  sure  the  life  was  not  changed  in  any 
particular  from  the  building  of  the  furnace  in  1770  to  the 
begininng  of  the  Civil  War.  My  personal  knowledge 
begins  with  1848.  There  were  no  railroads,  and  a  journal 
of  my  grandmother's  records  long  journeys  to  Baltimore  or 
Philadelphia  in  carriages,  or  on  horseback,  with  servants  in 
charge  of  the  luggage.  Our  old  carriage  at  Pine  Grove 
had  a  large  trunk  rack  behind,  which  was  strapped  up 
against  the  back  when  not  in  use. 

Iron  was  conveyed  from  place  to  place  in  wagons  or  on 
the  backs  of  mules.  In  some  instances  the  bars  of  iron 
were  bent  to  fit  over  the  mule's  back.  Canals  were  a 
welcome  improvement  in  transportation,  till  railroads 
came. 

Laborers  at  the  four  furnaces  in  the  South  Mountain, 
Pine  Grove,  Mt.  Alto,  Caledonia,  and  Katocktin  in  Mary- 
land, were  nearly  all  English ;  there  were  few  Irish  names 
and  almost  no  Germans.  They  were  the  same  race  as  those 
found  in  the  West  Virginia  and  Tennessee  Mountains ;  the 
mountains  are  of  the  Blue  Ridge  chain  in  which  the  old 
furnaces  were,  and  the  lives  they  lead  to-day  are  just  as  I 
am  trying  to  describe,  except  for  the  feuds.  At  the  Penn- 
sylvania furnaces  they  were  tamer  and  gentler  people,  from 
the  influence  and  contact  with  the  family  of  the  Big  House, 
but  their  primitive  instincts  and  superstitions  were  the 
same.  The  Tennessee  mountaineers  are  said  to  be  of  the 
purest,  most  unmixed  blood  in  this  country  and  are  a  most 
interesting  people.  Craddock  uses  a  word  "  survigerous  " 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  183 

— the  Pine  Grove  people  said  "  savagerous "  for 
"irritated." 

Mr.  Jas.  M.  Swank,  in  his  "History  of  Iron,"  tells  us: 
"The  authority  of  those  old  Pennsylvania  iron  masters 
was  indeed  baronial,  but  it  was  also  patriarchal.  A  tie 
of  common  interest  closer  than  exists  to-day  under  similar 
relations,  bound  master  and  workman  together."  They 
were  dependent  on  the  Big  House  for  everything  concern- 
ing their  welfare,  and  were  looked  after  in  their  births, 
marriages  and  deaths,  with  most  affectionate  interest,  giv- 
ing in  return  unbounded  loyalty  and  affection.  An  old 
man  I  know  after  an  interval  at  other  work,  thought  he 
would  return  to  a  furnace,  and  told  me  later  he  could  not 
stand  it, — he  was  only  known  by  a  number  and  was  simply 
part  of  a  machine, — this  describes  modern  conditions, — the 
old  personal  element  no  longer  exists.  To  quote  again 
from  Swank — those  "  good  old  Colony  Times,  when  Penn- 
sylvania was  still  a  British  province,  are  gone  and  their 
medieval  flavor,  their  picturesqueness,  and  their  placidity, 
are  also  gone." 

The  cottages  of  the  laborers  were  logs  and  plaster,  with 
stone  chimneys,  simply  furnished  with  painted  wooden  fur- 
niture and  huge  feather  beds,  and  their  prosperity  was 
gauged  by  the  number  and  variety  of  their  patchwork 
quilts.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  the  joy  of  life  in  the  mak- 
ing of  these, — the  various  patterns  had  names,  "The 
Garden  of  Eden,"  "Sunrise,"  etc.  The  designs  took 
months  to  accomplish,  and  the  final  quilting  was  an  occa- 
sion of  merrymaking.  The  food  and  clothes  of  the  people 
were  provided  at  the  "store."  (The  wagons  that  took 
away  iron,  brought  back  these  necessities.)  Calico  for 
their  dresses  and  sun-bonnets,  linsey-woolsey  (a  rough 
woolen  material)  for  their  petticoats;  they  spun  and  dyed 
the  wool  for  their  stockings  which  they  knitted  themselves. 


1 84  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

Coarse,  heavy  shoes  came  from  the  "store,"  also  flour, 
"flitch"  (salt  pork),  molasses  and  tobacco.  Many  of 
the  women  smoked.  The  more  thrifty  of  the  families  had 
cows,  which  roamed  at  will,  procuring  such  food  as  they 
could,  and  at  milking  time  they  were  easily  followed  and 
recovered,  by  the  sound  of  their  tinkling  bells.  Each  cot- 
tage had  a  garden,  and  they  all  had  chickens  and  eggs; 
and  again,  the  more  thrifty  had  pigs. 

Apple-butter  boiling,  spelling  bees,  in  addition  to  the 
quilting  bees,  made  up  their  amusements.  These  festiv- 
ities generally  ended  with  a  dance,  on  the  sanded  floor, 
when  the  young  men  arrived  to  take  the  young  women 
home.  The  music  was  provided  by  a  self-taught  fiddler 
with  probably  a  home-made  fiddle,  and  the  lights  were 
tallow  candles.  Brides  drove  away  with  their  swains  to 
the  nearest "  preacher,"  to  be  married,  and  were  greeted  on 
their  return  by  a  "  charivari,"  or  as  they  called  it  a  "  cala- 
thumpian,"  ending  in  a  "treat." 

These  mountaineers  were  very  religious,  and  held  what 
were  called  "protracted  meetings"  on  which  occasions 
they  all  became  converted,  or  as  they  expressed  it,  "  found 
religion."  But  as  they  had  generally  lost  it  when  meet- 
ing time  came  around  again,  there  were  always  candidates 
for  the  "mourners'  bench."  Most  of  them  were  very 
restless  and  loved  the  excitement  of  a  flitting,  with  neigh- 
bors all  gathered  in,  and  a  feast  at  both  ends  of  the  line, — 
to  say  nothing  of  the  six-mule  wagon  with  a  turret  of  gay 
bells  and  red  flannel  streamers  on  the  harness.  The  four 
furnaces  I  have  mentioned  as  neighbors,  were  visited  in 
turn,  but  they  were  people  of  strong  affections,  and  a  little 
grave  on  the  hillside  often  held  them,  or  brought  them 
back.  It  was  a  sweet  God's  acre,  in  the  primeval  forest, 
with  the  sunshine  slanting  between  the  big  trees  standing 
guard,  and  year  after  year,  covering  those  sleeping  there 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  185 

with  their  softly  falling  leaves.  It  was  a  strong  magnet 
for  them  all,  as  you  see  by  the  interesting  tales  of  the 
Tennessee  Mountains.  It  was  the  custom,  after  a  burial, 
for  all  the  friends  for  miles  around,  to  return  to  the  house 
of  the  mourning  family  for  the  "  funeral  baked  meats," 
and  great  were  the  preparations,  and  many  and  various 
were  the  pies  and  jams. 

Christmas  Day  was  always  looked  forward  to,  with 
much  excitement,  for  the  children  on  the  place  got  all  the 
apples  and  cakes  they  could  carry  when  they  came  to  visit 
the  Children's  Tree,  at  the  "  Big  House,"  and  the  heads  of 
families  longest  on  the  place  were  given  their  Christmas 
dinner.  Of  course  there  were  not  then  the  endless  books 
and  toys  that  children  have  now.  Our  old  rag  dolls  had 
clean  faces  and  new  dresses  for  the  occasion,  and  we  loved 
them  dearly  and  were  proud  of  their  new  looks. 

