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GIFT OF
MICHAEL REESE

•

TV -703

HISTORY

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON

IN ALL AGES,

AND PARTICULARLY IN THE UNITED STATES
FROM COLONIAL TIMES TO 1891.

ALSO A SHORT HISTORY OF

EARLY COAL MINING «IN' THE UNITED STATES

AND A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE

INFLUENCES WHICH LONG DELAYED THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ALL AMEKICAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

JAMES M. SWANK,

» /

SECRETARY AND GENERAL MANAGER OF THE AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL
ASSOCIATION FOR TWENTY* YEARS, FROM 1872 TO 1892.

SECOND EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED.

PHILADELPHIA:
THE AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL ASSOCIATION,

NO. 261 SOUTH FOURTH STREET.

Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1891,

BY JAMES M. SWANK,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Printed by

ALLEN, LANE & SCOTT,

Nos. 229-231 South Fifth Street,

Philadelphia.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

IN presenting to iron and steel manufacturers and to
others a second edition of the History of the Manufacture of
Iron in All Ages I copy from the preface to the first edition,
which appeared in 1884, the following sentences, explanatory
of the considerations which led to its publication.

" No historical record of the iron industry of the scope of
that which is here presented has been undertaken by any of
the authoritative writers upon iron and steel. Such standard
works as those of Alexander, Overman, Percy, and Bauerman
are more technical than historical, while the excellent his-
tory of Mr. Scrivenor was published more than forty years
ago, and relates almost entirely to the iron industry of Great
Britain. None of the works mentioned devote much atten-
tion to the growth of the American iron industry. Most of
them, indeed, were written before our iron industry became
especially noticeable for either enterprise or productiveness.
The history of that industry, written from a sympathetic
standpoint and with a full knowledge of details, and par-
ticularly with a knowledge of its marvelous growth in the
last few decades, had yet to be written, and this service I
have endeavored to perform in the present volume in con-
nection with the history of the manufacture of iron in other
countries. I have aimed especially to preserve in chrono-
logical order a record of the beginning of the iron industry
in every country and in every section of our own country,
and to follow this record with a circumstantial account of
the introduction into our country of all modern methods of
manufacturing iron and steel. Names of persons and places,
exact dates, authentic statistics, and accomplished results
have been preferred to technical details, although these have
not been neglected.

" In the collection of the materials for this volume I have
been exceedingly fortunate in possessing a personal acquaint-

IV PREFACE.

ance with most of the leading actors in the wonderful de-
velopment of our American iron industry during the pres-
ent century, and in learning from their own lips and from
their own letters many of the incidents of that development.
It is the exact truth to say that, if the preparation of this
history had been delayed for a few years, it could not have
been written, for many of these pioneers are now dead."

The reasons for the appearance of the first edition hav-
ing been given above I now add that this second and last
edition has been prepared because much new information
relating to the early iron history of our own country and of
other countries has come into my possession since 1884, and
because seven succeeding years of great activity in the de-
velopment of the world's iron and steel industries have been
productive of important statistical and other results which
are eminently worthy of preservation in a condensed and
permanent form. The second edition contains 132 pages of
historical details more than the first edition. In the first
edition there were 48 chapters. Nearly every chapter in that
edition has been in part rewritten. In the present edition
there are 63 chapters. Among the entirely new chapters of
the second edition is one relating to the early discoveries of
coal in the United States, and another detailing the connec-
tion of the Washington and Lincoln families with the manu-
facture of iron in colonial times. All accessible statistical in-
formation relating to the world's production of iron, steel,
coal, and iron ore has been brought down to the latest pos-
sible periods.

Due credit is given in the text to the printed authori-
ties which have been consulted. My thanks are due to the
friends who have assisted me in many ways in the collection
and verification of the fresh historical and statistical mate-
rials which are now presented. I also express my obliga-
tions to my proof-readers, Mr. William M. Benney and Mr.
William G. Gray, who have with great pains assisted me to
guard against all errors of a serious character.

PHILADELPHIA, January 1, 1892.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
THE EARLIEST USE OF IRON.

Iron first made in Asia and in Northern Africa— Evidences of the early use of iron by
the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians— Iron and steel
frequently referred to in the Old Testament— Known to the Medes and Persians and
to the people of India, China, Japan, and Corea— Decay of the iron and steel indus-
tries of Asia and Africa, Pages 1-10

CHAPTER II.
THE EARLY USE OF IRON IN EUROPE.

Grecian fables concerning iron and steel — Both metals frequently mentioned in the writ-
ings of Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, and other early Grecian writers— Evidences of the
early manufacture and use of iron and steel by the Greeks— Made by the Etruscans
and the Romans ; also in Scythia, Noricum, Moravia, and Hungary— The early iron
and steel industries of Spain and the Basque provinces— Of France, Belgium, Germany,
Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden and Norway, Russia, and Finland— The Krupps
of Essen— The Russian iron industry in the eighteenth century, Pages 11-32

CHAPTER III.
BEGINNING OF THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY.

Iron known to the Britons before Csesar's invasion but not much used— Made by the
Romans in many parts of Britain— Remains of Roman iron works still to be seen—
Iron made in Britain by the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes— The British iron industry
extended by the Normans— Greatly promoted in the reign of Edward III.— Character-
istics of the British iron industry in the 13th and 14th centuries— The smith in Eng-
lish history— The first use of cannon in England, Pages 33-44

CHAPTER IV.

THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY FROM THE FIFTEENTH TO THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The manufacture of iron in England greatly extended about the beginning of the 15th
century— Introduction of blast furnaces into England— " Many great guns" cast in
Sussex-Wire first drawn by a mill in England in 1568— Invention of the slitting mill-
Birmingham in the time of Henry VIII.— The art of tinning iron introduced into
England from the Continent in 1670— Growing scarcity of wood for charcoal in Eng-
land in the 16th and 17th centuries— Only 59 furnaces left in England and Wales in
1740— England a large importer of iron from Sweden in the 17th and 18th centuries
and from America and Russia in the 18th century— First use of coal in the British iron
industry— Henry Cort's invention of the puddling furnace and grooved rolls— Other
innovations— Beginning of the British steel industry— Sheffield in 1615— Biographical
notices of some distinguished men connected with the British iron trade, Pages 45-55

CHAPTER V.

THE IRON INDUSTRY OF WALES, IRELAND, AND SCOTLAND.

Iron made in Wales under the Romans— Extension of the iron industry of Wales in the
. 16th century— Merthyr Tydvil an iron centre— Iron made in Ireland in the reigns of

V CONTENTS.

Elizabeth and James I., and afterwards— The iron industry of Ireland extinct in 1840—
Iron scarce in Scotland in the middle ages— Remains of ancient iron works in Scot-
land described by W. Ivison Macadam— Beginning of the modern iron industry of
Scotland— Carron Furnace— The Devon Iron Works Pages 56-61

CHAPTER VI.

THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY BUILT UP BY BRITISH
INVENTIVE GENIUS.

The 18th century begins a new era in the British iron industry— Great Britain becomes
the first iron manufacturing country — The inventions of Payne and Hanbury, of
Darby, Huntsman, Smeaton, Cort, Watt, Stephenson, Neilson, Crane, and Nasmyth—
Also at a later day of Bessemer, Mushet, and Charles William and Frederick Sie-
mens Pages 62-64

CHAPTER VII.
EARLY PROCESSES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

Description of the rude direct processes of manufacturing iron which were used by the
ancients— They are still used— Goatskin bellows— The present method of making steel
in India — Methods of making iron in China, Cambodia, Corea, and Japan — Japanese
and Corean bellows described— Iron made in Belgium and England in the days of the
Romans without an artificial blast — A refinery forge described by Virgil — Diodorus
and Pliny describe the early furnaces of Southern Europe— The Catalan forge of
Spain — The first mention of coal — Used in Anglo-Saxon times — Were the Greeks and
Romans familiar with cast iron? Pages 65-79

CHAPTER VIII.

MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PROCESSES IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

Revival of the iron industry in Europe in the 8th century— The wolf furnace, or stuck-
ofen, first mentioned — The osmund furnace — The blauofen and flussofen — The hochofen —
The blast furnace in use about the beginning of the 14th century— The Catalan forge
and the German bloomary in general use— Description by Dr. Parsons of an English
blast furnace and refinery forge of the 17th century— Also by Walter Burrell— Puddling
furnaces and coke blast furnaces not used on the Continent until the 19th century-
Leather and wooden bellows for blowing blast furnaces— The trompe, or water-blast—
Origin of the rolling mill— Slitting and rolling mills as "late improvements "—John
Houghton describes a slitting mill— Mechanical features of the English iron industry
at the beginning of the 18th century— Professor Akerman's account of the origin of
the slitting mill and rolling mill— Various ancient and modern methods of making
steel— Agricola describes the early German method— Thomas Turner's description of
cemented steel— Percy, Griiner, and other authorities on steel quoted— Dud Dudley's
account of the foot-blast— Ancient and modern methods of producing steel compared
—The bauernofen, "... Pages 80-99

CHAPTER IX.

FIRST ATTEMPT BY EUROPEANS TO MANUFACTURE IRON IN
THE UNITED STATES.

Iron made in northern latitudes only— Not known to the aboriginal inhabitants of Amer-
ica except when of meteoric origin — First discovery of iron ore in the Atlantic colo-
nies made in North Carolina in 1585— Iron ore sent from Virginia to England in 1608—
An iron enterprise on Falling Creek, Virginia, undertaken in 1619— Destroyed by the
Indians in 1622 before it had made any iron— No further attempts to make iron in
Virginia for nearly a hundred years— The site of the Falling Creek enterprise de-
scribed by R. A. Brock, of Richmond Pages 100-107^

CONTENTS. yii

CHAPTER X.

BEGINNING OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN THE NEW
ENGLAND COLONIES.

The first successful iron enterprise in America established by Thomas Dexter, Robert
Bridges, and others at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1645, when a blast furnace was put in
operation, followed in 1648 by a forge at the same place— Full description of these
pioneer iron works— The site of these early iron works described— The first iron ar-
ticle made in America still preserved— Joseph Jenks— Henry and James Leonard—
"Where you can find iron works there you will find a Leonard "—A furnace and forge
built at Braintree, in Massachusetts— The next iron enterprise in New England estab-
lished near Taunton— James Leonard and his sons go to Taunton— George Hall— Other
members of the Leonard family— King Philip— "John Ruck and others of Salem"—
Iron made at Concord, Rowley Village, Topsfield, and Boxford, all in Massachusetts—
The Whittington Iron Works— The Chartley Iron Works— King's Furnace— The Hope-
well Iron Works— Iron works at New Haven established by Captain Thomas Clarke,
John Winthrop, Jr., and others in 1658— Iron made in Rhode Island as early as 1675,
when a forge at Pawtucket was destroyed by the Indians, Pages 108-119

CHAPTER XI.
EXTENSION OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN NEW ENGLAND.

The first furnace in Plymouth county, Massachusetts— Lambert Despard and the Barkers—
The Bound Brook and Drinkwater iron works — The various enterprises of Hugh Orr —
The first cast-iron tea-kettle— The first slitting-mill in the colonies— Douglass's descrip-
tion of the iron industry of New England in 1750 — Extension of the iron industry into
Western Massachusetts about 1750— Rapidly extended in Eastern Massachusetts— De-
scription of Federal Furnace in 1804— The bog and pond ores of Massachusetts— The
first steel works in Massachusetts— Eliphalet and Jonathan Leonard— Iron enterprises
in Rhode Island before the Revolution— Stephen Hopkins, the signer of the Declara-
tion, and General Nathanael Greene made iron — Hope Furnace— Cranston and Cumber-
land Hill— The Salisbury iron district in Connecticut— Early iron enterprises at Lime
Rock and Lake ville— Colonel Ethan Allen an iron manufacturer at Lakeville— Early
iron enterprises on Mount Riga— Prominence of the Salisbury district— Milo Barnum
and William H. Barnum— The Holleys— Other early iron enterprises in Connecticut-
Connecticut the first of the colonies to make steel— Early iron enterprises in Maine,
New Hampshire, and Vermont— The early nail and tack industry of New England-
Nails made in chimney corners— The first nail-cutting machine Pages 120-135

CHAPTER XII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN NEW YORK.

The early Dutch settlers of New York did not make iron— Philip Livingston establishes
the first iron works in New York on Ancram creek before 1740— Lawrence Scrawley's
plating forge at Wawayanda, in Orange county, built about 1745— Other early enter-
prises in Orange county— The Townsends— The great iron chain across the Hudson
in 1778 which prevented British vessels from passing West Point— The Sterling Iron
Works of the Townsends described-Early iron works in Dutchess, Westchester, Put-
nam, and Suffolk counties— Development of the Champlain district about 1800— Early
iron enterprises in other parts of New York-John Brinkerhoff-Erastus Corning-The
Piersons at Ramapo— Henry Burden and his inventions Pages 136-145

CHAPTER XIII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN NEW JERSEY.

The first iron works in New Jersey established at Tinton Falls, in Monmouth county,
about 1674— The Leonards of Massachusetts— Development of the magnetic ores of
Northern New Jersey about 1710 at Whippany— Early iron works at Morristown— The

Vlll CONTENTS.

Dickerson mine — Many early iron works in Northern New Jersey described by Dr.
Joseph F. Tuttle and Hon. Edmund D. Halsey— Peter Hasenclever and the Ringwood
Company — Robert Erskine — Lord Stirling, John Jacob Faesch, and others — The Hiber-
nia and Mount Hope furnaces— The Fords— Early iron works in Andover township
in Sussex county — Whitehead Humphreys — Durham boats — The Union Iron Works, and
Oxford, Sterling, Ogden's, and Mount Holly furnaces— William Allen and Joseph Tur-
ner— Early iron works in Southern New Jersey — Batsto and Atsion furnaces — Charles
Read— William, Jesse, and Samuel Richards— Mark Richards, or Reichert— Old Boonton
slitting mill in the Revolution— Benjamin and David Reeves— The first rolling mill
in New Jersey— Peter Cooper, Abram S. Hewitt, and Frederick J. Slade— Dr. Morse's de-
scription of the iron industry of New Jersey in 1795 Pages 146-162

CHAPTER XIV.
BEGINNING OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PENNSYLVANIA.

Iron not made in Pennsylvania until after the arrival of William Penn in 1682— Penn
encouraged the opening of iron and other mines — First iron made in Pennsylvania
experimentally before 1692, but at what place is not known— The first historic iron
works in Pennsylvania established by Thomas Rutter, an English Quaker, on the
Manatawny, in Berks county, in 1716— Rutter's enterprise was a bloomary, probably
called Manatawny Forge— Coventry Forge, on French creek, in Chester county, built
by Samuel Nutt, also an English Quaker, in 1717 or 1718, the second iron enterprise
in Pennsylvania— Colebrookdale Furnace, in Berks county, built by a company, of
which Thomas Rutter was a member, about 1720, the third iron enterprise— Thomas
Potts, Jr.— Pool Forge— "A person named Kurtz "—Durham Furnace built in 1727—
Other early iron enterprises in Eastern Pennsylvania established between 1725 and
1750— In 1728 there were "four furnaces in blast in the colony "—Reading Furnace
on French creek — William Branson — Samuel Nutt, Jr. — Benjamin Franklin invents
the Franklin stove in 1742— Warwick Furnace— The Vincent Steel Works— The Wind-
sor Forges— John, David, and Robert Jenkins— Mrs. Martha J. Nevin— Valley Forge
and its history— The iron enterprises of William and Mark Bird— Charming Forge-
George Ege— Oley Furnace— A forge on Cram creek, in Delaware county, built about
1742, by John Crosby and Peter Dicks, which "ruined Crosby's family" — Sarura Iron
Works built as early as 1742— John Taylor— "A plating forge to work with a tilt-ham-
mer" in Byberry township, Philadelphia county, in 1750 — Two steel furnaces in Phila-
delphia in 1750, and others built before the Revolution, Pages 163-178

CHAPTER XV.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PENNSYLVANIA EXTENDED
TO THE SUSQUEHANNA.

Elizabeth' Furnace, built in 1750 by John Huber, a German, the first iron enterprise in the
present county of Lancaster— Baron Stiegel one of its early owners— Robert Coleman
a later owner— Pool Forge built by James Old about 1765— His other iron enter-
prises— Biographical sketches of James Old and Robert Coleman — Cyrus Jacobs — Peter
Grubb builds Cornwall Furnace in 1742— His other iron enterprises— His sons, Curtis
and Peter — Martic Furnace and Forge — Hopewell and Speedwell forges — The iron in-
dustry crosses the Susquehanna as early as 1756, Pages 179-185

CHAPTER XVI.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY IRON INDUSTRY OF PENN-
SYLVANIA.

In 1750 Pennsylvania was the most advanced of all the colonies in the manufacture of
iron — Cornwall, Warwick, and Reading furnaces were large structures for their day —
Description of these furnaces— Also of the workmen employed at the early furnaces
and forges of Pennsylvania— The patriarchal character of early Pennsylvania iron-
masters—" Good old colony times," Pages 186-190

CONTENTS. jx

CHAPTER XVII.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PENNSYLVANIA AFTER THE

REVOLUTION.

First iron enterprises in the Lehigh Valley undertaken after 1800— William Henry's
bloomary forge near Nazareth— Hampton Furnace near Shimersville— The Heim-
bachs— Samuel Helfrick and the Balliets— A rolling mill built at South Easton by
John Stewart and others in 1836— Bloomaries in Carbon county— The Cheltenham
Rolling Mill built in 1790— Benjamin Longstreth establishes the 'first iron enterprise
at Phoenixville in 1790— Clemens Rentgen and his novel iron enterprises— Early iron
enterprises in Schuylkill county— Federal Slitting MiU built by Isaac Pennock in
1795— Brandywine Rolling Mill and its successor, the Lukens Rolling Mill— Dr. Charles
Lukens— Mrs. Rebecca W, Lukens— Mount Hope Furnace and other iron enterprises in
Lancaster, Lebanon, and York counties— The Reynolds family— Early iron enterprises in
Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland counties— Thaddeus Stevens— The Chambers broth-
ers—The Haldeman family— Michael Ege— Early iron enterprises in Dauphin county
and in the Upper Susquehanna Valley— The Scrantons— The enterprises of Karthaus
& Geissenhainer in Clearfield county— Other early iron enterprises in the Susque-
hanna Valley— The pack-horse days, Pages 191-203

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE MANUFACTURE OF CHARCOAL IRON IN THE JUNIATA

VALLEY.

The Juniata Iron Company organized in 1767, but it did not make iron— Joseph and
Benjamin Jacobs— Bedford Furnace, at Orbisonia, in Huntingdon county, built in
1788, the first iron enterprise in the Juniata Valley— Followed by Bedford Forge at
the same place in 1791— Centre Furnace, in Centre county, the second in the Juniata
Valley, built in 1791 by Col. John Patton and Col. Samuel Miles, both Revolutionary
officers— Other early iron enterprises in Centre county— Roland Curtin— Hardman Phil-
ips erects a forge and screw factory at Philipsburg, in Centre county, in 1817— Bernard
Lauth— Barree Forge, on the Juniata, and Huntingdon Furnace, on Warrior's Mark
run, built in 1794 and 1796— The Shoenbergers, Judge Gloninger, George Anshutz, and
other early ironmasters in Huntingdon county and in the present county of Blair—
The Royers, Elias Baker, and Roland Diller— Martin Bell— Early iron enterprises in
Bedford and Fulton counties— Also in Mifflin and Juniata counties— Freedom Forge,
in Mifflin county, built before 1795 — Hope Furnace, in the same county, built by Gen-
eral William Lewis in 1798, who also built Moiint Vernon Forge, in Perry county, in
1804 — Other early iron works in Perry county — Cemented steel made at Caledonia,
near Bedford, before 1800 by William McDermett, whose daughter Josephine married
David R. Porter, an ironmaster on Spruce creek, Huntingdon county, who afterwards
became Governor of Pennsylvania— Henry S. Spang, John Lyon, Anthony Shorb, An-
drew Gregg, George Schmucker, and General James Irvin early Juniata ironmasters—
Juniata iron in high repute, Pages 204-212

CHAPTER XIX.

THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN WESTERN PENN-
SYLVANIA.

First mention in 1780 of iron ore in Western Pennsylvania— John Hayden— The Alliance
Iron Works, on Jacob's creek, in Fayette county, built by WiUiam Turnbull, Peter
Marmie, and Col. John Holker in 1789 and 1790, and consisting of a furnace and a
forge, the first iron enterprise west of the Alleghenies— The Alliance Furnace, which
was put in blast on November 1, 1790, followed closely by Union Furnace, on Dunbar
creek, in Fayette county, built by Isaac Meason in 1790, and put in blast in March,
1791— Other early iron enterprises in Fayette county— Jeremiah Pears— The enterprises
of John Hayden— The Oliphants— John Gibson— The Brownsville Steel Factory, owned
by Truman & Co., built before 1811— Jacob Bowman's Nail Factory, at Brownsville,

X CONTENTS.

built about 1795— The Plumsock Rolling Mill, in Fayette county, the first in the
United States to roll bar iron and use puddling furnaces— Isaac Meason and his son,
Col. Isaac Meason — An early iron enterprise in Greene county — Early iron enterprises
in Westmoreland county— General Arthur St. Clair and Bishop John Henry Hopkins-
Early iron enterprises in Somerset, Cambria, and Indiana counties — George S. King —
The Cambria Iron Works commenced in 1853— Early iron enterprises in Beaver, Mer-
cer, and Lawrence counties — The Crawfords — Early iron enterprises in other western
and northwestern counties— The Great Western Iron Works, Pages 213-224

CHAPTER XX.

EAELY IRON ENTERPRISES IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENN-
SYLVANIA.

Beginning of the iron industry at Pittsburgh about 1792, when George Anshutz built a
small blast furnace at Shady Side — Proofs of the erection of this furnace, which was
abandoned in 1794— The first iron foundry at Pittsburgh built by Joseph McClurg
about 1805 — The first nail factories in Pittsburgh, Porter's, Sturgeon's, and Stewart's,
in operation in 1807, their united capacity being "about 40 tons of nails yearly"—
In 1810 "the manufacture of ironmongery" at Pittsburgh had "increased beyond all
calculation "—The first rolling mill at Pittsburgh built by Christopher Cowan in 1811—
Followed in 1819 by the Union Rolling Mill, on the Monongahela, which had four
puddling furnaces, the first in Pittsburgh— Other early rolling mills in Pittsburgh—
The first rolling mill in Allegheny City— Clinton Furnace, in Pittsburgh, built by
Graff, Bennett & Co. in 1859, the first successful furnace in Allegheny county — Statis-
tics of the iron and steel industries of Pennsylvania, Pages 225-232

CHAPTER XXI.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN DELAWARE.

The Swedes and the Dutch on the Delaware did not make iron— Iron Hill, in Pencader
hundred, New Castle county, Delaware, discovered and so named as early as 1661—
The Colonial Records of Pennsylvania mention its existence in 1684 — An account by
Emanuel Swedenborg of early iron enterprises in New Castle county operated by
Sir William Keith and others — Abbington Furnace — John Ball's bloomary forge — Early
iron enterprises in Sussex county— Millsborough Furnace probably the last furnace
operated in the State— Rolling mills at Wilmington and in its vicinity, . Pages 233-239

CHAPTER XXII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN MARYLAND. *

The first iron enterprise in Maryland was a bloomary forge, erected at the head of Ches-
apeake Bay, in Cecil county, a short time before 1716— The iron enterprises of Ste-
phen Onion & Co. and Joseph Farmer at North East and its vicinity — Merged in the
Principio Company, an English corporation— This company built Principio Furnace,
the first furnace in Maryland, in 1723 and 1724, and a forge at Principio in the same
years— Both probably at work in 1725— John England superintended their erection and
their operations for many years— The Principio Company, through Mr. England,
builds a furnace on the lands of Captain Augustine Washington, in Virginia, in 1725
and 1726— Further history of the Principio Company, which was for many years the
leading iron company in America, and was active until the Revolution— "A certain
Mr. Washington "—George P. Whitaker— The Ridgely family— The Dorseys— The Snow-
dens— Early iron enterprises in Queen Anne, Frederick, and Washington counties—
The Johnsons— The iron industry of Maryland greatly extended before the Revo-
lution and also afterwards— The Avalon Iron Works "built by the Dorseys" about
1795— Development of the manufacture of coke pig iron in Western Maryland in
1837 and immediately succeeding years— The first heavy iron rails in the United
States made at Mount Savage, in Western Maryland, in 1844— A bog-ore furnace on
the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1830— A furnace at Georgetown, D. C., built in 1849—
Government iron works at Washington, Pages 240-257

CONTENTS. xj

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE IEON INDUSTRY ESTABLISHED IN VIRGINIA.

Revival of the iron industry in Virginia about 1715 by Governor Spotswood and a colony
of Palatinates— The first furnace in Virginia built at Fredericksville, in Spottsylvania
county, near the North Anna river— The next furnace in Virginia built in Orange
county, on the south side of the Rapidan— An air furnace at Massaponax, five miles
below Fredericksburg, on the Rappahannock— Accokeek Furnace— All these enterprises
described by Col. William Byrd, the second, in 1732— Mr. W. H. Adams fixes the exact
location of the first three of these enterprises— The connection of the Washington
family with the iron industry of Virginia and Maryland— Extension of the iron in-
dustry of Virginia into the Valley of Virginia— Zane's Furnace and Forge, on Cedar
creek, in Frederick county, were "built before any iron works in this region"— Fol-
lowed by Pine Forge, in Shenandoah county— Henry Miller's furnace on Mossy creek,
Augusta county, built about 1775— Other early iron works in the Valley of Virginia and
in Southwestern Virginia— Jefferson's account of the iron industry of Virginia in 1781
and 1782— Ross's celebrated iron works— Household industries in Virginia about 1790—
Great expansion of the charcoal iron industry of Virginia— Many furnaces and forges
enumerated by Lesley in 1856 — The first rolling mill in Virginia built on Cheat river
about 1812 by Jackson & Updegraff— Wheeling a prominent iron centre before the
civil war— Its first rolling mill built by Dr. Peter Shoenberger and David Agnew in
1832— The Tredegar Iron Company at Richmond— Statistics of the iron and steel in-
dustries of Virginia and West Virginia Pages 258-271

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Iron made in "Carolina" as early as 1728 and exported to England— Virginia and Caro-
lina hoes sold in New York before the Revolution— Iron enterprises on tributaries of
the Cape Fear, Yadkin, and Dan rivers before the Revolution— That event stimulated
the establishment of other iron enterprises in Guilford, Cleveland, and other coun-
ties—Before 1800 there were many iron enterprises in Lincoln, Stokes, and Surry
counties— After 1800 the iron industry was still further extended in Lincoln county,
which had in 1810 six bloomaries, two rolling and slitting mills, and two naileries-
It also became a prominent industry in Burke and Surry counties— Extended into
many counties before the civil war— Bloomaries and the water-blast in general use—
The iron industry of North Carolina now almost extinct, Pages 272-275

CHAPTER XXV.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

The first iron enterprise in South Carolina established in 1773 by Mr. Buffington in the
northwestern part of the State— Followed by other iron enterprises after the Revolu-
tion—The Era and Etna furnaces and forges in York county— The water-blast in use
in this State— Nine bloomaries and other iron enterprises in South Carolina in 1810—
A rolling mill for making sheet iron in this State about 1815— In 1840 there were four
furnaces and a number of bloomaries, rolling mills, and other iron enterprises— In
1891 there was no iron or steel enterprise in South Carolina, Pages 276-278

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN GEORGIA.

Georgia has no colonial iron history— The first iron enterprises in this State established
probably after 1790, and near the Atlantic Coast^-In 1810 there was a bloomary ii
Warren county, a forge in Elbert county, and a nailery in Chatham county—]
and Sequee bloomaries, in Habersham county, built as early as 1830 and probably a
an earlier day— Other bloomaries established after 1830 in Bartow, Union, Murray, Walk-
er, and Dade counties, and abandoned before 1856, but other bloomaries were then ii
operation— Sequee Furnace, in Habersham county, built before 1832, probably the first

Xll CONTENTS.

furnace in the State— Etowah Furnace, in Bartow county ; Allatoona, Union, Lewis,
and Cartersville furnaces in Cass county ; and Clear Creek Furnace, in Walker county
—Later charcoal furnaces— Only six furnaces in 1891, two of which used coke— The
first rolling mill in Georgia was probably Etowah, in Cass county, built about 1849—
In 1891 there was only one rolling mill in the State— Rising Fawn Furnace the first
furnace in the United States to use the Whitwell hot-blast stove— Description of the
various Etowah iron enterprises as they existed about 1859— The iron industry of
Georgia not now prominent, Pages 279-281

CHAPTER XXVII.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN KENTUCKY.

Bourbon Furnace, often called Slate Furnace, the first iron enterprise in Kentucky whose
history has been preserved, built in 1791, on Slate creek, in Bath county — Complete
history of this furnace by V. B. Young, Esq., of Owingsville, Kentucky— Sketch of
its projectors and builders— In 1810 there were four furnaces and three forges in Ken-
tucky—First furnaces in the Hanging Rock region of Kentucky built about 1817 and
1818— Names of the Hanging Rock pioneers— Extension of the iron industry in the
Hanging Rock region— The first rolling mill in Kentucky appears to have been built
at Covington in 1829— Present condition of the Kentucky iron industry— Many new
iron and steel enterprises, Pages 282-287

CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN TENNESSEE.

A bloomary at Embreeville, in Washington county, built in 1790, the first iron enterprise
in Tennessee — Other early enterprises in the eastern part of Tennessee— Ross's Iron
Works, on the Holston river, in Sullivan county, built before 1800— Other early iron
enterprises in Tennessee built before and soon after 1800— Cumberland Furnace, in
Dickson county, built by James Robinson in 1792— Yellow Creek Furnace, in Mont-
gomery county, built in 1802— The iron industry of Tennessee greatly extended— De-
scription of the iron industry of this State in 1856 by Lesley— Chattanooga the pres-
ent iron centre of Tennessee — Account of its early iron enterprises — Bluff Furnace —
James Henderson— The two Rockwood furnaces— The Roane Iron Company— Lewis
Scofield— S. B. Lowe— The iron industries of Knoxville— Present condition of the
Tennessee iron industry, Pages 288-292

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN ALABAMA. *

The first furnace in Alabama probably built about 1818 west of Russellville, in Frank-
lin county— Abandoned in 1827— Early furnaces in Calhoun, Cherokee, and Shelby
counties— Horace Ware— Early bloomaries in Shelby, Bibb, Talladega, and Calhoun
counties — Many of them blown with the trompe, or water-blast — Iron enterprises in Ala-
bama during the civil war— Furnaces and rolling mills built at Brierfield and Shelby-
Discovery of coal in Alabama — The first iron enterprises at Birmingham and its vi-
cinity—Later iron and steel enterprises in Alabama— Statistics of the production of
pig iron in Alabama and other Southern States from 1880 to 1890— Wonderful progress
in ten years, Pages 293-296

CHAPTER XXX.

PRIMITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTHERN IRON
INDUSTRY.

The wonderful development of the iron industry of Western North Carolina and East
Tennessee many years ago an interesting fact-Furnaces blown with one tuyere and
wooden tubs— " Thundergust forges"— The trompe in general use— Bar iron used as a
medium of exchange — Never many bloomaries in Virginia — Old methods of making
iron have passed away in the South, Pages 297-300

CONTENTS. Xlll

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN OHIO.

Hopewell Furnace, in Mahoning county, the first iron enterprise in Ohio, commenced in
1803 and finished in 1804 by Daniel Eaton— Montgomery Furnace, built in 1806, also
in Mahoning county, by Robert Montgomery and John Struthers, the second iron
enterprise in the State— The first hammered bars in Ohio made at a forge at Niles-
town, Trumbull county, in 1809, by James Heaton, who also built a furnace at Niles-
town 011 Mosquito creek about 1812— The iron industry of Ohio extended to the shore
of Lake Erie about 1825 — Rebecca Furnace, at New Lisbon, Columbiana county, built
in 1807 or 1808 by Gideon Hughes— Licking Furnace and Forge, near Zanesville, built
by Moses Dillon about 1808— Early iron enterprises in Licking and Tuscarawas coun-
ties— The Zoar Community — Early iron enterprises in Adams county — Beginning of
the manufacture of iron in the Hanging Rock region of Ohio— The Hanging Rock
pioneers, John Campbell, Thomas W. Means, and others— Description by Mr. John
Birkiiibine of Olive Furnace, a curious structure— The good quality of Hanging Rock
charcoal pig iron— The old charcoal furnace of the Hecla Iron and Mining Com-
pany—Early forges on the Ohio river— The first rolling mill at Cincinnati— Crucible
steel works at Cincinnati built in 1832— Introduction of raw bituminous coal in the
blast furnaces of the Mahoning Valley, first at Lowell, in 1846, by Wilkeson, Wilkes &
Co.— Introduction of Lake Superior ores in Ohio blast furnaces— First shipments of
Brier Hill coal to Cleveland made by David Tod in 1840— Mill Creek Furnace, the
first iron enterprise at Youngstown, built about 1835— Beginning of the iron industry
at Cleveland— Henry Chisholm, Pages 301-313

CHAPTER XXXII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN INDIANA.

A "nailery" in Indiana Territory as early as 1810— In 1840 the census mentions a furnace
in Jefferson county, one in Parke, one in Vigo, one in Vermillion, and three in
Wayne county— A bloomary forge in Fulton county also mentioned— An early fur-
nace in Monroe county— An early forge in Marshall county built about 1845 by
Charles Crocker and a partner— Mishawaka Forge, in St. Joseph county— Other char-
coal iron enterprises in Indiana— Development of the block-coal district of Indiana
and the erection of furnaces to use this coal— The first rolling mill in Indiana built
by R. A. Douglas, at Indianapolis, in 1857— Present condition of the iron and steel in-
dustries of Indiana, Pages 314-316

CHAPTER XXXIII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN ILLINOIS.

Illinois Furnace, at Elizabethtown, in Hardin county, built in 1839, the first iron enter-
prise in Illinois for the manufacture of iron of any kind— No furnaces in opera-
tion in Illinois from 1860 to 1868— Development of the Big Muddy coal fields and the
erection of furnaces at Grand Tower and elsewhere in Southwestern Illinois— Be-
ginning of the iron industry at Chicago in 1857, when Captain E. B. Ward and others
built the Chicago Rolling Mill— The first furnaces in Chicago built in 1868— Present
condition of the iron and steel industries of Illinois Pages 317-319

CHAPTER XXXIV.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN MICHIGAN.

Charcoal furnaces in Michigan before 1840— From 1840 to 1850 the iron industry of Mich-
igan made no progress and possibly declined— From 1850 to 1860 three bog-ore fur-
naces were built in the southern part of the State — The development of the Lake Su-
perior iron-ore region commenced with the first discovery by white men of the iron
ore of this region in 1844, near the eastern end of Teal Lake, by William A. Burt—
In 1845 the Jackson Mining Company was organized at Jackson, Michigan, and in
1847 it commenced the erection of a forge on Carp river which was finished in 1848,

XIV CONTENTS.

and in that year the first iron made in the Lake Superior region was manufactured by
Ariel N. Barney — History of subsequent iron manufacturing enterprises in the Lake
Superior region and of the development of the iron ores of Lake Superior— The first
use of Lake Superior iron ore in a blast furnace occurred in Mercer county, Pennsyl-
vania, in 1853— History of the Sharon Iron Company which used this ore— Statistics of
the production of Lake Superior iron ore — Captain E. B. Ward, .... Pages 320-328

CHAPTER XXXV.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN WISCONSIN.

Prior to 1859 there were three charcoal furnaces in Wisconsin — No others were built
until 1865, when a charcoal furnace at Iron Ridge, in Dodge county, was built by
the Wisconsin Iron Company, which was soon followed by several other furnaces —
Wisconsin had no rolling mill until 1868, when its first mill was built at Milwaukee
by the Milwaukee Iron Company — Present condition of the iron and steel industries
of Wisconsin, Pages 329-331

CHAPTER XXXVI.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN MISSOURI.

Ashebran's Furnace, on Stout's creek, about two miles east of Ironton, in Iron county,
built about 1815, probably the first iron enterprise in Missouri — Followed in 1819 or
1820 by a bloomary forge on Thicketty creek, in Crawford county, built by William
Harrison and Josiah Reeves — Blooms hammered at this forge under a spring-pole
hammer— Springfield Furnace, in Washington county, built in 1823 or 1824 by Ever-
sol, Perry & Ruggles, the next iron enterprise in Missouri— Maramec Furnace, in
Phelps county, finished in 1829— Development of the iron-ore deposits of Iron
Mountain and Pilot Knob in 1836 and subsequent years— Furnaces built in this re-
gion—Commencement of the iron industry of St. Louis in 1850— Further history and
present condition of the iron and steel industries of Missouri, .... Pages 332-337

CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN TEXAS.

Texas had one blast furnace before the civil war, located in Cass county— Erection of
other furnaces and of several bloomaries in Texas during the war— Charcoal furnaces
built in Texas after the war and in recent years— The first rolling mills in this State
built at Houston and at Fort Worth— A promising iron future for Texas, Pages 338-340

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN VARIOUS WESTERN STATES.

The first blast furnace in Minnesota commenced in 1872 but not finished until 1880—
Later iron enterprises in this State— A bloomary built and in operation in Lawrence
county, Arkansas, as early as 1857— Iron once made in Carroll county, Arkansas, in
the hollow stumps of trees— The undeveloped iron resources of Arkansas— Early iron
enterprises in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska— The first iron enterprise in Colorado was
a small charcoal furnace at Langford, in Boulder county, which was finished and
put in blast in 1864— The first rolling mill in Colorado was removed in 1877 by Will-
iam Faux from Danville, Pennsylvania, to Pueblo, and put in operation in 1878, the
product being re-rolled rails— Later iron and steel enterprises in Colorado— A forge in
Utah Territory, east of Salt Lake City, built as early as 1859, but the Mormons had
made iron many years before— Later but abortive iron enterprises, . . . Pages 341-345

CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE IRON INDUSTRY ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

First furnace and rolling mill in California— The iron and steel enterprises of California
fully described— The iron enterprises of Oregon and Washington, . . . Pages 346-347

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER XL.

THE FIRST IRON WORKS IN CANADA.

Description of the pioneer iron works in Canada, located near Three Rivers, in Quebec,
and known as the Forges of St. Maurice— Commenced in 1737, when a blast furnace
was built which was in operation as late as 1883, Pages 348-351

CHAPTER XLI.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON WITH ANTHRACITE COAL.

The distinctive charcoal era of the American iron industry ended about 1840, when both
anthracite and bituminous coal began to be used successfully in blast furnaces —
More charcoal iron made in the United States to-day, however, than in 1840 or any
preceding year — Anthracite coal used experimentally in many American blast fur-
naces between 1815 and 1840, generally in connection with charcoal— Dr. Frederick
W. Geissenhainer's experiments— Granted a patent in 1833 for the use of anthracite
coal in the blast furnace — Builds Valley Furnace in 1836, and makes a feAV tons of
pig iron exclusively with anthracite coal in the fall of that year— George Crane's ex-
periments with anthracite coal in the blast furnace in South Wales in the same
year— He successfully uses it in 1837— Visited in that year by Solomon W. Roberts, of
Philadelphia, upon whose advice the Lehigh Crane Iron Company was organized-
Mr. Crane's patents — Details of various attempts in the United States to make pig
iron with anthracite coal between 1836 and 1839— Pioneer Furnace, at Pottsville—
William Lyman— Anthracite furnaces in 1840— First anthracite furnace in the Lehigh
Valley built in 1839 and 1840 by David Thomas for the Lehigh Crane Iron Company—
Successfully blown in on July 3, 1840, and first cast made on July 4th— Biographical
sketch of Mr. Thomas— Rapid growth after 1840 of the anthracite pig-iron industry—
The first use of anthracite coal in connection with the manufacture of finished iron
in the United States dates from 1812— First used under boilers in 1825 and in puddling
in 1827, at Phoenixville, by Jonah and George Thompson, Pages 352-365

CHAPTER XLIL
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON WITH BITUMINOUS COAL.

Remarkable that the use of bituminous coal in American blast furnaces should have been
so long delayed — Experiments in the use of coke in blast furnaces in this country all
unsuccessful until 1835, when William Firmstone was successful in substituting coke
for charcoal at Mary Ann Furnace, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania— Sketch of
his life— F. H. Oliphant successful in making coke pig iron at Fairchance Furnace,
in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1837— Various unsuccessful experiments to use
coke in blast furnaces in Pennsylvania-rSome successful experiments— Henry C.
Carey— First notable success in this country in making pig iron with coke accom-
plished at Lonaconing Furnace, in Western Maryland, in 1839, followed in 1840 by
equal success at two furnaces of the Mount Savage Iron Company in the same part
of Maryland— Slow progress after 1840 in the use of coke in the blast furnace— Its use
increased after 1850, and very rapidly after 1865— First coke furnaces south of the
Potomac— The use of raw bituminous coal in the blast furnace successfully inaugu-
rated in 1845 at Clay Furnace, in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, by Himrod & Vin-
cent—This was a charcoal furnace— Mahoning Furnace, at Lowell, in Mahoning
county, Ohio, the first furnace built expressly to use raw coal— Successfully blown in
in 1846 for its owners, Wilkeson, Wilkes & Co., by John Crowther— Sketch of his
life— Water power in general use in blowing furnaces down to 1840, . . Pages 366-375

CHAPTER XLIIL
STATISTICS OF PIG IRON PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES.

The production of anthracite pig iron in the United States passes that of charcoal pig
iron in 1855— Bituminous passes charcoal in 1869— Bituminous passes anthracite in
1875— The production of pig iron in the United States in 1890 exceeded that of Great
Britain in 1882, her year of greatest production, Pages 376-377

XVI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XLIV.

THE MANUFACTURE OF BLISTER AND CRUCIBLE STEEL IN THE
UNITED STATES.

Steel manufactured in a small way in several of the colonies both by the cementation
process and "in the German manner"— The first steel in the colonies probably made
in Connecticut in 1728 by Samuel Higley and Joseph Dewey— Steel made by Aaron
Eliot, of Connecticut, in 1761, from bar iron which had been made from magnetic
sand— In 1750 Massachusetts had one steel furnace— First steel made in New York in
1776 by Peter Townsend — New Jersey had one steel furnace in 1750 — Pennsylvania
had three steel furnaces in that year— Condition of the American steel industry in
1791, just one hundred years ago— Slow growth of the steel industry of thfc United
States— Report on the state of the industry in 1831 by John R. Coates, of Philadel-
phia—Cast steel not then made in the United States— From 1831 to 1860 the steel in-
dustry of this country still continued to make slow progress — Full details of the
establishment at Cincinnati in 1832, by William and John H. Garrard, of the first
successful crucible steel works in the United States — Analysis of the crucible steel
made at these works— Statistics of the steel industry of Pennsylvania in 1850, with
the names of all the manufacturers — Pioneers in the manufacture of blister and cru-
cible steel at Pittsburgh— Hussey, Wells & Co., in 1860, and Park, Brother & Co., in
1862, the first persons in the United States to meet with complete financial as well as
mechanical success in the manufacture of crucible steel of the best quality — Full
history of the Adirondack Steel Works— James R. Thompson— McKelvy & Blair— Sta-
j tistics of the production of crucible steel in the United States, Pages 378-394

CHAPTER XLV.
THE INVENTION OF THE BESSEMER PROCESS.

Brief description of the Bessemer process— Beginning of Sir Henry Bessemer's. experi-
ments—Patents granted to him in England in 185£ and 1856— Robert F. Mushet's
invaluable assistance in perfecting the Bessemer process— Bessemer's patents in the
United States granted in 1856— William Kelly's claim of priority in 1857 conceded by
the Commissioner of Patents— Mr. Kelly's own account of his invention of the pneu-
matic process— His experiments with a converting vessel at Johnstown in 1857 and
1858— Full account of Mr. Mushet's application of spiegeleisen to the Bessemer proc-
ess—The first Bessemer steel rail ever laid down was made by Mr. Mushet— Sir
Henry Bessemer's letter to Sir James Kitson in 1890— Sir Henry's immense profits
from his invention— Mr. Mushet's pathetic complaint— Mr. Goran Fredrik Gorans-
son's account of his part in perfecting the Bessemer process— Invention of the basic
process by Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, Percy C. Gilchrist, and George J. Snelus— Also
by Jacob Reese— Experiments in the elimination of phosphorus by James Henderson
and Colonel J. B. Kunkel— The Clapp-Grimths and Robert-Bessemer processes— Joseph
Gilbert Martien's experiments— Hon. Abram S. Hewitt's report on Bessemer steel at
the Paris Exposition of 1867— Biographical sketches of Robert F. Mushet and Sidney
G. Thomas Pages 395-408

CHAPTER XLVI.
THE BESSEMER PROCESS IN THE UNITED STATES.

The Kelly patents controlled by a company— Experimental Bessemer steel works built
for this company at Wyandotte, Michigan, in 1863 and 1864, by William F. Durfee—
First Bessemer steel made in the United States by Mr. Durfee, in September, 1864—
Bessemer steel next made by A. L. Holley, in February, 1865, at experimental works
built at Troy in 1864 by Winslow, Griswold & Holley— Consolidation of the interests of
the owners of the American patents of Bessemer, Mushet, and Kelly— List of the
Bessemer steel works built in the United States down to 1876— First Bessemer steel
rails made in the United States were rolled at the Chicago Rolling Mill in May,
1865— Statistics of the American and British Bessemer steel industries down to 1890—
Biographical sketches of deceased American Bessemer steel pioneers, . . Pages 409-417

CONTENTS. XV11

CHAPTER XLVII.
THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN-HEARTH STEEL.

The open-hearth process briefly described— Its advantages— Invention of the Siemens re-
generative gas furnace— First patent granted to Frederick Siemens in 1856— Experiments
by Dr. Charles William Siemens in 1861 in the manufacture of cast steel with regener-
ative gas in an open-hearth— Experiments by Emile and Pierre Martin in France in
1864 — Their principal patent granted in France in 1865 — Subsequent operations of Dr.
Siemens and the Martins— Their different methods described— Introduction of the
regenerative furnace into the United States— Names of the pioneers who first experi-
mented in its use— First open-hearth furnace in the United States built for Cooper,
Hewitt & Co., at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1868, by Frederick J. Slade— First use of the
regenerative furnace in the United States in the puddling of iron — Various direct
processes— The production of basic steel in the United States—Statistics of its produc-
tion—Also of the production of open-hearth steel in the United States and in Great
Britain to the close of 1890— Biographical sketch of Dr. Siemens, .... Pages 418-425

CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF IRON RAILS IN THE UNITED STATES.

First railroads built in the United States— The Quincy and Mauch Chunk railroads— The
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, commenced in 1828, the first in the United States that
was built for the conveyance of passengers— Put in operation from Baltimore to Elli-
cott's Mills in 1830— Other early passenger railroads in the United States— Description
of the track of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad— Also of the rails first used on early
American railroads — Strap rails — The Birkinshaw rail — The Clarence rail — The use of
strap rails continued for many years— Cast-iron rails once made in the United States-
Heavy iron rails not made in the United States until 1844— First American T rails
made at Mount Savage, Maryland, in that year — The T rail an American invention —
Robert L. Stevens the inventor— Full particulars of the invention— The first 30-foot, 60-
foot, and 120-foot rails rolled in the United States— The first American locomotives-
First street and elevated railroads in the United States— Statistics of iron and steel
rails in the United States— Henry Thomas Weld, Pages 426-441

CHAPTER XLIX.

IRON SHIPBUILDING IN THE UNITED STATES.

Henry Hall's account of the first iron steamboats and steamships in the United States-
Captain John Ericsson's iron vessels— Other iron vessels— Notable Transatlantic iron
steamships built in the United States— W. Cramp & Sons— John Roach & Son— Full
and correct account of the construction and career of the iron-turreted .Monitor— Wins-
low & Griswold, iron manufacturers, took all the risks if it should prove to be a
failure— Theodore R. Timby— Statistics of iron and steel shipbuilding in the United
States down to 1891— Biographical sketch of John Ericsson, Pages 442-447

CHAPTER L.

THE HISTORY OF CUT AND WIRE NAILS.

Cut nails first made in the United States— Shubal Wilder's account of early cut-nail
machines— Wire nails first made in the United States at New York in 1851 or 1852
by William Hassall— The American Wire Nail Company, at Covington, .Kentucky, the
pioneer in this country in the manufacture of the standard wire nail— Statistics of
the production of cut nails and wire nails in the United States, .... Pages 448-451

CHAPTER LI.
IMPROVEMENTS IN AMERICAN BLAST FURNACE PRACTICE.

Interesting information concerning English and colonial pig iron in 1730— First applica-
tion of the hot-blast in the United States made by William Henry in 1834 at Oxford

XV111 CONTENTS.

Furnace, New Jersey— Improvements in the hot-blast by Samuel Thomas and John
Player— First fire-brick hot-blast stoves in the United States— Utilization of blast-fur-
nace gases— David Thomas introduces powerful blowing engines— Good work by one
of the Cooper furnaces at Phillipsburg, New Jersey, in 1850— Also by one of the Isa-
bella furnaces near Pittsburgh— Also by Furnace F of the Edgar Thomson works near
Pittsburgh— Also by Hinkle (charcoal) Furnace at Ashland, Wisconsin— First coke
furnace " banked up " in the United States— Biographical sketches of Achilles Chris-
tian Wilhelm von Faber du Faur and Christian Edward Detmold, . . . Pages 452-458

CHAPTER LII. ,

THE MANUFACTURE OF TINPLATES IN THE UNITED STATES.

First tinplates made in the United States— Statistics of importations of tinplates into the
United States from 1871 to 1890, Page 459

CHAPTER LIIL

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS RELATING TO THE AMERICAN IRON
AND STEEL INDUSTRIES.

Natural gas first used in the manufacture of iron in 1874— First bar iron rolled in New
England— The Phoenix wrought-iron column— John Griffen's valuable contribution to
rolling-mill economy in 1846— Good work by the Reading Steam Forge in 1856— De-
scription of Park, Brother & Co.'s steam hammer, built in 1881— Description of the
steam hammer of the Bethlehem Iron Company, completed in 1891— Slitting mills in
the United States in 1884— The first wire suspension bridge in the United States-
First wire fence in the United States— Biographical sketches, Pages 460-466

CHAPTER LIV.
EARLY DISCOVERIES OF COAL IN THE UNITED STATES.

First mention of coal in the United States by Father Hennepin, who found it on the
Illinois river in 1679— Discovered in Virginia in 1701— Discovered in Western Pennsyl-
vania—Mines opened at Pittsburgh— In Clearfield county, Pennsylvania— Virginia
mines the first worked in America— First shipments of GtrmTTerland coal— Discovered
west of the Mississippi by Lewis and Clarke in 1804— Anthracite coal discovered in
the Wyoming Valley in 1766— Discovered at Carbondale and other places in Eastern
Pennsylvania— Early experiments in its use— Incorporation of the Lehigh Coal and Nav-
igation Company— First use of anthracite coal in smiths' forges and in dwelling houses
—Coal in Alabama first noticed in 1834— Beginning of the manufacture of Connells-
ville coke— Statistics of the production of coal in the United States, . . Pages 467-478

CHAPTER LV.

BRITISH EFFORTS TO PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
AMERICAN IRON INDUSTRY.

Full extracts from various English and American writers and from British statutes to
show that it was long the settled policy of the British Government to prevent the
development of any manufacturing industries in the American colonies except those
which produced raw materials suitable for further manufacture in Great Britain— The
colonial iron industry an especial object of unfriendly legislation, . . . Pages 479-493

CHAPTER LVI.

THE AMERICAN IRON INDUSTRY LONG DEPRESSED BY FOREIGN

COMPETITION.

Depression in the American iron industry after the Revolution caused partly by low
duties on competing foreign products— Pennsylvania opposed to protecting her iron
industry in 1785— Dr. Schoepf's account of the American iron industry in 1788—
Tariff legislation did not help the American iron industry until 1812, . . Pages 494-497

CONTENTS. XIX

CHAPTER LVII.

M / IMPEDIMENTS TO THE CHEAP PRODUCTION OF IRON AND
STEEL IN THE UNITED STATES.

Wages in the iron and steel industries of the United States higher than in Europe and
Tjbe^cost of transportation of raw materials greater because the distances they must
be transpofted^rc longer— English testimony on these subjects Pages 498-501

CHAPTER LVIJI.

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN THE DESCENDANTS OF COLONIAL

IRONMASTERS.

The father of George Washington a manufacturer of pig iron at Accokeek Furnace, in
Virginia— The two half-brothers of George Washington and other relatives were also
pig-iron manufacturers— Abraham Lincoln descended from Mordecai Lincoln, a na-
tive of Hingham, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, who was one of the founders of
the Bound Brook Iron Works, in Plymouth county, in 1703— Genealogy of the Lincoln
family from Mordecai Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln, Pages 502-508

CHAPTER LIX.

PRODUCTION AND PRICES OF IRON AND STEEL IN THE UNITED

STATES.

Statistics of the production of iron and steel in the United States from 1810 to 1890—
Tables of prices of iron and steel in the United States from 1794 to 1890— Production
of iron ore in the United States in 1880 and 1889 Pages 509-516

CHAPTER LX.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF IRON AND STEEL BY THE UNITED

STATES.

Colonial exports of pig iron and bar iron from 1717 to 1776— Values of the imports and
exports of iron and steel by the United States from 1871 to 1890, .... Pages 517-518

CHAPTER LXI.

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS OF IRON, STEEL, IRON ORE, AND

COAL.

, Production of pig iron and coal by Great Britain and Germany for a long series of years
down to the close of 1890— The world's production of basic steel to the close of 1890—
The world's production of pig iron, steel, iron ore, and coal by countries in 1890 and
other recent years— Percentage of production by the United States, . . . Pages 519-524

CHAPTER LXII.

IMPORTANT USES OF IRON AND STEEL IN THE UNITED STATES.

The people of the United States are the largest per capita consumers of iron and steel in
the world— Details of the more important uses of iron and steel, . . . Pages 525-531

CHAPTER LXIII.
CONCLUSION.

General review of the progress of the world's iron and steel industries in the last hun-
dred years— Also of the great progress in these industries made by the United States
in the last thirty years— Comparison of the present development of these industries
in the United States with their condition at various periods during the last hundred
years Pages

PERSONAL INDEX.

Names of the iron and steel pioneers and other iron and steel manufacturers, Pages 541-554

THE smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron
work, the vapour of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he fighteth with
the heat of the furnace : the noise of the hammer and the anvil is
ever in his ears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the
thing that he maketh ; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and
watcheth to polish it perfectly. — Ecclesiasticus, 38, 28.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
IS ALL AGES,

CHAPTER I.
THE EARLIEST USE OF IRON.

THE use of iron can be traced to the earliest ages of
antiquity. Copper and bronze, or brass, may have been used
at as early a period as iron, and for many centuries after
their use began they undoubtedly "superseded iron to a large
extent, but the common theory that there was a copper or a
bronze age before iron was either known or used is discred-
ited by Old Testament history, by the earlier as well as the
later literature of the ancient Greeks, and by the discoveries
of modern antiquarians.

In his inaugural address as President of the Iron and
Steel Institute, delivered in May, 1885, Dr. John Percy, the
eminent English metallurgist, briefly considered the ques-
tion whether iron was or was not used before bronze. He
said : "It has always appeared to me reasonable to infer
from metallurgical considerations that the age of iron would
have preceded the age of -bronze. The primitive method,
not yet wholly extinct, of extracting iron from its ores is a
much simpler process than that of producing bronze, and in-
dicates a much less advanced state of the metallurgic arts.
In the case of iron all that is necessary is to heat the ore
strongly in contact with charcoal ; whereas, in the case of
bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, both copper and
tin have to be obtained by smelting their respective tores
separately, to be subsequently melted together in due propor-
tions, and the resulting alloy to be cast in moulds, requiring
considerable skill in their preparation."

Iron was doubtless first used in Western Asia, the birth-

THE smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron
work, the vapour of the fire wasteih his flesh, and he fighteth with
the heat of the furnace : the noise of the hammer and the anvil is
ever in his ears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the
thing that he maketh ; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and
watcheth to polish it perfectly. — Ecclesiasticus, 38, 28.

THE MANUFACTURE OE IRON
IN ALL AGES,

CHAPTER I.
THE EARLIEST USE OF IRON.

THE use of iron can be traced to the earliest ages of
antiquity. Copper and bronze, or brass, may have been used!
at as early a period as iron, and for many centuries after
their use began they undoubtedly superseded iron to a large
extent, but the common theory that there was a copper or a
bronze age before iron was either known or used is discred-
ited by Old Testament history, by the earlier as well as the
later literature of the ancient Greeks, and by the discoveries
of modern antiquarians.

Iron was doubtless first used in Western Asia, the birth-

Z THE MANUFACTURE OF

place of the human race, and in the northern parts of Africa
which are near to Asia. Tubal-cain, who was born in the
seventh generation from Adam, is described in King James's
version of the 4th chapter of Genesis tas "an instructor of
every artificer in brass and iron." In the revised version,
which appeared in 1885, he is described as "the forger of
every cutting instrument of ]prass and iron." The Egyptians,
whose existence as a nation dates from the second genera-
tion after Noah, and whose civilization is the most ancient of
which we have any exact knowledge, were at an early peri-
od familiar with both the use and the manufacture of iron,
although very little iron ore has ever been found within the
boundaries of Egypt itself. Iron tools are mentioned by He-
rodotus as having been used in the construction of the pyr-
amids. In the sepulchres at Thebes and Memphis, cities of
.such great antiquity that their origin is lost -in obscurity,
butchers are represented as using tools the colors of which
lead antiquarians to conclude that they were made of iron
or steel. Iron sickles are also pictured in the tombs at
Memphis. At Thebes numerous articles of iron have been
found which are preserved by the New York Historical So-
ciety and are about three thousand years old. They include
an iron helmet, with a neck-guard in chain armor ; a frag-
ment of a breastplate, made of pieces of iron in the form of
scales, one of which takes the shape of a cartouche and has
stamped thereon the name of the Egyptian king, Shishak,
who invaded Jerusalem 971 years before Christ ; and an iron
arrow-head. A war-club, studded with iron spikes, and an
iron instrument with a wooden handle, both found at Sakka-
rah, in Egypt, are in the same collection, which was made by
Dr. Henry Abbott, an English surgeon, during a residence of
twenty years in Cairo, where he died on March 30, 1859.

Thothmes the First, who is supposed to have reigned
about seventeen centuries before Christ, is said, in a long in-
scription at Karnak, to have received from the chiefs, trib-
utary kings, or allied sovereigns of Lower Egypt presents of
silver and gold, " bars of wrought metal, and vessels of cop-
per, and of bronze, and of iron." From the region of Mem-
phis he received wine, iron, lead, wrought metal, animals, and
other products. An expedition which the same king sent

IRON IN ALL AGES. 3

against Chadasha brought back among the spoil which it
had taken " iron of the mountains, 40 cubes."

Belzoni found under the feet of one of the sphinxes at
Karnak an iron sickle which is supposed to have been placed
there at least six hundred years before Christ. In 1837 a
piece of iron was taken from an inner joint of the great
pyramid at Gizeh under circumstances which justify the
theory that it is as old as the pyramid itself. Both of these
relics are preserved in the British Museum. The reference to
iron in Deuteronomy, iv. 20, apparently indicates that in the
time of Moses the Egyptians were engaged in its manufac-
ture, and that the Israelites were at least as familiar with the
art as their taskmasters. " But the Lord hath taken you,
and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of
Egypt." This expression is repeated in 1st Kings, viii. 51.
A small piece of very pure iron was found under the obelisk
which was removed from Alexandria to New York in 1880
by Commander H. H. Gorringe, of the United States Navy.
This obelisk was erected by Thothmes the Third at Heliopo-
lis about 1600 years before Christ, and removed to Alexandria
twenty-two years before the Christian era. The iron found
under it was therefore at least 1900 years old. Commander
Gorringe died in New York city on July 7, 1885.

As iron ore of remarkable richness is now found in Al-
geria, in the northern part of Africa, occupying the territory
of ancient Carthage, it is entirely reasonable to suppose that
the Carthaginians, nearly a thousand years before Christ, and
the Libyans and other native inhabitants whom the Cartha-
ginians succeeded, would not be behind their Egyptian cotem-
poraries in a knowledge of the use and manufacture of iron.
The Libyans were a highly civilized people. It is certain
that the iro'n mines of Algeria were worked by the Romans
before the Christian era. The native tribes in the interior of
Africa have long made iron by the most primitive methods.

The development in modern times of the rich iron ores of
Algeria is a most interesting historical fact, as the Algerian
mines are the only mines of iron ore in either Asia or Africa
which are now operated on an extensive scale, and the only
mines worthy of mention on either continent from which the
iron and steel works of Europe and America draw a part of

4 THE MANUFACTURE OF

their supplies of ore. The present extensive development of
the Algerian iron-ore mines dates from about 1844. All the
iron ore that is mined is exported. In 1872 the shipments
from these mines to European countries, especially to France,
had greatly increased. In that year the total production of
the mines was nearly 400,000 tons. The total production in
1886 was 492,936 tons.

Iron ore is supposed to have been mined in Morocco long
before the beginning of the Carthaginian rule in Northern
Africa, and it is said that old Mauritanian iron-ore mines can
yet be traced at the foot of the Djebel Hadyd, a few miles
from Mogadore, on the Atlantic coast.

The use of iron and the art of manufacturing it were in-
troduced into the southern and western portions of Arabia
at an early day, and this may have been done by the Egyp-
tians ; it is at least fully established that some of their own
works were located east of the Red sea. The ruins of exten-
sive iron works of great antiquity and of undoubted Egyp-
tian origin were discovered by Mr. Hartland near the Wells
of Moses, in the Sinaitic peninsula, about 1873. They are
fully described by St. John V. Day, in his Prehistoric Use
of Iron and Steel. Large heaps of iron cinder, -very rich in
iron, are found near the works. The " iron furnace", from
which the Israelites were brought forth may have embrac-
ed these works. The countries which lie south of Egypt are
supposed by some antiquarian writers to have made iron in
large quantities in prehistoric times.

Iron was known to the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, and
the Assyrians, who were cotemporaries of the early Egyp-
tians. Some writers suppose that the Egyptians derived their
supply of iron principally from these Asiatic neighbors and
from the Arabians. Ornaments of iron have been found in
Chaldean ruins, and Chaldean inscriptions show that iron wras
known to the most ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. In
the ruins of Nineveh the English antiquarian, Layard, found
many articles of iron and various inscriptions referring to its
use. Among the articles discovered by him were iron scales
of armor, from two to three inches in length. " Two or three
baskets were filled with these relics." He also found " a per-
fect helmet of iron, inlaid with copper bands." In the Brit-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 5

ish Museum several tools of iron are preserved which were
found at Nineveh by Layard, including a saw and a pick.
The art of casting bronze over iron, which has only recently
been introduced into modern metallurgy, was known to the
Assyrians. At Babylon iron was used in the fortifications of
the city just previous to its capture by Cyrus, in the sixth
century before Christ. In a celebrated inscription Nebuchad-
nezzar declares : " With pillars and beams plated with copper
and strengthened with iron I built up its gates." The huge
stones of the bridge built by his daughter Nitocris were held
together by bands of iron fixed in place by molten lead.

The Book of Job, which relates to a patriarchal period be-
tween Abraham and Moses, contains many references to iron,
even to "bars of iron," "barbed irons," "the iron weapon,"
and the " bow of steel." In the 19th chapter and 24th verse
the "iron pen," which could be used to engrave upon a rock,
is mentioned. In the 20th chapter and 24th verse iron and
steel are both mentioned, showing that in the time of Job the
two metals were both in use. " He shall flee from the iron
1 weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through." In
the 28th chapter and 2d verse it is declared that " iron is
taken out of the earth." Job is supposed to have lived in
the northern part of Arabia, in the land of Uz, which was
separated by the Euphrates from Ur of the Chaldees, where
Abraham was born. Iron ore of remarkable richness is said
to be still found between the Euphrates and the Tigris.

Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt fifteen or
sixteen hundred years before the Christian era. In the story
of their wanderings iron is frequently mentioned. When the
Israelites spoiled the Midianites they took from them iron
and other metals. "An instrument of iron" is mentioned in
Numbers, xxxv. 16. Canaan, the land of promise, is described
by Moses in Deuteronomy, viii. 9, as " a land whose stones
are iron." Iron is said to be still made in small quantities
in the Lebanon mountains. In Deuteronomy, xxvii. 5, 6,
and in Joshua, viii. 31, the use of iron tools in building an
altar of "whole stones" to the Lord is prohibited, which
shows that the Israelites in the days of Moses not only pos-
sessed a knowledge of iron tools which would cut stone, but
that the Egyptians, from whom they had recently separated,

6 THE MANUFACTURE OF

must have possessed the same knowledge. In Deuteronomy,
xxviii. 48, a "yoke of iron" is mentioned.

After the Israelites came into possession of Canaan iron
is frequently mentioned in their history, some of the earliest
references being to chariots of iron, which the Canaanites
used in their wars with them, and to various agricultural im-
plements and other tools of iron and to iron weapons of war.
The references to chariots of iron in Joshua, xvii. 16, and in
Judges, i. 19, and iv. 3, show that the Canaanites were far
advanced in the military art. In the elaborate description of
the armor of Goliath it is said that " his spear's head weighed
six hundred shekels of iron." Axes and saws and harrows of
iron are mentioned in the reign of David, and axes and ham-
mers and tools of iron are mentioned in the reign of Solo-
mon. In Proverbs, xxvii. 17, Solomon speaks of one use of
iron which shows that knives must have been made of it in
his day. " Iron sharpeneth iron ; so a man sharpeneth the
countenance of his friend." We read also in Ecclesiastes, x.
10 : " If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then
must he put to more strength." When David, about a thou- '
sand years before the Christian era, made preparations for
the building of the temple he " prepared iron in abundance
for the nails for the doors of the gates and for the joinings ; "
and in his instructions to Solomon concerning it he said that
he had prepared " brass and iron without weight," and that
" of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is
no number." When Solomon came to build the temple he
sent to Hiram, king of Tyre, for " a man cunning to work in
gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron." The Phoeni-
cians were celebrated as workers in all the metals, and Tyre
was their great city. Isaiah speaks of harrows of iron, and
in the 34th verse of the 10th chapter iron axes are clearly
referred to. "And he shall cut down the thickets of the for-
ests with iron." Jeremiah speaks of "an iron pillar." In
Amos we read of " threshing instruments of iron."

The great strength of iron is frequently referred to in
the Old Testament. In Psalms, ii. 9, we read : " Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron ; " in cvii. 10, we read of those
who sit in darkness as " being bound in affliction and iron ; "
in cxlix. 8, we read also of binding " kings with chains, and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 7

their nobles with fetters of iron." Daniel says that " iron
breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things."

Some writers have contended that the word which is
translated iron in the Old "Testament frequently means some
other metal. It is a sufficient answer to this criticism to say
that the translators of King James's version and of the re-
vised version of 1885 agree in nearly every instance in their
use of the word iron ; but to this agreement of learned men
three hundred years apart the yet more significant fact may
be added that iron is frequently mentioned in the Old Tes-
tament in connection with other metals. In addition to the
quotations already given sustaining this statement the reader
is referred to Deuteronomy, xxviii. 23 ; 1st Chronicles, xxix. 2
and 7 ; Isaiah, xlv. 2, and Ix. 17 ; Ezekiel, xxii. 20, and xxvii.
12. It may also be added that in Martin Luther's translation
of the Old Testament into German he always uses the word
eisen wherever the word iron appears in English translations.

In Jeremiah, xv. 12, the question is asked by the proph-
et : " Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel ? " The
northern iron and steel here referred to were probably prod-
ucts of Chalybia, a small district of Armenia, lying on the
southeastern shore of the Black sea, the inhabitants of which,
called Chalibees or Chalybians, were famous in the days of
Asiatic pre-eminence for the fine quality of their iron and
steel. Herodotus, in the fifth century before Christ, speaks of
" the Chalybians, a people of ironworkers." They are said to
have invented the art of converting iron into steel, but it is
probable that, as they used magnetic sand, which is very free
from impurities and is easily smelted in small quantities,
they made steel mainly. Latin and Greek names for steel
were derived from the name of this people. From the same
source we obtain the words now in common use, chalybean
and chalybeate.

Other eastern nations doubtless made steel at as early a
day as the Chalybians. In Ezekiel, xxvii. 12, the merchants
of Tarshish are said to supply Tyre with iron and other met-
als, and in the 19th verse of the same chapter the merchants
of Dan and Javan are said to supply its market with bright
iron. Tarshish is supposed to have been a city in the south
of Spain, and Dan and Javan were possibly cities in the . south

THE MANUFACTURE OF

of Arabia. The name Tarshish may, however, have referred
generally to the countries lying on the western shore of the
Mediterranean and beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Dan and
Javan may have supplied iron made in the southern part of
Arabia, or they may have traded in the bright iron, or steel,
of India. The period embraced in the references quoted from
Ezekiel was about six hundred years before Christ. Both
Tyre and Sidon traded in all the products of the east and
the west for centuries before and for some 'time after Ezekiel,
and iron was one of the products which they supplied to their
neighbors, the Israelites.

The Persians and their northern neighbors, the Medes,
made iron and steel long before the Christian era, and so did
the Parthians and other Scythian tribes. The Parthian ar-
row was first tipped with bronze, but afterwards with steel.
The Parthian kings are said to have engaged with pride in
the forging and sharpening of arrow-heads. Herodotus says
that an " antique iron sword " was planted on the top of the
mount of worship used by the Scythians. Iron is still made
in Persia by primitive methods, and so also is steel, but both
in small quantities.

India appears to have been acquainted with the manufac-
ture of iron and steel from a very early period. Day says
that in the British Museum are iron and steel tools, probably
three thousand years old, which were found in recent Indian
excavations. Ktesias, a Greek, who lived 400 years before
Christ, mentions Indian iron. When Alexander defeated Po-
rus, one of the Punjaub kings, in the fourth century before
the Christian era, Porus gave him thirty pounds of Indian
steel, or wootz. This steel, which is still made in India and
Persia, was a true steel, of a quality unsurpassed even in our
day. It was and still is manufactured by a process of great
simplicity, similar to that by which crucible steel is now
made. Ages ago the city of Damascus manufactured its fa-
mous swords from Indian and Persian steel. Swords are still
made at Damascus, but of inferior quality. The cutlers of
India, however, now make the best of swords from native
steel. George Thompson told Wendell Phillips that he saw
a man in Calcutta throw a handful of floss silk into the air
which a Hindoo cut into pieces with his sabre.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 9

The people of India further appear to have become fa-
miliar at an early period in their history with processes for
the manufacture of iron on a large scale which have since
been lost. A cylindrical wrought-iron pillar, which weighs
many tons, is now standing at the principal gate of the an-
cient mosque of the Kutub, near Delhi, in India. A highly
ornamented capital forms the upper part of the pillar. An
inscription in Sanscrit is usually supposed to assign the erec-
tion of the pillar to the fourth century of the Christian era.
In the ruins of Indian temples of great antiquity there have
been found wrought-iron beams similar in size and appear-
ance to those used in the construction of buildings at the
present time. These iron beams are fully described by Day.
Two American scientists have visited in recent years the
iron pillar at Delhi, and have favored us with their impres-
sions concerning it — Mr. John C. F. Randolph, of New York
city, visiting it in 1874, and Dr. Frank Cowan, of Greens-
burg, Pennsylvania, in 1884. Mr. Randolph says : " I sought
to obtain a few grains of the metal for analysis, but it com-
pletely dulled two cold chisels worked by my servant, with-
out producing any marks on the base of the pillar." Dr.
Cowan circumstantially describes the pillar as follows : " The
iron pillar is a polished and inscribed, cylindrical and taper-
ing, shaft of metal, surmounted with a capital which con-
sists of a series of beveled rims one above the other ; and,
as it has been found to be by measurement, it has a total
height of 23 feet and 8 inches, about 22 feet and 6 inches of
which are above the ground and 14 inches below, and a di-
ameter below of 16.4 inches and above of 12.05 inches. The
capital is about 3£ feet long."

The period at which China first made iron is uncertain,
but great antiquity is claimed for its manufacture in that
mysterious country. Iron is mentioned in a Chinese record
which is said to have been written two thousand years be-
fore Christ, and in other ancient Chinese writings iron and
steel are both mentioned. Pliny the Elder, writing in the
first century of the Christian era, thus speaks of the iron of
the Seres, which is the Latin name for the people of China :
j" Howbeit, as many kinds of iron as there be, none shall
1 match in goodness the steel that cometh from the Seres, for

10 THE MANUFACTURE OF

this commodity also, as hard ware as it is, they send and
sell with their soft silks and fine furs. In a second degree
of goodness may be placed the Parthian iron." This early
reference to Chinese steel is historically very valuable.

Iron is supposed to have been made in small quantities
in Japan and Corea in ancient times. It is now made by
primitive methods in both these countries and in China, al-
though modern methods have been attempted in both China
and Japan. The remarkable skill and taste of the Japanese
metal-workers in modern times, including their production
of swords of the finest temper and keenest edge and other ar-
ticles of iron and steel, is well known and is a constant mar-
vel to the people of other countries. The Chinese and the
Coreans are also noted for their skill as armorers and in the
manufacture of various domestic utensils of iron and steel.

Further inquiry in these pages into the evidences of the
use of iron by the oldest nations of antiquity is unnecessary.
It may be assumed as susceptible of abundant proof that
the knowledge of the use of iron was common to the people
of Asia and of Northern Africa long prior to the Christian
era. The Egyptians and their immediate neighbors in Asia,
and the Libyans and others in Africa, probably made iron
long before the days of Moses. The Phoenicians would carry
the art of making iron to their own great colony, Carthage,
which was founded as early at least as the ninth century
before Christ, and to all the colonies and nations inhabiting
the northern and southern and western shores of the Medi-
terranean. Phoenician and Carthaginian merchants obtained
iron from such western countries as Morocco and Spain, and
possibly even from India and China in the east, as well as
from nearer sources. But in time the merchants of Tyre
and the ships of Tarshish deserted the places that long had
known them ; empire after empire fell in ruins ; and with the
fading away of Asiatic and African civilization and mag-
nificence the manufacture and the use of iron in Asia and
Africa ceased to advance. Egypt has certainly not made
iron for about two thousand years, and probably no more
iron is made in all Asia to-day than was made in its borders
twenty-five centuries ago, when Babylon was " the glory of
kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency."

IRON IN ALL AGES. 11

CHAPTEE II.
THE EARLY USE OF IRON IN EUROPE.

THE authentic history of the use of iron in Europe does
not begin until about the period of the first Olympiad, cor-
responding to the year 776 before the Christian era, although
Grecian poetry and the fables of the Grecian heroic age have
transmitted to us many references to iron long prior to that
period. Authentic Grecian history itself does not begin until
the first Olympiad.

One of the earliest of Grecian fables tells of the hurling
of Hephaestus, or Vulcan, the Greek god of fire, from Olym-
pus by Jupiter, and of his falling upon the island of Lem-
iios, where he established iron forges, afterwards forging the
armor of Achilles and the weapons of Hercules. About the
time of Moses, fifteen or sixteen centuries before Christ, the
Phoenicians are said to have introduced into Greece the art
of working in iron and other metals. Minos, king of Crete, is
said to have been indebted to them for the tools wrhich ena-
bled him to build his powerful fleet. In the fifteenth centu-
ry before Christ the burning of the forests on Mount Ida, in
Crete, is said to have accidentally communicated to the inhab-
itants the art of obtaining iron from native ores. This dis-
covery enabled the Ideei Dactyli, who were priests of Cybele,
to introduce the manufacture of iron and steel into Phrygia,
a Greek colony in Asia Minor.

So read some of the stories which have come down to us
from the heroic age of Greece, all of which may be wholly
fabulous, but there is nothing improbable in the conclusion
which may be derived from them, that they point to a very
early use of iron by the Greeks. From Phoenicia certainly,
and probably also from Egypt, they would be likely to de-
rive some knowledge of its use in the mechanic arts about
a thousand years before Christ. It is worthy of notice that
the mythologies of both Greece and Egypt attributed the in-
vention of the art of manufacturing iron to the gods, a fact
which of itself may be regarded as affording sufficient proof

12 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of the great antiquity of the art in both of these countries.
The poems of Homer, who is supposed to have lived
about 850 years before the Christian era, and therefore be-
fore the period of authentic Grecian history, make frequent
mention of iron. The art of hardening and tempering steel
is fully described in the reference to the plunging of the fire-
brand of Ulysses into the eye of Polyphemus, an act which is
likened to that of the smith who " plunges the loud-hissing
axe into cold water to temper it, for hence is the strength of
iron." It would appear, however, from the offer by Achilles
of a " mass of iron, shapeless from the forge," as a prize at
the funeral games of Patroclus, that iron was not abundant in
Greece at the time of the Trojan war, nor in the days of Ho-
mer himself. Troy fell in the year 1184 before the Christian
era. Dr. Schliemann has found no traces of iron in its ruins.
The address of Achilles to the Greeks when offering the prize
indicates how valuable iron was to them in the heroic age.

Stand forth, whoever will contend for this ;
And if broad fields and rich be his this mass
Will last him many years. The man who tends
His flocks, or guides his plow, need not be sent
To town for iron : he will have it here.

When Pisander and Hippolochus begged Agamemnon to
save their lives they offered him as ransom the " treasures "
in the houses of Antimachus, their father, " brass, gold, and
well-wrought iron." Homer mentions steel axes as valuable
prizes to be contended for .in the Grecian games, and he also
mentions steel weapons of war, although rarely. He speaks
again of some iron as being bright and white, the inference
being that steel is referred to. The Right Honorable William
E. Gladstone, in his Homeric Synchronisms, says : " Iron is in
Homer extremely rare and precious. He mentions nothing
massive that is made of this material." Mr. Gladstone cites a
number of references in Homer to iron and steel — the arrow-
head of Pandaros, the dagger of Achilles, " the cutting tool
of the chariot-maker for such fine work as shaping the felloe
of the wheel," a knife for slaying oxen, and axes and adzes
of steel.

Hesiod, who is supposed to have been cotemporary with
Homer, mentions iron and some of its important qualities.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 13

He uses the phrases, bright iron and black iron. Lycur-
gus, who is supposed to have lived about the time of Homer
and Hesiod, is said to have required the Spartans to use iron
as money ; he " allowed nothing but bars of iron to pass in
exchange for every commodity." These bars, for which iron
rings or quoits were afterwards substituted, may have been
made from the iron ores which were found in abundance in
Laconia, or they may have been obtained abroad.

We come next to that period of Grecian history which
introduces us to historical personages and historical events.
The iron ores of Elba were worked by the Greeks as early as
the year 700 before Christ. They called the island JSthalia,
" from the blazes of the iron works." The working of the
ores of this island is mentioned by Herodotus, who lived in
the fifth century before Christ ; by Diodorus, a Sicilian his-
torian of the first century before Christ ; and by Strabo, a
Greek traveler and geographer, who lived at the beginning of
the Christian era. The Phoenicians made iron on the island
of Euboea at a very early day, and the Greeks afterwards fol-
lowed the same pursuit on the same island. Strabo speaks
of the mines of Eubcea as being partially exhausted in his
day. In Bceotia, on the mainland of Greece, iron was also
made in very early times, and probably in other parts of the
Grecian mainland and on the Grecian islands where iron ore
is now found. .On the island of Seriphos the ore is so rich
that many cargoes of it have been exported to the United
States and Great Britain in recent years.

Herodotus speaks of iron heads to lances and arrows in
his day. He also mentions a silver bowl inlaid with iron,
the work of Glaucus the Chian, which Alyattes dedicated at
Delphi about the middle of the sixth century before Christ.
Chalybian steel was imported into Greece in' the time of He-
rodotus ; and in the time of Aristotle, who lived a century
later, the Greeks were themselves familiar with the manufac-
ture of steel. Sophocles, who died in the year 406 before
Christ, speaks of the tempering of iron in water. The man-
ufacture of swords of steel about this time received much
attention in Greece, as it did elsewhere. The father of De-
mosthenes was a manufacturer of arms, and probably of steel
swords, in the fourth century before Christ. Iron and steel

14 THE MANUFACTURE OF

weapons began to displace those of bronze in most Mediter-
ranean countries soon after the battle of Marathon, which was
fought in the year 490 before Christ. When Xerxes invaded
Greece, ten years after the battle of Marathon, the Assyrians
in his army carried wooden clubs " knotted with iron." The
use of iron scythes as well as iron sickles was common among
the Greeks about this time. Dr. Schliemann says that iron
was known to the Myceneans, whose capital city, Mycense,
was destroyed in the year 468 before Christ. In the fourth
century before Christ Alexander is said by Pliny to have
strengthened a bridge over the Euphrates, at Zeugma, with
a chain made of links of iron.

Daimachus, a writer who was cotemporary with Alexan-
der, enumerates four different kinds of steel and their uses,
the Chalybdic, Synopic, Lydian, and Lacedaemonian. Each
kind of steel was adapted to the manufacture of particular
tools. From the Chalybdic and Synopic were made ordi-
nary tools ; from the Lacedaemonian were made files, augers,
chisels, and stone-cutting implements ; and from the Lydian
were made swords, razors, and surgical instruments. The ac-
counts left by this writer and by other writers indicate great
proficiency in the use of steel by the Greeks, and the posses-
sion by them of much skill in its manufacture.

A few years ago some peasants, digging near the banks
of the Danube, on the Hungarian side, opposite to Belgrade,
turned up a very beautiful and finely preserved iron or steel
helmet, which is believed to be a specimen of antique Greek
work, dating from probably three or four centuries before
the Christian era. It was found in the midst of wind-blown
hillocks, or dunes, of dry, shifting sand ; hence probably its
excellent state of preservation. The helmet is light and thin,
but by no means flimsy or unsubstantial. At the country
house of Mr. G. P. Morosini, at Biverdale, on the Hudson
river, in New York, is a costly collection of arms and armor
from the wars of long ago, which includes a Greek helmet
dating back hundreds of years before Christ. It has rusted
through in two places, and looks now like old sheet iron.

A description of one of the naval monsters constructed by
Archimedes for Hiero, king of Syracuse, about the middle of
the third century before the Christian era, shows the great

IRON IN ALL AGES. 15

extent to which the use of iron had then been carried by the
Greeks. " To each of the three masts was attached a couple
of engines which darted iron bars and masses of lead against
the enemy. The sides of the ship bristled with iron spikes,
designed to protect it against boarding ; and on all sides were
likewise grapples which could be flung by machines into the
galleys of the foe. The ship was supplied with twelve anch-
ors, of which four were of wood and eight of iron."

According to accepted chronology Rome was built in the
year 753 before the Christian era. It reached the culmina-
tion of its power about the end of the first century of that era.
The period from its foundation to the beginning of its de-
cline embraced about nine hundred years. During the first
part of this period Rome was favored with the experience of
older nations in the use and manufacture of iron, and during
the last part of it she greatly contributed by her energy and
progressive spirit to extend its use and increase its produc-
tion. The Greeks were the great teachers of the Romans in
all the arts, including metallurgy ; but the Etruscans, who
were neighbors of the Romans, and by whom they were in
time supplanted, also contributed greatly to their knowledge
of the arts of ancient civilization. The Etruscans, however,
owed their civilization in large part to the Tyrrhenian Greeks,
with whom they coalesced centuries before Rome was found-
ed. Etruria was largely devoted to commerce, and among the
countries with which it traded were Phoenicia and Carthage,
as well as Greece and its colonies. From all .these countries
Etruscan civilization was invigorated and diversified, and
Rome in its early days enjoyed the benefit of this invigor-
ation and diversification. That it early acquired from the
Etruscans a knowledge of the use and manufacture of iron
can easily be imagined, and subsequent direct contact with
Grecian colonies and with Greece itself would extend this
knowledge.

The island of Elba lay off the Etruscan coast, and, as has
already been stated, its iron ores were extensively used by the
Greeks about the time when Rome was founded. Its mines
were also worked by the Etruscans, and its ores were smelted
both on the island and on the mainland. They were also
taken to other countries to be converted into iron. After a

16 THE MANUFACTURE OF

lapse of twenty-five centuries the iron ores of this celebrated
island are still exported, many cargoes annually ^finding their
way to the United States. The Romans would also obtain
iron from the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, but chiefly
from Corsica. This island was occupied by the Ligurians
and the Etruscans about the time of the founding of Rome,
and by the Etruscans for centuries afterwards. The Cartha-
ginians succeeded the Etruscans, and the Romans the Car-
thaginians. Iron has been made in Corsica from the earliest
times, and is still made in small quantities. The island has
given its name to the Corsican forge, which is yet in use.
A few years ago ten of these forges were in operation in Cor-
sica, and they were probably identical in character with those
which were used on the island when Rome was founded.

Iron is frequently mentioned in the early history of Rome.
A war between the Romans and the Etruscans, the latter be-
ing led by their king, Porsenna, occurred in the year 507* be-
fore Christ, and among the conditions of peace exacted by
the victorious Etruscan king was one which prohibited the
Romans from using iron except for agricultural purposes.
This incident confirms the theory that iron was in common
use by the Greeks at the period mentioned. In the year 390
before Christ, when Rome was about to be ransomed from the
Gauls, under Brennus, by a large payment of gold, Camillus,
the Roman dictator, indignantly demurred, and declared that
Rome should be ransomed with iron and not with gold, and
that his sword alone should purchase peace. Another nota-
ble mention of iron in the early history of Rome occurs in
the account of the defeat of the Carthaginian fleet in the first
Punic war, in the third century before the Christian era. The
consul, Duilius, took command of the hastily-constructed Ro-
man fleet, and upon encountering the Carthaginian fleet he
connected his ships with those of the enemy by means of
grappling-irons, through which, and the superior prowess of
the Romans, he secured for Rome, in the year 260 before
Christ, its first naval triumph. The Etruscan town of Pup-
luna is said to have furnished Scipio with iron in the second
Punic war, and it is stated that many thousand tons of scoria
are now lying on the beach close to its site.

Some of the swords and javelins of the Romans were

IRON IN ALL AGES. 17

certainly made of iron, or more likely of steel, as early as
the fourth century before the Christian era, but their agri-
cultural implements, as has been explained in the reference
to Etruria, were made of iron at an earlier period. The Ro-
man battering-ram, which was borrowed from the Greeks, had
a head of iron, and iron rings were placed around its beam.
The Romans used this engine of war at the siege of Syracuse
in the year 212 before Christ. Prior to this time iron and
steel tools were in common use among the shipwrights, car-
penters, masons, and other tradesmen of Rome. At the be-
ginning of the Christian era iron was in general use through-
out the Roman empire, the supply being derived from many
countries which were subject to its sway. In the Acts of the
Apostles, xii. 10, is a statement which indicates that iron was
used at this period for architectural purposes and in public
works. " When they were past the first and the second ward
they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city."
Iron was, however, used at this time especially for tools, ag-
ricultural implements, and weapons of offense and defense.

Pliny says that " iron ores are to be found almost every-
where." He describes in detail the various uses to which
iron was applied in his day, and places it at the head of all
the metals. Vestiges of iron used by the Romans in the first
century after Christ have been found in the ruins of the
Coliseum, which was built by the emperor Vespasian. This
iron was used as clamps to bind together the stones of that
remarkable structure. Iron has also been found in the ruins
of Pompeii, which was destroyed about the time the Coliseum
was built ; also steel surgical instruments.

In the northern part of Italy, just south of the Alps, cor-
responding to Piedmont and Lombardy of the present day,
iron was made by the Romans in the first and second centu-
ries before the Christian era. This part of Italy has contin-
ued to make small quantities of iron ever since the days of
Pliny, the business being mainly confined to small forges
and blast furnaces. Pliny speaks of the excellence of the
water at Comum, now Como, for tempering iron, although
he says that iron ores were not found there. Italy was very
prominent in the middle ages in the manufacture of orna-
mental smithwork of iron, and for the manufacture of arms

18 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and armor its great city of Milan was widely celebrated from
the end of the fourteenth to the end of the sixteenth century.

Among the provinces which contributed largely to the Ro-
man supply of iron was Noricum, corresponding to the pres-
ent Styria and Carinthia in Austria. Both Pliny and Ovid,
who lived at the beginning of the Christian era, speak of
Norican iron as being of superior quality, and it is certain
that ferrum noricum was celebrated throughout Italy before
their day. The best of swords were made from it in the
reign of Augustus and were favorably mentioned by Horace.
The spathic ores of Styria and Carinthia are still held in
high favor ; and the supply of ore, especially from the fa-
mous iron mountains of Erzberg and Hiittenberg, showrs no
signs of exhaustion at the end of twenty centuries of almost
constant use. Iron is still made in these provinces of Austria
in small forges which are almost as primitive in character*
as those used by their ancient Celtic inhabitants. Celtic and
Roman implements and medals, including a coin of the em-
peror Nerva, who lived in the first century of the Christian
era, have been found in mounds of slag in the vicinity of
Carinthian iron mines.

Cotemporaneously with the working by the Celts of the
Norican iron mines, the Quadi, who inhabited the province
of Moravia, lying north of Noricum, also made iron. The
geographer, Ptolemy, who lived in the second century of the
Christian era, makes mention of the Quadi as ironworkers.
Iron was also made in Hungary at the beginning of the
Christian era. A late writer, Anton Kerpely, of Buda-Pesth,
says : " Even in the time of the Romans, and in the first
century of our era, the excellent iron ores of Hungary were
mined not far from the famous Trajan road and the Roman
colonies lying near thereto." Great antiquity is also claimed
for the iron industry of that vast country which was known
to the Romans as Sarmatia, but is now known as Russia in
Europe. The nomadic Scythians would doubtless carry the
art of ironmaking to the Ural mountains, where iron ore was
and still is abundant. One of the Greek poets calls Scythia
" the mother of iron," Scythia comprising the countries lying
north, east, and south of the Caspian sea.

The Phoenicians founded colonies in France and Spain

IRON IN ALL AGES. 19

prior to the sixth century before Christ. They had settle-
ments on the Garonne and Rhone in Southern Gaul. The
ancient city of Massilia, now Marseilles, is supposed to occupy
the site of a Phoenician trading-post which fell into the pos-
session of the Phoceean Greeks about the period above men-
tioned, who gave to it great commercial and manufacturing
importance. The Greeks planted other colonies in Southern
France. The city of Tartessus, or Tarshisji, is supposed to
have been one of the Phoenician settlements in the south
of Spain ; the city of Gades, or Cadiz, was another. Tartes-
sus stood between the two arms of the Guadalquivir ; but in
the time of Strabo, who died about the year 25 of the Chris-
tian era, it had ceased to exist. Gades was its near neighbor
and still exists. The Phoenicians may have introduced the
manufacture of iron among the native inhabitants of France
and Spain ; the Celtiberians of the latter country were cer-
tainly active in the mining and working of metals several
hundred years before the Christian era, and maintained an
extensive trade in metals with Tyre and Carthage.

Under Grecian influence, which succeeded that of the
Phoenicians in Spain, the Celtiberians, who inhabited the cen-
tral and northeastern parts of" the country, continued to make
iron, and to this was joined the manufacture of steel. The
famous forges of Aragon and Catalonia were active during
the Grecian occupation of Spain. The Carthaginians for
a brief time succeeded the Greeks in Spain, and about two
centuries before the Christian era the Romans succeeded the
Carthaginians. The Romans greatly extended the arts of
their advanced civilization among the native inhabitants of
Spain. They gave special encouragement to the manufacture
of iron and steel, although in justice to the Celtiberians it
must be said that their metallurgical skill was at least equal
to that of the Romans. Polybius, a Greek historian who
flourished in the second century before Christ, says that the
helmet and armor of the Roman soldier were of bronze,- but
that the sword was a cut-and-thrust blade of Spanish steel.
At the battle of Cannae, in the year 216 before Christ, the
Romans had learned from the Carthaginians at very great
cost the value of the Spanish sword.

Livy has recorded the fines which were imposed by Cato

20 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the Censor on the Celtiberian iron works in the year 194
before Christ, after the Roman war with Spain. About the
time these fines were imposed the town of Bilbilis, near the
present Moorish-built town of Calatayud, in Aragon, and the
little river Salo were celebrated as the centre of the iron dis-
trict of Celtiberia. The water of the Salo was supposed to
possess special qualities for tempering steel. The same ex-
cellence was attributed to some other streams in Spain and
other ironmaking countries. Diodorus speaks of the excellent
two-edged swords, " exactly tempered with steel," and of other
arms which the Celtiberians in Aragon manufactured from
rods of iron which had been rusted in the ground " to eat
out all the weaker particles of the metal, and leave only the
strongest and purest." He says that the swords which were
manufactured from these rods " are so keen that there is no
helmet or shield which can not be cut through by them."
Plutarch, who died about the year 140 of the Christian era,
gives the same account of the Celtiberian method of purify-
ing iron. Pliny speaks of the excellent iron of Bilbilis and
Turiasso, the latter a town in Tarragona, and of an extensive
mountain of iron upon the coast of Biscay, probably Somor-
rostro. Iron ore from the coast' of Biscay and other parts of
Spain is now exported in large quantities to Great Britain,
Germany, the United States, and other countries.

Toledo has been famous since the Roman occupation of
Spain for its manufacture of steel swords, but this industry
existed at Toledo before the appearance of the Romans. The
town was captured by them in the year 192 before Christ.
The Roman army from that time forward was provided with
steel swords from Toledo and other places in Spain. The
manufacture of Toledo blades probably attained its greatest
development in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A cer-
tain degree of mystery has always surrounded the manufac-
ture of these swords, and the same may be said of the manu-
facture in ancient times of the equally celebrated Damascus
blades.

The manufacture of swords at Toledo still continues in a
restricted way. A recent traveler, describing the ruined con-
dition of the ancient city, refers as follows to the building in
which the famous blades were once forged in such great num-

IRON IN ALL A^ES. 21

bers : " A few artisans still work there for the Spanish army,
but they do very little beyond turning out a few weapons
for show."

The iron industry of Spain was the first in the world for
hundreds of years after the Romans obtained a foothold in
the country, surviving the downfall of the Roman power in
the Peninsula in the fifth century after Christ and flourish-
ing under the subsequent rule of the Visigoths. This distinc-
tion was strengthened when the Moors became masters of the
greater part of Spain in the beginning of the eighth century
of the Christian era. They stimulated the further develop-
ment of the iron manufacture in the districts subject to their
sway. At the same time the native inhabitants who had suc-
cessfully resisted the Moorish arms continued to push their
small Catalan forges still farther into the Pyrenees and along
the coast of Biscay, lighting up the forests in every direction.
So prominent did the iron industry of Spain become that its
ironworkers were sought for by other countries, and on the
French side of the Pyrenees, and in the mountains of Ger-
many, and along the Rhine they set up many of their small
forges. The Catalan forge, which received its name from
Catalonia, has been introduced into every civilized country of
modern times which produces iron, and it still exists in al-
most its original simplicity in the mountains of both Spain
and France and in the Southern States of our own country.
Spain continued to make large quantities of iron and steel of
the best qualities down to the closing years of the eighteenth
century, when its iron and steel industries began to decline
in consequence of the greater enterprise of other countries
and their adoption of modern methods of manufacture. Ger-
many and England had previously surpassed Spain in the
quantity but not in the quality of the iron and steel they
respectively produced.

The Basque provinces, in the northeastern part of Spain
and in the extreme southwestern part of France, on the coast
of Biscay, possessed an extensive iron industry from the days
of the Romans until the period mentioned at the close of the
last paragraph. In. the fourteenth century Bilbao (pronounced
Bilbo) became a centre of this industry, which included the
making of swords of unsurpassed quality, like those of Tole-

22 THE MANUFACTURE OP

do. Shakespeare frequently refers to the " bilbo," a Spanish
sword, which derived its name from Bilbao. In the Merry
Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 1, Pistol says to Falstaff : " Sir
John and master mine, I combat challenge of this latten bil-
bo." In act 3, scene 5, Falstaff says to Ford : " I suffered the
pangs of three several deaths : .... to be compassed,
like a good bilbo, in the circumference of a peck, hilt to
point, heel to head," a comparison which shows the great
flexibility of the Spanish sword. In Hamlet, act 5, scene 2,
iron fetters called " bilboes " are mentioned by Hamlet in ad-
dressing Horatio, although their mention in Hamlet may be an
anachronism. Sir Walter Scott also refers to the swords of
Bilbao. In The Lay of the Last Minstrel we read as follows :

His Bilboa blade, by Marchmen felt,
Hung in a broad and studded belt;
Hence, in rude phrase, the Borderers still
Called noble Howard "Belted Will."

A French writer, M. Alexandre Pourcel, has recently pre-
pared with great care a most interesting and valuable account
of the iron industry of the Basque provinces. He quotes first
the statement by Pliny : " On the coast of Cantabria washed
by the ocean a high mountain rises precipitously, which, in-
credible as it may appear, is nothing but an immense block
of iron ore," which, he says, evidently refers to the mountain
of Triano, (or Somorrostro,) in the Spanish province of Bis-
cay, and then adds :

Oral tradition remained almost the sole depository of the history of
the Basque country up to a comparatively recent period ; and the ar-
chives do not go back beyond the early years of the sixteenth century.
The historians who wrote in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries re-
late that from the tenth century the incomparable vena dulce was shipped
on the river of Bilbao, the Nerba or Nervion, and transported to the dif-
ferent ports of the province of Guipuzcoa, to San Sebastian, Pasajes, and
even to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Cape Breton, or Bayonne. At the same period
thg Biscayans exported to France, the Netherlands, and England their iron,
which had already be'come celebrated, and which they extracted from the
vena dulce.

M. Pourcel next refers to a description of the Catalan
process, written by Don Pedro de Medine in 1595, and says :

According to this author there were at that period in Biscay and
Guipuzcoa, where the Somorrostro ore was sent, 300 ferrerias, each of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 23

which produced about 1,000 cwt. of iron and steel per annum, a total of
about 300,000 cwt., (quintals,) or rather less than 15,000 tons, of which a
third was immediately disposed of in these two provinces for naval con-
struction ; another third was turned into fire-arms, tools of every descrip-
tion, nails, and agricultural implements ; while the remainder was export-
ed in the form of bars. According to Father Gabriel de Henao, at the
beginning of the sixteenth century there were more than 80 reducing
hearths in Biscay, and in the middle of the following century, in 1658,
he counted himself as many as 107 fires, producing iron in large lumps,
and 70 working at finishing processes. The finished products of every
description exceeded 100,000 cwt., (quintals,) about 4,900 tons. It was dur-
ing the eighteenth century that the iron industry of the Basque country
reached its apogee with a production in certain years of more than 12,000
tons in Biscay alone. At that time this province had 245 hearths in
operation. The one description of ore which was smelted in the ferrerias
of the Basque country and the neighboring provinces was the vena dulce,
a red hematite, almost free from gangue, soft and sticky to the touch, and
easily cut with a tool.

The works celebrated for forgings were situated in Guipuzcoa. Don
Jeronimo Ustariz, Royal Secretary for the Indies, in a memoir drawn up
by order of Philip V., in 1724, with reference to the state of commerce
and naval affairs, mentions the forges of Placencia, in Guipuzcoa, distant
three leagues from the sea, as being capable of furnishing all the arms
that the fleet might require, and all the iron work for shipping purposes,
such as anchors, etc. In 1748, in a report on the artillery, presented to
Ferdinand VI., the Marquis de la Ensenada, a celebrated statesman, ex-
presses himself in the following terms : " Whereas the iron of Cantabria
is the very best obtainable, it follows naturally that arms, such as muskets,
pistols, carbines, etc., made with this iron, must be of the best quality.
It is therefore of importance that the manufactories of Guipuzcoa, which
make a specialty of this class of work, should be called into requisition
for supplying Spain and America with this material." Towards the end
of the century, in 1785, Guipuzcoa possessed eighteen manufactories of
ships' anchors. These works supplied not only the state arsenals but ex-
ported their manufactures to France and England. Just about the same
time we find from the official reports furnished to the seigniory of Biscay
that there were 154 ferrerias in full work in this province, producing 7,300
tons of iron annually. From that time the ancient iron industry of Bis-
cay has been constantly declining.

We have quoted liberally from M. Pourcel's account be-
cause of its great historic value. ' We are pleased to be able
to supplement these details with the general statement that
during recent years the iron industry of Spain is being re-
vived through the introduction at Bilbao and elsewhere of
modern processes of manufacture, to which its rich ores are
so admirably adapted.

France did not at an early period in its history make the

24 THE MANUFACTURE OF

same progress in the manufacture of iron that has been re-
corded of Spain, partly because it did not receive the same
outside attention which made Spain a centre successively of
Phoenician, Grecian, Carthaginian, Roman, Gothic, and Moor-
ish civilization, but partly also because it did not possess as
rich iron ores as those of Spain. It may be said, however,
that iron weapons were well known to the Gauls who con-
fronted the Romans hundreds of years before the Christian
era and to their successors who opposed the armies of Julius
Caesar, who frequently refers to their use of iron. In speak-
ing of the Veneti, who inhabited the southern part of Britta-
ny, which forms the northwestern part of France, he makes
the remarkable statement that the anchors for their ships
were fastened to them with iron chains instead of cables. He
also says that the benches of the ships were fastened with iron
spikes of the thickness of a man's thumb. This circumstan-
tial account denotes great familiarity with the use of iron
by the Veneti. In describing the siege of Avaricum, the
modern Bourges, a fortified town of the Bituriges, Csesar says
that " there are in their territories extensive iron mines, and
consequently every description of mining operations is known
and practiced by them." We have already referred to the
existence of an early iron industry in the French part of the
Basque provinces.

For hundreds of years after Caesar's time only faint glimp-
ses are furnished us of an iron industry in France. During
this period it was doubtless wholly confined to Catalan forges.
In the remains of a celebrated bridge erected by Charlemagne
over the Rhine, at Mayence, in the latter part of the eighth
century, .and which have but recently been removed, iron in a
good state of preservation, " being covered by only a thin layer
of rust," has been found riveted to the wood-work. Stilckofen,
or high bloomaries, were in use in Alsatia and Burgundy in
the tenth century. When William the Norman invaded Eng-
land in 1066 he was accompanied by many smiths who were
armorers and horse-shoers, and were therefore skilled workers
-in iron. The modern blast furnace is supposed to have origi-
nated in the Rhine provinces about the beginning of the four-
teenth century, but whether in France, Germany, or Belgium
is not clear. A hundred years later, in 1409, there was a blast

IRON IN ALL AGES. 25

furnace in the valley of Massevaux in France, and it is claim-
ed by Landrin that there were many blast furnaces in France
about 1450.

Iron was made by the Belgse as early as the time of Julius
Caesar, and possibly at an earlier date. Heaps of iron cinder,
which antiquarians decide to be as old at least as the Roman
occupation of Gallia Belgica, have recently been found on
the tops of iron-ore hillocks in the provinces of Brabant and
Antwerp, and in these cinder heaps have been discovered
flint arrow-heads and fragments of coarse pottery, character-
istic of the earliest dawn of civilization. During the Roman
occupation iron was produced in many places, a fact which is
attested by heaps of cinder or slag which yet exist and are
found in association with Roman relics. It has been suppos-
ed that the iron which was made in Belgium at this period
was produced in low bloomaries without an artificial blast.
It is, perhaps, a more reasonable supposition that the Romans
found this primitive method in use among the Belgians, and
that they introduced an artificial blast by means of a leather
bellows.

We do not again hear of the Belgian iron industry until
the tenth century, when high bloomaries, or wolf furnaces,
likewise known as stuckofen, were in operation in the valley of
the Meuse. "We are informed by M. Julien Deby, in a paper
on the iron and steel industries of Belgium, that " iron was
made to perfection in the Netherlands" in the twelfth cent-
ury. In the fourteenth century high furnaces, or flussofen,
were in existence in Belgium. In 1340 a furnace of this
kind was built at Marche les Dames, near Namur, to which
special privileges were granted in 1345 by William, count of
Namur. Fraiiquoy refers to documentary evidence that there
were hauls fourneaux, or blast furnaces, at Vennes and Griveg-
nee, near Liege, in Belgium, before 1400. All these furnaces,
except the wolf furnaces, were true blast furnaces, producing
cast iron. In 1560 there were in operation in the province
of Namur, according to Karsten, 35 blast furnaces and 85
forges. In 1613 permission was granted to two armorers of
Maastricht to convert iron into steel, probably cemented steel.
The celebrated . works of the John Cockerill Company, at
Seraing, near Liege, were not established until 1817.

26 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Near Saarbriicken, in Prussia, where the first battle be-
tween the French and the Germans occurred in the war of
1870, iron is said to have been made in the days of Roman
ascendency, but the Germans do not appear during this pe-
riod to have been as familiar with its manufacture as some
of their neighbors. Tacitus informs us that " iron does not
abound in Germany, if we may judge from the weapons in
general use. Swords and large lances are seldom seen. The
soldier grasps his javelin, or, as it is called in their language,
his /ram, an instrument tipped with a short and narrow piece
of iron, sharply pointed, and so commodious that, as occasion
requires, he can manage it in close engagement or in distant
combat." He further says that the use of iron was unknown
to the .ZEstyans, who inhabited the northern part of Germany
lying upon the Baltic ; " their general weapon was the club."
The Gothinians are described by Tacitus as a people who
" submit to the drudgery of digging iron in mines " for the
Quadi, who were their neighbors. Ernest, the German editor
of Tacitus, says that the Gothinians had iron of their own,
and did not make use of it to assert their liberty. Tacitus
wrote his Treatise on Germany near the close of the first cent-
ury of the Christian era. Polybius states that the Teutons
and the Cimbri, from Northwestern Germany, who invaded
Italy and Gaul near the close of the second century before
the Christian era, "were already familiar with iron, and pos-
sessed weapons of that metal."

From this time forward the condition of the German iron
industry is enveloped in obscurity until the eighth century,
when we hear of iron works, probably wolf furnaces, or stuck-
qfen, in the district of the river Lahn, in Nassau, where iron
of great celebrity was made by a guild of "forest smiths" in
780. We are informed by Maw and Dredge, in their very full
report on the iron exhibits at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873,
that " they had their special privileges, kept an iron mart at
Wetzlar, and sent their products regularly to the great annual
fairs at Frankfort-on-the-Main. This iron industry was es-
pecially flourishing during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fif-
teenth centuries." During the eighth century we hear also of
the iron industry of the principality of Siegen. There was a
steel forge at the town of Siegen in 1288 which had been in

IRON IN ALL AGES. 27

existence before the eleventh century. The iron industry of
this principality was very active during the middle ages.

About the middle of the thirteenth century stuckofen were
in use in Siegen. Percy, in his Metallurgy of Iron and Steel,
says that at the beginning of the fifteenth century pig iron
was made in Siegen in blauofen. Iron was made in Saxony
as early as the eighth century. Alexander, in his Report on
the Manufacture of Iron, made to the Governor of Maryland in
1840, informs us that the flussofen was introduced into Sax-
ony in 1550, and that the wooden bellows was invented about
this time by Hans Lobsinger, an organist of Nuremberg.

Iron was made in the Hartz mountains in the eighth
century. Wolf furnaces and ore bloomaries were in existence
in the Thuringian mountains in the tenth century, and blast
furnaces in the fourteenth century. Alexander states that in
the latter half of the sixteenth century there was a furnace
in these mountains which was 24 feet high and 6 feet wide
at the boshes, built by Hanssien, a Voigtlander.

Solingen, in Rhenish Prussia, was celebrated as early as
the twelfth ce'htury for its swords and other cutting instru-
ments. Swords of superior quality are still made in large
quantities at the same place. In 1377 cast-iron guns were
made near Erfurt, in Thuringia. In the fifteenth century
pots, plates, cannon-balls, and other articles of iron, many of
them of great artistic excellence, were cast at the celebrated
Ilsenberg foundry in Germany, which is still in existence.
Stoves are said to have been cast in Alsace in 1490. As early
as 1509 they were cast at Ilsenberg.

The celebrated steel works of Fried. Krupp, at Essen, in
Germany, were founded in 1815 by Friedrich Nicolai and
Friedrich Krupp, under the firm name of Nicolai & Krupp,
for the purpose of making cast steel. The partnership was
soon dissolved, and the business was afterwards successfully
conducted by Herr Krupp, who died on October 8, 1826, aged
about 39 years. After his death the works were at first oper-
ated by his .wife, Therese Krupp, and his oldest son, Alfred
Krupp, the son subsequently assuming entire control. Alfred
Krupp died on July 14, 1887, at the age of 75 years. He was
born on April 12, 1812. The works are now in the hands of
his son, Friedrich Alfred Krupp, grandson of the founder.

28 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Holland does not appear to have ever had an iron indus-
try, and the same remark may be made of Denmark, neither
country producing iron ore. Iron and steel made elsewhere
have, however, been manufactured in small quantities into
various minor products in both countries. David Mushet
quotes M. Verlit as authority for the statement that cast iron
was known in Holland in the thirteenth century, and that
stoves were cast from it at Elass in the year 1400.

Switzerland has undoubtedly made iron in small quanti-
ties from remote ages. It now has a few small blast furnaces
and rolling mills, and in the manufacture of cutlery and ma-
chinery it is very active. The lake dwellers of Switzerland,
who lived before the Christian era, possessed wrought-iron
swords of wonderful workmanship ; also other iron weapons
and implements. See Harper's Magazine for February, 1890,
for a brief account of the lake dwellers.

Recurring to the iron industry of Austria, Alexander says
that the mines of Styria were " opened again " in 712. It ap-
pears probable that wolf furnaces were in use in Styria, Ca-
rinthia, and Carniola as early as the eighth fcentury, which
seems to be the epoch of their introduction in most Euro-
pean countries. These provinces became very prominent in
subsequent centuries in the manufacture of iron and steel in
Catalan forges. The first blast furnace in the Alps provinces
was, however, introduced very much later than in Belgium or
on the .Rhine, the first in Carinthia being built in 1567, at
Urtl ; the first in Styria in 1760, at Eisenerz ; and the first in
Carniola in the early part of the present century. Iron was
made in Bohemia and Silesia at an early period. " The Bo-
hemian chronicler, Hajek, of Liboschan, mentions that iron
works existed in 677, near Schasslau." Heaps of cinder and
remains of wolf furnaces and ore bloomaries are numerous
in Bohemia. In 1365 bloomaries were in use in Upper Sile-
sia. Kerpely says that written descriptions are extant of the
working of iron mines in Upper Hungary in 1326 and 1408.
Iron slag has been discovered in Hungary at a depth of
about one foot below the surface of the ground and in the
midst of beautiful vineyards. It is probable that iron had
been continuously made in Hungary and in various Austrian
provinces in the period intervening between the dates above

IRON IN ALL AGES. 29

mentioned and the early operations in Noricum, Moravia,
and Hungary which have already been referred to.

The iron industry of Sweden had an existence as early
at least as the^ thirteenth century. A Swedish historian says
that the oldest iron mine in Sweden is probably Norberg, in
Westmanland, on the southern borders of Dalecarlia. There
are documents still in existence, dated July 29, 1303, signed
by Thorkel Knutson, the royal marshal, in which Norberg
is mentioned as an iron mine. Exclusive privileges were
granted to the miners of Norberg by King Magnus Ericsson
in 1354. It is probable, however, that the manufacture of
iron in botji Sweden and Norway antedates the time of the
vikings in the eighth and ninth centuries of the Christian
era, as the remains of their vessels which have been discov-
ered have been found to contain iron. It may also be said
that, as iron was made in other European countries before
this period, there is no good reason to doubt that it was also
made in Sweden and Norway. At Taplow, on the Thames,
in England, not far from Windsor Castle, the tomb of a Norse
viking of undoubted identity was opened in 1883, and in it
were found, among other articles, a rusted iron sword which
fell into pieces when removed, an iron knife, the iron socket
of a spear, an iron ring strengthening the inside of a bronze
shield, and another iron ring strengthening the bottom of a
bronze bucket. Still more recently there has been discovered
at Gloppen, on the coast of Norway, a burial chamber 12 feet
in length, formed of stone slabs, containing the remains of a
man, two lance-heads of iron 12 inches long, an iron shield,
some Roman gold coins perforated and worn as ornaments,
some iron arrow-heads, and many bronze, glass, and other ar-
ticles, all denoting a very early origin. In the valley of Val-
ders, in South Norway, a sword, a spear, and an armlet have
recently been found, the sword and spear being of iron and
the armlet of bronze. On a farm in Tromso sound, close
to the North cape, the skeleton of a tall man was recently
plowed up, and by its side lay an iron sword, a short and a
long iron spear, three iron arrow-heads, the blade of a scythe,
a small iron rod, and other articles. In East Gothia, in Swe-
den, an oval-shaped stone grave has been discovered, contain-
ing a skeleton, beside which were a sword, two spear-heads,

30 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and the remains of a shield and a helmet, all of iron. All
these Swedish and Norwegian relics are of undoubted pre-
historic origin.

In 1889 Paul B. Du Chaillu published in two volumes The
Viking Age, in which he incorporates many evidences of the
existence of an advanced iron industry among the Norsemen
in the early centuries of the Christian era. His circumstan-
tial statements are very interesting and very valuable.

In 1488 the celebrated mines of Dannemora, in Sweden,
were opened. The celebrated cannon factory at Finspong
" received its first privileges " in 1587, and the Akers cannon
factory, now abolished, dates from 1584. In 1614 Gustavus
Adolphus promoted the immigration of German furnacemen
into Sweden. The Walloon refining process, which takes its
name from the Walloons, of Flanders, was introduced into
Sweden from Flanders in the time of Charles the Twelfth,
who reigned from 1697 to 1718. Percy states that the os-
mund furnace, which was a modification of the stuckofen, was
formerly very common in Sweden. Overman, in his Manu-
facture of Iron, says that this furnace was introduced into
Sweden from Germany. We have proof of its existence in
Finland as late in the present century as 1873. A stuekofen
was in operation in the province of Jemtland, in Sweden, as
late as 1830. We have a record of the exportation of 2,200
tons of malleable iron from Sweden in 1559.

The iron industry of Russia dates historically from 1569,
in which year, as recorded by Scrivenor, in his History of
the Iron Trade, published in 1841, the English "obtained the
privilege of seeking for and smelting iron ore, on condition
that they should teach the Russians the art of working this
metal." The first historical iron works in Russia, however,
were established long afterwards, according to the same au-
thor, in the reign of the czar Alexy Michaelovitch, (1645 to
1676,) about sixty miles from Moscow, and were by Scrivenor
said to be the only works in Russia prior to the reign of Pe-
ter the Great, who is reported to have worked in them before
he set out, in 1697, on his first journey into foreign countries.

It is not known when the celebrated Russia sheet iron
was first made. It is not mentioned in a circumstantial
enumeration of the iron manufactures of Russia about 1798,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 31

to be found in Scrivenor. It is produced to-day on both
sides of the Ural mountains, but chiefly on the Siberian side.

There is reason to believe that the Russians were skilled
ironworkers and metallurgists long before the period which
is mentioned by Scrivenor. The bells of Moscow (not made
of iron, however,) have been famous for hundreds of years.
Scrivenor himself refers to "the old ruinous iron works" at
Olonetz, which he says were "restored" by Henning, a for-
eigner in the service of Peter the Great, about the year 1700.
Herr Pechar, of Teplitz, in Bohemia, wrote in 1878: "Min-
ing operations have been carried on in the Caucasus, Ural,
Altai, and the Kirghise desert in the most remote ages. This
is proved by the number of abandoned workings discovered
by the Russians when they took possession of these districts.
These conquerors, however, did not commence their working
before the fifteenth century, from which time there was again
a lapse of three hundred years before order and progress were
firmly established by new mining legislation issued by Peter
the Great, in 1719."

We have before us an account of a Journey from St. Pe-
tersburg to Pekin, undertaken in 1719 and completed in 1722,
in which account there is a reference to the iron industry
of Siberia which points to its origin as early at least as the
preceding century. We quote as follows :

I can not leave Solikamsky without mentioning the rich iron mines in
the country adjacent, at Kathenaburg, and other places of that district,
which produce iron equal perhaps in quality to the best in the world.
These works have of late been brought to great perfection by the skill and
indefatigable industry of Mr. Demidof, a native of Russia, enabled and en-
couraged to carry them on by a beneficial grant from his majesty, who is
always ready to assist and protect those who, by their ingenuity, form proj-
ects to the advantage of his country. These works, I am informed, are
still capable of great improvement. The ore is very good, and rises in many
places to the very surface of the earth, and may be dug at a small expense.
As for wood to smelt it, no place in the world can have greater advantage.
Besides, all the machines may be driven by water, and there is an easy
communication by the rivers to St. Petersburg for exportation, and to many
other parts of Russia for inland consumption. In these mines are often
found magnets of various sizes. I have seen some of them very large and
of high virtue. There are several other iron works in Russia ; for instance,
at Tula, Olonitz, and other places ; but the metal is of an inferior quality
to that of Siberia.

The narrative from which the above extract is taken was

32 THE MANUFACTURE OF

written by Dr. John Bell, a Scotch physician, who accompa-
nied Peter the Great's embassy to Persia in 1715, 1716, 1717,
and 1718, and subsequently accompanied Peter's embassy to
China in 1719, 1720, and 1721. For a biographical sketch of
Dr. Bell see Appleton's American Cyclopcedia.

In an English pamphlet on the British iron trade, printed
between 1725 and 1731, and to be found in the Journal of the
Iron and Steel Institute for 1885, the competition of Russian
and especially of Siberian iron in British markets is freely
commented upon. Bar iron only is referred to. It is scarce-
ly possible that Siberian bar iron could have been made of
such good quality that it would compete with other iron in
British markets at the beginning of the eighteenth century
if its manufacture in that remote region had been under-
taken so recently as the preceding century. It is, we think, a
far more reasonable theory that the knowledge of the manu-
facture of iron was carried by the iron making Parthians and
Scythians into the Ural mountains before the Christian era,
and that it was never lost by their successors, although new
life was infused into the industry by Peter the Great.

Tacitus mentions the Finns (Fenni) in his Treatise on
Germany. He says of them. : " The Finns are extremely wild,
and live in abject poverty. They have no arms, no horses, no
dwellings ; they live on herbs, they clothe themselves in skins,
and they sleep on the ground. Their only resources are their
arrows, which for the lack of iron are tipped with bone." A
circumstantial enumeration of the iron industries of Finland
in 1873 mentions 22 blast furnaces and 69 miscellaneous
wrought-iron works, including " 10 bloomaries or ancient fur-
naces, of a construction somewhat similar to the Catalan fur-
nace, in which the iron ore is reduced directly to a mass of
wrought iron, which is taken out of the bottom and front of
the furnace and worked under hammers." These were os-
mund furnaces. Lake ores are chiefly used in the Finnish
iron industry.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 33

CHAPTER III.
BEGINNING OF THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY.

THE use of iron in a very limited way was known to the
Britons before the invasion of England by Julius Caesar in
the year 55 before Christ. The Phoenicians, who traded with
the Britons probably as early as the seventh century before
Christ, may be supposed to have introduced among this bar-
barous people the use of iron, but we have no proof that they
instructed them in its manufacture. The Phoenicians visited
the Cassiterides (the Scilly Islands and Cornwall) to obtain
tin. Herodotus speaks of obtaining tin from the Cassiterides
in his day, the fifth century before the Christian era. The
Greeks and Carthaginians succeeded the Phoenicians in trad-
ing with the Britons, but there is no proof that they taught
them the art of making iron. They, as well as the Phoeni-
cians, probably took iron into Britain in exchange for tin and
other native products. Caesar, in his Commentaries, says of the
Britons who opposed his occupation of the island that " they
use either brass or iron rings, determined at a certain weight,
as their money. Tin is produced in the midland regions ;
in the maritime, iron ; but the quantity of it is small : they
employ brass, which is imported." This quotation appears
to establish the fact that iron was a precious metal in Britain
at the time of the invasion ; it would at least seem to show
that it was not in common use and could not have been used
as an article of export. Caesar nowhere mentions the use of
iron weapons of war by the Britons. The Belgae had passed
over into Britain before Caesar's time and made settlements
upon its coast, and whatever arts they possessed they would of
course take with them. It can not be proved that the Belgae
made iron in their own country before Caesar's invasion of
it ; if it could be shown that they did it might safely be as-
sumed that they would introduce' their methods of manufac-
ture mto*Britain. Caesar says' that a small quantity of iron
was made in the maritime regions of the island, and this
the Belgae may have made. _

34 THE MANUFACTURE OF

/ If the manufacture of iron by the Britons prior to the
Roman invasion is enveloped in obscurity and even in doubt,
there can be 110 doubt that iron was made in considerable
quantities during the Roman occupation of Britain, which
nominally extended from about the middle of the first cent-
ury of the Christian era to the year 411. The Romans, it
may here be remarked, knowing the value of iron, encour-
aged its manufacture wherever their arms were borne and
the necessary conditions existed. The remains of iron works
which were in existence and were operated during their stay
in Britain are still pointed out. Dismissing all speculation
concerning the origin of the first iron works in Britain, the
remains of some of these works may well receive attention.
They relate to a most interesting period in the history of the
British iron trade.

Large heaps of iron scoria, or cinder, as old as the Roman
era, have been discovered in the wealds of Kent and Sussex,
in the hills of Somerset, and in the Forest of Dean in Glou-
cester ; also at Bierley, a few miles from Bradford in York-
shire, and in the neighborhood of Leeds in the same county.
On the moors in the parishes of Lanch ester and Chester-le-
Street in the county of Durham vast heaps of iron scoria of
presumed Roman origin have been found ; also in the val-
leys of the Reed and the Tyne in the county of Northum-
berland. There is also evidence that iron was made under
the Romans in the counties of Surrey, Glamorgan, Mon-
mouth, Hereford, and Worcester. Mr. Robert Hunt, in his
history of British Mining, says : " We may trace the Romans
from the wild country of the Forest of Dean, and the beau-
tiful Wye scenery in the south, through the hills of Shrop-
shire and Montgomeryshire, Cheshire, and the counties of
Flint and Denbigh, and through the ancient country of the
Cangi, or Kiangi, up to the shores of the Irish Channel."
He also says that iron was made by the Romans in Derby-
shire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, and other counties.

Many of the places and counties named above as having
produced iron lie in the southeastern or southwestern parts of
England, or within the ancient boundaries of South Wales,
" the country of the Silures." Next to Cornwall, where tin
was obtained by the Phoenicians and their successors, these

IRON IN ALL AGES. 35

southern portions of the country would be most likely to be
visited and influenced by foreigners before the Roman inva-
sion, and to receive the most attention after it. Csesar de-
scribes the island of Britain as being shaped like a triangle,
with one of its sides looking toward Gaul. " One angle of
this side is in Kent, whither almost all ships from Gaul are
directed."

The cinder above mentioned has almost invariably been
found in connection with Roman coins, pottery, and altars.
A coin of Antoninus Pius, who lived in the second century
after Christ, was found in the Forest of Dean in 1762, to-
gether with a piece of fine pottery. Coins of other Roman
emperors have been found in the cinder heaps of the For-
est of Dean. In the cinder beds of Beauport, between Hast-
ings and Battle, in Sussex, a bronze coin of Trajan has been
found, and one of Adrian. These emperors lived in the first
and second centuries after Christ. Coins found in the cinder
•heaps of Maresfield, not far from Uckfield, have dates rang-
ing from Nero to Diocletian, or from the year 54 to the year
286 after Christ. In the cinder mounds of Sussex many
specimens of Roman pottery have been discovered. Altars
erected to Jupiter Dolichenus, the protector of Roman iron
works, have been discovered in various places in England in
association with the remains of prehistoric iron works.

In M. A. Lower's Contributions to Literature will be found
an interesting account of the discovery of Roman relics in
1844, by Rev. Edward Turner, in the cinder beds of the par-
ish of Maresfield in Sussex. This is followed by Lower with
other proofs of the manufacture of iron in Sussex by the
Romans. Recent researches by James Rock, of Hastings, in
Sussex, throw additional light on the Roman and early Brit-
ish methods of manufacturing iron. Cinder beds, or cinder
heaps, were once very numerous in East Sussex, and many
of them still exist. The neighborhood of Hastings appears
to have been a great centre of the iron industry^" from the
earliest times." The cinder heaps yet remaining are large
enough to be quarried, and contain thousands of tons of sco-
ria, some of the heaps having large oak trees growing upon
their summits.

Much of the cinder has been found on the tops of hills

36 THE MANUFACTURE OF

or mounds, a circumstance which justifies the belief that bel-
lows were not employed in producing a blast, but that the
wind was relied upon to produce a draft sufficient to smelt
the ore in crude bloomaries, some of which were mere exca-
vations, with covered channels leading to the hillside in the
direction of the prevailing winds. This primitive method
of making iron is that which appears to have prevailed in
Belgica at the same time. Bloomaries of similar form and
adaptation wrere in use in Derbyshire for smelting lead as late
as the seventeenth century. Scrivenor mentions that similar
furnaces were used by the Peruvians to smelt the silver ore
of their country before the arrival of the Spaniards. Other
bloomaries in Britain are supposed by Fairbairn and other
writers to have been simple conical structures, with small
openings below for the -admission of air, and erected on high
ground that the wind might assist combustion. A still sim-
pler method is supposed to have consisted in placing ore and
wood or charcoal in alternate layers in elevated positions, or*
even in the lowlands. All these were wasteful methods. The
cinder found in England and Wales was very rich in iron ; in
the Forest of Dean it was so rich and so abundant that in
the sixteenth century about twenty small blast furnaces were
engaged in smelting it.

It was stated in 1681 by Andrew Yarranton, in the second
part of England's Improvements by Sea and Land, that <l with-
in 100 yards of the walls of the city of Worcester there was
dug up one of the hearths of the Roman foot-blasts, it being
then firm and in order, and was 7 foot deep in the earth."
The foot-blast here referred to must have been a leather bel-
lows, with which the Romans and their Mediterranean neigh-
bors were certainly acquainted. There is nothing improbable
in the conclusion that the Romans while in Britain used both
. the wind-bloomaries and the foot-blasts.

The emperor Adrian landed in Britain in the year 120,
and in the following year there was established at Bath, in
Wiltshire, a Roman military forge, or fabrica, for the nWiu-
facture of iron arms. This forge w^s close to the bloomaries
in Somerset and the Forest of Dean,' from which it was sup-
plied with iron. That the manufacture of iron in Britain at
this time and for some time subsequently was almost wholly

IRON IN ALL AGES. 37

confined to the southern parts of England seems probable
from a passage in Herodian, quoted by Smiles in his Indus-
trial Biography, who says of the British pursued by the em-
peror Severus, in the year 208, through the fens and marshes
of the east coast, that " they wore iron hoops round their
middles and their necks, esteeming them as ornaments and
tokens of riches, in like manner as other barbarous people
then esteemed ornaments of silver and gold."

Percy quotes from the London Times an account of the
opening of some prehistoric remains in the Cheviot hills, in
the north of England, in 1861 and 1862, which revealed va-
rious evidences of the rude civilization of the early Celtic,
or British, inhabitants, including pieces of iron slag. These
remains are assigned by the Times to the Roman period of
British history, but they may belong to a later period.

Strabo mentions the exportation of iron from Britain
in his day, the beginning of the Christian era. This was
before the Romans had subdued the Britons, but after the
influence of Roman civilization had been felt in the island.
During the Roman occupation of Britain iron was one of the
products of the country which were regularly exported.

The Anglo-Saxons, who succeeded the Romans in Britain
in the early part of the fifth century, used tools and weapons
of iron, and it is a reasonable supposition that they pro-
duced all the iron that was required for their manufacture ;
but their enterprise as iron manufacturers probably extended
no further, although Bede, who is the earliest English his-
torian, speaks of the importance of the iron industry in his
day, the beginning of the eighth century. The Anglo-Saxon
monks frequently engaged in the manufacture of iron. St.
Dunstan, who lived in the tenth century, is said to have had
a forge in his bedroom, and to have been a skilled black-
smith and metallurgist. One of the last of the Anglo-Saxon
kings was Edmund Ironside.

During the ascendency of the Danes, and afterwards down
to the accession of William the Conqueror in 1066, iron was
made in the Forest of Dean and elsewhere, but in limited
quantities. In Doomsday-Book mention is made of iron works
in the counties of Somerset, Hereford, Gloucester, Cheshire,
and Lincoln, but no mention is made of iron works in Kent,

38 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Surrey, or Sussex. In the eleventh century the Anglo-Saxon
plow consisted of a wooden wedge covered with iron straps,
to which the Normans added the coulter. The shipbuilders
of Edward the Confessor, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings
prior to Harold who lost the battle of Hastings, obtained
supplies of bolts and bars of iron from the city of Glouces-
ter. The antiquarian Camden says that " in and before the
reign of William the Conqueror the chief trade of the city
of Gloucester was the forging of iron ; and it is mentioned
in Doomsday-Book that there was scarcely any other tribute
required from that city by the king than certain dicars of
iron and iron bars for the use of the royal navy. The quan-
tity required was thirty-six dicars of iron, a dicar containing
ten bars and one "hundred iron rods for nails or bolts." Gi-
raldis Cambrensis, who lived in the twelfth century, speaks
of " the noble Forest of Dean, by which Gloucester was am-
ply supplied with iron and venison." Nicholls, in The Forest
of Dean, says that in the time of Edward the First, in the
latter part of the thirteenth century, the Free Miners of the
Forest " applied for and obtained their ' customes and fran-
chises,' which were granted, as the record of them declares,
'time out of minde.'" In 1282, according to Nicholls, there
were " upwards of seventy-two " forgece errantes, or movable
forges, in the Forest, each of which paid a license of seven
shillings a year to the crown.

Scrivenor says that during the period from the Conquest
to the death of John, in 1216, iron and steel were imported
into Britain from Germany and other countries, the domestic
supply being insufficient. The Normans, however, contribu-
ted much to the development of English iron and other re-
sources. Green, in his History of the English People, says that
one immediate result of the Conquest was a great immigra-
tion into England from the Continent. "A peaceful invasion
of the industrial and trading classes of Normandy followed
quick on the conquest of the Norman soldiery." In 1266 and
subsequently we hear of iron works in Sussex which were
not mentioned in Doomsday-Book. In the year 1300 the iron-
mongers of London complained to the Lord Mayor that the
smiths of the weald of Sussex brought iron for wheels that
was not what it ought to have been, " to the loss of the wrhole

IR'ON IN ALL AGES. 39

trade." In 1321 three thousand horseshoes and twenty-nine
thousand nails were provided by Peter de Waltham, sheriff
of Surrey and Sussex, for the expedition against Bruce in
which Edward the Second attempted to retrieve the defeat
at Bannockburn.

Still the English iron industry made very slow progress.
Professor James E. Thorold Rogers, in his Work and Wages,
informs us that during the reign of Edward the First (1274
to 1307) the most valuable articles in use by the English
peasants were copper and brass pots and a few common iron
utensils, all metals being exceedingly dear, and iron, relatively
speaking, being the dearest of all. The iron utensils of this
period were all made of hammered iron. It is mentioned by
Scrivenor that there were but few iron mines in the north of
England in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and that,
in the tenth year of the reign of Edward the Second, in 1317,
iron was so scarce in that section and in Scotland that the
Scots, " in a predatory expedition which they made in that
year, met with no iron worth their notice until they came to
Furness, in Lancashire, where they seized all the manufac-
tured iron they could find, and carried it off with the greatest
joy, though so heavy of carriage, and preferred it to all other
plunder." The Scots at this time were in great need of iron,
which they did not produce in large quantities in their small
forges, and for which they were largely dependent on the Con-
tinent and on the favor or ill-fortune of England. Alexander
says that there were iron works at Kimberworth, in York-
shire, in 1160, and Smiles gives an extract from a contract
for supplying wood and ore for iron " blomes " at Kirskill,
near Otley, in Yorkshire, in 1352. A recent writer, Mr. H. A.
Fletcher, says that " the earliest record which has been found
of iron-ore mining in Cumberland seems to be the grant of
the forge at Winefel to the monks of Holm Cultram Abbey,
in the twelfth century, which also included a mine at Egre-
mont, by inference of iron, being in connection with a forge ;
and Thomas de Multon confirms a gift to the same abbey de
quartuor duodenis mince ferri in Coupland." The Ulverston dis-
trict in Lancashire appears to have been a seat of the English
iron industry as early as the twelfth century.

Scrivenor mentions one art related to the manufacture of

40 THE MANUFACTURE OF

iron which flourished in England from William to John if
the manufacture itself did not. The art of making defensive
armor was brought to such perfection -during the period men-
tioned that " a knight completely armed was almost invulner-
able." The history of the crusades shows that the English
were then very proficient in the manufacture of both arms
and armor, as were the Turks and other Asiatic tribes who
resisted them. Smiles says that it was the knowledge of the
art of forging iron which laid the foundation of the Turk-
ish empire. By means of this art the Turks made the arms
which first secured their own freedom and then enabled them
to extend their power. The quality of the swords used by
the English and by their Infidel opponents is illustrated by
an incident related by Sir Walter Scott in the Tales of the
Crusaders. He describes a meeting between Richard Coeur
de Lion and Saladin, at which Saladin asks Richard to show
him the strength for which he is famous, and the Norman
monarch responds by severing a bar of iron which lies on
the floor of his tent. Saladin says, " I can not do that," but
he takes a down pillow from the sofa, and drawing his keen
blade across it it falls in two pieces. Richard says, " This is
the black art ; it is magic ; it is the devil ; you can not cut
that which has no resistance." Saladin, to show him that
such is not the case, takes from his shoulders a scarf which
is so light that it almost floats in the air, and tossing it up
severs it before it can descend. Much of the iron which the
English used at this time in the manufacture of arms and
armor came from Spain.

Edward the Third, who reigned from 1327 to 1377, did
much to advance the manufacturing industries of England.
He protected domestic manufactures by legislation which re-
stricted the importation of foreign goods, and he encouraged
the immigration into England of skilled workmen from the
Continent. The use of ^iron was greatly extended in his reign,
and its manufacture was active in Kent and Sussex and in
the Forest of Dean. Nevertheless the domestic supply did
not meet the wants of the people. Scrivenor says : " By an
act passed in the twenty-eighth year of Edward the Third no
iron manufactured in England, and also no iron imported and
sold, could be carried out of the country, under the penalty

IRON IN ALL AGES. 4.1

of forfeiting double the quantity to the king ; and the mag-
istrates were empowered to regulate the selling price and to
punish those who sold at too dear a rate, according to the
extent of the transaction." This act appears to have remain-
ed in force long after Edward's death. Smiles quotes from
Parker's English Home the statement that in the reign of this
king the pots, spits, and frying-pan of the royal kitchen were
classed among the king's jewels.

The methods of manufacturing iron which were followed
in England in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were
all of a slow and restricted character, although very greatly
advanced beyond those which existed in the days of the Ro-
mans. Cast iron in all forms appears to have been still un-
known ; all iron was forged. The English were yet mainly
devoted to agriculture, but were not even good farmers, their
implements of husbandry and their methods of cultivating
the soil being equally rude. Wool was their great staple,
and this was largely exported to the Continent, where it was
manufactured into finer fabrics than the English were capable
of producing. Iron was often scarce and dear, because the
domestic supply was insufficient. The iron industry on the
Continent was at this period in a much more advanced stage
of development than in England, and most of the Continent-
al iron was also of a better quality than the English iron. V*

Professor Rogers, in his History of Agriculture and Prices
in England and in his Work and Wages, gives many interest-
ing details concerning the iron industry of England in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Iron was made at this
time at Tendale in Cumberland, and at or near the city of
Gloucester ; also in Kent and Sussex. It was doubtless made
in many other places. Steel is frequently mentioned, the first
reference to it being in 1267. It is not quite clear that all
the steel used in England during the period under consider-
ation was imported, but most of it certainly was. Much of
the iron used was imported, frequent mention being made
of Spanish and also of osemond iron. Osemond steel is also
frequently mentioned. In 1281 Norman iron, of a superior
quality, was bought for the Newgate jail. Spain appears to
have been the principal source of the supply of imported
iron. It is probable that the osemond iron arid steel were

42 THE MANUFACTURE OF

chiefly obtained in Sweden, Norway, and Germany, the os-
mund furnace having been in use in these countries about
this time. Iron and steel were generally bought at fairs and
markets. The Spaniard attended the Stourbridge fair with
his stock of iron, and iron from the Sussex forges was sold
at the same place. The prices of iron and steel were usually
lower near the sea and at the great towns in the south of
England than elsewhere. Among the farmers it was custom-
ary for the bailiff to buy the iron that might be needed on
the farm, and to employ a smith to make the horseshoes and
nails and to iron the implements. Rogers says that " no di-
rect information about the seasons, scanty as it is, is so fre-
quent as that found in the notices which the bailiff gives of
the great cost of iron." Iron for the tires of wagons and
carts was so dear that many wheels wTere riot ironed. Steel
appears to have been but little used by the farmers.

Iron was sold in various forms. The iron made at the
works at Tendale was sold in the form of blooms in 1333
and subsequently. Blooms wrere sold as early as 1318, but
the place of their manufacture is not given. Slabs and bars
of iron are also mentioned, but the commonest form in which
iron was sold was the "piece," twenty-five pieces making a
hundred-weight. " The small fagot of iron, each bar of which
weighed a little over four pounds, was kept by the bailiff, and
served as occasion required for the various uses of the farm."
The Tendale bloom weighed about one hundred pounds, and
having to be reworked was sold at a much lower price than
other forms of iron. Steel was usually sold by the garb, or
sheaf, each sheaf containing thirty small pieces, the weight of
which is not stated. Rogers supposes that the pieces of iron
and steel were of about the same weight, and that the price
of steel was about four times the price of iron. Occasional
mention is made of steel which was sold by the cake ; it was
" a little higher in value and much greater in weight than
the garb." Steel made in the forges of Styria and other Aus-
trian provinces is still produced in the form of a large cake.

Plow-shoes, which appear to have been iron points to wood-
en shares, are of frequent occurrence in the accounts quoted
by Rogers, and so are lath and board nails, clouts and clout
nails, and horseshoes and horseshoe nails. Horseshoes were

IRON IN ALL AGES. 43

not purchased from the smiths until about the close of the
fourteenth century; down to that time the smiths were sup-
plied by the bailiffs with the iron for their manufacture.
" Hinges, staples, and bolts were occasionally manufactured
by the village smith from iron supplied him by the bailiff,
but were more frequently bought at the market-town or fair."
Iron mattocks and hoes were used in the fourteenth century,
as were iron sickles, scythes, and hay and other forks. Iron
teeth for harrows were unknown, and it may be added that
they were not much used in England until the seventeenth
century. Domestic utensils of iron were not in general use ;
pots and similar articles used in the kitchen were usually of
brass. A brass jug and pan are mentioned in 1272, a brass
jug and basin in 1360, and two brass pots in 1383. Such iron
utensils as were in use appear to have been made of wrought
iron. Tinware was certainly unknown. Hammers, axes, pick-
axes, and other tools were made of iron. Iron hoops were
used for buckets and grain measures in the fourteenth cent-
ury ; " the iron-bound bucket that hung in the well " had an
existence as early at least as 1331.

Other authorities mention that arrow-heads Avere manufac-
tured at Sheffield in the thirteenth century, and that knives
were manufactured at the same place in the fourteenth cent-
ury, as they are to-day. Chaucer, who wrote his Canterbury
Tales near the close of the latter century, in describing the
miller of Trompingtoii says that " a Schefeld thwytel bar he
in his hose." Birmingham was then, as it is now, a centre
of the manufacture of swords, tools, and nails.

Smiles pays a deserved compliment to the English smith,
to whom England owes so much of its greatness. In. Anglo-
Saxon times his person was protected by a double penalty,
and he was treated as an officer of the highest rank. The
forging of swords was then his great specialty. William the
Conqueror did much to exalt the art of the smith, to whom
he was greatly indebted for his victory at Hastings, his
soldiers being better armed than those of the Saxon Harold.
At the close of the fourteenth century the smith had fairly
entered upon the brilliant career which has since contributed
so much to the industrial pre-eminence of England. Mr.
Picton, in a recent address, says : " Iron work at this period

44 THE MANUFACTURE OF

was of the most elaborate description. The locks and keys,
the hinges and bolts, the smith's work in gates and screens,
exceed in beauty anything of the kind which has since been
produced." In a lecture before the Society of Arts in 1883 •
Mr. George H. Birch gives a pleasing description of the use-
ful and ornamental treatment of iron by English and Conti-
nental smiths from the twelfth to the seventeenth century,
dwelling especially upon the elaborate and beautiful hinges,
railings, screens, and locks that are still preserved in ecclesi-
astical and other structures of mediaeval and later origin.

In the fourteenth century cannon were used in England
and on the Continent, although Appleton's Cyclopaedia gives
us dates of their earlier use. The year-book of the town of
Ghent, in Holland, dated 1313, says : " In this year was intro-
duced the use of guns in Germany by a monk." This monk's
name was Berthold Schwartz. A statue to his memory was
erected at Freiburg in 1853. France, according to Scrivenor,
appears to have used cannon as early as 1338, in which year
it is stated that the government had an account with Henry
de Faumichan "for gunpowder and other things necessary
for the cannon at the siege of Puii Guillaume." Scrivenor
says that " in the year 1327 we hear of cannon, which are then
supposed to have been first used in England by Edward the
Third in his invasion of Scotland." An English writer, Mr.
C.-D. Archibald, is said by Lower to have presented strong
reasons for the belief that cannon were used by Edward in
his expedition against the Scots in the year mentioned. Eng-
land made prominent use of cannon in field warfare at the
battle of Cressy and the siege of Calais in the year 1346,
when the bowmen of Edward the Third were drawn up "in
the form of a harrow," with small bombards between them,
" which, with fire, threw little iron balls to frighten the
horses." These bombards were made of "iron bars joined
together longitudinally, and strengthened by exterior hoops of
iron." But the archers of the English army continued to be
the main reliance of the English kings for many years after
Edward's first use of the bombards, and on the Continent
gunpowder did not come into general use until the sixteenth
century. At the battle of Pavia, in 1525, the matchlock was
first used effectively, and it was then fired from a rest.

IKON IN ALL AGES. 45

CHAPTER IV.

THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY FROM THE FIFTEENTH
TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

DURING the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the manufac-
ture of iron in England was greatly extended. The encour-
agement which Edward the Third and his immediate succes-
sors had given to the immigration of foreign workmen into
England had resulted in the settlement in the country of
many Flemish and French ironworkers, whose skill was ea-
gerly sought by many landed proprietors who entered with
zeal into the manufacture of iron. Sussex became the prin-
cipal seat of this industry ; it possessed iron ores and forests
of timber, the latter supplying the necessary charcoal for fuel,
and small streams furnished the requisite power to drive the
iron mills." As one marked result of the extension of the
iron manufacture in England at this time the dependence of
the country upon foreign sources of supply was greatly les-
sened, so much so that in 1483 an act was passed prohibiting
the importation of gridirons, grates, iron wire, knives, hinges,
scissors, and many other manufactured articles of iron or
steel which competed with like articles of domestic produc-
tion. Landrin, however, states that fine tools were still im-
ported into England from Bilbao, in Spain, as late as 1548.
As early as the beginning of the fifteenth century blast
furnaces were introduced into England from the Continent,
and this event gave a fresh impetus to the iron industry of
Sussex, Kent, Surrey, and other sections. Prior to the intro-
duction of blast furnaces all iron that was made in England
was produced in Catalan forges or high bloomaries directly
from the ore, and was, therefore, when finished, wrought, or
bar, iron. The bloomaries were doubtless modeled after the
Continental stuckofen ; indeed the English high bloomary was
probably the exact counterpart of the stuckofen. The first
blast furnaces introduced into England were also probably the
same in all respects as the flussofen, or blauofen, or the liaut
fourneau, of the Continent.

46 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The exact date of the erection of the first blast furnace
in England is unknown. Lower, in his account of the iron
industry of Sussex, mentions an iron casting which was made
in the fourteenth century. Mushet supposes that iron was
cast in the Forest of Dean in 1540, and he says that the oldest
piece of cast iron he ever saw bore the initials " E. R." and
the date "1555." Lower quotes some cast-iron inscriptions
in Sussex which are dated 1581, 1582, and 1591. But even
the earliest of these years is clearly not sufficiently early to
be accepted as marking the period when blast furnaces were
introduced into England. Camden, who lived between 1551
and 1623, says of Sussex : " Full of iron mines it is in sundry
places, where, for the making and founding thereof, there be
furnaces on every side, and a huge deal of wood is yearly
burnt." He also says that the heavy forge-hammers, which
were mostly worked by water-power, stored in hammer-ponds,
beating upon the iron, "fill the neighborhood round about,
day and night, with continual noise." In 1607 John Norden
stated in a printed document that " there are or lately were in
Sussex neere 140 hammers and furnaces for iron." In 1612
Simon Sturtevant said that there were then in England, Scot-
land, Ireland, and Wales " 800 furnaces, forges, or iron mills"
making iron with charcoal, of which Dud Dudley, a few years
later, estimated that about 300 were furnaces, the weekly prod-
uct of which was about 15 tons each. The furnaces would be
partly employed in making pots, kettles, mill machinery, and
other castings direct from the ore. In the sixteenth century,
as has already been stated, several furnaces were built in the
Forest of Dean to rework the cinder which was found there in
large quantities. The first furnaces built in the Forest were
15 feet high and 6 feet wide at the boshes. The furnaces at
work in the Forest in 1677 were blown with bellows 20 feet
long, driven by " a great wheel," turned by water.

Lower says that about 1557 " several Sussex families, en-
riched by the iron manufacture, assumed the rank of gentry."
Smiles says that "the iron manufacture of Sussex reached its
height toward the close of the reign of Elizabeth, when the
trade became so prosperous that, instead of importing iron,
England began to export it in considerable quantities in the
shape of iron ordnance." This ordnance was cast, and the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 47

time referred to was the latter part of the sixteenth century.
Bronze cannon had succeeded the bombards about the begin-
ning of that century, and as early as 1543 cast-iron cannon
were made in Sussex, at a place called Bucksteed, by Ralph
Hogge, who employed a Frenchman named Peter Baude as
his assistant. " Many great guns " were subsequently cast in
Sussex, John Johnson and his son, Thomas Johnson, the
former a servant of Peter Baude, being prominent in their
manufacture. John Johnson is said to have " succeeded and
exceeded his master in this his art of casting ordnance, mak-
ing them cleaner and to better perfection." About 1595 the
weight of some of the cannon cast in Sussex amounted to
three tons each. At a later period, in 1648, Bishop Wilkins
says in his Matliematicall Magick that " a whole cannon weigh-
ed commonly 8,000 pounds, a half cannon 5,000, a culverin
4,500, a demi-culverin 3,000. A whole cannon required for
every charge 40*pounds of powder and a bullet of 64 pounds."

But a still greater honor is claimed for Peter Baude than
that with which his name is above associated. Stow, in his
Chronicle, quoted by Froude and Smiles, says that two foreign
workmen, whom Henry the 'Eighth tempted into his service,
first invented shells. "One Peter Baude, a Frenchman-born,
and another alien called Peter Van Cullen, a gunsmith, both
the king's feed men, conferring together, devised and caused
to be made certain mortar pieces, being at the mouth from
11 inches unto 19 inches wide, for the use whereof they caus-
ed to be made certain hollow shot of cast iron, to be stuffed
with fire-work or wild-fire, whereof the bigger sort for the
same had screws of iron to receive a match to carry fire
kindled, that the fire-work might be set on fire for to break
in pieces the same hollow shot, whereof the smallest piece
hitting any man would kill or spoil him." Lower gives the
name of the " alien " above referred to as " Peter Van Collet,
a Flemish gunsmith."

There is deposited in the library of the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, a stone caDnon-ball, one of
twenty-three which are said to have been fired at the boat in
which Queen Mary and Douglass made their escape from
Loch Leven in 1568. It is about nine inches in diameter, is
round, but not smooth, and weighs probably fifteen pounds.

48 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The exportation of cast-iron cannon became so extensive
that complaint was made that Spain armed her ships with
them to fight the ships of England, and the trade was for a
time prohibited. But their manufacture continued on a large
scale. Hume says that " shipbuilding and the founding of
iron cannon were the sole manufactures in which the English
excelled in James the First's reign/' from 1603 to 1625. In
1629 the crown ordered 600 cannon to be cast for the States
of Holland. England, however, continued to import from
the Continent, but particularly from Sweden, Germany, and
Spain, some of the finer qualities of iron and considerable
quantities of steel.

Before 1568 all iron wire that was made in England was
" drawn by main strength alone," according to Camden. The
Germans, says this author, then introduced into the Forest of
Dean and elsewhere the art of drawing it by a mill. Pre-
vious to the year mentioned the larger part of the iron wire
and ready-made wool-cards used in England was imported.
Scrivenor quotes Williams's History of Monmouthshire' as au-
thority for the statement that the iron and wire works near
Tintern Abbey were erected by Germans. There can be no
doubt that the iron industry of England in the fourteenth,
fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries was greatly indebted to the
inventive genius and mechanical skill of German, Flemish,
French, and other emigrants from Continental countries.

Near the close of the sixteenth century there was intro-
duced into England an invention for slitting flattened bars of
iron into strips called nail-rods. This invention was the slit-
ting mill. Scrivenor, upon the authority of Gough's Camden,
states that Godfrey Bochs, of Liege, Belgium, set up at Dart-
ford, in 1590, "the first iron mill for slitting bars." Dart-
ford is a market town in Kent. Another story associates the
name of " the founder of the Foley family, who was a fiddler
living ne^ft1 Stourbridge," with the honor of introducing the
first slitting mill into England, a knowledge of which he sur-
reptitiously gained by visiting Swedish iron works and fid-
dling for the workmen. Percy states that Richard Foley, the
founder of the Foley family at Stourbridge, who was first a
seller of nails and afterwards a forgemaster, died in 1657 at
the age of 80 years. In 1606 and 1618 patents were granted

IRON IN ALL AGES. 49

.in England to Sir Davis Buhner and Clement Dawbeny, re-
spectively, for cutting iron into nail-rods by water-power.

The slitting mill, by whomsoever invented and perfected,
greatly benefited the nail trade of England. Birmingham be-
came the centre of this industry, and it was here, probably,
that scantily-clad and poorly-paid women and girls were first
regularly employed in England in the manufacture of nails.
Hutton, who is quoted by Young in his Labor in Europe and
America, says that in 1741 they were thus employed in the
numerous blacksmith shops of Birmingham, " wielding the
hammer with all the grace of their sex." They were called
" nailers." Women and children are still employed at Bir-
mingham and its vicinity in making nails and chains, and
their condition is usually wretched and pitiable. Machinery
was not applied to the manufacture of nails in any country
until near the close of the eighteenth century. Nail-cutting
machinery is an American invention.

Leland, a writer in the time of Henry the Eighth, (1509
to 1547,) refers to Birmingham as follows : " There be many
smithes in the towne that use to make knives and all man-
ner of cutting tooles, and many lorimers (saddlers) that make
bittes, and a great many naylors ; so that a great part of the
towne is maintained by smithes, whoe have their iron and
sea-cole out of Staffordshire." He also says : " The beauty
of Birmingham, a good market towne in the extreame parts
of Warwickshire, is one street going up alonge almost from
the left ripe of the brooke, up a meane hill by the length
of a quarter of a mile. I saw but one paroch church in the
towne." Camden, who wrote half a century later, describes
Birmingham as "swarming with inhabitants and echoing
with the noise of anvils."

The art of tinning iron was first practiced in Bohemia,
and in 1620 it was introduced into Saxony. These countries
for some time supplied all Europe with tin plates. The dis-
covery of tin in Bohemia is said by Flower, in his History
of the Trade in Tin, to date from 1240. In 1681 Andrew Yar-
raiiton asserted that tin plates were then made in England
through his means, he having learned the art of making
them in Saxony in 1665. The exact date of the introduc-
tion of the manufacture of tin plates into England by Yar-

50 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ranton is said to have been 1670. The first attempt to estab-
lish the new industry in England was made at Poiitypool, in
Monmouthshire, in that year, but it was not successfully es-
tablished there until 1720. Scrivenor states that in 1740 the
art "was brought to considerable perfection in England."

But, notwithstanding the progress which had been made
in the development of the English iron trade, especially in
the reigns of Henry the Eighth, Elizabeth, and James the
First, an influence was at work which was destined to weigh
heavily for a hundred and fifty years upon all further devel-
opment. This was the growing scarcity of wood for the use
of the forges and furnaces, mineral fuel, or pit-coal, not yet
having come into use as a substitute for wood in these works.
The forests of England in the ironmaking districts had been
largely consumed by the " voragious " iron works, and there
were loud complaints that the whole community would be
unable to obtain fuel for domestic purposes if this denuda-
tion were persisted in. In response to these complaints an
act was passed in 1558, the first year of the reign of Eliza-
beth, which prohibited the cutting of timber in certain parts
of the country for conversion into coal or fuel " for the mak-
ing of iron," special exception being made of the weald of
Kent, the county of Sussex, and certain parishes "high in
the weald of the county of Surrey." In 1563 a royal decree
was issued abolishing the " bloomeries," or "iron smithies," in
Furness in Lancashire, in compliance with a petition of the
inhabitants, " because they consumed all the loppings and
croppings, the sole winter food for their cattle." In 1581 an
act to prevent the destruction of timber was passed, which
set forth the increasing scarcity of timber for fuel in conse-
quence of "the late erection of sundry iron mills in divers
places not far distant from the city of London and the sub-
urbs of the same, or from the downs and sea-coast of Sus-
sex," and provided that " no new iron works should be erect-
ed within twenty-two miles of London, nor within fourteen
miles of the river Thames," nor in certain parts of Sussex
near the sea ; nor should any wood within the limits de-
scribed, with certain exceptions, be converted " to coal or
other fewel, for the making of iron-metal in any iron-mill,
furnace, or hammer." A more sweeping act was passed in

IRON IN ALL AGES. 51

1584, which prohibited the erection of any new iron works
in Surrey, Kent, and Sussex, and ordered that no timber one
foot square at the stub should be used as fuel " at any iron
work." It is said that these restrictions were not very rig-
idly enforced, but they served to narrow the limits within
which the manufacture of iron could be conducted, although
they did not abridge the manufacture itself. Lower says
that, in the early part of the reign of Charles the First, who
was beheaded in 1649, "the number of mills and furnaces
had increased yearly, in spite of the statutes limiting their
extension, and the waste of timber was again brought before
the notice of government." This increase, however, was prob-
ably in districts of the country which had not previously been
largely devoted to the manufacture of iron. Dudley, in his
Mettallwn Martis, says that about 1620 there were nearly 20,-
000 smiths of all sorts within ten miles of Dudley Castle, in
Staffordshire, and that there wTere also "many iron works at
that time within that circle decayed for want of wrood (yet
formerly a mighty woodland country)."

About the middle of the seventeenth century the British
iron industry experienced a serious check through the civil
commotion known as the Cromwellian Rebellion which then
prevailed. Many of the forges and furnaces in Sussex and
in the south of Wales were destroyed, and they were not
again rebuilt. Soon after the Restoration all the royal iron
works in the Forest of Dean wer£ destroyed, owing to the
scarcity of timber. There was then much apprehension felt
lest the Forest of Dean should fail to supply timber for the
royal navy. Owing to the scarcity of timber many of the
iron works in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, and in the north of
England were "laid down" in 1676, and England's supply
of iron was largely derived from " Sweadland, Flanders, and
Spain."

Notwithstanding these severe checks the iron industry of
England bravely refused to be utterly destroyed, and as late
as 1720 it was still second in importance to the manufacture
of woolen goods. In 1724 it was the chief industry of Sus-
sex. In 1740, however, only 59 furnaces were left in all
England and Wales, and their total production was but 17,-
350 tons of pig iron, or about 294 tons for each furnace. All

52 THE MANUFACTURE OF

these furnaces may not have been in blast, as it has been
stated that, ten years later, in 1750, each of the charcoal fur-
naces of Monmouthshire produced 24 tons of iron in a week.
Ten of the furnaces existing in 1740 were in Sussex, but in
1788 only two of these were left, and in 1796 only one is
mentioned. In 1740 there were 10 charcoal furnaces in the
Forest of Dean. Pig iron is still made in this district, but
with coke as fuel. The iron industry of Kent, Sussex, and
Surrey is now extinct. The last furnace in the weald of
Sussex, at Ashburnham, was blown out in 1829.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries England
imported iron largely from Sweden, and in the latter century
both Russia and the American colonies contributed to her
supply. The scarcity of timber for fuel for blast furnaces in
England continuing, a proposition was made in the British
Parliament in 1737 to bring all pig iron from the British col-
onies in America; and in 1750, to facilitate the importation
of pig iron from these colonies, the duty which had previous-
ly been imposed for the protection of British pig-iron manu-
facturers was repealed. At this time the business of manu-
facturing pig iron in some parts of Great Britain was still
conducted upon such primitive principles that both charcoal
and iron ore were carried to the furnaces of Monmouthshire
on the backs of horses.

About the middle of the eighteenth century mineral fuel
in the form of coke came into general use in the manufacture
of pig iron in England, and the iron trade of that country
and Wales at once revived, while that of Scotland may be
said to have been created by the new fuel. As early as the
beginning of the preceding century the celebrated and unfort-
unate Dud Dudley and others had experimented in England
in the manufacture of iron with coke, but the first contin-
uous and completely successful use of mineral fuel in the
blast furnace was by Abraham Darby, of Shropshire, at his
furnace at Coalbrookdale, in 1735, or 'possibly a year or two
earlier. This coal was coked. The new fuel was at once in-
troduced at other furnaces in England. Raw coal had previ-
ously been used in refineries. In 1740 a coke furnace was
built at Pontypool, in Monmouthshire. In 1796 charcoal fur-
naces had been almost entirely abandoned in Great Britain.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 53

Mr. Robert Hunt thus describes the early attempts that
were made in England to manufacture iron with mineral fuel.

In the time of King James several patents for the manufacture of iron
with pit-coal were granted, but with little success, till Dud Dudley, in 1619,
succeeded in making coke pig iron at the rate of three tons per week. Pre-
viously, in 1612, Simon Sturtevant, and, in 1613, Eavenzon, made experiments
in the same direction, but without success. During the Commonwealth pat-
ents were also granted, in one of which Oliver Cromwell was a partner.
Again, in 1663, Dud Dudley secured his last patent, setting forth that at one
time he was capable of producing seven tons of coke pig iron each week, the
furnace being twenty-seven feet square, the blast impelled by bellows, which
one man could work for an hour without being much tired. It was not, how-
ever, till the beginning of the 18th century that the successful application of
coal, previously coked, was solved by Abraham Darby, of the Coalbrookdale
iron works, Shropshire, giving a new and greater impetus to the iron indus-
tries of the kingdom.

The manufacture of pig iron with mineral fuel was great-
ly facilitated by the invention of a cylindrical cast-iron bel-
lows by John Smeaton in 1760, to take the place of wooden
or leather bellows, and by the improvements made in the
steam engine by James Watt about 1769, both these valuable
accessions to blast-furnace machinery being used for the first
time, through the influence of Dr. Roebuck, at the Carron
iron works in Scotland. The effect of their introduction was
to greatly increase the blast and consequently to increase the
production of iron. The blast, however, continued to be cold
at all furnaces, both coke and charcoal, and so remained un-
til 1828, when James Beaumont Neilson, of Scotland, invented
the hot-blast, which is now in general use in Great Britain
and other ironmaking countries.