The  old  house  was  very  large,  and  the  situation  beau- 
tiful. We  had  only  wood  for  fuel,  and  the  big  blazing 
fireplaces  are  a  charming  recollection.  We  were  lighted 
by  lard  lamps  except  on  occasions  of  entertaining,  when 
candle-boards  were  fixed  over  each  door-way,  decorated 
with  evergreens,  and  a  row  of  wax  candles  in  each.  Part 
of  the  work  of  the  house-hold  was  moulding  candles, 
pounding  spice  with  a  mortar  and  pestle,  and  cutting  the 
white  sugar  which  came  in  a  "  loaf."  In  the  nursery  a 
thing  called  a  "witch"  made  a  night-light, — it  was  a  piece 
of  paper  twisted  and  lighted,  floating  on  melted  lard.  AU 
house  supplies  were  bought  in  large  quantities, — barrels  of 
crackers  and  sugar,  boxes  of  tea  and  coffee,  and  wines  in 
proportion, — for  there  were  no  shops  where  such  things 
could  be  obtained.  Nutmegs  were  sold  for  their  weight  in 
silver.  Flour  was  ground  at  the  mill  on  the  place,  for 
there  were  many  acres  under  cultivation  to  supply  the  fam- 
ilies and  animals.  The  haymaking  was  done  by  a  long 


1 86  FORGES  AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 

line  of  mowers,  twenty  or  more,  with  scythes,  stepping  in 
a  rhythmic  movement;  and  in  the  same  way,  the  wheat 
and  oats  were  cut  with  "  cradles."  There  was  a  carpenter 
shop  and  a  blacksmith  shop ;  and  the  trade  of  wheelwright 
was  in  much  demand  for  the  only  power  known  was  water 
power  which  meant  a  big  wheel.  We  are  told  that  Egyp- 
tains  1500  B.C.  blew  their  furnaces  by  artificial  wind  de- 
rived from  treading  on  goat  skins  filled  with  air.  Modern 
furnaces  are  operated  by  powerful  gas  engines. 

No  one  thought  the  distance  from  Carlisle  too  great  for 
driving,  so  there  was  always  plenty  of  company,  and  of 
course  they  came  for  the  night  or  for  several  days.  The 
old  garrison  in  Carlisle  added  too,  to  the  gaiety.  In  those 
days,  when  there  were  fewer  people  in  the  world,  all  per- 
sons of  consequence  knew  each  other,  if  not  actually,  at 
least  by  reputation,  and  they  were  expected  to  stop  if  they 
came  into  the  neighborhood  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  it 
was  a  source  of  mutual  pleasure  and  satisfaction. 

The  recorded  ownership  of  this  old  furnace  dates  from 
a  Proprietary  Grant,  1762,  for  four  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  on  Mountain  Creek  to  Thomas  Pope ;  thence  by  deed, 
1764,  to  George  Stevenson,  who,  in  1772,  conveyed  it  to 
Finley  McGrew,  who  in  turn,  1773,  conveyed  it  to  Jacob 
Simon.  The  furnace  was  built  probably  in  1770  by 
Robert  Thornburg  and  John  Arthur.  In  1782  Jacob 
Simon  conveyed  Pine  Grove  Furnace  and  land  to  Michael 
Ege  and  Thomas  and  Joseph  Thornburg,  sons  of  Robert. 
In  1803,  Michael  Ege  became  sole  owner.1  Operated 
chiefly  by  the  Ege  Family  until  1838,  the  property  then 
came  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  C.  B.  Penrose  and  the  Hon. 
Frederick  Watts.  Finally,  in  1845,  Mr.  Wm.  M.  Watts 
took  possession,  and  operated  furnace,  forge  and  farms 

1  Ege  Genealogy,  pp.  90  and  93. 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.  187 

very  successfully  until  1864,  when  Mr.  Wm.  G.  Moore- 
head  became  the  owner. 

"  Perhaps  the  most  royal  hospitality  of  all  dispensed  at 
any  residence  in  the  county  was  that  of  the  Peter  Ege 
family  who  lived  at  Pine  Grove.  Connected  by  ties  of 
blood  and  friendship  with  Carlisle  and  its  people,  Mr. 
Ege  and  his  wife,  a  Miss  Arthur  of  Virginia,  have  left 
many  traditions  of  their  princely  manner  of  entertaining. 
In  later  years  the  spirit  of  hospitality  was  fully  sustained 
by  William  M.  Watts,  Esq.,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Ege  in 
this  place  of  delightful  memories,  so  picturesquely  located 
on  the  sloping  sides  of  the  South  Mountain,  and  so  inter- 
woven with  the  social  life  of  the  town  as  to  have  been  prac- 
tically a  part  of  it."1 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  say  that  this  fine  property 
has  fallen  into  good  hands.  Some  years  ago  it  was  pur- 
chased by  the  State  Forestry  Association. 

Sarah  R.  Watts  Rose. 

1  Carlisle,  Old  and  New,  p.  139. 


188  FORGES  AND   FURNACES. 


1771  SALFORD  FORGE. 

MONTGOMERY  COUNTY. 

The  fact  of  Robert  Coleman's  connection  with  this  forge 
is  its  chief  interest.  His  first  venture  for  himself,  he  came 
here  shortly  after  his  marriage  in  1773,  when  the  trouble 
with  England  was  brewing.  Mr.  Coleman's  grandson 
has  a  document  of  rare  interest  illustrative  of  Revolu- 
tionary experiences  at  Salford  Forge.  It  is  endorsed 
"  Robert  Coleman's  memorial,  presented  August  26th 
1776,  asking  permission  for  his  clerk  and  three  forgemen 
to  be  exempted  from  marching  with  army  to  Amboy  " ;  it 
sets  forth  that  he  had  rented  a  forge  for  three  years  at  a 
rental  of  two  hundred  a  year,  the  lease  of  which  would  ex- 
pire in  three  months;  and  that  the  "principal  part"  of  his 
workmen  were  Associators,  who,  if  obliged  to  march  with 
the  militia,  would  cause  him  great  loss  and  entirely  prevent 
him  from  working  up  his  stock  in  hand.  The  request  of 
Mr.  Coleman  was  granted  the  same  day  by  the  Council  of 
Safety  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  While  at  this  forge  he 
manufactured  chain  bars,  which  were  designed  to  span  the 
Delaware  for  the  defense  of  Philadelphia  against  the 
approach  of  the  enemy's  fleet.1 

1  Ironmaking  in  Pennsylvania,  by  James  Swank,  p.  27. 


SEQUENCE  OF   FRANKLIN  FIREPLACES. 


Franklin's   First   Model. 

From  "  An  account  of  the  new  invented  Pennsylvanian   Fireplace, 
delphia,   Printed   and  sold  by   Benjamin   Franklin,    1744." 


Phila- 


A  Franklin  Model.     The  original  in  possession  of  the  American 
Philosophical    Society. 


Franklin's   Model    for  Stove   in   the   form   of   an   Urn.      Full   description   in 
"Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,"  Vol.  II,  1786. 

Judge  Jasper  Yeates,  writing  from  Lancaster,  December  26,  1777,  to 
Col.  Burd  at  Tinian,  says  :  "  Hon'd  Sir,  ...  I  also  enclose  you  a  copy  of 
verses  on  the  celebrated  urn  of  Doctor  Franklin.  They  are,  in  my  opinion, 
exceedingly  well  wrote  and  contain  the  true  Attic  salt.1 

"  Inscription  on  a  curious  stove  in  the  form  of  an  urn,  contrived  ini 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  flame  descend  instead  of  rising  from  the- 
fire  ;  invented  by  Dr.  Franklin. 

"  Like  a  Newton  sublimely  he  soared 
To  a  summit  before  unattained, 
New  regions  of  science  explored 
And  the  palm   of  philosophy  gained. 

"  With   a   spark    which    he   caught    from   the   skies 
He   displayed    an    unparalleled    wonder, 
And  we  saw  with  delight  and  surprise 
That   his    rod    could    secure    us    from    thunder. 