These and other changes in the manufacture of pig iron
were accompanied by equally important improvements in the
manufacture of wrought, or finished, iron. In 1783 Henry
Cort, of Gosport, England, obtained a patent for rolling iron
into bars with grooved iron rolls, and in the following year
he obtained a patent for converting pig iron into malleable
iron by means of a puddling furnace. These patents did not
relate to entirely new inventions in the -manufacture of iron
but to important improvements on existing methods, which
had not, however, been generally employed. John Payne and
Major Hanbury . rolled sheet iron as early as 1728 at Pon-
typool, and patents were granted for grooved rolls to other

54 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Englishmen before Cort's day. From Cort's time forward
bituminous coal was used in the puddling furnace as well as
in the blast furnace, but in its raw state. To the important
improvements introduced by Cort the iron trade of Great
Britain is greatly indebted. The refining of pig iron in for-
ges and its subsequent conversion into bars and plates under
a hammer formed the only general method of producing fin-
ished iron down to Cort's day, both in Great Britain and on.
the Continent, and it was wholly inadequate to the produc-
tion of large quantities of iron of this character. With min-
eral fuel, powerful blowing engines, the puddling furnace, and
grooved "rolls Great Britain rapidly passed to the front of all
ironmaking nations. But the foundation of this progress was
the possession of mineral fuel, or pit-coal, of superior quality
and in large and apparently inexhaustible quantities. On the
Continent at this time the pit-coal which had been developed
was supposed to be unsuited to the manufacture of iron. Ow-
ing to this belief and to the demoralization of all industries
caused by the Napoleonic wars coke pig iron was not made
on the Continent until 1826, when John Cockerill successfully
introduced the use of coke at a blast furnace at Seraing.

Steel was largely made in England as early as 1609, and
most probably in cementation furnaces, the product being
known as blister steel and shear steel. The manufacture of
steel by cementation did not, however, originate in England,
but on the Continent. In the year mentioned John Hawes
held the site of the Abbey of Robertsbridge in Sussex, upon
which were eight steel " furnaces." The invention of crucible
cast steel originated with Benjamin Huntsman, an English
clockmaker, at Sheffield, in 1740, and not only Sheffield, the
principal seat of its manufacture and of the manufacture of
all kinds of cutlery, but all England as well has greatly prof-
ited by his discovery. The manufacture of cemented steel
also became a leading industry of Sheffield in the eighteenth
century.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century Sheffield
contained 2,207 persons ; at the census of 1881 it had 284,-
508. As late as 1736 the population of Sheffield was only
10,121. A curious document sets forth that, " by a survaie of
the towne of Sheffild, made the second daie of Januarie, 1615,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 55

by twenty-four of the most sufficient inhabitants there, it
appeareth that there are in the towne of Sheffild 2,207 peo-
ple ; of which there are 725 which are not able to live with-
out the charity of their neighbours ; these are all begging
poore. One hundred householders which relieve others. These
(though the best sorte) are but poor artificers; among them
there is not one that can keep a teame on his own land, and
not above tenn that have ground of their own that can keep
a cow. One hundred and sixty householders not able to re-
lieve others. These are such (although they beg not) as
are not able to abide the storme of one fortnight's sickness,
but would be thereby driven to beggary. One thousand two
hundred and twenty-two children and servants of the said
householders, the greatest part of which are such as live of
small wages, and are constrained to work sore to provide
them necessaries."

Benjamin Huntsman was born in Lincolnshire, England,
in 1704, of German parents, and died at Attercliffe, near
Sheffield, on June 20, 1776. He was a member of the So-
ciety of Friends.

Robert Hunt was born at Devonport, England, on Sep-
tember 1, 1807, and died at Chelsea, England, on October 17,
1887.

Dr. John Percy was born at Nottingham, England, on
March 23, 1817, and died at Paddington, England, on June
19, 1889.

Professor James E. Thorold Rogers was born at West
Meoii, in Hampshire, England, in 1823, and died at Oxford,
England, on October 13, 1890.

56 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER V.

THE EARLY IRON INDUSTRY OF WALES, IRELAND,
AND SCOTLAND.

IN preceding chapters relating to the British iron indus-
try our attention has been wholly occupied with the details
of its development in England. We will now turn to the
early iron industry of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

It has already been stated that iron was made in Wales
during the Roman occupation of Britain. As the Welsh
were a somewhat exclusive and practically an independent
people down to a comparatively recent period it may be as-
sumed that they have never since ceased to make iron, al-
though we have found no details of its manufacture by them
prior to the sixteenth century. At Crickhowell, in Brecknock-
shire, there were to be found a few years ago large quantities
of scoria of supposed Roman origin. In the sixteenth centu-
ry, owing to the scarcity of timber in England, some of the
ironmasters of Sussex emigrated to Glamorganshire, in South
Wales, where they founded the iron works of Aberdare and
other iron works. Remains of the works in the Aberdare
valley still exist. At Pontypool, on the Welsh border, a blast
furnace was built by Capel Hanbury in 1565, to smelt the
Roman cinder which was found there, and about 1620 " the
Hanburys" are said to have built iron works at Llanelly.
The development of the extensive iron industry of Merthyr
Tydvil appears to date from about 1755, when the Dowlais
iron works were established, although iron i§ said to have
been made at Merthyr as long ago as 1660. In 1770 the
first coke furnace in South Wales was built at Cyfarthfa. In
1788 there were six coke furnaces in South Wales. Cort's
inventions were promptly appropriated by Welsh ironmasters.
The first successful manufacture of pig iron with anthracite
coal was accomplished by George Crane, an Englishman, at
Yniscedwin, in Wales, in 1837.

Merthyr, at one time called the iron metropolis of Wales,
is said to owe its name to Tydvil, the daughter of Brychan,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 57

the king of the district and a very devout old man, who was
murdered in 420 by a party of marauding Saxons, or, as
stated by others, Irish Picts, together with her father and
brother. A church was erected on the spot to her memory
and named after her, Merthyr Tydvil, or Tydvil the Martyr.
Tydvil is not an uncommon feminine name in Wales to-day.

According to Scrivenor, iron-ore mines w:ere opened in
Ireland by the English who settled in the country during the
reign of Elizabeth, and iron itself was extensively manufac-
tured in Ireland by the English during the reign of James
the First and afterwards. The most extensive works were in
the provinces of Munster, Connaught, and Ulster, and in the
counties of Queens, Kings, and Thomond. In some instances
iron ore was taken from England to the sea-coast of Ulster
and Munster in Ireland, the latter country then abounding in
forests, but generally Ireland supplied both the ore and fuel.
Most of the iron produced was in bars from forges, but ord-
nance, pots, and other articles were also cast in foundries or
furnaces. The Rebellion of 1641 put an end to many of the
English iron works in Ireland, some valuable works in the
county of Mayo escaping. In 1660 Sir William Petty estab-
lished extensive iron works in the county of Kerry, which
continued in operation until the middle of the eighteenth
century, when they were stopped in consequence of the scar-
city of timber. In 1672 Sir William stated that one thou-
sand tons of iron were then made in Ireland. Near the close
of the seventeenth century an act of the British Parliament
remitted the duties on bar iron and on iron slit and ham-
mered into bars imported from Ireland, the manufacturing
industries of Ireland being then greatly depressed. The iron
industry of Ireland survived until the reign of George the
Second, in the early part of the eighteenth century, when it
came to an end in consequence of the scarcity of timber, the
competition of English iron, and the unsettled condition of
the country. An effort was made to revive it at the close of
the century, but it met with slight success.

In 1840 there were no iron works in Ireland " going on,"
and in 1857 there was only one furnace standing in Ireland.
There are now no iron works in the country. Irish ores were
exported to the United States in 1879 and 1880, and in more

58 THE MANUFACTURE OF

recent years. In 1888 County Antrim in Ireland produced
129,235 tons of iron ore, and a small quantity was also
produced in County Roscommon. ' In 1889 County Antrim
produced 164,686 tons, but no ore was produced in County
Roscommon. In all Ireland there were mined 91,904 tons
of coal in 1888 and 103,201 tons in 1889.

It has already been incidentally stated that iron was very
scarce in Scotland in the closing centuries of the middle ages,
the Scotch people obtaining nearly all their supplies of iron
at that time from other countries. The Scotch, however,
were noted during the period mentioned for the excellence
of their swords and armor, the former vying in temper with
those of Toledo, Bilbao, and Milan. In Sir Walter Scott's
story of The Fair Maid of Perth, the incidents of which are
supposed to have occurred during the last years of the four-
teenth century, the hero, Henry Gow, is an armorer, a forger
of swords and bucklers and coats-of-mail. In 1547 an Eng-
lish chronicler wrote that "the Scots came with swords all
broad and thin, of exceeding good temper, and universally
so made to slice that I never saw none so good, so I think it
hard to devise a better."

In a paper read in 1886 before the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland Mr. Ivison Macadam fully described the ancient
iron industry of Scotland. The discovery of several mounds
of iron slag in Argyleshire and elsewhere in 1881 had led
him to investigate their origin. A list of many old bloom-
aries had been obtained at the time his paper was written.
The ore used in most cases was bog ore, but occasionally red
iron ore was used, and even clayband ore. The two last
named may have been imported from England. The fuel was
wood or peat charcoal, large supplies of which could be ob-
tained in the neighborhood of most of the sites of these old
iron works. Mr. Macadam exhibited specimens of the slag,
charcoal, iron ores, and iron found in the ruins of the bloom-
aries. His valuable discoveries completely establish the fact
that the inhabitants of Scotland in early times were familiar
with the manufacture of iron in bloomaries, probably as
early as the eleventh or twelfth century. We have already
mentioned that pieces of iron slag have been discovered in
the ruins of Celtic fortified towns in the Cheviot hills, on the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 59

boundary between England and Scotland, which may relate
to a still earlier period.

Mr. Macadam gives a circumstantial account of a blast
furnace which was erected in 1607 at Letterewe, in Ross-shire,
Scotland, and which was successfully operated for many years.
The foundations and other remains of this first of historic
furnaces in Scotland are still to be seen. The furnace was
situated on the north bank of Furnace Burn, which flows into
Loch Maree about one mile to the south of Letterewe House.
Sir George Hay, a native of Perthshire, was the owner of the
furnace. An old manuscript refers to " the woods of Letter-
ewe, where the said George Hay kept a colony and manu-
factory of Englishmen making iron and casting great guns,
untill the woods of it was spent and the lease of it expired."
Pennant, in his Tour in Scotland, (1769,) mentions "the re-
mains of a very ancient iron furnace," and adds that " Mr.
Dounie has seen the back of a grate marked S. G. Hay, or
Sir George Hay, who was head of a company here in the
time of the Queen Regent." Some of the ore used was found
in the neighborhood, but a part seems to have been brought
by sea from England. Mr. Macadam also describes the re-
mains of two other iron works on Loch Maree that are prob-
ably as old at least as the Letterewe furnace, one of which,
Fasagh, may have been a bloomary, working on bog ores,
while the other, Red Smiddy, embraced a furnace, for the
production of guns, grates, and other castings, and a forge
for making wrought iron, the ores used being red hematite
and clayband.

Of the earliest of modern blast furnaces in Scotland Mr.
Macadam also gives a circumstantial account. There was a
furnace at Invergarry about 1730, which was operated by a
Liverpool company which used imported ore, at least in part.
Some pigs of iron, inscribed " 1732," have been found doing
service as headstones in a disused graveyard at Gairlochy
locks, on the Caledonian canal. A furnace wras built at Bun-
awe, in Argyleshire, in 1730, by an Irish company. This fur-
nace ceased to be operated in 1866. In 1878 its machinery
was removed to England. The ore used was imported from
Ulverston, in Lancashire. A furnace was built in the neigh-
borhood of Abernethy, in Strathspey, in 1730, and there were

60 THE MANUFACTURE OF

also attached "four furnaces for making bar iron." At this
furnace " Glengarry " and " Strathdown " pigs were produced.
Brown hematite l iron ore for the use of this furnace was
brought from Tomintoul, in Banffshire, a distance of nearly
twenty miles, " on pony back." A furnace called Craleckan,
or Goatfield, at Inverleckan, or Furnace, on Loch Fyne, about
eight miles distant from Inveraray, was built in 1754 by a
Lancashire company, which brought its ore from England.
Charcoal was taken to the furnace on the backs of a " string
of from 30 to 40 ponies." This furnace also had a forge at-
tached to it. The works ceased operations in 1813. The first
blast furnace of the celebrated Carron iron works, about a
mile from Falkirk, was built in 1759 and first put in opera-
tion on January 1, 1760. These works are still active.

Carron furnace was at first operated with charcoal, but
coke was afterwards substituted. This furnace was the first
in Scotland to use the new fuel. The manufacture of carron-
ades was long a specialty of the Carron iron works, from
which they took their name. In 1788 there were six coke
furnaces in Scotland and the two charcoal furnaces of Bun-
awe and Goatfield.

There are now no charcoal furnaces in Scotland, none in
Ireland or Wales, and but two in all England. These two
furnaces were in blast in 1889. For several years they have
produced but little iron. They are known as Newlands and
Backbarrow, and are situated near Ulverston, in Lancashire.
Backbarrow was built not later than 1711. Newlands was
built in 1747.

About 1782 two blast furnaces, known as the Devon iron
works, were erected in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Mr.
Richard Meade, in his Coal and Iron Industries of the United
Kingdom, quotes Sir John Sinclair's description of these cu-
rious furnaces, written in 1792, which we reproduce below.

A steep bank rises more than 90 feet from the level of the river, and
is composed of a rock, or very thick stratum of limestone, very dry and
uniform in its texture, and almost free from cracks and fissures. Instead
of the usual method of building with stone and lime, the several parts of
the works have been formed in this bank by excavations made in the
rock. Two furnaces, which are each 40 feet high and 14 feet in diameter,
and also the spacious arches which give access to the workmen at the bot-
tom of the furnace, to draw off the liquid metal and slag, are cut out of

IRON IN ALL AGES. , 61

the rock. The roof which covers the casting house, a room 70 feet long, 50
feet wide, and 23 feet high, is supported by the sides of the quarry and
the solid pillars of the rock that were left for the purpose in making the
excavation. In like manner is formed the engine house and its apparatus,
which is intended to supply the two furnaces with wind, by throwing at
each vibration of the engine a sufficient quantity of air out of a large cylin-
der into a long gallery or close mine formed in the rock. This magazine
of wind will contain 10,000 cubic feet of air, much condensed by the power
of the engine, as the gallery is very closely shut up and made air-tight,
having only two apertures, one to receive the supply of air from the air-
pump and the other to admit a pipe that conducts the condensed air to
blow the two furnaces.

Mr. Meade says that these works continued in operation
for many years, but were stopped about the year 1858, and
were soon afterwards dismantled.

At the close of 1889 there were 769 blast furnaces in Great
Britain, of which only 444 were in blast during the year. Of
the whole number there were 635 in England and Wales and
134 in Scotland. Of the furnaces out of blast many were
of antiquated construction and will probably never again be
active.

62 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER VI.

THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY BUILT UP BY BRITISH
INVENTIVE GENIUS.

THE eighteenth century marked a new era in all those
branches of manufacturing industry in which the British peo-
ple have become prominent. It was the era of machinery,
which then began to receive general attention as a substitute
for hand labor. This era gave to the people of Great Britain
the manufacture of India cotton goods, and it largely increas-
ed their woolen industry and also wonderfully developed their
iron industry. It was in the eighteenth century that Great
Britain, in consequence of her quick appreciation of the val-
ue of labor-saving machinery, became the first manufacturing
nation in the world ; in the preceding century four-fifths of
all British workingmen were still farmers or farm laborers.

During the latter part of the eighteenth century and the
whole of the nineteenth century down to the present time no
other country has occupied so conspicuous a position in the
manufacture of iron and steel as Great Britain. Spain and
Germany had both been more prominent in the production
C of these essentials of modern civilization, but Great Britain
spurned all -opposition when she began to make pig iron
with the aid of mineral fuel and powerful blowing engines.
She had iron ores and mineral fuel in abundance, and her
people had applied to the utilization of these products their
invincible energy and their newly-developed inventive genius.
Thenceforward the lack of timber for charcoal, which had
previously almost destroyed her -once flourishing iron indus-
try, was no longer lamented and was but little felt. She was
afterwards the first nation to refine pig iron in puddling
furnaces and to make bar iron in rolling mills. France, Ger-
many, and other Continental countries might have substi-
tuted mineral fuel for charcoal, invented the puddling fur-
nace, or perfected the rolling mill and the steam engine, but
none of them did.

The whole world is indebted to England and Scotland

IRON IN ALL AGES. 63

for the inventions which gave a fresh impetus to the manu-
facture of iron in the eighteenth century. Payne and Han-
bury, who first succeeded in rolling sheet iron; Darby, who
first successfully and continuously used coke in the blast fur-
nace ; Huntsman, who invented the process of making steel in
crucibles ; Smeaton, who invented cast-iron blowing cylinders ;
and Cort, who invented grooved rolls and the puddling fur-
nace, were Englishmen ; while Watt, who perfected the steam
engine, was a Scotchman. It is also indebted to the same
countries for most of the inventions of the present century
which have further developed the manufacture of iron and
increased the demand for it, and which have almost created
the manufacture of steel. Stephenson, the Englishman, im-
proved the locomotive in 1815, and in 1825 the first passen-
ger railroad in the world was opened in England, his loco-
motive hauling the trains. The railroad is the greatest of
all the consumers of iron and steel. Neilson, the Scotchman,
invented the hot-blast in 1828 ; Crane, the Englishman, ap-
plied it to the manufacture of pig iron with anthracite coal in
1837 ; Nasmyth, the Scotchman, invented the steam hammer
in 1838 and the pile-driver in 1843 ; and Bessemer, the Eng-
lishman, invented in 1855 the process which bears his name
and is the flower of all metallurgical achievements — a share
in the honor of this invention, however, being fairly due to
the co-operating genius of Robert F. Mushet, also an English-
man, but born of Scotch parentage. The Siemens regenera-
tive gas furnace, which has been so extensively used in the
manufacture of iron and. steel, is also an English invention,
althougtuthje, inventors, Sir William and Frederick Siemens,
while citizens of England, were natives of Hanover in Ger-
many.

It is only just to add that Sir Henry Bessemer, although
born in England, is the son of a French refugee who settled
in England during the French Revolution of 1789, and that
Benjamin Huntsman, the inventor of the process for manu-
facturing cast steel in crucibles, was the son of German pa-
rents, although himself born in England. Mr. Goran F. G6-
ranssoii, of Sandviken, Sweden, also assisted in perfecting the
Bessemer process. It was, however, enterprising and sturdy
England which nursed the genius of the great inventors we

64 THE MANUFACTURE OP

have mentioned who were of Continental birth or extraction,
and it was in England that the ripe fruits of their inventions
were first abundantly gathered.

That Great Britain at the beginning of her manufacturing
activity did not seek to extend the influence of her new light
and life to other countries, but by various acts of Parliament
sought to prevent the introduction of her inventions and the
emigration of her skilled artisans into those countries, is not
here a subject of comment; nor is the strict adherence of
Great Britain to a policy of protection to home industries by
customs duties during five centuries and down to almost the
middle of the present century a subject of present comment.
Both measures undoubtedly fostered the growth of British
manufacturing industries, and in the end the world was bene-
fited by British inventions, which found their way across the
English channel and the Atlantic ocean, and by the example
of British energy and British enterprise in the utilization of
native manufacturing resources.

The United States is to-day a ^ecognizei and formidable

|: rival .of Great Britain in the manufacture of all forms of iron

and steel, partly because we have abundant native resources

for their production, and partly because we are of the same

1 blood as the British people and their German ancestors, but

j chiefly because we have adopted and in many instances have

improved upon her invaluable engineering and metallurgical

inventions, the most important of which have been briefly

summarized in this chapter.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 65

CHAPTER VII.

EARLY PROCESSES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON

AND STEEL.

EXCEPT incidentally the various processes for the manu-
facture of iron which were in use in the early ages of the
world's history, as well as in more recent times, have not been
referred to in the preceding pages. Further notice of some
of the jfrocesses that were successively in use before the begin-
ning of the present century seems, however, to be desirable,
if for no other reason than to show how rude and unproduc-
tive those processes were in*- comparison with the improved
methods which are now in use.

The methods of manufacturing iron which were in use in
Asia and Africa in the earliest ages were few in number and
of extreme simplicity. They all produced wrought iron with
the aid of wood or charcoal as fuel, although steel was also
produced by some of them. One of these processes, still ex-
isting in Burmah, did not require an artificial blast. A per-
pendicular circular excavation, ten or twelve feet deep and
open at the top, was made in the side of a bank or hillock,
in which ore and fuel were placed in alternate layers, and to
which the necessary draft for combustion was applied through
one or more openings near the bottom. The product was
a lump, or bloom, of iron. Another process applied an arti-
ficial blast to a small excavation in the ground, or to a low
furnace built of clay or stone and standing alone, the product
being also a lump of iron. This artificial blast was supplied
by a bellows which .was usually made of goat skins, having
a nozzle, or tuyere, of bamboo and burnt clay, and worked
by the feet or hands. It is an interesting scientific fact that
the bellows and its tuyere, or nozzle, both of which in some
form are in general use to-day wherever iron is made, are
not only of prehistoric origin but are still used in all their
primitive simplicity in the manufacture of iron. Goat-
skin bellows are in use in India and in the interior of Africa
to-day in connection with small furnaces. In some parts of

66 THE MANUFACTURE OF

India, and in China, Japan, Borneo, and Madagascar, blowing
cylinders of wood or bamboo, having valves and pistons, and
worked like a pump by manual labor, are now used, and were
probably used in remote ages. The bloom of iron, whether
produced by natural or artificial blast, was reheated and freed
from impurities and adhering charcoal by repeated hammer-
ing, in the course of which refining operation it was divided
into suitable parts for practical use. The fire of the smith
who gave to the iron its final shape was supplied with a goat-
skin or bamboo blast. The ore which was smelted by these
primitive processes was broken into small pieces and other-
wise carefully prepared. In some parts of India and in sev-
eral other Asiatic countries the ore was magnetic and well
adapted by its purity to the manufacture of steel.

The manner in which the *air was expelled from the
goat-skin bellows of antiquity doubtless varied in different
countries, but the pressure of the feet of one workman on
two such bellows, each attached to a nozzle, or tuyere, was
probably the method in most general use. This method is
still used in Africa. Wilkinson, in his Manners and Customs
of the Ancient Egyptians, quoted by Day, mentions his discov-
ery at Thebes, on the walls of a tomb built in the reign of
Thothmes the Third, about fifteen centuries before the Chris-
tian era, of the picture of an Egyptian furnace and bellows,
with two workmen engaged in expelling with their feet the
air from as many pairs of bellows, " consisting of flexible
bags formed of the skins of animals, and each provided with
a cord which the operator holds in his hands. From each of
these flexible bags a tube proceeds into the heap of fuel and
ore, and the blast is produced by the operator transferring the
weight of his body alternately from one foot to the other.
The bags are inflated by pulling up the upper part by the
cord, this upper part having a hole or valve therein for al-
lowing the air to enter, and which is closed by the heel of
the operator on his^again transferring his weight to it."

At a later period, in the days of Ezekiel, about six centu-
ries before Christ, the use of a more powerful bellows than
that above described is clearly implied. In the 22d chapter
and 20th vers^ of the book of the prophet referred to we read
as follows : "As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 67

lead, and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire
upon it, to melt it, so will I gather you in mine anger and
in my fury, and I will leave you there and melt you."

The celebrated Indian steel, or wootz, which is chiefly used
in the manufacture of sword blades, is obtained at the pres-
ent time by remelting pieces of native iron in small crucibles
which are only a few inches high, containing finely-chopped
wood, the crucibles being placed in a furnace heated with a
blast supplied by bellows usually made of goat skins or bam-
boo cylinders. More than two thousand years ago the proc-
ess was substantially the same that it is now. It is described
by Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century before Christ.

The method of manufacturing Indian steel in the Trichi-
nopoly district in India in our day is fully described by the
East Indian Engineer in the following words, which plainly
suggest- the crucible process perfected by Huntsman.

The process employed is very simple. Small quantities of iron are en-
closed in a small earthen crucible with a few pieces of the wood of the ava-
rain plant and two or three green leaves. A top is luted on, and, when dry,
the whole is exposed to the heat of a small charcoal furnace till the iron is
melted, a fact which the operator ascertains by picking up the crucibles in a
long pincer and shaking them. The vessels are allowed to cool, and are
then broken open, when a knob of steel is found at the bottom. Two sizes
of ingots are made, weighing about 8 ounces and 10 1 ounces respectively.
The crucibles consist of a mixture of red earth and charcoal, made of paddy
husks, kneaded together. The lid is of the same material and put on wet.
It appears hardly to contract at all in drying, and a fairly air-tight vessel is
consequently produced. The clay is not nearly refractory enough for the
heat it is exposed to, as the crucibles are completely vitrified and spoilt at
the end of a single operation.

The iron used is brought from the Namakal Taluk, of Salem, and ap-
pears to be a rough description of wrought iron. For the smaller size of in-
got it is cut into pieces weighing as nearly as possible 10 ounces, (a .small
piece is added to make up the weight, if necessary,) and this quantity is
placed in each crucible with | of an ounce of pieces of the dry wood of the
avaram plant. Two or three green leaves (the kind is a matter of no conse-
quence) are placed on the top, and the charge is closed up with a lump of
clay carefully plastered all round. Great care is taken in putting in the cor-
rect proportions of iron and avaram wood, and the operators assert that, if
less is used, the iron is not melted, and, if more, it will not stand being
worked afterwards. The green leaves probably serve in some way toward
retarding the drying of the lid and preventing it from cracking.

The furnace consists of an inverted cone of earth worlAbout two feet in
diameter and the same in depth, the apex opening into an ash-pit below.
At one side, and protected from the heat by a mud wrall, is a small shed in

68 THE MANUFACTURE OF

which two bellowsmen sit and work a couple of skin bellows most vigorous-
ly. The air is admitted into the furnace through a hole near the bottom.
In preparing a furnace some straw is first placed at the bottom below the
air-hole and charcoal is then thrown in to a suitable height. On this twen-
ty-five of these conical crucibles are placed with the point downward, and,
when all are in position they appear to form a sort of circle, and to be inde-
pendent of the layer of charcoal below. More charcoal is placed above, and
the furnace is then lighted through the air-hole. Fresh -fuel is thrown on
above from time to time, and one or two of the crucibles are occasionally
lifted with long-handled pincers to allow the burning charcoal to fall
through and replenish the supply below. The straw remains untouched by
the fire throughout the process. The crucibles are given a sharp shake on
these occasions, which is said to assist the process, and towards its conclusion
allows of the operators ascertaining whether the iron is melted or not.

As the mouth of the furnace is open, the waste of fuel is enormous. Af-
ter about an hour or an hour and a half the feel of a crucible, when lifted,
shows its contents to be liquid. The process is then considered to be com-
pleted, and the crucibles are allowed to cool, after which they are broken
open, a knob of steel being found at the bottom of each. The ingots are re-
heated and hammered into oblong pieces, in which shape they are sold. All
the crucibles do not remain absolutely air-tight during the process, the lids
becoming cracked without affecting the result.

The methods by which the iron pillar of Delhi and the
heavy iron beams of Indian temples were forged will probably
always remain a mystery. Metallurgists of the present day
are certainly unable to understand how these large masses of
iron could have been forged by a people who do not appear
to have possessed any of the mechanical appliances for their
manufacture which are now necessary in the production of
similar articles. They could not have been forged by hand.

China is said by Day to have made steel long before the
Christian era by the method revived in modern times of im-
mersing wrought iron in a bath of cast iron, which modern
method has been perfected in the open-hearth process.

In the interesting account by Dr. Bell of a Journey from
St. Petersburg to Pekin from 1719 to 1721, from which we have
already quoted, we find an allusion to cast iron in China at
that period which is worthy of preservation, as it seems to in-
dicate that the Chinese did not borrow the art of casting iron
from the Europeans. Dr. Bell says : " My landlord being in
his shop I paid him a visit, where I found six kettles placed
in a row on fujnaces, having a separate opening under each of
them for receiving the fuel, which consisted of a few small
sticks and straw. On his pulling a thong he blew a pair of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 69

bellows, which made all his kettles boil in a very short time.
They are indeed very thin, and made of cast iron, being ex-
tremely smooth both within and without." The same writer
refers as follows to the cannon then in use in the Chinese
wall: "While we stopped at one of the gates to refresh our-
selves I took the opportunity to walk into one of .these towers,
where I saw some hundreds of old iron cannon thrown to-
gether as useless. On examination I found them to be com-
posed of three or four pieces of hammered iron* joined, and
fastened together with hoops of the same metal. The Chinese
have, however, now learned to cast as fine brass cannon as
are anywhere to be found." The old cannon were bombards.
In the years 1881 to 1883 a French scientific commission,
inquiring into the mineral resources of Indo-China, visited
the important deposit of iron ore at Ph'nom Deck, in the
province of Compong-Thom, in Cambodia. The manner in
which this ore is converted into iron is very suggestive of
the ancient methods which have been briefly described.

The native Khouys manufacture a small quantity of extremely pure
iron, for which there is a great demand ; it is exported to considerable dis-
tances, and serves as money over an immense area. A mixture of the ores
is used, the chief being a brown hematite, containing under 40 per cent, of
metallic iron, .with over 2 per cent, of manganese, and associated with the
surrounding tuff. The metallurgy is divided into two parts: first, the fab-
rication of an iron-sponge ; and, second, the elaboration of the sponge and
its transformation into small hammered bars. The sponge is made in a
rectangular furnace, 8 feet by 3 feet, and 16 inches deep, which is con-
structed on a mass of earth nearly 3 feet above the ground. The walls and
base of the furnace consist of refractory earth, mixed with very fine white
sand. The charge is about 4 cwts. of mineral, with about 15 bushels of
charcoal, in thin alternate layers.

The operation continues slowly for eight hours, the blast being dis-
tributed from a great number of bamboo tuyeres, the bellows, of curious
construction, being made of buifalo and deer-skins; afterwards for two to
four hours the blast is much stronger. During the operation the slag is
frequently removed. The resulting sponge is sold to the native forges to
be made into bars, which is accomplished by a laborious and primitive
process. The bars are far from being homogeneous, some parts being of
a steely character alternating with portions of soft iron. The bars weigh
about 1 pound, and sell through Cambodia and Siam at prices attaining
the rate of £60 per ton.

A recent traveler in Corea, C. Illing, describes as follows
a Corean furnace and blowing apparatus of the present day,

70 THE MANUFACTURE OF

by means of which " good cast-iron household utensils are
made" and " steel is produced on a small scale."

The author was unfortunately unable to inspect a Corean ironworks in
operation. An old abandoned furnace he found, on measuring, to be 8 feet
high. At top it had an elliptical section 4J feet long and 2£ feet wide, whilst
at bottom the section was more circular and measured 15 inches across. The
blowing engine was formed of a pit, 8 feet long and 15 inches wide, semi-
circular at the bottom. Its walls and .floor were rendered air-tight by means
of bricks and clay, carefully smoothed. In its centre perpendicular to its
longitudinal axis there was a parting wall, and on this was the axis of ro-
tation of a horizontal board fitting closely to the walls. This board was
moved up and down like a see-saw by twro workmen with their feet, where-
by the air was alternately compressed in the two air-tight quadrants of the
pit, and a continuous current was produced, which passed through two valves
opening outwards .into the pipe leading to the furnace. The iron ore was
smelted with charcoal as fuel, and with lime as flux, and the white pig iron
obtained was cast in clay moulds. Lumps of pig iron, 8 inches in diameter,
were converted into malleable iron in small smithy fires, worked with a
blast similar to that described, and from this iron knives, nails, scythes, etc-.,
were made in the same forge.

In the official catalogue of the Japanese section of the
Centennial Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876 the "old
method " of smelting iron in Japan, which still exists side by
side with modern methods, is described in detail as follows :

The smelting of iron by the old method is effected in small furnaces
of rectangular section, built on the principle of the stucko/en, 12 to 15 feet
high. The building materials are fire-clay, and for the hearth a mixture of
fire clay and charcoal powder. The blast is produced either by means of a
pair of wooden box-bellows, moved by hand, or else by means of a sort of
balance-bellows of peculiar construction. The magnetic ore is first calcined
in large lumps and afterwards broken into smaller pieces with hand ham-
mers, then smelted with or without flux.

The furnaces for smelting the iron-sand are of a peculiar construction.
The ground is dug out so as to form a pit 12 feet by 15, and 10 feet deep,
and this is filled up to a depth of 9 feet with hard powdered charcoal ; then
comes a layer of clay and sand, which is dried and hardened by covering
it with charcoal fire. The ashes being taken away, the pit is filled up with
charcoal-powder, and the surface coated with a fire-proof mixture. Upon
this foundation the furnace is built, 9 feet by 4 feet at the basis, and 4 feet
high. The interior resembles to a great extent the well-known Rachette
furnace, forming a wedge-like hollow space, with a horizontal section of 6'
in length, and having a line of tweers (5 with the above dimension) on
each of the long sides. When the smelting begins the furnace is en-
tirely filled up with charcoal, the box-bellows are put to work, and 12 hours
later, as the whole mass sinks down, iron-sand and charcoal are filled in.
The smelting lasts two days and three nights. Generally 3,750 kilos of iron-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 71

sand are smelted with an equal weight of charcoal, and yield 45 per cent, of
\ng iron and 1 per cent, of steel in loops or blooms. When the above-named
quantity has been smelted the liquid iron is run off, and as soon as the fur-
nace is cool enough, the steel loops hanging against the walls are broken
off. The whole process lasts about 8 days, viz., 2 days for building the fur-
nace, 3 days for smelting, and 3 days for coating, for removing the steel,
etc., and for cleaning the place in order to be able to build a new furnace.

The " balance-bellows of peculiar construction " above re-
ferred to are very similar to the Corean bellows already de-
scribed. The following minute description of the Japanese
balance-bellows, taken from the same official source that has
already been mentioned, will possess value for mechanical en-
gineers who may have been interested in the Corean bellows.

Suppose a horizontal cylinder cut by two planes passing through the
axis, and forming between them an angle of about 30° ; two opposite sectors
will be cut out. A rectangular plane, equal to the axial section, and balanc-
ing upon the axis of the primary cylinder, would fit the sides of the box in
each position, and, when made to balance alternately from one side to the
other, would act like the piston of a common box-bellows. According to
this geometrical principle, the box of the bellows is composed of two cylin-
drical sectors, and the balancing plane is made of wooden boards, resting by
its middle line upon a beam, which forms the central edge of the two sectors
(or the axis of the aforesaid imaginary cylinder). The compressed air from
each side is discharged into a short channel cut at an incline of 45 degrees
into this beam, in the centre of which they unite into a main outward pas-
sage for the blast. At the place where these two oblique channels meet to
form the main pipe, a flap-valve is placed, which, being put into motion by
the compressed air, closes alternately, either of the two short channels when-
ever the opposite half of the balance-piston moves down. Two flap-valves,
fitted each to one side of the piston, allow the outer air to enter one or the
other half of the bellows. The balancing motion of the piston is produced
by treading, two or three men standing on each end of this blasting ma-
chinery.

Mr. David Forbes, F. R. S., wrote in the Journal of the
British Iron and Steel Institute in 1872 : " From information
derived from Sir John Swinburne it appears that the negro
tribes in the interior of Africa, some 800 miles from Natal, are
extremely expert in the manufacture of wrought iron, which
they smelt in little clay furnaces from the native ores. They
sell the iron thus made, which is said to be extremely good in
quality, at so low a price that it is cheaper than that which is
imported by the settlers at the gold mines, who consequently
employ it for their implements."

The primitive processes for manufacturing iron, or modi-

72 THE MANUFACTURE OF

fications of them, were adopted in Europe when that conti-
nent commenced to make iron. The manufacture of iron in
Belgium and England without the aid of an artificial blast,
about the time of the Christian era, has already been referred
to. It is not known whether other European countries ever
made iron in the same way. At Lustin, in Belgium, between
Namur and Dinant, two ancient furnaces or bloomaries were
discovered in 1870 on the top of a hill, with iron yet remain-
ing in them. They consisted of simple oval excavations with
rounded bottoms in a bed of clay, each 12 feet long and 9 feet
wide, with a depth in the middle of 3 feet, the top being level
with the surface of the surrounding soil. A channel exca-
vated in the clay, but covered over with stones, conducted the
wind into the lower portion of each furnace. The opening
of this channel was turned in the direction of the prevailing
wind, so that iron could only have been made on windy days.
These bloomaries contained lumps of crude wrought iron.

The English antiquarian, Thomas Wright, in The Celt, the
Roman, and the Saxon, quotes from Mr. Brace's account of the
Roman wall a statement concerning the discovery not many
years ago of the character of the blast used in " the furnaces
of the extensive Roman iron works" in the neighborhood of
Epiacum, (Lanchester,) in England. Mr. Bruce says: " Two
tunnels had been formed in the side of a hill ; they were wide
at one extremity, but tapered off to a narrow bore at the
other, where they met in a point. The mouths of the chan-
nels opened toward the west, from which quarter a prevalent
wind blows in this valley, and sometimes with great violence.
The blast received by them would, when the wind was high,
be poured with considerable force and effect upon the smelt-
ing furnaces at the extremity of the tunnels." In a foot-note
Mr. Wright adds the following, which is curiously suggestive
of the hot-blast : " We are told by the early Spanish writers
that the Peruvians built their furnaces for smelting silver on
eminences where the air was freest ; they were perforated on
all sides with holes, through which the air was driven when
the wind blew, which was the only time when the work could
be carried on, and under each hole was made a projection of
the stonework, on which was laid burning coals to heat the
air before it entered the furnace."

IRON IN ALL AGES. 73

As no evidence exists that iron was ever made by the
Romans in the south of Europe without the aid of an arti-
ficial blast, it may be fairly assumed that the Belgian furna-
ces above described and the methods of manufacture in Eng-
land which are described by Mr. Bruce and others are of na-
tive origin. The Romans may for a time have continued the
native practice, especially as the manufacture of iron in both
Belgium and Britain would be mainly confined to the na-
tive inhabitants, but long before their withdrawal from these
countries in the fifth century the superior practice of South-
ern Europe would be generally introduced.

In the south of Europe the bellows was certainly used to
produce a blast long before the Roman invasion of Britain.
Homer, quoted by Fairbairn, " represents Hephsestus as throw-
ing the materials from which the shield of Achilles was to be
forged into a furnace urged by twenty pairs of bellows." The
bellows first used by the Greeks were probably made of goat
skins, but subsequently, as early probably as the time of Ho-
mer, and certainly as early as the third century before Christ,
larger and more powerful bellows were made of the hides of
cattle, and larger furnaces or bloomaries were erected. These
larger bellows were the same in principle as the common
blacksmith's bellows of our day, and they would be used by
the Greeks and Romans in smelting the ore as well as in re-
fining and shaping the iron. Of their furnaces and forges we
know but little. Virgil, who lived in the first century before
Christ, gives us in the Fourth Georgic a view of a refinery
forge as it doubtless existed among the Romans in his day.

As when the Cyclops, at th' almighty nod,

New thunder hasten for their angry god,

Subdued in fire the stubborn metal lies:

One brawny smith the puffing bellows plies,

And draws and blows reciprocating air:

Others to quench the hissing mass prepare:

With lifted arms they order every blow,

And chime their sounding hammers in a row:

With labored anvils Etna groans below.

Strongly they strike ; huge flakes of flames expire :

With tongs they turn the steel and vex it in the fire.

Diodorus of Sicily, quoted by Scrivenor, mentions the iron
ores of Elba/' which the natives dig and cut out of the ground

74 THE MANUFACTURE OF

to melt, in order for the making of iron, much of which metal
is in this sort of stone. The workmen employed first cut the
stone in pieces, and then melt them in furnaces built and pre-
pared for the purpose. In these furnaces the stones, by the
violent heat of the fire, are melted into several pieces in form
like great sponges, which the merchants buy by truck and
exchange of other. wares, and export them to Dicsearchea and
other mart towns. Some of these merchants that buy of these
wares cause them to be wrought by the coppersmiths, who
beat and fashion them into all sorts of tools, instruments,
and other shapes and fancies ; some they, neatly beat into the
shape of birds, others into spades, hooks, and other sorts of
utensils, all which are transported and carried about into sev-
eral parts of the world by the merchants." This account was
written in the first century before the Christian era.

Pliny describes the various kinds of iron and steel which
were in use in his day, the first century after Christ, but gives
us little insight into the methods by which they were pro-
duced. In the following vague description he seems to have
intended to show that both iron and steel were made in the
same furnace. He says : " There is a great difference, too, in
the smelting ; some kinds producing knurrs of metal, which
are especially adapted for hardening into steel, or else, pre-
pared in another manner, for making thick anvils or heads
of hammers. But the main difference results from the qual-
ity of the water into which the red-hot metal is plunged from
time to time. The water, which is in some places better for
this purpose than in others, has quite ennobled some locali-
ties for the excellence of their iron, Bilbilis, for example, and
Turiasso, in Spain, and Comum, in Italy, and this although
there are no iron mines in these spots. It is a remarkable
fact that when the ore is fused the metal becomes liquefied
like water, and afterwards acquires a spongy, brittle texture.
It is the practice to quench the smaller articles made of iron
with oil, lest by being hardened in water they should be ren-
dered brittle. Iron which has been acted upon by fire is
spoiled unless it is forged with the hammer. It is not in a
fit state for being hammered when it is red hot, nor, indeed,
until it has begun to assume a white heat." The foregoing is
a condensation of Pliny's full text, to be found in Scrivenor.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 75

The reference in Diodorus to iron made in the form of
" great sponges," and later in Pliny to iron of "a spongy,
brittle texture," suggests the Catalan, or the direct, process
of manufacture. In describing the Biscayan ferrerias, which
were nothing but Catalan forges, M. Pourcel, from whom we
have already quoted, says : "It is quite evident that iron
obtained in the form of spongy masses from an ore almost
chemically pure, with a fuel free from sulphur, is, by its mo-
lecular constitution as much as by its chemical composition,
an essentially malleable metal, and capable of being kneaded,
if the expression may be used, when hot."

In Spain, as we have seen, iron and steel were made
many centuries before Pliny's time, the Catalan forge, or a
modification of it, being used, and the product being either
wrought iron or steel. The Catalan forge differed in no es-
sential particular from the ordinary fire of a blacksmith, ex-
cept that it had a sunken hearth, or crucible. The Corsicaii
forge, which also existed before the Christian era, was a modi-
fication of the Catalan forge. The blast for these forges is
presumed to have been primarily furnished by bellows made
of goat skins or the skins of other small animals, but lar-
ger Grecian and Roman bellows were afterwards substituted.
Bauerman, in his Treatise on the Metallurgy of Iron, cites Fran-
quoy as authority for the statement that bellows with valves,
" single acting and made of leather," were introduced by the
Romans into Gaul in the fourth century of the Christian era.

Percy copies the following description of an old Catalan
forge in Spain : "In 1823, at Bielsa, in Aragon, in the Span-
ish Pyrenees, some charcoal burners discovered in a forest of
silver firs a small circular iron furnace only 2 feet and 1.59
inches high. The lower part or hearth was cylindrical up to
the height of about 11.81 inches and then terminated in an
inverted truncated cone ; its diameter was 14.25 inches at the
lower and 1.69 inches at the upper part; it had two tuyere
beds at 11.81 inches from the bottom. Near the furnace were
found two crude lumps of iron in the state in which they
appeared to have been taken out, and which weighed from
30.9 pounds to 35.3 pounds. According to tradition the blast
in these furnaces was produced with bellows of skin worked
by hand. Accumulations of ancient slags are met with at

76 THE MANUFACTURE OF

high elevations in the Pyrenees, far from any water-course,
and which doubtless were urged by a blast produced by
manual labor." Scrivenor mentions portable forges in ancient
France, and we have already referred to the movable forges
of the Forest of Dean. These references suggest the portable
blacksmith's forge of the present day.

M. Pourcel makes the following reference to the direct
process in use in Biscay: "The ore was treated in hearths,
sometimes hollowed out alongside of the mine itself, but more
frequently established in the middle of the forests which sup-
plied the charcoal and on the banks of streams. The traces
of the old ferrerias, which are still met with in considerable
numbers, situated in the mountains, near the mines, from
which the timber has disappeared, on the banks of small tor-
rents, and amongst heaps of slag, remain the witnesses of the
old iron industry of Biscay. The work was carried on almost
entirely by manual labor, and without doubt pretty nearly in
the same fashion as among the Kabyles of the present day."

Much light is thrown upon the methods of manufacturing
iron which prevailed in the south of Europe at the beginning
of the Christian era by the discovery in 1870 of two ancient
bloomaries or melting hearths in the vicinity of Hiittenberg,
in Carinthia, on the Hiittenberg Railway. The place where
these hearths were found is embraced within the limits of
the ancient province of Noricum. Maw and Dredge describe
the hearths as follows :

In the year 1870 a most interesting discovery was made during the
construction of the Hiittenberg Railway. In a cutting a set of iron melt-
ing-hearths of Roman and Celtic times was found 6 feet below the present
surface of the ground. These hearths consist of two holes or ditches, the
upper one being supposed to have served as a calcining kiln, whilst the
lower one represents the smelting furnace proper. These hearths were
found near the mines of spathic ore in the neighborhood of Huttenberg.

The calcining hearth is fitted with a layer of charcoal 1J inches thick,
upon which a 10-inch layer of clay forms the inside lining of the hearth.
This lining was found burnt by the action of the calcining fire to a depth
of 4 inches. The depth of the hearth is 2 feet, and its diameter 5 feet.
The second or smelting hearth is placed at a distance of 16 feet from the
former, and is 3 feet deep and 4 feet wide. The lining consists of a layer
of 6-inch clay, upon which a fire-brick mass, consisting of clay and quartz,
is uniformly spread to a thickness of 12 inches. This lining is burnt and
glazed to a depth of 3 inches at the inner side, thus recording the higher
temperature in this hearth during the smelting operation.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 77

Both hearths are filled with debris of burnt clay and slag crumbled
down from the walls of the hearths, which seem to have been raised one
foot above the surface of the ground. The space between the two hearths
is paved with stones. The slag contains many unburnt pieces of charcoal.
The analysis of the slag has proved that the yield of the spathic ore in use,
containing .from 50 to 60 per cent, of iron, was only 15 to 20 per cent. The
blast seems to have been furnished by bellows from the top of the furna-
ces. A Roman cornice has been found near the smelting hearth.

These discoveries point out a very primitive process as compared with
our present means of iron smelting ; but centuries vanished before any real
improvements were introduced. Nevertheless we find that the preparatory
calcination of the ore previous to its being introduced in the smelting fur-
nace is a very ancient mode of economizing labor and fuel.

An analysis of the piece of iron found under the Egyptian
obelisk which was removed in 1880 to New York shows that
it must have been made by the direct process, and probably
in a Catalan forge. The analysis, which was made for Mr. A.
L. Holley by Dr. August Wendel, of Troy, is here preserved.

Iron 98.738 ! Copper 0.102

Carbon 0.521 I Calcium 0.218

Sulphur 0.009 j Magnesium 0.028

Silicon 0.017 | Aluminum 0.070

Phosphorus 0.048 I Slag 0.150

Manganese 0.116

Nickel and cobalt 0.079 I Total 100.096

Mr. Holley says that a clean fracture of the iron was sim-
ilar to that of puddled steel, and mentions the further fact
that the small amount of slag, as well as the fine fracture,
indicates frequent reworking.

It is not definitely known whether any of the nations of
remote antiquity were familiar with the use of coal, but there
is some evidence to show that it was known in the days of
the Greeks and Romans. Rev. Joseph Hurst, of Wadhurst,
England, in an address read at the meeting of the Royal
Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland at New-
castle, in August, 1884, says : " That the ancient Greeks were
acquainted with stone coal is evident from the words of The-
ophrastus, an author who lived three hundred years before
Christ (de Lapidibus, N. 16) : ' The coal commonly so-called,
which is dug out of the earth for man's use, is of an earthy
(or stoney) nature ; it is kindled and burnt like coal (charcoal) .
Of this (stone) coal workers in iron make use.' Solinus has

78 THE MANUFACTURE OF

also been quoted for the use of stone-coal amongst the Greeks,
and if the red-hot stones which, according to Pliny, were used
by the Gauls for smelting copper were nothing more than
stone-coal their efficacy would perhaps be rendered more in-
telligible to modern men of science." The quotation from
Theophrastus does not inform us in what country coal was
found in his day.

The compiler of the paper on iron in Johnson's Cyclopaedia
says of the Chalibees, who inhabited a part of the country
south of the Black sea, that they " first used coal." He forti-
fies this statement in the following words : " Their iron was
made, according to Aristotle, (322 B. c.,) from sand ore dug
from river banks, washed, and put into the furnace along with
the stone pyrimachus, (fire-maker,) that is, coal." There is coal
on the southern shores of the Black sea, between the ports
of Heraclea and Bardin, which is now mined in considerable
quantities, but it is not probable that, if the above inference
from the statement of Aristotle be correct, the Chalibees ob-
tained their supply from this source. Nor would they have
been likely to smelt magnetic sand with bituminous coal.

The use of bituminous coal, or pit-coal, by the Romans
during their occupation of Britain, which terminated in the
year 411, is claimed, but this use must have been very lim-
ited. Mr. Meade notes the use of coal in England in Anglo-
Saxon times. He says : " As early as the year 852 there is a
record of the abbey of Peterboro' receiving twelve cart-loads
of fossil or pit coal." Mr. Macadam says that "coal was
early known in Scotland," and he refers to a charter granted
in 1291 to the abbot and convent of Dunfermline, giving them
the privilege of digging coal. In the thirteenth century coal
was sent to London from Newcastle by sea ; hence the name
which is still in use, sea-coal. The Sorbs and Wends, na-
tive inhabitants of the district of Zwickau, in Saxony, are
said by Herr Pechar to have been familiar with the use of
coal probably as early as the tenth century. Dr. Wedding
states that "an insignificant consumption of coal in Germa-
ny for domestic purposes and brick and glass works can be
traced with certainty as far back as the beginning of the four-
teenth century." The beginning of coal mining in Belgium
is said by Pechar to date as far back as the twelfth century.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 79

With the exception of the Indian and Chinese methods of
making steel the ancient processes which have been referred
to were all direct processes, the iron or steel being obtained
directly from the ore. The furnaces, whether large or small,
were all bloomaries, because the product derived from the
heated ore was obtained in the form of a lump or bloom of
malleable iron or steel. If cast iron was sometimes obtained
by the Mediterranean nations, or by Asiatic and African
ironworkers, little evidence exists that it was run into moulds
for the production of useful or ornamental castings. The
weakness of the blast furnished by goat skins, bamboo, or the
early leather bellows renders it highly improbable that cast
iron was obtained by any of the more ancient . processes. As
we approach the Christian era the evidence of its existence
increases.

Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century before Christ,
has left an account of the manner in which the Greeks of
his day converted wrought iron into steel, which furnishes
some evidence that they were also familiar with cast iron.
He is quoted by Day as follows : " Wrought iron itself may
be cast so as to be made liquid and to harden again ; and
thus it is they are wont to make steel ; for the scoria of iron
subsides and is purged off by the bottom ; and when it is
often defecated and made clean this is steel. But this they
do not often because of the great waste and because it loses
much weight in refining ; but iron is so much the more excel-
lent the less recrement it has." The quotatiori from Pliny on
a preceding page contains the most direct evidence we have
of the making of cast iron by the Romans. It has been sug-
gested that the battering-ram could only have been made of
cast iron, but if so made could it have withstood the severe
shocks to which it was subjected ?

But, if the Mediterranean nations, and particularly the
Greeks and Romans, knew how to make and utilize cast iron,
this knowledge virtually became one of the lost arts, for there
is no authentic 'mention of cast iron having been made in the
northern and western parts of Europe until about six centu-
ries ago, and if the Chinese, the Japanese, and the people of
India ever possessed the art they kept it to themselves and
made but little use of it.

80 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER VIII.

MEDIAEVAL AND EAKLY MODEKN PROCESSES IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

FROM the first to the eighth century of the Christian
era the history of the manufacture of iron in all European
countries is greatly obscured, and the processes which were
in operation can not be described. In Asia and Africa the
art had previously received less and less attention through the
gradual transfer of political power and of civilization to the
northern shores of the Mediterranean. But Greece, which
had acquired much of this power and had absorbed most
of this civilization, had in turn surrendered her leadership to
Rome, and in the fifth century after Christ Rome herself fell
before the northern barbarians. Except in Spain, where the
Visigoths established a powerful empire in the fifth century,
under which the arts of ancient civilization were encouraged,
the iron industry is nowhere throughout Europe known to
have flourished from the time when Rome commenced her
final struggle with the northern invaders down to about the
beginning of the eighth century. At this time we begin to
hear of the iron industry taking a fresh start in many Euro-
pean countries, experiencing what in modern phrase we term
a revival. And with this revival we hear authentically for
the first time of the wolf furnace, or stuckofen, in Austria,
Bohemia, Germany, Belgium, and other Continental countries.
In an address delivered at Liege, Belgium, in 1883, M. Ed. de
Laveleye, of that city, said that, " in the eighth century, un-
der Charlemagne, appeared the furnace called the fourneau a
masse, or stuckofen, which was higher than the old furnaces,
and thus allowed a greater concentration of heat."

The wolf furnace, or stuckofen, was a high bloomary, and
was simply an enlargement of the primitive low bloom a-
ries or forges. Percy says that the stuckofen " is only a Cata-
lan furnace extended upwards in the form of a quadrangular
or circular shaft. The Germans call it stuck or wolfs ofen
because the large metallic mass which is extracted from the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 81

bottom is termed stuck or ivolf." The word bloom fully ex-
presses the English equivalent of both words. The word loup,
or loop, which is applied to a lump of imperfectly worked
iron, is identical with the terms stuck and wolf, being derived
from the French word loup, signifying wolf. Overman says
that wolf furnaces, or bloomaries, of which there yet remain a
few in Hungary and Spain, are generally from 10 to 16 feet
high, 2 feet wide at the top and bottom, and about 5 feet wide
at the widest part. The early wolf furnaces were not more
than 10 feet high. An opening in the front, about 2 feet
square, called the breast, was kept open until the furnace was
heated, when, coincidently with the closing of the breast with
brick, the ore and charcoal were thrown into the furnace and
the blast was applied from " at least two bellows and nozzles,
both on the same side." The product was a mass, or sala-
mander, of mixed iron and steel, which was taken out of the
breast and reduced under the tilt-hammer to blooms, and un-
der smaller hammers to bars and other forms. The salaman-
der, which usually weighed from 400 to 700 pounds, was first
cut into two nearly equal parts, which were called stucke. At
Eisenerz, in Austria, as stated by Jars, quoted by Percy, " the
lump was first cut half through in the centre with hatchets
by two men, each having one. It was afterwards completely
divided by means of wedges and large hammers." The an-
nual production of a wolf furnace was from 100 to 150 tons.
Overman further says : " By this method good iron as well as
steel is always furnished ; in fact the salamander consists of
a mixture of iron and steel ; of the latter skillful workmen
may save a considerable amount. The blooms are a mixture
of fibrous iron, steel, and cast iron. The latter flows into the
bottom of the forge fire, in which the blooms are reheated,
and is then converted into bar iron by the same method
adopted to convert common pig iron. If the steel is not
sufficiently separated it is worked along with the iron." At
Soiling, in Carinthia, a wolf furnace was built in 1775 which
was provided with two common bellows worked by water-
wheels, each bellows being 8 feet long and 3f feet broad.

While there can be no doubt that the earliest wolf fur-
naces were blown with leather bellows it is not known when
water-power was first used in producing the blast and in oper-

82 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ating the hammers. Water-power for grinding grain is said
by Knight, in his Mechanical Dictionary, to have been used
about the beginning of the Christian era. In Agricola's De
Re Metattica, printed at Basle in 1556, are numerous engrav-
ings which show that large tilt-hammers and leather bellows,
operated by water-power, were used in the manufacture of iron
and steel in Saxony at that time. In Flower's History of the
Trade in Tin will be found two very interesting illustrations
of the manner in which the bellows and tilt-hammer were
operated by water-power in France in 1714. Prior to the in-
troduction of water-power bellows were doubtless wholly op-
erated by the feet or hands.

The osmund furnace, which is said by Percy to have been
intermediate between the Catalan forge and the stuckofen, but
which had a much wider mouth than the stuckofen, was for-
merly in use in Northern Europe, principally for smelting
bog or lake ore, and was lately in use in Finland. It is said
by Karsten, in his Grundriss der Metallurgie, printed at Bres-
lau in 1818, to have been in use in Norway and Sweden at
that date, but its use in these countries has now been 'aban-
doned. It derived its name from the Swedish word osmund,
" which was applied to the bloom produced in this kind of
furnace." Percy reproduces from Swedish sources two draw-
ings of an osmund furnace, from which it would appear that
it was about 7 feet high, rectangular in shape, with an open-
ing or breast near the bottom similar to that of the stuckofen,
and was blown through one tuyere with two ordinary black-
smith's bellows, worked with treadles by a woman's feet. The
ore used in Sweden was first calcined before being placed in
the furnace, wood being used for calcining and charcoal for
smelting. The product was good malleable iron, which was
taken out of the breast in a lump, or osmund. Not more than
li tons of iron could be produced in this furnace in a week.

Percy says: "The transition from the old bloomary to
the modern blast furnace was very gradual, and the stuckofen
is the final development of the furnaces in which iron in
the malleable state was produced direct from the ore. By in-
creasing the dimensions of the stuckofen, especially its height,
the conditions favorable to the formation of cast iron are ob-
tained ; and, indeed, in the stuckofen cast iron was generally,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 83

if not always, produced in greater or less degree, to the annoy-
ance of the smelter."

Percy further says that the stuckofen was gradually super-
seded by the blast furnace, the first furnace which replaced
the stuckofen being the blauofen, or blue oven. He says that
" originally there was no essential difference between them,
these names being applied according to the nature of the
metal which they yielded, and not in consequence of dif-
ference of construction," malleable iron being obtained with
much less charcoal than was used when cast iron was desired.
" When the blauofen was used as a stuckofen it was only neces-
sary to make an opening in the fore part of the hearth large
enough for the extraction of the lump. One essential condi-
tion in working the furnace as a stuckofen was to allow the
slag free escape during the process, so that the lump of iron
accumulating in the hearth might never be covered with
slag, and so be protected from the action of the blast." The
blauofen, which is not entirely extinct on the Continent, dates
from about the beginning of the fourteenth century. The
flussofen was substantially the same furnace as the blauofen.
Blast furnace may properly be substituted for either term, al-
though the phrase blast furnace means, strictly speaking, the
fully developed blauofen or flussofen. Hochofen was another
German name which was applied to the blast furnace, and it
is still retained. Karsten says that in 1818 the stuckofen was
no longer used in Germany, except at Schmalkalden, which
is a town in Prussia. He says, however, that many stilckofen
were then in use in Hungary.

It has been stated in a preceding chapter that the blast
furnace originated in the Rhine provinces about the begin-
ning of the fourteenth century. We are unable to trace its
existence to an earlier date than 1340, when the furnace at
Marche les Dames in Belgium was built. It was many years,
however, before the blast furnace was generally introduced
on the Continent or in England. It was probably not intro-
duced into Saxony until 1550. Agricola, who was a native
of Saxony, does not describe it in his valuable work, which
was first printed in 1530, but he describes the stuckofen and
the forges for refining iron and producing steel. Percy says
that Agricola " appears to have been acquainted with cast

84 THE MANUFACTUKE OF

iron," but this, as has already been shown, could have been
produced by the stuckofen.

The Continental nations of Europe are entitled to the
credit of having fully developed the blast furnace from the
primitive method of producing iron in the bloomary or Cat-
alan forge. The virtual perfection of the blast furnace by
the Germans, the Belgians, and the French in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries marked a great advance in the art of
manufacturing iron, and greatly enlarged the uses to which
iron could be applied. The nations which have been men-
tioned were also the first among modern nations to cast iron
in moulds, the Germans and French being especially noted at
an early day for the artistic excellence of their iron castings.

The Catalan forge, with its modifications, continued to be
used during the period covered by the development of the
blast furnace, and, as has already been said, it is still in use
in many countries, being especially adapted to the conver-
sion of pure ores into malleable iron of superior quality. A
modification of the Catalan forge, called the German bloom-
ary, consisting more, however, in the treatment of the ore
than in the construction of the hearth and its connections,
was long very popular in Germany and the United States,
but it has now been almost entirely abandoned in both these
countries. After the commencement of the manufacture of
cast or pig iron forges suited to the conversion of this prod-
uct into wrought iron became necessary, but they did not
differ in any essential details of construction or application
from the Catalan forge and the refinery forges which had pre-
viously been found necessary in connection with the stuckofen.
Refinery forges have sometimes been called bloomaries, be-
cause pig iron is by them first reduced to a bloom before it is
still further refined; but properly speaking a bloomary is a
forge that converts iron ore into wrought iron by the direct
process. The word bloomary is of Anglo-Saxon origin, the
Anglo-Saxon word bloma, from which it is derived, meaning
a mass, or lump. In Doomsday-Book the expression, bloma
ferri, occurs several times.

In The Forest of Dean Nicholls quotes a most interesting-
description of the blast furnaces and refinery forges of Eng-
land in the latter part of the seventeenth century. It has

IRON IN ALL AGES. 85

already been mentioned that the blast furnace was introduced
into England from the Continent about the beginning of the
fifteenth century. The author, after recording events which
occurred on April 27, 1680, a little more than two hundred
years ago, says : " The mode then in use of operating upon
the iron ore as described in manuscript by Dr. Parsons will
be found in Appendix No. 5." This description is as follows :

After they have provided their ore their first work is to calcine it,
which is done in kilns, much after the fashion of our ordinary lime kilns ;
these they fill up to the top with coal and ore until it be full, and so, put-
ting fire to the bottom, they let it burn till the coal be wasted, and then
renew the kilns with fresh ore and coal. This is done without any infu-
sion of mettal, and serves to consume the more drossy part of the ore, and
to make it fryable, supplying the beating and washing, which are to no
other mettals ; from hence they carry it to their furnaces, which are built
of brick and stone, about 24 foot square on the outside, and near 30 foot in
height within, and not over 8 or 10 foot over where it is the widest, which
is about the middle, the top and bottom having a narrow compass, much
like the form of an egg. Behind the furnace are placed two high pair of
bellows, whose noses meet at a little hole near the bottom ; these are com-
pressed together by certain buttons placed on the axis of a very large
wheel, which is turned round by water, in the manner of an overshot mill.
As soon as these buttons are slid off, the bellows are raised again by a
counterpoise of weights, whereby they are made to play alternately, the
one giving its blast while "the other is rising.

At first they fill these furnaces with ore and cinder intermixt with
fuel, which in these works is always charcoal, laying them hollow, at the
bottom, that they may the more easily take fire ; but after they are once
kindled the materials run together into an hard cake or lump, which is
sustained by the furnace, and through this the mettal as it runs trickles
down the receivers, which are placed at the bottom, where there is a pas-
sage open, by which they take away the scum and dross, and let out their
mettal as they see occasion. Before the mouth of the furnace lyeth a great
bed of sand, where they make furrows of the fashion they desire to cast
their iron. Into these, when the receivers are full, they let in their mettal,
which is made so very fluid by the violence of the fire that it not only runs
to a considerable distance, but stands afterwards boiling a great while.
After these furnaces are once at work they keep them constantly employed
for many months together, never Buffering the fire to slacken night or day,
but still supplying the waste of fuel and other materials with fresh, poured
in at the top.

Several attempts have been made to bring in the use of the sea coal in
these workes instead of charcoal; the former being to be had at an easy
rate, the latter not without a great expence, but hitherto they have proved
ineffectual, the workmen finding by experience that a sea-coal fire, how
vehement soever, will not penetrate the most fixed parts of the ore, by
which means they leave much of the mettal behind them unmelted.

From these furnaces they bring the sows and piggs of iron, as they call

86 THE MANUFACTURE OF

them, to their forges ; these are two sorts, though they stood together under
the same roof; one they call their finery, and the other chafers ; both of
them are upon hearths, upon which they place great heaps of sea coal, and
behind them bellows like those of the furnaces, but nothing near so large.
In such finerys they first put their piggs of iron, placing three or four of
them together behind the fire, with a little of one end thrust into it,
where softening by degrees they stir and work them with long barrs of
iron till the mettal runs together in a round masse or lump, which they
call an half bloome : this they take out, and, giving it a few strokes with
their sledges, they carry it to a great weighty hammer, raised likewise by
the motion of a water-wheel, where, applying it dexterously to the blows,
they presently beat it into a thick short square ; this they put into the
finery again, and, heating it red hot, they work it under the same hammer
till it comes to the shape of a bar in the middle, with two square knobs in
the ends ; last of all they give it other heatings in the chaffers, [chafery.j
and more workings under the hammer, till they have brought their iron
into barrs of several shapes, in which fashion they expose them to sale.

All their principal iron undergoes the aforementioned preparations,
yet for several other purposes, as for backs of chimneys, hearths of ovens,
and the like, they have a sort of cast iron, which they take out of the
receivers of the furnace, so soon as it is melted, in great ladles, and pour it
into the moulds of fine sand in like manner as they do cast brass and
softer mettals ; but this sort of iron is so very brittle that, being heated,
with one blow of the hammer it breaks all to pieces.

John Ray, the naturalist, writing a Jittle earlier, in 1672,
has also fully described, in two papers appended to his Col-
lection of English Words' the blast furnaces and forges which
existed in England in his day. " This account of the whole
process of the iron work," he says, " I had from one of the
chief ironmasters of Sussex, my honored friend, Walter Bur-
rell, Esq., of Cuckfield, deceased." We give below a literal
copy of this description.

THE MANNER OP THE IRON WORK AT THE FURNACE.

The iron mine lies sonfetimes deeper, sometimes shallower, in the
earth, from four to forty [feet] and upward. There are several sorts of
mine, some hard, some gentle, some rich, some coarser. The ironmasters
always mix different sorts of mine together, otherwise they will not melt
to advantage. When the mine is brought in they take small-coal [char-
coal] and lay a row of it, and upon that a row of mine, and so alternately
S.S.S., one above another, and, setting the coals on fire, therewith burn the
mine. The use of this burning is to modify it, that so it may be broke in
small pieces ; otherwise if it should be put into the furnace as it comes out
of the earth it would not melt, but come away whole. Care also must be
taken that it be not too much burned, for then it will loop, i. e., melt and
run together in a mass. After it is burnt they beat it into small pieces
with an iron sledge, and then put it into the furnace, (which is before

IRON IN ALL AGES. 87

charged with coals,) casting it upon the top of the coals, where it melts
and falls into the hearth, in the space of about twelve hours, more or less,
and then it runs into a son'.

The hearth, or bottom of the furnace, is made of sandstone, and the
sides round, to the height of a yard, or thereabout ; the rest of the furnace
is lined up to the top with brick. When they begin upon a new furnace
they put fire for a day or two before they begin to blow. Then they blow
gently and encrease by degrees 'till they come to the height in ten weeks
or more. Every six days they call a founday, in which space they make
eight tun of iron, if you divide the whole sum of iron made by the foun-
days : for at first they make less in a founday, at last more. The hearth
by the force of the fire, continually blown, grows wider and wider, so that
at first it contains so much as will make a sow of six or seven hundred
pound weight ; at last it will contain so much as will make a sow of two
thousand pound'. The lesser pieces, of one thousand pound, or under, they
call pigs.

Of twenty-four loads of coals they expect eight tun of sows : to every
load of coals, which consists of eleven quarters, they put a load of mine,
which contains eighteen bushels. A hearth ordinarily, if made of good
stone, will last forty foundays, that is, forty weeks, during which time the
fire is never let go out. They never blow twice upon one hearth, though
they go upon it not above five or six foundays. The cinder, like scum,
swims upon the melted metal in the hearth, and is let out once or twice
before a sow is cast.

THE MANNER OF WORKING THE IRON AT THE FORGE OR HAMMER.

In every forge or hammer there are two fires at least ; the one they call
the finery, the other the chafery. At the finery, by the working of the
hammer, they bring it into blooms and anconies, thus :

The sow they, at first, roll into the fire, and melt off a piece of about
three-fourths of a hundred-weight, which, so soon as it is broken off, is
called a loop. This loop they take out with their shingling-tongs, and beat
it with iron sledges upon an iron plate near the fire, that so it may not fall
in pieces, but be in a capacity to be carried under the hammer. Under
which they, then removing it, and drawing a little water, beat it \jfith the
hammer very gently, which forces cinder and dross out of the matter ; after-
wards, by degrees, drawing more water, they beat it thicker and stronger
'till they bring it to a bloom, which is a four-square mass of about two feet
long. This operation they call shingling the 'loop. This done, they imme-
diately return it to the finery again, and, after two or three heats and work-
ings, they bring it to an ancony, the figure whereof is, in the middle, a bar
about three feet long, of that shape they intend the whole bar to be made
of it ; at both ends a square piece left rough to be wrought at the chafery.

Note. At the finery three load of the biggest coals go to make one tun
of iron. At the chafery they only draw out the two ends suitable to what
was drawn out at the finery in the middle, and so finish the bar.

Note I. One load of the smaller coals will draw out one tun of iron at
the chafery. 2. They expect that one man and a boy at the finery should
make two tuns of iron in a week : two men at the chafery should take
up, i ?., make or work, five or six tun in a week. 3. If into the hearth

88 THE MANUFACTURE OF

where they work the iron sows (whether in the chafery or the finery) you
cast upon the iron a piece of brass it will hinder the metal from working,
causing it to spatter about, so that it can not be brought into a solid piece.

John Hough ton, in his Husbandry and Trade Improved,
printed in 1697, calls the square first made a half bloom and
the bar with the two knobs a bloom, the greater end being
called the mocket head and the smaller the ancony end. At
the third heat, there being five heats in all, the ancony end
was reduced to a bar, and at the fourth and fifth heats the
mocket head was also reduced.

The English blast furnaces and refinery forges which have
been described were counterparts of Continental furnaces and
forges of the same period. On the Continent, as well as in
England, as described by Dr. Parsons, various castings were
made direct from the furnace, which for this reason was often
called a foundry. These castings, in addition to the articles
mentioned by Dr. Parsons, embraced such domestic utensils
as pots, kettles, skillets, gridirons, sad irons, andirons, clock
weights, cog-wheels for mill machinery, grates, stoves, etc.

After coke came into general use in the blast furnaces of
Great Britain the method of refining iron which is above de-
scribed was somewhat changed in that country in details but
not in principle. On the Continent, however, where charcoal
continued to be the only fuel used, there was no change in
the method of refining iron until the puddling furnace was
introduced, after the beginning of the present century, in
company with the rolling mill for rolling bar iron. The pud-
dling furnace was introduced into Sweden, at Skebo, and into
France, at Fourchambault, about 1820 ; into Belgium, at Gri-
vegnee, by Michael Orban, in 1821 ; into Moravia, at Witko-
witz, in 1829 ; into RhenisA Prussia about 1830 ; into West-
phalia and Upper Silesia about 1835 ; and into Siegen and
the Hartz mountains about 1840.

The erection of the first coke blast furnace on the Conti-
nent of Europe was commenced in 1823 at Seraing, in Bel-
gium, by John Cockerill, an Englishman by birth but a Bel-
gian citizen, and completed in 1826, when it was successfully
blown in. Other coke furnaces in Belgium and elsewhere on
the Continent soon followed. M. Ed. de Laveleye, of Liege,
says that in 1769 an attempt to smelt iron ores by means of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 89

coke was made at Juslenville, near Spa, in Belgium, but with-
out success. One of the coke furnaces of the Hoerde iron
works in Germany is said to have been continuously in blast
from July 3, 1855, to May 29, 1874, or almost nineteen years.

Wooden bellows, or tubs, as a substitute for leather bel-
lows in connection with blast furnaces and forges, do not ap-
pear to have been used in England in the seventeenth centu-
ry, although said to have been invented by Hans Lobsinger,
of Nuremberg, in Germany, about 1550. They were certainly
used in Germany eighty years later, in 1630, and in various
parts of Great Britain in the eighteenth century. In 1750
leather bellows were used to blow the charcoal furnaces in
Monmouthshire. As late as 1809 leather bellows 22 feet long
and having oak planks two inches thick were still used in
blowing some Scotch furnaces. Both leather and wooden bel-
lows have been used in blowing the furnaces and forges of
the United States, and the use of wooden bellows had not
been wholly abandoned in this country as late as 1884.

The trompe, or water-blast, is said to have been invented
in Italy. Its use has been mainly confined to some of the
charcoal furnaces and Catalan forges of Germany, France,
Spain, and Italy. We can not learn that it was ever used
in any part of Great Britain. Although it is now generally
abandoned it may yet be found supplying the blast for a
few forges on the Continent, and as late as 1890 it had not
entirely disappeared in the southern part of the United
States. Professor Lesley described in 1858, in the Iron Manu-
facturers Guide, the water-blast which was then in use in the
Southern States in connection with Catalan forges. He said :

The use of the water-blast is all but universal. It consists of a box,
say 5 by 2£ by 1£ feet deep, nearly immersed in the stream, directly under-
neath the forebay or flume. The water rushes down into its upper end
from the forebay through a wooden pipe, say 8 inches square, separated in
two by a space of an inch or two, as if the two joints of a stove-pipe had
parted that much. Into this slit air is sucked by the falling water and
driven out through another 3-inch tube at the lower end. Inside the box,
and parallel with its lid, a plank called the "spatter-board" is set a few
inches below the first tube. The water escapes from a hole under the
water-level at the lower end of the box. This apparatus gives a cold, damp
blast, with a great waste of water, but one that is very uniform.

The origin of the rolling mill for rolling iron into bars

90 THE MANUFACTURE OF

or plates is not free from doubt. Scrivenor, quoting from
Coxe's Tour in Monmouthshire, says that " in the early part of
the eighteenth century John Hanbury invented the method
of rolling iron plates by means of cylinders." Flower, allud-
ing to the manufacture of tin plates at Pontypool, says that
"the discovery of sheet-iron rolling followed in 1728, an in-
vention claimed alike by John Payne and Major Hanbury,
and it was in a great measure owing to this improvement
that we were enabled to turn the tables upon Germany. The
tin-men were greatly delighted with the English plates ; the
color was better, and the rolled plates were found to be more
pliable than the foreign ones, which were hammered." The
following is taken from Ure's Dictionary of the Arts : " In
1728 John Payne invented a process for rolling iron. This
seems to have at once led to the use of the flat or sheet rolls
for the manufacture of iron for tin plates ; but it is very re-
markable that no further progress was made in this discov-
ery of rolling iron until 1783, when Henry Cort introduced the
grooved rolls." Percy says : " With respect to the invention
of grooved rolls it has been maintained that Cort's claim is
invalidated by the old patent granted to John Payne in 1728."
It is certain, however, that even plain rolls did not come into
general use until the rolling mill had been perfected by Cort,
the refinery fire, the leather and wooden bellows, the tilting-
hammer, and the water-wheel still holding their place in the
manufacture of finished iron on the Continent and in Great
Britain. •

Dr. Johnson, in the diary of his tour in Wales and Mon-
mouthshire in 1774, says that at an iron works he saw "round
bars formed by a notched hammer and anvil," and that at a
copper works he saw " a plate of copper put hot between steel
rollers and spread thin." The whole passage is as follows:

Wednesday, August 3 [1774]. * * * We went in the coach to Holy-
well. ' We there saw a brass work, where the lapis calaminaris is
gathered, broken, washed from the earth and the lead, though how the
lead was separated I did not see ; then calcined, afterwards ground fine,
and then mixed by fire with copper. We saw several strong fires with
melting pots, but the construction of the fire-places I did not learn. At a
copper work, which receives its pigs of copper, I think, from Warrington,
we saw a plate of copper put hot between steel rollers and spread thin. I
know not whether the upper roller was set to a certain distance, as I sup-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 91

pose, or acted only by its weight. At an iron works I saw round bars
formed by a notched hammer and anvil. There I saw a bar of about half
an inch or more square cut with, shears worked by water, and then beaten
hot into a thinner bar. The hammers, all worked as they were by water,
acting: upon small bodies, moved very quickly, as quick as by the hand. I
then saw wire drawn and gave a shilling.

We find by an examination of English patents that, on
November 21, 1728, John Payne, an Englishman, obtained a
patent for various improvements in the manufacture of iron,
which consisted in part in the application of certain ashes,
salt, etc., to pig or sow iron while in the refinery fire, " which
will render the same into a state of malleability, as to bear
the stroke of the hammer, to draw it into barrs or other forms
att the pleasure of the workman, and those or other barrs be-
ing heated in the said melted ingredients in a long hott arch
or cavern, as hereafter is described ; and those or other barrs
are to pass between two large mettall rowlers, (which have
proper notches or furrows upon their surfass,) by the force
of my engine hereafter described, or other power, into such
shapes and forms as shall be required." Plain rolls for roll-
ing sheet iron for tin plates are not referred to. Other patents
were subsequently granted in England for the invention of
rolls of various forms for rolling bar iron. In 1759 a patent
was granted to Thomas Blockley for rolls which "are to be
turned and formed of the requisite shape so as to shape the
article as intended." In 1779 a patent was granted to William
Bell for rolls which "haye designs sunk in their surfaces."

In John. Houghton's Husbandry and Trade Improved, print-
ed in 1697, he speaks of slitting and rolling mills as "late
improvements." This is the earliest reference we have found
to a rolling mill in connection with a slitting mill. Such use
of a rolling mill would probably precede its use for any oth-
er purpose in connection with the manufacture of iron. In
Flower's History of the Trade in Tin the manufacture of tin
plates at Mansvaux, in Alsace, in 1714, is fully described, and
it is noticeable that the sheet iron then used was hammered.
This description, which is illustrated, sustains the claim that
either John Payne or Major Hanbury was fourteen years
later, in 1728, the first person to roll sheet iron, an innovation
which presumptively grew out of the use of the rolling mill
in the manufacture of nail plates as early as 1697, as recorded

92 THE MANUFACTURE OF

by John Houghton, and which innovation probably followed
Payne's invention of grooved rolls, patented in 1728.

We quote below John Houghton 's statement concerning
the rolling mill just as we find it under the date of Friday,
October 22, 1697, in Bradley's edition of Husbandry and Trade
Improved, printed at London in 1727. After describing " how
the sows and pigs of iron are prepared for bars and drawn
into such " in the refinery forges, " which are of two sorts,"
the " finery " and the " chafery," he tells us in the following
words how the bars are converted into nail rods.

Whereof those they intend to be cut into rods are carried to the slit-
ting mills, where they first break, or cut them cold, with the force of one of
the wheels, into short lengths ; then they are put into a furnace to be heat-
ed red-hot to a good height, and then brought singly to the rollers, by
which they are drawn even, and to a greater length; after this another
workman takes them whilst hot, .and puts them through the cutters, which
are of divers sizes, and may be put on or off according to pleasure. Then
another lays them straight also whilst hot, and when cold binds them also
into faggots, and then they are fit for sale.

And thus I have given an account of the iron works of Staffordshire from
the oar to the slitting mills, as they are now exercised in their perfection,
the improvement whereof we shall find very great if wre look back upon
the methods of our ancestors that made iron in foot-blasts or bloomeries, by
means of treading the bellows, by which way they could make but one little
lump or bloom of iron in a day, not a hundred weight, leaving as much iron
in the slag as they got out. Whereas now they will make two or three tons
of cast iron in twenty-four hours ; leaving the slag sp poor that the found-
ers can not melt them again to profit, not to mention again the vast advan-
tage they have from the new invention of slitting mills for cutting their bars
into rods, above what they had antiently.

Houghton's whole account, from which the above extract
is taken, is entitled by him "a note of late improvements."

In the English pamphlet on the British iron trade, printed
between 1725 and 1731, and already referred to, there is con-
clusive proof that down to that time all bar iron was ham-
mered. We quote literally from this pamphlet as follows:

Pig-iron is brought from the furnace to the forge ; and there by being
melted and digested in the fire becomes a fixt and malleable substance ; and
by repeated heats in the fire, and repeated impressions of the hammer, is
beaten out into long bars or palasades, and upon that account is termed
bar-iron. Furnaces and forges are comprehended under one common name
of iron works. Bar-iron is of several sorts, distinguished by particular names
according to its dimensions and uses. The two most general are merchant-
bar and mill bar: The one being such shaped iron as is usually imported

IRON IN ALL AGES. 93

by the merchant, about inch and half or two inches broad and one-third
thick, and squares of different sizes. The other such as is proper for the
slitting or rowling-mill, of double dimensions to the former. The slitting
and rowling-mills are water-engines, whose use is to reduce bar-iron into
small rods or thin plates, in order to save the expence of charcoal and hu-
man labour.

A letter of inquiry to Professor Richard Akerman, of the
School of Mines, Stockholm, Sweden, requesting such informa-
tion as might be in his possession concerning the origin of
the slitting mill and the rolling mill, was answered as follows :

That slitting mills were in use before rolling mills is most probable and
nearly certain. At the beginning of this century there could still be found
slitting mills in which hammered* but not rolled iron was slit. But all slit-
ting mills were not made on the principle of rolling mills ; many of them
more resembled scissors.

The first publication about rolling mills in this country which I have
seen or know about is De Ferro, by Emanuel Swedenborg, which was print-
ed in 1734. Swedenborg speaks both about slitting machines on the prin-
ciple of scissors, cutting three rods at a time, and about slitting mills in
connection with rolling mills. He describes slitting mills in Sweden, in
the Liege district of Belgium, in Germany, and in England; but he does
not say a single word about where he thinks they originated. Swedenborg
docs not say anything about grooved rolls. In fact he only describes rolling
mills in connection with slitting mills. On page 253 he speaks about Swed-
ish rolling mills at Wedewag, Avesta, and Stjernsund.

On the contrary, Christopher Polhem, in his Patriotiska Testamente,
which was printed in 1761, ten years after his death when he was 90 years
old, speaks about rolling mills as such, both for plates and bar iron. He
says, in chapter 14, "much time and labor can be saved by good rolling
mills, because a rolling mill can produce 10 to 20 and still more bars at the
same time which is wanted to tilt only one bar with the hammer. Thus
very thin bar iron can be made which is useful for hoops and mountings
of several kinds. Steel also can be rolled out for knife blades, etc., which
easily can be finished by the blacksmith. The rolls can be so made that
the knife-steel becomes broad and thin on both sides, or gets the same
shape as blades of common swords, and these can be cut lengthwise in two
parts, thus giving suitable material for knives, etc. Rolls also can be made
for producing quadrangular, round, and half-round bars, not only for iron
but also for steel, as for all kinds of files which easily can be finished by
the blacksmith."

In the next chapter Polhem describes the manner of making wrought-
iron rolls covered with steel. Further on in the same chapter he speaks of
rolls for rolling sheets : " As such rolls commonly have a length of three
quarters, it follows that their diameter must be rather large ; but, as thick
rolls in comparison with slender ones have only a small effect in stretch-
ing, broad sheets can not be rolled. If not, two slender wrought-iron rolls
are put between the two thick cast-iron rolls, which prevent the slender
rolls from yielding. Such rolls I have put up at Stjernsund after having

94 THE MANUFACTURE OF

tried their effect by experiments on a small scale." After mentioning eco-
nomical difficulties, in consequence of which he was obliged to leave un-
used both this and other expensive machines, he concludes with the fol-
lowing words : " Yet I willingly grant to others, who perhaps will live dur-
ing more happy times, what I have not got opportunity to use for myself."

Polhem says nothing about the time when he put up the said rolling
mill, but, if you remember that he was born 1661 and died 1751, it seems
probable that it must have been during the first decades of the eighteenth
century. Christopher Polhem was the greatest mechanical genius Sweden
has ever produced, but whether he was the very first inventor of rolling
mills it is impossible for me to say. At any rate he ought to be mentioned
among the inventors of rolling mills. In fact, Polhem must be said to be
the real inventor of what you call the Lauth rolling mill. The only differ-
ence is that Polhem used four rolls above each other, two small between
two large ones.

Gabriel Polhem, a son of Christopher Polhem, in the Transactions of
the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for 1740, gives a description of a roll-
ing mill, " the invention of my father," which he (Gabriel Polhem) put up
at the mint in Ca^el, Germany. He says that the officers of the mint did
not believe that a- rolling mill could be of any use for the mint, but he was
in 1733 ordered by King Frederick to put it up, and it proved most useful
for getting more uniform thickness and weight of the coins. From this
and other expressions in the description it is quite clear that the said roll-
ing mill was the very first put up at any mint, but not long afterwards a
rolling mill also was put up at the Swedish mint.

This communication from Professor Akerman is a very
important one, especially in its reference to the use of the
rolling mill for rolling plate and bar iron before 1751, the
year of the death of Christopher Polhem. It proves that
plate and bar iron were rolled before Cort's day, but probably
not until after the rolling mill had been used as early as 1697
in connection with the slitting mill, as recorded by Houghton,
nor until after the invention of sheet-iron rolling in 1728,
with which the names of Payne and Hanbury are associated.
The germ of the great invention by which iron and steel are
rolled into so many and into such infinitely small and won-
derfully large shapes in our day most likely originated with
the man who added the rolling mill to the slitting mill, and
after a laborious investigation we regret that we can not give
his name nor definitely fix the date of his invention. Cort,
however, is entitled to the credit of so improving upon all
previous suggestions that the rolling mill in his hands be-
came a successful invention for the numerous and important
purposes to which it is now applied.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 95

The methods of producing steel 'which were in use before
Huntsman succeeded in making crucible steel at Sheffield,
in 1740, to which event we have referred in the chapters
relating to Great Britain, were substantially only three in
number. The first method was either closely allied to or was
wholly identical with the direct or Catalan process for pro-
ducing iron, the product being variously known as natural
steel, raw steel, or German steel. The second method was the
Indian process for converting small pieces of bar iron into
steel in crucibles, the product being wootz, or Indian steel.
The third method was the cementation process, in which bars
of the best iron were carbonized by being heated in contact
with charcoal, the result being blister steel and shear steel.
Steel produced by the cementation process is also known as
German steel, because much attention was long given to its
production by Germany. All these methods are yet in use.
A Chinese method heretofore mentioned we pass over.

The first method, which requires the use of a forge, and
which was originally applied to iron ore but afterwards to pig
iron, is most observed in Germany and Austria. In Styria
the finest tool steel is still produced by the old Frischen proc-
ess, which consists in refining the excellent Styrian pig iron
in small charcoal open hearths. The process is essentially
primitive. Professor Tunner has given a complete account
of the older open-hearth methods, which has been quoted by
Dr. Percy. The small works for the production of Styrian
open-hearth steel are distributed along the banks of rivers
in the Styrian Alps, each of the works being located at a fall
of the river capable of developing about 50 horse-power.

Allied to the above-mentioned process of making steel in
open hearths which is still practiced in Germany and Austria
is the following ancient German method, described by Agric-
ola in his De EG Metallica, printed about the middle of the
sixteenth century. We use Day's translation.

Make choice of iron which is apt to melt, and yet hard, and may easily
be wrought with the hammer ; for although iron, which is made of vitriolic
ore, may melt, yet it is soft, or brittle, or eager. Heat a parcel of such iron
red-hot, and cut it into small pieces, and then mix it with a sort of stone
which easily melts ; then set in the smith's forge, or hearth, a crucible, or
dish of crucible metal, a foot and a-half broad, and a foot deep ; fill the dish
with good charcoal, and compass the dish about with loose stones, to keep

96 THE MANUFACTURE OF

in the mixture of stone and pieces of iron. As soon as the coal is thorough-
ly kindled, and the dish red-hot, give the blast, and let the workman put on
by little and little all the mixture of iron and stone he designs. When it is
melted, let him thrust into the middle of it three or four or more pieces of
iron, and boil them therein five or six hours with a brisk fire ; and, putting
in his rod, let him often stir the melted iron, that the pieces may imbibe the
smaller particles of the melted iron, which particles consume and thin the
grosser ones of the iron pieces, acting like a ferment to them, and making
them tender. Let the workman now take one of the pieces out of the fire
and put it under the great hammer, to be drawn out into bars and wrought ;
and then, hot as it is, plunge it into cold water. Thus tempered, let him
again work it on the anvil, and break it; and viewing the fragments, let
him consider whe thermit looks like iron in any part of it, or be wholly con-
densed and turned into steel. Then let the pieces be all wrought into bars ;
which done, give a fresh blast to the mixture, adding a little fresh matter to
it, instead of that which had been drunk up by the pieces of iron, which
will refresh and strengthen the remainder, and make still purer the pieces of
iron again put into the dish ; every which piece let him, as soon as it is red-
hot, beat into a bar on the anvil, and cast it, hot as it is, into cold water.
And thus iron is made into steel, which is much harder and whiter than
iron.

Mr. Thomas Turner defined cemented steel as follows in
a lecture delivered at Birmingham, England, in 1889 :

For the preparation of best steel for cutlery, tools, and similar purposes,
it is still customary to adopt the cementation process, though the amount
of steel so produced is relatively growing less and less each year. This
process has been used for several centuries at least, and the origin of the
method is unknown. Selected bars of Swedish or other best-quality iron
are placed in closed chests and heated in contact with charcoal for about
a week or ten days, depending on the temper which is desired. By this
means the wrought iron, which was originally almost entirely free from
carbon, takes up sufficient of that element to give the metal its character-
istic properties. Usually some 15 tons of iron are converted in one opera-
tion, and 12 tons of good coal are consumed. The metal so obtained is cov-
ered on its surface with small blisters, formed by the reducing action of
carbon on the small quantities of intermingled slag in the iron, and hence
is called blister- steel. It is brittle in this state and crystalline in fracture.
Blister-steel is broken up, piled, re-heated, and hammered, and so forms
shear-steel, which was originally used for making wool-shears, but is now
used for many other purposes. The milder varieties of blister-steel are
used in producing shear-steel, while those which are a little richer in car-
bon are re-heated and hammered in the same way ; but the operation is
repeated a second time, and double shear-steel is produced. Shear-steel,
though admirably suited for many purposes, is not quite uniform in char-
acter, and this uniformity can only be ensured by melting the metal, so as
to allow it to mix thoroughly together, and to eliminate the slag and other
intermingled impurities. Melted steel was unknown before the days of
Huntsman. [This is disproved by Reaumur. See page 97.— J. M. S.]

IRON IN ALL AGES. 97

Percy says of the cementation process, by which until in
late years most of the steel of Europe and America was pro-
duced : " This is an old process, but little is known of its his-
tory. According to Beckmann there is no allusion to it in the
writings of the ancients. It was well described by Reaumur
in 1722, in his admirable treatise on the art of converting
bar iipn into steel." Landrin says: " Germany is also the first
country where it was proposed to cement iron. Thence this
art came to France, and was introduced at Newcastle-on-Tyne
long before it was known at Sheffield, the present centre of
that fabrication." The word cementation is derived from the
former use with charcoal of chemical compositions called ce-
ments, which were, however, not needed.

Professor Griiner, of Paris, mentions that Reaumur, in his
celebrated treatise, The Art of Converting Iron into Steel, pub-
lished in 1722, says, on page 250, that " iron is transformed
into steel by immersing it for a short time in melted cast
iron," and adds that "this process of steel manufacture is in
use in some countries, and has already been described by Va-
naccio in his Pyrotechnie, book I., chapter 7." Reaumur says
in addition, on page 256, that steel may be obtained " by fus-
ing iron scrap in cast iron," and that he has obtained " forge"
steel by thus mixing' with cast iron sometimes one-fourth and
sometimes one-third of wrought iron. The immersion of
wrought iron in a bath of cast iron is only a form of cemen-
tation, the absorption of carbon being the main object sought.
The most common form of cementation, however, has been
described on a preceding page by Mr. Turner.

In Dud Dudley's Mettallum Martis, published in 1665, and
to be found reprinted verbatim in the Journal of the Iron and
Steel Institute for 1872, the author gives the following descrip-
tion of the early English foot-blasts and of the later English
high bloomaries, or stilckofen, which latter he says were still
in existence in England at the time his account was written.
With this extract from Dud Dudley's valuable treatise we
close our citations from the old writers on the mediaeval and
early modern processes of making iron and steel.

Let us but look back unto the making of iron, by our ancestors, in foot
blasts, or bloomeries, that was by men treading of the bellows, by which
way they could make but one little lump or bloom of iron in a day, not 100

98 THE MANUFACTURE OF

weight, and that not fusible, nor fined, or malliable, untill it were long burn-
ed and wrought under hammers, and whose first slag, sinder or scorius,
doth contain in it as much, or more, iron then in that day the workman or
bloomer got out, which slag, scorius, or sinder is by our founders at furna-
ces wrought again, and found to contain much yron and easier of fusion
than any yron stone or mine of yron whatsoever, of which slag and sinders
there is in many countryes millions of tuns and oaks growing upon them,
very old and rotten.

The next invention was to set up the bloomeries that went by water, for
the ease of the men treading the bellows, which being bigger, and the water-
wheel causing a greater blast, did not onely make a greater quantity of iron,
but also extracted more iron out of .the slag or sinder, and left them more
poorer of iron then the foot-blasts, so that the founders cannot melt them
again, as they do the foot blast sinders to profit : yet these bloomeries by
water (not altogether out of use) do make in one day but two hundred
pound weight of iron, or there abouts, neither is it fusible, or malliable, but
is unfined untill it be much burned, and wrought a second time in fire.

With the exception of the blast furnace, which was slowly
developed from the high bloomary, and of the cementation
process for producing steel, which doubtless originated during
the period when the blast furnace was developed, no impor-
tant improvement in the manufacture of iron and steel oc-
curred from the revival of the iron industry in Europe about
the beginning of the eighth century until we reach the series
of improvements and inventions in the eighteenth century
which have already been fully noticed in the chapters relat-
ing to the British iron industry, a period of a thousand years.
It is about one hundred years since Henry Cort prominently
brought the rolling mill and the puddling furnace to the at-
tention of the ironmaking world, and scarcely a hundred and
fifty years since coke was first successfully used in the blast
furnace and steel was first made in England in crucibles. It
is not two hundred and fifty years since the high bloomary, or
stuckofen, was in use in England for the production of wrought
iron direct from the ore.

Since Huntsman's invention, which still gives us our best
steel, there have been many other improvements in the man-
ufacture of steel, and more recently there has been a very
great relative increase in its production and use as compared
with iron, until it has become a hackneyed expression that
this is the age of steel. While this is true in the sense that
steel is replacing iron, it is well to remember that the ancients
made steel of excellent quality, and that the art of manufac-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 99

turing it was never lost and has never been neglected. The
swords of Damascus and the blades of Toledo bear witness
to the skill in the manufacture of steel which existed at an
early day in both Asia and Europe. German steel was widely
celebrated for its excellence during the middle ages, and steel
of the same name and made by the same processes still occu-
pies an honorable place among metallurgical products. Even
Huntsman's invention of the art of making the finest quality
of steel in crucibles, while meritorious in itself, was but the
reproduction and amplification in a modern age of a process
for manufacturing steel of equal quality which was known to
the people of India thousands of years ago.

The ancient and the early European processes for the
manufacture of both iron and steel do not compare unfavora-
bly with those of modern times in the quality of the products
they yielded. Modern processes excel those which they have
replaced more in the uniformity and quantity of their prod-
ucts than in their quality. The Germans once had a furnace
for making small quantities of iron by toilsome manual la-
bor, one name for which, bauernofen, indicates that it was used
by farmers when they were not engaged in cultivating or
securing their crops. This was the blo^seo/en, or osmund fur-
nace. In the present age mechanical skill of the highest or-
der unites with the subtle operations of the chemist to produce
iron and steel in such quantities and with such uniformity
of product as to amaze not only the modern farmer, who
does not make a pound of iron, but also the student of his-
tory, the political economist, the practical statesman, and the
man of all wisdom.

100 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER IX.

FIRST ATTEMPT BY EUROPEANS TO 'MANUFACTURE
IRON IN THE UNITED STATES.

HAVING traced in preceding pages, as briefly as the im-
portance of the subject would permit, the early history of the
manufacture of iron in the older countries of the world, espe-
cially in Great Britain, our mother country in this great in-
dustry as well as in national life, we now cross the Atlantic to
the shores of that part of the New World which comprises the
United States. In no other part of the American continent
has the manufacture of iron ever risen to the dignity of a
great national industry, and only in Canada of all the politi-
cal divisions of North or South America outside of the United
States has a serious effort ever been made to develop native
iron resources. Indeed it is only in northern latitudes in both
hemispheres that iron is made in large or even in noticeable
quantities. This fact is only in part due to geological rea-
sons. Climate and race tendencies have had much to do with
the development of the metallurgical and all other productive
industries in tjie belt of the earth's surface above alluded to,
and which may well be called the ironmaking belt. It is here
that we find

That vigor of the northern brain

Which nerves the world outworn.

This vigor is largely due to stimulating climatic condi-
tions. The same gentle poet from whom we have just quoted

tells us that

There's iron in our northern winds ;
Our pines are trees of healing.

It would not be profitable to inquire minutely whether
the mound-builders or any other aboriginal inhabitants of the
United States, or the aboriginal inhabitants of any other part
of the American continent, possessed a knowledge of the use
and consequently of the manufacture of iron. It may be
said with positiveness that it has not been proved that they
possessed this knowledge even in the slightest degree, if we

IRON IN ALL AGES. 101

except the very rare use of meteoric iron. Antiquarians have
not neglected a subject of so much importance, but their re-
searches have produced only negative results. Rude hatchets
and other small implements of iron have been found in sit-
uations which give color to the theory that they may have
been of aboriginal origin and may have been made from iron
ore, but the weight of much concurrent testimony is wholly
against this supposition. Foster, in his Prehistoric Races of
the United States of America, says that "no implement of iron
has been found in connection with the ancient civilizations
of America." He fully establishes the fact that the mound-
builders manufactured copper into various domestic and war-
like implements, but adds that the Indians of North America
did not use copper in any form, although those of Central
and South America did. Prescott, the historian of the con-
quest of Mexico and Peru, says that the native inhabitants
of these countries, who were at the time, of the conquest the
most advanced in all the arts of civilization of the immediate
predecessors of the white race in North and South America,
were unacquainted with the use of iron, copper serving them
as a substitute. Our North American Indians were certainly
unacquainted with the use of iron when the Spaniards, the
English, the Dutch, and other Europeans first landed on the
Atlantic coast. Cotton Mather, in his Life of Eliot, says that
among the Indians of New England "stone was 'used, instead
of metal, for their tools," and other writers bear like testimo-
ny concerning all our Indians. The Rev. Dr. Joseph Dod-
dridge, in his Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the
Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, published in 1824,
expresses the following opinions : " At the discovery of Amer-
ica the Indians knew nothing of the use of iron. Any peo-
ple who have ever been in the habit of using iron will be
sure to leave some indelible traces of its use behind them ;
but the aborigines of this country have left none."

With regard to the use of meteoric iron by the aboriginal
inhabitants of the American continent Professor F. W. Put-
nam, of Harvard University, the archaeologist, writes us as
follows : " I have found in the ancient mounds of Ohio mass-
es of meteoric iron and various implements and ornaments
made by hammering pieces of meteoric iron. This native

102 THE MANUFACTURE OF

iron the ancient people of Ohio used the same as they did
native copper, native silver, and native gold, simply as a
malleable metal. None of our peoples, I am confident, un-
derstood smelting iron or in any way manufacturing it from
iron ore. The Greenland Eskimos made knives and other
weapons from the native iron found in Greenland, but always
by hammering, not by melting and casting. After contact
with Europeans the Indian tribes obtained iron in various
forms, and in due time learned to heat it and shape it as a
blacksmith would do."

In the absence of any positive information confirming
the use of any other than meteoric iron by any of the abo-
riginal inhabitants of America the interesting fact may be
stated that iron has recently been made in Cherokee county
in the western part of North Carolina by some members of
the remnant of a bancl of Cherokee Indians. They used the
primitive Catalan forge, which was introduced into North
Carolina by the early white settlers, and from the iron so
produced they made various tools and implements. The
Cherokees when discovered by Europeans were among the
most advanced of all the North American Indians in the arts
which pertain to a civilized mode of life.

North Carolina first gave to Europeans the information
that iron ore existed within the limits of the United States.
The discovery was made in 1585 by the expedition fitted
out by Sir Walter Raleigh and commanded by Ralph Lane,
which made on Roanoke Island in that year the first attempt
to plant an English settlement on the Atlantic coast. In his
History of American Manufactures Bishop states that " Lane
and his men explored the country along the Roanoke and on
both sides from Elizabeth river to the Neuse." Thomas Har-
iot, the historian of the colony and the servant of Sir Walter,
says that " in two places of the countrey specially, one about
foure score and the other sixe score miles from the fort or
place where wee dwelt, wee founde neere the water side the
ground to be rockie, which, by the triall of a mineral man,
was founde to hold iron richly. It is founde in manie places
of the eountrey else. I know nothing to the contrarie but
that it male bee allowed for a good marchantable commod-
itie, considering there the small charge for the labour and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 103

feeding of men ; the infinite store of wood ; the want of wood
and deerenesse thereof in England ; and the necessity of bal-
lasting of shippes." But no attempt was made to utilize this
discovery, as the colonists were in search of gold and not
iron. In 1586 they quarreled with the Indians and returned
to England. A permanent settlement in North Carolina was
not effected until many years afterwards. Iron ore was not
mined in North Carolina nor was iron made within its
boundaries until after many of the other colonies had com-
menced to make iron.

In 1607 the first permanent English colony in the New
World was founded at Jamestown in Virginia by the Virginia
Company of London, and on the 10th of April in the' follow-
ing year, 1608, the company's ship, commanded by Captain
Christopher Newport, sailed from Jamestown loaded with iron
ore, sassafras, cedar posts, and walnut boards, and on the 20th
of May it arrived in England. From Neill's history of the
company we learn that the iron ore was smelted, and " seven-
teen tons of metal were sold at ,£4 per ton to the East India
Company." This was undoubtedly the first iron made by
Europeans from American ore. In 1610 Sir Thomas Gates,
who had spent some time in Virginia, testified before the
council of the company, at London, that there were divers
minerals, especially " iron oare," in Virginia, lying upon the
surface of the ground, some of which ore, having been sent
home, had been found to yield as good iron as any in Europe.
The iron here referred to was that which had been sold to
the East India Company.

In 1619 the Virginia Company sent to Virginia a num-
ber of persons who were skilled in the manufacture of iron,
to "set up three iron works" in the colony. The enterprise
was undertaken in that year and located on Falling creek, a
tributary of the James river, which it enters on its right or
southern bank in Chesterfield county, about seven miles be-
low Richmond and about sixty-six miles above Jamestown.
In 1620, as stated by Beverley in his History of Virginia, "an
iron work at Falling creek in James river" was set up, "where
they made proof of good iron oar and brought the whole work
so near a perfection that they writ word to the company in
London that they did not doubt but to finish the work and

104 THE MANUFACTURE OF

have plentiful provision of iron for them by the next Eas-
ter," in the spring of 1621. But neither plentiful provision
nor any other provision of iron was made on Falling creek
in 1621, owing to the death of three of the master workmen
who had the enterprise in charge. In July of that year the
company sent over John Berkley, "formerly of Beverstone
Castle, Gloucester, a gentleman of an honorable family," to
take charge of the work. He was accompanied by his son
Maurice and twenty experienced workmen. In a letter from
the company to the colonial authorities, dated July 25, 1621,
it was stated that " the advancement of the iron works we
esteeme to be most necessarie, by perfecting whereof we es-
teerne the plantation is gainer. We therefore require all pos-
sible assistance be given to Mr. Berkley now sent, and all fur-
therance to his ship, especially good entertainment at their
landinge." On the 12th of August of the same year the com-
pany, in a communication to the authorities, wrote respecting
the iron works and the saw mills which had been projected :
"We pray your assistance in the perfectinge of these two
workes ; the profitt will redound to the whole collony, and
therefore it is necessary that you extend your authoritie to
the utmost lymitts to enforce such as shall refuse the help to
a business so much tending to the generall good." On the
5th of December, 1621, the company again wrote, enjoining
" all possible dilligence and industrious care, to further and
accomplish those great and many designes of salte, sawdnge
mills, and iron." In January, 1622, the authorities wrote to
the company that " the care we have taken of the iron workes
we reserve to be reported by Mr. Thresurer and Mr. Barkley
himself." On June 10th the company wrote of " the good
enterance wch we have understood you have made in the iron
works and other staple comodities," and added, " let us have
at least by the next returnes some good quaiititie of iron and
wyne."

But before this last letter was written the colony had been
visited by the Indian massacre of the 22d of March, 1622, in
which John Berkley and all his workmen were slain and the
works were destroyed. These works were not rebuilt. Bev-
erley, writing in 1705, says that the project of iron works on
Falling creek " has never been set on foot since, till of late ;

IRON IN ALL AGES. 105

but it has not had its full trial." In 1624 the charter of the
Virginia Company was revoked. And thus disastrously end-
ed the first attempt by Europeans to make iron in America.

The " good enterance " mentioned in the company's letter
of June 10th doubtless referred to satisfactory progress in the
construction of the works, but there is no positive evidence
that iron was ever made on Falling creek. Letters from Mr.
John Berkley had promised that " the company might relye
upon good quantities of iron made by him " by Whitsuntide
of 1622, but the massacre occurred before that time. Bever-
ley, however, in referring to the Falling creek enterprise, says
that " the iron proved reasonably good ; but before they got
into the body of the mine the people were cut off in that fa-
tal massacre." The ore on Falling creek is described as hav-
ing been brown in color. It wras bog ore. Mr. Berkley de-
clared that " a more fit place for iron workes than in Vir-
ginia, both for woods, water, mynes, and stone," was not to
be found ; and Mr. George Sandys wrote to the company on
the 3d of March, 1622, that Falling creek was fitted for mak-
ing iron " as if nature had applyed herself e to the wish and
dictation of the workeman ; where also were great stones,
hardly seene elsewhere in Virginia, lying on the place, as
though they had beene brought thither to advance the erec-
tion of those workes."

We have failed to discover whether the works on Falling
creek embraced a blast furnace and refinery or a bloomary
only, but the frequent references to building stone in connec-
tion with the works, and the length of time and the number
of workmen occupied in their erection, lead to the inference
that a furnace formed part of the enterprise. It also seems
reasonable to suppose that the phrase, " three iron works,"
already quoted in connection with the plans of the Virginia
Company, meant a blast furnace, a finery, and a chafery,
these works being used together in England at that day.

No further attempt to make iron in Virginia appears to
have been made for many years after the failure on Falling
creek. In a pamphlet entitled A Perfect Description of Vir-
ginia, published at London in 1649, it is stated that " an iron
work erected would be as much as a silver mine." In 1650
another pamphlet, quoted by Bishop, says of iron ore in Vir-

106 THE MANUFACTURE OF ,

ginia : " Neither does Virginia yield to any other province
whatsoever in excellency and plenty of this oare." In 1687,
and again in 1696, Col. William Byrd, the first of the name
in Virginia, set on foot the project of reviving the works 011
Falling creek, but it was not carried into execution. This is
the project referred to by Beverley in 1705 as not having had
" its full trial"

To encourage manufactures in Virginia the exportation
from the colony of hides, wool, and iron was forbidden by an
act of the assembly in 1662, upon penalty of one thousand
pounds of tobacco for every hide exported, fifty pounds of
tobacco for every pound of wool exported, and ten pounds of
tobacco for every pound of iron exported. The iron here re-
ferred to was doubtless crude, or cast, iron. This restriction
was removed in 1671, "no successe answering the conceived
hopes and apparent losses accruing to all inhabitants by the
refusall of those concerned to buy the commodity es aforesaid,"
but it was reimposed in 1682. We can not learn that during
the time covered by these enactments, and down to the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century, there was a single pound
of iron manufactured in Virginia. Notwithstanding the en-
couragement given by the Virginia Company and by some
succeeding colonial authorities to the establishment of do-
mestic manufactures the settlers of Virginia for a hundred
years after the settlement at Jamestown devoted themselves
almost entirely to the raising of tobacco and other agricul-
tural products.

Mr. R. A. Brock, of Richmond, a gentleman who has de-
voted much time to historical research concerning Virginia,
and who is at present corresponding secretary and librarian
of the Virginia Historical Society, has recently published an
account of some of the iron enterprises in the colony in the
eighteenth century, from which the following interesting ref-
erence to the site of the iron works on Falling creek is' taken.

The Falling creek tract fell to the possession of Col. Archibald Gary
some time prior to the Revolutionary war. Upon it he erected his well-
known seat, the name of which became in the records of the period a part
and parcel of his personal designation as Archibald Gary of Ampthill. He
erected a new iron works on Falling creek. " He purchased pigs of iron
from Rappahannock, Patowmack, and Maryland. Of these he made bar
iron. The profits, however, were so small that he abandoned his forge and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 107

converted hi.s pond to the use of a grist mill about 1760. Nobody then
knew of any iron mine convenient to Falling creek."

Falling creek is about a mile below Ampthill. Its waters still furnish
motive power to a grist mill owned by Mr. H. Carrington Watkins, and
known as the Ampthill mill. The creek is but an insignificant rivulet
above the mill, but some twenty yards below it widens into a handsome
little lake, and some quarter of a mile thence empties into James river.

About sixty yards from the mill, on the western bank of the creek and
Hearing the river, the writer picked up several small pieces of furnace
cinder, presumptive relics of the iron works of 1622. The bluff adjacent
and incumbent has, it is evident, from repeated washings of the soil, near-
lyg covered the exact original site.

On the opposite side of the creek, and to the east of the mill, is clearly
indicated the site of the forge of Archibald Gary. Here we found numer-
ous pieces of slag or cinder, some of them fully a hundred pounds in
weight, and an irregular area, an acre or more in extent, covered with
finely-broken or comminuted charcoal to the depth of fully two feet; a
memorial of the fuel used.

We were informed that about half a mile below Falling creek, near
James river, there is a low piece of ground known to this day as Iron Bot-
tom, where may be found plentifully what is known as bog iron on the sur-
face. It will be recollected that the iron ore already cited as being men-
tioned by Sir Thomas Gates was described as " lying on the surface of the
ground." We have also learned since our visit to Falling creek that at a
point upon its banks, distant inward about two miles from the site of the
iron works, there are numerous pits some five or six feet in depth, which it
is evident, from the mineral character of their surroundings, furnished the
crude ore for the original and ill-starred works.

In the eighteenth century Virginia became very promi-
nent in the manufacture of iron, fulfilling in an eminent
degree, although at a late day, the expectations which had
been entertained of its iron-producing capabilities by the
enterprising but unfortunate Virginia Company of London.

108 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER X.

BEGINNING OF THE MANUFACTUKE OF IRON IN THE
NEW ENGLAND COLONIES.

ALTHOUGH iron ore in this country was first discovered
in North Carolina, and the manufacture of iron was first
undertaken in Virginia, the first successful iron works were
established in the province of Massachusetts Bay. In 1632
mention is made by Morton of the existence of " iron stone "
in New England, and in November, 1637, the general court
of Massachusetts granted to Abraham Shaw one-half of the
benefit of any " coles or yron stone wch shal be found in any
comon ground wch is in the country es disposeing." Iron ore
had been discovered in the flat meadows on the upper parts
of the Saugus river, near Lynn, soon after its settlement in
1629, and in 1642 specimens were taken to London by Rob-
ert Bridges in the 'hope that a company might be formed for
the manufacture of iron. This hope was soon realized in the
formation of " The Company of Undertakers for the Iron
Works," consisting of eleven English gentlemen, who advanc-
ed £1,000 to establish the works. John Winthrop, Jr., had
previously gone to England, and he appears to have assisted
Mr. Bridges in securing the organization of the company, be-
coming a member of the company, as did others among the
colonists. Mr. Endicott, of Salem, in a letter to Governor
Winthrop, dated December 1, 1642, says : . " I want much to
hear from your son's iron and steel." Thomas Dexter and
Robert Bridges, both of Lynn, were among the original pro-
moters of the enterprise. In his History of Lynn (1844) Alon-
zo Lewis says that in 1643 " Mr. John Winthrop, Jr., came
from England with workmen and stock to the amount of one
thousand pounds for commencing the work. A foundry was
erected on the western bank of Saugus river. The village at
the foundry was called Hammersmith by some of the princi-
pal workmen, who came from a place of that name in Eng-
land." In NewhalFs revision of Lewis's history, published in
1865, the iron works are said to have been located near the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 109

site of the present woolen factories in Saugus Centre, not far
from Lynn, where large heaps of scoria are still to be seen.
" This iron foundry at Lynn," says Lewis, " was the first
which was established in America." Iron is not now man-
ufactured at or near Lynn, except in its secondary forms.
There are here large iron foundries, and also wire works,
nail works, and various other iron enterprises of a reproduc-
tive character.

In 1644 and subsequently, as stated by Lewis, the general
court granted many special privileges to the company. On
March 7, 1644, it was granted three miles square of land at
each of six places it might occupy in the prosecution of its
business. On November 13, 1644, it was allowed three years
" for ye perfecting of their worke and furnishing of ye country
with all sorts of barr iron." The citizens were granted liber-
ty to take stock in the enterprise " if they would complete
the finery and forge, as well as the furnace, which is already
set up." On May 14, 1645, the general court passed an or-
der declaring that " ye iron worke is very successful (both in
ye richness of ye ore and ye goodness of ye iron)," and that
between £1,200 and £1,500 had already been disbursed, " with
which ye furnace is built, with that which belongeth to it, . .
and some tuns of sowe iron cast in readines for ye forge. . .
There will be neede of some £1,500 to finish ye forge." On
October 14th of the same year the company was granted
still further privileges by the general court, on the condi-
tion "that the inhabitants of this jurisdiction be furnished
with barr iron of all sorts for their use, not exceeding twentye
pounds per tunn," and that the grants of land already made
should be used " for the building and seting up of six for-
ges, or furnaces, and not bloomaries onely," The grant was
confirmed to the company of the free use of all materials
"for making or moulding any manner of gunnes, potts, and
all other cast-iron ware." On May 6, 1646, Richard Leader,
the general agent of the company, who is described as being
a man of superior ability, purchased " some of the country's
gunnes to melt over at the foundery." On August 4, 1648,
Governor Winthrop wrote from Boston to his son, who had
removed to Pequod, Connecticut, that " the iron work goeth
on with more hope. It yields now about 7 tons per week."

HO THE MANUFACTURE OF

On September 30th he writes again : " The furnace runs 8
tons per week, and their bar iron is as good as Spanish."

Newhall quotes from a Lynn account book for 1651 the
following entry: "James Leonnarde, 15 days worke about
fimierey chimneye and other worke in ye forge, 1 : 13 : 0.
To ditto Leonard for dressing his bellows 3 times, 1 : 10 : 0."
Edward Johnson, of Woburn, in describing Lynn in 1652,
in his Wonder Working Providence, printed in 1654, says that
" there is also an iron mill in constant use ; " and Mr. Lewis
states that, prior to 1671, " the iron works for several years
were carried on with vigor, and furnished most of the iron
used in the colony." After 1671 they were fitfully operated,
and about 1688 they appear to have been finally abandoned.
Their owners were harassed after 1651 with frequent lawsuits,
arising from the overflow of the water in the dam. The fear
that the works would create a scarcity of timber also appears
to have added to their unpopularity. Rev. William Hubbard,
in his Present State of New England, printed in 1677, says that
"a work was set up at Lynn upon a very commodious stream,
which was very much promoted and strenuously carried on
for some time, but at length, instead of drawing out bars of
iron for the country's use, there was hammered out nothing
but contentions and lawsuits."

From the foregoing details it is plainly established that
the enterprise at Lynn embraced a blast furnace, or " found-
ery," and a refinery forge. The term found ery was long a
synonym for furnace, castings being made directly from the
furnace, as has been previously stated. This usage contin-
ued in this country down to about the middle of the present
century, and it is still followed in some European countries.
That the furnace was in operation in May, 1645, is certain,
and that the forge was in operation in September, 1648, is
equally certain. These dates may be accepted as definitely
determining, respectively, the first successful attempts in
this country to make " sowe iron" and other castings in a
blast furnace and to make " barr iron " in a refinery forge
from " sowe iron."

Mr. Nathan M. Hawkes, of Lynn, furnished to the Maga-
zine of American History for November, 1889, the following
description of the exact site of the Lvnn iron works.

IRON IN ALL AGES. Ill

Midway between Salem and Boston, the first and second capitals of
Massachusetts, there flows a serpentine little stream called the Saugus by
the Indians and their English successors. Tide-water meets the down-flow-
ing fresh water two miles from the bay between Round Hill on the west
and the dark forest on the east. Just where the currents lap each other on
the bank of the stream is a long sloping mound like a sea-serpent's back,
which to the passer-by seems but a freak of nature. The hand of man,
however, wrought that earth-work. At this point wras the upper ferry cross-
ed in the early days by Endicott and Winthrop and all the Puritan wor-
thies in the infancy of Xew England. The mound which lies at this point
upon the river-bank, and is known to the natives as " the cinder banks," is
the heaped-up scoria — the refuse, the remainder, the sweepings of an iron
foundry which was in full blast before the red man had cast his last linger-
ing look upon his beloved river and upon the blue waters of the Atlantic
beyond. The fleecy snows have mantled it, the sun has scorched it for two
centuries, and only an occasional curious observer has disturbed its scanty
covering of vegetation for some relic of the first manufacturing industry of
the continent.

The bog ore was largely taken from the meadows of the farms of Mr.
Adam Hawkes, two miles north of the works. Mr. Hawkes furnished the
ore, and he was also the persistent plaintiff in many suits against the com-
pany for flowing his lands. It is an interesting fact that, while the Puritans
abandoned all the mother country restrictions concerning the conveyance of
land, these fields that became the property of Adam Hawkes, and the site
where he built his first house, about 1630, have never been alienated from
his family, but are still occupied by his lineal descendants and are yet in the
same name. This tenacity of holding is an English trait, but it is rare even
in New England to witness a land tenure so long unbroken.

Joseph Jenks was a machinist at the Lynn works who
had come frorii Hammersmith in England and was a man of
much skill and inventive genius. He prepared the moulds
for the first castings that were made at Lynn^ "A small iron
pot, capable of containing about one quart," was the first ar-
ticle cast at the furnace. In 1844 it was in the possession of
Mr. Lewis's mother, who was a lineal descendant of Thomas
Hudson, the first owner of the lands on Saugus river on which
the iron works were built, and who obtained possession of the
pot immediately after it was cast, " which he preserved as a
curiosity." "It has been handed down in the family ever
since," wrote Mr. Lewis in 1844. Mr. C. M. Tracy, of Lynn,
writes us in 1890 that by some carelessness years ago one leg
of the pot was broken off, when a leaden one was made and
clumsily substituted, but the remainder of the pot " is per-
fect to-day." " It is of the old dinner-pot pattern," adds Mr.
Tracy, " and, although holding only about a quart, is heavy

112 THE MANUFACTURE OF

enough to make three in the hands of a modem founder."
This first iron utensil cast in this country is now in the pos-
session of two sons of Alonzo Lewis, residing at Etna Place,
Lynn. Their names are Llewellyn and Arthur Lewis.

Joseph Jenks, who became the founder of a noted New
England family, purchased from Richard Leader on Janu-
ary 20, 1647, the privilege of building a forge at the Lynn
iron works for the manufacture of scythes and other edge
tools. This enterprise was successful. In 1652 he made at
these iron works, for the mint wrhich was that year estab-
lished at Boston, the dies for the first silver pieces coined in
New England. On one side of these coins was the impression
of a pine tree; hence the name by which they have since
been known, "pine-tree shillings." In 1654 he made for the
city of Boston the first fire engine made in America. In 1655
the general court granted him a patent for an improved
scythe. His name is also associated with other inventions.
He died in 1683. Mr. Hawkes says of the scythe which he
invented : " This improvement consisted in lengthening the
blade, making it thinner, and welding a square bar on the
back to strengthen it, as in the scythe of to-day. Before this
the old English blade was short and thick like a bush scythe.
This invention lightened the labor and cheered the hearts of
merry mowers till the mowing machine of our day supersed-
ed the old emblem of the husbandman."

Henry and James Leonard were also skilled workmen at
Lynn. They an,d their descendants were afterwards identified
with many colonial iron enterprises. The family name is the
most noted in the annals of the New England iron industry.
Rev. Dr. Fobes, in referring to the Leonard family in his To-
pographical Description of Raynliam, ivith its History, written in
1793, says that " the circumstance of a family attachment to
the iron manufacture is so well known as to render it a com-
mon observation in this part of the country, ' Where you can
find iron works there you will find a Leonard.'" Henry and
James Leonard are said to have learned their trade at Pon-
typool, in Monmouthshire. They were forgemen.

The second iron enterprise that was undertaken in New
England embraced a furnace and forge at Braintree, in Nor-
folk county, about ten miles south of Boston. The works at

IRON IN ALL AGES. 113

Lynn and Braintree belonged to the same company. Bishop
says that on the 19th of .November, 1643, a grant of 3,000
acres of the common land at Braintree was made to Mr. Wiii-
throp and his partners, the Lynn company, " for the encour-
agement of an iron work to be set up about Monotcot river."
The true spelling of the name of this river is Monontocot.
But this grant, according to Lewis, was not surveyed until
January 11, 1648. On the 29th of September, 1645, as stated
by Lewis, the first purchase of land, consisting of twenty acres
"for a forge at Braintree," was made from George Ruggles by
Richard Leader, who was the general agent for the company
of undertakers. The furnace was probably built in 1646.
Robert Child, writing from Boston on the 15th of March,
1647, to John Winthrop, Jr., " at Pequot river," says of the
Lynn and Braintree enterprises : " We have cast this winter
some tuns of pots, likewise mortars, stoves, skillets. Our pot-
ter is moulding more at Brayntree as yet, which place after
another blowing we shall quit, not finding mine there." We
find, however, that iron ore was mined at Braintree in the
early part of 1652, and that on the 28th of September of that
year it was proposed at London on behalf of the undertakers
to employ William Osborne at " Brantry furnas & fordges."
Operations at the works were suspended in 1653, owing to the
scarcity of ore. Henry Leonard is said to have superintend-
ed the erection of the Braintree works, although James Leon-
ard was certainly connected with them, residing at Braintree
in 1653, when he removed to Taunton. John Gilford was
the manager of the Braintree works, according to Newhall.
In 1651 he succeeded Richard Leader as the agent for the
works at Lynn. John Adams and his son, John Quincy
Adams, were both natives of Braintree.

The next iron enterprise in New England was located in
the town, or township, of Taunton, (now Raynham,) in Bristol
county, two miles from the city of Taunton. This enterprise
was undertaken in 1652 by a company composed of citizens
of Taunton, who employed Henry and James Leonard and
Ralph Russell as practical ironworkers. At a town meeting
at Taunton, held October 21, 1652, " it was agreed and grant-
ed by the town to the said Henry Leonard and James Leon-
ard, his brother, and Ralph Russell free consent to come

114 THE MANUFACTURE OF

hither and join with certain of our inhabitants to set up a
bloomery work on the Two-mile river." The works thus
projected were put in operation in 1656. These works, which
must be called the Taunton forge, are referred to by Lewis
as "Leonards' celebrated iron works." But the Leonards con-
tributed nothing towTard their erection except their skill as
ironworkers, James Leonard owning but half a share in the
stock of the company and his brother not being a stockholder
at all. George Hall was the first clerk and manager, which
position he held almost continuously until his death in 1669.
His successors were John Hall and others until 1683, when
Captain Thomas Leonard became the manager, and so con-
tinued until his death in 1713. The forge long continued in
a prosperous condition. Bar iron was made directly from
the ore. As Henry Leonard was again at Lynn in 1655, and
as James Leonard does not appear to have been there after
1652, it is certain that the latter and his sons and descend-
ants were the only Leonards who became completely iden-
tified with the active operations of the Taunton forge. The
Leonards long continued their connection with the Taunton
works as master workmen. Ralph Russell did not remain
at Taunton, and is said to have established a forge at Rus-
sell's Mills, "which place received its name from him."

There seems to have existed a strong bond of friendship
between James Leonard and King Philip, the sachem of the
Wampanoags. Elisha Clarke Leonard, in an address in 1886
before the Old Colony Historical Society, at Taunton, fully
proves that in 1665 Philip gave to James Leonard the
deed for a neck of land embracing about 150 acres, "lying
by Mr. Brinton's land at Matapoyset, being bounded on each
side by a brook," it being the intention of Mr. Leonard to
" set up a mill or iron work if occasion were." But the deed
was not confirmed by the colonial authorities, and Mr. Leon-
ard was deprived of the Indian's gift.

In an address read before the Old Colony Historical So-
ciety, at Taunton, in July, 1884, Captain J. W. D. Hall said
that the hammers "and other heavy iron machinery for the
Taunton " bloomerie " came from abroad ; also that, on the
division of Taunton in 1731, the iron works were included in
'the new town of Raynham. He also said that "the works

IRON IN ALL AGES. 115

made from 20 to 30 tons annually, which brought from £400
to £675, averaging about $100 a ton of our currency. About
a year ago the old buildings were demolished, and the privi-
lege, dam, and foundation walls alone remain of the ancient
Taunton iron works of 224 years — the oldest successful iron
manufactory in New England."

The Taunton forge, says Fobes in 1793, was situated on
" the great road, and, having been repaired from generation
to generation, it is to this day still in employ." In William
Read Deane's Genealogical Record of the Leonard Family, pub-
lished in 1851, it is stated that " the old forge, though it has
been several times remodeled, has been in constant use for
nearly two hundred years, 'and is now in the full tide of suc-
cessful operation. It is owned by Theodore Dean, Esq., who
is descended from the Leonards." The forge was at that time
employed in the manufacture of anchors. In 1865 it was
still so employed, with four forge fires, two hammers, and two
water-wheels, but about that time it ceased to be active and
has since been abandoned and dismantled.

In 1657 the general court of Massachusetts, owing to the
failure of the undertakers at Lynn and Braintree to furnish
the colony with a constant supply of iron, " whereby unsuf-
ferable damage may accrew," granted to the inhabitants of
Concord and Lancaster, and such as they should associate
with them, " liberty to erect one or more iron workes within
the limitts of theire oune toune bounds, or in any common
place neere thereunto." That this grant resulted in the es-
tablishment of iron works at Concord appears probable from
the grant by the court in 1660, to " ye company in partner-
ship in the iron worke at Concord," of " free liberty to digg
mine without molestation in any lands now in the court's
possession."

About 1668 Henry Leonard went to Rowley village, 25
miles northeast of Lynn, as stated by Newhall, " and there
established iron works." Lewis says that in 1674 Henry
Leonard's sons, Nathaniel, Samuel, and Thomas, contracted to
carry on these works for the owners, whose names are given
by Bishop as "John Ruck and others of Salem." The works
did not prove to be profitable. After establishing the Rowley
works Henry Leonard went to New Jersey, " and there again

116 THE MANUFACTURE OF

engaged in the iron manufacture." At some time previous to
his removal to New Jersey he appears to have been connected
with the establishment of iron works at Canton, about four-
teen miles south of Boston.

Other iron enterprises in Massachusetts speedily followed
those that have been mentioned. In 1677 one of these works,
the name of which has not come down to us, was . destroyed
by the Indians. About the same year iron was made at Tops-
field, near Ipswich, and in 1680 its manufacture was com-
menced at Boxford. Hubbard, writing about 1677, says that
at that time there were in the colonies " many convenient
places, where very good iron, not much inferior to that of
Bilbao, may be produced, as at this day is seen in a village
near Topsfield, seven or eight miles wrest from Ipswich." Mr.
Tracy, however, informs us that there is a tradition that the
Topsfield works were never very productive.

From the address of Captain Hall we glean the following
additional information concerning early Taunton iron works.

Whittington iron works, on Mill river, were built by James
Leonard, senior, "forgeman," in 1670. These works embraced
a"bloomerie with one hearth." Mr. Leonard's three sons,
Joseph, Benjamin, and Uriah, having served in the Taunton
iron works at the " refining and bloomerie" trade, worked the
forge. They also had a grist mill at the same place. Cap-
tain Hall says that " this was the location of James Leonard's
iron works." James Leonard died in 1691. The Whittington
bloomary was continued by his sons and by their succes-
sors for more than a hundred years. During the first fifty
years it was supplied with bog ore mined in the vicinity of
" Scadding's moire" and pond, and "along up Mill river to
Winneconnet pond."

In the years 1696 and 1697 the Chartley iron works were
built on Stony brook, within the limits of Taunton North
Purchase. " The iron work and tools required were made at
the Taunton iron works." These works were built by Thom-
as and James Leonard, and embraced only a bloomary for the
manufacture of bar iron. They went into operation in 1698.
In 1713 George Leonard became the sole owner of these
works and greatly enlarged them. The above enterprise was
the origin of the noted Leonard iron works of Norton, and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 117

one of the chief causes of the organization and incorpora-
tion of that town in 1711. Native bog ore was always used.

A small forge, or " bloomerie," to use bog ore, was built
about 1695 " at Taunton line, on Three-mile river, near the
present site of North Dighton furnace," by Richard Stephens,
"in connection with his son and others." In 1739 these works
were enlarged. They appear to have been kept in operation
until near the close of the eighteenth century.

" The first hollow- ware manufactory " in the Old Colony
of New Plymouth was King's furnace, built on Littleworth
brook, in the eastern part of Taunton, in 1724 and 1725, by
a stock company of which John King was the principal mem-
ber ; hence the name, King's furnace. In 1725 the casting of
hollow-ware was commenced, from the size of a pint kettle to
a ten-pail cauldron. The ore first used was bog ore found in
the neighborhood. This furnace was a successful enterprise.
It was rebuilt in 1816, when it " employed about 30 moulders
and men, doing a large business." Its wares were even trans-
ported to New York " by sloops at Weir village, which on
their return brought pig iron and ore from New Jersey."
The furnace was in operation for several years after 1839.

The Hopewell iron works, embracing a bloomary only,
were built on Mill river, in Taunton, in 1739 and 1740, by
Captain Zephaniah Leonard, to make bar iron from bog ore.
The bloomary was succeeded by a rolling and slitting mill,
erected by John Adam in 1776 and 1777. In 1782 the prop-
erty passed into the hands of Samuel Leonard and others, of
Taunton. Captain Hall says that "Russia and Swede iron,
imported in bars, were rolled and converted into rods for the
best of hammered nails, furnishing partial employment for
many farmer nailers within an area of a dozen miles. Fi-
nally, the business proving unprofitable, the works were aban-
doned." We pass over other early Taunton iron works.

For a hundred years after its settlement in 1620 Massa-
chusetts was the chief seat of the iron manufacture on this
continent. Most of its iron enterprises during this hundred
years were ore bloomaries, but there were blast furnaces also,
although the latter as a rule produced only hollow-ware and
other castings and not pig iron. During the period men-
tioned the iron industry of Massachusetts was confined to

118 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the eastern counties of the colony, where bog and pond ores
formed the only kinds of ore that were obtainable. Char-
coal was the only fuel used, and water-power was the only
power employed.

The English settlement at New Haven closely followed
Massachusetts in the manufacture of iron. John Winthrop,
Jr., who removed from Lynn to Pequod, (New London,) Con-
necticut, in 1645, had obtained from the general court in the
preceding year permission to . set up an iron work, and in
1651 he obtained a grant of certain privileges to enable him
to " adventure " in the manufacture of iron ; but he does not
seem to have embarked in the iron business until some time
subsequently. On" May 30, 1655, as we learn from Bishop,
it was ordered by the assembly of New Haven " that if an
iron worke goe on within any part of this jurisdiction the
persons and estates constantly and onely imployed in that
worke shall be free from paying rates." In 1658 Captain
Thomas Clarke, in company with John Winthrop and oth-
ers, put in operation an " iron worke " at New Haven, and in
1669 he seems to have been still engaged in the same enter-
prise, for in that year the general court of Connecticut con-
tinued the exemption already noted for another seven years,
"for encouragement of the said worke in supplying the
country with good iron and well wrought according to art."
This enterprise embraced a blast furnace and a refinery forge.
On the 22d of June, 1663, John Davenporte wrote from New
Haven to John Winthrop, Jr., as follows : " The freshest
newes here, & that which is e re vestra, is that they have bene
blowing at the iron worke, and have runne, from the last 6th
day to this 2d day, 5 sowes of iron, which are commended for
very good; & this night it's thought they will run another,
& begin to-morrow to make pots. The worke is hopeful, but
the workemen are thought to be very chargeable and fro-
ward." This frowardness was due apparently to the influ-
ence of an old enemy of iron works and ironworkers, John
Barleycorn. Bishop records " a proposition made in May,
1662, 'in ye behalf e of Capt. Clarke, that wine and liquors
drawn at the iron workes might be custome free4,' which was
allowed to the extent of one butt of wine and one barrell of
liquors, and no more."

IRON IN ALL AGES. 119

Rhode Island made iron soon after its settlement in 1636,
certainly at Pawtucket and elsewhere as early as 1675, when
a forge at Pawtucket, erected by Joseph Jenks, Jr., son of
Joseph Jenks, the machinist at Lynn, was destroyed by the
Indians in the Wampanoag war, as well as other iron works
and infant enterprises. A third Joseph Jenks was Gover-
nor of Rhode Island from 1727 to 1732. The few iron enter-
prises that were established in this colony in the seventeenth
century used bog or pond ore, but in the succeeding century
rock ore was also used. There is a deposit of magnetic iron
ore in Cumberland township, known as Cumberland hill.
This hill, or mountain, is described as forming " a homo-
geneous mass of iron ore, about 500 feet long by 150 feet
wide and 104 feet high, or, in bulk, equal to about 1,000,000
tons above water level, while, as the deposit shows an indefi-
nite extension in depth, the quantity of this ore may be said
to be practically inexhaustible." Hematite ore was found at
Cranston.

Iron does not appear to have been made within the limits
of Maine, New Hampshire, or Vermont until the eighteenth
century.

We now give an engraving of the Lynn pqt, the first
iron article made from native ore in America, cast at Lynn,
Massachusetts, in 1645, and still preserved. This engraving
is from a« photograph obtained in 1890 for this work by Mr.
C. M. Tracy, of Lynn. The pot weighs 2 pounde, 13 ounces ;
its capacity is 1 quart less 1 gill ; its inside measurement is
4.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches deep.

120 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XL

EXTENSION OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN
NEW ENGLAND.

IN his valuable essay on the iron ores and iron enter-
prises of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, printed in 1804,
Dr. James Thacher says : " The first furnace for smelting
iron ore known in the county of Plymouth was erected in the
year 1702 by Lambert Despard (a founder) and the family of
Barkers, his associates, at the mouth of Mattakeeset pond in
the town of Pembroke, but the wood in the vicinity being
exhausted the works were long since abandoned." In James
Torrey's History of Scituate, in Plymouth county, wrritten in
1815, mention is made of an iron enterprise in the township
of Scituate, as follows : " In 1648 Mr. Timothy Hatherly, the
principal founder and father of the town of Scituate, request-
ed liberty of the colony to erect an iron mill. It was granted
in 1650, conditional to be erected within three years, or the
privilege, certain woodlands about Mattakeeset pond, (now
Pembroke,) to revert to the colony. It did not, however, take
place at that period, but l a smelting furnace was erected on
the precise grant by Mark Despard and the family of Barker
about 1702.i" The enterprise of Despard and the Barkers
was speedily followed by the erection of a bloomary forge
on Bound brook, near Hingham, in 1703, by a company in
which two brothers, Daniel and Mordecai Lincoln, were part-
ners. In Torrey's History of Sdtuate mention is made of the
erection of the Drinkwater iron works, near Abington, about
1710, by a person named Mighill, probably Rev. Thomas Mig-
hill. Hingham and Abington are both in Plymouth county.

About 1722 a bloomary forge was built at Bridgewater,
which was active in 1750. In 1738 Hugh Orr, a Scotchman,
established at this place a gun factory, and about 1748 he
made five hundred muskets for the province of Massachu-
setts Bay, which are claimed to have been the first muskets
manufactured in this country. Subsequently he established
a cast-iron cannon foundry at Bridgewater, and was instru-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 121

mental in promoting various other manufacturing enterprises.
In 1730 iron works were erected at Plympton, now Carver,
which appear to have embraced a blast furnace, as mention
is made of " the first cast-iron tea-kettle " having been cast at
Plympton between 1760 and 1765. Bishop says : " That im-
portant utensil had been previously made of wrought iron,
and was imported from England. A copper tea-kettle was first
used at Ply mouth, whence Carver was chiefly settled, in 1702."

The first slitting mill in the colonies for slitting nail rods
is said by tradition to have been erected at Milton, in Nor-
folk county, as early as 1710. Bishop accords this honor to
Middleborough, in Plymouth county, at a later day, but he
does not give the date of its erection, except to indicate by
the context that it was built before 1750. We have in our
possession a very excellent draft of a slitting mill at Middle-
borough which is said to have been built by Judge Peter
Oliver in 1751 and which was abandoned in 1830. This draft
is by William H. Harrison, of Braintree, Massachusetts. It
may be found reproduced in the Transactions of the Ameri-
can Society of Mechanical Engineers for 1881.

Mr. Tracy writes to us that in the old records of Essex
county, Massachusetts, is this surprising undated entry, insert-
ed between two other entries dated May 20th and June 17th,
1650 : "A caveat is recorded of ye sale of ye slitting mill in Lyn
by Richd Ledder for tenn powndes to Capt:Willm Hathorne."

In 1731 there were officially reported to be in Massachu-
setts " several forges for making bar iron, and some furnaces
for cast iron or hollow-ware, and one slitting mill, and a man-
ufacture for nails." The slitting mill referred to was located
at either Milton or Middleborough. At the same time there
were in all New England " six furnaces, meaning hollow-ware
furnaces, and nineteen forges, meaning bloomaries, not re-
fineries." "At that time," says Douglass, in his British Settle-
ments, "we had no pig furnaces nor refineries of pigs" in New
England. Refineries were in use about twenty years later.

There were officially reported to be four slitting mills in
Massachusetts in 1750 — two at Middleborough, one at Hano-
ver, and one at Milton.; also a plating-forge with a tilt-ham-
mer, and one steel furnace. In 1750 Douglass thus described
the iron industry of New England :

122 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Iron is a considerable article in our manufacture ; it consists of these
general branches : (1) Smelting furnaces reducing the ore into pigs ; having
coal enough and appearances of rock ore. In Attleborough were erected at
a great charge three furnaces, fcut the ore proving bad and scarce this pro-
jection miscarried as to pigs. They were of use in casting of small cannon
for ships of letters of marque, and in casting cannon-balls and bombs toward
the reduction of Louisbourg. (2) Kefmeries which manufacture pigs, im-
ported from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland furnaces, into bar iron.
(3) Bloomaries, 'which, from bog or swamp ore, without any furnace, only by
a forge hearth, reduce it into a bloom or semi-liquidated lump to be beat
into bars, but much inferior to those from the pigs or refineries. (4) Swamp
ore furnaces ; from that ore smelted they cast hollow- ware which we can
afford cheaper than from England or Holland.

Bog or swamp ore lies from half a foot to two feet deep. In about 20
years from digging it grows or gathers fit for another digging ; if it lies
longer it turns rusty and does not yield well. Three tons of swamp ore
yield about one ton of hollow-ware. One hundred and twenty bushels of
charcoal are sufficient to smelt rock ore into one ton of pigs. The com-
plement of men for a furnace is eight or nine, besides cutters of wood,
coalers, carters, and other common laborers.

In New England we have two slitting mills for nail rods : one in Mil-
ton, eight miles from Boston, and another in Middleborough, about thirty
miles from Boston, wiiich are more than we have occasion for. Our nailors
can afford spikes and large nails cheaper than from England, but small
nails not so cheap.

In New England they do not forge bar iron sufficient for their home
consumption by bloom aries and refineries ; they import from England, New-
York, Jersies, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

The development of the rich brown hematite iron ores
of Western Massachusetts commenced about 1750. It is said,
however, that as early as 1731 iron ore was taken on horse-
back in leather bags to Ousatonic, now Great Barrington, in
Berkshire county, from Old Hill mine, in Litchfield county,
Connecticut, a distance of sixteen miles, and worked in bloom-
ary forges. A furnace was built at Lenox, in Berkshire coun-
ty, in 1765, and it made pig iron in the following year. It
had an exceptionally high stack for that day — 28 feet high,
and was blown with one tuyere. This furnace was torn down
in 1881. Previous to 1773 a furnace was built at Furnace
village, in Worcester county, and a few years after that date
there were several bloomaries and one refinery forge in the
same county. In 1793 the county contained several manu-
factories of edge tools, hardware, machinery, etc. In the
township of Sutton there were at this time one axe, one hoe,
and five scythe manufactories, and several naileries. In the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 123

whole county there were seventeen trip-hammers. At Spring-
field, in Hampden county, as stated by Bishop, some cannon
were cast and some forging was done during the Revolution,
but small arms were not made here until after the peace. The
Government armory at Springfield was established in 1794.

While the iron industry of Massachusetts was being ex-
tended westward it made rapid progress in the eastern coun-
ties. Charlotte furnace at Middleborough was built in 1758,
and was in operation for many years. During our two wars
with the mother country it was employed in casting shot and
shells. The shot which the Constitution carried in her conflict
with the Guerriere were cast at this furnace. In 1784 there
were seventy-six iron works in Massachusetts, " many of them
small." At Amesbury, in Essex county, a furnace was erect-
ed about 1790, and at Boxborough, in Middlesex county, a
bloomary forge was built about the same time. In 1795 Dr.
Morse reported eleven slitting mills in Bristol, Norfolk, and
Plymouth counties, which rolled and cut in that year 1,732
tons of iron into hoops and nail rods. Bishop says that " the
two counties of Plymouth and Bristol had in operation in
1798 fourteen blast and six air furnaces, twenty forges, and
seven rolling and slitting mills, in addition to a number of
trip-hammers and a great number of nail and smith shops.
Cut and hammered nails, spades and shovels, card teeth, saws,
scythes, metal buttons, cannon balls, bells, fire arms, sheet
iron for tin ware, wire, etc., were made in large quantities."
In 1804 there were ten blast furnaces in Plymouth county, all
producing castings exclusively. In 1830 only three of these
were left — Charlotte, Federal, and Pope's Point, all in Carver
township, and all in operation. There were also in 1804 ten
forges in the same county, which were principally employed
in working " old iron scraps," broken pots, kettles, etc., and
produced in all about 200 tons of bar iron per annum.

Dr. James Thacher, who was a part owner of Federal fur-
nace, wrote in 1804 a description of this furnace, which was
built in 1794, and is said by him to have been the most valu-
able furnace with which he was acquainted, the manufacture
of castings being "there prosecuted to great extent and ad-
vantage." The furnace was built of stone, as were all other
Plymouth furnaces. It was 20 feet high and 24 feet square,

124 THE MANUFACTURE OF

its walls being 7 feet thick and its interior 10 feet in diameter.
Charcoal was the only fuel used, and marine shells formed
the only fluxing material. The furnace was lined with " fire
stone " composed of " soft slate." A brick funnel at the top of
the stack served " to convey off the blaze and smoke." The
Doctor continues his description as follows :

At the bottom of an arch in the front of the fdrnace is an aperture,
from which the workmen remove the scoria and dip out the metal. And in
another arch on one side there is a small aperture for the insertion of the
pipes of two large bellows 22 feet long and 4 feet wide, which being kept in
constant alternate motion by the agency of a water-wheel 25 feet diameter,
a powerful current of air is excited ; and being impelled upon the surface
of the fuel the fusion of the metal is greatly accelerated. The whole of this
machinery is included in a large wooden building, affording accommodation
to the workmen with their apparatus for moulding and casting.

The specific articles manufactured at the Federal furnace are, besides
hollow-ware of every description, Seymour's patent rolls for slitting mills, of
a superior quality, cast in iron cylinders, potash kettles, stoves, fire-backs
and jambs, plates, gudgeons, anvils, large hammers, cannon shot of every
kind, with a vast variety of machinery for mills, etc.

The ores used in the furnaces and bloomaries of Eastern
Massachusetts in the eighteenth century were chiefly native
bog and pond ores. Dr. Thacher says, however, that in 1804
" a very considerable proportion of ore smelted in our furna-
ces is procured from the very productive mines at Egg Har-
bor in the State of New Jersey, of a reddish brown color, pro-
ducing from 30 to 40 per cent, of excellent iron. The usual
price is $6.50 per ton." He also says that "reddish brown"
ore in large lumps was obtained from a mine on Martha's
Vineyard, "affording about 25 per cent, and worth $6 per
ton." The pond ores contained from 20 to 30 per cent, of
iron, and the average price was about $6 per ton at the fur-
nace. Bog ore, found in swamps and other low places, was of
a " rusty brown color, yielding about 18 per cent, and worth
$4 per ton at the furnace." The following letter from the
Rev. Isaac Backus, of Middleborough, dated July 25, 1794,
gives a description of the manner in which pond ores were
obtained at that time.

Vast quantities of iron, both cast and wrought, have been made in this
part of the country for more than a hundred years past ; but it was chiefly
out of bog ore, until that kind was much exhausted in these parts, and then
a rich treasure was opened in Middleborough, which had been long hid

IRON IN ALL AGES. 125

from the inhabitants. About the year 1747 it was discovered that there was
iron mine in the bottom of our great pond at Assowamset ; and after some
years it became the main ore that was used in the town, both at furnaces
and forges, and much of it has been carried into the neighboring places for
the same purpose. Men go out with boats, and make use of instruments ^
much like those with which oysters are taken, to get up the ore from the
bottom of the pond. I am told that, for a number of years, a man would
take up and bring to shore two tons of it in a day ; but now it is so much
exhausted that half a ton is reckoned a good day's work for one man. But
in an adjacent pond is now plenty, where the water is twenty feet deep, and
much is taken up from that depth, as well as from shoaler water. It has
also been plenty in a pond in the town of Carver, where they have a fur-
nace upon the stream which runs from it. Much of the iron which is made
from this ore is better than they could make out of bog ore, and some of it
is as good as almost any refined iron. The quantity of this treasure, which
hath been taken out of the bottom of clear ponds, is said to have been
sometimes as much as five hundred tons in a year.

Before proceeding further we may here refer to the first
steel works in Massachusetts. In 1750 it was officially re-
ported that there was then in Massachusetts " one furnace for
making steel," but its location is not given. The first steel
works in Massachusetts of which we can obtain circumstan-
tial information were established at Easton, in Bristol county,
in 1775 or 1776, by Eliphalet Leonard. In the early part of
1826 there appeared in the Boston Patriot a letter written by
Jonathan Leonard, of Canton, in Norfolk county, which we
find reprinted in the New England Historical and Genealogical
Register for October, 1857, and from which we take the fol-
lowing extracts.

As to the making of steel, the first attempt made in this country so far
as my knowledge goes was by my father, Eliphalet Leonard, at Easton,
about the year 1775 or '76. He was led to that attempt by the extreme
scarcity of steel and the difficulty of procuring it for his manufactory of
fire-arms, then in great demand for the defense of the country. He con-
structed several furnaces, and so far succeeded as to supply himself and
some of the most urgent wants of his neighbors.

In 1787 I obtained further insight into the business, and erected at
Easton a furnace capable of making three tons at a batch. This was con-
tinued until 1808, when, in consequence of the commercial restrictions, I
erected another at the same place capable of making ten tons at a batch,
and afterwards from twenty to thirty tons a year. In 1813 I erected an-
other furnace at Canton, where I now live, where I made at times about
one hundred tons of steel a year.

Towards the close of the Revolution Samuel Downing, of Trenton, New
Jersey, made considerable blistered steel. During the progress of the Rev-
olution a certain German at Cumberland, in Rhode Island, made steel from

126 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the pig after the mode of his country. During the same time some was
made at Amenia, in the State of New York. In 1809 a steel furnace was
put in operation at Middleborough and another at Canton by Adam Kins-
ley, and another at Plymouth. About the year 1799 steel was made at Can-
ton by Leonard & Kinsley after the German manner, and afterwards by
Dunbar & Leonard. The manufacture of blistered steel is carried on ex-
tensively in New York and Philadelphia.

Cast steel has got much into use within a few years. Some was made
here during the late war, but it was then difficult to obtain clay that would
endure a heat sufficient to melt and take it out of the fire.

There was one Daniel Pettybone who pretended that he invented the
welding of cast steel with borax and got a patent for his .invention about
the year 1802. He put the blacksmiths under contribution, and after his
patent had run out he petitioned Congress to renew it. I told them that
it was an art considerably well known among blacksmiths, and I procured
several depositions from aged blacksmiths to prove that they had done it
in this country as early as the year 1772, and occasionally from that tune
to 1819. Cast steel had been welded to iron in Canton in 1792, six years
before Pettybone dated his invention. This was done by the use of borax.
It has likewise been done by the help of bog iron ore powrdered fine and
sprinkled on the steel when at a white heat, and formed at that tempera-
ture a kind of gluey (glassy) substance which would stick the bars together.

The steel referred to by the writer of the foregoing letter
as having been made by his father and himself was cement-
ed steel, otherwise known as blister steel. The statement
which he makes concerning the manufacture of steel " from
the pig," "after the German manner," is very important, as
it shows that this method of making steel was in use in this
country in the last century side by side with the manufac-
ture of blister steel — a fact not generally known in our day.

In the same letter Mr. Leonard gives the following infor-
mation concerning the blast furnaces of Eastern Massachu-
setts in 1826 : " There are if I mistake not ten or twelve blast
furnaces at this time in the counties of Plymouth and Bris-
tol, and one in Norfolk. General Leach seems to have taken
the lead of late years in the furnace business. The iron made
from b'og ore at his furnaces in Easton and Foxborough is
thought to be softer and better than in other places for ma-
chinery." Bog ore was therefore used in blast furnaces in
Massachusetts as late as 1826. More than thirty years ago
Professor J. P. Lesley wrote of the old bog-ore furnaces of
Massachusetts as follows : " The old blast furnaces of Plym-
outh county, making a poor iron, in very small quantities,
from an ochreous ore dug from the diluvium of the pond

IRON IN ALL AGES. 127

bottoms, are almost forgotten. Traditions of them remain
only as jests at the primitive ways they were set to work in.
One is described as situated on the bank of a stream and
lashed to a large tree to protect it from the freshets ; when an
order came for a few tons of iron the neighboring farmers
assembled and blew it in. Small furnaces and poor ore they
served their day and are forgotten ; obliterated by the over-
rush of two commercial iron deluges, one from the English
importers and the other from the anthracite manufacturers."
In 1721 Samuel Bissell, a blacksmith of Newport, Rhode
Island, received a loan of two hundred pounds from the colo-
nial treasury to enable him to carry on the manufacture of
nails. In 1735 Samuel "Waldo erected a furnace and foundry
on the Pawtuxet river, in Rhode Island, which were after-
wards known as Hope furnace. These are said to have been
the most important iron works in the State during the eigh-
teenth century. Cannon and other castings were made here.
During the Revolution they were active in producing cannon,
cannon balls, and other munitions of war. Hope furnace
was^ located on the north branch of the Pawtuxet. In 1765
Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, " began to work a bed of iron ore in the southeastern
part of Scituate," as we learn from his biography written by
William E. Foster, and in 1769, as we are informed by the
same authority, he began the manufacture of iron at Hope
furnace in company with Nicholas and Moses Brown and
Israel Wilkinson. About the year 1735 three furnaces were
erected in Cumberland township, in the northeastern part of
the State, but they seem to have been abandoned before the
Revolution. They made " cannon, bombs, and bullets " dur-
ing the French war of 1755. In 1741 iron works were in
operation on the south branch of the Pawtuxet river, in the
town of Warwick, "for the refining of iron." They were
owned by the sons of Jabez Greene. One of these sons was
Nathanael Greene, the father of Major General Nathanael
Greene of the Revolution, who was himself trained to work
on the farm and at the forge. In 1770 he was in charge
of a forge at Coventry, in Rhode Island, which was known
as Greene's forge. In 1789 a rolling and slitting mill was
established near Providence, on one of the branches of Provi-

128 THE MANUFACTURE OF

dence river, and before 1800 a rolling and slitting mill had
been established at Pawtucket Falls and other iron-manu-
facturing enterprises in various parts of the State. Bishop
says that " manufactures of iron, including bar and sheet
iron, steel, nail rods and nails, farming implements, stoves,
pots, and other castings and household utensils, iron works
for shipbuilders, anchors, and bells formed the largest branch
of productive industry in the State toward the close of the
eighteenth century."

The iron made in Rhode Island in the eighteenth century
was obtained from native bog ore in large part, but native
hematite and magnetic ore were also used, the latter coming
from Cumberland hill, which has been referred to in the pre-
ceding chapter. We give below some extracts from a letter
to the New York Tribune, written in October, 1873, and dated
at Providence, Rhode Island, which contained a historical ac-
count of Cumberland hill, or Cumberland iron mountain.

During the French war, as early as 1755, the inhabitants of this colony
made from the ore from this very mine, mixed with a hematite ore from
Cranston, Rhode Island, cannon which were used in the service against the
French and Indians, and thus it has aided in carrying out the far-reaching
policy of the great Pitt. In 1800, also, cannon were again cast from these
ores at Hope, a small village on the Pawtuxet river, in this State, for John
Brown of Providence, who had a contract with the Government at this date
to furnish it guns ; and, what is singular, the guns were cast hollow, a sup-
posed modern invention. At the foot of the mine is a meeting-house, with
the date " A. D. 1700 " over the door, the beams and joists of which would
to-day be too unwieldy even for ship timber. Though Rhode Island people
have not appeared to recognize the importance of this possession, still
many places, such as Easton, in Massachusetts, which early entered into
the production of iron, have regularly carted from this mine their supply.

Litchfield county, in Northwestern Connecticut, contains
hematite iron-ore mines of great value, from which the ore
for the celebrated Salisbury iron has been taken for over a
hundred and fifty years. As early as 1734 a bloomary forge
was erected at Lime Rock, in Litchfield county, by Thomas
Lamb, which produced from 500 to 700 pounds of iron per
day. A blast furnace was afterwards added to this forge at
Lime Rock, and it is still active in 1890. About 1748 a forge
was erected at the village of Lakeville, then called Furnace
village, in the same county, and in 1762 John Haseltine,
Samuel Forbes, and Ethan Allen purchased the property and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 129

built a blast furnace at Lakeville, but soon afterwards sold it
to Charles and George Caldwell, of Hartford. It made two
and a half tons of iron in twenty-four hours, and three tons
of ore and 250 bushels of charcoal were used per ton of iron.
Its blowing apparatus consisted of a pair of leather bellows
driven by a water-wheel. In 1768 the furnace was sold to
Richard Smith, of Hartford. Smith was a royalist and fled
to England during the Revolution, but his furnace was used
to produce large quantities of cannon, cannon balls, shells,
etc., for the Continental army. After the Revolution it made
cannon for the navy, potash kettles weighing nearly half a
ton each, and pig iron for forges and foundries. This fur-
nace was abandoned in 1830 or 1831, as we are informed by
Samuel S. Robbins, president of the Lime Rock Iron Com-
pany, now in his 87th year. Colonel Ethan Allen, one of the
original owners of Lakeville furnace, was one of the conspic-
uous figures of the Revolution. He was born in Litchfield
county, but remov'ed to Vermont while still a young man.

A bloomary forge on Mount Riga, in Litchfield county,
was built about 1781 by Abner or Peter Woodin. It was af-
terwards owned by Daniel Ball, and was called Ball's forge.
About 1806 Seth King and John Kelsey commenced to build
a furnace on Mount Riga, but they were not able to finish
it, and in 1810 it fell into the hands of Holley & Coffing,
who completed it in that year and operated it for many years.
Ttfe forge and furnace have long been abandoned. The lat-
ter was in operation as late as 1856.

About thirty furnaces have been built and operated with-
in a radius of thirty miles of Lakeville, a few of which were
in New York and Massachusetts, but the majority were in
Connecticut. At the close of the eighteenth century Litch-
field county contained many bloomaries, which made iron
directly from the ore, and three slitting mills. At the same
time this county was so prominent in the manufacture of
nails that only Plymouth and Bristol counties in Massachu-
setts, of all the nail-making districts in the country, e^tce^ded
its production. The iron of Litchfield county is now used
entirely for foundry purposes, and most of it is used in the
manufacture of car wheels. The first foundry for melting
pig iron in the Salisbury district was built at Lime Rock

130 THE MANUFACTURE OF

about 1830 and soon afterwards was purchased by Milo Bar-
num, the founder of the present Barnum Richardson Com-
pany, and the father of Hon. William H. Barnum. Charcoal
is the only fuel used in the blast furnaces of this district.

The annual meeting of the United States Association of
Charcoal Iron Workers in October, 1885, took place at New
York, but an excursion was made to the Salisbury region
in Connecticut. While at Lakeville the local committee had
arranged for an address of welcome from ex-Governor A. H.
Holley, a resident of the town, who had all his life been an
iron worker, and whose son was the late A. L. Holley. Ill-
ness prevented Governor Holley from attending, but he sent
a letter of welcome, from which the following is an extract.

You are in the immediate vicinity of one of the oldest iron mines in
this country, if not the oldest, it having been wrought more or less for
about one hundred and fifty years. The iron produced from it has been
proved, by various tests at the armories, arsenals, and navy-yards of the na-
tion, to have greater tensile strength and resisting jx>wer than any other
ever produced. This may seem like an arrogant boast, but the Government,
some years since, ordered and received samples of the most noted irons,
foreign and domestic, for the purpose of testing their strength, and the Sal-
isbury iron endured strains that no other dfd or could.

You are also within a thousand fee/ of the site of the oldest char-
coal furnace in all the region about us, erected between the years 1760 and
1770. The first cannon cast in the United States for service in the Revo-
lution were made therein. A portion of them wrere used to arm the ship
Constitution, the old iron-sides of the American navy. Every one of them
bore the test required by the inspectors, and none were ever broken either
by our own powder and balls or by those of the enemy. Since the opening
and continued use of the old mine above referred to others of great value
have been developed, within a circuit of fifty miles, which produce iron of
an exceptionally good quality.

Oldmixon, in his British Empire in America, mentions " a
small iron mill " as existing at Branford, in New Haven
county, in 1741, on a small stream running into Long Island
sound, and he adds that on many of the small streams and
branches of the rivers which fall into the sound " bloomaries
and small works for a variety of manufactures in iron were
established, some of them quite early." The bloomaries were
in part supplied with bog ore, " dug near them," and in part
with better ores obtained elsewhere. Bishop says that in
1794 a slitting mill and other iron works had been erected
in East Hartford, a forge at Glastonbury, and two furnaces at

IRON IN ALL AGES. 131

Stafford " which made sufficient hollow and cast iron wares
for the whole State." Lesley says that there were at one time,
about the beginning of the present century, three furnaces
on a branch of the Willimantic river, in Stafford, in East-
ern Connecticut, near the Massachusetts line, a mile or two
apart. Three forges near them converted their pig iron into
bar iron. Hebron furnace was south of the above-mentioned
furnaces, and Enfield forge stood a few miles east of Windsor
Locks. All of these furnaces and forges were stopped about
1837, when Scotch pig iron began to come into the country
as a substitute for foundry pig iron of domestic manufacture.
Connecticut was probably the first of the colonies to make
steel. In 1728 Samuel Higley, of Simsbury, and Joseph Dew-
ey, of Hebron, in Hartford county, represented to the legis-
lature that the first-named had, " with great pains and cost,
found out and obtained a curious art, by which to convert,
change, or transmute common iron into good steel, sufficient
for any use, and was the very first that ever performed such
an operation in America." The certificates of several smiths,
who had made a trial of the steel and pronounced it good,
were produced. He and Joseph Dewrey were granted the ex-
clusive right for ten years " of practicing the business or trade
of steel-making." A "steel furnace" was owned by Aaron
Eliot, of Killingworth, in Middlesex county, previous to 1750,
and* in 1761 the Rev. Jared Eliot, of the same place, father
of the above-mentioned Aaron Eliot, and grandson of John
Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, succeeded in producing in
a common bloomary forge, from 83 pounds of black magnet-
ic sand, a bar of excellent iron, weighing 50 pounds, and in
his son's furnace a part of the bar was converted into good
steel. For producing this iron he was awarded a gold medal
in 1762 by the London Society of Arts, which is now in the
possession of Charles G. Elliott, of Goshen, New York. It is
inscribed : " To the Rev. Jared Eliot, M. A., of N. England.
MDCCLXII. For producing malleable iron from the Ameri-
can black sand." The medal was sent to Mr. Eliot from Lon-
don in 1764 " by Thos. Fisher, to the care of our friend, Ben.
Franklin." This sand, which is found in the southern parts
of Connecticut, as well as in some other States, never receiv-
ed much further attention for conversion into iron or steel.