"  Oh  !  had  he  been  wise  to  pursue 
The  track   for  his   talents   designed 
What  a  tribute  of  praise  had  been  due 
To  the  teacher  and  friend  of  mankind. 

"  But  to  covet  political  fame 

Was  in  him  a  degrading  ambition.  .    , 

The   spark   that    from   Lucifer   came  »    I  *\  *  t  *»  » 

Enkindled  the  blaze  of  sedition.  "o«"  •  '•  •    V   -. 

"  Let  candor  then  writ*1  on  his  urn  ,""-,    ^      ^  ^ "*"'"' 

Here  lies  the  renowned  inventor  n>     ?*"*,! *i«l      '-. 

Whose  flame  to  the  skies  ought  to  burn 
But,  inverted,  descends  to  the  centre."1 

These  verses  are  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Hannah  Griffiths, 
granddaughter  of  the  first  Isaac  Norris. 

1  Shippen   Papers,  by  Thomas  Balch,  p.  264. 

1  Life  and  Writings  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  by  Albert  Henry  Smyth,  I, 
P  130. 


Fireplace  of  primitive  design.     From  Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the 
Revolution. 


Fireplace  in  Mansion,  Pine  Forge,  owned  by  Mrs.  David  Rutter.     Made  at 
Warwick   Furnace,   probably   from    earliest   design. 


it    Stenton.   the   home   of  James   Logan.      1/50   to    1760. 


Fireplace.     About    1750.     Harriton. 


•?=. 

II 


Fireplace   from   home   of   Susanna   Wright,   Wright's    Ferry,    1760.     Owned 
by  Mr.  S.   F.  Houston. 


Fireplace    Top,    1772.     Hopewell    Furnace    Berks    County.     Owned    by    the 
Historical    Society    of    Pennsylvania. 


Fireplace,   Hopewell   Furnace,  showing  style  of  design  after   1776. 
The  motto  "  Be  Liberty  Thine  "  on  a  fireplace,  fixes  its  date  as  after  the 

Revolution. 


Fireplace  owned  by  Mr.  A.  J.   Steinman,  Lancaster.     "  Be  Liberty  Thine." 
Hessian  andirons  were  much  in  use  at  the  time. 


Fireplace  owned  by  Dr.  William  T.  Sharpless,  West  Chester. 
Made  shortly  after  the  Revolution. 


Fireplace    in    residence    of    Mr.    J.    H.    Osborne,    Summerseat,    Morrisville, 
once   Washington's   Headquarters.     "  Isaac   Potts,    1795-" 


GENERAL  INDEX 


ABBINGTON  FURNACE,  42 
Abbington  Iron  Works,  42 
Allen,  Chief  Justice  William,  45 
Allen,    William,    warrant    to,    for 

5000  acres  of  land,  84 
Amboy,  march  of  Army  to,  188 
American  flint  glass,  125 
American  Philosophical  Society,  19 
Amherst,  Sir  Jeffrey,  166 
Ammunition    for    Army,    173,    174, 

177 

Anchor  Forge,  147 
Andover  Iron  Works,  44 
Andre,  Major,  93 
Antes,    Colonel    Frederick,    146 
Anthracite   coal,   first   shipment  of, 

173 

Arks  for  shipping  coal,  52,  173 
Armor,  Thomas,  166 
Armory  at  Carlisle,  173 
Armour,   Martha,    101 
Armstrong,  Dr.  James,  166 
Armstrong,  Brigadier  General  John, 

166,  167,  172,  173 
Army    supplies    during   Revolution, 

112 
Art  in  early  iron  work,  9,  127,  178, 

179 

Arthur,  John,   186 
Artificers,  company  of,  173 
Artificers,  Franklin's  bequest  to,  71 
Ashleman,  Benjamin,  137 
Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  68,  97, 

162 

Associators,  162,  188 
Attwood,  Capt,  23,  64 
Attwood,  William,  15,  22,  23,  64 

14  191 


B 


Backhouse,  Mary,  57 

Backhouse,  Richard,  48,  56,  57 

Bailey  family,  63 

Ball,  Wm.,  72 

Bar  iron,  duty  on,  in  England,  98 

Barde,  John  Louis,  77 

Barnard,  Nicholas,  140 

Barr,  John,   121 

Barr,  Thomas  B.,  161 

Barracks  at  Philadelphia,  157 

Bartram,  Alexander,  127 

Battalion  of  Associators  for  Lan- 
caster Co.,  162 

Bees,  quilting  and  spelling,  184 

Bell  at  Valley  Forge,  94 

Benezet,  Daniel,  117,  127,  128,  130 

Bennett,  William,  177 

Berks  County,  forges  and  furnaces 
in,  11,  20,  58,  62,  75,  76,  79,  111, 
115,  118,  133,  152,  154,  158,  170, 
178 

BERKSHIRE  FURNACE,  76,  152.  See 
also  ROXBOROUGH  FURNACE. 

Bernwick,  Jas.,  140 

Bertolet,  Samuel,  146 

Bezalion,  Peter,  4 

Biblical  scenes  as  decoration  of 
stoves,  8 

Biddle,  Edward,  78 

Biddle,  Owen,  153 

Bird,  Col.,  86 

Bird,  James,  157 

Bird,  Maria,   157 

Bird,  Lieut-Col.  Mark,  76,  77,  78, 
80,  81,  152,  153,  154,  156,  157, 
158 

Bird,  Mr.,  a  prisoner,  168 


192 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


Bird,  William,  64,  76,  79,  80,  82, 

152,  154,  157 
Bird  Iron  Works,  77 
Bird  and  Patton,  82 
Birdsboro  and  Hopewell  estate,  158 
BIRDSBORO  FORGES,  76,  82,  155.    See 

also  HAY  CREEK  FORGES. 
Birdsboro   Militia,   77 
Blackburn,  John,  166 
Blast  furnace,  first  west  of  Susque- 

hanna,  160 
Blister  steel,  18 
Blonde,  the,  ship  of  war,  168 
Boats,  Durham,  51,  52 
Boiling  Springs,   172,   175 
Boom,  Geo.,  23 
Boon,  Boone,  G.,  15,  22,  31,  64 
Boone,  George,  64 
Booth,  R.,  50 
Boyer,  John,  81 
Bradford,  Andrew,  printer,  45 
Brandywine,  the,  battle  of,  34,  73, 

93,  155,  174 

Brandywine,  retreat  from,  95 
Branson,  Nathaniel,  18 
Branson,  Rebecca,  101 
Branson,  William,   16,   17,   18,  32, 

33,  69,  70,  100,  101 
Branz's  works,   18 
Brenner,  Garrett,  115 
Brewing,  "  art  and  mistery  of,"  58 
Brickersville,  Lutheran   Church   in, 

120 

Brien,  Edward,  142 
Brinton,  John,  169 
British,  capture  of  cannon  by,  174 
Brockden,  Charles,  21 
Brooke,  Mrs.  Edward,  158 
Brooke,  E.  &  G.,  iron  Works  of,  78 
Brooke,  Matthew,  77,  158 
Brooke,  Thomas,  158 
Brooks,  Mathias,  72 
Brown,  Alex.,  50 
Brown,  Richard,  166 


Buckley,  Daniel,  158 

Buckley,  Mr.  &  Mrs.,  104 

Bucks  County,  forges  and  furnaces 

in,  43,  51 

Burd,  Edward,  164 
Byberry,  plating  forge  in,  18 


Cadwallader,  Thomas,  166 

Caldwell,  David,  159 

Camp   Pottsgrove,   memorial   tablet 

at,  146 

Canadian  Campaign,  168 
Canals  for  transportation,  182 
Candles,  moulding  of,  185 
Cannon,  burial  of,  at  Hopewell  and 

Warwick,  155 
Cannon,  burial  of,  at  Valley  Forge, 

94 
Cannon,  casting  of,  73,  86,  118,  153, 

155,  169 

Cannon,  wrought  iron,  174 
Cannon  Hill,  124,  130 
Capital  invested  in  forges,  20,  110 
Carbon  County,  135 
Carlisle,  161,  166,  181 
Carlisle,  social  life  of,  186,  187 
Carlisle  Barracks,  173 
CARLISLE  IRON  WORKS,  172,  175 
Carmichael,  Catherine  M.,  103,  104 
Carmichael,  Rev.  John,  103 
Catalan  forge,  6,  12,  16,  82 
Chain  bars,  manufacture  of,  188 
Chalice,  silver,  presented  by  Queen 

Anne,  13 

Chapman,  John,  44 
Charcoal  burning,  6,  8,  133 
Charcoal,  charring  and  carting  of, 

110 
Charcoal  furnaces,  abandonment  of, 

89,  110 
Charcoal  furnaces,  construction  of,  6 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


193 


Charcoal  furnaces,  consumption  of 

wood  in,  23,  156 

Charcoal  furnace,  working  of,  181 
Charles  River,  the  Falls  of,  51 
CHARMING  FORGE,  115,  153,  175 
Chester  County,  16,  25,  67,  69,  76, 

90,  96,  97,  118,  151 
Chew,  Benjamin,  166 
Chiswell,  Mr.,  98 

Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  40,  164 
Christiana  Creek,  38,  42 
Church,    Baron    Stiegel    Memorial, 

125 
Church,  Lutheran,   at  Brickersville, 

120 

Church,  Lutheran,  at  Manheim,  124 
Church,  St.  Gabriel's  at  Morlattan, 

31,  76 
Church,  St.  James',  Lancaster,  132, 

163 

Church,  Trinity,  at  Oxford,  12 
Churches,  Hessian  prisoners  in,  85 
Churchtown,  68 

City  Council  of  Philadelphia,  40 
Clark,  John,  140 
Clawson's  Tavern^  54 
Claypoole,  James,  44 
Clymer  Iron  Works,  176 
Codorus  Creek,   151,   177 
CODORUS  FORGE  AND  FURNACE,  177 
"  Cole  Book,"  79,  82 

COLEBROOKDALE  FURNACE,  20,  30 

Coleman,  Robert,  1,  82,  86,  87,  119, 
126,  129,  130,  159 

Coleman,  Robert,  at  Quittapahilla 
Forge,  135,  141,  142 

Coleman,  Robert,  at  Salford  Forge, 
188 

Coleman,  Robert,  entertainment  of 
Washington  by,  131 

Coleman,  Sarah,  132 

Colonial  furnaces,  casting  in,  8 

Committee  of  Safety  for  Pennsyl- 
vania, 162 


Committee   of   Safety   of   Philadel- 
phia, 156 

Company,    a,    store    in    provincial 
times,  108,  183,  184 

Concord  Meeting,  25 

Conewago  Settlement,   160 

Conestoga  Creek,  forges  on,  102,  159 

Conestoga,  Settlement,  attack  on,  138 

Conestoga  Turnpike,  155 

Conestoga  Valley,  67 

Connor,  Thomas,  92 

Conodoguinet  Creek,  167 

Continental     Army,     accoutrements 
and  arms  for,  156,  157 

Continental  Army  at  Camp  Potts- 
grove,  146 

Continental  Congress,  61 

Continental  Congress,  delegates  to, 
163 

Continental  Congress,  establishment 
of  Armory  by,  173 

Constitutional  Convention,  162 

Cookson,  Thomas,  deputy  surveyor, 
164,  165 

Copper  mine,  old,  near  Lancaster,  5 

CORNWALL  FURNACE,  83,  85 

Cornwall    Furnace,    indenture   con- 
cerning, 85 

Cornwall  Mines,  product  from,  89 

Counties,  lower,  36,  42 

Court  House  at  Philadelphia,  14 

COVENTRY  FORGE,  16,  25-27,  33,  34 

Coventry  Hall,  19,  29,  62 

Cox,  Dr.,  2 

Cresheim  Creek,  12 

Crosby  John,  97 

Crum  Creek,  96 

CRUM  CREEK  FORGE,  97 

Cryble,  Saml.,  72 

Cumberland  County,  171,  172,  181 

Cumberland  County,  cannon  made 
in,  174 

D 

Danner,  George  H.,  126 


194 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


Danner,  G.  H.,  museum  of,  123 
Danner,  Michael,  166 
Darby,  Abraham,  21 
DAVID  JONES  FURNACE,  67 
Davies,  Gabriel,  159  ' 
Davies,  Margaretta,  159 
Decorations  on  stoves,  8,  49,  50,  121, 

161,  173 

Delaplank,  Frederick,  178 
Delaware,  discovery  of  iron  ore  in, 

38 

Delaware,  Welsh,  settlers  in,  42 
Delaware  County,  iron  works  in,  96, 

97 

Delaware  Indians,  treaty  with,  14 
Delaware  River,  chain  bars  to  span, 

188 
Dewees,    Col.   William,    Sheriff   of 

Philadelphia,  92 
Dickinson,  John,  126,  128,  129 
Dickinson,  Jonathan,  11,  30 
Dicks'  Bloomary  Forge,  97,  151 
Dicks,  Peter,  97,  151 
Diggs,  Anne,  36,  37 
Dillwyn,  George,  149 
Docwra,  Mr.,  2 
Doughten,  Stephen,  80 
Doyle,  Lawrence,  81 
Drinker,  H.,  50 
Dunning,  William,  cannon  made  by, 

174 

Durham  boats,  51,  52,  54 
Durham  firebacks,  48,  49,  61 
DURHAM  FURNACE,  43,  60 
Durham,  Robert,  51 
Dutch  settlers,  2 


Eckert,  Valentine,  178 
Edgemont  Road,  74 
Ege,  Bernhard,  118 
Ege,  George,  76,  81,  117,  118,  141, 
142,  152,  153,  159,  169,  171 


Ege,  George  Michael,  122 

Ege,  Michael,  118,  171,  175,  186 

Ege,  Rebecca,  159 

Egle,  Dr.,  41 

Election  times  in  iron  regions,   107 

ELIZABETH  FURNACE,  119,  121,  122, 
159 

Ellis,  Robert,  45,  47 

Ellis,  Rowland,  61 

Emlen,  Samuel,  149 

England,  first  furnace  in,  for  cast- 
ing pots  and  kettles,  21 

Etter,  Gerard,  135 

Evan-Ap-Evan,  90 

Evans,  Governor,  as  mine  operator,  4 

Evans,  Lewis,  91 

Evans,  Stephen,  91 

Executive  Council  of  Pennsylvania, 
118,  157 

Export  of  iron,  restriction  of,  11 

Eykelburger,  Martin,  166 


Fager,  Col.,  J.  M.,  94 

Fagleysville,  146 

Falls  of  Delaware,  51 

Farmer,  Edward,  64 

Fatlands  Ford,  93 

Fegan,  John,  79,  80 

Fergusson,  Mrs.,  38 

Ferree,  John,  128 

ffream,  Edw'd,  23 

ffrench,  Nath.,  15,  22,  23,  64 

Firebacks,  early,  48,  49,  61,  172 

Firebacks,  moulding  of,  10 

Fireplaces,  Sequence  of,  189 

Fisher,  Hannah,  150 

Fitzwater,  George,  45 

Flint  glass,  manufacture  of,  125 

Flower,  Enoch,  58 

Flower,  Samuel,  18,  101 

Foley,  James,  81 

Footman,  Richard,  141 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


195 


Ford,  Nathaniel,  16 

Forge  Tract,  40 

Foul  Rift,  51 

Foulke,  Hugh,  37 

Fox,  John,  139,  140 

Frame,  Richard,  5 

Francis,  John  Tench,  70 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  24,  70,  71,  130 