132 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Aaron Eliot's "steel furnace" was doubtless a cementation
furnace. In 1750 it was officially reported that there was
then only one "furnace for making steel" in Connecticut,
and this was probably Eliot's furnace.

Iron ore was discovered near Portsmouth, in New Hamp-
shire, as early as 1634, some of which was sent to England,
but we find no evidence that its discovery led to the establish-
ment of any iron works in that colony. The manufacture of
iron in this State probably dates fr^m about 1750, when sev-
eral bog-ore bloomaries were in existence on Lamper Eel riv-
er, but were soon discontinued. About the time of the Revolu-
tion there were a few bloomaries in operation in New Hamp-
shire. In 1791 mention is made of iron works at Exeter. At
Furnace village the magnetic iron ore of Winchester was first
smelted in 1795 by a Rhode Island company. Franconia fur-
nace, at Franconia, was,built in 1811 by a company which was
organized in 1805. This furnace was abandoned in 1865, and
there is now no blast furnace in the State, nor any other en-
terprise for the manufacture of iron or steel except the steel
works of the Nashua Iron and Steel Company, at Nashua.

Maine had a few bloomary forges in York county during
the Revolution and for some years afterwards, but she has had
but few blast furnaces. A small furnace, capable of yielding
a ton and a half of iron daily, was erected at Shapleigh, in
York county, about 1838. It was used to produce castings
from bog ore, and cost only $13,000. A larger furnace, called
Katahdin, was built in 1845 in Piscataquis county, and* was
lately active. This is the only furnace now in the State.
Among its projectors and first owners was the Hon. John
L. Hayes, a native of Maine, who afterwards became distin-
guished as a writer on economic subjects and as the secretary
of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, and who
died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 18,
1887, aged 75 years. He was born at South Berwick, Maine,
on April 13, 1812. A forge was erected near Katahdin fur-
nace soon after 1845. In 1853 it made 700 tons of blooms.
It was burned down about 1855. There were in 1884 two
rolling mills in Maine, one at Portland and one at Pembroke,
but the Pembroke mill has since been abandoned.

The manufacture of iron was commenced in Vermont

IRON IN ALL AGES. 133

about 1775. Large deposits of iron ores similar to those of
Western Massachusetts and Western Connecticut had been
found in the southern and western parts of the State. In
Rutland county ore was mined before 1785. In 1794 there
were fourteen forges, three furnaces, and a slitting mill in this
county. In other counties there were seven forges in 1794—
one in Bennington, four in Addison, and two in Chittenden.
Before 1800 other forges and a slitting mill were added in this
State ; possibly a few furnaces. The township of Randolph,
in Orange county, had two forges and a slitting mill at this
period. About the beginning of the present century there
were twenty bloomaries in the neighborhood of Vergennes,
in Addison county, all built with Boston capital. The promi-
nence of Vermont in the manufacture of iron has now been
lost. In 1890 the East Middlebury forge, its only remaining
iron enterprise, was finally abandoned.

The manufacture of nails was one of the household in-
dustries of New England during the eighteenth century. In
a speech in Congress in 1789 Fisher Ames said : " It has be-
come common for the country people in Massachusetts to erect
small forges in their chimney corners ; and in winter, and in
evenings, when little other work can be done, great quantities
of nails are made, even by children. These people take the
rod iron of ^the merchant and return him the nails, and in
consequence of this easy mode of barter the manufacture is
prodigiously great." In a description of the town of Middle-
borough, in Plymouth county, Massachusetts, written in 1793
by Nehemiah Bennet, it is mentioned that " the most common
and general employment of the inhabitants of said town is
agriculture, which seems to be increasing ; though there are a
number of mechanicks. Nailing, or the business of making
nails, is carried on largely in the winters by the farmers and
young men, who have but little other business at that season
of the year." When Jacob Perkins, of Newburyport, Massa-
chusetts, invented about 1790 his nail-cutting machine, which
was patented in 1795 and speedily followed by other inven-
tions for the same purpose, the occupation of maSing nails in
the chimney corner met with a serious check. And with this
check to the making of nails in chimney corners the work
of the slitting mills in New England rapidly declined.

134 THE MANUFACTURE OF

•

The manufacture of hand-made tacks was also a New Eng-
land household industry during the last century, and down to
about fifty years ago. A writer in the Furniture Trade Jour-
nal thus describes this long extinct industry : " In the queer-
shaped, homely farm-houses, or the little, contracted shops of
certain New England villages, the industrious and frugal de-
scendants of the Pilgrims toiled providently through the long
winter months at beating into shape the little nails which
play so useful a part in modern industry. A small anvil
served to beat the wire or strip of iron into shape and point
it ; a vice, worked by the foot, clutched it between jaws fur-
nished with a gauge to regulate the length, leaving a certain
portion projecting, which, when beaten flat by a hammer,
formed the head. By this process a man might make, toil-
somely, perhaps 2,000 tacks per day." New England is now
prominent in the manufacture of tacks in this country by
machinery. More than two-thirds of our tack industry is
controlled by Massachusetts and fully three-fourths by all of
New England. Taunton is the centre of the New England
tack industry.

The earliest notice we have seen of a machine for cutting
nails occurs in Arnold's History of the State of Rhode Island.
The author says : " It is said that the first cold cut nail in
the world was made in 1777 by Jeremiah Wilkinson, of Cum-
berland, Rhode Island, who died in 1832, at the advanced age
of 90 years." Bishop gives a description of Wilkinson's very
crude attempts to make cut nails and tacks. Speaking of
Wilkinson's tacks he says : " They were first cut by a pair of
shears (still preserved) from an old chest lock, and afterwards
headed in a smith's vice. Sheet-iron was afterwards used and
the process extended to small nails, which he appears to have
been one of the first to attempt. They were cut from old
Spanish hoops, and headed in a clamp or vice by hand. Pins
and needles were made by the same person during the Revo-
lution, from wire drawn by himself."

All the bloomaries and refinery forges and old-style fur-
naces of New England have now disappeared, and in their
stead have grown up reproductive iron industries of almost
endless variety and vast extent, which employ large numbers
of skilled mechanics and add greatly to the material wealth

IRON IN ALL AGES. 135

of the country. The machine shops, nail and tack factories,
hardware establishments, foundries, locomotive works, bridge
works, cutlery works, file and screw factories, agricultural
implement works, axe and shovel factories, wire works, etc.,
together with a few steel works, modern blast furnaces, and -
rolling mills, form to-day a striking contrast to the bog-ore
bloomaries, not much larger than a blacksmith's fire, and the
small charcoal furnaces and chimney-corner nail factories of
the last century. "All that," says Lesley, "has given way
and disappeared before the inventive spirit of New England,
sustained and, incited by the wealth of its commercial cities."
It may also with great propriety be added that it has " given
way" partly because of the exhaustion - of bog ores, partly
because of the exhaustion of timber for charcoal, and partly
because many of the streams which formerly furnished an
abundance of water power are now either dried up or fur-
nish a very small volume of water. All the primitive con-
ditions have greatly changed and now belong to ancient his-
tory. There is a new era in New England.

Hon. William H. Barnum, for many years a member of
Congress, and a United States Senator from 1876 to 1879, was
born at Boston Corners, Columbia county, New York, on Sep-
tember 17, 1818, and died at Lime Rock, Connecticut, on April
30, 1889. He was one of the most prominent iron manufac-
turers of New England.

136 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN NEW YORK.

DURING the rule of the Dutch in New York, from their
first settlement on Manhattan Island in 1614 to their surren-
der to the English in 1664, iron ore was found in various
places, but no effort to manufacture iron is known to have
been made. Nor does it appear that the English established
any iron works in the province until some time after the be-
ginning of the succeeding century. A Parliamentary report,
quoted by Pitkin in his Statistical Vieiv of the Commerce of
the United States of America, printed in 1816, states that there
were no manufactures in New York as late as 1731 " that
deserve mentioning." Bishop quotes Governor Cosby as re-
porting in 1734 that " as yet no iron work is set up in this
province." The Dutch were never noted as ironworkers in
their old home in Holland.

The first iron works in New York of which we have
authentic information were " set up," according to Bishop,
a short time prior to 1740, on Ancram creek, in Columbia
county, about fourteen miles east of the Hudson river, by
Philip Livingston, the owner of the Livingston manor, and
the father of Philip the signer of the Declaration. These
works at first embraced only a bloomary, but as early as 1750
they appear to have embraced a blast furnace and a refinery
forge. The supply of ore was obtained mainly from the " ore
hill" in Salisbury township, Litchfield county, Connecticut,
of which Mr. Livingston was a principal owner, and which
had been developed a few years previously. The ore mines
were about twelve miles distant from the Ancram works.
Other sources of ore supply were found in the eastern part
of the manor, near the Massachusetts and Connecticut lines.
Notwithstanding the inconvenient location of the works, at a
considerable distance from the mines and also from the near-
est point of shipment on the Hudson river for the manufac-
tured iron, they were prosperous until after the Revolution.
In 1756 they are said to have been the only iron works in the

IRON IX ALL AGES. 137

province that were then in operation, although others had
been undertaken. Of these silent or unfortunate enterprises
Bishop mentions two furnaces in the manor of Cortland, and
" several bloomaries which had not been worked for several
years." At Marysburg, in the Livingston manor, were some
bloomary forges which were operated about the time of the
Revolution.

Peter Kalm, the Swedish traveler, writing in 1748, says of
the commerce of New York : " Of late years they have ship-
ped a quantity of iron to England." Some of this iron was
doubtless made in Connecticut and New Jersey. Douglass, in
his British Settlements, written in 1750, speaking of New York,
says : " The article of iron in pigs and bars is a growing
affair."

Bishop says that iron works were established in Orange
county prior to 1750, but by whom he does not state. In
1750 Governor Clinton reported that, at a place called Wa-
wayanda, in Orange county, about twenty-six miles from the
Hudson, there was a plating-forge with a tilt-hammer, which
had been built four or five years before, but was not then in
use. It was the property of Lawrence Scrawley, a blacksmith.
" It was the only mill of that kind in the province. There
was no rolling or slitting mill or steel furnace at that time
in the province."

In 1750 a vein of magnetic ore was discovered on Sterling
mountain, in Orange county, and in 1751 Ward & Colton
built a furnace at the outlet of Sterling pond. In Eager's
History of Orange County it is stated that " at the early estab-
lishment of this furnace the charcoal used was transported sev-
eral miles on the backs of horses from the mountains where
it was burned, there being no roads at the time." Bishop
says that in 1752 " Abel Noble, from Bucks county, Pennsyl-
vania, erected a forge in Monroe, near the furnace, at which
anchors are said to have been made." Eager says that the
first anchor made in New York was made at this forge in
1753. In 1765 William Hawkhurst published an advertise-
ment stating that he had lately erected " a finery and great
hammer for refining the Sterling pig iron into bars," but
the location of this enterprise is not mentioned.

The furnace of Ward & Colton and the forge of Abel No-

138 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ble fell into the hands of Peter Townsend before the Revolu-
tion. They had been named the Sterling iron works, presum-
ably after Lord Stirling, the owner of the land, who became
a general in the Continental army, and who was engaged in
the manufacture of iron in New Jersey before the Revolution.
He may have been a part owner of the Orange county en-
terprises. (The Sterling works have always been spelled as
here given, but Lord Stirling's name was differently spelled.)
In 1773 Mr. Townsend made anchors at Sterling. We are
informed by A. W. Humphreys that the anchors of the
United States frigate Constitution were made here, and also
the anchors for the first ships of war that carried the stars
and stripes. In 1777 "the Townsends" had two forges with
eight fires. In 1776 Mr. Townsend, according to Bishop, "pro-
duced the first steel in the province, at first from pig and
afterwards from bar iron, in the German manner." Bishop
says that " the first blister steel made in the State was made
by Peter Townsend, Jr., in 1810, from ore of the Long mine
on the Sterling estate," but the steel made by the elder Town-
send in 1776 from bar iron was doubtless blister steel. The
Long mine was discovered in 1761 by David Jones. Other
valuable mines than those mentioned were discovered and
opened on the Sterling estate in the last century. In 1777 a
second Sterling furnace was built by "the Townsends," and
in 1806 Southfield furnace was built by them about six miles
distant from the Sterling mines, and it is still standing. The
two early Sterling furnaces have been replaced by one mod-
ern furnace.

Other mines of iron ore were discovered in Orange county
during the last century, and many furnaces and forges were
built in connection with them which have long been aban-
doned. In 1756 there was a Forest of Dean furnace five miles
west of Fort Montgomery, which was supplied with ore from
the Forest of Dean mine, near wrhich it stood. The furnace
was abandoned twenty-one years later. Eager says that " Cap-
tain Solomon Townsend, a cousin of Peter Townsend, and who
married his daughter Anne in 1783, purchased the mountain
estate adjoining that of his father-in-law, which he named
Augusta, and established the iron works, anchory, forges, etc.,
at the place." These works were on the Ramapo, three miles

IRON IN ALL AGES. 139

above the Orange county line, in Orange county. There was
a forge and anchory on Murderer's creek during the Revolu-
tion, owned by Samuel Brewster ; after the war they passed
into the hands of his son-in-law, Jonas Williams. Queens-
borough furnace, which wrent out of blast about 1800, and
which was built to make pig iron and not castings, was locat-
ed about two and a half miles southwest of Fort Montgom-
ery. A furnace was in operation at Craigsville during the
Revolution. On the stream issuing from Hazzard's pond
there was a furnace named Woodbury about the beginning
of this century. Greenwood furnace, in Orange county, was
erected in 1811 by the Messrs. Cunningham. In 1871 it was
the only charcoal furnace in blast in Southern New York ;
since that year it also has been silent. During the last cent-
ury Orange county was the chief seat of the iron manufac-
ture in New York.

The following account of the great iron chain which was
suspended across the Hudson river in 1778, to prevent the
passage of the British vessels, is compiled from Benson J.
Lossing's Field Book of tJie Revolution.

At the close of 1779 West Point was the strongest military post in Amer-
ica. In addition to the batteries that stood menacingly upon the hill tops,
the river was obstructed by an enormous iron chain. The iron of which
this chain was constructed was wrought from ore of equal parts from the
Sterling and Long mines, in Orange county. The chain was manufactured
by Peter Townsend, of Chester, at the Sterling iron works, in the same
county, which were situated about twenty-five miles back of West Point.
The general superintendent of the work, as engineer, was Captain Thomas
Machin, who afterwards assisted in the engineering operations at Yorktown,
when Cornwallis was captured. The chain was completed about the middle
of April, 1778, and on the 1st of May it was stretched across the river and
secured.

Colonel Timothy Pickering, accompanied by Captain Machin, arrived at
the house of Mr. Townsend late on a Saturday night in March of that year,
to engage him to make the chain. Townsend readily agreed to construct it,
and in a violent snow-storm, amid the darkness of the night, the parties set
out for the Sterling iron works. At daylight on Sunday morning the forges
were in operation. New England teamsters carried the links, as fast as they
were finished, to West Point, and in the space of six weeks the whole chain
was completed. It weighed 180 tons.

The chain was stretched across the river at the narrowest point between
the rocks just below the steamboat landing and Constitution Island oppo-
site. It was fixed to huge blocks on each shore, and under the cover of
batteries on both sides of the river. The remains of these are still visible.

140 THE MANUFACTURE OF

" It is buoyed up," says Dr. Thacher, writing in 1 780, " by very large logs of
about sixteen feet long, pointed at the ends to lessen their opposition to the
force of the current at flood and ebb tide. The logs are placed at short dis-
tances from each other, the chain carried over them, and made fast to each
by staples. There are also a number of anchors dropped at proper distan-
ces, with cables made fast to the chain, to give it greater stability."

Mr. Lossing describes a visit which he made in October,
1848, to West Point, where he saw a portion of the famous
chain. He says : " There are twelve links, two clevises, and
a portion of a link of the great chain remaining. The
links are made of iron bars, two and a half inches square,
average in length a little over two feet, and weigh about one
hundred pounds each." The British vessels did not pass West
Point. The manufacture of this chain was a great achieve-
ment. The Sterling forges, at which the chain was made, are
no longer in operation, but the Sterling works as a whole are
now the oldest active iron works in New York. Two other
iron chains were stretched across the Hudson during the war
to obstruct its passage. One of these was at the mouth of
Murderer's creek, the iron for which was made at the forge of
Jonas Williams. The other chain was at Fort Montgomery.
This chain was broken by the British in 1777.

The following description of the Sterling works, which
were the most extensive in New York until after the begin-
ning of the present century, is translated from a book pub-
lished at Paris in 1801, and lately discovered in that city
by Mr. O. H. Marshall, of Buffalo, New York, a gentleman of
antiquarian tastes. It was written by the Marquis de Creve-
Cceur, who was in the French service in the French and In-
dian war, and afterwards traveled extensively in this country.

Hardly had we put our horses in the stable than Mr. Townsend, the
proprietor, came to meet us with the politeness of a man of the world.
Having learned that the object of our journey was to examine attentively
his different works, he offered to show us all the details, and at once led us
to his large furnace where the ore was melted and converted into pigs of 60
to 100 pounds' weight. The blast was supplied by two immense wooden
blowers, neither iron nor leather being used in their construction. This fur-
nace, he said, produced from 2,000 to 2,400 tons annually, three-fourths of
which are converted into bars, the rest melted into cannon and cannon
balls, &c. From there we went to see the forge. Six large hammers were
occupied in forging bar iron and anchors and various pieces used on vessels.

Lower down the stream (which afforded power to the works") was the
foundry, with its reverberatory furnace (air furnace). Here he called our

IRON IN ALL AGES. 141

attention to several ingenious machines destined for different uses. The
models had been sent him, and the machines he had cast from iron of a re-
cently discovered ore, which after two fusions acquired great fineness. With
it he could do the lightest and most delicate work. " What a pity," he said,
"that you did not come ten days sooner. I would have shown you, first,
three new styles of plows, of which I have cast the largest pieces, and
which, however, are no heavier than the oM-fashioned. Each one of them
is provided with a kind of steel yard, so graduated that one can tell the
power of the team and the resistance of the soil. Second, I would have \
shown you a portable mill for separating the grain from the chaff, folio wed • j
by another machine by which all the ears in the field can be easily gather- '
ed without being obliged to cut the stalk at the foot, according to the old
method."

From the foundry we went to see the furnaces where the iron is con-
verted into steel. "It is not yet as good as the Swedes," said Mr. T., "but
we approach it — a few years more of experience and we will arrive at per-
fection. The iron which comes from under my hammers has had for a long «
time a high reputation and sells for £28 to £30 per ton." After having pass-
ed two days in examining these divers works and admiring the skill with
which they were supplied with water, as well as the arrangements for
furnishing the charcoal for the different furnaces, we parted from Mr.
Townsend.

Peter Townseiid, an iron merchant, died on September 27,
1885, at his residence in East Twenty-third street, New York
city. He was born at Chester, in Orange county, New York,
in 1803, and was the third Peter Townsend in direct descent
who has been identified with the iron industry of the State
of New York. He was the grandson of the pioneer iron man-
ufacturer referred to in this chapter, who died in 1783.

As early as 1765 there were iron works in Dutchess coun-
ty, some of which were either then or at a later day supplied
with iron ore from the Salisbury mines in Connecticut. The
Maltby mine, at Millerton, was opened in 1750. A furnace
and foundry at Amenia in this county were in operation dur-
ing the Revolution, " at which steel and castings were made
for the use of the army." James F. Lewis, of Amenia, says
that the Amenia mine was opened about 1760, and that the
ore was used during the Revolution for making guns, " being
worked in a forge at what is now known as the 'old steel
works.' "

In the manor of Philipsburg, in Westchester county, iron
ore was mined and furnaces were erected before the close of
the last century. About the time of the Revolution a fur-
nace named Haverstraw and several bloomaries were in exist-

142 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ence in Rockland county, on the western side of the Tappan
Zee. Iron ore was mined in Putnam county in the latter part
of the last century, some of which was taken to iron works on
Long Island sound. A bloom ary was in operation about the
period of the Revolution at Patchogue, in Brookhaven town-
ship, Suffolk county, Long Island. At Riverhead, in Suffolk
county, Captain Solomon Townsend established " a manufac-

ttory of bar iron" before the close of the last century.

About the year 1800 the celebrated Champlain iron dis-
trict was developed. In 1801 probably the first iron works
in the district were built at Willsborough Falls, on the Bo-
quet river, in Essex county, to manufacture anchors. George
Throop, Levi Highly, and Charles Kane were the proprietors.
Among other early iron enterprises in this district were the
New Russia, Jay, and Elba forges in Essex county, and the
Eagle rolling mill at Keeseville in Clinton county. This dis-
trict has been for a long time the most important iron dis-
trict in the State, containing rolling mills, blast furnaces, and
forges, but it is not so prominent now as it was formerly.
The Champlain forges are all true bloomaries, manufacturing
blooms directly from the rich magnetic and specular ores of
the neighborhood. The district comprises the counties of
Essex, Clinton, and Franklin. A forge was built at West Fort
Ann, in Washington county, south of Lake George, about
1802, which used ore of precisely the same character as that
obtained in the Champlain district.

It has already been stated that the Catalan forge, for the
manufacture of iron directly from the ore, is still in use in the
United States. In some of the Southern States it is used in
the simple and inexpensive form in which it appears to have
been introduced into this country, and which among metal-
lurgists is known as the German bloomary. But in the Cham-
plain district of New York the old Catalan forge, or German
bloomary, has been greatly improved, so much so that the
bloomary in use in this district, with its expensive machinery
and uniform product, may be styled the American bloomary.
It is fully described by Professor Thomas Egleston in a paper
in the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining En-
gineers, volume VIII. The blast is heated, which was never

\ done with the old Catalan forge, but most of the power is still

IRON IN ALL AGES. 143

supplied by a water-wheel. Charcoal is the only fuel used,
and great care is taken in its manufacture, as well as in cal-
cining the ore, which is of a very pure quality. The bloom
produced in this forge usually weighs from 300 to 400 pounds.
From the blooms are obtained billets of refined iron, which
are used in the manufacture of crucible and open-hearth steel,
plate and sheet iron, etc. About one ton of billets is pro-
duced at each forge in twenty-four hours. The blooms and'
billets are hammered into shape by a trip-hammer.

In 1883 there were in the Champlain district no fewer
than 27 large forges, or bloomaries, for the manufacture of
blooms. They embraced 171 forge fires. In the census year
1880 there were only 22 forges, with 141 fires, and they pro-
duced 31,580 net tons of blooms in that year. The production
of Champlain blooms increased from 23,666 net tons in 1875
to 43,911 tons in the calendar year 1882. In 1890 the num-
ber of forges had been reduced to 14, with 102 fires, and their
production in 1889 was only 12,397 net tons of blooms.

The Champlain district is a large producer of iron ore,
much of which is annually shipped to other districts in New
York and to other States. In 1889 the total quantity of iron
ore shipped from the mines of this district, chiefly from Es-
sex and Clinton counties, aggregated 642,092 gross tons.

West of the Champlain district, in the counties of Saint
Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and Oneida, many char-
coal furnaces were built 'about the beginning of the present
century, among the earliest of which were Rossie furnace in
Saint Lawrence county, Taberg furnace in Oneida county, and
Constantia furnace in Oswego county. In the extreme west-
ern and southwestern parts of the State the few iron and
steel enterprises that have had an existence during the pres-
ent century have all been of yet more modern origin.

Nails were extensively manufactured by hand at Albany •
in 1787. Twenty years later, in 1807, John Brinkerhoff, of.
Albany, lighted the fires in his newly-erected rolling mill on
the Wynantskill. The Troy Daily Times says that " the oper-
ations of the little wooden rolling mill built by him were con-
fined to converting Russian and Swedish bar iron into plates,
which were slit into narrow strips, and these cut to the re-
quired length and made into nails by hand." -jn^ 1826 the

144 THE MANUFACTURE OF

nail factory of John Brinkerhoff was sold at auction and pur-
chased for $5,280 by Erastus Corning, who was then engaged
at Albany in the hardware business. It now forms part of
the works of the Troy Steel and Iron Company, the most ex-
tensive and important iron and steel works in the State, em-
bracing a large rolling mill and large blast furnaces and a
large Bessemer steel plant at Troy.

Between 1790 and 1800 there are said to have been twen-
ty-three patents granted in the United States for nail-making
machinery, and down to 1825 the whole number granted is
said to have been one hundred and twenty. Among these
patents was one issued to Josiah G. Pierson, of New York, on
the 23d of March, 1795, and the machine covered by this pat-
ent is said to have been the first nail-cutting machine that
produced satisfactory results and was generally used. The in-
ventor was at the time a member of the firm of J. G. Pierson
& Brothers, which in the same year established works at the
village of Ramapo, in Rockland county, New York, for the
manufacture of iron and nails, and which had previously, in
1787 or 1788, been engaged in the manufacture of cut nails,
with an imperfect machine, in Whitehall street, in the city of
New York. While the works were in New York the strips
for the nails were rolled and slit at a mill near Wilming-
ton, in Delaware, to which Swedish and Russian iron was
sent, no other mill being available at the time. This incon-
venience was avoided after the establishment of the works
at Ramapo, which included a rolling and slitting mill. The
manufacture of nails by Mr. Pierson's machine was here act-
ively prosecuted until about 1830, when the same firm, which
had been making blister steel at Hoboken for twenty years,
removed its steel furnaces to Ramapo, and substituted the
manufacture of spring steel for that of nails. The works of
the Messrs. Pierson at Ramapo have been succeeded by those
of the celebrated Ramapo Wheel and Foundry Company.

In Hunt's Merchants' Magazine for 1844 horseshoes made
by machinery were cited as an illustration of the achieve-
ments of American inventive genius down to that time. We
quote from the Magazine as follows : " Horseshoes furnish a
similar proof of the bearing of the progress of inventions.
An improved kind of horseshoes, made at Troy, New York,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 145

for some time past, is now sold at the price of only five cents
per pound, ready prepared, to be used in shoeing the animal.
At a factory recently erected fifty tons of these are now turn-
ed out per day; and, it is believed, they can be made and
sent to Europe at as good a profit as is derived from Ameri-
can clocks, which have handsomely remunerated the export-
er." These horseshoes were made at the Burden iron works,
formerly the Troy iron and nail factory, which are still em-
ployed in their production.

It is not generally known that machine-made horseshoes
were produced at so early a day in this country as 1844. The
machine-made horseshoe was patented by Henry Burden in
1835. Other horseshoe patents were issued to him in 1843,
1857, and 1862. Mr. Burden was also the inventor of the
hook-headed spike and of the Burden rotary squeezer — the
latter in 1840. He was born at Dumb lane, Scotland, on April
20, 1791, and died at Troy on January 19, 1871.

The iron industry of New York was not so prominent dur-
ing the eighteenth century as that of some other States, but
soon after the beginning of the present century the develop-
ment of the Champlain district gave to it more prominence,
which was still further increased after 1840, when anthracite
coal was applied to the manufacture of pig iron. In 1870,
and again in 1880, New York ranked third in the list of iron
and steel producing States, Pennsylvania being first in the ag-
gregate tonnage of iron and steel and Ohio second in the list
in both years. But in 1890 New York was fifth among the
States in the production of pig iron, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ala-
bama, and Illinois ranking above her in the order mentioned.
In the production of steel of all kinds she was also the fifth
in the list, being preceded by Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio,
and West Virginia.

146 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XIII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN NEW JERSEY.

IN Mr. William Reed Deane's Genealogical Memoirs of the
Leonard Family, already noticed, it is said that Henry Leon-
ard left Rowley village, Massachusetts, early in 1674, " and at
that time, or soon after, went to New Jersey, establishing the
iron manufacture in that State." His sons Samuel, Nathan-
iel, and Thomas probably left Rowley village soon after their
father's departure and followed him to New Jersey. Bishop
says that Shrewsbury, a township lying northwest of Long
Branch, in Monmouth county, was settled by Connecticut
people soon after New Jersey was surrendered to the English
by the Dutch in 1664, and that it was "to this part of Jer-
sey" that Henry Leonard removed. About the time of the
Connecticut settlement James Grover, who had resided on
Long Island, also settled in Shrewsbury, and is said to have
established iron works in that township, which he afterwards
sold to Colonel Lewis Morris, then a merchant of Barbadoes,
but born in England. On October 26, 1676, a grant of land
was made to Colonel Morris, with full liberty to him and his
heirs "to dig, delve, and carry away all such mines for iron as
they shall find or see fit to dig and carry away to the iron
work," which grant establishes the fact that the iron works in
Shrewsbury were built prior to 1676, and that they were then
owned by Colonel Morris. They were probably undertaken
about 1674, the year in which Henry Leonard is said to have
emigrated from Massachusetts to New Jersey. They were the
first iron works in New Jersey.

In an account of the province of East Jersey, published
by the proprietors in 1682, it is stated that " there is already
a smelting furnace and forge set up in this colony, where is
made good iron, which is of great benefit to the country." In
his History of New Jersey Smith says that in 1682 " Shrews-
bury, near Sandy Hook, adjoining the river or creek of that
name, was already a township, consisting of several thousand
acres, with large plantations contiguous ; the inhabitants were

IRON IN ALL AGES. 147

computed to be about 400. Lewis Morris, of Barbadoes, had
iron works and other considerable improvements here." In
1685 it was stated in The Model of the Government of East New
Jersey that " there is an iron work already set up, where there
is good iron made." In the same year Thomas Budd, in his
Good Order in Pennsylvania and Neiv Jersey, wrote that there
was but one iron work in New Jersey, and that this was lo-
cated in Monmouth county. All of these statements refer to
the Shrewsbury works, which do not seem to have had a long
life. According to Oldmixon they were located between the
towns of Shrewsbury and Middletown, but other writers more
definitely locate them at Tinton Falls. The original name
was probably Tintern Falls, so called after Tintern Abbey in
Monmouthshire. Bog ore was used. Many years ago a fur-
nace named Bergen was built in Monmouth county, which
has long been abandoned.

The rich deposits of magnetic iron ore in Northern New
Jersey were discovered at an early day, and about 1710, as we
are informed by the Rev. Dr. Joseph F. Tuttle, in his Early
History of Morris County, written in 1869, settlements were
made on the Whippany river, in Hanover township, in Mor-
ris county, and at a place now called Whippany, four miles
northeast of Morristown, a forge was erected, but by whom is
not now known. Bishop says that the first settlers of Hano-
ver located there "for the purpose of smelting the iron ores
in the neighborhood." They " early erected several forges
and engaged extensively in the iron manufacture." Whip-
paiiy is about fifteen miles east of the celebrated Succasunna
iron-ore mine, in. the present township of Randolph, and it
was here that the settlers obtained their supply of iron ore.
It was carried to the works in leather bags on pack-horses,
and the bar iron was carried on horseback over the Orange
mountains to Newark. Bishop mentions that " forges at Mor-
ristown, and some in Essex county, were long supplied in the
same way from the rich ore of the mine. The ore was for
some time free to all." This celebrated iron-ore deposit has
long been known as the " Dickerson mine," so called after the
Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, who was Governor of New Jersey in
the early part of this century, and was subsequently and for
many years a United States Senator from the same State.

148 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Hon. Edmund D. Halsey, in the History of Morris County,
says that " the tract embracing the Dickerson mine was tak-
en up on account of its minerals " by John Reading in 1713
or 1714, who sold it to Joseph Kirkbride in 1716.

Dr. Tuttle says that in 1722 Joseph Latham sold a tract of
land in the present township of Randolph, in Morris county,
to " one John Jackson, who built a forge on the little stream
which puts into the Rockaway near the residence of Mr. Jacob
Hurd. The forge was nearly in front of Mr. Hurd's house,"
a mile west of Dover. Wood for charcoal was abundant, and
the mine on the hill was not far distant. For some reason
Jackson did not succeed in his iron enterprise, and was sold
out by the sheriff in 1753. After his failure he is supposed
to have removed to the western part of Virginia. " Jackson's
iron works on Cheat river," in that State, mentioned by early
writers, may have been established by him or his sons. Dr.
Tuttle says that Rockaway was settled about 1725, or possibly
as late as 1730, " at which time a small iron forge was built
near where the upper forge now stands in Rockaway." This
was the first forge at Rockaway. Mr. Halsey says that it was
probably built by Job Allen ; it was known as " Job Allen's
iron works " in 1748. Dr. Tuttle adds that " forges were built
on different streams, at Rockaway, Denmark, Middle Forge,
Ninkee, Shaungum, Franklin, and other places, from the year
1725 to 1770." At Troy, in Morris county, as we learn from
another source, a forge was built in 1743, which was in oper-
ation as late as 1860. In 1737, as we are informed by Will-
iam Nelson, of Pater son, there is a reference to "the Busseton
forge by Ringwood cold spring " in Passaic county. All these
forges were bloomaries, manufacturing bar iron directly from
the ore. In 1751 many of them did not individually produce
more than five or six tons of iron in a year.

At the end of the seventeenth century and for some years
after the beginning of the eighteenth century New Jersey was
the only colony outside of New England that was engaged in
the manufacture of iron, and this manufacture was almost
wholly confined to its bloomaries. The rich magnetic ores,
the well- wooded hillsides, and the restless mountain streams
of Northern New Jersey afforded every facility for the man-
ufacture of iron of a superior quality by this simple meth-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 149

od, while the nearness of good markets furnished a sufficient
'inducement to engage in the business. The bloomaries of
New Jersey were Catalan forges of the German type. Many
of them were blown by the trompe, or water-blast.

Not much progress was made, however, in the establish-
ment of the iron industry in New Jersey until the middle of
the eighteenth century. From about 1740 down to the Revo-
lution many blast furnaces and other iron works were built.
The iron industry of New Jersey during the greater part of
this period was exceedingly active, although hampered by
restrictions imposed by the mother country. To the iron
enterprises which were then built up within its borders the
patriotic cause was afterwards greatly indebted for much of
the iron and steel that was needed to secure its success.

Peter Hasenclever, a Prussian gentleman of prominence,
who is usually referred to as Baron Hasenclever, emigrated
to New Jersey about 1764 as the head of an iron company
which he had organized in London, and brought with him a
large number of German miners and ironworkers. His ca-
reer in this country is very fully described by Dr. Tuttle in
his history and by Mr. Halsey in a letter which we have
received from him. Dr. Tuttle first gives an account of the
Ringwood Company, which was organized in 1740 and was
principally composed of several persons named Ogden, from
Newark. In that year the company purchased from Cornelius
Board sixteen acres of land at Ringwood, near Greenwood
lake, in Bergen (now Passaic) county, where they built a fur-
nace, afterwards buying from Board other property. In 1764
Joseph Board conveyed to the Ringwood Company a tract of
land at Ringwood " near the old forge and dwelling house
of Walter Erwin." On July 5, 1764, the Ringwood Company
sold to " Peter Hasenclever, late of London, merchant," for
£5,000, all of its lands and its improvements at Ringwood.
The deed states that on the property there are " erected and
standing a furnace, two forges, and several dwelling houses."
It speaks of "Timothy Ward's forge;" also of the "old forge
at Ringwood." In 1764 Hasenclever also bought from vari-
ous persons other tracts of land at Ringwood and in its vi-
cinity, and in 1765 he bought several tracts from Lord Stir-
ling. These purchases were located at Ringwood, Pompton,

150 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Long Pond, and Charlottenburg, all in what was then Bergen
county. Hasenclever probably also purchased an interest in
the iron-ore mines at Hibernia. Dr. Tuttle says that " Has-
enclever at once began to enlarge the old works and build
others at each of the places just named," that is, Bingwood,
Pompton, Long Pond, and Charlottenburg. It is probable
that he built a furnace and one or more forges at each place ;
three furnaces and six forges he certainly built. The fur-
naces were erected, respectively, as follows : Charlottenburg,
on the west branch of the Pequannock ; Kingwood, on the
Ringwood branch of the Pequannock ; and Long Pond, on
the Winockie, about two miles from Greenwood lake. Char-
lottenburg was built in 1767, and was capable of producing
from 20 to 25 tons of pig iron weekly. Long Pond was in
blast in 1768. Hon. Abram S. Hewitt writes us that at Ring-
wood he has a pig of iron with " Ringwood 1770 " marked
on it by the founder, and Mr. William Nelson, of Paterson,
writes us that he has seen at Charlottenburg a small pig of
iron upon which was cast in raised letters " Charlottenburg
1770."

Hasenclever certainly succeeded in making good iron,
some of which wras shipped to England. He also made steel
of good quality " directly from the ore." In 1768 he became
financially embarrassed, and in 1770 was formally declared a
bankrupt. He returned to Germany and became a success-
ful linen manufacturer in Silesia. He was succeeded in the
management of the company's estate by John Jacob Faesch,
who had come to New Jersey with him, or soon after him,
under an engagement as manager of the iron works for seven
years. Faesch is said to have looked after his own interests
more than those of the company. In 1771 or 1772 he was
succeeded by Robert Erskine, a Scotchman, who appears to
have met with success until 1776, when all the works were
stopped by the opening of hostilities and Charlottenburg fur-
nace was burned, but whether accidentally or by the oppo-
nents of the patriotic cause is not now known.

Robert Erskine was thoroughly loyal to the Revolution-
ary cause. He died at Ringwood in 1780, " and his grave
occupies a retired spot about a quarter of a mile from the
ruins of the old Ringwood furnace, near the road leading

IKON IN ALL AGES. 151

from Ringwood to West Milford." The inscription upon his
tombstone reads : " In memory of Robert Erskine, F. R. S. ;
geographer and surveyor general to the army of the United
States ; son of Rev. Ralph Erskine, late minister at Dumf er-
line, in Scotland. Born September 7, 1735. Died October 2,
1780, aged 45 years and 25 days." For some time he held
a commission as captain in the New Jersey militia. New
Jersey may well honor the memory of this early ironmaster.
The Adventure furnace at Hibernia in Morris county was
a famous furnace during the Revolution, casting ordnance
and other supplies for the army. It was built in 1765. Mr.
Halsey says that a tract of land was located on November 23,
1765, "about three-quarters of a mile above the new furnace
called the Adventure." The name usually given to this fur-
nace is Hibernia. Dr. Tuttle says that " the names of Lord
Stirling, Benjamin Cooper, and Samuel Ford are connected
with the original building and ownership of the Hibernia
works." He also says that " Benjamin Cooper & Co." held
"•pew No. 6 " in the old Rockaway meeting-house in 1768. A
grant of certain privileges to encourage the enterprise was
made by the legislature in 1769. In 1765 Ford sold his in-
terest in the furnace to Anderson and Cooper, after which sale
he was actively engaged for a number of years in the busi-
ness of counterfeiting "Jersey bills of credit," which he after-
wards pleasantly referred to as "a piece of engenuity." In
1768 he participated in the robbery of the treasury of the
province at Amboy, his former partner, Cooper, being one
of his associates. Ford was arrested in 1773, but escaped to
Virginia ; Cooper and others were also arrested and convicted,
but all except one escaped punishment, and he was hanged.
Previous to the time of his arrest, in 1773, Cooper appears to
have sold his interest in Hibernia furnace to Lord Stirling,
who became its sole owner about this time, Mr. Halsey thinks
in 1771.

Mount Hope furnace, about four miles northwest of Rock-
away, was built in 1772 by John Jacob Faesch, after he had
severed his connection with the London Company. It was
active until about 1825. It also was a noted furnace during
the Revolution, casting shot and shells and cannon for the
Continental army. In September, 1776, Joseph Hoff, who was

152 THE MANUFACTURE OF

then the manager of Hibernia furnace, wrote to Lord Stir-
ling that Faesch had requested him " to inform you that he
wanted 200 tons of pig metal, and wanted to know your price
and terms of payment. Iron will undoubtedly be in great
demand, as few works on the continent are doing anything
this season." This letter indicates that at the time it was
written Faesch owned or controlled a forge for converting pig
iron into bar iron. Mr. Halsey says that he became the own-
er of Middle and. Rockaway forges and the lessee of Mount
Pleasant forge and the Boonton slitting mill. On the 14th
of November, 1776, Hoff wrote to General Knox that there
were 35 tons of shot at Hibernia furnace, and on the 21st of
November he wrote that it was the only furnace in New Jer-
sey which he knew to be then in blast. The Hibernia and
the Mount Hope furnaces were both in blast in 1777. Mr.
Halsey informs us that among the laws of New Jersey for
1777 is an act, passed October 7th, exempting from military
service men to be employed at Mount Hope and Hibernia
furnaces, and reciting the necessity of providing the army and
navy of the United States* with cannon, cannon shot, etc., and
that the works "have been for some time past employed" in
providing such articles, and " are now under contract for a
large quantity." Faesch is said by Dr. Tuttle to have become
the lessee of Hibernia furnace at some time during the war.
He says " this must have been subsequent to July 10, 1778,
at which date I find a letter to Lord Stirling from Charles
Hoff,, his manager at Hibernia, reporting to him what he
was doing."

Faesch died at Old Boonton on May 29, 1799, -and was
buried at Morristown. Mr. Halsey says that he was born in
the canton of Basle in Switzerland in 1729. Dr. Tuttle says
that " in his day John Jacob Faesch was one of the great men
of Morris county, regarded as its greatest ironmaster, one of
its richest men, and one of its most loyal citizens." General
Washington and his staff once visited him at Mount Hope.

Lord Stirling, whose proper name was William Alexan-
der, was born in the city of New York in 1726 and died at
Albany in 1783. As has been shown in the chapter relating
to New York, his name has been given to one of the oldest
and most successful iron enterprises in the country. His

IRON IN ALL AGES. 153

wife was a daughter of Philip Livingston, and a sister of
Philip Livingston the signer of the Declaration.

Colonel Jacob Ford, Sr., was a large landholder in Morris
county about the middle of the last century. In 1750 he
built two forges, probably a finery and chafery, at Mount
Pleasant, three miles west of Rockaway. There was a forge
at this place in 1856, but in ruins. In 1764 John Harrirnan
owned a forge called Burnt Meadow forge, at Denmark, about
five miles north of Rockaway, of which Colonel Jacob Ford,
Jr., afterwards became the owner. It was probably built by
Colonel Jacob Ford, Sr., in 1750. About 1764 Colonel Ford,
Jr., became the owner of the forge above Mount Pleasant and
below Denmark, called ever since Middle forge, which was
built by Jonathan Osborn in 1749. The United States now
owns the site of the forge last mentioned. John Johnston
had " iron works " at Horse Pound, now Beach Glen, a mile
and a half below Hibernia, from 1753 to 1765, as appears
from references in the title papers of adjoining lands.

In Andover township, in Sussex county, a furnace and a
forge were built by a strong company before the Revolution,
probably about 1760, and the works were operated on an ex-
tensive scale. About the beginning of hostilities the works
were closed, the company being principally composed of roy-
alists. The excellent quality of the iron made from the ore
of the Andover mine led, however, to such legislation by
Congress in January, 1778, as resulted in putting them in
operation. Whitehead Humphreys, of Philadelphia, was
directed by Congress to make steel for the use of the army
from Andover iron, as the iron made at the Andover works
was 'the only iron which would "with certainty answer the
purpose of making steel." This action of Congress is given
in detail by the Hon. Jacob W. Miller, in an address before
the New Jersey Historical Society in 1854, who also records
the interesting fact that William Penn was an early owner
of the Andover mine. He says that "on the 10th of March,
1714, by a warrant from the council of proprietors, he ac-
quired title to a large tract of land situated among the moun-
tains then of Hunterton, now of Sussex, county, and William
Penn became the owner of one of the richest mines of iron
ore in New Jersey. This mine, since called Andover, was

154 THE MANUFACTURE OF

opened and worked to a considerable extent as early as 1760.
Tradition reveals to us that the products of these works were
carried upon pack-horses and carts down the valley of the
Musconetcong to a place on the Delaware called Durham, and
were thence transported to Philadelphia in boats, which were
remarkable for their beauty and model, and are known as
Durham boats to this day."

Franklin furnace, near Hamburg, in Sussex county, which
was built in 1770 and abandoned about 1860, has been suc-
ceeded by one of the largest furnaces in the country. There
were several forges at and near Hamburg in the last century.

Israel Acrelius, the historian of New Sweden, who resided
in this country from 1750 to 1756, mentions five iron enter-
prises as then existing in New Jersey — the Union iron works,
and Oxford, Sterling, Ogden's, and Mount Holly furnaces.

Oxford furnace, at Oxford, in Warren county, on a branch
of the Pequest river, was built by Jonathan Robeson in 1742.
Tradition says that it was first blown by a water-blast. Can-
non balls were cast at this furnace in the French war of 1755
/and for the Continental army. The furnace was in opera-
tion in 1880, using anthracite coal, but in 1882 it went out of
blast and is now abandoned. We are informed by Mr. Ed-
mund T. Lukens, secretary and general manager of the Ox-
ford Iron and Nail Company, that "the original masonry,
built in 1742, is still standing, encased in strengthening walls,
which were added from time to time as the binding timbers
of the old work burned or rotted off. The old stack was
built in 6-foot rises, (after the first rise of 12 feet for work-
ing arch,) with 18 inches for each set-off, and these rises were
bound with heavy timbers, keyed together at the corners."
Through the courtesy of Mr. Lukens we now have in our
possession a set of eight fine photographs, seven of which
show from different points of view the stack and connected
buildings of the famous old blast furnace of his company,
while the eighth photograph represents the furnace mansion-
house, in which Hon. George M. Robesqn, ex-Secretary of the
Navy, a descendant of Jonathan Robeson, was born. In 1880
Oxford furnace divided with Cornwall furnace in Pennsylva-
nia the honor of being the oldest furnace in the United States
that was then in operation.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 155

The Sterling furnace referred to was Sterling furnace in
New York, but this furnace, some particulars of which have
already been given, was then probably embraced within the
boundaries of New Jersey. Ogden's furnace was probably the
Ringwood furnace built by the Ogdens about 1740, as stated
on a preceding page. After the sale of that furnace to the
London Company the Ogdens probably built a furnace about
1765 at Bloomingdale, in Passaic county. Mr. Halsey writes
us that there was an old stack in good preservation at Bloom-
ingdale (near Butler) in 1800, which was known as " Ogden's
furnace." Mount Holly furnace was situated at the town of
that name, in Burlington county. We are informed by Mr.
Austin N. Hungerford that it was built in 1730 by Isaac Pier-
son, Mahlon Stacy, and John Burr. A forge was connected
with the furnace. The works stood where the saw-mill at the
south end of Pine street, on Rancocas creek, now stands. In
1775 sheet iron was manufactured by Thomas Mayberry at
the forge at Mount Holly, some of which was used to make
camp-kettles for the Continental army, and in 1776 shot and
shells were made at the furnace. The British being informed
that munitions of war were being made at the furnace they
destroyed the works, which were not rebuilt.

The Union iron works were situated near Clinton, in Hun-
terton county, and embraced at the time of Acrelius's visit
two furnaces and two forges, " each with two stacks ; " also
a trip-hammer and a "flatting-hammer." These works were
then owned by William Allen and Joseph Turner, both of
Philadelphia. William Allen was the chief justice of Penn-
sylvania from 1751 to 1774. Allentown, in Pennsylvania, was
named after him. He was largely interested in the manufac-
ture of iron in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and with him
was usually associated Joseph Turner. In October, 1775,
Allen gave his "half of a quantity of cannon shot belong-
ing to him and to Turner for the use of the Board of the
Council of Safety;" but he remained loyal to the British
crown, nevertheless, dying in London in 1780. The Union
iron works appear to have been entirely abandoned in 1778.
Judge Allen informed Acrelius that at these works, and also
at Durham, a Pennsylvania furnace, one and a half tons of
iron ore yielded one ton of pig iron, and that a good fur-

156 THE MANUFACTURE OF

nace yielded from twenty to twenty-five tons of pig iron
every week.

Mr. Charles P. Keith's Provincial Councillors of Pennsylva-
nia gives us the following details : " For about fifty years
Turner was in partnership with William Allen in commercial
business, the house of Allen & Turner [in Philadelphia] for a
long time prior to the Revolutionary war being the most im-
portant in the colony. They also engaged in the manufacture
of iron, and owned several mines in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. The Union iron works, in Hunterton county, New
Jersey, were the most celebrated, the property at the date of
Turner's will amounting to 11,000 acres." He died in 1783.

Except Mount Holly all of the furnaces named used mag-
netic ore; Mount Holly, according to Acrelius, used "brittle
bog ore in gravel," which was " only serviceable for castings."
But the existence of the forge and the further fact that pig
iron has been found in the ruins of the works show that the
ore was used for something else than castings. Acrelius
mentions, but does not name, four bloomaries in New Jersey,
all " in full blast " during his visit. His list of iron enter-
prises in New Jersey in his day is incomplete.

Several blast furnaces were built in the southern and
southwestern parts of New Jersey at an early day to use the
bog ore of that section. Of these the furnace at Mount Holly,
already mentioned, was doubtless the oldest. Batsto furnace,
also in Burlington county, was built about 1766 by Charles
Read, who held many offices under the provincial government.
It cast shot and shells for the Continental army. There was
a forge connected with this furnace as early as 1786, when
Batsto bars brought £30 per ton at New York in New York
currency. A neighboring furnace, Atsion, was also built about
1766. A few bloomaries were also built in this section in- the
last century, to work bog ore. The "Jersey pines" furnished
the fuel for the furnaces and bloomaries, and oyster shells
supplied the fluxing material for the furnaces. It was stated
in the chapter relating to New England iron enterprises in
the last century that ore was taken from Egg. Harbor, in
New Jersey, to supply some Massachusetts furnaces. This was
bog ore. Batsto furnace was situated on a branch of Little
Egg Harbor river, and ran until 1846, when it was abandoned.

IROX IN ALL AGES. 157

Mrs. Augustus H. Richards, of Philaderphia, has in her pos-
session an iron plate cast at Batsto furnace, bearing the date
1766, which doubtless fixes the exact date of its erection.

Of the early iron works in Southern and Southwestern
New Jersey additional to the Mount Holly, Batsto, and Atsion
enterprises, which have been specifically named, mention may
be made of a few of the most prominent, nearly all built near
the close of the last century or the beginning of the present
century. Mr. Austin N. Hungerford, an expert in the prep-
aration of various local histories relating to Pennsylvania and
New Jersey, furnishes us with the following information.

In 1722 the erection of a bloomary forge was undertaken by Isaac Hor-
ner, Daniel Farns worth, and Joseph Borden on the west side of Black's
creek, which rises near Georgetown, in Burlington county, and runs a north-
easterly course between Mansfield and Chesterfield townships and empties
into the Delaware at Bordentown. On February 1, 1725, the partly -erected
forge with the property connected with it was conveyed by the three pro-
prietors to Thomas Potts, a son-in-law of Joseph Borden. On the same day
he conveyed one undivided half of the property to Colonel Daniel Coxe, (of
whom mention is made that he had been interested in the manufacture of
iron for several years,) and one-fourth to John Allen, retaining one-fourth
interest for himself. The forge was completed in the summer of 1725, and
was probably operated for a few years, but no account of it has been ob-
tained. The property afterwards passed into the possession of a Mr. Lewis,
of Philadelphia. Thomas Potts had emigrated to this country in the ship
Shields, which brought so many emigrants to West Jersey.

The most noted ironmaster in West Jersey prior to the Eevolution was
the Hon. Charles Read. In the year 1766 he built Batsto furnace on Batsto
creek, a branch of Little Egg Harbor river, about six miles northeast from
the present village of Elwood, on the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. An
act of the legislature, passed June 20, 1765, enabled him to erect a dam across
Batsto creek, and the same act enabled John Estell to erect a dam across
Atsion river, at Atsion, where Charles Read soon afterwards erected Atsion
furnace. Taunton furnace, erected by Mr. Read, was built in 1766 in Eves-
ham township, on Rancocas creek. It was conducted by him until the
assignment of his property on June 2, 1773. All these enterprises were in
Burlington county.

About 1800 Hampton furnace and forge were erected on the Batsto
branch of the Mullica river, about three and a half miles from Atsion.
They became permanently idle abou*1840. Speedwell furnace, situated on
the north branch of Wading river, in Burlington county, was erected be-
fore the Revolution, but by whom is not ascertained. Gloucester furnace,
situated on the south side of Little Egg Harbor river, in Mullica township,
Atlantic county, was erected about the beginning of the present century.
It was operated until about 1850, when it was abandoned. Martha furnace
was situated on the Oswego branch of Wading river, about four miles from

158 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the head of navigation. It was built by one of the Potts family, of Potts-
town, Pennsylvania, and blown in in 1793. In 1834 it produced 750 tons of
castings. Wey mouth furnace and forge were situated on Great Egg Harbor
river, about six miles from May's Landing. They were erected in 1802 by
Charles Shoemaker, George Ashbridge, Morris Robinson, John Paul, and
Joseph M. Paul. The fires of the furnace have long since gone out. In 1834
the product of the furnace was 900 tons of castings, and of the forge, with
its four fires and two hammers, 200 tons of bar iron. Monroe forge, near
Weymouth furnace, was situated on South river, about three miles south-
west from May's Landing. It was owned in 1820 by Lewis M. Walker and
was abandoned about 1835. Cumberland furnace was situated at the head of
the Manamuskin, in Cumberland county. The property on which it was lo-
cated was purchased by Eli Budd in 1785, and he afterwards put up a forge
for manufacturing iron and operated it for several years. In 1810 his son,
Wesley Budd, erected a blast furnace. The furnace was operated until 1840,
when it was abandoned, its last owner being Edward Smith, of Philadelphia.

Mr. Benjamin Snyder, of Lakewood, Ocean county, gives
us the following additional information concerning several of
the southern and southwestern iron enterprises in New Jersey.

Etna furnace was situated on a tributary of the south branch of the
Rancocas creek, two and a half miles from Medford, and about four miles
from Taunton, in Burlington county. It was built by Charles Read before
the Revolution. Samuel G. Wright for many years owned Federal furnace,
first known as Dover furnace, where now stands the village of Manchester,
on the New Jersey Southern Railway, eight miles from Lakewood. In 1814
Jesse Richards purchased the water power of the Three Partners saw mill
and erected the Washington furnace. The place has since been known by
various titles, and is now called Lakewood. The enterprise was a failure,
and after two years the furnace was abandoned. The stack, one of the
best of its kind, was left standing, and in 1832 Joseph W. Brick came here
from Burlington county, purchased the property, and put the furnace in
blast in 1833. It continued in operation until the close of 1854, being the
last of the South Jersey iron furnaces to "go out as a finality." The Mon-
mouth furnace, afterwards called Howell works, eight miles east of Lake-
wood, was built by William Griffith, of Burlington, was afterwards owned
by Shippen & McMurtrie, of Philadelphia, and subsequently by James P.
Allaire, of New York city. It was continued as a furnace with intervals
of rest until about the year 1846. There was a furnace at Millville, in Cum-
berland county, and a furnace called Hanover, in Burlington county, both
the furnaces going out of blast about 1850. There was also a forge, known
as Mary Ann forge, two or three miles below Hanover furnace.

Mr. Snyder mentions Etna furnace as having been built
by Charles Read, but it is not mentioned by Mr. Hungerford.
Tuckahoe furnace, on Tuckahoe river, in Cape May county,
was built in the last century and has long been abandoned.
It appears to have been sometimes called New Etna, There

IRON IN ALL AGES. 159

was certainly an Etna furnace on Tuckahoe river many years
ago, probably in the last century.

It will be seen that the southern and southwestern parts
of New Jersey produced iron at one time in large quantities
from bog ores. Iron is not now produced from these ores in
New Jersey in any form, nor is there a blast furnace in ei-
ther the southern or southwestern parts of the Sta"te.

The Batsto iron works were well managed. On July 1,
1784, they passed into the hands of William Richards, who
owned and operated them until 1809, when he was succeeded
in their ownership and management by his son Jesse, who
operated them until their final suspension in 1846. Another
son, Samuel, was also prominently identified with the manu-
facture of iron in Southern New Jersey in the first half of
the present century, as was also Mark Richards, who was not,
however, a relative of the other persons of the same name
who have been mentioned. Mark Richards was of Wurtem-
burger ancestry, the name being a corruption of Reichert, as
we are informed by Louis Richards, Esq., of Reading, Penn-
sylvania ; whereas the family of William Richards was of
Welsh origin.

Mark Richards was born in Montgomery county, Pennsyl-
vania. William Richards was born in Berks county, Pennsyl-
vania, on September 12, 1738, and died at Mount Holly, New
Jersey, on August 31, 1823. In early life he was employed
at Coventry forge and Warwick furnace, in Chester county,
Pennsylvania, and about 1768 he was employed at Batsto
as founder. He was a • soldier during the Revolution. In
January, 1781, he became the manager of Batsto iron works.
Mr. Richards was onw of the great men among the pioneers
of the American iron industry.

On November 10, 1750, Governor Belcher certified that \
there were in New Jersey " one mill or engine for slitting
and rolling of iron, situate in the township of Bethlehem, in
the county of Hunterton, on the south branch of the river
Raritan, the property of Messrs. William Allen and Joseph
Turner, of Philadelphia, which is not now in use ; one plat-
ing-forge, which works with a tilt-hammer, situate on a small
brook at the west end of Trenton, the property of Benjamin
Yard, of Hunterton, which is now used ; one furnace for the

160 THE MANUFACTURE OF

making of steel, situate in Trenton, the property of Benjamin
Yard, which is not now used." Steel was, however, made at
Trenton during the Revolution. A rolling and slitting mill
was built at Old Boonton, in Morris county, before the Revo-
lution, probably about 1770, by a member of the Ogden fam-
ily. A more successful enterprise of the same kind was es-
tablished'at Dover, in the same county, about 1792, by Israel
Canfield and Jacob Losey, who also added a factory for cut-
ting nails, which were headed by hand in dies. In 1800
there were in this county three rolling and slitting mills, two
furnaces, " and about forty forges with two to four fires each."

Mr. Halsey furnishes us with the following episode in the
history of the Old Boonton slitting mill: "A slitting mill
was erected at Old Boonton, on the Rockaway river, about
a mile below the present town of Boonton, in defiance of
the law, by Samuel Ogden, of Newark, with the aid of his
father. The entrance was from the hillside, and in the upper
room first entered there were stones for grinding grain, 'the
slitting mill being below and out of sight. It is said that
Governor William Franklin visited the place suddenly, hav-
ing heard a rumor of its existence, but was so hospitably en-
tertained by Mr. Ogden, and the iron works were so effectually
concealed, that the Governor came away saying he was glad
to find that it was a groundless report, as he had always sup-
posed."

A nail factory was in full operation at Burlington in 1797.
In 1814 or 1815 Benjamin and David Reeves, brothers, estab-
lished the Cumberland nail and iron works at Bridgeton, in
Cumberland county, and for many years successfully manu-
factured nails, with which they largely supplied the eastern
markets. These works are still in operation. In 1812 a roll-
ing and slitting mill was built at Paterson by Nicholas Dela-
plaine, Samuel Colt, and John Colt, which Mr. Nelson in-
forms us made shovels and spades, also camp utensils, frying
pans, etc., for the use of the army. In 1814 the manufacture
of nails was commenced. At first the nails were headed by
hand, but subsequently they were cut and headed by one
operation. In 1820 the works were leased by Colonel Joseph
Jackson, of Rockaway, and his brother William, and they
rolled round and square iron. It is important to note the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 161

year in which the Jackson brothers rolled this iron, as the
rolling of iron, except in connection with slitting mills, had
but recently been introduced into this country. In 1822 they
built the first rolling mill at Rockaway.

Peter Cooper engaged in the manufacture of iron at Tren-
ton, New Jersey, in 1845, where, as is stated by the American
Cydopcedia, " he erected the largest rolling mill at that time
in the United States for the manufacture of railroad iron, and
at which subsequently he was the first to roll wrought-iron
beams for fire-proof buildings." He had previously, however,
been prominently engaged in the manufacture of iron at Bal-
timore and in New York city. In connection with members
of his family he also embarked in many other important
iron enterprises in New Jersey. His name has been the most
prominent and the most honored in the iron history of the
State during the present century. He was born in New York
city on February 12, 1791, and died at the residence of his
son-in-law, Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, in the same city, on April
4, 1883, aged 92 years, 1 month, and 23 days.

A letter which we have received from Mr. Frederick J.
Slade, treasurer of the New Jersey Steel and Iron Company,
at Trenton, gives us the following information. " The first
rolled beams made at these works were rolled in the spring
of 1854. These were 7 inches deep, weighed about 81 pounds
per yard, and were of the form known as deck beams. They
were used in Harper Brothers' and the Cooper Union build-
ings, New York, and also on the Camden and Amboy Rail-
road as rails. They were rolled on a mill having three verti-
cal rolls, as if a three-high train were turned on end, which
were patented by William Burrows. 'I' beams were after-
wards rolled in the same mill, which was, however, after a
few years replaced by a three-high train having horizontal
rolls, as in the present usual construction. The name of the
works at that time was the Trenton iron works, owned by
the Trenton Iron Company."

In 1784 New Jersey had eight furnaces and seventy-nine
forges and bloomaries, but principally bloomaries.

In Jedidiah Morse's geography, printed in 1795, there is
the following record of iron enterprises which were in exist-
ence in New Jersey a year or two earlier.

162 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The iron manufactories are, of all others, the greatest source of
wealth to the State. Iron works are erected in Gloucester, Burlington,
Morris, and other counties. The mountains in the county of Morris give
rise to a number of streams necessary and convenient for these works,
and, at the same time, furnish a copious supply of wood and ore of a
superior quality. In this county alone are no less than seven rich iron
mines, from which might be taken ore sufficient to supply the United
States; and, to work it into iron, are two furnaces, two rolling and slit-
ting mills, and about thirty forges, containing from two to four fires each.
These works produce annually about 540 tons of bar iron, 800 tons of
pigs, besides large quantities of hollow ware, sheet iron, and nail rods.
In the whole State it is supposed there is yearly made about 1,200 tons
of bar iron, 1,200 ditto of pigs, 80 ditto of nail rods, exclusive of hollow
ware and various other castings, of which vast quantities are made. Steel
was manufactured at Trenton in time of the war, but not considerably
since.

In 1802 there were in New Jersey, according to a memo-
rial to Congress adopted in that year, 150 forges, " which,
at a moderate calculation, would produce twenty tons of bar
iron each annually, amounting to 3,000 tons." At the same
time there were in the State seven blast furnaces in operation
and six that were out of blast; also four rolling and slitting
mills, " which rolled and slit on an average 200 tons, one-half
of which were manufactured into nails." Of the forges men-
tioned about 120 were in Morris, Sussex, and Bergen counties.

Of the numerous charcoal furnaces which once dotted New
Jersey not one now remains which uses charcoal, the intro-
duction of anthracite coal in the smelting of iron ore, which
took place about 1840, rendering the further production of
charcoal pig/ iron in New Jersey unprofitable. The last char-
coal furnace erected in the State was built at Split Rock, in
Morris county, by the late Andrew B. Cobb, about 1862, but
it was soon abandoned. Not one of the old bloomaries of
New Jersey now remains. There were in the State in 1890,
however, several forges for the manufacture of blooms from
pig and scrap iron, and also a large number of rolling mills,
steel works, wire works, pipe works, and anthracite furnaces.

In 1870 New Jersey was fourth in rank among the iron-
producing States in the aggregate production of iron and
steel, but in 1880 it had fallen to the fifth place. In 1890 it
was tenth in the production of pig iron and seventh in the
production of steel.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 163

CHAPTER XIV.

BEGINNING OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN
PENNSYLVANIA.

THE settlers on the Delaware, under the successive admin-
istrations of the Swedes and Dutch and the Duke of York
down to 1682, appear to have made no effort to manufacture
iron in any form. In the Journal of a Voyage to New York
in 1679 and 1680 by Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter, who
then visited the Swedish and other settlements on the Dela-
ware, it is expressly stated that iron ore had not been seen by
them on Tinicum Island or elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Jasper Dankers says : " As to there being a mine of iron ore
upon it, I have not seen any upon that island, or elsewhere ;
and if it were so it is of no great importance, for such mines
are so common in this country that little account is made of
them."

Under the more active rule of William Penn, who sailed
up the Delaware in the ship Welcome in 1682, the manufac-
ture of iron in Pennsylvania had its beginning. In a letter
written by Penn to Lord Keeper North in July, 1683, he men-
tions the existence of " mineral of copper and iron in divers
places " in Pennsylvania. In his Further Account of the Prov-
ince of Pennsylvania, written in 1685, speaking of " things that
we have in prospect for staples of trade," he says : " I might
add iron, (perhaps copper, too,) for there is much mine, and
it will be granted us that we want no wood." In a letter to
James Logan, the secretary of the province, dated London,
April 21, 1702, he says, under the heading of " Iron Works : "
" Call on those people for an answer to the heads I gave
them from Ambrose Crawley. Divers would engage here in
it as soon as they receive an account, which in a time of war
would serve the country. Things as to America will come
under another regulation after a while." To this letter Logan
replied from Philadelphia, under date of October 1, 1702, as
follows : " I have spoke to the chief of those concerned in the
iron mines, but they seem careless, having never had a meet-

164 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ing since thy departure; their answer is that they have not
yet found any considerable vein." Smiles, in his Industrial
Biography, says: "William Penn, the courtier Quaker, ha^
iron furnaces at Hawkhurst and other places in Sussex."
It was, therefore, but natural that he should encourage the
manufacture of iron in his province, and it was certainly
through no indifference or neglect of his that this industry
was not established at an early day. We have referred in
the preceding chapter to his ownership in 1714 of the cele-
brated Andover iron-ore mine in New Jersey.

In 1692 we find the first mention of iron having been
made in Pennsylvania. It is contained in a metrical compo-
sition entitled A Short Description of Pennsylvania, by Richard
Frame, which was printed and sold by William Bradford, in
Philadelphia, in 1692. Frame says that at "a certain place
about some forty pound " of iron had then been made. The
entire reference is as follows :

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.

It is to be regretted that Frame was not more explicit in
describing the place where this iron was made. It was possi-
bly made in a bloomary fire ; probably in a blacksmith's fire.

In 1698 Gabriel Thomas printed at London An Historical
and Geographical Account of the Province and Country of Penn-
sylvania and of West New Jersey in America, in which mention
is made of the mineral productions of these colonies. Allud-
ing to Pennsylvania, he says : " There is likewise ironstone or
ore, lately found, which far exceeds that in England, being
richer and less drossy. Some preparations have been made
to carry on an iron work." But neither these preparations
nor the operations alluded to by Richard Frame appear' to
have led to practical results — certainly not to the erection of
permanent works.

Mrs. James, in her Memorial of Thomas Potts, Junior, gives
an account of the first successful attempt that was made to
establish iron works in Pennsylvania. This event, which oc-
curred in 1716, is briefly described in one of Jonathan Dick-
inson's letters, written in 1717, which we have seen : " This

IRON IN ALL AGES. 165

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 upon making iron. Such it
proves to be, as is highly set by by all the smiths here, who
say that the best of Sweed's iron doth not exceed it ; and we
have accounts of others that are going on with iron works."
Rutter 's enterprise was a bloomary forge, located on Mana-
tawny creek, in Berks county, about three miles above Potts-
town. Mrs. James says that the name of this forge was Pool
forge. There was certainly a Pool forge on the Manatawny
as early as 1728, in which year it is mentioned in Thomas
Rutter's will. The name of Rutter's pioneer enterprise may,
however, have been Manatawny. In the Philadelphia Weekly
Mercury for November 1, 1720, Thomas Fare, a Welshman, is
said to have run away from " the forge at Manatawny." Bish-
op says: "A forge is mentioned in March, 1719-20, at Mana-
tawny, then in Philadelphia, but now in Berks or Montgom-
ery, county. It was attacked by the Indians in -1728, but they
were repulsed with great loss by the workmen."

Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, of Philadelphia, a gentle-
man of antiquarian tastes, sends us the following letter con-
cerning Pool forge.

I very cheerfully respond to your inquiry for information as to the date
of the erection and the ownership of Pool forge. In 1725 James Lewis,
Francis Rawle, George Mifflin, and John Leacock presented a petition to
the Court of Quarter Sessions of Philadelphia asking for a road, in which
they say : " Whereas, your petitioners having lately built a new fforge on
Manatawny creek, and wanting a road from Colebrook ffurnace to the said
new fforge and from thence to the great road that leads to Philadelphia, for
ye more convenient carrying on ye business of ye said fforge and ffurnace,"
etc. The court thereupon appointed a jury, of which my forefather, Henry
Pannebecker, was foreman, and consisting of himself and Barnabas Rhodes,
Thomas Potts, and Anthony Lee, to lay out the road. They reported on
March 2, 1726, saying: "Pursuant to an order of court hereunto annexed,
we the subscribers have laid out a road from Colebrookdale ffurnace to Pool
fforge, and from thence to the great road leading to Philadelphia."

The old document quoted in the above letter refers to
Pool forge as " a new forge," which strengthens the theory
that the name of the pioneer forge was Manatawny.

Mrs. James says that Rutter was an English Quaker,
who was a resident of Philadelphia in 1685 and who remov-
ed in 1714 from Germantown " forty miles up the Schuylkill,

166 THE MANUFACTURE OF

in order to work the iron mines of the Manatawny region."
She gives a verbatim copy of the original patent of William
Penn to Thomas Rutter for 300 acres of land "on Mana-
tawny creek," dated February 12, 1714-15.

The following obituary notice in the Pennsylvania Gazette,
published at Philadelphia, dated March 5 to March 13, 1729-
-30, ought to be conclusive proof of the priority of Thomas
Rutter's enterprise : " Philadelphia, March 13. On Sunday
night last died here Thomas Rutter, Senior, of a short illness.
He was the first that erected an iron work in Pennsylvania"
In his will, which we have examined, he is styled a black-
smith. Many of his descendants have been prominent Penn-
sylvania ironmasters. Mrs. James says that Dr. Benjamin
Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a
great-grandson of Thomas Rutter. We have verified in the
Pennsylvania Gazette the obituary notice above quoted.

The next iron enterprise in Pennsylvania was Coventry
forge, on French creek, in the northern part of Chester county,
which was built by Samuel Nutt, also an English Quaker.
Egle's History of Pennsylvania says that Nutt arrived in the
province in 1714, and that " he took up land on French creek
in 1717, and about that time built a forge there. A letter
written by him in 1720 mentions an intention of erecting
another forge that fall." We have seen this letter. It is dated
July 2, 1720, and is written in Friends' language. Nutt pro-
posed to build the new forge on French creek. Mrs. James
states that Nutt purchased 800 acres of land at Coventry in
October, 1718. This was in addition to his earlier purchases.
He probably made iron at Coventry in that year. Bishop
refers to a letter written by Dickinson in July, 1718, stating
that "the expectations from the iron works forty miles up
the Schuylkill are very great." In April, 1719, Dickinson
again wrote : " Our iron promises well. What hath been sent
over to England hath been greatly approved. Our smiths
work up all they make, and it is as good as the best Swed-
ish iron." Dickinson probably referred to Nutt's forge as well
as to Rutter's. The former, as well as the latter, at first made
bar iron directly from the ore.

Coventry forge was in operation in 1756. In 1770 it is
noted on William Scull's map of Pennsylvania. It was in

IRON IN ALL AGES. 167

active operation after the Revolution, and in 1849 and 1856
we again find it active, making blooms from pig iron. It
made its last iron in 1870. The foundations and other parts
of the old forge may still be seen. It is the oldest iron work
in the State that is not wholly gnawed away by the tooth of
time. It has been owned by the Chrisman family for over
eighty years.

The next iron enterprise in Pennsylvania was undoubt-
edly Colebrookdale furnace, which was built about 1720 by a
company of which Thomas Rutter was the principal member.
It was located on Ironstone creek, in Colebrookdale township,
in Berks county, about eight miles north of Pottstown, three-
fourths of a mile west of Boyertown, and about two hundred
yards from the* Colebrookdale Railroad. Plenty of cinder
now marks the exact site. A large flour and saw mill stands
about one hundred feet distant. This furnace supplied Pool
forge with pig iron, and in course of time other forges, one of
which was Pine forge, to be referred to hereafter. The Cole-
brookdale company appears to have been composed of Thom-
as Rutter, James Lewis, Anthony Morris, and others, Rutter
owning at one time a two-thirds' interest, as is shown by his
will, on file in the office of the register of wills in Philadel-
phia, which we have examined.

In 1731, according to Mrs. James, Colebrookdale furnace
and Pool forge were both owned by companies. In the list of
owners of both establishments appears the name of Thomas
Potts, the founder of a family of the same name which has
ever since been prominent in the manufacture of iron in
Pennsylvania and in other States. He died at Colebrookdale
in January, 1752. He was in his day the most successful
iron manufacturer in Pennsylvania. In his will, dated 1747,
he leaves his " two-thirds of Colebrookdale furnace and iron
mines " to his son Thomas, and his " one-third of Pine forge "
to his son John. 'He was of either English or Welsh lineage.
In 1733 the furnace was torn down and rebuilt by the com-
pany, Thomas Potts being the manager. Mrs. James writes
to us : "I have a large calf -bound folio ledger of nearly 200
folios of Colebrookdale furnace, marked ' B.' The first date
is August, 1728, but there are several pages referring to the
first ledger, one of them in 1726. Mention is constantly made

168 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of sending ' piggs ' to Pool forge, proving that this forge was
then in full blast. ' A ' would seem to be a large volume from
reference to the folios," and therefore to have covered the op-
erations of a number of years. Mrs. James thinks that it is
lost. She adds that on the title-page of ledger B the name
of Thomas Potts is written in connection with the year 1728,
probably as the manager or lessee of the furnace. He was a
resident of Manatawny as early as 1725.

On Nicholas Scull's map of Pennsylvania, published in
1759, Colebrookdale furnace is noted, and in a list of iron
works existing in Pennsylvania about 1793, and published by
Mrs. James, it is again mentioned, although it was not then
active. We have not found it mentioned at any later period.
A stove-plate cast at this furnace in 1763 » was exhibited at
the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876. In 1731 pig iron sold
at Colebrookdale furnace " in large quantities " at £5 10s. per
ton, Pennsylvania currency, a pound being equal to $2.66f.
It would seem that friendly Indians were employed at Cole-
brookdale, as " Indian John" and " Margalitha" are found in
the list of workmen about 1728. The furnace was located in
the heart of one of the richest deposits of magnetic iron ore
in the United States. After being long neglected this deposit
was mined a few years ago, but it is again neglected.

Redmond Conyngham, quoted in Day's Historical Collec-
tions of Pennsylvania, printed in 1843, says that iron works
are supposed to have been established in Lancaster county in
1726 by a person named Kurtz, who is said by another au-
thority to have been an Amish Mennonite. In Egle's History
of Pennsylvania it is stated that Kurtz's wrorks were on Octo-
rara creek, and that it is possible they were in Maryland and
not in Lancaster county. Conyngham also says that the en-
terprising family of Grubbs " commenced operations in 1728,"
also in Lancaster county. Both history and tradition are si-
lent concerning the nature of these alleged " operations " at
that time. We will refer to the Gr.ubb family again.

Durham furnace, on Durham creek, about one and a half
miles above its entrance into the Delaware river in the ex-
treme northern part of Bucks county, was built in 1727 by
a company of fourteen persons, of which Anthony Morris,
William Allen, Joseph Turner, and James Logan (Penn's sec-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 169

retary) were members. Its first blast took place in the fall of
1727, and in November of 1728 James Logan shipped three
tons of Durham pig iron to England. At the Philadelphia
Exhibition of 1876 the keystone of Durham furnace, bearing
the date 1727, was an object of interest. It is now in the
office of Cooper & Hewitt, at Durham. The furnace was be-
tween 35 and 40 feet square and about 30 feet high. From
the first this furnace made pig iron to be converted into
bar iron, although subsequently, as early as 1741, stoves were
cast at the furnace in large quantities. From a very inter-
esting pamphlet account of Durham township by Herbert C.
Bell, assisted by Charles Laubach and B. F. Fackenthal, Jr.,
printed in 1887, we learn that there were three forges on Dur-
ham creek, all below the furnace, and that many other forges
in the neighborhood, on both sides of the Delaware, were
supplied with pig iron from this furnace.

On Nicholas Scull's map of Pennsylvania (1759) an old
and a new furnace and a forge at Durham are plainly noted.
In 1770 two furnaces and two forges are marked in Will-
iam Scull's map. But there was probably only one furnace.
As late as 1780 negro slaves were employed at Durham, five
of whom in that year escaped to the British lines. Much of
the iron made at Durham was taken to Philadelphia in boats
fashioned somewhat like an Indian canoe, and first built at
Durham ; hence the term afterwards in common use, Dur-
ham boats. Large quantities of shot and shells for the Con-
tinental army were made at Durham furnace. The furnace
was in active operation until 1791, with occasional intervals
of suspension from various causes, when it blew out finally.
In 1829 it was torn down to make way for a grist mill. In
1848 and 1851 two new furnaces were built at Durham, to
use anthracite coal. In 1874 a new and very large furnace
was built to take the place of the two furnaces just men-
tioned, which were torn down.

At least two distinguished Americans of the Revolution-
ary period were identified with Durham furnace. General
Daniel Morgan, son of James Morgan, " ironmaster," and one
of the owners of the furnace before 1773, was born in Dur-
ham township in 1736. In early life, before entering upon
his adventurous career, he assisted his father at the fur-

170 THE MANUFACTURE OF

nace. Tradition says that he was also a charcoal burner at
Durham. George Taylor, a signer of the Declaration of In-
dependence, was at one time employed as a "filler" at Dur-
ham furnace, and subsequently he was the sole lessee of the
furnace. He was born in Ireland, and came to Pennsylva-
nia when a young man as a " redemptioner." The Morgan
family was of Welsh origin. While George Taylor was the
lessee of Durham furnace he cast stoves bearing the inscrip-
tion, " Durham Furnace, 1774." A plate of one of these
stoves, bearing this inscription, is fastened against the walls
of the post-office at Easton.

In 1728 James Logan wrote that " there are four furnaces
in blast in the colony." Colebrookdale and Durham were
two of these, but the names of the others are in doubt.

The iron industry of Pennsylvania may be said to have
been fairly established on a firm foundation at this time. In
1728-29 the colony exported 274 tons of pig iron to the moth-
er country. The production of a Pennsylvania furnace at this
period was about two tons of iron in twenty-four^hours.

The manufacture of nails in Pennsylvania commenced at
an early day. In 1731 George Megee, nailer, at the*corner of
Front and Arch streets, Philadelphia, advertised for sale, at
wholesale and retail, all sorts of nails of his own manufacture.

The erection of other forges and furnaces proceeded with
great rapidity in the Schuylkill valley and in other eastern
portions of Pennsylvania after Rutter and other pioneers had
shown the way. McCall's forge, afterwards called Glasgow
forge, on Manatawny creek, in Montgomery county, a short
distance above Pottstown and below Pool forge, was built by
George McCall about 1725. Spring forge, on the Manatawny,
in Berks county, west of Colebrookdale furnace and about five
miles north of Douglassville, was built in 1729, probably by
Anthony Morris. These forges, as well as Pool forge, were
supplied with iron from Colebrookdale furnace. Green Lane
forge, on Perkiomen creek, in Montgomery county, twenty
miles above Norristown, was built in 1733 by Thomas May-
burry. The workmen once employed here were chiefly ne-
gro slaves. This forge was supplied with pig iron from Dur-
ham furnace before 1747. Mount Pleasant furnace, on Perki-
omen creek, in Berks county, thirteen miles above Pottstown,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 171

was built by Thomas Potts, Jr., in 1738. A forge of the same
name was built before 1743. Pine forge, on the Mana tawny,
in Berks county, about five miles above Pottstown, was built
about 1740 by Thomas Potts, Jr. Oley forge, on the Mana-
tawny, in Berks county, was built in 1744 by John Ross, John
Yoder, and John Lesher, as we learn from Morton L. Mont-
gomery, of Reading. It was finally abandoned about 1870.
Spring, Glasgow, Mount Pleasant, and Green Lane forges were
in operation down to the middle of the present century. Pine
forge was converted into Pine rolling mill in 1845, and upon
the site of Glasgow forge there was erected in 1874 a rolling
mill which is now known as the Glasgow iron works.

Samuel Nutt built a furnace called Reading, on French
creek, soon after he built Coventry forge. In this enterprise
William Branson may have been a partner. Mrs. James says
that two furnaces of that name were erected about a mile
from each other, the second after the first was abandoned.
The second furnace of this name was built on French creek,
about 1736, by Samuel Nutt and William Branson. In the
inventory of the estate of Samuel Nutt, which Gilbert Cope,
of West Chester, has kindly placed in our hands, mention is
made of " a ring round the shaft at the old furnace," and of
"one tonn of sow mettle at new furnace." Acrelius, in speak-
ing of the iron ore on French creek, says : " Its discoverer is
Mr. Nutt, who afterwards took Mr. Branz into partnership."
The reference is to William Branson. This event occurred as
early as March 29, 1728, as their names then appear in the
Philadelphia Weekly Mercury as partners. Acrelius further
says : " They both went to England, brought workmen back
with them, and continued together." Mrs. James says : " The
15th day of March, 1736, Samuel Nutt and William Branson
entered into an agreement with John Potts to carry on their
furnace called Redding, recently built near Coventry, and of
which they are styled 'joint owners."1 At a meeting of the
Provincial Council on January 25, 1737, "a petition of sun-
dry inhabitants of the county of Lancaster was presented to
the board and read, setting forth the want of a road from the
town of Lancaster to Coventry iron works on French creek,
in Chester county, and praying that proper persons of each of
the counties may be appointed for laying out the same from

172 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Lancaster town to the said iron works, one branch of which
road to goe to the new furnace, called Redding's furnace, now
erecting on the said creek." On October 7th of the same year
commissioners were appointed to lay out the road.

Samuel Nutt died in 1737. In his will, dated September
25, 1737, he gave one-half of his "right" to Reading fur-
nace and Coventry forge to his wife and the other half to
Samuel Nutt, Jr., and his wife. He also made provision for
the erection by his wife of a new furnace. This furnace was
commenced in the same year, and was built on the south
branch of French creek. It was probably finished in 1738.
In 1740 its management fell into the hands of Robert Grace,
a friend of Benjamin Franklin, who had recently married
the widow of Samuel Nutt, Jr. This lady was the grand-
daughter of Thomas Rutter. The new furnace was called
Warwick. The celebrated Franklin stove was invented by
Benjamin Franklin in 1742, and in his autobiography he
says : " I made a present of the model to Mr. 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." Mrs. James has seen one
of these stoves, with the words "Warwick Furnace" cast on
the front in letters two inches long. Warwick furnace con-
tinued in active operation during a part of almost every year
from its erection in 1738 down to 1867, when its last blast
came to an end and the famous furnace was abandoned.
During the Revolution it was very active in casting cannon
for the Continental army, some of which were buried upon
the approach of the British in 1777, and have only recently
been recovered, having lain undisturbed for a hundred years.
The lower part of the stack of Warwick furnace still remains.

There is now among the relics in Independence Hall,
Philadelphia, a cast-iron bell which was cast at Warwick fur-
nace in 1757 and used at Valley Forge in 1777. It was pre-
sented to the authorities of Independence Hall in 1875 by
Colonel J. M. Fegar. It bears the inscription in raised let-
lers, " P. R. 1757." Mr. J. Wesley Pullman, of Philadelphia,
has in his possession a highly ornamented stove plate which
was cast at Warwick furnace in 1764 and bears that inscrip-
tion. The name of John Potts also appears on the plate.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 173

After Samuel Nutt's death Reading furnace became the
property of his partner, William Branson. It is noted on
Nicholas Scull's map of 1759. Coventry forge finally fell to
Samuel Nutt's heirs.

At an uncertain period about 1750 William Branson and
others established on French creek the Vincent steel works.
They are thus described by Acrelius : "At French creek, or
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
the 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. These steel works are
now said to be out of operation." Vincent forge, with four
fires and two hammers, was connected wi#i Vincent steel fur-
nace, but the date of its erection is uncertain. It is noted on
William Scull's map of 1770. The furnace and forge were
located about six miles from the mouth of French creek and
about five* miles distant from Coventry forge, which was far-
ther up the stream. Before February 15, 1797, a rolling and
slitting mill had been added to the forge. We do not hear of
the steel furnace after 1780, nor of the forge after 1800.

In 1742 William Branson, then owner of Reading furnace,
bought from John Jenkins a tract of 400 acres of land on
Conestoga creek, near Churchtown, in Caernarvon township,
Lancaster county, on. which he soon afterwards erected two
forges, called Windsor. In a short time, as we are informed
by James McCaa, " Branson sold out to the English com-
pany, who were Lynford Lardner, Samuel Flower, and Rich-
ard Hockley, Esqs., who held it [Windsor] for thirty years,
when, in 1773, David Jenkins, son of the original proprietor,
bought the half interest of the company for the sum of
£2,500, and in two years afterwards bought the other half for
the sum of £2,400, including the negroes and stock used on
the premises." Robert Jenkins inherited the Windsor forges
from his father David, and managed them with great success
for fifty years, dying in 1848. They have since been aban-
doned.

David Jenkins was a member of the Pennsylvania legisla-
ture in 1784. Robert Jenkins was a member of the legisla-

174 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ture in 1804 and 1805, and from 1807 to 1811 he was a mem-
ber of Congress. Mrs. Martha J. Nevin,. of Lancaster, who
died at her home near that city on January 13, 1890, at the
age of 85 years, was a daughter of Robert Jenkins.

Acrelius, narrating events which occurred between 1750
and 1756, mentions the enterprises of Nutt and Branson as
follows : " Each has his own furnace — Branz at Reading, Nutt
at Warwick. Each also has his own forges — Branz in Wind-
sor. Nutt supplies four forges besides his own in Chester
county." Nutt was not living at the time this was written,
but Acrelius's confounding of ownership is easily understood.
Nor is it probable that Branson operated Windsor forges in
1750. In that year he is reported as having then owned a
furnace for making steel in Philadelphia, and about 1743 it is
known that he sold .Windsor forges to the English company,
which was composed of his sons-in-law. William Branson
was himself an Englishman, who emigrated to Pennsylvania
about 1708 and became a Philadelphia merchant. He died
in 1760.

Continuing up the Schuylkill valley we find in 1751 a
forge called Mount Joy, at the mouth of East Valley creek,
on the Chester county side of the creek, one-third of which
was advertised for sale on the 4th of April of that year by
Daniel Walker, and the remaining two-thirds on the 26th of
September of the same year by Stephen Evans and Joseph
Williams. In Daniel Walker's advertisement it was stated
that the forge was " not so far distant from three furnaces."
Pennypacker, in his Annals of Phcenixville and its Vicinity,
says that the ancestor of the Walker family had come from
England with William Penn, and " at a very early date had
erected the small forge on the Valley creek." It is clear, how-
ever, that in 1751 Daniel Walker owned only one-third of the
forge, Evans and Williams owning the remainder. In 1757,
as we learn from Mrs. James, the forge was sold to John
Potts by the executors of Stephen Evans. In 1773 it was
owned by Joseph Potts, at which time it continued to be le-
gally designated as Mount Joy forge, although for some time
previously it had been popularly known as Valley forge. In
that year Joseph Potts sold one-half of the forge to Colonel
William Dewees. The pig iron used at Valley forge was sup-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 175

plied by Warwick furnace. In September, 1777, the forge was
burned by the British, and in December of the same year the
Continental army under Washington was intrenched on the
Montgomery county side of Valley creek, opposite to Valley
forge. General Washington's headquarters were established
at the substantial stone house of Isaac Potts, also on the
Montgomery county side of Valley creek. This house is still
standing. Isaac Potts was not, however, at this time an owner
of Valley forge.

After the Revolutionary war was ended Isaac and David
Potts, brothers, erected another forge, on the Montgomery
county side of Valley creek, and about three-eighths of a
mile below the old Mount Joy forge. A new dam was built,
which raised the water partly over the site of the old forge.
About the same time, and as early as 1786, a slitting mill
was built on the Chester county side of the stream by the
same persons. The new forge was called Valley forge. It
was in ruins in 1816. Other iron enterprises, of a repro-
ductive character, were established at the town of Valley
Forge early in the present century, and about 1818 cast steel
to be used in the manufacture of saws was made here for a
short time. About 1824 all the iron works at Valley Forge
were discontinued.

William Bird was an enterprising Englishman who es-
tablished several iron enterprises in Berks county before the
Revolution. A person of this name was a witness of Thomas
Rutter's will on November 27, 1728, when he appears to have
been a resident of Amity township, Berks county. In 1740
or 1741 William Bird built a forge on Hay creek, near its
entrance into the Schuylkill, where Birdsboro now stands.
Hopewell furnace, on French creek, in Union township, which
was in operation in 1883 but is now abandoned, is said by tra-
dition to have been built by William Bird in 1759, but it may
have been built by his son, Mark Bird, about 1765. As early
as 1760 William Bird built Roxborough furnace, in Heidel-
berg township, the name of which furnace was subsequently
changed to Berkshire. Dying in 1762 his estate was divided
between his widow and his six children. Berkshire furnace
fell to his son, Mark Bird, who sold it in 1764 to John Patton
and his wife Bridget, who had been the wife of William Bird.

176 THE MANUFACTURE OF

In 1789 Bridget Patton, again a widow, sold the furnace to
George Ege, who abandoned it about 1792, in which year he
built Reading furnace, on Spring creek, in Heidelberg town-
ship. On the site of Reading furnace two Robesonia fur-
naces were afterwards built, only one of which is now stand-
ing. Berkshire furnace manufactured shot and shells for the
Continental army. Mark Bird built a rolling and slitting
mill and a nail factory at Birdsboro about the time of the
Revolution. At Trenton, New Jersey, he manufactured wire.
He failed in business about 1788.

Charming forge, on Tulpehocken creek, in Berks county,
was built in 1749 by John George Nikoll, a hammersmith,
and Michael Miller. It was at first styled Tulpehocken Eisen
Hammer. Mr. Montgomery says that it was owned in 1763
by Henry William Stiegel, and that in 1774 it was purchased
by George Ege. About 1777 Mr. Ege purchased from Con-
gress the services of thirty-four Hessian prisoners, for the
purpose of cutting a channel through a bed of rock to sup-
ply with water-power a slitting mill which he had previously
erected. W. & B. F. Taylor, the last owners of the forge,
inform us that the mill-race here referred to was about 100
yards long, from 12 to 20 feet deep, and about 20 feet wide,
and that it was cut through a mass of solid slate rock as
smoothly as if done with a broad-axe. It was used until
1887, when the forge was abandoned. In 1889 the forge dam
was washed away by a freshet.

George Ege was for almost fifty years one of the most
prominent ironmasters in Pennsylvania. His possessions in
Berks county were at one time princely. He died in Decem-
ber, 1830. He was a native of Holland.

On William Scull's map of 1770 Moselem forge, on Maid-
en creek, Berks county, and Gulf forge, on Gulf creek, in Up-
per Merion township, Montgomery county, are noted. Helm-
stead, Union, and Pottsgrove were the names of other forges
existing as early as 1759 in the Schuylkill valley.

Oley furnace, on Furnace creek, a branch of Mana tawny
creek, about eleven miles northeast of Reading, was built
about 1765, probably by Dietrich Welcker, as we learn from
Mr. Montgomery. It was last in operation in 1886, but was
abandoned in 1887 and dismantled in 1888.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 177

There was a forge on Crum creek, about two miles above
the town of Chester, in Delaware county, which was built by
John Crosby and Peter Dicks about 1742. Peter Kalm, the
Swede, in his Travels into North America, written in 1748 and
1749, thus describes it: "About two English miles behind
Chester I passed by an iron forge, which was to the right
hand by the road -side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was
told. The ore, however, is not clug here, but thirty or forty
miles from hence, where it is first melted in the oven, and
then 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." The
oven here referred to was a blast furnace, which was prob-
ably located in the Schuylkill valley, the pigs for the forge
being boated down the Schuylkill and the Delaware and up
Crum creek. Acrelius says that the forge was owned at the
time of his visit by Peter Dicks, and that it had two stacks,
was worked sluggishly, and had "ruined Crosby's family."

As early as 1742 John Taylor built a forge on Chester
creek, in Thornbury township, Delaware county, where Glen
Mills now stand, which he called Sarum iron works. In 1746
he added a rolling and slitting mill. These works are said
to have been carried on with energy by Mr. Taylor until his
death in 1756. Acrelius, writing about the time of Mr. Tay-
lor's death, says : " Sarum belongs to Taylor's heirs, has three
'stacks, and is in full blast." Peter Kalm states that at Chi-
chester (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 conn-try they carry iron bars to this place
and ship them." This iron work was probably Sarum. Tay-
lor's rolling and slitting mill was the first in Pennsylvania.

John Taylor was descended from a family of the same
name in Wiltshire, England, and was a nephew of Jacob Tay-
lor, who was surveyor-general of Pennsylvania from 1707 to
1733. His business operations were upon an extensive and
varied scale, and included the manufacture of nails as well as
nail rods. The tradition is preserved by his descendants that
soon after the erection of the slitting mill his storekeeper, in
making one of his periodical visits to England to replenish

178 THE MANUFACTURE OF

his stock, surprised the Liverpool merchants by telling them
that he could buy nails at Taylor's mill at lower prices than
they quoted, a revelation which added weight to the clamor
then prevailing in England for the suppression of slitting
mills and similar iron establishments in America, and which
agitation resulted in the passage in 1750 of an act of Parlia-
ment which prohibited the further erection of such^works.
But, as this act did not prohibit the carrying on of works that
had already been erected, Taylor's slitting mill was kept in
operation after his death, first by his son John and afterwards
by the latter's son-in-law, Colonel Persifor Frazer. During the
Revolution the superintendence of the estate, including the
management of the iron works, devolved upon Mrs. Frazer.
The works were abandoned soon after the war, owing in part
to the industrial depression which then prevailed.

In 1750 there was a "plating forge to work with a tilt-
hammer " in Byberry township, in the northeastern part of
Philadelphia county, the only one in the province, owned b»y
John Hall, but not then in use. In the same year there
were two steel furnaces in Philadelphia, one of which, Ste-
phen Paschall's, was built in 1747 and stood on a lot on the
northwest corner of Eighth and Walnut streets ; the other fur-
nace was owned by William Branson, and was located near
where Thomas Penn " first lived, at the upper end of Chest-
nut street." These furnaces were fcfr the production of blister
steel. There appear to have been no other steel furnaces in
the province in 1750. Whitehead Humphreys was in 1770
the proprietor of a steel furnace on Seventh street, between
Market and Chestnut streets, in Philadelphia, where he also
made edge tools. In February, 1775, Uriah Woolman and B.
Shoemaker, " in Market street, Philadelphia," advertised in
Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet " Pennsylvania steel, manufac-
tured by W. Humphreys, of an excellent quality, and war-
ranted equal to English, to be sold in blister, faggot, or flat
bar, suitable for carriage springs." In Watson's Annals it is
stated that about the year 1790 John Nancarro, a Scotchman,
" had a furnace underground for converting iron into steel,"
located at the northwest corner of Ninth and Walnut streets,
Philadelphia. We have already referred to the Vincent steel
works in Chester county.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 179

CHAPTER XV.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PENNSYLVANIA
EXTENDED TO THE SUSQUEHANNA.

ELIZABETH FURNACE, near Brickersville, on Middle creek,
a tributary of Conestoga creek, in Lancaster county, was
built about 1750 by John Huber, a German. It was a small
furnace, and did not prove to be profitable. In 1757 Huber
sold it to Henry William Stiegel and his partners, who built a
new and larger furnace, which was operated until 1775, when,
through Stiegel's embarrassments, it passed into the hands of
Daniel Benezet, who leased it to Robert Coleman, who subse-
quently bought it and eventually became the most prominent
ironmaster in Pennsylvania at the close of the last century
and far into the present century. Bishop says that " some of
the first stoves cast in this country were made by Baron Stie-
gel, relics of which still remain in the old families of Lancas-
ter and Lebanon counties." Rev. Joseph Henry Dubbs, of
Lancaster, says that Stiegel's stoves bore the inscription :

Baron Stiegel ist der Mann
Der die Of en machen kann.

That is, " Baron Stiegel is the man who knows how to make
stoves." On the furnace erected by Huber the following le-
gend was inscribed :

Johann Huber, der erste Deutsche Mann
Der das Eisenwerk vollfuhren 'kann.

Freely translated this inscription reads : " John Huber is the
first German who knows how to make iron."

In 1885 a cast-iron plate, about two and a half feet square,
was found doing duty as the hearth of an old-fashioned fire-
place in Lancaster. It bore on the under side an inscription
which was not altogether legible, but the words " Stiegle "
and " Elizabeth," and the date " 1758 " were plainly legible.
The spelling of the Baron's name on this iron plate differs
from the usual spelling, but this may have been an error of
the pattern maker.

180 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Stiegel's ownership of Charming forge in 1763 has here-
tofore been mentioned. In that year he sold a half interest
to Charles and Alexander Stedman, of Philadelphia, and in
1773 the sheriff sold his remaining interest. Soon after 1760
he established a glass factory at Manheim, in Lancaster
county, called the American flint-glass factory, which was in
operation as late as 1774. He was a native of Germany, ar-
riving in this country on August 31, 1750, (old style,) in the
ship Nancy, from Rotterdam. He is buried in the Lutheran
graveyard near Womelsdorf, in Heidelberg township, Berks
county. In his last days he taught school in this township.

After Elizabeth furnace came into the possession of Robert
Coleman he cast shot and shells and cannon for the Conti-
nental army, and some of the transactions which occurred be-
tween him and the Government in settlement of his accounts
for these supplies are very interesting. On November 16,
1782, appears the following entry : " By cash, being the value
of 42 German prisoners of war, at £30 each, £1,260 ; " and on
June 14, 1783, the following : " By cash, being the value of 28
German prisoners of war, at £30 each, £840." In a foot-note
to these credits Robert Coleman certifies "on honour" that
the above 70 prisoners were all that were ever secured by
him, one of whom being returned is to be deducted when he
produces the proper voucher. Rupp, in his history of Lan-
caster county, mentions that in 1843 he visited one of the
Hessian mercenaries who was disposed of in this manner at
the close of the war for the sum of £80, for the term of
three years, to Captain Jacob Zimmerman of that county.

Elizabeth furnace continued in operation until 1856, when
it was abandoned by its owner, Hon. G. Dawson Coleman,
the grandson of Robert Coleman, for want of wood.

Among the persons who were employed at Windsor forges
under the English company wras James Old, a forgeman.
About 1765 he built Pool forge, on Conestoga creek, about a
mile below Windsor forges. Early records mention his own-
ership of Quitapahilla forge, near Lebanon, and other forges
in Chester, Lancaster, and Berks counties. In 1773 he was
a lessee of Reading furnace, on French creek. In 1795 he
conveyed Pool forge and about 700 acres of land attached
to it to his son, Davies Old.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 181

James Old was born in Wales in 1730. He emigrated to
Pennsylvania previous to September 7, 1754, when his name
for the first time appears in the register of Bangor church, at
Churchtown, Lancaster county, as the contributor of ,£5 to-
ward the erection of the church building. Soon after his set-
tlement at Windsor he married Margaretta Davies, a daugh-
ter of Gabriel Davies, of Lancaster county. Gabriel Davies is
supposed to have been the owner of the site on which Pool
forge was built. James Old died on May 1, 1809, in his 79th
year, and is buried in the graveyard of Bangor church. He
was one of the most enterprising and successful of early
Pennsylvania ironmasters. He had a brother William, .also
a forgeman, who had been employed at Windsor forges, and
who is said to have embarked in the manufacture of bar iron
on his own account. James Old was a member of the Penn-
sylvania legislature in 1791, 1792, and 1793.

William Old, a son of James Old, married Elizabeth Stiegel,
the daughter of Baron Stiegel. She is buried in the same rural
graveyard which holds the remains of her father. The late
Mrs. Henry Morris, of Philadelphia, was her granddaughter.

Robert Coleman was .in his younger days in the service
of James Old, and while with him at Reading furnace in 1773
he married his daughter Ann. Soon afterwards he rented
Salford forge, above Norristown, in Montgomery county, and
remained there three years. While at this forge he man-
ufactured chain bars, which were used to span the Delaware
river for the defense of Philadelphia against the approach of
the British fleet. From Salford forge he went to Elizabeth
furnace. He was born near Castle Fin, in Donegal county,
and not far* from the city of Londonderry, in Ireland, on the
4th of November, 1748. In 1764, when 16 years old, he left
Ireland for America. He died at Lancaster in 1825, at which
place he is buried. He was an officer in the Pennsylvania
militia during the Revolution, a member of the State con-
vention which framed the Constitution of 1790, a member of
the legislature, raised and commanded a troop of cavalry
during the whisky insurrection, was a Presidential elector-at-
large in 1792 and a Presidential elector for his Congressional
district in 1796, and for nearly twenty years was an associate
judge of Lancaster county.

182 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Cyrus Jacobs married Margaretta, another daughter of
James Old, about 1782. At that time Mr. Jacobs was living
at Churchtown, in the employment of James Old as a clerk
at Pool forge. He was at Gibraltar forge in Berks county in
1787 and at Hopewell forge in Lancaster county from 1789
to 1792. In 1793 he built Spring Grove forge, on Conestoga
creek, about three miles west of Pool forge, and in 1799 he
purchased Pool forge from Davies Old. Pool forge was active
until 1861 or 1862, and Spring Grove for^e until 1866, after
which years they were respectively abandoned. Cyrus Jacobs
was born in 1761, and died in 1830 at Whitehall, near Church-
town. He is buried in the graveyard of Bangor church.

Cornwall furnace, located within the limits of the now
celebrated Cornwall ore hills, on Furnace creek, in Lebanon
county, a few miles south of Lebanon, was built in 1742 by
Peter Grubb, whose descendants to this day have been prom-
inent Pennsylvania ironmasters. He was the son of John
Grubb, a native of Cornwall, in England, who emigrated to
this country in the preceding century, landing at Grubb 's
Landing, on the Delaware, near Wilmington, at which lat-
ter place he is buried. There is evidence that Peter Grubb
was already an ironmaster before he built Cornwall furnace,
and a tradition in his family says that in 1735 he built a
furnace or bloomary, most likely the latter, about five-eighths
of a mile from the site of Cornwall furnace. He died intes-
tate about 1754, and his estate, including the Cornwall ore
hills, descended to his two sons, Curtis and Peter Grubb, who
were afterwards colonels during the Revolution.

A few years after the death of Peter Grubb Acrelius wrote
of Cornwall furnace as follows : " Cornwall, or Grubb's iron
works, in Lancaster county. The mine is rich and abundant,
forty feet deep, commencing two feet under the earth's surface.
The ore is somewhat mixed with sulphur and copper. Peter
Grubb was its discoverer. Here there is a furnace which
makes twenty-four tons of iron a week and keeps six forges
regularly at work — two of his own, two belonging to Germans
in the neighborhood, and two in Maryland. The pig iron is
carried to the Susquehanna river, thence to Maryland, and
finally to England. The bar iron is sold mostly in the country
and in the interior towns ; the remainder in Philadelphia. It

IRON IN ALL AGES. 183

belongs to the heirs of the Grubb estate, but is now rented to
Gurrit & Co." This firm was doubtless Garret & Co.

During the Revolution Cornwall furnace cast cannon and
shot and shells for the Continental army. It was in opera-
tion as late as 1882, and is still in good condition. It is the
oldest charcoal furnace in the United States that is yet stand-
ing in its entirety. It has always used charcoal.

In 1785 Robert Coleman purchased a one-sixth interest in
Cornwall furnace and the ore hills. After that -year, through
successive purchases from the Grubbs, he obtained four addi-
tional sixths of the Cornwall property. His total purchases
of this valuable property remain in the hands of his descend-
ants at this day.

Martic forge, on Pequea creek, near the present village of
Colemanville, in Lancaster county, was built in 1755, and was
last in operation in 1883. Early in this century cemented,
or blister, steel was made here. Robert S. Potts, one of the
last owners of Martic forge, wrote us a few years ago as fol-
lows : " 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 forge,
but I have been unable to ascertain its history beyond 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 very retired spot, on a small stream far off from any pub-
lic road, doubtless with a view to prevent discovery by the en-
emy. The site is still visible." In 1769 Martic furnace and
forge were advertised for sale by the sheriff, together with
3,400 acres of land and other property, " all late the property
of Thomas Smith, James Wallace, and James Fulton." The
furnace was in existence about 1793, but was not then active.

Robert S. Potts, surviving partner of the firm of Davies
& Potts, which owned Martic forge for many years, died in
June, 1886. Negro slaves were employed from the beginning
in hammering iron at this forge, and it is a ourious fact that
negroes continued to be the principal workmen down to the
abandonment of active operations in 1883. The forge was

184 THE MANUFACTURE OF

finally abandoned in 1886. A long row of stone houses was
occupied by the negro workmen.

Hopewell forge, on Hammer creek, in Lancaster county,
about ten miles south of Lebanon, was built by Peter Grubb
soon after he built Cornwall furnace. Speedwell forge on the
same stream, near Brick ersville, in Lancaster county, was built
about 1750, also by Peter Grubb.

The iron industry of Pennsylvania crossed the Susque-
hanna at a very early period. Acrelius says that there was
a bloomary in York county in 1756, owned by Peter Dicks,
who had but recently discovered "the mine." In Gibson's
History of York County George R. Prowell, of York, locates
this bloomary in Jackson township, on a branch of Codorus
creek, where a forge known as Spring forge was built in 1770
to take the place of the bloomary. This forge was in opera-
tion as late as 1850, but was abandoned in that year. Spring
forge was a famous enterprise in its day, pig iron being sup-
plied to it from neighboring furnaces.

"" The researches of Mr. Prowell establish the fact that the
first blast furnace west of the Susquehanna was built in 1763
on Furnace creek, in West Manheim township, in the extreme
southwestern part of York county, by George Ross, a lawyer
of Lancaster, and Mark Bird, of Philadelphia. It was called
Mary Ann furnace. The building of the furnace was com-
menced in 1762. In 1763 the owners petitioned the court of
York county to open a public road from their 'furnace " late-
ly built at a great expense " to the road from the Conewago
settlement to Baltimore, and in 1766 they petitioned the court
to open a road from their furnace to the Monocacy road at
Frederick Eichelberger's tavern. The name of the firm which
owned the furnace was George Ross & Co. A great many
stoves were cast at this furnace, and during the Revolution
it cast many shot and shells. It finally went out of blast
about 1800. George Ross was one of the signers of the Dec-
laration of Independence.

In 1765 a forge was erected by William Bennett on the
south side of Codorus creek, near its junction with the Sus-
quehanna, in Hellam township, York county. In 1810 the
property, which had previously been known as Hellam forge,
was bought by Henry Grubb, and after that date the works

IRON IN ALL AGES. 185

were known as Codorus forge. In 1836 Mr. Grubb added a
charcoal furnace, which made pig iron for the forge. Pre-
vious to this time the forge was supplied with pig iron from
Cornwall and other neighboring furnaces. Bar iron was ship-
ped down the Susquehanna to tidewater and thence to Balti-
more and Philadelphia. James Smith, a signer of the Dec-
laration, owned these works during the Revolution, and they
were the cause of his financial ruin. The furnace ceased op-
erations in 1850. The forge had previously been abandoned.

Soon after 1762 a furnace and forge were built at Boiling
Springs, in Cumberland county, forming the nucleus of the
Carlisle iron works, which afterwards embraced a blast fur-
nace, a rolling and slitting mill, and a steel furnace. The
furnace and forge were built by a company composed of Jo-
seph Morris, John Morris, Samuel Morris, Amos Stuttle, and
John Armstrong, all of Philadelphia. The site of these en-
terprises, with some contiguous territory, was purchased from
John Bigby and Nathan Giles. Michael Ege owned them
after 1782. On a tax list at Carlisle Robert Thornburg & Co.
appear as the owners of a forge in 1767 to which 1,200 acres
of land were attached. We can not locate this forge. Pine
Grove furnace, in the same county, was built about 1770 by
Thornburg & Arthur. In 1782 Michael Ege became a part
owner of the furnace and subsequently sole owner. A forge
called Laurel, built in 1830, was attached to this furnace.
Both the furnace and forge are still in operation. Holly fur-
nace and forge, at Mount Holly Springs, in the same county,
are said to have been built about 1770 by a Mr. Stevenson.
The sites of both enterprises are stiM. visible. The forge was
in existence as late as 1848. The furnace was torn down in
1855 to give place to a paper mill. It was once owned by
Michael Ege.

No other iron works west of the Susquehanna are known
to have been established previous to the Revolution.

186 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XVI.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY IRON INDUSTRY
OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ALTHOUGH all the iron enterprises that were established
in Pennsylvania prior to the Revolution have not been men-
tioned in the preceding pages, those which have been men-
tioned indicate remarkable activity in the development of the
iron resources 1)f the province. Pennsylvania was almost the
last of the thirteen colonies to be occupied by permanent Eng-
lish settlements, and even after these settlements were made
a long time elapsed, very strangely, before the erection of iron
works was successfully undertaken. The manufacture of iron
was not fairly commenced in Pennsylvania until 1716, but
after this time it grew rapidly, and in the sixty years which
intervened before the commencement of hostilities with the
mother country probably sixty blast furnaces and forges and
several slitting mills and steel works were built, a rate of
progress which was not attained by any other colony in the
same period.

^ In his History of Netv Sweden Acrelius says : " Pennsyl-
vania, in regard to its iron works, is the most advanced of all
the American colonies." Many of these enterprises were up-
on a scale that would have done credit to a much later pe-
riod of the American iron industry. Cornwall and Warwick
furnaces were each 32 feet high, 21£ feet square at the base,
and 11 feet square at the top. Warwick was at first 9 feet
wide at the boshes, but was afterwards reduced to 7£ feet.
The forges were usually those in which pig iron was refined
into bar iron "in the Walloon style," as stated by Acrelius.
There were few ore bloomaries, and nearly all of these were
built at an early day. Acrelius- mentions only one of this
class — Peter Dicks' bloomary, in York county. The smaller
furnaces yielded only from 1-J- to 2 tons of pig iron daily, but
the larger ones yielded from 3 to 4 tons. Reading, Warwick,
and Cornwall furnaces each made from 25 to 30 tons of iron
per week. The furnaces were required to produce both pig

IRON IN ALL AGES. 187

iron and castings, the latter consisting of stoves, pots, kettles,
andirons, and similar articles. Of the product of the forges
Acrelius says that " one forge, with three hearths in good con-
dition and well attended to, is expected to give 2 tons a week."
The same writer says that " for four months in summer, when
the heat is most oppressive, all labor is suspended at the
furnaces and forges." The scarcity of water at this season
would also have much to do with this suspension, all of the
works being operated by water-power.

The German traveler, Schoepf, writing in 1783 of some
Pennsylvania furnaces and forges, makes the following men-
tion of Warwick and Reading furnaces : " Warwick furnace,
19 miles from Reading, near Pottsgrove, makes the most iron,
often 40 tons a week ; the iron ore lies 10 feet under the sur-
face. Reading furnace, not far from the former, is at present
fallen' into decay. Here the smelting would formerly often
continue from 12 to 18 months at a stretch."

At first large leather bellows were used exclusively to blow
both the forges and the furnaces, but afterwards, about the
time of the Revolution, wooden cylinders, or "tubs," were also
used. It was not until after the beginning of the present
century that steam-power was experimentally used to produce
the blast at either furnaces or forges in Pennsylvania, or in
any other State. Warwick and Cornwall furnaces, two of
the be'st furnaces of the last century, retained their long
leather bellows until the present century. Bishop says that
Warwick furnace " was blown by long wooden bellows pro-
pelled by water wheels, and when in blast made 25 or 30 tons
of iron per week." Reading furnace, a rival of both War-
wick and Cornwall, was also blown with leather bellows. The
Cornwall bellows was 20 feet 7 inches long, 5 feet 10 inches
wide across the breech, and 14 inches wide at the insertion of
the nozzle. Only one tuyere was used. The fuel used was
exclusively charcoal, and the blast was always cold. Schoepf
says that about 400 bushels of charcoal were required to pro-
duce from the ore a ton of hammered bar iron. He also says
that mahogany was used to make the moulds for the castings
at the furnaces, "because it warps and cracks the least."

The following notice of the workmen employed in making
iron in Pennsylvania twenty years prior to the Revolution,

188 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and of the prices of iron at the same period, is taken from
Acrelius, whose valuable history was printed in 1759, but
covers the period of his visit from 1750 to 1756.

The workmen are partly English and partly Irish, with some few Ger-
mans, though the work is carried on after the English method. The pig-
iron is smelted into " geese," (" goasar,") and is cast from five to six feet long
and a half foot broad, for convenience of forging, which is in the Walloon
style. The pigs are first operated upon by the finers, (smelters.) Then the
chiffery, or hammer-men, take it back again into their hands, and beat out
the long bars. The finers are paid 30s. a ton and the hammer-men 23s. 9d.
per ton ; that is to say, both together, £2 13s. 9d. The laborers are generally
composed partly of negroes, (slaves,) partly of servants from Germany or
Ireland bought for a term of years. A good negro is bought for from £30
to £40 sterling, which is equal to 1,500 or 2,000 of our dollars, koppar mynt.
Their clothing may amount to 75 dollars, koppar mynt, their food, 325 ditto
— very little, indeed, for the year. The negroes are better treated in Penn-
sylvania than anywhere else in America. A white servant costs 350 dollars,
koppar mynt, and his food is estimated at 325 dollars more, of the same
coinage. For four months, in summer, when the heat is most oppressive,
all labor is suspended at the furnaces and forges. Pig-iron is sold at the fur-
naces for from £3 6s. 8d. to £3 10s. per ton. Bar-iron at the forge brings £20
per ton, or 20s. per 100 pounds. It is sold dear, for six months credit is
given. Pig-iron is sold in Philadelphia at £5 per ton; bar-iron, in large
quantities, at from £14 to £16 per ton. It certainly seems remarkable that
the price is diminished after the long transportation to the city; but in
this people find their profit.

The iron-works of Pennsylvania lie mostly within forty miles of Phila-
delphia. The carriage for such a distance does not exceed twenty shillings
sterling per ton. As a set-off to this is reckoned the return freight upon
goods serviceable for the storehouse of the works.

The sheriff's advertisement for the sale of Martic furnace
and forge, in 1769, already referred to, and which we give
below, indicates very correctly the extent and character of
a representative Pennsylvania iron enterprise before the Rev-
olution.

By virtue of a writ to me directed, will be exposed to sale, by public
vendue, on the 30th day of January inst., at 10 o'clock in the morning, at
Martick Furnace, in Lancaster 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 the labourers, a good grist-mill, 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 convenient that one team can haul three loads a day ;
about 15 acres of good watered meadow, and as much adjoining may be

IRON IN ALL AGES. 189

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, cut 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 necessaries on the lowest
terms : And to be sold the same day, a very good plantation, containing 200
acres of patent land, clear of quitrent, adjoining the lands of Benjamin
Ashleman, the Widow Haiman, and others, in Conestogo township. Also
two slaves, one a Mulattoe man, a good forge man, the other a Negro man,
and three teams of horses, with waggons and gears, &c. All late the prop-
erty of Thomas Smith, James Wallace, and James Fulton ; seized and taken
in execution, and to be sold by JAMES WEBB, Sheriff.

Although the early furnaces and forges of Pennsylvania
were subject to vicissitudes which sometimes brought them
under the sheriff's hammer it is nevertheless true that their
owners were almost feudal lords, to whom their workmen and
their workmen's families looked for counsel and guidance in
all the affairs of life as well as for employment ; whose word
was law ; who often literally owned their black laborers, and
to whom white " redemptioners " were frequently bound for
a term of years to pay the cost of their passage across the
ocean ; who cultivated farms as well as made iron ; who
controlled the politics and largely maintained the churches
and schools of their several neighborhoods; who were cap-
tains and colonels of military organizations ; whose wives and
daughters were grand ladies in the eyes of the simple peo-
ple around them ; whose dwellings were usually substantial
structures, which were well furnished for that day and order-
ed in a style of liberality and hospitality. The authority ex-
ercised by these old Pennsylvania ironmasters was indeed ba-
ronial, but it was also patriarchaLx These pioneers were not
usually hard taskmasters ; if they paid only low wages they
frequently made only small profits themselves ; a tie of com-
mon interest, stronger than exists to-day under similar rela-
tions, bound master and workmen together. Whether the
workmen were their own masters or not they were virtually .
fixtures of the furnace or the forge. The ladies of the " big
house " disdained not their poorer sisters, but were often their
teachers, often tneir nurses and physicians, and always knew

190 THE MANUFACTURE OF

them by name and would recognize and greet them with
politeness. If daily toil was the common heritage of the
workmen and their* families it may be said that their wants
were few and their aspirations were humble. If there were
bare floors in the little log houses there was food and there
was warmth within their walls. The state of society *here
briefly described was not free from the dark spots which vice,
selfishness, and ignorance give to society every where^/but in
the main it was kindly, satisfying, and uneventful. The
years glided on with little change, and there was content on
every hand. Those "good old colony times," when Pennsylva-
nia was still a British province, and wrhen George the Second
or George the Third was king, are gone, and their mediaeval
flavor, their picturesqueness, and their placidity are also gone.
The great State makes iron now in a different way.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 191

CHAPTER XVII.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PENNSYLVANIA
AFTER THE REVOLUTION.

AFTER the Revolution the business of manufacturing
iron received a fresh impulse in the eastern part of Pennsyl-
vania and was further extended into the interior. Chester,
Lancaster, and Berks counties shared conspicuously in the
development at this period of the leading manufacturing
industry of the State. Many blast furnaces and forges and
a few rolling and slitting mills were built in these counties
before 1800, and after the beginning of the present century
this activity continued. A few of the earliest iron enterprises
which were established after the Revolution in these and in
other eastern and central counties will be mentioned, begin-
ning with the extreme eastern parts of the State.

The first iron enterprises in the Lehigh valley, which is
now one of the leading iron districts of the country, do not
appear to have been undertaken until after the beginning of
the present century. A bloomary at or near Jacobsburg, in
Northampton county, is said to have been built in 1805. It
was in operation as late as 1849. In 1808 William Henry,
of Nazareth, built a bloomary in Bushkill township, North-
ampton county, about three miles north of Nazareth, which
was started in 1809, making its first bar of iron on the 9th of
March in that year. In 1824 Matthew S. Henry, a son of
William Henry, built a furnace called Catharine, in Bushkill
township, about half a mile from his father's bloomary. It
made its first ton of pig iron on the 10th of May, 1825.

Hampton furnace, near Shimersville, in Lehigh county,
was built in 1809 by David Heimbach and two partners
named Wisselman and Cobelly. Mr. Heimbach soon pur-
chased the interest of his partners and continued to operate
the furnace until 1830, after which year it was owned and
operated by various persons. It was in blast as late as 1857.
In 1820 David Heimbach and his son David built Claris-
sa forge, on Aquashicola creek, in Carbon county. In 1827

192 THE MANUFACTURE OF

David Heimbach the younger built Clarissa furnace at the
same place, which he operated until his death in 1834. In
1837 the furnace and forge were both purchased by Joseph
J. Albright, Samuel P. Templeton, and Jacob Rice, by whom
their name was changed to the Ashland iron works. In 1841
the furnace and forge were both swept away by a freshet.
The furnace was not rebuilt, but the forge was rebuilt, burn-
ed down, again rebuilt, and finally abandoned about 1860.
On April 14, 1826, David Heimbach the elder purchased 129
acres of land on Pocopoco creek, near Weissport, in Carbon
county, and on this tract he built in 1827 a furnace and
forge, which he called New Hampton. The name of this
furnace and forge was changed to Maria in 1836 by William
Miller, who purchased them in that year. The furnace was
finally blown out in 1859. All these were charcoal enterprises.

In 1826 Stephen Balliet and Samuel Helfrick built Le-
high furnace, on Trout creek, at the foot of the Kittatinny
mountains, in Heidelberg (now Washington) township, in
Lehigh county. It was a small furnace, 30 feet high and 7
feet wide at the boshes. The furnace was operated by this
firm until the death of Mr. Helfrick in 1830. In 1832 Mr.
Balliet became its sole owner. He continued to operate the
furnace until his death in 1854. It has since been abandoned.
In 1828 Mr. Balliet and Mr. Helfrick built Penn forge, 'in
East Penn township, Carbon county, which was also jointly
operated by them until the death of Mr. Helfrick, and sub-
sequently by Mr. Balliet until his death. In 1837 Mr. Balliet
built Penn furnace, near the forge. About 1858 this furnace
was purchased by John Balliet, a son of Stephen Balliet, by
whom it was owned and operated until 1886, when it was
abandoned after the death of its owner in that year. It had
long been called East Penn furnace. It was the last charcoal
furnace in operation in the Lehigh valley.

In the collection of the foregoing details concerning the
enterprises of the Heimbachs and Stephen Balliet and Sam-
uel Helfrick we have had the assistance of Mr. Hungerford.

In 1836 a small rolling mill was built at South Easton,
in Northampton county, by John Stewart and others. This
was probably the first rolling mill in the Lehigh valley. John
Stewart died at Easton 'on April 13, 1885, in his 89th year.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 193

Two charcoal bloomaries were built in Carbon county
after the beginning of the anthracite era — Anthony's, near
Lehigh Gap, in 1843, and Pine Run, near Lehighton, in 1848.
A bloomary forge called Analomink was built near Strouds-
burg, in Monroe county, in 1829. In 1843 Day styled it a
" large forge." All the forges and ore bloomaries in the Le-
high valley have been abandoned. All the bloomaries, six in
number, were supplied with ore from Northern New Jersey.

The Cheltenham rolling mill, on Tacony creek, in Mont-
gomery county, one mile below Shoemakertown, was built
in 1790, probably by James and Maxwell Rowland. In 1849
and subsequently it was operated by Rowland & Hunt, mak-
ing boiler plates from blooms. It was abandoned in 1858.
At first it was used to slit nail rods. The firm of Rowland
& Hunt was composed of Mrs. Harriet M. Rowland, a widow,
and Mr. Alfred Hunt, Mrs. Rowland owning the mill.

Alfred Hunt, who had been the president of the Bethle-
hem Iron Company from its organization in 1860, died on
March 27, 1888, at the residence of his brother, Mordecai
Hunt, at Moorestown, New Jersey. Mr. Hunt was born of
Quaker parentage, at Brownsville, Pa., on April 5, 1817. He
was buried at Moorestown on March 31st.

In 1790 Benjamin Longstreth erected a rolling and slit-
ting mill at Phoenixville in Chester county, where the found-
ry now stands. This was the beginning of the present exten-
sive works of the Phoenix Iron Company.

Clemens Rentgen, a native of the Palatinate, in Germany,
emigrated in 1791 from the town of Zweibriicken, in Bava-
ria, to Kimberton, in Chester county, about six miles from
Phoenix ville, where he purchased a forge on French creek.
At Knauertown he unsuccessfully undertook to manufacture
steel. His forge was continued, and to it he added a small
rolling mill. His various enterprises were known as the
Pikeland works, Pikeland being the name of the township
in which they were situated.

On November 17, 1796, Mr. Rentgen obtained a patent for
an invention for "forging bolts or round iron" by a machine
which he described in the following words : " This machine
consists of a strong platform, of a given size, in which are
fixed two upright posts. In these posts is fixed an axle go-

194 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ing through the handle of a concave hammer or sledge, at
the extreme end of which is fixed a cog-wheel, whose cogs,
operating on the lever or handle of the said concave ham-
mer or sledge, cause it to operate upon a concave anvil upon
which the iron to be wrought is placed. The concavity of
this anvil is about one-eighth of the dimensions of that of
the said hammer or sledge. This machine is set in motion
by water or any other adequate power, by wheels operating
upon the said cog-wheel."

On June 27, 1810, Mr. Rentgen obtained a patent for
"rolling iron round, for ship bolts and other uses," by the
following method: "This machine consists of two large iron
rollers, fixed in a strong frame. Each roller has concavities
turned in them, meeting each other to form perfect round
holes, of from half inch to one and three-quarter inches or
any other size in diameter, through which rollers the iron is
drawn from the mouth of the furnace with great dispatch,
and the iron is then manufactured better and more even than
it is possible to forge it out. The force applied to the end
of these rollers is like that applied to mills."

The original patents granted to Mr. Rentgen have been
shown to us by his descendant, Mr. William H. Wahl, of
Philadelphia. We learn from this gentleman that Mr. Rent-
gen made some use of his patent anvil and hammer, and
that, before obtaining the patent in 1810 for his method
of rolling round iron, he built an experimental set of rolls,
which were replaced after the patent was granted by a per-
manent set, with which he rolled round iron as early as 1812
or 1813, some of which was for the Navy Department of the
United States Government. We do not learn that he ever
rolled bar iron, and it is not claimed that he used puddling
furnaces. The fact that a patent was granted to him as late
as June 27, 1810, for a machine to roll iron in round shapes
would seem to furnish conclusive proof that Cort's rolls had
not then been introduced into the United States.

In 1798 there were six furnaces and six forges in Berks
county ; in 1806 there were eight furnaces, twenty forges, and
one slitting mill ; and in 1830 there were eleven furnaces and
twenty-four forges.

Schuylkill county has had many forges, the earliest of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 195

which, near Port Clinton, appears to have been built in 1801.
Before 1806 a small charcoal furnace was built by Reese &
Thomas at Schuylkill Gap, near Pottsville. About that year
it was purchased by John Pott, the founder of Pottsville, who
tore it down and in 1807 erected Greenwood furnace and
forge. In 1832 there were in operation in Schuylkill county
Greenwood furnace and forge and Schuylkill, Brunswick, Pine
Grove, Mahanoy, and Swatara forges. Swatara furnace, six
miles from Pine Grove, and Stanhope furnace, still nearer to
Pine. Grove, were built between 1830 and 1840. About 1840
Jefferson furnace, at Schuylkill Haven, was built. All these
early enterprises in Schuylkill county have been abandoned.

In 1805 there were seven forges and one slitting mill in
Delaware county. Franklin rolling mill, at Chester, in this
county, was built in 1808. In 1828 there were in Delaware
county five rolling and slitting mills and several manufacto-
ries of finished iron products.

Federal slitting mill, on Buck run, about four miles south
of Coatesville, in East Fallowfield township, Chester county,
was built in 1795 by Isaac Pennock. The name of this mill
was afterwards changed to Rokeby rolling mill. It was used
/to roll sheet iron and nail plates and to slit the latter into
nail rods. It continued in operation until 1864, when it was
burned down and abandoned. During the latter part of its
history it rolled boiler plates. A paper mill now occupies
its exact site. About 1810 Mr. Pennock built Brandywine
rolling mill at Coatesville, which was purchased from him
about 1816 by Dr. Charles Lukens, who had been employed
at the Federal slitting mill. It is claimed that the first boiler
plates made in the United States were rolled at this mill by
Dr. Lukens. The puddling mill of the Lukens rolling mill
at Coatesville now occupies the site of the Brandywine mill.
In 1825, upon the death of Dr. Lukens, who had become the
owner of the Brandywine mill, the management of the mill
devolved upon his wife, Rebecca W. Lukens, by whom the
business was greatly extended and profitably conducted for
twenty years. After her death the name of the works was
changed to Lukens rolling mill as a tribute to her memory.

Mount Hope furnace, located on Big Chiquisalunga creek,
in Lancaster county, about ten miles south of Lebanon, was

196 THE MANUFACTURE OF

built in 1785 by Peter Grubb, Jr., and it is still owned by
members of the Grubb family. Colebrook furnace, on the
Conewago, in Lebanon county, seven miles southwest of
Cornwall furnace, was built by Robert Coleman in 1791 and
abandoned about 1860. Mount Vernon furnace, on the same
stream, about twenty-three miles west of Lancaster, and in
Lancaster county, was built in 1808 by Henry Bates Grubb.
A second furnace of the same name was built near the first
in 1831. Between the building of the first furnace and the
second a forge was built. All have been abandoned. Con-
owingo furnace, on the creek of the same name, and about
sixteen miles southeast of Lancaster, was built in 1809. About
1840 steam-power for driving the blast was successfully in-
troduced by its owner, James M. Hopkins, the boilers being
placed at the tunnel-head. Soon after the introduction of
steam at Conowingo furnace it' was successfully applied to
Cornwall furnace by the manager, Samuel M. Reynolds.

In 1786 there were seventeen furnaces, forges, and slitting
mills within a radius of thirty-nine miles of Lancaster. In
1838 there were 102 furnaces, forges, and rolling mills within
a radius of fifty-two miles of Lancaster. At this time Lan-
caster was the great iron centre of Eastern Pennsylvania.

In 1805 there were two forges in York county, one of which
was Spring forge and the other was Codorus forge. Castle
Fin forge, at first called Palmyra forge, on Muddy creek, in
York county, was built in 1810 by Joseph Webb and rebuilt
in 1827 by Thomas Burd Coleman, who also added a blister
steel furnace about 1832. Both have been abandoned. In its
day Castle Fin forge was a very prominent enterprise. In
1850 there were five furnaces and three forges in this county.
Since then its iron industry has sensibly' declined.

Major Samuel M. Reynolds died in Philadelphia on May
29, 1888. He was born at Lancaster on April 17, 1814.
His younger brothers were Admiral William Reynolds, of
the United States navy ; General John F. Reynolds, who fell
at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 ; and General James L. Rey-
nolds, a lawyer of Lancaster. Samuel M. Reynolds was for
many years manager of Castle Fin forge and farm, was also
for several years manager of Cornwall furnace, and was at
one time part owner of a charcoal furnace in Clarion county.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 197

He was a paymaster in the United States army during the
Rebellion. He was buried at Lancaster.

In 1826 Maria furnace was built in Hamiltonban town-
ship, Adams county, by James D. Paxton & Co., the firm con-
sisting of James D. Paxton, Thaddeus Stevens, (the " great
commoner,") John B. McPherson, and Thomas C. Miller.
In 1828 the last two members of the firm retired. Hon. Ed-
ward McPherson, of Gettysburg, writes us as follows concern-
ing this furnace, which continued to be operated by the re-
maining members of the original firm : " The Maria furnace
was worked, in all, about twelve years — from 1826 to 1838.
The first effort was to make stoves ; but the ores produced
plates which were so often brittle that the business proved
precarious and unremunerative. The new owners, in an ef-
fort to make other use of the Maria furnace iron, bought in
1830 the Caledonia property near Fayetteville, and built a
forge. They ran this till 1833, when it was burned on the
night of the 'falling stars.' They promptly rebuilt the forge,
and in 1837 built the furnace at Caledonia, in evident prep-
aration for the abandonment of the original works in Adams
county, which took place in 1838. This transfer was from
an inferior ore bank to a very superior ore bank, but in nei-
ther place was money made in amounts worth considering."
Chestnut Grove furnace, at Idaville, in Adams county, was
built in 1830 and is still active.

The first furnace in Franklin county was Mount Pleasant,
in Path valley, about three miles north of Loudon, which
was built in 1783 by three brothers, William, Benjamin, and
George Chambers. A forge was also erected by them about
the same time. The furnace was abandoned in 1834 and the
forge in. 1843. A furnace called Richmond, built in 1865,
now occupies the site of Mount Pleasant furnace. Sound-
well forge, on Conodoguinet creek, at Roxbury, sixteen miles
north of Chambersburg, was built in 1798 by Leephar, Crot-
zer & Co., and was active as late as 1857. Roxbury furnace,
at or near the same place, was built in 1815 by Samuel Cole,
and is now abandoned. Carrick forge, four miles from Fan-
nettsburg, was built in 1800, and was in operation as late
as 1856. Carrick furnace, which has been idle since 1884,
was built in 1828 by General Samuel Dunn and Thomas G.

198 THE MANUFACTURE OF

McCulloh. London furnace and forge were built about 1790
by Colonel James Chambers and abandoned about 1840.
Valley forge, near Loudon, in this county, was built in 1804.
A furnace of the same name was built near the forge at a
later day. Both have been abandoned. Mont Alto furnace,
in the same county, was built in 1807 by Daniel and Samuel
Hughes and is still active. Two forges of the same name,
about four miles from the furnace, were built in 1809 and
1810, and were abandoned in 1866. A foundry was built in
1815, a rolling mill in 1832, and a nail factory in 1835. In
1850 the nail factory was burned down, and in 1867 the
rolling mill was abandoned. The foundry and a new steam
forge close to the furnace are still active.

Caledonia forge, in Franklin county, on Conococheague
creek, ten miles southeast of Chambersburg, built in 1830 by
Stevens & Paxton, and Caledonia furnace, at the same place,
built in 1837 by the same firm, have already been noticed
in connection with Adams county. For many years before
1863 this furnace and forge were owned by Thaddeus Ste-
vens, in which year they were burned by the Confederates un-
der General Lee when on their march to Gettysburg. Frank-
lin furnace, in St. Thomas township, was built by Peter and
George Housum in 1828, was still running with charcoal in
1882, and has since been idle. There were a few other pio-
neer charcoal furnaces and forges in this county. Early in
the present century nails and edge tools were made in large
quantities at several establishments at Chambersburg and in
its vicinity. One of these, the Conococheague rolling mill
and nail factory, was built by Brown & Watson in 1814.
Two furnaces called Southampton, not far from Shippens-
burg, but in Franklin county, were built about 1830 and torn
down in 1854. A forge near them was torn down in 1849.

Liberty forge, at Lisburn, on Yellow Breeches creek, in
Cumberland county, was built in 1790 and abandoned in
1888. An older forge, long abandoned, is said to have been
built at Lisburn in 1783. A few other forges in this county
were built prior to 1800. Cumberland furnace, ten miles
southwest of Carlisle, on Yellow Breeches creek, is said to
have been built in 1794 by Michael Ege. It blew out per-
manently in 1854. Two furnaces, now abandoned, once stood

IRON IN ALL AGES. 199

near Shippensburg — Augusta, built in 1824, and Mary Ann,
built in 1826. Big Pond furnace, built in 1836, between Au-
gusta and Mary Ann furnaces, was burned down in 1880.

About 1806 Jacob M. Haldeman removed from Lancaster
county to New Cumberland, at the mouth of Yellow Breeches
creek, on the Susquehanna. He purchased a forge at this
place and added a rolling and slitting mill, which 'were op-
erated until about 1826, when they were abandoned. Fair-
view rolling mill, about a mile from the mouth of Conodo-
guinet creek, in Cumberland county, and two miles above
Harrisburg, was built in 1833 by Gabriel Heister and Nor-
man Callender, of Harrisburg, to roll bar iron. Jared Pratt,
of Massachusetts, leased it in 1836 and added a nail factory.

The Haldeman family has been prominent in the manu-
facture of iron in Pennsylvania during the whole of the
present century. A sketch of the family is herewith given.

Jacob Haldeman, the grandfather of Jacob M. Haldeman, was born Oc-
tober 7, 1722, in the canton of Neufchatel, Switzerland, and died December
31, 1784, in Rapho township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He was a
member of the Committee of Public Safety at the breaking out of the Rev-
olution. John Haldeman, son of Jacob, was born in 1753, and married
Maria Breneman, and they became the parents of Jacob M. Haldeman, who
was born in Manheim township, Lancaster county, on March 4, 1781. John
Haldeman was one of the boldest and most successful business men in the
State. About 1806, assisted by his father to the extent of some $30,000,
Jacob M. purchased the water power and forge at the mouth of Yellow
Breeches creek, Cumberland county, and established himself in the iron
business. In six years he had paid back the $30,000 borrowed from his
father. In 1810 he married Elizabeth E. Jacobs, who was born at Mount
Hope furnace, Lancaster county, on June 13, 1789. In 1830 he removed to
Harrisburg, where he died on December 15, 1857, aged 76 years, 9 months,
and 11 days. His wife died at the same place on March 18, 1884, aged 94
years, 9 months, and 5 days.

In 1836 Mr. Haldeman owned one-third of the Mary Ann and Augusta
furnaces, near Carlisle, the Carlisle bank owning the other two-thirds. He
was one of the incorporators of the Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Company, of
Columbia, in 1851. Mr. Haldeman's son, Jacob S., was United States Min-
ister to Sweden in 1862, and another son, Richard, who married a daughter
of General Simon Cameron, wras for several years a member of Congress.

Jacob M. Haldeman's younger brother, Henry, built in 1846, for his
sons, the late Dr. E. Haldeman and Professor S. S. Haldeman, a blast fur-
nace at Chickies, to use anthracite coal, now known as " Chickies No. 1,"
and operated by the Chickies* Iron Company. But little of the original
structure .now remains. Paris Haldeman, president of the Chickies Iron
Company, is the youngest son of Henry Haldeman.

200 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Michael Ege, a brother of George Ege, already mention-
ed, was for many years the most prominent ironmaster in the
Cumberland valley, owning, a short time before his death,
Pine Grove furnace, the Carlisle iron works, Holly furnace,
and Cumberland furnace. He died on August 31, 1815.

In 1840 there were eight furnaces and eleven forges
and rolling mills in Franklin county, and six furnaces and
five forges and rolling mills in Cumberland county.

In 1785 Henry Fulton established a " nailery " in Dau-
phin county, probably at Harrisburg. It is said to have been
" only a little remote from a smithy." In 1805 there were two
furnaces and two forges in this county. Oakdale forge, at
Elizabethville, appears to have been built in 1830. Victoria
furnace, on Clark's creek, was probably built in that year. In
1832 there were three forges and two furnaces in the county.
Emeline furnace, at Dauphin, was built about 1835. The
first furnace at Middletown in this county was built in 1833,
and the second .furnace was built in 1849 — both charcoal fur-
naces. Manada furnace, at West Hanover, was built in 1837
by E. B. & C. B. Grubb. The first rolling mill in the county
was the Harrisburg rolling mill, at Harrisburg, built in 1836.
The Pennsylvania steel works were commenced in 1865.

The manufacture of iron had a very early beginning in
the Susquehanna valley north of Harrisburg. About 1778 a
bloomary forge was built on Nanticoke creek, near the low-
er end of Wyoming valley, in Luzerne county, by John and
Mason F. Alden. Another bloomary forge was built in 1789
on the Lackawanna river, about two miles above its mouth,
by Dr. William Hooker Smith and James Sutton. Still an-
other bloomary forge was built in 1799 or 1800, on Roaring
brook, at Scranton, then known as Slocum's Hollow, by two
brothers, Ebenezer and Benjamin Slocum. All these bloom-
aries continued in operation until about 1828. Their prod-
ucts were taken down the Susquehanna in Durham boats.

Lackawanna county owes its present prominence in the
iron industry mainly to the courage, energy, and business
sagacity of two brothers, George W. and Selden T. Scranton,
and their cousin, Joseph H. Scranton, the two brothers com-
mencing operations in 1840 at Scranton and their cousin
joining them soon afterwards, their various enterprises cul-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 201

minating in the organization of the Lackawanna Iron and
Coal Company. The Lackawanna steel works, at Scranton,
were completed in 1875, and the Scranton steel works went
into operation in 1883.

Esther furnace, about three miles south of Catawissa, on
East Roaring creek, in Columbia county, was built in 1802
by Michael Bitter & Son, who " cast many stoves." In 1836
it was rebuilt by Trago & Thomas. In 1811 Francis Mc-
Shane established a small cut-nail factory at Will^esbarre
" and used anthracite coal in smelting the iron." Catawissa
furnace, near Mainville, in Columbia county, was built in
1815, and in 1824 a forge was built near the same place.
The furnace has long been abandoned, and the forge, called
Mainville forge, which has in late years been employed in
producing blooms for boiler plates, has also been abandoned.

A furnace was built in Lycoming county in 1820, four
miles from Jersey Shore, and named Pine Creek furnace. In
1832 it was owned by Kirk, Kelton & Co. A forge was added
to this furnace in 1831. Heshbon forge, on Lycoming creek,
five miles above its mouth, was built in 1828 and was soon
followed by other iron enterprises on the same stream. Wash-
ington furnace, at Lamar, on Fishing creek, in Clinton coun-
ty, was built in 1810 by John Dunlop, who added a forge in
1812. He was killed in a mine in 1815. In 1812 Nathan
Harvey built a forge at Mill Hall, in Clinton county, to which
a furnace was afterwards added. A furnace at Farrandsville,
near the mouth of Lick run, in this county, which was built
about 1834 to use coke, is said to have sunk, in connection
with a nail mill, foundry, and other enterprises, over half a
million dollars contributed by Boston capitalists. The fur-
nace was abandoned a few years after its erection.

In 1814 Peter Karthaus, a native of Hamburg, in Ger-
many, but afterwards a merchant of Baltimore, and Rev.
Frederick W. Geissenhainer, a native of Muhlberg, in Sax-
ony, built a blast furnace at the mouth of the Little Mo-
shannon, or Mosquito creek, in the lower end of Clearfield
county. The firm of Karthaus & Geissenhainer was dissolv-
ed on December 18, 1818. It had been organized in 1811
partly to mine and ship to eastern markets the bituminous
coal of Clearfield county. The furnace was operated with

202 THE MANUFACTURE OF

partial success with charcoal for several years. We shall re-
fer to Dr. Geissenhainer in a subsequent chapter.

The foregoing summary of early iron enterprises in the
Susquehanna valley could be very much extended by includ-
ing other charcoal furnaces and forges and several rolling
mills which were erected about 1820 and subsequently in the
counties of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Nor-
thumberland, Union, Snyder, Lycoming, and Clinton, most
of whic,h have been abandoned, but this is not necessary.
Our object in this chapter has been simply to preserve the
names, location, and date of erection of the earliest charcoal
iron enterprises which were established in Eastern and Cen-.
tral Pennsylvania outside of the Juniata valley after the
Revolution. Juniata valley will occupy the next chapter.

We may properly close this 'chapter by giving some in-
formation concerning the primitive method of transporting
i»on and other articles by pack-horses from Cumberland and
Franklin counties to the headwaters of the Ohio river at the
close of the last century and after the beginning of the pres-
ent century, when wagon roads were rare in Central and West-
ern Pennsylvania. The following account is taken from I. D.
Rupp's History of Cumberland County, published in 1848.

Sixty or seventy years ago 500 pack-horses had been at one time in
Carlisle, going thence to Shippensburg, Fort Loudon, and further west-
ward, loaded with merchandise, also salt, iron, etc. The pack-horses used
to carry bars of iron on their backs, crooked over and around their bodies ;
barrels or kegs were hung on each side of these. Colonel Snyder, of Cham-
bersburg, in a conversation with the writer in August, 1845, said that he
cleared many a day from $6 to $8 in crooking or bending iron and shoeing
horses for Western carriers at the time he was carrying on a blacksmith
shop in the town of Chambersburg. The pack-horses were generally led in
divisions of 12 or 15 horses, carrying about two hundred-weight each, all
going single file and being managed by two men, one going before as the
leader and the other at the tail to see after the safety of the packs. Where
the bridle road passed along declivities or over hills the path was in some
places washed out so deep that the packs or burdens came in contact with
the ground or other impeding obstacles, and were frequently displaced.
However, as the carriers usually traveled in companies, the packs were soon
adjusted and no great delay occasioned. The pack-horses were generally
furnished with bells, which wrere kept from ringing during the day drive,
but were let loose at night when the horses were set free and permitted to
feed and browse. The bells were intended as guides to direct their where-
abouts in the morning. When wagons were first introduced the carriers
considered that mode of transportation an invasion of their rights.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 203

Day, in his Historical Collections, says that " Mercersburg,
in Franklin county, was in early days an important point for
trade with Indians and settlers on the Western frontier. It
was no uncommon event to see there 50 or 100 pack-horses in
a row, taking on their loads of salt, iron, and other commod-
ities for the Monongahela country." In 1789 the crank for
the first saw-mill built in Ohio was carried by pack-horses
over the mountains to the Youghiogheny river, and thence
sent by water to its destination on Wolf creek, sixteen miles
from Marietta. It weighed 180 pounds, and was made in
New Haven, Connecticut, for the New England Ohio Com-
pany.

204 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE MANUFACTUKE OF CHARCOAL IRON IN THE
JUNIATA VALLEY.

As EARLY as 1767 a company called The Juniata Iron
Company was organized, doubtless by capitalists of Eastern
Pennsylvania, to search for iron ore in the Juniata valley,
and probably with the ulterior object of manufacturing iron.
Joseph Jacobs was the promoter and head of the company.
It was in existence from 1767 to 1771, during which time its
agent, Benjamin Jacobs, made for it some surveys and ex-
plorations and dug a few tons of iron ore, but where these op-
erations were conducted and who were the members of this
pioneer company some future antiquarian must discover.

The first iron enterprise in the Juniata valley was Bedford
furnace, on Black Log creek, below its junction with Shade
creek, at Orbisonia, in Huntingdon county, which was soon
followed by Bedford forge, on Little Aughwick creek, four
miles southwest of the furnace. The furnace and forge de-
rived their name from Bedford county, which then embraced
Huntingdon county, the latter county not having been organ-
ized until 1787. George Ashman was the leading spirit in
originating and promoting these enterprises. He was a large
owner of land at Orbisonia in 1780, and at this time or soon
afterwards he became interested in the iron-ore deposits which
had been discovered on his property. On November 8 and 9,
1786, he entered into an agreement with Charles Ridgely,
Thomas Cromwell, and Tempest Tucker, all apparently of
Washington county, Maryland, for the sale to them of " three-
fourths of two tracts of land, called Bedford and Black Log
tracts," upon which a saw mill and grist mill had been built,
retaining the other fourth himself, upon which tracts it was
agreed that " an iron works " should be built. The erection
of a furnace appears to have been immediately undertaken.
Mr. Tucker died in 1788, and was the first man buried at Or-
bisonia. The company thereafter consisted of Edward Ridge-
ly, (son of Charles Ridgely,) Thomas Cromwell, and George

IRON IN ALL AGES. 205

Ashman. The furnace was probably completed in 1788. It
was certainly in operation before 1790, as on the 2d day of
March of that year Hugh Needy entered into an agreement
with the company to deliver twenty-eight ten-gallon kettles
and seven Dutch ovens, the whole weighing 12 cwt., 3 qrs.,
and 21 Ibs., to Daniel Depue, " on or near the Monongahela
river, near Devor's Ferry, in eight days ensuing the date
hereof." These articles were carried on pack-horses. The
forge appears to have been built in 1791, as is shown by an
itemized statement of iron made by the company from " the
time the forge started" in that year until October 12, 1796,
the product in these six years being 497 tons, 8 cwt., 2 qrs.,
and 26 Ibs.

For the foregoing details we are indebted to C. R. McCar-
thy, Esq., of Saltillo, Huntingdon county. The following ad-
ditional details are gathered from other sources. The furnace
was of small capacity and constructed partly of wood. When
it was not engaged in producing castings it made from eight
to ten tons of pig iron weekly. The forge made horseshoe
iron, wagon tire, harrow teeth, etc. Stoves as well as other
articles were cast at the furnace. At the Philadelphia Ex-
hibition of 1876 a stove-plate cast at this furnace in 1792
was exhibited. Bar iron made at the forge was bent into the
shape of the letter U, turned over the backs of horses, and in
this manner taken by bridle-paths to Pittsburgh. Bar iron
and castings from Bedford furnace and forge, and from later
iron works in the Juniata valley, were also taken down the
Juniata river in arks, many of which descended to Middle-
town on the Susquehanna, whence the iron was hauled to
Philadelphia or sent in arks down the Susquehanna to Bal-
timore.

Bedford furnace and forge were abandoned early in the
present century. Three other charcoal furnaces, all now
abandoned, have since been built on or near its site. One of
these was Rockhill furnace, on Black Log creek, three-quar-
ters of a mile southeast of Orbisonia, built in 1830. It was
in operation in 1872, but in the following year it gave place
to two coke furnaces built by the Rockhill Iron and Coal
Company.

Centre furnace, on Spring creek, in Centre county, was the

206 THE MANUFACTURE OF

second furnace in the Juniata valley. It was built in the
summer of 1791 by Colonel John Patton and Colonel Samuel
Miles, both Revolutionary officers. The first forge in Centre
county was Rock forge, on Spring creek, built in 1793 by
General Philip Benner. A rolling and slitting mill, nail fac-
tory, another forge, etc., were soon added. General Benner
had made iron at old Coventry forge after the Revolution.
He died at Rock on July 27, 1832, aged 70 years. In 1852
the extensive works which he had established were aban-
doned. In 1795 Daniel Turner built Spring Creek forge, and
Miles, Harris & Miles built Harmony forge, also on Spring
creek. In 1798 John Dunlop built Belief onte forge, which
was recently operated by Valentines & Co., and in 1802 he
built Logan furnace, three miles south of Bellefonte. In 1824
Valentines & Thomas added a rolling mill to the Bellefonte
forge. Tussey furnace, in Ferguson township, was built in
1810 by General William Patton, son of Colonel Patton. In
1810 Roland Curtiii, a native of Ireland, and father of Gover-
nor Andrew G. Curtin, in company with Moses Boggs erected
Eagle forge, on Bald Eagle creek, about five miles from Belle-
fonte, Boggs remaining a partner only a short time. In 1818
he built Eagle furnace near Eagle forge. In 1830 a small
rolling mill was added, for the manufacture of bar iron and
nails, and about the same year he built Martha furnace, on
Bald Eagle creek, which has long been abandoned. His other
works are still in operation and are owned by his children
and grandchildren. He died in 1850, aged 86 years. In
1817 Hardman Philips, an enterprising Englishman, erected
a forge and screw factory at Philipsburg, the latter being one
of the first of its kind in this country. Cold Stream forge, in
Rush township ; Hecla furnace, near Hublersburg ; Hannah
furnace, about ten miles northeast of Tyrone ; and Julian
furnace, on Bald Eagle creek, all in Centre county, were built
between 1825 and 1840. In 1829 and 1833 two furnaces were
built at Howard by Harris, Thomas & Co., to which a roll-
ing mill was added in 1840. These works have been owned
and operated by Bernard Lauth, together with a forge which
was built in 1879, but they are now operated by a new com-
pany. Both furnaces have been abandoned.

Barree forge, on the Juniata, in Huntingdon county, was

IRON IN ALL AGES. 207

built about 1794 by Bartholomew & Dorsey, to convert the
pig iron of Centre furnace into bar iron. Huntingdon fur-
nace, on Warrior's Mark run, in Franklin township, was
built in 1796, but after one or two blasts it was removed
a mile lower down the stream. The furnace was built for
Mordecai Massey^nd Judge John Gloninger by George An-
shutz, who in 1808 became the owner of one-fourth of the
property. At the same time George Shoenberger bought a
one-fourth interest. Before 1808 Martin Dubbs had become
a part owner. A forge called Massey, on Spruce creek,
connected with Huntingdon furnace, was built about 1800.
The furnace has been silent since 1870. Tyrone forges, on
the Juniata, were built by the owners of Huntingdon furnace,
the first of the forges in 1804. Gordon, in 1832, in his Gazet-
teer of the State of Pennsylvania, stated that these forges, with
a rolling and slitting mill and nail factory attached, formed
" a very extensive establishment," owned by Messrs. Glonin-
ger, Anshutz & Co. " The mill rolls about 150 tons, 75 of
which are cut into nails at the works, 50 tons are slit into
rods and sent to the West, and about 25 tons are sold in
the adjoining counties."

Juniata forge, at Petersburg, was built about 1804 by
Samuel Fahnestock and George Shoenberger, the latter be-
coming sole owner in 1805. George Shoenberger was born in
Lancaster county, and during the closing years of the last
century settled on Shaver's creek, in Huntingdon county, as
did also his brother Peter. The town of Petersburg was laid
out in 1795 by Peter Shoenberger. In 1800 Peter sold to his
brother George the Petersburg tract of land. George Shoen-
berger died in 1814 or 1815. His only son, Dr. Peter Shoen-
berger, succeeded to the ownership of his iron enterprises.

Coleraine forges, on Spruce creek, were built in 1805 and
1809 by Samuel Marshall. There have been many forges
on this creek, none of which are now in operation. Union
furnace, in Morris township, and Pennsylvania furnace, on
the line dividing Huntingdon from Centre county, were built
soon after 1810 ; the latter was in operation as late as 1888,
using coke. About 1818 Reuben Trexler, of Berks county,
built a bloomary called Mary Ann, in Trough Creek valley,
and about 1821 he added Paradise furnace. In 1832 John

208 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Savage, of Philadelphia, built a forge near Paradise furnace,
which is said to have been the first forge in this country
"that used the big hammer and iron helve on the English
plan." There were many other early furnaces and forges in
Huntingdon county, but the earliest have been mentioned.

Etna furnace and forge, on the Junfata, in Catharine
township, Blair county, were built in 1805 by Canan, Stewart
& Moore. The furnace was the first in Blair county. Cove
forge, on the Frankstown branch of the Juniata, was built
between 1808 and 1810 by John Royer, who died at Johns-
town in 1850, aged about 71 years. Allegheny furnace was
built in 1811 by Allison & Henderson, and was the second
furnace in Blair county. In 1835 it was purchased by Elias
Baker and Roland Diller, both of Lancaster county. The
next furnace in Blair county was Springfield, built in 1815
by John Royer and his brother Daniel. Springfield furnace
and Cove forge were for many years owned and operated by
John Royer, son of Daniel, but are now idle, the furnace
having been last in blast in 1885. John Royer was born in
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and died at Cove forge on
November 21, 1885, aged 88 years. The next furnace in this
county was Rebecca, built in 1817. It was the first furnace
erected by Dr. Peter Shoenberger, who afterwards became
the most prominent ironmaster in Pennsylvania. The doctor
was born at Manheim, Lancaster county, in 1781 ; died at
Marietta, Lancaster county, on June 18, 1854, aged 73 years ;
and was buried in Laurel Hill cemetery, Philadelphia.

Elizabeth furnace, near Antestown, in Blair county, is
said to have been the first furnace in the country to use gas
from the tunnel-head for the production of steam. The fur-
nace was built in 1832, and the improvement was patented
about 1840 by Martin Bell, the owner of the furnace.

A furnace and forge were built at Hopewell, in Bedford
county, about the year 1800, by William Lane, of Lancaster
county. On Yellow creek, two miles from Hopewell, he
built Lemnos forge and slitting mill in 1806, which were in
operation as late as 1833. In 1841 Loy & Patterson built
Lemnos furnace, on the same creek, two miles' west of Hope-
well. Bedford forge, on Yellow creek, was built by Swope
& King in 1812. Elizabeth furnace was built at Woodbury,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 209

in Bedford county, in 1827, by King, Swope & Co. In 1845
it was removed to Bloomfield, Blair county, but it is now
abandoned. In 1840 Bedford county, which then embraced
Fulton county and a part of Blair county, contained nine
furnaces and two forges. Hanover furnace and forge, nine
miles below McConnellsburg, in Fulton county, were known
as the Hanover iron works. The forge was built in 1822 by
John Doyle and the furnace in 1827 by John Irvine. Both
were abandoned about 1850. There are now no iron enter-
prises in Fulton county.

The account books of the Hanover iron works from 1831
to 1833 have recently been discovered. Among the frequent
charges in them against the workmen is whisky, in quan-
tities of from one to five gallons, at 33-J cents per gallon.
Flour is charged at $3.50 per barrel, and boarding at $1.40
per week ; James Downs is charged with $6, " paid him to git
married."

Many other charcoal furnaces and forges and a few roll-
ing mills were built in the upper part of the Juniata valley
before 1850. In 1832 there were in operation in Hunting-
don county, which then embraced a part of Blair county,
eight furnaces, ten forges, and one rolling and slitting mill.
Each of the furnaces yielded from 1,200 to 1,600 tons of pig
iron annually. In the same year an imperfect list enumer-
ated eight furnaces and as many forges in Centre county.
In 1850 there were in Huntingdon, Centre, Mifflin, and Blair
counties (the last formed out of Huntingdon and Bedford in
1846) forty-eight furnaces, forty-two forges, and eight rolling
mills, nearly all of which were in Huntingdon and Centre
counties. Most of these enterprises have been abandoned.

Mr. Hungerford advises us that the earliest information
obtainable of the erection of any iron works in Mifflin coun-
ty is found ki the court records of that county for August,
1795. At a court held in that month a petition was present-
ed asking for a road " from Freedom forge, thence the near-
est and best way to the river Juniata near to, or at, McClel-
land's landing." The forge stood on the present site of
the Logan iron and steel works, at Logan, on Kishacoquillas
•creek. The landing mentioned was at the mouth of the
creek, now within the limits of the borough of Lewistown1.

210 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The forge was erected by William Brown and William Ma-
clay. It was sold in 1812 to Miller, Martin & Co., who be-
gan the erection of a furnace in that year. On November
12, 1812, they advertised in the Juniata Gazette for workmen,
" as they are engaged in building a furnace at Freedom
forge." This furnace stood where the present Emma furnace
was built at Logan in 1867, and the power was obtained from
Hungry run, which enters Kishacoquillas creek at that place.
Miller, Martin & Co. had many successors. The forge built
in 1795 was continued until 1878, when it was torn down by
the Logan Iron and Steel Company. The first furnace was
torn down about 1820, and upon its site was erected a new
furnace, which was abandoned about 1830. In 1847 the forge
property, consisting of 40,000 acres of land, was sold to the
Freedom Iron Company. It is now owned by the Logan Iron
and Steel Company. The Standard steel works are also lo-
cated at this place. In 1832 there were three furnaces and
one forge in Mifnin county, and in 1850 there were five fur-
naces and two forges.

In June, 1797, General William Lewis, of Berks county,
began the purchase of lands on Brightsfield run and the Ju-
niata river, in Mifnin county, intending to build a furnace.
In a mortgage dated June 2, 1798, the furnace tract and ore-
bank lot are mentioned. In the assessment of 1798 William
Lewis is assessed on 430 acres of land and a furnace and as
an ironmaster. The furnace was operated by James Blaine,
of Cumberland county, a son-in-law, and was known as Hope
furnace. In 1804 General Lewis built Mount Vernon forge
on Cocalamus creek, below Millerstown, in Perry county,
which was operated with the furnace. The forge appears to
have been abandoned in 1817. In that year the furnace was
operated by Blaine, Walker & Co., who continued in busi-
ness for several years. It was subsequently operated by vari-
ous owners until 1860, when it was abandoned.