Franklin  fireplaces,  73 

Franklin  stoves,  70,  72 

French,  the,  early  mining  ventures 

of,  5 
French  Creek,   13,   16,   19,  25,  26, 

27,  28,  29,  34,  69,  87 
French  Creek,  Cannon  imbedded  in, 

73 

French  Creek  Iron  Works,  154 
French,  Nathaniel,  64 
Fricker,  Mr.,  of  Reading,  153 
Fulton,  James,  137,  140,  141 
Furnace  Creek,  160,  176,  178 
Furnace  Run,  130,  136 


Galloway,  Joseph,  55,  57 

Geddes,  Henry,  165 

Geddes,  Jane,  165 

George  the  Third,  commission  from, 
165 

German  iron  workers,  artistic  wares 
of,  9,  161,  178,  179 

German  settlers,  49 

Germantown,  65,  143,  144 

Giger,  John,  169,  171 

Giles,  Jacob,  of  Baltimore,  85 

GLASGOW  FORGE,  39.  See  also  Mc- 
C ALL'S  FORGE, 

Glass,  Martin,  145 

Glassware,  Stiegel,  126 

Glen  Mills,  96 

Gold  in  Delaware,  42 

Golden  Lion,  18 

Gordon,  Patrick  (Governor  of  Prov- 
ince), 14,  30,  59 


Government,  shot  and  shell  for,  130 

Governor's  Council,  "Remon- 
strance "  to,  147 

Grace,  Robert,  18,  19,  70,  71,  72,  79 

Graeff,  Sebastian,  111 

Graeme,  Thomas,  physician,  37 

Graham,  Alex.,  140 

Graves,  Robt.,  140 

Gray,  Colonel,  93 

Great  Spring,  152,  153 

Great  Valley,  91 

GREEN  LANE  FORGE,  66 

Grey,  T.,  4 

Griffith,  Robert,  20 

Growden,  Grace,  55,  57 

Growden,  Lawrence,  55,  57,  166 

Grubb,  Col.  Curtis,  81,  82,  85,  86, 
117,  153 

Grubb,  Henry  Bates,  87 

Grubb,  John,  84 

Grubb,  Peter,  1,  41,  82,  84,  85 

Grubb,  Peter,  Jr.,  86 

Grubb,  Peter,  3rd,  86 

Grubb,  Samuel,  84 

Grubb's  Iron  Works,  83 

Grubb's  Landing,  84 

Guest,  Phoebe,  59 

GULF  FORGE,  180 

Guns,  boring  of,  173 

H 

Hackett,  John,  47 

Haiman,  Widow,  137 

Haldane,  James,  140 

Hall,  John,  18 

Hall,  Joseph,  18 

Hamilton,  Charles,  177 

Hamilton,  Hance,  166 

Hamilton,   James,    deputy   Gov.   of 

Pennsylvania,  57,  165,  166 
Hammer  Creek,  82,  87,  159 
Hanover,  151 
Harris,  Robert,  140 
Harrison,  Hannah,  61 


196 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN   THE 


Harrison,  Richard,  61 

Harriton,  Bryn  Mawr,  61 

Haupt,  Abraham,  51 

HAY  CREEK  or  BIRDSBORO  FORGES,  76, 

82 

Hay,  Sheriff,  138 
Hazlewood,  Wm.,  140 
Hebron,  Hessian  prisoners  at,  85 
Heidelberg,  76,  117,  152 
HEREFORD  FURNACE,  133 
Herlinger,  P.,   152 
Hessian  prisoners,  85,  118,  130 
Hessian   prisoners,   channel   cutting 

by,  118 

Hibbert,  John,  16 
Hill,  Richard,  29,  150 
Hillegas,  Michael,  140,  141,  142 
Hockley,  James,  40,  91 
Hockley,  Richard,  18,  101 
Hollow  ware,  casting  of,  8,  172 
Holmes,  John,  166 
Holstein,  Matthias,  77 
Holz,  Anna  Catherine,  122 
Holz,  Elizabeth,  121 
Hoopes,  Adam,  139 
Hopewell  Creek,  156 
HOPEWELL  FORGE,  Grubb's,  82,  87 
HOPEWELL  FURNACE,  154 
Hopkins,  John,  45 
Howe,  Sir  William,  at  Valley  Forge, 

93,  95 
Howe,   Sir  William,   march  of,   to 

Philadelphia,  73,  94,  128,  155 
Huber,  Elizabeth,  119,  121 
Huber,  Jacob,  159 
Huber,  John  Jacob,  119,  121 
Hughes,  Gabriel,  81 
Ruling,  John,  79 
Hulings,  Brigetta,  76 
Hulings,  Magdalena,  wedding  of,  77 
Hulings,  Marcus,  76,  77 
Hulings,  Marcus,  Jr.,  62 
Hunsecker,  John,  grant  of  land  from 

the  Penns,   160 


Indentured  servants,  desertion  and 
enlistment  of,  70 

Indian  barter,  52 

Indian  character,  Penn's  estimate  of, 
13 

Indian  Commissioner  at  Fort  Pitt, 
162 

Indian  Council  at  Philadelphia,  14 

Indian  pottery,  44 

Indian  trails  as  highroads  for  grain, 
110 

Indian  Treaty,  14,  45 

Indian  woodcraft,  51 

Indians  as  mine  workers,  5 

Indians  at  Manatawny,  40 

Indians  employed  in  forges,  23 

Indians,  hostility  of,  30,  31,  47 

Indians,  lands  seated  by,  28 

Indians,  murder  of,  31,  137,  138 

Intermarriages  in  iron-making 
world,  63,  75 

Irish,  Nathaniel,  47 

Iron,  export  of,  in  1717,  11 

Iron,  importation  of,  127 

Iron  industry  in  1789,  75 

Iron  in  Province,  early  mention  of,  5 

Iron,  manufacture  of,  primitive  proc- 
esses, 6 

Iron  masters,  patriarchal  life  under, 
183 

Iron  ore  in  Pennsylvania,  early 
knowledge  of,  43 

Iron  works,  early,  statistics  concern- 
ing, 10 

Iron  workers,  skilled,  brought  to 
America,  26 

Iron  Hill,  38,  42 

Iron  Stone  Creek,  20,  24 

Irvine,  Col.  James,  68 

Isaac,  Lazarus,  126 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


197 


Jacobs,  Cyrus,  159 

James,  James,  42 

James,  Mrs.,  the  historian,  18,  22, 

30,75 

James,  Samuel,  42 
Jenkins,  David,  99,  101,  102,  109 
Jenkins,  John,  99,  102 
Jenkins,  Hon.  Robert,  102,  103,  106, 

109 

Jenkins,  William,   102 
Johnson,  George  B.,  99 
Jones,  Caleb,  67 
Jones,  John,  62,  67 
Jones,  Lieut.-Col.  Jonathan,  67 
Jones,  Keim  &  Company,  179 
Jones,  Mary,  58 
Jones's  mine  holes,  67 
Joy,  Capt.  Dan'l,  86 
Juto,  Wm.,  140 


Kalbach,  Adam,  81 

Kalm,  Peter,  96 

Keim,  D.  M.,  179 

Keim,  George  May,  179 

Keith,  Alexander  Henry,  36 

Keith,  George,  12 

Keith,    Sir   William,    Governor    of 

Pennsylvania,  36,  37 
Keith,  Sir  William,  furnace  of,  36 
Kerlin.     See  Keurlis. 
Keurlis,  Martha,  143 
Keurlis,  Peter,  144 
Kidd,  John,  140 
Killingworth,  Rev.  Thomas,  12 
Kinsey,  John,  attorney,  70 
Kirkpatrick,  David,  166 
Krebs,  Joseph,  81 
KURTZ'S  IRON  WORKS,  41 
Laman,  Rev.  John  B.,  105 
Lake  Superior  iron  ore,  89 
Lancaster,  old  copper  mine  near,  5 