There was a very early forge in Juniata county. It was
built in 1791 on Licking creek, two miles west of Mifflin-
town, by Thomas Beale and William Sterrett. It had two
hammers and was in operation about four years. The pig
iron for this forge was obtained mainly from Centre furnace,
but some was brought from Bedford furnace.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 211

Juniata furnace, three miles from Newport, was built in
1808 by David Watts, of Carlisle. In 1832 it was owned
by Captain William Power. A forge called Fio was built on
Sherman's creek, about four miles from Duncannon, in 1829,
by Lindley & Speek. A forge was also built at Duncannon
in the same year by Stephen Duncan and John D. Mahon.
Duncannon rolling mill was built in 1838 by Fisher, Morgan
& Co. Montebello furnace, at Duncannon ; Oak Grove, four
miles from Landisburg ; Caroline, at Baileysburg ; and Perry,
four miles from Bloomfield, all in Perry county, were built
between 1830 and 1840. All of the charcoal iron enterprises
in Perry county have been abandoned.

Steel (doubtless blister steel) was made at Caledonia, near
Bedford, for several years before the beginning of this cent-
ury by William McDermett, who was born near Glasgow, in
Scotland, and came to this country at the close of the Rev-
olutionary war. Mr. McDermett's works continued in suc-
cessful operation for about ten years, when financial reverses
caused their abandonment. A few years later he removed
to Spruce creek, in Huntingdon county, and there ended his
days about 1819. Josephine, one of his daughters, married
in 1820 David R. 'Porter, then a young ironmaster on Spruce
creek but afterwards Governor of Pennsylvania. About 1818
David R. Porter and Edward B. Patton built Sligo forge,
on Spruce creek. After Mr. McDermett's removal to Spruce
creek a forge and steel works, called Claubaugh, were built
on the creek by his nephew, Thomas McDermett, at which
steel was made by the method that had been in use at Caledo-
nia. These works became the property of Lloyd, Steel & Co.
about 1819, by whom they were abandoned in a few years.

Among the persons who have been prominent in the
manufacture of iron in the Juniata valley special reference
may be made, in addition to those already mentioned, to
Henry S. Spang, John Lyon, Anthony Shorb, Andrew Gregg,
George Schmucker, and General James Irvin.

Much of the iron made in the Juniata valley during the
palmy days of its iron industry was sold at Pittsburgh, first
in the form of castings, afterwards in both pigs and bars, and
finally chiefly in the form of blooms. Before the comple-
tion of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Portage Railroad it

212 THE MANUFACTURE OF

was transported with great difficulty. Bar iron from Centre
county was at first carried on the backs of horses to the Clar-
ion river, and was then floated on boats and arks to Pitts-
burgh. Pig and bar iron from Huntingdon county were
hauled over the Frankstown road to Johnstown, and thence
floated to Pittsburgh by way of the Conemaugh river. Sub-
sequently blooms were sent to Pittsburgh from Huntingdon
county by wagon. "Juniata iron" was also largely sold in
Eastern markets, the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers fur-
nishing an outlet before the building of the Pennsylvania
Canal. It was noted throughout the country for its excellence.
We are indebted to Isaac Craig, Esq., of Allegheny City,
for a copy of the following advertisement, which appeared in
a Pittsburgh newspaper in 1813. The advertiser was then
operating the first rolling mill built at Pittsburgh.

WAGGONS WANTED. — The subscriber wishes to employ from 30 to 50
waggons, for three or four trips to the ironworks near Belfont, Centre
county ; and would be anxious to engage 20 or 30 out of the above number
to haul by the year. A very considerable advance will be made on the
former rate of carriage. This added to the low price of feed this season
holds out greater inducements to embark in this business than at any for-
mer period. Applications to me here ; on which I will give my orders, and
will engage to pay for any delay which may arise to the waggoners at the
different forges. C. COWAN. September 9, 1813.

In 1828, before the Pennsylvania Canal was completed,
the hauling of blooms by wagon was still an important busi-
ness. In the Blairsville Eecord for January 31, 1828, Mul-
hollan & McAnulty advertise for teams to haul blooms from
Sligo iron works, in Huntingdon county, to. Blairsville, offer-
ing $15 per ton. After the canal was finished the shipment
of Juniata blooms to Pittsburgh greatly increased.

SINCE the preceding chapters were printed we have ob-
tained additional information from Mr. George R. Prowell
concerning William Bennett's iron enterprise in Hellam town-
ship, York county, mentioned on page 184. Mr. Bennett
built a furnace as well as a forge on Codorus creek about
1765. The furnace was in operation during the Revolution,
as is proved by official documents which are still preserved
at York. Iron ore was probably obtained on the opposite
side of the Susquehanna river.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 213

CHAPTER XIX.

THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA.

THE earliest mention we have found of the existence of
iron ore in Western Pennsylvania occurs in the careful in-
vestigations of Mr. Austin N. Ilungerford into the early his-
tory of Fayette county. We quote from him the following
interesting particulars. It will be seen that the facts cited
antedate the final settlement, on September 23, 1780, of the
boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia.

There is a tradition that the first discovery of iron ore west of the Al-
legheny mountains was made by John Hayden in the winter of 1789-90.
This 'statement has been so often made in the writings of Judge Veech and
others without contradiction that it has come to be almost universally re-
garded as entirely authentic. That such is not the case, however, and that
iron ore was known to exist in the valley of the Youghiogheny at least nine
years before the alleged first discovery by Hayden, is proved by an entry
found in the First Survey Book of Yohogania county, Va., and made a cent-
ury ago by Col. William Crawford, then surveyor of the said county. The
following is a copy of the entry :

"July 11, 1780. No. 32.— State Warrant.— Benjamin Johnston produced
a State Warrant from the Land Office for five hundred acres of land, dated
the 12th day of May, 1780— No. 4926. Sixty acres thereof he locates on a
big spring in the Allegany and Laurel Hills, on the waters of the Mononga-
lia— and one hundred and fifty acres of sd Warrant he locates on lands of sd
Hills, where an old deadening and Sugar Camp was made by Mr. Chr. Har-
rison, situate on the waters of Yohogania, to include a Bank of Iron Ore."

Yohogania county, as established by the Virginia Legislature in 1776,
included all the northern and northeastern part of the present county of
Fayette. The Survey Book referred to is still in existence in a good state of
preservation, and in possession of Boyd Crumrine, Esq., of Washington, Pa.

The precise location of the tract referred to as including the ore bank
is not known, nor is it material. The quotation is given above merely to
disprove the long-accepted statement that tlie existence of iron ore west of
the Alleghenies was unknown prior to 1789.

The Hon. James Veech, to whom reference is above made,
published in the Pittsburgh Commercial, on March 29, 1871,
an account of the discovery of " blue lump " iron ore by
John Hayden, of Haydentown, in Fayette county, in 1790,
from which he made in a smith's fire a piece of iron " about

214 THE MANUFACTURE OF

as big as a harrow-tooth." Taking the sample on horseback
to Philadelphia he enlisted his relative, John Nicholson, of
that city, then State Comptroller, in a scheme for building a
furnace and forge at Haydentown, on George's creek, about
seven miles south of Uniontown. Mr. Hungerford says that
a bloomary was built by this firm in 1792 but that it nev-
er built a furnace. Before the bloomary was built William
Tumbull and Peter Marmie, with Colonel John Holker as
a silent partner, all of Philadelphia, built a furnace and a
forge on Jacob's creek, a mile or two above its entrance into
the Youghiogheny river. The court records of Fayette coun-
ty mention " the furnace on Jacob's creek " in June, 1789, but
it had not then been put in blast. It was first blown in on
November 1 , 1790, and the iron was tried the same day in the
forge. The furnace and forge were on the Fayette county
side of the creek, and were called the Alliance iron works.
The furnace was fitfully operated until 1802, when it finally
went out of blast. The stack is still standing but in ruins.
This was the first furnace west of the Allegheny mountains.
An extract from a letter written by Major Isaac Craig, deputy
quartermaster-general and military storekeeper at Fort Pitt,
to General Knox, dated January 12, 1792, says : "As there is
no six-pound shot here I have taken the liberty to engage
four hundred at Turnbull & Marmie's furnace, which is now
in blast." This shot was required for General Wayne's ex-
pedition against the Indians in 1792.

Union furnace, on Dunbar creek, four miles south of
Connellsville, was built by Isaac Meason in 1790 and was
put in blast in March, 1791. It was succeeded in 1793 by
a larger furnace of the same name, built near the same site
by Isaac Meason, John Gibson, and Moses Dillon. An adver-
tisement in the Pittsburgh Gazette, dated April 10, 1794, men-
tions that Meason, Dillon & Co. have for sale " a supply of
well-assorted castings, which they will sell for cash at the
reduced price of X35 per ton ($93.33)." There was a forge
connected with this furnace, called Union forge. Afterwards
another forge was built by Mr. Meason at the mouth of Dun-
bar creek. Another of Mr. Meason's enterprises was Mount
Vernon furnace, on Mountz's creek, eight miles east of its
mouth, built before July, 1800, and possibly as early as 1795.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 215

It was rebuilt in 1801. It is still standing, but has long been
abandoned. Dunbar furnace now stands near the site of the
original Union furnace.

Spring Hill furnace, on Ruble's run, in Fayette county,
within three miles of Cheat river, in West Virginia, and
near its junction with the Monongahela, was built in 1794 by
two Welshmen, Benjamin and Robert Jones. This furnace
was in operation until 1881, but in 1883 it was dismantled.
About 1797 Old Laurel furnace, on Laurel run, in Dunbar
township, was built by Joshua Gibson and Samuel Paxson.
This furnace passed into the possession of Reuben Mochabee
and Samuel Wurtz before 1800, who added Hampton forge,
located on Indian creek, half a mile from the Youghiogheny
river. Both the furnace and forge were kept in operation for
a number of years. Pine Grove forge, in George's township,
was built a short time prior to 1798 by Thomas Lewis.

Prior to 1794 Jeremiah Pears built a forge at Plurnsock,
in Menallen township, which was the forerunner of a rolling
and slitting mill built by Mr. Pears at the same place before
1804. In 1805 the rolling and slitting mill and the remain-
der of Mr. Pears's property were sold by the sheriff. This
was probably the first rolling and slitting mill erected west
of the Alleghenies. In 1815 the Plumsock property passed
into the hands of Isaac Meason. In 1797 Mr. Pears built Old
Redstone furnace, in South Union township, Fayette county.
The dilapidated stack of this furnace is still standing.

In 1797 John Hayden built Fairfield furnace, on George's
creek. John and Andrew Oliphant and Nathaniel Breading
bought an interest in this furnace in 1798, and in a few
years the Oliphants became its sole owners. Fairchance fur-
nace, on George's creek, six miles south of Uniontown, was
built in 1804 by John Hayden. J. & A. Oliphant bought it
about 1805. It was rebuilt two or three times and kept in
operation until 1887, when it was abandoned and torn down.
A new Fairchance furnace was built near the site of the old
one in 1887. The Oliphants built Sylvan forges, on George's
creek, below Fairfield and Fairchance furnaces. It is said
that while the Oliphants operated Fairfield furnace they cast
a quantity of shot which was used by General Jackson's ar-
tillery in the battle of New Orleans. .R was shipped down

216 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the Monongahela, the Ohio, and the Mississippi rivers. The
furnace was operated by the Oliphants and others for many
years, but was abandoned before 1850.

In 1805 there were five furnaces and six forges in Fay-
ette county. In 1805 a rolling and slitting mill was built
by John Gibson on the right bank of the Youghiogheny
river, below Connellsville. In 1811 the county had ten fur-
naces, one air furnace, eight forges, three rolling and slitting
mills, one steel furnace, and five trip-hammers. At a later
date there were twenty furnaces in this county. Fayette
county was a great iron centre at the close of the last cent-
ury and far into the present century. For many years Pitts-
burgh and the Ohio and Mississippi valleys were almost
entirely supplied by it with all kinds of castings and with
hammered bar iron. In 1804 a large order for sugar kettles,
to be used on the sugar plantations of Louisiana, was filled at
Union furnace. Long before 1850, however, the fires in most
of the furnaces and forges of Fayette county were suffered
to die out. In 1849 only four of its furnaces were in blast.
Other furnaces, to use coke, have since been built within its
boundaries, and in late years a large rolling mill and Besse-
mer steel works have been built at Uniontown, but its fame
as a centre of the iron industry has departed. In its stead
it now enjoys the reputation of being the centre of produc-
tion of the famous Connellsville coke. Connellsville, on the
Youghiogheny, was a shipping point for Fayette county iron.

The steel furnace above referred to as existing in 1811 was
at Bridgeport, adjoining Brownsville, was owned by Truman
& Co., and made good steel. It was known as the Browns-
ville steel factory. In 1811 Truman & Co. advertised that
they had for sale " several tons of steel of their own convert-
ing, which they will sell at the factory for cash, at 12 dollars
per cwt., and 20 dollars per faggot for Crowley." The latter
was an English brand.

The first nail factory west of the Alleghenies was built
at Brownsville, about 1795, by Jacob Bowman, at which
wrought nails were made by hand in one shop and cut nails
were made by machines in another. These machines were
worked by the foot of the workman, while his hands guided
the flat and thin bar of iron from which the nails were cut.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 217

The rolling and slitting mills which were in existence
in Pennsylvania prior to 1816 neither puddled pig iron nor
rolled bar iron, but, with the exception of Mr. Rentgen's en-
terprise, already noted, rolled only sheet iron and nail plates
from blooms hammered under a tilt-hammer.

The first rolling mill erected in the United States to pud-
dle iron and roll iron bars was built by Isaac Meason in
1816 and 1817 at Plum sock, on Redstone creek, about mid-
way between Connellsville and Brownsville, in Fayette coun-
ty, on the site of the rolling and slitting mill built by Jere-
miah Pears before 1804. Thomas C. Lewis was the chief
engineer in the erection of the new mill, and George Lewis,
his brother, was the turner and roller. They were Welsh-
men. F. H. Oliphant told us in his lifetime that the new
mill was built "for making bars of all sizes and hoops for
cutting into nails." He further said that "the iron was re-
fined by blast and then puddled." Samuel C. Lewis, son of
the above Thomas C. Lewis, assisted as a boy in rolling the
first bar of iron. He died at Pittsburgh on Friday, August
11, 1882, in the 80th year of his age. The mill contained
two puddling furnaces, one refinery, one heating furnace, and
one tilt-hammer. Raw coal was used in the puddling and
heating furnaces and coke in the refinery. The rolls were
cast at Dunbar furnace, and the lathe for turning the rolls
was put up at the mill. The mill went into operation on
September 15, 1817, and was kept in operation for several
years, the latter part of the time by Arthur Palmer. A flood
in the Redstone caused the partial destruction of the mill in
1831. The machinery was subsequently taken to Browns-
ville.

Isaac Meason, who did so much to develop the iron re-
sources of Fayette county, was a native of Virginia. He
died in 1819. Prior to his death his son, Colonel Isaac Mea-
son, was associated with him in the management of his va-
rious iron enterprises, and after his death he succeeded to
their entire management. Isaac Meason, Sr., was a member
of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania f in 1783,
and for many years prior to his death he was an associate
judge of Fayette county.

A furnace named Mary Ann was erected at an early day

218 THE MANUFACTURE OF

in Greene county. It was located on Ten-mile creek, opposite
Clarksville, and about twenty miles from Uniontown. It was
abandoned early in the present century. An advertisement
for its sale, by "Samuel Harper, agent for the proprietors,"
dated July 23, 1810, styles it "The Iron Works," late the
property of Captain James Robinson. It was probably built
about 1800. Gordon, in his Gazetteer, (1832,) says that " there
were formerly in operation on Ten-mile creek a forge and
furnace, but they have been long idle and are falling to de-
cay." This reference is to Robinson's works. Greene county
has probably never had any other iron enterprises.

Westmoreland county speedily followed Fayette county
in the manufacture of iron. Westmoreland furnace, on Four-
mile run, near Laughlinstown, in Ligonier valley, was built
about 1792 by John Probst, who also built a small forge
about the same time. Neither the furnace nor the forge was
long in operation, both probably ceasing to make iron before
1810. On the 1st of August, 1795, George Anshutz, manager
of Westmoreland furnace, advertised stoves and castings for
sale. General Arthur St. Clair built Hermitage furnace, on
Mill creek, two miles northeast of Ligonier, about 1802. It
was managed for its owner by James Hamilton, and made
stoves and other castings. It was in blast in 1806. In 1810
it passed out of the hands of General St. Clair and was idle
for some time. In 1816 it was started again by O'Hara &
Scully, under the management of John Henry Hopkins, after-
wards Protestant Episcopal bishop of Vermont. In October,
1817, Mr. Hopkins left the furnace, himself a bankrupt, and
it has never since been in operation. The stack is yet stand-
ing. General St. Clair died* a very poor man in 1818, aged
84 years, and was buried at Greensburg.

Mount Hope furnace, in Donegal township, was built in
1810 by Trevor & McClurg. Mount Pleasant furnace, on
Jacob's creek, in Mount Pleasant township, was built about
1810 by Alexander McClurg, and went out of blast in 1820
while operated by Mr. Freeman. Mr. McClurg owned it in
1813. Washington furnace, near Laugh linstown, was built
about 1809 by Johnston, McClurg & Co. It was abandoned
in 1826, but rebuilt in 1848 by John Bell & Co. It was in
blast as late as 1855. Jonathan Maybury & Co. owned Fouu-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 219

tain furnace, on Camp run, in Donegal township, at the base
of Laurel hill, before 1812. The firm was dissolved on Au-
gust 19, 1812, when the furnace fell into the hands of Alex-
ander McClurg, who operated it in 1813. Kingston forge,
erected in 1811 on Loyalhanna creek, ten miles east of
Greensburg, by A. Johnston & Co., went into operation early
in 1812. Ross furnace, on Tub-mill creek, in Fairfield town-
ship, was built in 1814 by either Isaac Meason or his son, and
abandoned about 1850. It made pig iron, stoves, kettles, pots,
ovens, skillets, etc. Hannah furnace, on Tub-mill creek, in
Fairfield township, a short distance below Ross furnace, was
built about 1810 by John Beninger. He also built a small
forge on the same stream, where the town of Bolivar now
stands. The furnace and forge both ceased to make iron
soon after they were built. Baldwin furnace, on Laurel run,
near Ross furnace, is said to have been built by James Stew-
art about 1818. It ran but a short time.

In 1832 there were in operation in Westmoreland county
only one furnace, (Ross,) operated by Colonel Mathiot, and
one forge, (Kingston,) operated by Alexander Johnston. The
latter gentleman, whose name appears above in connection
with another iron enterprise, was the father of Governor
William F. Johnston. He was born in Ireland in July, 1773,
and died in July, 1872, aged 99 years.

Seven other charcoal furnaces were built in Westmore-
land county between 1844 and 1855. All the charcoal fur-
naces in this county have been abandoned. The early fur-
naces in Westmoreland county, besides supplying local wants,
shipped castings by boats or arks on the Youghiogheny, the
Conemaugh, and the Allegheny rivers to Pittsburgh, some of
which found their way down the Ohio river to Cincinnati
and Louisville. Subsequently they shipped pig iron by ca-
nal to Pittsburgh rolling mills.

Shade furnace, on Shade creek, in Somerset county, was
built in 1807 or 1808, and was the first iron enterprise in the
county. It used bog ore, the discovery of which led to its
erection, although the location was otherwise unfavorable. It
was built by Gerehart & Reynolds upon lands leased from
Thomas Vickroy. In November, 1813, Mr. Vickroy advertis-
ed Shade furnace for sale at " a great bargain." A sale was

220 THE MANUFACTURE OF

effected in 1819 to Mark Richards, Anthony S. Earl, and
Benjamin Johns, of New Jersey, composing the firm of Rich-
ards, Earl & Co., which operated the furnace down to about
1830. In 1820 they built Shade forge, below the furnace,
which was operated by William Earl for four or five years,
and afterwards by John Hammer and others. About 1811
Joseph Vickroy and Conrad Piper built Mary Ann forge, on
Stony creek, about five miles below Shade furnace and half
a mile below the mouth of Shade creek. David Livingston
was subsequently the owner of the forge, and operated it for
several years. Richard Geary, the father of Governor John
W. Geary, was the manager of the forge for about one year,
and was supercargo of a load of bar iron which was shipped
from the forge down the Stony creek, the Conemaugh, and
other streams to Pittsburgh. Pig iron was sometimes packed
on horseback to this forge from Bedford county, the horses
taking bar iron from the forge and also salt from the Cone-
maugh salt works as a return load.

In the year 1809 or 1810 Peter Kimrnell and Matthias
Scott built a forge for the manufacture of bar iron on Laurel
Hill creek, now in Jefferson township, in the western part of
Somerset county. It ceased operations about 1815. Supplies
of pig iron were obtained in Bedford and Fayette counties.
About the year 1810 Robert Philson erected a forge and fur-
nace on Casselman's river, in Turkeyfoot township. This
enterprise was a failure. Four other charcoal furnaces were
afterwards built in Somerset county. All the furnaces and
forges in this county have long been abandoned.

The first iron enterprise in Cambria county was a forge
at Johnstown, built on Stony creek, about 1809, probably
by John Holliday, a resident of Hollidaysburg. John Buck-
waiter was the first manager. The dam of this forge was
washed away about 1811, and subsequently the forge was
removed to the Conemaugh river, below Johnstown, where
the schoolhouse on Iron street now stands, in the Millville
addition to Johnstown, and where it was operated down to
about 1822, Rahm & Bean, of Pittsburgh, being the lessees at
this time. It was used to hammer bar iron out of Juniata
pig iron, and blooms. In 1817 Thomas Burrell, the propri-
etor, offered wood-cutters " fifty cents per cord for chopping

IRON IN ALL AGES. 221

two thousand cords of wood at Cambria forge, Johnstown."
About 200 pounds of nails, valued at $30, were made at
Johnstown by one establishment in the census year 1810.
About this time an enterprise was established at Johnstown
by Robert Pierson, by which nails were cut with a machine
worked by a treadle, but without heads, which were after-
wards added by hand. Cambria county has been noted as
an iron centre since its first furnace, Cambria, was built by
George S. King, David Stewart, John K. Shryock, and Will-
iam L. Shryock, in 1841, on Laurel run. It was followed in
the next six years by five other charcoal furnaces. All these
furnaces have been abandoned. The extensive works of
the Cambria Iron Company, at Johnstown, were commenced
in 1853 by a company of which Mr. King was the origina-
tor and Dr. Peter Shoenberger was a member. They were
built expressly to roll rails, the Pennsylvania Railroad, pass-
ing through Johnstown, having been completed from Phila-
delphia to Pittsburgh in the preceding year, and furnishing
a local incentive to their erection as well as a convenient
means of communication with other sections of the country
in need of rails. Dr. Shoenberger had previously become a
half owner of Cambria furnace and a part owner of several
other furnaces and of large tracts of land near Johnstown.
In 1832 Gordon referred to the prospect of making iron
from native ore in Cambria county as follows : " And there
is iron, as it is said by some, but denied by others." Mr.
King tested at Ross furnace in 1839 or 1840 the ore which
he had found in the hills near Laurel run.

The first iron enterprise in Indiana county was Indiana
forge, on Finley's run, near the Conemaugh, built about 1837
by Henry and John Noble, who also built a small furnace
as early as 1840. The forge was operated by water-power
but the furnace by steam-power. Both enterprises were run-
ning in the last-named year. Pig iron for the forge was at
first obtained from Allegheny furnace, now in Blair county.
Some iron ore for the furnace was obtained from the Alle-
gheny furnace mines. About 1837 John Noble owned a farm
of about 200 acres in the heart of the present city of Altoo-
na, which he sold to David Robinson, of Pleasant valley, for
$4,500, taking in payment the contents of Mr. Robinson's

222 THE MANUFACTURE OF

country store, which he removed to Finley's run and added
to the capital stock of the firm of Henry and John Noble.
The Altoona farm is now worth many millions of dollars.
About 1846 the Indiana property passed into the hands of
Elias Baker, who built a new furnace and forge. Three other
charcoal furnaces were built in Indiana county in 1846 and
1847. All its furnaces and its solitary forge have long been
abandoned.

A blast furnace was built at Beaver Falls, on the west
side of Beaver river, in Beaver county, in 1802, by Hoopes,
Townsend & Co., and blown in in 1804. A forge was con-
nected with it from the beginning, and was in operation in
1806. The furnace and forge were both in operation in 1816.
The whole enterprise was abandoned about 1826. The ore
used was picked out of gravel banks in the neighborhood
in very small lumps. There was another early furnace in
Beaver county, named Bassenheim, built in 1814 by Detmar
Basse Miiller, on Connoquenessing creek, about a mile west
of the Butler county line. In February, 1818, $12 per ton
were paid for hauling the pig iron made at this furnace to
Pittsburgh, thirty miles distant, over a bad road. The fur-
nace was abandoned at an early day. John Henry Hop-
kins, previously mentioned in connection with General St.
Glair's furnace near Ligonier, was engaged about 1815 as a
clerk at Bassenheim furnace.

Prior to 1846 there were a few furnaces in the Shenango
valley, all charcoal, one of which was Springfield furnace,
half a mile from Leesburg and seven miles southeast of
Mercer, built in 1837 and active in 1849, while another was
Temperance furnace, about six miles east of Greenville, built
by J. Green Butler about 1840. Day, in 1843, says : " Two
furnaces were wrought formerly, but have since been aban-
doned." In 1806 the geographer Joseph Scott says that "a
forge and furnace are now nearly erected" at New Castle.
About 1810 there was a forge on Neshannock creek, " mid-
way between Pearson's flour mill and Harvey's paper mill,"
for the manufacture of bar iron from the ore. The first
rolling mill in Lawrence county was built in 1839 at New
Castle by James D. White, of that place, with the assistance
of Shubal Wilder, of Massachusetts, Joseph H. Brown, and

IRON IN ALL AGES. 223

other practical ironworkers. It made cut nails and bar iron.
At first only Juniata blooms were used, as the mill did not
contain any puddling furnaces. In 1841, after- the death of
Mr. White, Messrs. A. L. and J. M. Crawford and George K.
Bitter, all of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, bought the
mill property, and, with the practical men above mentioned,
organized the firm of J. M. Crawford & Co., which enlarged
the mill and continued to make bar iron and nails. In 1850
the Cosalo Iron Company was organized, with A. L. Crawford
as president and Mr. Wilder as superintendent. In 1853 a
new and larger mill was built. In 1846 and afterwards sev-
eral furnaces were built in this valley to use its block coal
and also charcoal, and several rolling mills were also built.

Alexander L. Crawford died at New Castle on April 1,
1890, aged about 76 years. He was for fifty years one of
the country's most prominent iron manufacturers. He was
also prominent in the building of railroads and in the de-
velopment of our coal mines, his various enterprises extend-
ing to many States. Shubal Wilder died suddenly at Mid-
dleboro, Massachusetts, in May, 1888, aged about 79 years.

The first furnace in the once important but now nearly
neglected ironmaking district composed of Armstrong, But-
ler, Clarion, Venango, and other northwestern counties was
Bear Creek, in Armstrong county, which was commenced in
1818 by William Stackpole and Ruggles Whiting, who then
owned the Pittsburgh rolling mill. In 1819, owing to the
failure of this firm, the furnace passed uncompleted into the
hands of Baldwin, Robinson, McNickle & Beltzhoover, of
Pittsburgh. It went into operation in that year. It was
built to use coke, with steam-power, and its first blast was
with this fuel, but the blast was too weak and the furnace
chilled after two or three tons of iron had been made. Char-
coal was then substituted. The furnace was abandoned long
before 1850, but it was running in 1832, in which year Gor-
don says that it was owned by Henry Baldwin, Esq., and
was reputed to be the largest furnace in the United States,
having made forty tons of iron in a week. This furnace
had a tram-road, with wooden rails, in 1818.

Slippery Rock furnace, in Butler county, and Clarion fur-
nace, in Clarion county, were built in 1828, the latter by

224 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Christian Myers, of Lancaster county, who built another
furnace about 1844, which he called Polk. Allegheny furnace,
at Kittanning, in Armstrong county, and Venango furnace,
on Oil creek, in Venango county, were built in 1830. From
1830 to 1850 this section of the State produced large quanti-
ties of charcoal pig iron. In 1850 there were eleven furnaces
in Armstrong county, six in Butler, twenty-eight in Clarion,
and eighteen in Venango : sixty-three in all. In 1858 there
were eighteen in Armstrong, six in Butler, twenty-seven in
Clarion, and twenty-four in Venango : seventy-five in all.
All these were charcoal furnaces, except four coke furnaces
at Brady's Bend. Many of these furnaces had, however, been
abandoned at the latter date, and every one has since been
abandoned. Most of these furnaces were built to supply the
Pittsburgh rolling mills with pig iron.

The Great Western iron works at Brady's Bend, embrac-
ing four furnaces to use coke and a rolling mill, were com-
menced by Philander Raymond and others in 1840. The
furnaces were finally blown out in 1873 and the rolling mill
was abandoned in the same year. It was built in 1841 to
roll bar iron, but it afterwards rolled iron rails, which were
at first mere flat bars, with holes for spikes countersunk in
the upper surface. The mill continued to make rails until
after the close of the civil war. In 1849 the original Great
Western Iron Company failed, and upon its reorganization
the name was changed to the Brady's Bend Iron Company.
There was a large amount of Boston capital at one time in-
vested in these works.

Erie charcoal furnace, at Erie, was built in 1842 and aban-
doned in 1849. It used bog ore. It was owned by Charles
M. Reed. Liberty furnace, on the north side of French
creek, in Crawford county, was built in 1842 by Lowry &
Co., of Meadville, and abandoned in 1849.

The iron manufactured in the Allegheny valley was tak-
en down the Allegheny river to Pittsburgh on keel-boats and
arks, the business of transporting it in this primitive man-
ner being quite extensive down to about 1850.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 225

CHAPTER XX.

EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY,
PENNSYLVANIA.

THE beginning of the iron industry at Pittsburgh was
made at a comparatively recent period. George Anshutz, the
pioneer in the manufacture of iron at Pittsburgh, was an Al-
sacian by birth, Alsace at the time being under the control
of France. He was born near Strasburg, on November 28,
1753. In 1789 he emigrated to the United States, and soon
afterwards located at a suburb of Pittsburgh now known as
Shady Side, where he built a small furnace on Two-mile run,
probably completing it in 1792. In 1794 it was abandoned
for want of ore. It had been expected that ore could be ob-
tained in the vicinity, but this expectation was not realized,
and the expense entailed in bringing ore from other localities
was too great. The enterprise seems to have been largely de-
voted to the casting of stoves and grates. The ruins of the
furnace were visible until about 1850. After the abandon-
ment of his furnace Mr. Anshutz accepted the management
of John Probst's Westmoreland furnace, near Laughlinstown,
and remained there about one year, whence he removed to
Huntingdon county, where, in connection with Judge John
Gloninger and Mordecai Massey, he built Huntingdon fur-
nace in 1796, as has already been stated in a preceding
chapter. He died at Pittsburgh on February 28, 1837, aged
83 years and 3 months. Many of his descendants reside in
Pittsburgh and its vicinity.

We have received from Mr. George A. Berry, president of
the Citizens' National Bank, of Pittsburgh, and a grandson of
George Anshutz, the following interesting reminiscences of
Mr. Anshutz's pioneer iron enterprise at Shady Side. His
letter containing these reminiscences is dated at Pittsburgh,
May 8, 1891. We give his statement in its entirety.

I am now on the verge of entering my 74th year, and I have a very
clear recollection of things fifty and even sixty years ago. I often heard
my grandfather speak of the furnace, as well as my uncles and aunts, all

226 THE MANUFACTURE OF

brothers and sisters of my mother, some of whom have lived to within the
last fifteen years. Mrs. Rahm, my mother's oldest sister, who was born on
February 17, 1788, and died on July 31, 1878, was four years old when the
fur^ce was built. She had a very clear -recollection of it and told me many
circumstances connected with it. I have a family Bible which has been
in our family for over seventy years and in which my mother's birth, on
December 27, 1793, is recorded, and I had it from her as well as from all
the family that she was born at the furnace referred to above.

In my younger days I heard many of the older residents of the east
end of the city speak of seeing the old stack. Major William B. Negley,
one of our oldest and best-known citizens, told me to-day that, when he
first built on the site now occupied by the mansion of M. K. Moorhead,
Esq., he took down part of the old stack, and going through the cinder
pile found several relics of the business, such as a shovel, pick, etc. John
A. Kenshaw, Esq., who also built on part of the property, told me he
could locate the spot occupied by the furnace as well as the tail-race which
carried the water from the furnace. On several occasions I talked with the
late William M. Lyon on this subject. He mentioned several things in
connection with the furnace, among others that after my grandfather
abandoned it it was used by Anthony Beelen as a foundry. The family
of the late Jonas Roup had in use until a recent period pots, skillets, etc.,
made at the furnace.

The late Judge James Veech was considered authority on all matters
of the olden time. He came here from Fayette county, and I think wrote
a history of the county. In a long newspaper article now before me, in
which he endeavors to establish the fact that the first blast furnace west
of the Allegheny mountains was built in Fayette and not in Allegheny
county, he says, speaking of my grandfather's furnace : " My researches
on the subject put the abortive enterprise at least two years later." [That
is, 1792 instead of 1790.] "The facts on this subject which I am about
to state are made out mostly from records consulted and from original
papers." He thus admits the existence of the furnace but is a little doubt-
ful of dates. Of course if the furnace was built, of which there is no
doubt, it was put in blast, but for how long I have no positive knowl-
edge. However this may be I always heard that ore was not found in
sufficient quantity in thfe neighborhood of the furnace, and that the sup-
ply for awhile was brought down the Allegheny river, but this being too
expensive the enterprise was abandoned.

My grandfather next turns up at Westmoreland furnace, as will be seen
from an advertisement in the Pittsburgh Gazette, as follows : " Westmoreland
Furnace. — For sale at said furnace, about 3 miles from Fort Ligonier, near
the State Road, stoves and a fine assortment of the best castings, at the
most reasonable prices. GEO. ANSHUTZ, Manager. August 7th, 1795."

I think that the above information will satisfy you that George An-
shutz built the first furnace that was built in Allegheny county, and that it
was in operation about the years 1792 to 1794. GEO. ANSHUTZ BERRY.

The first iron foundry at Pittsburgh was established about
1805 by Joseph McClurg on the site of the present post-office
and the city hall, on the northeast corner of Smithfield street

IRON IN ALL AGES. 227

and Fifth avenue. Rev. A. A. Lambing says that Joseph
Smith and John Gormly were associated with Mr. McClurg
in this enterprise. They retired, however, before 1807. jj^Tr.
McClurg subsequently took his son "Alexander into partner-
ship. The enterprise was styled the Pittsburgh foundry.
Isaac Craig, Esq., informs us that on February 12, 1806,
Joseph McClurg advertised in the Commonwealth that "the
Pittsburgh Foundry is now complete." In 1812 it was con-
verted by Mr. McClurg into a cannon foundry and supplied
the General Government, with cannon, howitzers, shells, and
balls. Commodore Perry's fleet on Lake Erie and General
Jackson's army at New Orleans received their supplies of
these articles in part from this foundry.

According to Cramer's Pittsburgh Almanack there were
three nail factories at Pittsburgh in 1807 — Porter's, Stur-
geon's, and Stewart's, " which make about 40 tons of nails
yearly." In 1810 about 200 tons of cut and wrought nails
were made at Pittsburgh. In 1813 there were two iron
foundries in this city, McClurg's and Anthony Beelen's, and
one steel furnace, owned by Tuper & McCowan. In the fol-
lowing year there were two additional foundries. Mr. Bee-
len's foundry was put in operation in November, 1810.

The condition of the iron industry at Pittsburgh in 1810
is thus summed up by a writer in The Navigator for 1811 :
" The manufacture of ironmongery has increased in this
place beyond all calculation. Cut and wrought nails of all
sizes are made in vast quantities, about, we think, 200 tons
per year. Fire shovels, tongs, drawing-knives, hatchets, two
feet squares, augers, chissels, adzes, axes, claw hammers, door
hinges, chains, hackles, locks, door handles, spinning-wheel
irons, plough irons, flat-irons, &c., tons of these, together with
a number of other articles in the iron way, are exported
annually. Abner Updegraff attempted the making of files,
which he finds he can do to advantage. He also makes
gimblets, and by way of experiment made a neat penknife,
which he says could be made here as cheap as those import-
ed." The making of screws for butt hinges is also noted.

A rolling mill was built at Pittsburgh in 1811 and 1812
by Christopher Cowan, a Scotch-Irishman, and called the
Pittsburgh rolling mill. This mill had no puddling furnaces.

228 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Cramer's Pittsburgh Almanack for 1813 says of this enterprise :
" C. Cowan is erecting a most powerful steam engine to re-
duce iron to various purposes. It is calculated for a seventy
horse poiver, which [will] put into complete operation a Roll-
ing-mill^ a Slitting-mitt, and a Tilt-hammer, all under the same
roof. With these Mr. Cowan will be enabled to furnish sheet-
iron, nail and spike rods, shovels and tongs, spades, scythes,
sickles, hoes, axes, frying-pans, cutting-knives. In addition
to Mr. Cowan's already extensive nail business he makes a
great supply of chains, plough irons, shingling hatchets, clew
hammers, chissels, screw augers, spinning wheel irons, and
smiths' vices of superior quality." This rolling mill stood
at the intersection of Penn street and Cecil's alley, where the
fourth ward school-house now stands. In 1816 it was owned
by William Stackpole and Ruggles Whiting, of Boston, who
failed in 1819, and who seem to have made nails chiefly by
nail-cutting machines which both cut and headed the nails.
In 1826 it was operated by R. Bowen.

In the Pittsburgh Almanack for 1819 the following account
is given of an ambitious manufacturing establishment in
Pittsburgh " within the year 1818 : " " Rolling and Slitting
Mill. — A very extensive establishment under the superintend-
ence of Joshua Malen, formerly of Valley Forge, and whose
talents will be an important acquisition to this section of the
Union, has been made by the 'Pittsburgh Steam Engine Co.'
.Wm. Robinson, jr. & Joshua Malen. At their rolling mill,
which has two engines, each of 120 horse power, will be man-
ufactured Bar, Boiled, and Sheet Iron." Our extracts from, the
Almanack are taken from its pages verbatim. We can not
locate the above enterprise.

The Union rolling mill was the next mill built at Pitts-
burgh. It was located on the Monongahela river, was built
in 1819, and was accidentally blown up and permanently dis-
mantled in 1829, the machinery being taken to Covington,
Kentucky. This mill had four puddling furnaces — the first
in Pittsburgh. We think that it was also the first to roll
bar iron. It was built by Baldwin, Robinson, McNickle &_
Beltzhoover. Jt is claimed that the first angle iron rolled
in the United States was rolled at this mill by Samuel Leon-
ard, who also rolled " L " iron for salt pans. On Pine creek,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 229

on the site of the present works of Spang, Chalfant & Co.,
at Etna, Belknap, Bean & Butler manufactured scythes and
sickles as early as 1820, but in 1824 their works were en-
larged and steam-power introduced for the purpose of roll-
ing blooms. In 1826 the works were operated by M. B. Bel-
knap. They afterwards passed into the hands of Cuddy &
Ledlie, and were purchased by H. S. Spang in 1828 to roll
bar iron from Juniata blooms. A rolling mill on Grant's Hill
was built in 1821 by William B. Hays and David Adams. It
stood near where the court-house now stands. Water for the
generation of steam at this mill had to be hauled from the
Monongahela river. The Juniata iron works were built in
1824 by Dr. Peter Shoenberger on the site which they now
occupy. Sligo rolling mill was erected where it now stands
by Robert T. Stewart and John Lyon in 1825, but it was
partly burned down in that year. The Dowlais works, in
Kensington, were built in 1825 by George Lewis and Reuben
Leonard. In 1826 all these mills did not make bar iron;
one or two rolled and hammered iron in other forms.

The condition of the iron industry at Pittsburgh at the
close of the first quarter of the present century is thus sum-
med up in Cramer's Magazine Almanac for 1826 :

The manufactures of Pittsburgh, particularly in the article of iron, be-
gin to assume a very interesting aspect. Not less than five rolling mills are
now in operation, and a sixth will soon be ready, for the various manufact-
ures of iron. Four of the mills are capable of making iron from the pig,
besides rolling, slitting, and cutting into nails. The other (occupied by
Mr. R. Bowen, formerly by the Messrs. Whitings, and owned and built by
Mr. C. Cowan) is engaged only in rolling bar and boiler iron and cutting
nails. The fuel to supply the engines— the metal and other materials re-
quired in conducting the operation of these works, and in their repairs, it
is computed afford employment to upwards of fifteen hundred people, the
value of whose labour may be estimated at fifteen hundred dollars each
per annum, or two million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, while
the total product may be estimated at three million of dollars ! ! How im-
portant an addition to the national wealth in this section of the Union !
Great credit is due to Messrs. Baldwin, Robinson & McNickle for their
perseverance in establishing this important branch of business, and for
bringing it to that perfection which it has attained. Great facilities are
now afforded to mechanics in all the various branches of smith work and
hardware by the preparation of iron into whatever shape (slit, rolled,
square, or round) that may be required for any particular description of
work. It is generally believed that no other place in the Union affords
greater advantages for the extensive manufacture of anvils, vices, and all

230 THE MANUFACTURE OF

kinds of iron work. The competition which at present exists, and which
is increasing by the erection of new works, will ensure a plentiful supply
of iron and nails for the Western States, of an improving quality, on bet-
ter terms than they can be procured from the seaboard.

The first rolling mill in Allegheny City was the Juniata
rolling mill, built in 1827. It bore the same name as Dr.
Shoenberger's mill previously erected in Pittsburgh in 1824,
but it must not be confounded with it. The following cir-
cumstantial account of the Allegheny City enterprise we take
from Recollections of Seventy Years, by Judge John E. Parke,
who died in Allegheny City on April 22, 1885, aged 78 years.

The Juniata rolling mill was built on the lot extending from Robin-
son street along the west side of Darragh street to the Allegheny river, at
the former outlet of the Pennsylvania Canal, by Sylvanus Lothrop, James
Anderson, and Henry Blake, in the years 1826 and 1827. Mr. Blake sold
his interest to Capt. William Stewart, and Messrs. Lothrop, Anderson, and
Stewart sold out their interest in 1834 to John Bissell, William Morrison,
and Edward W. Stephens. The mill, having been constructed for the
exclusive use of Juniata blooms, was extended by the latter firm to the
manufacture of iron by the puddling and boiling process, and was the first
boiling furnace erected in Allegheny county. Here, too, was also erected
the first coffee-mill squeezer, under the personal superintendence of the
patentee, Mr. Burden, of New York. The manufacture of iron, nails, and
steel of the lowest grade was successfully carried on by the latter firm and
their successors until the year 1859, when it was deemed advisable to dis-
mantle the works. The machinery was sold to Messrs. Reis, Brown, Ber-
ger, and James Ward, and was removed to Niles, Ohio.

In the United States a rolling mill is understood to mean
an establishment for rolling iron or steel, and it may have
one train of rolls or many trains.

Jn 1829 Allegheny county had eight rolling mills, using
6,000 tons of blooms and 1,500 tons of pig iron, all brought
from other localities. In that year there were nine found-
ries, which consumed 3,500 tons of iron. In 1828 the iron
rolled was 3,291 tons, in 1829 it was 6,217 tons, and in 1830
it was 9,282 tons. In 1831 there were two steel furnaces at
Pittsburgh. Cast iron began to be used in this year for pil-
lars, the caps and sills of windows, etc. In 1836 there were
nine rolling mills in operation and eighteen foundries, en-
gine-factories, and machine-shops. In 1856 there were at
Pittsburgh and in Allegheny county twenty-five rolling mills.
In 1890 there were sixty iron rolling mills and steel works in
Allegheny county. The Pittsburgh rolling mills were large-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 231

ly supplied from, the first with blooms from the Juniata val-
ley and with pig iron from nearer localities, but large quan-
tities of blooms were also brought to. Pittsburgh from Ohio,
Kentucky, and Tennessee. Allegheny county has long enjoy-
ed the reputation of leading all other iron districts in the
country in the production of rolled iron and the various
kinds of steel. Of its enterprise in the manufacture of steel
we will speak in subsequent chapters.

Clinton furnace, built in 1859 by Graff, Bennett & Co.,
and blown in on the last Monday of October in that year,
was the first furnace built in Allegheny county after the aban-
donment in 1794 of George Anshutz's furnace at Shady Side,
a surprisingly long interval if we consider the prominence of
this great iron centre in the manufacture of rolled iron after
its second large rolling mill, the Union, was built in 1819.
This furnace was built to use coke made from coal from the
Pittsburgh . vein, but it did not prove to be a good furnace
fuel, and coke from the Connellsville region was soon substi-
tuted with great success. This success led to the building of
other coke furnaces at Pittsburgh and in Allegheny county.
Their aggregate production of pig iron in 1883 was greater
than that of any other district in the United States, not ex-
cepting the celebrated Lehigh valley district in Pennsylvania.
This position of supremacy has since been maintained. The
production of pig iron by Allegheny county in 1890 was
greater than that of any State in the Union, Pennsylvania
excepted. It amounted to 1,337,309 gross tons. Iron ore
for the furnaces of this county is chiefly obtained from the
Lake Superior region, but some other native ores are used
and also considerable quantities of foreign ores. About
twenty years ago Missouri ores were used in large quantities.
There are now twenty-six coke furnaces in this county, and
many of them are among the best in the country. The
best blast-furnace record that has been made in this or any
other country must be credited to the furnaces connected
with the Edgar Thomson steel works at Braddock, Allegheny
county. We will refer to this record hereafter.

IN 1810 there were in Pennsylvania 44 blast furnaces, 78
forges, 4 bloomaries, 18 rolling and slitting mills, 6 air fur-

232 THE MANUFACTURE OF

naces, 50 trip-hammers, 5 steel furnaces, and 175 naileries.
The furnaces produced 26,878 gross tons of " cast iron," the
product of the whole country, with 153 blast and air fur-
naces, "being 53,908 tons. Of the 5 steel furnaces in Pennsyl-
vania one was in Philadelphia city and one each in Phila-
delphia, Lancaster, Dauphin, and Fayette counties, and their
product was 531 tons of steel, valued at $81,147. In 1840
there were 213 furnaces in Pennsylvania and 169 forges and
rolling mills. In 1850 there were 298 furnaces, 121 forges,
6 bloomaries, and 79 rolling mills. Of the furnaces exist-
ing in 1850 nearly all were charcoal furnaces, only 57 being
anthracite and 11 bituminous coal and coke furnaces. The
production of the furnaces in 1849 was 253,035 tons ; of the
bloomaries, 335 tons ; of the forges, 28,495 tons ; and of the
rolling mills, 108,358 tons.

The charcoal iron industry of Pennsylvania still exists,
but its glory has departed. About 1840 a revolution was
created in the iron industry of the country by the introduc-
tion of bituminous and anthracite coal in the blast furnace,
and soon afterwards the manufacture of charcoal iron in
Pennsylvania furnaces commenced to decline. About 1830
rolling mills in many parts of the State began to puddle
iron extensively, and this innovation drove out of existence
many charcoal forges which had been employed in produc-
ing blooms for rolling mills as well as to be reduced to bar
iron under their own hammers. Most of the charcoal fur-
naces and forges and all of the primitive charcoal bloom-
aries have been abandoned.

Since about the middle of the last century Pennsylvania
has been noted as the leading iron and steel making State in
the Union. For many years it has produced one-half of all
the pig iron, one-half of all the rolled iron, and more than
one-half of all the steel made in the United States. In 1890
•it made 48 per cent, of the large product of pig iron in that
year ; 61 per cent, of the Bessemer steel ingots produced ; 70
per cent, of the Bessemer steel rails produced ; 81 per cent,
of the open-hearth steel produced ; 75 per cent, of the cru-
cible steel produced ; 52 per cent, of the rolled iron produc-
ed ; and 54 per cent, of the product of rolled steel other than
steel rails.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 233

CHAPTER XXI.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN DELAWARE.

IN the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, volume L, page
115, mention is made of one James Bowie, who was " living
near iron hill about eight miles distance from New Castle,"
Delaware, in 1684. In Oldmixon's British Empire in Amer-
ica, edition of 1708, in referring to New Castle county, then in
Pennsylvania l)ut now in Delaware, it is said that there is a
place in the county " called iron hill, from the iron ore found
there," but the existence of an "iron mill" to use the ore is
expressly denied. This iron hill is undoubtedly the one re-
ferred to in the Colonial Records as having been known as
early as 1684. It may be that it was in the neighborhood
of this deposit where Richard Frame's forty pounds of iron
were made as early as 1692, and which he credits to Pennsyl-
vania, and that it was the iron ore -in this hill to which Ga-
briel Thomas referred in 1698 in his description of Pennsyl-
vania, the territory now embraced in the State of Delaware
forming an integral part of Penn's province down to a much
later date than the one last mentioned.

Mr. Hungerford says that iron hill, in Pencader hundred,
in New Castle county, Delaware, was called by that name as
early as May, 1661, and that iron ore was discovered at that
place by the Dutch soon after their occupancy of the terri-
tory in 1655, if not earlier by the Swedes. He further in-
forms us that in April, 1661, four Englishmen were murdered
by Indians while on their way from New Amstel (now New
Castle) to the head of Chesapeake bay. The affair caused a
correspondence between Vice-Director William Beekman, of
the Dutch West India colony, then at Fort Altena, (Wilming-
ton,) and Vice-Director Alexander De Hinijossa, of the colo-
ny of the City of Amsterdam, at New Amstel, on one side,
and the Director-General, Petrus Stuyvesant, upon the other.
Beekman recites the fact in his letter dated May 27th, but
does not locate the place. De Hinijossa, under date of May
15th, says it occurred at "Morettica, on iron hill."

£34 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Mrs. James says that on the 24th of September, 1717,
Sir William Keith, Governor of Pennsylvania, " wrote to the
Board of Trade in London that he had found great plenty
of iron ore in Pennsylvania," and Bishop says that " Sir Will-
iam Keith had iron works in New Castle county, Delaware,
erected previous to 1730, and probably during his adminis-
tration from 1717 to 1726." Emanuel Swedenborg, in his
De Ferro, printed in 1734, gives some particulars of the early
iron works in Delaware, which he derived from the Swedish
settlers on the Delaware river. He mentions smelting works
on the Christiana river, built by Sir William Keith during
the latter part of his administration, 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. He also mentions another enterprise,
about a mile distant from the other works. Mr. Hunger-
ford says that this last enterprise was on the south bank of
Christiana creek, north of iron hill, and was called Abbington
furnace. It was built by a company in 1726 or 1727. A
forge was built near this furnace before 1734, when it and an
eighth part of the furnace were owned by Samuel James. A
bloomary, located near St. James's church, on the Huitleer
river, (White Clay creek,) is mentioned by Swedenborg, the
owner being John Ball, who was a blacksmith. We give
herewith a translation of Swedenborg's whole reference to the
early iron works in Delaware, reminding the reader that the
volume from which it is taken was printed in 1734.

About nine years ago works for smelting iron were constructed by
the Governor of the Province, Sir William Keith, on the banks of the river
Christiana. For the first two years of their existence they produced a suf-
ficient quantity of iron ; but during the third year, because the ore failed,
they were abandoned. It is asserted that the ore of this region contains
much iron, but that it is refractory, and without limestone as a flux (of
which there is little to be had) can not be smelted. At the distance of one
mile from that place there is another smelting works erected, but it is said
that, on account of the exceeding dryness of the ore and scarcity of lime-
stone, smelting has not been undertaken there ; but the ore is now reduced
by itself in hearths, small bars, or reworked crude iron, being produced at
pleasure. In the neighborhood, on the river Huitleer, are similar small
works near the church of St. James, and owned by Mr. John Ball, where
also from ore, or crude iron, bars for blacksmith's work, or forgings, are pro-
duced by successive reheatings, but these works have but one hearth.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 235

Mr. Hungerford says that Sir William Keith commenced
purchasing lands in Delaware in 1722 and made his last pur-
chase in 1726, in which year seven tracts of land, embracing
in all 1,260 acres, and lying in the hundreds of Pencader,
White Clay, Mill Creek, and Christiana, were all sold by Sir
William to John England, then manager of Principio fur-
nace, in Maryland.

We have seen an autograph legal opinion of Andrew
Hamilton, not published, dated Philadelphia, March 6, 1730,
from which we learn that Sir William Keith agreed to con-
vey to John England " sundry lands and tenements in New
Castle county, on Dellaware, upon which lands there was a
small iron forge and supposed to be a great quantity of iron
ore." It was afterwards ascertained, however, that the ore
referred to was on the land of John Evans and not on Sir
William's lands, but the existence of a forge on the lands of
the latter is not called in question by the author of the opin-
ion. Undoubtedly Sir William owned a forge, as appears
from the opinion, and it probably succeeded a furnace.

In a biographical and critical sketch of Sir William
Keith, written by Charles P. Keith, and published in the
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography for 1888, we
find the following reference to Sir William's iron enterprises
in Delaware : " The Just and Plain Vindication of Sir William
Keith, published about the middle of 1726, says that he had
laid out not only two thousand pounds on a farm, but
1 4,000?. in another Place ; where, by Erecting an Iron-Work,
it is improved to near double the prime Cost, and this last
Estate Sir William all along designed as a Security to his
Creditors, until they were fully satisfy'd and paid ; ' while the
More Just Vindication answers that scarcely any one would
take the works as a gift, if obliged to maintain them." Sir
William's " iron work " was probably built between 1722 and
1726, as it was in the year first mentioned when he appears
to have commenced to purchase lands in Delaware.

The exact location of Sir William Keith's iron enterprise,
which was probably the first of its kind in Delaware, we have
been unable to determine, but it is exceedingly probable that
it was located near iron hill. That it was on the Christiana
river is made certain by Swedenborg's exact statement. The

236 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Christiana skirts the foot of iron hill. It will be remembered
that, on the 24th of September, 1717, Sir William wrote to
the Board of Trade in London that he had found " great
plenty of iron ore " in Pennsylvania, the reference being most
probably to New Castle county, Delaware, where Sir William
afterwards engaged in the manufacture of iron. He did not
engage in that manufacture at any other place in Pennsylva-
nia or Delaware. There is not any " great plenty of iron ore "
anywhere else in New Castle county than at iron hill.

There is a local tradition that there was a furnace at the
foot of iron hill about 1730. In the gable of an old Baptist
church near iron hill is a cast-iron plate, dated 1746, which
was probably cast at Abbington furnace. In the edition of
Oldmixon for 1741 the author says that " between Brandy-
wine and Christiana is an iron mill." This reference must
be to Abbington furnace. The original members of the com-
pany which built this furnace are given by Mr. Hungerford
as follows from a deed dated October 27, 1727, at which time
it is stated in the deed that the furnace had been completed :
" Samuel James, of Penkadder hundred, in ye county of New
Castell, upon Deleware, millwright, of the first part; Reece
Jones, of Penkadder hundred, tanner, of the second part;
Samuel Nutt, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, ironmonger,
of the third part; Evan Owen, of the city of Philadelphia,
merchant, of the fourth part ; William Branson, of Philadel-
phia, merchant, of the fifth part ; Thomas Rutter, of the
same city, smith, of the sixth part ; John Rutter, of the same
city, smith, of the seventh part ; and Caspar Wistar, of Phil-
adelphia, brass-button maker, of the eighth part." No men-
tion is made of Abbington furnace or the forge of Samuel
James after 1768. Both furnace and forge are often referred
to as the Abbington iron works. The furnace stood on the
south bank of Christiana creek near the Anabaptist meeting-
house, and the forge stood, on land now owned by the Cooch
brothers and above the Cooch mill. The furnace was situ-
ated on land now owned by William McConaughey.

Mr. Hungerford informs us that one John Ball owned a
tract of land in Mill Creek hundred, containing 400 acres,
called "New Design," which in a deed is described as lying
on the west side of a branch of White Clay creek, called Mill

IRON IN ALL AGES. 237

creek, between Mill creek and William Ball's land, and he
also owned 100 acres of land adjoining. St. James's church
is on the east side of Mill creek, nearly opposite the tract
"New Design," upon which the Balls lived. Iron hill was
about six or seven miles distant. The ore for John Ball's
bloomary was doubtless hauled from iron hill.

The iron hill to which reference has above been made is
situated about three miles south of Newark, near the Mary-
land line and in sight of Christiana creek. Ore taken from
this place has been used at Principio furnace, in Cecil county,
Maryland, since 1847. This ore has also been used at some
furnaces in Pennsylvania. Previous to 1847 the mines had
been worked but little. Between 1832 and 1847 some ore was
mined here and taken to a furnace in New Jersey.

Bishop says that in Sussex county, in the southern part
of Delaware, "where bog ore in the shape of a very pure
hydrate, yielding from 55 to 66 per cent, of iron, exists in
large beds in the vicinity of Georgetown and on the branch-
es of the Nanticoke, and Indian rivers, the manufacture of
iron and castings was carried on before the Revolution to
a considerable extent. The compact hydrated peroxide of
some of these beds has, since the early part of this century,
been raised in quantities for exportation, and the local produc-
tion of iron is consequently less than it might have been."
Tench Coxe, in his report on The Arts and Manufactures of the
United States in 1810, mentions five forges in Sussex county,
which produced in that year 215 tons of iron, but he makes
no reference to a blast furnace in the whole State. Bog ore
from near Milton, in Sussex county, was at one time taken
to Millville, New Jersey, to be smelted in a furnace at that
place which was built in 1815. Sussex ore has also been
shipped to other places.

In 1763 a company, under the leadership of Colonel
Joseph Vaughan, built a furnace near Concord, in Sussex
county, on Deep creek, a tributary of Nanticoke river, to
which a forge on Nanticoke river was added in 1769. They
were known as the Deep Creek iron works, the furnace be-
ing known as Deep Creek furnace and the forge as Nanti-
coke forge. The company had a stone wharf at the head
of Nanticoke river, and shipped its iron direct to England.

238 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The iron was called "Old Meadow." "The stone wharf is
there yet," said Mr. Francis Vincent, of Wilmington, in a let-
ter we received from him a few years ago. The Revolution-
ary war practically ended these enterprises. Colonel Vaughan
commanded one of the Delaware regiments during the Rev-
olution. Another furnace at Concord, also located on Deep
creek, was built by a company in 1764, the furnace being
known as Pine Grove. This furnace was abandoned soon
after the close of the Revolution. Unity forge, on the main
branch of Nanticoke river, was built as early as 1771 and
continued in operation as late as 1816.

As late as 1850 there was a forge on Gravelly branch, in
Nanticoke hundred, in Sussex county, known as Collins's
forge, which made bar iron in large quantities from iron ore
from lands farther east for the Baltimore and Philadelphia
markets. It was built about 1808 by John Collins, who was
afterwards Governor of Delaware. In 1808 Shadrach Elliot
built a forge at the mouth of Gravelly branch and at the
upper end of the Middleford pond. In a» deed for part of the
land, dated August 4, 1812, the forge is mentioned as " Grav-
elly Delight forge." It probably went out of operation be-
tween 1816 -and 1820. In 1807 Josiah Polk was in possession
of a forge which had been erected some time before on the
south side of Broad creek, about a mile and a half east of
Laurel, in Sussex county. It was operated by him until his
death, which occurred about 1840, and was then abandoned.

We are indebted to Mr. Hungerford for exact information
concerning all of the above-mentioned early Sussex county
iron works, not one of which now remains.

About 1820, as we were informed in his lifetime by
Hon. Caleb S. Layton, of Sussex county, a blast furnace was
established at Millsborough, on Indian river, about eight
miles south of Georgetown, by Colonel William D. Waples
and others. In connection with this furnace was a foundry.
An interest in the furnace was purchased in 1822 by Hon.
Samuel G. Wright, of New Jersey, and in 1830 his son,
Colonel Gardiner H. Wright, obtained an interest, and after-
wards operated the furnace until 1836, when it went out
of blast. The foundry continued in operation until 1879.
In 1859 Lesley stated that "Millsborough charcoal furnace,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 239

owned by Gardiner H. Wright, of Millsborough, Sussex
county, Delaware, is the only furnace in the State, and has
not made iron for ten years. A cupola furnace is in activity
beside it." Mr. Vincent informed us that the castings for the
Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania and for Moyamensing
Prison, and the iron railing which once surrounded Inde-
pendence Square, in Philadelphia, were cast at Millsborough
furnace; we presume at the " cupola furnace." In 1828 and
in the two succeeding years Millsborough furnace and found-
ry produced 450 tons of pig iron and 350 tons of castings.

A rolling mill near Wilmington, Delaware, existing and
in operation in 1787 or 1788, has already been referred to in
the chapter relating to New York. This mill then rolled
Swedish and Russia iron for the use of a New York cut-nail
factory. It occupied the site of the present Hagley powder
works. It was built before 1783 and was abandoned about
1812.

Tench Coxe says that in 1810 there were three rolling and
slitting mills in New Castle county. Lesley stated in 1859
that the Delaware iron works, located five miles northwest of
Wilmington, then owned by Alan Wood, of Philadelphia, and
built in 1812, " began to manufacture sheet iron thirty years
ago in what had been a nail-plate works. At that time only
Townsend in New Jersey made sheet iron." Marshall's roll-
ing mill, on Red Clay creek, two miles west of Newport, was
built in 1836 by Caleb and John Marshall, to roll sheet iron.
The Wilmington rolling mill, near Wilmington, was built in
1845, and the Diamond State rolling mill, at Wilmington, was
built in 1853. These were the only rolling mills existing in
Delaware in 1859. Others have since been built. Thft busi-
ness of iron shipbuilding has been added to the iron indus-
try of Delaware within the last few years. There is now
neither a blast furnace nor a forge nor a bloomary remain-
ing in the State.

240 THE MANUFACTURE OP

CHAPTER XXII.
EAELY IRON ENTERPRISES IN MARYLAND.

IN his Report on the Manufacture of Iron, addressed to the
Governor of Maryland in 1840, Alexander gives 1715 as the
" epoch of furnaces in Mary land, Virginia, and Pennsylvania."
This statement is not strictly accurate except in regard to
Virginia. Pennsylvania's first furnace was not built until
about 1720 ; certainly not before that year. Maryland had no
iron enterprises but a bloomary or two until 1724, when its
first furnace was built. Scrivenor says that in 1718 " Mary-
land and Virginia " exported to England 3 tons and 7 cwt.
of bar iron, upon which the mother country collected a duty
of £6 19s. Id. This bar iron could only have been made
in Maryland, as Virginia had no forges at this time.

In 1719 the general assembly of Maryland passed an act
"authorizing 100 acres of land to belaid off to any who
would set up furnaces and forges in the province." Other
inducements were offered in 1721 and subsequently to those
who would engage in the manufacture of iron. The pre-
amble to the act of 1719 recites that " there are very great
conveniences of carrying on iron works within this province,
which have not hitherto been embraced for want of proper
encouragement to some first undertakers" which clearly im-
plies that iron enterprises had already been undertaken in
Maryland but were not then in operation. As a result of
the encouragement given by the general assembly authentic
reports show that in 1749 and again in 1756 there were eight
furnaces and nine forges in Maryland, and that on the 21st
of December, 1761, there were eight furnaces, making about
2,500 tons of pig iron annually, and ten forges, capable of
making about 600 tons of bar iron annually. During the
colonial period Maryland had no manufacturing industry
worthy of the name except that of iron. Tobacco-growing
and wheat-growing formed the principal employments of the
\ people.

The first iron works in Maryland were probably erected

IRON IN ALL AGES. 241

in Cecil county, at the head of Chesapeake bay. We sup-
pose that a bloomary at North East, on North East river,
erected previous to 1716, formed the pioneer iron enterprise.
That iron works were built at North East prior to 1716 is
proved by a deed dated in that year, in which Robert Dutton
conveyed a flour mill near the " bottom of the main falls of
North East," and also fifty acres of land, to Richard Bennett
for £100 in silver money. In this deed " iron works " are
mentioned as among the appurtenances which were convey-
ed by it. We quote from Johnston's History of Cecil County.
These works could have embraced only a bloomary, as there
was not at this time a blast furnace, to supply a forge with
pig iron, in either Maryland or Pennsylvania, and the first
blast furnace in Virginia had just been built. The works
were probably not then active.

Johnston says that in 1722 Stephen Onion & Co. leased
two tracts of land, called Vulcan's Rest and Vulcan's Trial,
the first of which joined Dutton's mill-dam on the south,
and also another tract in Susquehanna Manor called Diffi-
dence, lying on the north side of the North East river.

About the time of the passage of the act of 1719, above
alluded to, Joseph Farmer, an ironmaster, of England, came
to Maryland in behalf of himself and other adventurers in
the manufacture of iron. Whether he was interested in the
works at North East or not can not now be learned. In 1722
Mr. Farmer and his associates, afterwards known as the
Principio Company, commenced the erection of a furnace on
Talbot's manor, in fcecil county, near the mouth of Principio
creek, which empties into Chesapeake bay about six miles
distant from the town of North East. Johnston says that Mr.
Farmer's associates at this time embraced Stephen Onion,
Joshua Gee, William Russell, and John Ruston. He thinks
that the North East company, known as Stephen Onion &
Co., was consolidated with the Principio Company. The lat-
ter company was at first styled Joseph Farmer & Co. Af-
ter having made some progress in the erection of the fur-
nace Farmer returned to England, probably early in 1722,
leaving the enterprise in charge of Stephen Onion as gen-
eral manager. A son of Joshua Gee and Thomas Russell,
a son of William Russell, were at Principio at this time.

242 THE MANUFACTURE OF

At the beginning of 1723 the Principio Company was
composed of William Chetwynd, of Grindon, in Warwickshire,
a gentleman of wealth and position ; Joshua Gee, a merchant
of London ; William Russell, an ironmaster of Birmingham ;
John England, an ironmaster of Staffordshire ; John Huston,
and Joseph Farmer. It is very clear that the company had
been enlarged, as the result of glowing representations made
by Farmer. Several of the members, including Joshua Gee
and John England, were members of the Society of Friends.
William Chetwynd was the leading capitalist of the company.
Walter Chetwynd also became a member as early as 1725.
In consequence of the mismanagement of Stephen Onion it
was at this time decided to put John England, who resided
at or near Tamworth, in immediate charge of the Principio
enterprise, with entire control of the company's operations in
America. Accordingly, in April, 1723, John England and his
wife sailed from Bristol for Philadelphia, which place they
reached after a passage of seven weeks and one day. A few
days afterwards they arrived at Principio.

On June 25th of the same year Mr. England wrote to Mr.
Farmer a long letter of complaint concerning the condition
in which he found the affairs of the company at Principio.
He says : " When I came I found I think everything contra-
ry to my expectations on thy information; for as to ye fur-
nace, which, according to thy information when at London,
was very near ready to blow, is but 18 inches above ye second
couplings, and ye inner wall is but 6 feet high. . . Neither
did I think thee wouldest have been guilty of ordering a fur-
nace to have been built until thee hadst been sure of mine,
that which was good and enough of it for perpetuity ; for I
have been at Patapsco, Bush river, and North East, and seen
all ye mine along shore in every place, and can not find any
more than will serve for one blast, if that. . . And when I
treated with thee I feared interest was in ye bottom, which
now I find true. . . As to stock of both cole and mine, there
may be about two months' stock in of both cole and mine,
and when there will be a stock for a blast I can not tell, cole
lying three miles from ye furnace and stone at such a dis-
tance. . . You may assure yourselves here hath been and is
such ruin as I never saw." The letter dwelt at length upon

IRON IN ALL AGES. 243

the unhealthiness of Principle). It may here be stated that
his wife died in this year and that he was himself seized
with a severe illness. /The letter further dwelt upon the in-
efficiency, drunkenness, and mutinous temper of the work-
men, many of whom appear to have been convicts from Eng-
land, while others were " redemptioners " from various Euro-
pean countries!) After stating that his disgust was at first so
great that he had thought of immediately returning to Eng-
land he adds : " I concluded to stay and set up a little forge
to try ye iron if ever ye furnace runs any mettle." This let-
ter was intended to be seen by other members of the com-
pany, to some of whom similar letters were written on the
same day.

Subsequent letters from John England to various members
of the company are largely devoted to the narration of other
difficulties with which he had to contend, chief of which was
the financial and other demoralization produced by the mis-
management of the company's affairs by Stephen Onion. At
the close of the year Onion, who had been retained as clerk,
was dismissed, and after that event Mr. England appears to
have had less trouble.

Stephen Onion had made false representations in 1722 of
the progress that had been made in building the furnace. On
the llth of August of that year he wrote to the company
as follows : " We hope we shall finish the stack of the fur-
nace, casting-house, and bridge ditto in a month more. The
colly ers are at work, and hope to fiave in by Christmas 400
load of cole." Of the actual progress made in building the
furnace down to John England's arrival in 1723 we have
already been informed in that gentleman's letters. In 1724
Stephen Onion and Thomas Russell sailed from New Castle
for Great Britain in the same ship with Benjamin Franklin,
who says in his autobiography that they were "masters of
an iron work in Maryland " and had engaged " the great cab-
in." Franklin would not, of course, receive from Mr. Onion
a true account of the situation at Principio.

The hopeful temper and the wise determination of the
Principio Company after the true situation of its affairs had
been explained by Mr. England are seen in the following
extracts from a letter to him from the company, dated at

244 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Birmingham, September 25, 1723 : " We must tell you • it is
greatly to our satisfaction that we have you upon the place,
in whom we can entirely depend that you will use your
utmost care in regulating these disorders and in bringing
those refractory workmen to better discipline},. . We hope
mine cannot be wanting in the several rivers. Joseph Farm-
er says that upon tryal of the gritty mine in several places
he found by the loadstone as much iron in it as there is
in most of the mines that are worked in England, and hope
you will experience it to be so, and y* when it is mixed
with a tougher mine will make a good sort of piggs for the
English market. We are also pleased with your resolution
to build a small forge to try the piggs. Our resolution is
steady for carrying on our works, for we think it would be
too great a reflection upon our conduct to quit a business
of this nature till we have try'd fully what may be done.
. . We give you full power in everything that relates to
our concern under your care, to manage, direct, and put
them forward in such manner as you shall judge for the
interest of the company."

On September 12, 1723, John England wrote to Joshua
Gee as follows : " I have been at .a bloomary with some of our
mine, and it maketh very good iron, and iron taketh a very
good price here, <£40 per ton, and hath done for several years
past." Where this bloomary was located we can not discover,
nor by whom it was owned, but it can easily be conjectured
that it was at North East, where there were " iron works " as
early as 1716, as has already been stated.

On January 13, 1724, Mr. England wrote to Joshua Gee
that he was "going on with ye forge dam and race to bring
water to ye forge." In the same month he wrote to Joseph
Farmer concerning the bellows for the chafery and finery,
which he desired to have made in England. On the 2d of
April, 1724, he wrote to Joshua Gee that he had heard of
"mine" near Annapolis, which he was going to see. In the
same month he wrote to William Russell that "ye furnace
might have blowed some time since, but did not think it
proper so to do without a better stock of cole and mine upon
ye bank ; " also that the company's sloop was then employed
" in fetching shells to burn for lime to build a great stone

IRON IN ALL AGES. 245

wall for ye fore bay of ye forge," and that other preparations
for building the forge and its accessories were then in active
progress. In both letters the hope was expressed that there
would soon be a sufficient supply of charcoal to keep the
furnace in blast for some time, "if we can but get mine."
Mr. England was continually apprehensive of a scarcity of
iron ore of good quality, which he had not found in abun-
dance in the neighborhood of the furnace, but for which he
sought diligently in other places.

We do not again hear of the Principio works until Sep-
tember 15, 1725, when William and Walter Chetwynd, John
Wightwick, William Russell, and Thomas Russell write to
Mr. England from Grindon a long and a very important
letter, conveying to him "full and absolute power over all
persons employed in America in our service," and also " full
power to act in all things with ye authority as we ourselves
were we on ye spot." This fresh expression of confidence
and fresh grant of authority had a special object in view, as
we shall presently see, but we are now interested in learning
from this letter that " our furnace and forge in Maryland "
were finished when it was written. We presume that the fur-
nace \vas put in blast in 1724 and that the forge was started
in 1725. The letter says : " We hear you have a good stock
of pigs on ye bank, therefore desire you not to fail sending us
by ye first shipping what pigs you can spare over and above
what can be worked up at ye forge till- ye furnace goes again,
which we hope may be between 3 and 400 tons ; for tho ye
forge should be worked double hand, wrhich we intend it
shall, it will hardly work up above 8 tons of pigs per week,
and to have ye overplus of ye pigs lying dead will be great
loss to ye company." This extract would seem to indicate
that the -furnace had finished its first blast and was then idle.
It was certainly in blast as early as May 9, 1725, on which
date Joseph Growdon, of Bensalem, on Neshaminy creek,
in the extreme southern corner of Bucks county, Pennsyl-
vania, ordered a "hammer, anvil, and other iron work nec-
essary for one single bloomary " to be cast at the furnace,
Mr. Growdon having found iron ore on his land. (We can not
learn that Mr. Growdon's bloomary was ever built.) Refer-
ence is made in the letter from the company to " two finers

246 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and hammermen " who had been sent to work at the forge,
and others were promised "in a short time." Mr. England is
advised to " sell all ye iron you make at ye forge at Principio "
in American markets instead of sending it to England to be
sold. Stephen Onion appears to have had sufficient address
to secure from the company his partial restoration to favor,
as the letter advises Mr. England that he had been appoint-
ed clerk of the furnace and forge, but subject wholly to Mr.
England's authority, wno is expressly told that he can dis-
charge him if he does not give satisfaction.

It will be observed from the names of the signers of the
above letter that the personnel of the Principio Company
had undergone some changes. In a letter from William Chet-
wynd to John England, dated September 19th, he refers to
the signers of the above letter as " all ye company except
Mr. Gee," who was not wanted but could not be shaken off.
The names of John Huston and Joseph Farmer do not ap-
pear, thus indicating that they were no longer members of
the company. In subsequent years other names are added.

We now come to consider the particular object which
the company had in view in writing the letter of the 15th of
September to Mr. England. It appears that this gentleman
in his search for iron ore had found valuable deposits on the
land of Captain Augustine Washington, on the north side of
the Rappahannock river, in Virginia. This Captain Wash-
ington was the father -of George Washington. Mr. England
had been so favorably impressed with the value of the ore
on Captain Washington's land, and with the other advantages
which the location offered for the manufacture of iron, that
he had contracted with that gentleman in the name of the
company to erect a furnace upon his land, Captain Washing-
ton to have an interest in its ownership. The company be-
ing informed of this new venture was so well satisfied that
all its members except Joshua Gee united in writing to Mr.
England the letter of September 15th already referred to. It
began : " We that sign are met together at Grindon, and
give you hereby full power to build iron works on Captain
Washington's land on ye terms you have agreed with him,
and to use your own judgment and discretion in all things
relating thereto." They added that they thought the loca-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 247

tion of the proposed new iron works was " exceedingly well
chosen," and further said : " You will try ye Captain's mine
in ye furnace and forge as soon as you can." In this letter
the company also approved of Mr. England's selection of
Ralph Falkner "to be clerk of ye Virginia furnace," and au-
thorized him to "buy what negroes you think fit and draw
for ye money." The letter of the 15th of September made a
division of the shares of ownership in the new venture.

Mr. England at once proceeded with the erection of a fur-
nace on Captain Washington's land. This was Accokeek fur-
nace, about which we shall have something further to say
in a later chapter devoted to Vi^inia^ It was long known
as " England's iron works." The clerk"at Accokeek furnace
when it was built was Ralph Falkner, but as early as 1730
Nathaniel Chapman was the clerk. Johnston has fallen into
an error in his History of Cecil County where he says: "At
what time the Washingtons first became connected with the
company is uncertain, but it was proT5ably in 1733." It was
as early as 1725. Accokeek furnace was probably put in
blast in 1726.

On September 19, 1725, William Chetwynd wrote to Mr.
England as follows : " We hope very soon to send you over
workmen sufficient to work ye forge double hand and also
a couple of castors. You have full power to buy at any time
40 or 50 blacks, or what number you think proper, and draw
for ye money. I am of opinion it would be proper to secure
more land near Captain Washington's mine, because if ye
mine is so considerable a one as you mention it must answer
very well to have two furnaces there."

In various letters from the company to Mr. England he
is advised to send pig iron freely to England but to sell his
bar iron in America.

In 1730 John England was still in charge of all the com-
pany's iron enterprises in this country, including an aban-
doned project on James river which had not been given tan-
gible shape. Stephen Onion was still the clerk at Principio,
but the company was annoyed at his failure to settle his ac-
counts. The Principio furnace and forge and the Accokeek
furnace were in operation in this year. At this time we hear '
nothing of a forge at North East.

248 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Prior to 1730 Mr. England bought conditionally from Sir
William Keith, as has been stated in the Delaware chapter,
" sundry lands and tenements in New Castle county, on Del-
la ware, upon which lands there was a small iron fforge and
supposed to be a great quantity of iron ore." It was his in-
tention to erect upon this land " works for carrying on the
making of pigg and barr iron if a sufficient quantity of iron
ore or mine could be found on ye land." This project was
abandoned, and we hear no more of his connection with the.
iron business in Delaware. In 1726 Mr. England had purchas-
ed for himself an estate on White Clay creek, in New Castle
county. He passed the last years of his life on this estate
and at Snowdens' iron works on the Patuxent river, in Mary-
land, in which he had an interest. He died in 1734.

John England was one of the most intelligent, enterpris-
ing, and successful of early American ironmasters. He un-
doubtedly built the first furnace and the first forge in Mary-
land. The various works of the Principio Company, of which
he was so efficient a manager, were in the front rank of our
colonial iron enterprises for fifty years. They were foremost
in the production of pig iron and possibly of bar iron*

For the facts contained in the foregoing very full and
absolutely accurate history of the commencement of the
Principio iron works we are wholly indebted to the courtesy
of James B. England, Esq., of Philadelphia, a descendant of
Joseph England, (a brother of John England,) who placed in
our hands the original correspondence between John Eng-
land and the Principio Company. This correspondence is
now in the library of the Maryland Historical Society, at
Baltimore.

We are unable to glean any further particulars about the
first works at North East than have already been given, but
in an inventory of the possessions of the Principio Company
in May, 1723, there is an entry which probably refers to these
works. This entry credits the company with the purchase, on
July 9, 1722, of 383 acres of land "in Lord Baltimore's Man-
nor of North East, called Vulcan's Tryal, Vulcan's Enlarge-
ment, and Diffidence." This purchase may have embraced
the North East "iron works," upon the site of which, at the
"bottom of the main falls of North East," the company sub-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 249

sequently erected a new forge, probably about 1735. It was
in operation and briskly employed in 1743. The first entry
in the inventory mentions the purchase on October 14, 1721,
of 8,110 acres of land called Gee Faruson, near North East.
It is exceedingly probable that Joseph Farmer and his as-
sociates made investments at North East preliminary to the
manufacture of iron at that place before they decided to
build the furnace at Principio.

In Emanuel Swedenborg's De Ferro, published in 1734,
we find at the beginning of an account of iron wrorks " in
Maryland and Pennsylvania in the "West Indies" the follow-
ing reference to the Principio works : " There are several fur-
naces for the smelting of iron ore, as well as works for the
smelting of raw iron, not so very long since built. The
principal work is called Principio, in the upper part of the
province of Maryland, upon the river called Principio, from
which it also derives its name ; its water is said to fall from
a height of 25 feet. At this iron work little two-oared boats
and little ships land laden with iron ore, which is dug 50
miles from there. The ore is said to be of a white or- gray
color, not unlike the vases of Holland pottery, containing 50
per cent, of iron. The iron from this ore is said to carry off
the palm from the rest."

Alexander says that a part of the hearth of the original
Principio furnace was still standing in 1840, when his report
was written. The same excellent authority says that on Feb-
ruary 5, 1734, (old style,) in pursuance of the act of 1719,
already referred to, a precept for 100 acres of land on North
East river, forming part of North East manor, was issued to
John Huston, who had been one of the members of the Prin-
cipio Company ; and he further says that on August 31, 1736,
this tract was assigned to "William Chetwynd, of Beddington,
in Surrey, England, who was probably William Chetwynd, of
Grindon. It was about this time that the company built
its forge at North East. Alexander says that this forge was
in his day "commonly called Russell's forge," reference being
made to the last Russell who was connected with it.