Lancaster,   road  from  Philadelphia 

to,  154 
Lancaster  County,  41,  67,  82,  85,  98, 

118,  119,  135,  136,  158 
Lancaster  Co.,  first  Battalion  of  As- 
sociators  of,  162 

Land  grant  to  soldiers,  130 

Langhorne,  Jeremiah,  44 

Lardner,  Lynford,  18,  101,  166 

Lawler,  Ann,  160 

Lawler,  Mary,  of  Lancaster,  160 

Leacock,  Jno.,  15,  22,  64 

Lebanon    County,    forges   and   fur- 
naces in,  82,  89,  135 

Lenan,  Jacob,  80 

Lenni  Lenape   Indians,   habits   and 
traits  of,   13,  14 

Lesher,  Jacob,  113 

Lesher,  John,  111,  113,  153,  176 

Le  Tort,  James,  4 

Leutze,  E.,  54 

Lewis,  James,  20 

Leycock,  Jno.,  23 

Lincoln,  Abram,  80 

Lincoln,  John,  80 

Lincoln,  Mordecai,  99 

Lincoln,  President,  99 

Lindley,  Thomas,  45 

Logan,  James,  1,  29,  45,  46,  49,  57 

Logan,  James,  as  Secretary  of  the 
Province,  2,  3 

Logan,  William,  57,  166 

Longhead,  Jas.,  140 

Longstreth,  Daniel,  140 

Lower  Counties,  36,  42 

Lowden,  Hugh,  70 

Lower,  Christian,  170 

Lower  Forge,  80 

Lower  Hope  well  Forge,  159 
Lower  Providence,  57 


198 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


M 

Malcolm,  John,  139,  140,  141 
Manatawny  Creek,  11,  15,  20,  39, 

58, 62,  111,  143, 144, 145, 158, 170 
Manheim,  117,  123,  127 
Manheim  Glass  House,  125 
Marcus  Hook,  82,  96 
MARIA  FORGE,  135 
Marke,  Thomas,  20 
Marriages  among  the  iron  masters, 

159 

MARTIC  FORGE  AND  FURNACE,  136 
MARY  ANN  FURNACE,  160,  171 
Masters,  Thomas,  12 
Matthews,     William,    the    Quaker 

surveyor,  160 
Maxwell,  General,  34 
Maybury,  Silvanus,  79 
Maybury,   Mayburry,   Thomas,   66, 

81,  133 

Maybury,  William,  176 
McCall,  Alexander,  40 
McCall,  Archibald,  40 
McCall,  George,  39,  40 
McCall,  Samuel,  40 
McCalla,  Capt.  John,  148 
MCCALL'S  or  GLASGOW  FORGE,  39 
McCalmont,  John,  139 
McClenachan,  Blair,  87 
McGrew,  Archibald,  166 
McGrew,  Finley,  186 
McKee,  Capt.  Thos.,  138 
McKonkly's  Ferry,  54 
Mcllvaine,  Ferguson,  138,  139 
McQuatty,  David,  32 
Mennet,  129 
Meredith,  Rebecca,  103 
Meyer,  David,  169 
Middle  Forges,  79 
Mifflin,  Geo.,  15,  22,  23,  64 
Mifflin,  Thomas  (Governor),  58 
Mifling,  George,  64 
Military    service,    exemption    from, 

188 


Miller,  Jacob,  161 

Miller,  John,  142 

Miller,  Michael,  115 

Milltown   (Abington),  12 

Mine  Ridge,  5 

Mitchel,  a  Swiss  miner,  4,  5 

Moll,  Henry,  178 

Monocacy  Road,  160 

Montgomery  County,  forges  in,  37, 

39,  57,  66,  143,  180,  188 
Montgomery,  Wm.,  140 
Moorehead,  Wm.  G.,  187 
Moravian  stove,  123 
Morgan,  General  Daniel,  56 
Morgan,  Jacob,  114 
Morgan,  James,  50,  56,  57 
Morgantown,  154 
Morlatton,  Malanton,  30,  76,  77 
Morris,  Anthony,  1,  15,  20,  22,  23, 

39,  45,  58,  60,  64,  172,  173 
Morris,  Benjamin,  157,  158 
Morris,  Cadwallader,  77,  157 
Morris  family,  61 
Morris,  Francis,  79 
Morris,  Henry,  116 
Morris,  John,  172 
Morris,  Margaret,  150 
Morris,  Maurice,  20 
Morris,  Morris,  64 
Morris,  Richard  Hill,  151 
Morris,  Robert,  purchase  of  Stiegel 

home  by,  129 

Morris,  Mrs  Robert,  letter  of,  128 
Morris,  Samuel,  172 
Moselem  Creek,  170 
MOSELEM  FORGE,  170 
Moselem  mine,  170,  176 
MOUNT  JOY,  or  VALLEY  FORGE,  90, 

145 
Mount   Joy    Forge   burned    by   the 

British,  93 
Mount  Joy  Forge,   submerging  of, 

95 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


199 


MOUNT    PLEASANT    FURNACE    AND 

FORGE,  75 

Muhlenberg,  Rev.  William  A.,  132 
Mules,  transportation  of  iron  by,  182 
Munroe,  George,  139 
Musgrave,  Joseph,  139,  140 
Musgrove,  Edward,  171 
Musket   barrels,   boring  of,    during 

Revolution,  139 
Muskets  for  Continental  Army,  156, 

157 
Muskets    from    Warwick    Furnace, 

155 

N 

Navy,  cannon  and  shot  for,  169 

Neil,  Thomas,  177 

Nepham,  Stacy,  140 

New  Goshenhoppen,  135 

New  Market  Forge,  87,  135 

NEW  PINE  FORGES,  79,  154 

Nieman,  Zachariah,  140 

Nikoll,  John  George,  115 

Nixon,  John,  157 

Noblitt,  Abraham,  166 

Norris,  Isaac,  29,  61 

North,  Col.  Caleb,  93 

Nutt,  Anna,  18,  28,  34,  69,  70 

Nutt,  Rebecca,  34 

Nutt,  Samuel,  16,  17,  19,  27,  33,  69, 

74 

Nutt,  Samuel,  Jr.,  29,  34,  70,  93 
Nutt's  dealings  with  Indians,  13 
Nutt  Road,  29 

O 

Octorara  Creek,  41 

Offley,  Caleb,  147,  148 

Offley,  Daniel,  147,  148,  149,  150, 

151 

Offley,  Margaret,  147 
OFFLEY'S  ANCHOR  FORGE,  147 
Old,  Anne,  87,  135,  159 


Old,  Caroline,  116 

Old,  James,  81,  87,  116,  135,  157, 

159 

Old,  John,  152,  153,  158 
Old,  Joseph,  159 
Old,  William,  116,  159 
Oley  Churches,  111,  158 
OLEY  FORGE,  111,  170 
OLEY  FURNACE,  176 
Ore,  discovery  of,  reward  for,  17 
Ore,  iron,  washing  of,  7 
Orth,  Adam,   135 
Osenbrigs,    Oxenbrigs,    Ozenbriggs, 

33 

Owen,  Evan,  20 
Owen,  Griffith,  45,  55 
Owen,  John,  96,  144 


Paine,  R.  T.,  86 

Paris,  Franklin  stove  used  in,  73 

Parker's  Ford,  73 

Paschal,  Stephen,  17,  147 

Pastorius,  bailiff  of  Germantown,  13 

Pastorius,  German  colonists  under, 
143 

Patchwork  quilts,  183 

Patterson,  Samuel,  139 

Patton  and  Bird,  80 

Patton,  Colonel  John,  76,  78,  81,  152 

Paul,  Michael,  145 

Paxton  Road,  89 

"  Peel,"  use  of,  91 

Pemberton,  Israel,  57 

Pen,  Sir  William,  3 

Penn,  Governor  John,  39,  57,  83,  84, 
128,  138 

Penn,  Richard,  83,  84 

Penn,  Thomas,  83,  84 

Penn,  William,  36,  39,  42,  143,  162 

Penn,  William,  dealings  of,  with  In- 
dians, 13 

Pennsbury,  Indian  treaty  at,  45 


200 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


Pennsylvanian  Fireplace,  73 

Penrose,  C.  B.,  186 

Penrose,  Samuel,  38 

Pequea,  104,  136 

PETER  DICK'S  BLOOMARY  FORGE,  151, 

171 

Peters,  Richard,  57,  166,  172 
Petty,  John,  31 
Peugh,  James,  26,  27 
Philadelphia,  approach  of  British  to, 

73,  94,  128,  155 
Philadelphia,  early  iron  masters  in, 

121,  122,  147 

Philadelphia,  hauling  of  iron  to,  92 
Philadelphia,  historic  bell  presented 

to,  94 
Philadelphia,   old   highway   to,   89, 

154 

Philadelphia,  sale  of  iron  in,  19 
Philadelphia  County,  forges  in,  11, 

20,  39,  62,  75,  111,  143 
Physick,    Edmund,    Keeper    of    the 

Great  Seal,  128 
Pig  iron,  66,  79 

Pig  iron,  conversion  of,  into  blooms,  6 
Pig  iron,  exportation  of,  11,  46 
Pig-iron,  transportation  of,  50 
Pigeon  Hills,  151 
Pine  Creek,  158 
PINE  FORGE,  62,  63,  145 
Pine  Grove,  166,  187 
PINE  GROVE  FURNACE,  175,  181 
Plumsted,  Clement,  45 
Poco  Creek,  135 

Pontoon  bridge  at  Valley  Forge,  94 
POOL  FORGE,  11,  60,  63,  64,  159 
Pool  Forge,  Indian  attack  upon,  14 
Pool  Forge,  original  owners  of,  15 
Pope,  John,  166 
Pope,  Thomas,  186 
Popodick,  Indian  King,  24 
Popodickon,  23 
Porter,  George  B.,  106 
Potter,  General,  34 


Potts,  Anna,  63 

Potts,  David,  24,  62,  63,  75 

Potts,  John,  17,  40,  62,  63,  65,  91, 
92,  114,  144,  146 

Potts,  Joseph,  Jr.,  40 

Potts,  Rebecca,  158 

Potts,  Robert  S.,  138,  139 

Potts,  Samuel,  40,  65,  74 

Potts,  Thomas,  1,  15,  20,  21,  22,  23, 
24,  60,  62,  63,  64 

Potts,  Thomas,  as  host  to  Washing- 
ton, 146 

Potts,  Thomas,  Jr.,  39,  75,  144 

Potts,  Thomas,  Sr.,  144 

Potts,  Thomas  W.,  94 

Potts'  Forge,  34 

Pottsgrove,  39,  145.  See  also  Potts- 
town. 

POTTSGROVE  FORGE,  143 

Pottstown,  39,  75,  145 

Powel,  Samuel,  45,  55 

Powell,  Sarah,  97 

Pratt,  Abraham,  12 

Preston,  Samuel,  15,  22,  23 

Prisoners  of  war,  Hessian,  85,  118, 
130 

Prisoners  quartered  in  churches,  85 

Profits  from  iron  making,  111 

Proprietary  and  Governor's  Coun- 
cil, members  of,  166 

Provincial  troops,  arms  of,  173 

Public  Library,  first  in  America,  71 

Puddled  iron,  7 

Pyewell,  Wm.,  22,  23 


Quakers  absent  from  Assembly,  97 
Quakers  as  ironmasters,  11,  21 
Quakers,  non-partisan  sentiments  of, 

95 

Queen    Anne,    silver    chalice    pre- 
sented by,  13 

QUITTAPAHILLA   FORGE,   87,    135 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


2OI 


Ranger,  Chief,  of  Province  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 165 

Read,  Charles,  45 

Read,  Henry,  145 

Read,  Prothonotary,  87 

Reading,  170 

Reading,  march  of  British  to,  155 

READING  FURNACE,  16,  17,  25,  34, 70, 
100,  159 

Reading  Furnace,  second,  31 

Reagan,  George,  178 

Redding  Furnace.  See  Reading 
Furnace. 

Redemptioners,  32,  55,  92 

Red  Lion,  50 

Rees,  Mary,  62 

Reis,  Michael,  115 

Richards,  Owen,  72 

Ridge  Road,  154 

Rifle  Men,  Battalion  of,  167 

Rigby,  John  S.,  172 

Robert,  Anne,  16 

Roberts,  E.,  57 

Robeson,  Andrew,  144 

Robeson,  Magdelen,  144 

Robesonia,  153 

Rockland  Forges,  176 

Rodgers,  Owen,  72 

Rodgers,  Phillip,  27 

Rodman,  Sarah,  149 

Rolling  Mills,  40,  96,  138 

Rose,  red,  as  annual  rental,  124 

Roses,  Feast  of,  120,  125 

Ross,  Catherine,  167,  168 

Ross,  George,  the  Signer,  56,  113, 
161,  162,  169,  171 

Ross,  George,  the  Rector,  of  New- 
castle, 78,  162 

Ross,  John,  111,  113,  162 

Ross,  Mary,  78 

ROXBOROUGH,  later  BERKSHIRE  FUR- 
NACE, 76,  79,  80,  81,  152,  153 


Royal  proclamations,  reading  of,  71 
Rum,  restrictions  concerning,  32 
Rush,  Anthony,  153 
Rush,  Colonel,  103 
Rush,  Sarah  Aurelia,  103 
Rutter,  Anna,  28 
Rutter,  David,  40 
Rutter,  John,  20,  23 
Rutter,  Margaret,  63 
Rutter,  Rebecca,  18,  24,  75 
Rutter,  Thomas,  1,  12,  15,  18,  20, 
21,  22,  23,  26,  42,  60,  63,  66,  144 
Rutter,  Thomas,  Jr.,  74,  75 


SALFORD  FORGE,  188 

Sanatoga,  146 

Sanderson,  Francis,  172,  173 

SARUM  IRONWORKS,  96 

Sassoonan,  King  of  the  Delawares, 
14 

Sauer,  Christopher,  73 

Savage,  Anna,  28 

Savage,  Ruth,  29 

Savage,  Samuel,  26 

Savage,  Seeny,  62 

Saw  Hole,  130 

Schoepf,  Dr.  John  D.,  50 

Schultz,  David,  133 

Schuylkill  Canal,  76 

Schuylkill  River,  crossed  by  invad- 
ing army,  93,  94 

Schuylkill  River,  navigation  of,  19 

Schuylkill  region,  iron  mines  in,  143 

Schwenkfelders'  arrival  from 
Europe,  133 

Scotch-Irish  frontiersmen,  167 

Scriptural  texts  on  stoves,  8,  9 

Scull,  Nicholas,  surveyor,  24,  165 

Scull's  maps  of  Pennsylvania,  24, 
39,  48,  154,  166,  180 

Seligman,  Henry,  92 

Shaw,  Henry,  148 


202 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES   IN  THE 


Shaw,  John,  81 

Shawnee  Indians,  King  of,  4,  5 

Shell,  casting  of,  54,  55,  73,  86,  153 

Ship  "  Amity,"  62 

Ship  Cyrus,  149 

Ship  Nancy,  120 

Shippen,  Edward,  57,  136 

Shoemaker,  Benjamin,  166 

Shoffer,  Jacob,  170 

Shot,  casting  of,  54,  55,  86,  118, 
153,  169 

Simon,  Jacob,  186 

SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH'S  FURNACE,  36 

Slitting  mills,  96 

Slough,  Matthias,  141,  142 

Smith,  James,  the  Signer,  177 

Smith,  Rev.  Robert,  D.D.,  104 

Smith,  Thomas,  136,  137,  138,  139 

Smith,  Dr.  William,  first  Provost  of 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  73 

Smith,  William,  136,  161 

Snyder,  Henry,  72 

Society  of  Free  Traders,  13 

South  Mountain,  172,  181,  182,  187 

Spain,  origin  of  bloomary  in,  6 

Spang  Forge,  114 

Spang,  Frederick,  114 

SPEEDWELL  FORGE,  87,  159 

Sping,  Andrew,  72 

Spotswood,  Governor,  98 

Spring  Book,  153 

SPRING  FORGE,  I,  58 

SPRING  FORGE,  II,  158 

SPRING  FORGE,  III,  151,  169,  171, 
175 

Staples,  Rebecca,  12 

Stapleton,  Robert,  111 

State  pension,  168 

Stedman,  Alexander,  121,  129 

Stedman,  C.  and  A.,  115,  123,  124 

Stedman,  Charles,  81,  121,  129 

Steel  first  made  in  America,  26 

Steel  furnace,  pioneer,  in  Philadel- 
phia, 17 


Steel,  James,  28 

Stein,  — ,  115 

Steinmetz,  John,   169 

Stengel  family,  120 

Stenton,  firebacks  at,  49,  61 

Stevenson,  Catherine,  166 

Stevenson,   George,    160,    161,    165, 

166,  186 
Stevenson,  George,  as  Chief  Ranger 

of  York  Co.,  165 
Stevenson,  Henry,  165 
Stevenson,  Mary  and  Nancy,  166 
Stewart,  Capt.  Lazerus,  137 
Stiegel,  Barbara,   121 
Stiegel,  Elizabeth,  116,  159 
Stiegel  glassware,  126 
Stiegel,  Henry  William,  1,  115,  119, 

159 

Stiegel,  Jacob,  121 
Stockley,  John  S.,  147 
Stove  bearing  patriotic  motto,  154 
Stove  invented  by  Franklin,  70,  72 
Stove,  wall  warming,  9 
Stove  plates,  decoration  of,  9,  121 
Stove  plates,  decoration  of,  Biblical, 

50 

Stoves,  casting  of,  8,  133 
Stowe,  62 
Stratford,  62 
Strettell,  Robert,  166 
Stroudwater  blankets,  14 
Stuart,    Gilbert,   portrait  of  Wash- 
ington, 131 
Sullivan,  General,  94 
Supreme  Executive  Council,  163, 164 
Supreme  Executive   Council,   Lesh- 

er's  letter  to,  112 
Surrie,  John,  79 
Susquehanna  River,  boats  used  on, 

51 
Susquehanna    River,    shipment    of 

coal,  down,  173 
Sutter,  Peter,  140 
Swede's  Ford,  77,  93 


PROVINCE   OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 


203 


Swedes,  settlements  of,  at  Morlat- 
tan,  30 


Taylor,  George,  55,  56 

Taylor,  Isaac,  27 

Taylor,  Jacob,  Surveyor-General,  28 

Taylor,  John,  28,  96 

Tariff  law  in  1789,  75 

Tariff,  protective,  votes  for,  107 

Tennessee  mountaineers,  182,  185 

Thomas,  Governor,  proclamation  of, 
70 

Thompson,  General  William,  160, 
161,  168 

Thompson,  General  William,  Col- 
onel's commission  to,  167 

Thompson,  Mary,  165 

Thomson,  Charles,  Secretary  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  61 

Thornburg,  Robert,  172,  186 

Till,  William,  166 

Tower  Hill,  124 

Tulpehocken  Eisenhammer,  115, 123 

Turner,  Joseph,  45,  84,  166 

U 

Udree,  General  Daniel,  176 

Union  Canal,  89 

Union  Furnace,  178 

Union  Iron  Works,  47 

Union,  transport,  168 

United  States,  first  Treasurer  of,  142 


VALLEY  FORGE,  29,  34,  56,  90,  145, 
154.  See  also  MOUNT  JOY  FORGE. 

Valley  Forge,  Continental  Army  at, 
19,  146 

Valley  Forge,  evacuation  of,  94 

Valley  Forge,  headquarters  of  Wash- 
ington at,  94 

Valley  Forge,  preaching  at,  103 


Van  Gezel,  Catherine,  162 

Van  Leer,  Bernhard,  18 

Vaux,  James,  94 

Vaux,  James,  Washington  at  house 

of,  95 

Veneada,  George,  81 
Vincent  Steel  Works,  17,  18 
Von  Hiester,  General,  130 

W 

Walker,  Daniel,  91 
Wallace,  James,  137 
Warwick,  Washington  at,  74 
WARWICK  FURNACE,  63,  69,  154, 155 
Washington,   General   George,  and 

Canadian  Campaign,  167 
Washington,  Gen'l  George,  as  guest 

of  James  Vaux,  95 
Washington,    General    George,    as 

guest  of  Robert  Coleman,  131 
Washington,    General    George,    as 

guest  of  Thomas  Potts,  19,  146 
Washington,    General    George,    at 

Valley  Forge,  95,  103,  104 
Washington,    Gen'l    George,    letter 

of,  to  Gen.  Wayne,  34 
Washington,    Gen'l    George,    letter 

of,  to  President  of  Congress,  74 
Washington,   Gen'l   Geoege,  march 

of,   to   French   Creek   and  Potts- 
grove,  155 

Washington's  Headquarters,  29,  73 
Washingtonburg,  173 
Watson,  John  F.,  148 
Watson,  Patrick,  166 
Watts,  Hon.  Frederick,  186 
Watts,  William  M.,  186,  187 
Wayne,  General  Anthony,  35,  92 
Wayne,  General,  at  Three  Rivers, 

168 

Wayne,  Isaac,  92 
Webb,  James,  137,  139 
Webb,  Samuel,  138 


204 


FORGES   AND   FURNACES. 


Webb,  William,  138 

Weight,  Benjamin,  25 

Weiss,    Weitzius,    Rev.    George 

Michael,  66,  135 
Welcker,  Dietrich,  176 
Wells  Falls,  51 
Welsh,  John,  140 
Wernersville,  152 
West,  Edward,  64 
West,  Tommy,  64 
Whiskey  Insurrection,  88 
White,  Thomas    (Mrs.),   128 
Whiteford,  Hugh,  166 
Wilkes-Barre,  173 
Wilkin,  Matthew,  140 
Wilkins,  John,  166 
Williams,  Joseph,  91 
Willow  Grove  turnpike,  37 
Wilson,  James,  the  Signer,  78 
WINDSOR  FORGES,  17,  98,  154 
WINDSOR  FURNACE,  178,  179 
Winey,  Jacob,  178 
Winter,  John  and  Walter,  31 
Wishon,  Conrad,  80 
Wistar,   Doctor,    attendance   of,   on 

fever  victims,  150 
Wolff,  Anna  Dorothea,  175 
Womelsdorf,  115,  124,  153 


Women's  work  at  furnaces,  181 
Wood,  consumption  of,  in  furnaces, 

23,  110,  156,  181 
Wood,  Elizabeth,  121 
Wooddrop,  Alexander,  15,  22,  23,  64 
Woodland,  destruction  of,  40 
Woodman,  Henry,  90 


Yarnall,  Dr.  Peter,  150 

Yeates,  Anne,  40 

Yeates,  Jasper,  130,  164 

Yeldale,  Anthony,  140 

Yellow  Springs,  74,  155 

Yoder,  John,  111 

York,   169 

York  County,  97,  118,  151,  160,  171, 

177 

Yorke  &  Potts,  80 
Yorke,  Thomas,  19,  64 
Young,  James,  Paymaster,  173 
Young,  Peter,  140 


Zantzinger,  Paul,  81,  117 
Zerby,  Hanes,  81 


14  DAY  USE 

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APR  2  9  1959 


INTER-LIBRARY 


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OCT?0'68-gPM 


OCT    9 '68 


LD  21A-50m-9,'58 
(6889slO)476B 


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YC  685 1 !