In 1744 William Black, secretary of the commissioners
who were appointed by Governor Gooch, of Virginia, to unite
with those from Pennsylvania and Maryland to treat with the

250 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Iroquois, or Six Nations of Indians, in reference to the lands
west of the Alleghenies, wrote in his journal, on May 25th,
while at North East, in Maryland : " I must not forget that
in the forenoone the Com'rs and their company went to the
Principio iron works, in order to view the curiosities of that
place. They are under the management of Mr. Baxter, a
Virginian, and was at work forming barr-iron when we came
there. For my part I was no judge of the workmanship, but
I thought everything appeared to be in very good order, and
they are allowed to be as compleat works as any on the con-
tinent by those who are judges." The furnace and forge at
Principio were both in operation in that year, the manager
of which at this time was William Baxter, but the visit of
the commissioners may have been to the forge at North East.

We obtain additional information concerning the famous
Principio Company from a valuable historical essay prepar-
ed a few years ago by Mr. Henry Whiteley, of Philadelphia.

Ore for Principio furnace was at first obtained in the
immediate neighborhood, but as early as September 4, 1724,
it was obtained from Gorsuch's Point, below Canton, on the
eastern shore of the Patapsco, about opposite to Fort Mc-
Henry. In 1727 the Principio Company, through John Eng-
land, purchased all the iron ore, " opened and discovered, or
shut and not yet discovered," on Whetstone Point, at the ex-
tremity of which Fort McHenry now stands, for £300 sterling
and £20 current money of Maryland. This was for many
years one of its principal sources of ore supply. Iron ore has
been taken from Whetstone Point in recent years.

Kingsbury furnace was the next furnace of the company
after Accokeek. It was situated on Herring run, at the head
of Back river, in Baltimore county. It was built in 1744 and
went into blast in April, 1745, producing at the first blast,
which lasted till December 18th of the same year, 480 tons of
pig iron. The first four blasts embraced the period extend-
ing from April 1,.1745, to December 26, 1751, and produced
3,853 tons, or an average of 75 tons per working month. More
than 3,300 tons of the iron were shipped to the company in
England. In 1751 Lancashire furnace was purchased from
Dr. Charles Carroll, of Annapolis. It was located near Kings-
bury, on the west side of a branch of Back river, a few miles

IRON IN ALL AGES. 251

northeast of Baltimore. The deed embraced 8,200 acres of
land, and was " signed " on behalf of the company by Law-
rence Washington, who had succeeded to the interest of his
father, Captain Washington. Lawrence was a half-brother of
George Washington. Lancashire furnace was operated by the
company from the time of its purchase until the Revolution.
It was its last acquisition of property in America. At the
time of its purchase the company outranked all competitors,
being the sole proprietor of four furnaces and two forges, viz. :
Principio furnace, Cecil county, Maryland, finished in 1724 ;
Principio forge, at the same place ; North East forge, Cecil
county, Maryland, built about 1735 ; Accokeek furnace, Virgin-
ia, built in 1726 ; Kingsbury furnace, Baltimore county, Mary-
land, built in 1744 ; Lancashire furnace, Baltimore county,
Maryland, purchased in 1751. The company owned slaves
and live stock in abundance, and its landed estates were of
great extent, amounting to nearly thirty thousand acres, ex-
clusive of the Accokeek lands in Virginia. One-half of the
pig iron exported to Great Britain from this country before
the Revolution is said by Mr. Whiteley to have come from
the furnaces of this company^

After 1776 the company had no actual control over any
of its American property. Thomas Russell, who had been
the company's general manager, continued to operate the fur-
naces and forges, and supplied bar iron and cannon balls in
large quantities to the Continental army. In the Lancashire
furnace ledger is an " account of shott made at Lancashire
furnace in the year 1776."

In 1780 the general assembly of Maryland passed an act
to seize and confiscate all British property within the State,
and this was the formal end of the Principio Company, after
an existence of nearly sixty years. All the property of the
company, with two exceptions, now passed under the auction-
eer's hammer and into new hands. The works at North East
were retained by Thomas Russell, one of the company and
a son of the first Thomas Russell, who had cast his fortunes
with the patriotic cause. "A certain Mr. Washington" owned
a one-twelfth interest in the possessions of the company, and
was also an adherent of the patriotic cause. • This " Mr.
Washington" was probably one of the brothers of George

252 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Washington ; he was certainly a relative. What action was
taken by Virginia concerning the possessions of the com-
pany in that State we are not advised, but Mr. Washington's
interest in them and in the company's Maryland possessions
could not be confiscated.

Thomas Russell, at his death in 1786, left a son Thomas,
the third of the name. On his arrival at the age of twenty-
one, his mother having previously married Daniel Sheredine,
he revived the iron industry at North East with the aid of
Sheredine, and in 1802 built a furnace, which was in opera-
tion only four years. Not proving as profitable as had been
anticipated it was blown out on the death of young Thomas
Russell, which occurred in 1806. Thenceforward the various
iron works at North East met with many vicissitudes until
they fell into the hands of the present enterprising owners.

Iron works have been almost continuously in operation at
Principio and North East since their first establishment, or
for about one hundred and seventy years. At Principio Mr.
George P. Whitaker and his associates have had a charcoal
furnace in operation since 1837 near the site of the first
Principio furnace ; and at North East, on the very site of the
forge built by the Principio Company about 1735, are the
present extensive iron works of the McCullough Iron Com-
pany, including probably the largest forge in the United
States for the production of blooms from pig iron.

Pig iron from early Virginia furnaces near tidewater was
taken to Principio forge, and also to the forge at North East,
to be refined into bar iron.

About forty years ago a whole pig of iron was found near
the site of the first Principio furnace, which was plainly
stamped "Principio, 1727." Over twenty years ago several
pigs of iron, marked " Principio * 1751, " were discovered
in the bed of the Patapsco river. The relics of 1751 have
been preserved by the Stickney Iron Company.

A furnace at the foot of Gwynn's falls, and a forge call-
ed Mount Royal, at Jones's falls, were built by the Baltimore
Company soon after 1723 and befor'e 1730 — Messrs. Carroll,
Tasker, and others forming the company. This was the sec-
ond blast furnace in Maryland.

Stephen Onion severed his connection with the Principio

IRON IN ALL AGES. 253

Company and built a furnace and two forges of his own at
the head of Gunpowder river, about a mile from Joppa, then
one of the principal towns of Maryland, but now Wholly de-
serted. These works were advertised for sale in 1769, after
Stephen Onion's death. The exact date of their erection has
not been preserved.

Bush furnace, in Hartford county, and Northampton fur-
nace, in Baltimore county, were built about 1760, the latter
by members of the Ridgely family. The proprietors of this
furnace owned a forge on the Great Gunpowder river, called
Long Cam forge, which was probably older than the furnace.
Bush furnace, located on Bush creek, was owned about 1767
by John Lee Webster. On the Patapsco, near Elkridge Land-
ing, were Elkridge furnace and forge, pwned by Edward Dor-
sey ; at a locality not now known was York furnace ; in Anne
Arundel county were the Patuxent furnace and forge, owned
by Thomas, Richard, and Edward Snowden. Richard Snow-
den was the proprietor of " iron works " on the eastern branch
of the Patuxent as early as 1734. John England, who died
in that year, had an interest in these works. There was an
early furnace on Stemmer's run, about seven miles from
Baltimore. There was also a furnace on Curtis creek, in Pa-
tapsco county, built by William Goodwin and Edward Dor-
sey, which remained in operation until 1851. Nottingham
furnace, in Baltimore, was built before the Revolution.
. In 1762 Robert«E vans, Jonathan Morris, and Benjamin
Jacobs built Unicorn forge at a place called Nasby, in Queen
Anne county. The castings for the forge were procured at
"Bush river furnace," which appears to have been then op-
erated by Isaac Webster. The firm of Evans, Morris & Ja-
cobs was not long in existence.

In Frederick county were several early iron enterprises,
particulars of which have been preserved by Alexander. Old
Hampton furnace, on Tom's creek, about two miles west of
Emmetsburg, was built between 1760 and 1765 by persons
whose names have not survived. Legh furnace was built
about the same time by an Englishman named Legh Master,
at the head of Little Pipe creek, two or three miles southwest
of Westminster. Both of these furnaces were soon abandon-
ed. Catoctin furnace, situated about twelve miles northwest

254 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of Frederick, was built in 1774 by James Johnson & Co. It
was rebuilt in 1787 by the same company, "about three-
fourths of a mile further up Little Hunting creek, and nearer
the ore banks." It was again rebuilt about 1831. This fur-
nace and two later furnaces of the same name were in blast
in 1880. The original Catoctin furnace yielded at first from
twelve to eighteen tons of pig iron weekly. Shortly after its
erection the same owners erected on Bush creek, about two
miles above its mouth, the Bush Creek forge, which was in
operation until 1810, when it was abandoned. About the time
when Catoctin furnace and Bush Creek forge were built. the
Johnsons built a rolling and slitting mill at a spot known in
1840 as Reel's mill. About 1787 they built Johnson furnace
on a small stream one, mile above the mouth of the Monoc-
acy. In 1793 the various iron properties belonging to the
Johnsons were divided, and Johnson furnace fell to Roger
Johnson, who soon afterwards built a forge in connection with
the furnace. It was situated on Big Bennett's creek, about
five miles above its junction with the Monocacy, and was call-
ed Bloomsburg forge. Its weekly product was between four
and five tons of finished iron. The furnace and forge were
abandoned soon after 1800. Fielderea furnace, on the Har-
per's Ferry road, three miles south of Frederick, was built by
Fielder Gantt soon after the Revolution, but after making
one blast it was abandoned. This event occurred before 1791.
In Washington county there were many iron enterprises
at an early day, most of which have been noted by Alexan-
der. In 1770 James Johnson superintended the erection of
Green Spring furnace, on Green Spring run, one mile above
its entrance into the Potomac. It was owned by Mr. Jacques
and Governor Johnson. The neighboring iron ore not being
of good quality the furnace was abandoned in a few years.
James Johnson also built Licking Creek forge, at the mouth
of Licking creek, for the same firm. It was at first supplied
with pig iron from Green Spring furnace, but was afterwards
sold to " Mr. Chambers, of Chambersburg, who carried it on
for several years with pig supplied from his furnace in Penn-
sylvania." Mount Etna furnace, on a branch of Antietam
creek, five or six miles north of Hagerstown, was built by
Samuel and Daniel Hughes about 1770 and was in successful

*IRON IN ALL AGES. 255

operation for many years. During the Revolution -it cast the
first Maryland cannon. About a mile and a half from the
furnace, and about four miles from Hagerstown, the same
owners built Antietam forge, which was in operation after the
furnace was abandoned. Bishop states that General Thomas
Johnson and his brother were the owners in May, 1777, of a
furnace at Frederick, but it was not then in blast. Between
1775 and 1780 Henderson & Ross built a furnace at the mouth
of Antietam creek. A forge was built at the same place about
the same time. There were at least three forges on Antietam
creek during the last century. In 1845 a new furnace was
built on the site of the original Antietam furnace, but it has
recently been dismantled. A small rolling mill, with a nail
factory attached, was built at the same place about 1831 and
abandoned about 1853.

Bishop says that a slitting mill was established at or near
Baltimore in 1778 by William Whetcroft, and that about the
same time two nail factories were established in the city, one
by George Matthews and the other by Richardson Stewart.
At Elkridge Landing Dr. Howard owned a tilting forge in
1783. On Deer creek, in Harford county, a forge and slitting
mill were built during the last century. During the Revolu-
tion there were seventeen or eighteen forges in operation in
Maryland, in addition to furnaces and other iron enterprises.

After the Revolution the iron manufacture of Maryland
experienced a healthy enlargement, which continued with-
out serious interruption until in recent years. One of the
most successful rolling mills in the State was the celebrated
Avalon iron works, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, half
a mile from the Relay House, " built by the Dorseys " about
1795 and in use down to about 1860. It first made nails and
bar iron, and in its latter days large quantities of both, but
afterwards, as early as 1848, it also rolled rails. A rolling mill
was built on the Big Elk river, five miles north of Elkton,
in 1810, on the site of copper works which had existed before
the Revolution. It was active until about 1860, making sheet
iron chiefly. Octorara forge, and Octorara rolling mill, on
Octorara creek, above its mouth and a feAv miles north of
Port Deposit, were built many years ago. The rolling mill is
still active. This mill and another Maryland rolling mill of

256 THE MANUFACTURE C>F

modern origin are owned by the McCullough Iron Company.
The once numerous forges of Maryland have gradually given
place to rolling mills. In 1840 several forges were in opera-
tion ; in 1856 two forges were active ; and in 1891 there were
again two forges active, at North East and Principio.

The development of the iron ores belonging to the coal
measures of the extreme western part of Maryland appears
to have been undertaken over fifty years ago. Near the vil-
lage of Friendsville, on Bear creek, a branch of the Yough-
iogheny river, there were erected, in 1828 and 1829, the Yo-
hogany iron works, consisting of a furnace and two forges, to
use charcoal. These works were abandoned about 1834. In
1837 a furnace fifty feet high and fourteen and one-half feet
wide at the boshes was built at Lonaconing, eight miles
southwest of Frostburg, by the George's Creek Coal and Iron
Company, to use coke. In June, 1839, it was making about
seventy tons of good foundry iron per week with coke as fuel.
Overman claims that this was the first successful coke fur-
nace in the United States. Two large blast furnaces were
built in 1840 by the Mount Savage Iron Company, nine miles
northwest of Cumberland, also to use coke. This enterprise
was also successful. In 1845 the same company built an ad-
ditional furnace, but it was never lined. The Mount Savage
rolling mill was built in 1843, especially to roll iron rails,
and in 1844 it rolled the first rails rolled in this country
that were not strap rails. These rails were of the inverted
U pattern and weighed forty-two pounds to the yard. Alle-
ghany county, Maryland, is thus entitled to two of the high-
est honors in connection with the American iron trade. It
built the first successful coke furnace and it rolled the first
heavy iron rails. The furnaces and rolling mill of the Mount
Savage Iron Company have long been abandoned.

In 1846 a furnace called Lena was built at Cumberland,
which at first used charcoal and afterwards used coke. It
was not long in operation.

Alexander mentions a furnace on the Eastern Shore of
Maryland, built in 1830 by Mark Richards, about five miles
from Snow Hill, to use bog ore yielding only 28 per cent, of
iron. Its annual production about 1834 was 700 tons. In
1840 the furnace was owned by T. A. Spence. It was called

IRON IN ALL AGES. 257

Naseongo, and it was the only furnace in the State which
used bog ore exclusively. A bloomary which used bog ore
once stood near Federalsburg, but it was abandoned long ago.
The prominence of Maryland as an iron-producing State
was relatively much greater in 1870 than in 1880. In the
former year it was fifth in rank but in the latter year it was
only twelfth in rank. In 1890 it was the eleventh in rank
in the production of pig iron, but its rank as a producer of
rolled iron was still lower. Its production of steel in 1890
was very small, but the completion in 1891 of the extensive
Bessemer steel works of the Pennsylvania Steel Company at
Sparrow's Point will soon place the State in the front rank
of all the steel-producing States, and the recent completion
of four large furnaces by the same company will soon ad-
vance its rank in the production of pig iron.

A FURNACE was built at Georgetown, in the District of
Columbia, in 1849. It went out of blast finally about 1855.
A second stack was built at the same place but was never
lined, and consequently was never put in blast. Both of these
were small furnaces. The furnace which was in operation
used charcoal and was blown with steam-power. Both en-
terprises were owned by William A. Bradley, of Washington.
Before 1812 the United States Government built an anchor
forge at the navy yard at Washington, which was enlarged
about 1830 and was afterwards used to produce anchors,
shafts, chains, etc. About the time when this forge was es-
tablished there was a cannon foundry " about a mile beyond
Georgetown, on the Potomac river." "A cannon was cast at
this foundry of 100 Ibs. ball, to which was given the name
of Columbiad." The District of Columbia had no other iron
enterprises until 1878, when the Government established a
small rolling mill at the navy yard, which was, however,
abandoned in 1887. The forge is still in operation, and con-
nected with it the Government now has also in operation
an extensive gun factory, which has been recently fitted up
with powerful machine tools, immense traveling cranes, and
other mechanical appliances for manufacturing from forg-
ings made elsewhere the heaviest as well as the lightest
ordnance for the new American navy.

258 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE IRON INDUSTRY ESTABLISHED IN VIRGINIA.

AFTER the failure to make iron on Falling creek in 1622
no successful effort was made to revive the iron industry in
Virginia until after the beginning of the succeeding century,
.a delay of almost a hundred years. As late as 1670 Sir Will-
iam Berkley reported to the Lords Commissioners of Foreign
Plantations that but little iron ore had been discovered in
Virginia up to that time, and he does not mention any iron
works as then existing in the colony. Additional evidence
that there was. no iron made in Virginia in the seventeenth
century is given in a preceding chapter. To Colonel Alex-
ander Spotswood, who was Governor of Virginia from 1710
to 1723, the honor of having established the iron industry of
the colony on a firm and permanent basis is fairly due, al-
though the exact date of the commencement of his various
iron enterprises is lost. We are indebted to the researches
of Mr. R. A. Brock, of Richmond, for the following infor-
mation concerning the inception of Governor Spotswood's
schemes to effect a revival of the iron industry in Virginia.

In the collections of the Virginia Historical Society are
two MS. volumes of the letters of Governor Spotswood to the
Lords Commissioners the Council of Trade at London, cover-
ing the period from 1710 to 1721. On October 24, 1710, the
Go vernor ' writes : "There is a project to be handed to the
next assembly for improvement of the iron mines, lately dis-
covered in this country, the ores of which upon tryall have
been found to be extraordinary rich and good. It is proposed
that the work be carried on at publick charge." This scheme
appears not to have been acted upon by the assembly. On
December 15, 1710, the Governor writes : " I humbly propose
to your lordships' consideration whether it might not turn to
good account if Her Majesty would be pleased to take that
work [the iron] in her own hands, sending over workmen
and materials for carrying it on." He states that the " iron
mines lie at the falls of James river." On January 27, 1714,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 259

he asks that the German Protestants settled at the head of
the Rappahannock river, who came over with Baron de Graf-
fenreidt " in hopes to find out mines/' be exempted from the
payment of levies for the support of the government.

In the latter part of 1716 elaborate charges of malfea-
sance in office were anonymously preferred against Governor
Spotswood to the Council of Trade, the counts of which are
numerous. In one of them Governor Spotswood is charged,
under pretense of guarding the frontiers, with building, at
the cost of the government, two forts, one at the head of
James river and another at the head of Rappahannock river,
only to support his two private interests, at least one of
which, that on the Rappahannock, related to the manufacture
of iron. Another account charges the maintenance at public
cost at these forts of a corps of " rangers " for three years
ending in December, 1716. The beginning of this period
would be near that of the German settlement, the members
of which became the workmen of Governor Spotswood. It
may be assumed that one of his iron enterprises, the furnace
built by the Germans, was in operation certainly in 1716 and
most likely one year earlier.

But did Governor Spotswood or the Germans acting in-
dependently of him set on foot the first of these enterprises ?
This is not clear. In John Esten Cooke's History of the People
of Virginia it is stated that these Germans, who were Palati-
nates, had been "sent over by Her Majesty Queen Anne to
make wine and help in the iron business," and it will be re-
membered that the Governor in 1710 proposed that the Queen
should send over workmen and materials for the express pur-
pose of inaugurating the iron industry in the colony.

In 1727 the general assembly of Virginia passed " an act
for encouraging adventurers in iron- works," which begins
as follows : " Whereas, divers persons have of late expended
great sums of money in erecting furnaces and other works
for the making of iron in several parts of the country, . .
and forasmuch as it is absolutely necessary for roads to be
laid out and cleaned from all such iron works to convenient
landings," therefore, etc., etc.

In A Progress to the Mines, in 1732, by Colonel William
Byrd, of Westover, Virginia, the second of the name, there is

260 THE MANUFACTURE OF

given a very full account of the iron enterprises of Virginia
at that time, embracing three blast furnaces and one air fur-
nace, but no forge. One of the blast furnaces was at Fred-
ericksville, a village which has entirely disappeared from the
maps, but which, as will hereafter appear, was located about
thirty miles southwest of Frederick sburg, in Spottsylvania
county, and about one-half mile north of the North Anna
river. Mr. Chiswell, the furnace manager, told Colonel Byrd
that the pig iron produced at the furnace was carted in ox
carts over an uneven road to the Rappahannock river, a mile
below Fredericksburg. This furnace was built of brick, but
it had been idle " ever since May, for want of corn to sup-
port the cattle." Colonel Byrd says : " The fire in the furnace
is blown by two mighty pair of bellows, that cost £100 each,
and these bellows are moved by a great wheel of twenty-six
foot diameter." The owners of the furnace had invested
about £12,000 in land, negroes, cattle, etc., and had made
1,200 tons of iron. " When the furnace blows it runs about
twenty tons a week." Colonel Byrd says that the company
was formed as follows : " Mr. Fitz Williams took up the mine
tract, and had the address to draw in the Governor, [Spots-
wood,] Captain Pearse, Dr. Nicolas, and Mr. Chiswell to be
jointly concerned with him, by which contrivance he first
got a good price for the' land, and then, when he had been
very little out of pocket, sold his share to Mr. Nelson for
£500, and of these gentlemen the company at present con-
sists. And Mr. Chiswell is the only person amongst them
that knows anything of the matter." One of the mines at-
tached to the furnace was fifteen or twenty feet deep, and
the ore was dislodged by blasting, after which it was carried
away " in baskets up to the heap." It was calcined before
being used, layers of charcoal and ore alternating. The lime-
stone used at the furnace was brought from Bristol, in Eng-
land, as ballast, and carted from the Rappahannock to the
furnace by the ox teams which brought down the iron. Col-
onel Byrd recommended the substitution of oyster shells for
limestone, but without effect. If this furnace had made only
1,200 tons of iron as late as 1732, when Colonel Byrd visited
it, it is evident that it had not been built many years. We
place the date of its erection at about 1727.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 261

The next furnace visited by Colonel Byrd was directly
controlled by Colonel Spotswood, and was situated in Spott-
sylvania county, about ten miles northwest of Fredericksburg
and about ten miles east of the small town of*Germanna. This
last place was situated in Orange county, on the south side
of the Rapidan, and about ten miles above its junction with
the Rappahamiock. It had been settled by Germans and
afterwards abandoned for another location on " land of their
own, ten miles higher, in the Fork of Rappahannock." This
furnace, according to Colonel Spotswood, was the first in Vir-
ginia. It was t built of rough stone, " having been the first
of that kind erected in the country." The iron made at this
furnace was carted fifteen miles to Massaponax, on the Rap-
pahannock, five miles below Fredericksburg, where Colonel
Spotswood had recently erected an air furnace, which he
" had now brought to perfection, and should be thereby able
to furnish the whole country with all sorts of cast iron, as
cheap and as good as ever came from England." The blast
furnace " had not blown for several moons, the Colonel hav-
ing taken off great part of his people to carry on his air
furnace at Massaponax." The ore at this furnace was also
blasted with gunpowder. " Here the wheel that carried the
bellows was no more than twenty feet diameter." "All the
land hereabouts seems paved with iron ore, so that there
seems to be enough to feed a furnace for many ages." Col-
onel Spotswood resided at Germanna at the time of Colonel
Byrd's visit.

Colonel Byrd next mentions "England's iron mines, call-
ed so from the chief manager of them, tho' the land belongs
to Mr. Washington." These mines, he states, were on the
north side of the Rappahannock river, twelve miles distant
from Fredericksburg. Two miles distant from the mines
was a furnace. " Mr. Washington raises the ore and carts
it thither for twenty shillings the ton of iron that it yields.
The furnace is built on a run, which discharges its waters
into Potomeck. And when the iron is cast they cart it about
six miles to a landing on that river. Besides Mr. Washing-
ton and Mr. England there are several other persons in Eng-
land concerned in these works. Matters are very well man-
aged there, and no expense is spared to make them profitable,

262 THE MANUFACTURE OF

which is not the case in the works I have already mentioned."
This was Accokeek furnace, already referred to in the Mary-
land chapter. It was situated in Stafford county. The " Mr.
Washington " referred to was Augustine Washington, the
father of George Washington.

Colonel Byrd did not visit Accokeek furnace. He visited
Colonel Spotswood's air furnace at Massaponax, which he de-
scribes. It was a very ambitious and creditable enterprise,
and it appears to have been successfully managed. Colonel
Spotswood used it " to melt his sow iron, in order to cast it
into sundry utensils, such as backs for chimneys, andirons,
fenders, plates for hearths, pots, mortars, rollers for garden-
ers, skillets, boxes for cart wheels, and many other things.
And, being cast from the sow iron, are much better than
those which come from England, which are cast immediately
from the ore for the most part." " Here are two of these air
furnaces in one room, that so in case one want repair the
other may work, they being exactly of the same structure."
Colonel Spotswood informed Colonel Byrd that Robert Cary,
of England, was a silent partner of his in all his iron enter-
prises. In Cooke's History of tJie People of Virginia it is stated
that in 1760 about 600 tons of iron were smelted at " Spots-
wood's furnaces," most of which was sent to England.

Colonel Byrd was the owner of a princely estate, on the
north bank of the James river, called Westover, where he
died and was buried. He was born on March 28, 1674, and
died on August 26, 1744. He was the founder of both Rich-
mond and Petersburg. Colonel Spotswood died in 1740.
p Mr. W. H. Adams, of Mineral City, Virginia, has recently
undertaken an investigation of the exact location of Colonel
Spotswood's various iron enterprises, and has placed in our
hands the results of his labors. He locates the furnace built
by the Germans, and which he calls Rappahannock furnace,
on a small stream flowing into the Rappahannock river,
about ten miles above Fredericksburg, and he locates the
Fredericksville furnace in the southwestern part of Spottsyl-
vania county. He says that few vestiges of the town of
Germanna now exist. Its site was on the Rapidan river, in
Orange county, about twenty miles west of Fredericksburg.
The Massaponax air furnace he locates on the Rappahannock,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 263

on a neck of land at the outlet of the Massaponax river, on
lands now owned by Dr. Morton, and about five miles below
Fredericksburg. From his description of the location and
remains of the Rappahannock and Fredericksville furnaces
we condense the following interesting statement.

The Rappahannock furnace stood close to the fords of the Rappahan-
nock river, and on the almost precipitous banks of a small stream which
was relied on for the necessary power. Considerable grading was done to
provide for the operation of the furnace, the storage of charcoal, limestone,
ores, etc. Protected by its isolated position the structures remained in an
excellent state of preservation. The furnace is almost intact, its cleanly
cut stone work and auxiliary walls, race, and chambers being about as
they were left by the last workmen one hundred and sixty years ago.
A giant black-walnut tree is growing from the mouth of the furnace, bind-
ing with its roots the heavy walls in place, and closing every aperture
against the ravages of time. The slag piles, fluxes, coal, and considerable
amounts of pig iron, found in odd shapes in the cinder beds and the bed
of the brook ; the dam, of generous extent but faulty construction ; the
race-way, tail-race, etc., are interesting evidences of this early enterprise.

The location of the Fredericksville furnace is an isolated one, in the
southwestern part of Spotteylvania county, off the main line of travel,
about 30 miles southwest from Fredericksburg, 10 miles from the new
town of Mineral City, and one-half mile from the North Anna river.
The exact site of the furnace is just off the main county road from Fred-
ericksburg to Mineral City. The furnace was placed on a small stream,
which flowed into the North Anna river. The dam, which was estab-
lished about 1,000 feet above the furnace ; the race which brought the water
down to the furnace; the walls of the flume which carried the water to
the overshot wheel ; and the space for the blowing apparatus are all to
be seen. The ores, fluxes, charcoal, masonry, etc., are plentiful in the
great quantity of debris scattered about. It is a matter of regret, however,
that the furnace itself has been thought of so little account by the owners
of the land during the past twenty years that no care has been taken of
the materials used in its construction, and at least half its original height
has been sacrificed to furnish foundations and chimneys for the cabins of
the neighborhood. A few of the bricks, unique in their shape and weight,
and evidently brought from some foreign land, are still in the ruins of the
furnace. About 10 feet of the stack are yet standing.

The connection of the Washington family with the iron
industry of Virginia and Maryland justifies further reference
to the Accokeek furnace. Custis, in his Recollections, relates
that Augustine Washington, after the burning of his house in
Westmoreland, removed to a situation near Fredericksburg,
on the Rappahannock, where he became connected with the
Phncipio Company. Colonel Byrd has partly explained the

264 THE MANUFACTURE OF

nature of this connection, and in the Maryland chapter it is
still further explained. In 1750 Accokeek furnace sent to
England 410 tons of pig iron, which was about one-sixth of
the quantity exported from Maryland and Virginia in that
year. Augustine Washington, at his death in 1743, left the
estate afterwards known as Mount Vernon and his interest in
all the possessions of the Principio Company to his son Lawrence,
an elder half-brother of George Washington. Lawrence died
in 1752. Mr. Whiteley says that Augustine Washington's in-
terest in the Principio Company at his death was one-twelfth.
He had probably exchanged for this interest his shares in the
Accokeek property, which will hereafter be explained.

We have examined the will of Lawrence Washington, of
Fairfax county, Virginia, as it is recorded in Albert Welles's
History of the Washington Family. It is dated June 20, 1752.
We make the following literal extract : " I give and bequeath
to my daughter Sarah, . . after my just debts are dis-
charged, all my real and personal estate in Virginia and the
Province of Maryland, not otherwise disposed of. But in
case it should please God my said daughter should die with-
out issue, it is then my will and desire that my estate, both
real and personal, be disposed of in the following manner.
First. I give and bequeath unto my loving brother Augus-
tine Washington and his heirs forever all my stock, interest,
and estate in the Principio, Accokeek, Kingsbury, Laconshire,
& No. East iron works, in Virginia and Maryland, reserving
one-third of the profits of the said works to be paid my wife
as hereafter mentioned." George Washington was one of the
executors of the will. Sarah did not long survive her father,
and upon her death Augustine Washington succeeded to the
ownership of his iron interests and George Washington suc-
ceeded to the ownership of Mount Vernon. Mr. Whiteley
says that Accokeek furnace was abandoned soon after Law-
rence Washington's death, owing to the failure of a supply
of ore within a reasonable distance. In 1753 the slaves, hor-
ses, cattle, and wagons were sold, and affairs were gradually
closed up until nothing but the real estate was left, of which
Augustine Washington probably afterwards became sole own-
er. But he continued to retain an interest in the Principio
Company's other iron enterprises until the Revolution, dur-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 265

ing which they passed into new hands. Mr. Whiteley also
says that it was at the solicitation of Augustine Washing-
ton, " in behalf of himself and other adventurers in iron
works/' that in 1757 the Virginia Council remitted the port
duties and fees on pig and bar iron imported into that prov-
ince from Maryland.

Before parting with the Washington family we will here
refer to a well-preserved deed which is now in the posses-
sion of the Maryland Historical Society. This deed, which
was executed on March 2, 1729, recites that on July 24, 1726,
Augustine Washington " did demise, grant, bargain, and sell
unto " John England as trustee " the said Augustine Wash-
ington's plantation and lands situate, lying, and being at
Accokeek run in Stafford county in Virginia, . . contain-
ing by estimation one thousand six hundred acres, or there-
abouts, together with all the soil thereof, with all manner of
iron mines and iron oar . . within the limits of the said
plantation, together also with all and singular the woods,
trees, rivers," etc. "And the said Augustine Washington did
by the said verited lease grant unto the said John England
the full right and authority to cutt and make any shafts,
pitts, or devoids upon the said lands, to open or draw any of
the mines, oars, and mineralls aforesaid," and "to refine,
mill, and manufacture the oars and mineralls aforesaid, and
to set up any furnaces, buildings, or engines upon the said
land or any part thereof."

In consideration of these grants to John England, which
were confirmed to the Principio Company by the deed from
which we have above quoted, and which it was to hold for a
thousand years, Augustine Washington was to receive " the
yearly rent of one ear of corn if demanded " and a two-
twelfths interest in the lands conveyed and in the furnace
and other improvements which should be made upon them,
the whole ownership to be divided as follows : Walter Chet-
wynd, two-twelfths ; William Chetwynd, two-twelfths ; Joshua
Gee, one-twelfth ; William Russell, one-twelfth ; Thomas Rus-
sell, one-twelfth ; John Wightwick, two-twelfths ; Augustine
Washington, two-twelfths; and John England, one-twelfth.
The instrument from which we have quoted recites that
" since the making of the said lease," on July 24, 1726, " the

266 THE MANUFACTURE OF

said John England hath on the said premises erected an iron
furnace, dam, and other works and buildings for the rosting
of iron." The instrument further recites that the lease of
July 24, 1726, is recorded in folios 524 to 529 of Book No. 1
of the court of Stafford county, session of June 10, 1728.
And it further says that "the said John England, for and on
account of the said works, . . hath purchased and taken
in fee, or for years, or some other estate, several other par-
cells of land in Virginia aforesaid, amounting in the whole
to one thousand five hundred acres or thereabouts."

Mr. Brock writes us that, in Hening's Statutes, volume IX.,
there is "an act for the encouragement of iron works,"
passed in May, 1777, which recites that, " Whereas, the dis-
covery and manufacturing of iron ore requisite for the fabri-
cating the various implements of husbandry, small arms, in-
trenching tools, anchors, and other things necessary for the
army and navy, is at this time essential to the welfare and
existence of this State, as the usual supplies of pig and bar
iron from foreign States is rendered difficult and uncertain,
and James Hunter, near Fredericksburg, hath erected and is
now carrying on, at considerable expense and labour, many
extensive factories, slitting, plating, and wire mills, and is
greatly retarded through the want of pig and bar iron; and
whereas, there is a certain tract of land in the county of Staf-
ford, called or known by the name of Accokeek furnace tract,
on which a furnace for the making of pig iron was formerly
erected and carried on, which has been since discontinued,"
etc., etc., James Hunter is therefore authorized to enter upon
two hundred acres of the Accokeek tract, including the old
furnace, if its owners or agents should fail in one month to
begin and within six months to erect thereon a furnace equal
to or larger than the former one, and prosecute the same for
the making of pig iron and other castings. We think that
this proposed new furnace was never built, as it is not re-
ferred to in Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia,
to be quoted from hereafter, while " a forge of Mr. Hunter's,
at Fredericksburg," is distinctly noted by Jefferson.

Mr. Chiswell told Colonel Byrd that "we had as yet no
forge erected in Virginia, tho' we had four furnaces. But
there was a very good one set up at the head of the bay in

IRON IN ALL AGES. 267

Maryland, that made exceeding good work." The forge re-
ferred to was doubtless the one at Principle, the North East
forge not having been built until about 1735. Colonel Spots-
wood told Colonel Byrd that " he was not only the first in this
country, but the first in North America, who had erected a
regular furnace ; that they ran altogether upon bloomerys in
New England and Pennsylvania till his example had made
them attempt greater works." This statement is correct only
so far as it relates to the manufacture of pig iron exclusively
and not castings. By the phrase, "a regular furnace," Colonel
Spots wood meant a furnace which was built expressly to
make pig iron. Colonel Byrd's statement, that the furnace
near Germanna was the first furnace in the country that was
" built of rough stone," is not correct.

In the Valley of Virginia many furnaces and forges were
built before the Revolution and others were built before the
close of the last century. Zane's furnace and forge, on Cedar
creek, in Frederick county, were " built before any iron works
in this region." Pine forge, in Shenandoah county, three and
a half miles north of New Market, was built at an early day.
Isabella furnace, on Hawksbill creek, near Luray, in Page
county, was built about 1760. About 1775 a furnace was built
on Mossy creek, Augusta county, by Henry Miller and Mark
Bird, of Berks county, Pennsylvania. Bird soon sold his in-
terest to Miller. A forge was soon added to this furnace.

Union forge, near Waynesborough, in Augusta county,
was built about 1800. In Rockbridge county were two for-
ges, built about 1800 — Gibraltar forge, on North river, nine
miles north of Lexington, and Buffalo forge, on Buffalo creek,
the same distance south of Lexington. Moore's furnace, on
Steele's creek, in this 'county, and a furnace on Smith's creek,
in Rockingham county, were built before 1800.

A furnace was built in Loud on county before 1800, con-
cerning which Bishop states that Mr. Clapham, its owner,
" cut a canal through the end of Cotocktin mountain, 500 feet
through solid rock and 60 feet beneath the surface, to obtain
water for his furnace and mill."

Iron works were erected in Craig, Grayson, Wythe, Wash-
ington, Carroll, and other southwestern counties before the
close of the last century. A forge on Chestnut creek, in Car-

268 THE MANUFACTURE OF

roll county, was built about 1790, and another on Little Reed
Island creek was built about the same time. Poplar Camp
furnace, on Poplar Camp creek, in Wythe county, appears to
have been built in 1778, as a stone bearing that date and
identified with the furnace is still preserved. A few of the
old charcoal furnaces that are still in existence in South west- •
ern Virginia retain all their primitive characteristics. They
are blown by water-power with wooden " tubs," are placed
against a bank of the same level as the tunnel-head, have a
cold blast, and are operated by "the rule of thumb." The
stacks are built of stone. But even in Southwestern Virginia
modern methods are now obtaining full recognition.

Bishop says that an excellent " air furnace " was built at
Westham, six miles above Richmond, on the north side of the
James river, during the Revolution ; there was also a cannon
foundry here at the same period. The "air furnace" is said
to have used bituminous coal, from the mines of Chesterfield
county, in the manufacture of shot and shells for the Conti-
nental army. Benedict Arnold destroyed the works at West-
ham in 1781. A rolling and slitting mill was afterwards
built at this place.

At Lynchburg and its vicinity, in the James River valley,
several furnaces and forges were built in the last century,
some of which are referred to in the following extract from
Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, written in 1781 and
1782 but not printed until 1788.

The mines of iron worked at present are Callaway's, Eoss's, and Bal-
lendine's on the south side of James river ; Old's on the north side, in Al-
bemarle ; Millar's in Augusta ; and Zane's in Frederick. These two last are
in the valley between the Blue ridge and North mountain. Callaway's,
Ross's, Millar's, and Zane's make about 150 tons of bar iron each in the
year. Ross's makes also about 1,600 tons of pig iron annually; Ballen-
dine's, 1,000 ; Callaway's, Millar's, and Zane's, about 600 each. Besides
these, a forge of Mr. Hunter's, at Fredericksburg, makes about 300 tons a
year of bar iron, from pigs imported from Maryland; and Taylor's forge,
on Neapsco of Patowmac, works in the same way, but to what extent I am
not informed. The indications of iron in other places are numerous, and
dispersed through all the middle country. The toughness of the cast iron
of Ross's and Zane's furnaces is very remarkable. Pots and other uten-
sils cast thinner than usual, of this iron, may be safely thrown into or out
of the wagons in which they are transported. Salt-pans made of the same,
and no longer wanted for that purpose, cannot be broken up, in order to be
melted again, unless previously drilled in many parts.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 269

This account by Jefferson seems to establish the fact that
the iron industry of Virginia was not very extensive about
the close of the Revolution. Ross's works were on Beaver
creek, seven miles southeast of Lynchburg, and Thomas Cal-
la way's were near Rocky Mount, or Franklin court-house.
Lesley mentions Saunders's furnace at the latter place as hav-
ing been abandoned about 1800. Henry Miller's works were
near the northern boundary of Augusta county, " at the foot
of North mountain." In 1777 Old's furnace was referred to
in the Virginia legislature as an " old furnace " that was " yet
standing, tho' somewhat out of repair," but it was proposed
to put it in blast, to aid by its product in accomplishing the
independence of the colonies. This proposition took the form
of a resolution appropriating a loan of X2,000 to one of the
proprietors. The furnace was then said to have been owned
by Messrs. Old, Wilkinson & Trent, and Wilkinson was the
partner to be benefited by the loan from the Virginia treas-
ury. The furnace appears to have been promptly put in blast,
as Jefferson says that the mines belonging to this furnace
were " worked " when his Notes were written. The furnace
was located about twelve miles from Charlottesville.

About 1790 the iron industry of Virginia took a fresh
start, as did many other industries of the State. No State in
the Union gave more attention to domestic manufactures af-
ter the close of the Revolution than Virginia. This activity
continued for many years, but it was partly checked in sub-
sequent years by the greater attention given by the people
of Virginia to agricultural pursuits. Richmond, Lynchburg,
Staunton, Winchester, and some other places became noted
for the extent and variety of their manufactures. Household
manufactures were everywhere promoted. The manufacture
of nails was one of these household industries. Thomas Jef-
ferson required about a dozen of the younger slaves owned
by him to make nails, and it is said that " they made about
a ton of nails a month at a considerable profit." The Gov-
ernment armory at Harper's Ferry was established in 1798.

Lesley enumerates no less than eighty-eight charcoal fur-
naces and fifty-nine forges and bloomaries as having been
built in Virginia prior to 1856; also twelve rolling mills.
Several of these enterprises were within the limits of the

270 THE MANUFACTURE OF

present State of West Virginia. The furnaces were located in
thirty-one counties and the forges in twenty-five counties.

The first rolling mill of any kind west of the Allegheny
mountains and outside of Pennsylvania of which we can ob-
tain exact information was located in West Virginia, and is
described in Cramer's Pittsburgh Almanack for 1813, issued in
1812, as follows : " Jackson & Updegraff, on Cheat river, have
in operation a furnace, forge, rolling and slitting mill, and
nail factory — nails handsome, iron tough." Like all the
rolling and slitting mills of that day the Cheat river mill
did not puddle iron nor roll bar iron, but rolled only sheet
iron for salt pans, domestic utensils, and nail plates from
blooms made in forges. Hon. James Veech informed us in
his lifetime that the location of the Cheat river mill was on
the road from Uniontown to Morgantown, about three miles
south of the Pennsylvania State line and eight miles north of
Morgantown. It was in Monongalia county.

In the old days before the civil war Wheeling was the
centre of the rolling-mill industry of Virginia, having seven
of the twelve rolling mills in the State. Of the remaining
five mills four were in Richmond and one was on Reed creek,
in Wythe county, twelve miles east of Wytheville. Since the
war a few new rolling mills have been built in the old State
of Virginia and new mills and steel works have been built at
Wheeling. The first rolling mill at Wheeling was built in
1832 by Dr. Peter Shoenberger and David Agnew, both Penn-
sylvania ironmasters. This mill was called the Wheeling
iron works, and the firm was styled Shoenberger & Agnew.
The most prominent nail-manufacturing district in the Uni-
ted States at the present time is the Wheeling district, which
includes the nail factories in West Virginia and in that part
of Ohio which lies near Wheeling.

The works of the Tredegar Iron Company at Richmond,
Virginia, are among the most notable of their kind in the
United States. They were founded in 1836 by the late
Francis B. Deane, and embrace a large rolling mill, an exten-
sive foundry and machine shop, and a large car factory.
During the civil war these works were a tower of strength
to the Southern Confederacy, manufacturing cannon, -cannon
balls, and other munitions of war in large quantities down

IRON IN ALL AGES. 271

to the evacuation of Richmond in April, 1865. Prior to the
war, however, they had achieved a national reputation. The
United States steam frigates Roanoke and Colorado and the
United States revenue cutter James K. Polk were furnished '
with engines, boilers, and guns from these works. Nearly all
the machinery of the Tredegar works is driven by water-
power from the James river.

A large number of the furnaces and forges of Virginia
were abandoned before 1850. In 1856 there were thirty-nine
charcoal furnaces and forty-three forges enumerated by Les-
ley as being then in operation or prepared to make iron.
Since 1856 many of the charcoal furnaces and nearly all
the forges that were then in existence have been abandoned.
Insufficient transportation facilities, coupled with the failure
of ore in certain localities, have had much to do with the
abandonment of many charcoal furnaces in Virginia, while
the disappearance of the forges is due to the competition of
rolling mills. Of late years, however, the extension of rail-
roads and the discovery of new and valuable ore deposits
have given -a fresh impetus to the manufacture of pig iron
in Virginia and West Virginia, much of which is made with
coke obtained in the now celebrated Pocahontas Flat Top
coal region, which is found in both Virginia and West Vir-
ginia. The future of the iron industry of these two States
is to-day very promising. The young State took higher rank
in both 1870 and 1880 among iron-producing States than
the old State. It ranked tenth in 1870 and seventh in 1880 ;
whereas Virginia ranked thirteenth in 1870 and sixteenth in
1880. Since 1880, however, the old State has made remark-
able progress in the erection of large blast furnaces to use
coke as fuel. Some of the best furnaces in the country are
now to be found in Virginia. Its total production of pig
iron in 1880 was only 26,726 gross tons, but in 1883 it was
136,524 tons, and in 1890 it was 292,779 tons. In 1890
Virginia ranked sixth among the States in the production
of pig iron. In the same year West Virginia ranked fourth
in the production of steel but was twelfth in the production
of pig iron. — The early iron history of West Virginia is so
closely interwoven with that of Virginia that we could not
devote to it a separate chapter.

272 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXIV,
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN NORTH CAROLINA.

SCRIVENOR says that in 1728-29 there were imported into
England from " Carolina" one ton and one cwt. of pig iron,
and that in 1734 there were imported two qrs. and twelve Ibs.
of bar iron. Shipments of pig iron and bar iron from " Caro-
lina" were made in subsequent years prior to the Revolution.
We regret that we can not lo,cate the first iron enterprises in
this State. Some future antiquarian may be able to do this.
They were probably situated near the coast, in the neighbor-
hood of bog-ore deposits. It is a curious fact that hoes made
in Virginia and " Carolina " were sold in New York long be-
fore the Revolution.

Bishop says that several iron works were in operation in
North Carolina before the Revolution, some of which were
put out of blast by that event. They were situated on tribu-
taries of the Cape Fear, Yadkin, and Dan rivers. When the
shadow of the approaching conflict with the mother country
reached North Carolina her patriotic citizens, first in conven-
tion at New Berne and afterwards in the provincial legisla-
ture, encouraged by the offer of liberal premiums the manu-
facture of crude and finished iron and steel, as well as other
manufactured products. " John Wilcox was the proprietor of
a furnace and iron works on Deep run in the beginning of
the war. There were also iron works in Guilford county,
probably on the same stream. In April, 1776, the provincial
congress sent commissioners to treat with Mr. Wilcox for the
use of his furnace and works for two years, or to purchase
and repair those in Guilford, for casting ordnance, shot, etc.,
and empowered them to draw on the treasury for £5,000 for
that purpose." Troublesome forge, in Guilford county, was in
operation during the Revolution. Buffalo Creek furnace and
forge were also built before the Revolution on Buffalo creek,
in Cleveland county, not far from King's mountain, on the
southern border of the State.

Prior to 1800 there wpre in operation in Lincoln county

IRON IN ALL AGES. 273

two bloomaries, four forges, and two furnaces. One of the
furnaces, Vesuvius, on Anderson's creek, built in 1780, was in
operation down to 1873. Of other iron enterprises established
in North Carolina in the last century we gather from Lesley
and Bishop, and from Dr. William Sharswood, a local histo-
rian, of Danbury, North Carolina, the following information :
Union bloomary forge, on Snow creek, in Stokes county, six
miles northeast of Danbury, was built in 1780 by Peter Per-
kins and James Martin. Other iron works were built on
Snow creek, in the same county, and conducted with spirit
before 1800. Dr. Sharswood mentions a furnace and forge on
this creek which were built by Peter Perkins and James Tay-
lor about 1795 : they were located about half a mile from the
mouth of the creek. Davis's mill now stands on the site of
the furnace. He also says that Matthew Moore built a forge
on Big creek, where George's mill now stands, before 1800.
Riser's bloomary forge, on the headwaters of Town fork, in
the same county, ten miles southwest of Danbury, was built
in 1796 by George Hauser and Philip Kiser. Hill's bloomary
forge, on Tom's creek, in Surry county, nineteen miles west
of Danbury, was built in 1791. In the same county, near the
Yadkin, iron works were erected a few years after the Revo-
lution, probably by Moravians from Pennsylvania, who had
settled in the county as early as 1753. In Wilkes county a
forge was built about the same time. A furnace and forge
were erected on Troublesome creek, in Rockingham county,
at an early day. In Burke county, at the foot of the Blue
ridge, two bloomaries and two forges were erected before the
close of the last century. -^

After 1800 the iron industry of North Carolina was still
further developed. This development was, however, mainly
confined to the manufacture of bar iron in bloomaries, the
magnetic and hematite ores of North Carolina being well
adapted to this mode of treatment. In 1810, according to
Tench Coxe, there were six bloomaries, two rolling and slit-
ting mills, and twro naileries in Lincoln county ; one bloom-
ary in Iredell county ; six bloomaries and one trip-hammer
in Burke county ; and five bloomaries in Surry county —
eighteen bloomaries in all. In 1856 Lesley enumerated about
forty bloomaries and a few forges, most of which were then v

274 THE MANUFACTURE OF

in operation. They were located in Stokes, Surry, Yadkin,
Catawba, Lincoln, Gaston, Cleveland, Ashe, Watauga, Ruther-
ford, and Cherokee counties. The trompe was in general use.
He also described six furnaces : Vesuvius, already referred to ;
Madison, on. Leiper's creek, in Lincoln county, built in 1810 ;
Rehoboth, on the same creek and in the same county, built
in 1810 ; Columbia, seven miles west of High Shoals, in Gas-
ton county, then in ruins ; Tom's Creek, near Hill's forge,
1 on Tom's creek, destroyed by a flood in 1850 ; Buffalo Creek,
already referred to, and then in ruins. Vesuvius, Madison,
and Rehoboth were blown with wooden "tubs." There was
also active at this date a small rolling mill on Crowder's
creek, in Gaston county, a mile and a quarter north of King's
mountain, owned by Benjamin F. Briggs, of Yorkville, South
Carolina, and built in 1853. At the same time another small
rolling mill and forge, known as High Shoals iron works, and
situated in Gaston county, were in ruins.

There have been other early iron works in North Carolina
than those mentioned by Lesley or the other authorities from
whom we have quoted. A furnace called Washington is said
to have been built in Gaston county in 1788. Iron was made
in a bloomary near the line of Nash and Wilson counties in
the war of 1812, and during the civil war iron was made in
a blast furnace in the same locality. About 1840 there was a
furnace called Shuford in Catawba county, and at the same
period there was a furnace called Beard's on the Catawba
river, probably in Catawba county. Iron was also made about
the same time on Gunpowder creek, in Caldwell county, prob-
ably in a bloomary.

In the census year 1840 there were eight furnaces in North
Carolina, which produced in that year 968 gross tons of cast
iron, including both pig iron and castings, and forty-three
bloomaries, forges, and rolling mills, which produced 963 tons
of bar iron.

In Mitchell county, in the northwestern part of the State,
and within a few miles of the Tennessee line, there exists an
extensive deposit of iron ore known as the Cranberry mines,
the deposit taking its name from Cranberry creek, which flows
at the foot of the steep mountain spurs in which the ore is
found. This ore is a pure magnetite, and is practically free

IRON IN ALL AGES. 275

from sulphur and phosphorus. This valuable deposit has
been in part developed by Northern capital. The Cranberry
Iron Company has shipped some ore to distant furnaces, and
it has also built at the mines a small charcoal furnace which
was put in blast in the spring of 1884. Cranberry ore was
long worked in bloomaries in the neighborhood.

At least three furnaces were built in North Carolina dur-
ing the civil war, one in Chatham county, another in Lincoln
county, and another, already referred to, on the line of Nash
and Wilson counties. Two furnaces were built in Chatham
county after the war, but of these five furnaces, and Vesuvius,
Madison, and Rehoboth, all of which were lately standing, as
may have been one or two other furnaces, not one made a
pound of iron from 1877 until 1881. In that year Rehoboth
furnace was in operation, and in 1882 it was still active, but
in 1883 it was silent and it has since been idle. In 1890 it
was reported as having been abandoned. The furnace built
in Lincoln county during the war was named Stonewall.

Nearly all of the iron works that have been referred to
have been built in the western part of North Carolina. Of
the long list of bloomaries and forges which this State could
once boast only two bloomaries in Mitchell and Surry counties
have recently been active, and we are informed that neither
of these is likely to be operated again. Of all the furnaces
that North Carolina once possessed only Cranberry furnace
has been active in late years, and it is a comparatively new
furnace. There is not to-day a rolling mill or steel works
in the State.

276 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXV.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

IF the iron industry of North Carolina has rapidly de-
clined in late years that of South Carolina has suffered even
a worse fate ; it has been an extinct industry for many years.
Yet this State made some iron as early as the Revolutionary
period, and subsequently it made iron in considerable quan-
tities. In the northwestern part of South Carolina, including
the counties of Union, Spartanburg, and York, are valuable
deposits of magnetic ores, and here, according to Dr. Ramsay,
the historian of South Carolina, the first iron works in the
State were erected by Mr. Bufnngton in 1773, but they were
destroyed by the Tories during the Revolution.

At the beginning of the Revolution South Carolina fol-
lowed the example of many other colonies by offering lib-
eral premiums to those who would establish iron works, but
we do not learn that the manufacture of iron was thereby
increased. Mr. Buffington's experience probably deterred oth-
ers from embarking in the business.

Several furnaces and forges were erected in this State a
few years after the peace, the principal of which were the Era
and Etna furnaces and forges in York county. The Era was
built in 1787 and the Etna in 1788. These enterprises were
situated on a creek flowing into the Catawba river and about
two miles west of it. In 1795 the nearest landing to these
works was at Camden, seventy miles below. They were on
the road leading from Charlotte, in North Carolina, to York-
ville. Iron ore was abundant in the neighborhood, and was
easily smelted after having been roasted. "It was obtained,
massive, in such quantity above the surface that it was
thought there would be no occasion to resort to shafts or
levels for half a century." William Hill was one of the prin-
cipal owners of the works. He is said to have devised " a
new blowing apparatus," by the aid of which he contrived to
blow " all the fires, both of the forges and furnaces, so as to
render unnecessary the use of wheels, cylinders, or any other

IRON IN ALL AGES. 277

kind of bellows." This apparatus was doubtless the trompe,
or water-blast, but Mr. Hill did not invent it, nor was he the
first in this country to use it. The statement, which Bishop
quotes from some unknown authority, is, however, valuable,
as it contains one of the few references to the use of the
trompe in this country in blowing a blast furnace that have
come under our notice. Bishop says that other iron works
soon followed those of Mr. Hill, and that " they were erected
in different places, including several in the mountain district
of Washington, where iron, the only article made for sale to
any extent, was manufactured at the beginning of this cent-
ury as cheap and good as the imported."

Tench Coxe enumerates two bloomaries in Spartanburg
county in 1810, four in Pendleton county, two in Greenville
county, and one in York county — nine in all. He also men-
tions one small nailery and one small steel furnace in the
S^ate. He makes no reference to blast furnaces, but his sta-
tistics were probably not complete.

Scrivenor mentions the following enterprises in South
Carolina as existing apparently about 1815, but the source
of his information we have been unable to discover. " On
Allison's creek, in York district, there are a forge, a furnace,
a rolling mill for making sheet iron, and a nail manufactory.
On Middle Tiger river are iron works on a small scale ; also
on the Enoree river and Rudy river, on the north fork of
Saluda river, on George's creek, and on Twenty-six mile
creek. In 1802 an air furnace was erected on a neck of land
between Cooper and Ashley rivers, where gjood castings are
made." York district is the same as York county, the sub-
divisions of South Carolina having been known as districts
down to 1868.

In the census year 1840 there were four furnaces in South
Carolina, which produced in that year 1,250 gross tons of
castings and pig iron, and nine bloomaries, forges, and roll-
ing mills, which produced 1,165 tons of bar iron.

In 1856 South Carolina had eight furnaces — one in York,
one in Union, and six in Spartanburg county. They are de-
scribed by Lesley. Four of these furnaces were then in oper-
ation, producing in the year named 1,506 tons of charcoal
iron, but three others had been " out of repair for twenty

278 THE MANUFACTURE OF

years," and the remaining furnace had been abandoned. In
1856 there were also three small rolling mills in the State-
one on Pacolet river, in Spartanburg county; one on Broad
river, in Union county ; and one on the same river, in York
county. At the first two of these mills dry wood was used in
the puddling and heating furnaces. In 1856 the three mills
made 1,210 tons of bar iron and nails. In the same year
there were also in South Carolina two " bloomaries," one con-
nected with the rolling mill in Union county and the other
connected with the rolling mill in York county. Their joint
product was 640 tons of blooms. Strictly speaking these
" bloomaries " were forges, as they doubtless used pig iron.

But South Carolina no longer makes iron. Every iron-
producing establishment in the State is to-day silent and
has been silent for many years, and all are in a more or
less dilapidated condition. South Carolina and Vermont
furnish the only instances in the history of the country *f
States having wholly abandoned the manufacture of iron.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 279

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE EAKLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN GEORGIA.

GEORGIA is the last of the original thirteen colonies whose
iron history remains to be noticed. Unlike its sister colonies,
however, Georgia has no colonial iron history. It was the
last of the thirteen to be settled, and it was not until within
a few years of the commencement of the Revolutionary strug-
gle that the few settlements on the coast began to experience
even moderate prosperity. After the close of the Revolution
the settlement of the interior was for many years retarded
by difficulties with the Indians, and it was not until 1838
that the Cherokees were induced to surrender their claims to
& portion of the territory of the State. It will be seen that,
under the circumstances which have been mentioned, the
manufacture of iron in Georgia was destined to be the result
of comparatively modern enterprise.

In 1810 there was a bloomary in Warren county, a forge
in Elbert county, and a nailery in Chatham county. Two
of these enterprises were near the Atlantic coast, and were
doubtless among the first of their kind in the State, dating
probably from about 1790. The coast sections of Georgia
did not possess ample resources for the manufacture of iron.
No iron industry exists there to-day. Sequee bloomary forge,
three miles south of Clarkesville, in Habersham county, was
built about 1830 and abandoned about 1835. Hodge's 'forge,
in the same county, was probably built at an earlier date.
Lesley says of it : " Situation unknown ; history unknown ;
abandoned very long ago."

Bloomary forges in Cass county, now Bartow county, were
built as follows : Etowah, No. 1, in 1838 ; Etowah, No. 2, in
1841 ; Allatoona, about 1846. Ivy Log bloomary, in Union
county, was built about 1839. Aliculsie bloomary, in Murray
county, was built about 1843. A bloomary was built on Ar-
muchy creek, in Walker county, about 1848. Lookout bloom-
ary, in Dade county, was built at an earlier day. All these
enterprises were abandoned before 1856, in which year, how-

280 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ever, several other bloomaries of more recent origin were in
operation. In 1880 only two bloomaries in the State were
reported to be in use. One forge, at Allatoona, made blooms
from scrap iron in that year. In 1890 there was neither a
forge nor a bloomary in Georgia that was active.

The first furnace in Georgia of which we have any infor-
mation was Sequee furnace, near Clarkesville, in Habersham
county, built prior to 1832 and abandoned in 1837. Etowah
furnace, on Stamp creek, in Cass county, now Bartow county,
was built in 1837, abandoned in 1844, and torn down in 1850.
A new furnace, built by its side in 1844, is now in ruins. Al-
latoona furnace, in Cass county, built in 1844 ; Union furnace,
in the same county, built in 1852 ; Lewis furnace, in the same
county, built about 1847 ; and Cartersville furnace, in the
same county, built in 1852, have all been abandoned. Clear
Creek furnace, in Walker county, built about 1852 and rebuilt
in 1857, has also been abandoned. All these were charcoal
furnaces. . Of the furnaces existing in Georgia in 1880 Bartow
county contained five charcoal furnaces and two coke furna-
ces— seven in all. Of these the two Bear Mountain charcoal
furnaces, built in 1842, were the oldest. Four other furnaces
in the State were situated in Polk, Floyd, and Dade counties
— two in Polk and one in Floyd using charcoal and one in
Dade using coke. Of the eleven furnaces in the State in
1880, some of which were not then active, several have since
been torn down or abandoned. Two new charcoal furnaces
have recently been built — one at Tallapoosa, blown in in 1890,
and one at Rome, blown in in 1891. Rising Fawn furnace, in
Dade Bounty, is 65 feet high by 17 feet wide, and was the
first furnace in the United States to use the Whitwell hot-
blast stove, blowing in for the first time on June 18, 1875.
In 1891 there were six furnaces in Georgia, two of which
used coke as fuel, three used charcoal, and one was built to
use either coke or charcoal.

Georgia had two rolling mills in 1859 — Etowah, in Cass
county, built about 1849, and Gate City, at Atlanta, built in
1858. It is a curious fact that this State had just two rolling
mills twenty-one years later, in 1880 — Atlanta, built in 1865,
and Rome, built in 1869. The latter had been idle for sev-
eral years prior to 1880 and has since been dismantled. The

IRON IN ALL AGES. 281

Atlanta rolling mill was burned on September 21, 1881, and
not rebuilt. There is now only one rolling mill in the State,
a new mill at Rome, built in 1889 partly to roll cotton-ties.

In 1859 Lesley thus describes the Etowah rolling mill and
its blast furnace and other connections, located on the Etowah
river : " This property has been building up and developing
for twelve years. On it there has been expended $250,000.
It contains a rolling mill, nail and spike factory, and all
necessary apparatus; a blast furnace and foundry, with full
equipment ; a wheat mill (150 to 250 bushels per day), ware-
house, cooper-house, hotel, and operative houses, two corn
grist mills, two saw mills, and a coal mine ; all using not
one-tenth of the water-power on the premises. River (BOO feet
wide. Iron ore and wood are abundant. It is on the met-
amorphic rocks of the gold and copper belt, both minerals
being found on it," etc. The Etowah Iron Company has re-
cently purchased this property and is making preparations
to develop its iron-ore deposits.

From the foregoing summary it will be seen that the iron
industry of Georgia is not now so prominent as in former
years. There does not seem to be any reason why it should
not in the next ten or twenty years become much more act-
ive than it now is or ever has been.

282 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXVII.
THE EAKLY MANUFACTUKE OF IRON IN KENTUCKY.

THE first iron enterprise in Kentucky whose history has
been preserved was Bourbon furnace, often called Slate fur-
nace, which was built in 1791 on Slate creek, a branch of
Licking river, in Bath county, then Bourbon, and about two
miles southeast of Owingsville. This is also the only furnace
in Kentucky which has a history that can be traced back to
the last century. In his Notes on the State of Virginia Jefferson
says that there were iron mines " on Kentucky, between the
Cumberland and Barren rivers," and also " between Cumber-
land and Tanissee." This was written before the close of the
Revolution. The whole of Jefferson's reference to western
iron mines is as follows :

In the western country we are told of iron mines between the Mus-
kingum and Ohio ; of others on Kentucky, between the Cumberland and
Barren rivers, between Cumberland and Tanissee, on Reedy creek, near the
Long island, and on Chestnut creek, a branch of the Great Kanhaway near
where it crosses the Carolina line. What are called the iron-banks, on the
Mississippi, are believed, by a good judge, to have no iron in them. In gen-
eral, from what is hitherto known of that country, it seems to want iron.

Bourbon furnace was not within the limits of any of these
boundaries, but was located not far from the Ohio river. Nor
is it probable that there were any iron enterprises in the Ken-
tucky portion of the regions mentioned by Jefferson prior to
the building of Bourbon furnace. This furnace was the first
furnace outside of the present limits of the original thirteen
colonies of which we can obtain any information.

We have received from V. B. Young, Esq., of Owingsville,
Kentucky, a very full historical account of Bourbon furnace,
which we present as follows :

In October, 1782, Jacob Myers came from Baltimore, Maryland, to the
region now embraced in Bath county, Kentucky, but then in Bourbon coun-
ty, and soon afterwards patented 5,434 acres of land on Slate creek. In
March, 1791, he commenced the erection of a furnace on this land, and on
the 24th of May following he sold to John Cockey Owings, of Baltimore,
Christopher Greenup, of Mercer county, Kentucky, Walter Beall, of Nelson

IRON IN ALL AGES. 283

county, Kentucky, and Willis Green, of Lincoln county, Kentucky, seven-
eighths of his interest in the furnace and in the land, the consideration
being £1,426 8s. 6d. On the same day all the persons mentioned formed
themselves into a company and subscribed to an agreement which stip-
ulated that "the furnace now building on Slate creek shall hereafter be
styled, called, and known by the name of the Bourbon furnace, and the
firm of the company shall be John Cockey Owings and Company, owners
and proprietors of the Bourbon furnace." During the erection of the fur-
nace, and afterwards while the hands employed by the company were dig-
ging ore, the workmen had to be guarded by men with guns against the
Indians; hence it became necessary to build a strong block-house on the
principal ore bank for the better security of the laborers. The first blast
made by the furnace was in 1792.

On March 6, 1795, George Thompson, Colonel George Nicholas, John
Breckinridge, and John Hollingsworth became members of the company,
adding to its capital lands and other property equal in value to the origi-
nal investment. On June 27, 1798, Christopher Greenup sold his interest
to George Nicholas and Walter Beall. In July, 1799, George Nicholas died.
On January 15, 1800, Walter Beall sold his interest to Colonel Thomas Dye
Owings, a son of John Cockey Owings, who had inherited his father's inter-
est. In 1806 Colonel Owings became the sole owner of Bourbon furnace.
He operated it successfully until 1822, when he became involved in debt
and was compelled to make an assignment. The furnace was then oper-
ated by trustees for several years, when it was sold for the benefit of the
creditors, passing into the hands of Robert Wicklifie, of Lexington, Ken-
tucky, who leased it to Major John C. Mason and Samuel Herndon, who
operated it until August, 1839, when its last blast came to an end. The
stack is still standing.

The owners of Bourbon furnace built Slate forge, on Slate creek, three
miles above the furnace, in 1798, to convert its pig iron into bar iron. This
forge was in operation until 1818. Maria forge, three miles above the mouth
of Slate creek, was built for the same purpose in 1810 by Joseph and Car-
lisle Harrison. It was in operation until 1840.

Bourbon furnace used the Clinton ore from two banks two miles south
of the furnace — one called the Howard hill bank and the other called the
Block-house bank. The water-power furnished by Slate creek was often
insufficient to keep the furnace working regularly. The production of the
furnace was about three tons per day. The iron made at the furnace had
a poor reputation for strength, but it was very hard, which was due to the
large amount of phosphorus it contained.

Bourbon furnace supplied the early settlers of Kentucky with all the
castings they needed, such as, heating stoves, cooking utensils, flat-irons,
etc. After Slate forge wTas built the blacksmiths of the State were supplied
by it with bar iron. The castings and bar iron were hauled in wagons to
all parts of the State, and distributed through the principal stores in the
towns. There are many heating stoves and cooking utensils still in- use in
Kentucky that were made at this furnace. Products of the furtiace and
the forge were also hauled to Licking river, a distance of seven miles, and
put into flat-boats and floated to Cincinnati and Louisville on the Ohio.

In 1810 Colonel Owings had a contract with the United States Govern-

284 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ment to furnish cannon balls, grape shot, etc., to the navy. He also fur-
nished General Jackson with cannon balls, grape shot, chain shot, etc., to
use against the British, and they were so used at the battle of New Orleans
on the 8th of January, 1815. I have in my possession the original receipt
of General Jackson's sergeant-major for the cannon balls, etc., and also the
receipts of several naval officers.

The owners of Bourbon furnace carried on a large general store. They
brought their goods from Philadelphia. The Kentucky merchant in those
early days traveled all the way to Philadelphia on horseback, carrying in
saddle-bags the silver to pay for his goods. They brought their goods in
wagons to Pittsburgh, thence down the Ohio on flat-boats to the mouth of
the Limestone, now Maysville, in Mason county, Kentucky, and thence
hauled them to the furnace, a distance of forty-five miles. The company
also built and carried on a grist mill, which had a widely extended custom.

The founders and early owners of Bourbon furnace were all remark-
able men, and their names are among the most eminent in the history of
Kentucky. Jacob Myers, the pioneer, was a German, and a man of very
fine sense. Christopher Greenup was a Virginian by birth, a soldier in the
Revolution, a member of Congress from Kentucky in 1792, and Governor
of Kentucky from 1804 to 1808. Greenup county 'was named after him.
He died in 1818 in his 69th year. George Nicholas was a Virginian by
birth, and a great lawyer and a great statesman. He was a soldier in the
Revolution, was a member of the convention to frame a Constitution for
Kentucky, was the author of that instrument, and was the first Attorney-
General of the State. John Breckinridge was a Virginian by birth, and
was the author of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. He was a United
States Senator from .Kentucky in 1801, and was appointed Attorney-Gen-
eral of the United States in 1805. He was the grandfather of Vice-Presi-
dent John C. Breckinridge. Walter Beall and Willis Green were surveyors
from Virginia, and the latter held various local offices in Kentucky. John
Cockey Owings was a large landholder in Maryland.

The original of the following memorandum was handed
to the editor of the Portsmouth (Ohio) Tribune in 1880 by
Mr. L. C. Robinson. It refers to Bourbon furnace.

KENTUCKY, ss. : Memorandum of an Agreement made and Concluded
upon this day between John Cockey Owings & Co., in Iron Works at the
Bourbon Furnace of the one part, and Robert Williams (potter) of the other
part. Witnesseth that the aforesaid Company doth this day agree to give
the said Williams five pounds p. month for three months' work and to find
him provisions during the time he shall work until the three months are
expired, and said Company doth further agree, in case the furnace is not
ready to blow before or at the expiration of the three months, if the water
will admit, or as soon as the water will admit after that time, to give him p.
month- as much as he can make in a month at the potting Business for such
time as said Furnace may not be Ready to put in Blast — as witness our
hands this second day of June, 1793. JN. COCKEY 0 WINGS.

... WALTER BEALL.

Test: JNO. MOCKBEE. CHRIST GREENUP.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 285

For a number of years after 1800 the iron industry of
Kentucky made steady progress. Tench Coxe mentions four
furnaces and three forges in 1810. One furnace was in
Estill county, one in Wayne, and two were in Montgomery.
One of the forges was in Estill county, one in Wayne, and
one in Montgomery. His enumeration, however, is incom-
plete, no mention, for instance, being made of the iron en-
terprises in Bath county, which were in operation long after
1810. In the same year, or soon afterwards, there were four
nail factories at Lexington, making seventy tons of nails an-
nually.

About 1815 Richard Deering, a farmer of Greenup coun-
ty, smelted in a cupola the first iron ore used in the Hang-
ing Rock district of Kentucky. His experiment with the cu-
pola proving to be successful he took into partnership David
and John Trimble, and these three persons built in 1817 or
1818 one of the first furnaces in the district. It was called
Argillite, and was located in Greenup county, about six miles
southwest of Greenupsburg, upon the left bank of the Little
Sandy river. The stack, which was 25 feet high and 6 feet
wide at the boshes, was cut in a cliff of black slate — Hence
the name, Argillite. Lesley says : " It was not a structure,
but an excavation in the solid slate rock of the cliff, the
archway below being excavated to meet it." This furnace
was operated only a few years, when it was abandoned. Its
product was always small.

Another early furnace in this district was Pactolus, built
by Ward & McMurtry soon after 1818 on the Little Sandy
river, in Carter county, above Argillite furnace. It was soon
abandoned. A forge was connected with this furnace. An-
other early enterprise in this district was Steam furnace, in
Greenup county, situated about three miles from the Ohio
river and five miles from Greenupsburg. It is said by Les-
ley to have been built in 1817 by Leven Shreeves & Brother.
It was operated with steam. It was abandoned after 1860.
Enterprise furnace, on Tygart's creek, in Greenup county, was
built in 1826, but Richard Deering is said to have erected a
forge of the same name on the same creek in 1824. Belle-
fonte furnace, on Hood's creek, two and a half miles south-
west of Ashland, in Boyd county, was built in 1826 by A.

286 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Paull, George Poague, and others, and was the first furnace
in this county. It was in operation in 1890.

Between 1817 and 1834 at least thirteen furnaces were
built in Greenup, Carter, and Boyd counties. One of the
earliest of these was Camp Branch, or Farewell, situated on
Little Sandy river, fourteen miles from Greenupsburg, near
the Carter county line, built by David and John Trimble.
Subsequent to 1834 about fifteen other charcoal furnaces were
built in these three counties and in Lawrence county. Most
of the charcoal furnaces of this district have been abandon-
ed. A few excellent bituminous coal and coke furnaces have,
however, been erected in late years. Notwithstanding these
additions to its furnace capacity this district is not now so
prominent in the manufacture of iron as it has been.

About 1830 there were a dozen forges in Greenup, Estill,
Edmonson, and Crittenden counties, all of which, with one
exception, were abandoned before 1850. Two forges were
built below Eddyville, in Lyon county, about 1840. All the
forges mentioned refined pig iron into blooms, many of
which found a market at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Ken-
tucky rolling mills. A few years ago there was only one
forge remaining in the State, Red River, in Estill county, but
it has since been abandoned. If any bloomaries ever existed
in Kentucky they were abandoned early in this century.

In addition to the iron enterprises in the Hanging Rock
region of Kentucky furnaces were built before 1860 in sever-
al of the middle and western counties of the State — in Bath,
Russell, Bullitt, Nelson, Muhlenburg, Lyon, Crittenden, Trigg,
Calloway, and Livingston counties. Two of these furnaces,
Caney and Clear Creek, were in Bath county. In this period
eight rolling mills were also built in Kentucky. The period
from about 1825 to 1860 witnessed great activity in the devel-
opment of the iron industry of Kentucky. Since the close of
the civil war this activity has not been maintained. It can
not be said that the State has devoted that attention to the
manufacture of iron which its position and resources most
certainly invite.

Kentucky was seventh in the list of iron and steel produc-
ing States in 1870 and eleventh in 1880. In 1890 it was four-
teenth in rank among the States producing pig iron and it

IRON IN ALL AGES. 287

occupied the same position among the States producing rolled
iron. Of twenty-two furnaces in the State in 1880 eighteen
used charcoal and four used bituminous coal. In the same
year there were eight rolling mills — two at Covington, two at
Newport, two at Louisville, one at Ashland, and one in Lyon
county ; there were also two steel works connected wdth the
rolling mills at Covington and Newport. The first rolling
mill in Kentucky appears to have been built at Covington in
1829, a portion of its machinery having been obtained from
the dismantled Union rolling mill at Pittsburgh.

In 1890 there were five coke furnaces and one charcoal
furnace in Kentucky and six rolling mills and one open-
hearth steel plant, the last named being at Covington. A Bes-
semer steel plant was in course of erection at Ashland, in Boyd
county. This place has in late years become prominent as an
iron centre, having three active coke furnaces. At Middles-
borough, in Bell county, an English company has recently un-
dertaken the erection of iron and steel works on an extensive
scale, embracing two coke furnaces and a basic open-hearth
steel plant, none of which had been completed at the begin-
ning of 1891. The South Boston Iron Works are to be re-
moved to this place in 1891. There is also a charcoal fur-
nace in course of erection at Cumberland Gap, and two char-
coal furnaces are also in course of erection at Grand Rivers,
in Livingston county.

It is a favorable sign that the coking coals of Kentucky
are now in a fair way to be developed on an extensive scale.

288 THE MANUFACTURE OP .

CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN TENNESSEE.

THE first settlers of Tennessee erected iron works within
its limits soon after the close of the Revolution. Bishop says
that a bloomary was built in 1790 at Embreeville, in Washing-
ton county. At Elizabethton, on Doe river, in Carter county,
a bloomary was built about 1795. Wagner's bloomary, on
Roane creek, in Johnson county, is said to have been built
in this year. A bloomary was also erected on Camp creek, in
Greene county, in 1797. Two bloomaries in Jefferson county
—the Mossy Creek forge, ten miles north of Dandridge, and
Dumpling forge, five miles west of Dandridge — were built in
the same year. About the same time, if not earlier, David
Ross, the proprietor of iron works in Campbell county, Vir-
ginia, erected a large furnace and forge at the junction of the
two forks of the Holston river, in Sullivan county, near the
Virginia line, on "the great road from Knoxville to Phila-
delphia." Bishop states an interesting fact in the following
words : " Boats of twenty-five tons burden could ascend to
Ross's iron works, nearly 1,000 miles above the mouth of the
Tennessee, and about 280 above Nashville. At Long Island,
a short distance above, on the Holston, where the first per-
manent settlement in Tennessee was made in 1775, boats were
built to transport iron and castings made in considerable
quantities at these works, with other produce, to the lower
settlements and New Orleans." A bloomary was built about
1795 below the mouth of the Watauga, and another at the
same time about twenty-five miles above the mouth of French
Broad river and thirty miles above Knoxville.

All the above-mentioned enterprises were in East Ten-
nessee. In West Tennessee iron was also made in the last
decade of the last century. Nashville was founded in 1780,
and a few years later iron ore was discovered about thirty
miles west of the future city. In 1792 Cumberland furnace
was erected on Iron fork of Barton's creek, in Dickson county,
seven miles northwest of Charlotte, by James Robinson. This

IRON IN ALL AGES. 289

furnace was rebuilt in 1825, and was in operation in 1888.
Dickson county and its neighbors, Stewart and Montgomery
counties, afterwards became very prominent in the manu-
facture of charcoal pig iron. Other counties in the same sec-
tion of the State have also, but in a less conspicuous degree,
made iron in charcoal furnaces. The first furnace in Mont-
gomery county was probably Yellow Creek, situated fourteen
miles southwest of Clarksville, and built in 1802.

The iron industry of Tennessee made steady progress
after the opening of the present century. Both furnaces and
bloomaries multiplied rapidly. In 1856 Lesley enumerated
over seventy-five forges and bloomaries, seventy-one furnaces,
and four rolling mills in Tennessee, each of which had been
in operation at some time after 1790. Of the furnaces twen-
ty-nine were in East Tennessee and forty-two in Middle and
West Tennessee. Fourteen of the latter were in Stewart coun-
ty, twelve in Montgomery, seven in Dickson, two in Hick-
man, two in Perry, two in Decatur, two in Wayne, and one in
Hardin county. There were at one time forty-one furnaces on
the Cumberland river in Tennessee and Kentucky. The fur-
naces in East Tennessee were mainly in Sullivan and Carter
counties, Sullivan having five and Carter seven ; but John-
son, Washington, Greene, Cocke, Sevier, Monroe, Hamilton,
Claiborne, Campbell, Grainger, and Union counties each had
one or two furnaces, while Roane county had three. There
was an early furnace in Polk county, which is not noted by
Lesley but is mentioned by Bishop. The forges and blooma-
ries were mainly located in East Tennessee. Johnson county
contained fifteen, Carter ten, Sullivan six, Washington three,
Greene ten, Campbell seven, Blount four, Roane seven, Rhea
three, and a few other counties one and two each. Nearly all
of these were bloomaries. In West Tennessee there were less
than- a dozen refinery forges and one or two bloomaries. The
forges of West Tennessee, like those of Kentucky, were large-
ly employed from about 1825 to 1860 in the manufacture of
blooms for rolling mills, many of which found a market in
the Ohio valley. Most of the furnaces and all of the forges
enumerated by Lesley have long been abandoned, and all of
the bloomaries except two or three have also been abandoned.
There are now in Tennessee ten charcoal furnaces.

290 THE MANUFACTURE OF

In 1883 there were in this State eight coke furnaces, all of
recent origin, four rolling mills, and two steel works. In 1890
there were ten completed coke furnaces and several building,
four rolling mills, and three steel works, two of which were
connected with the rolling mills. Cumberland rolling mill,
on the left bank of the Cumberland river, in Stewart county,
was built in 1829 and was probably the first rolling mill in
the State. It was the only one in Tennessee as late as 1856.

Since the close of the civil war Chattanooga has become
the most prominent iron centre in Tennessee, having several
iron enterprises of its own and others in its vicinity. Prior
to the war, in 1854, Bluff furnace had been built by Robert
Cravens, James A. Whiteside, and James P. Boyce, to use
charcoal. In 1857 Lesley said of this furnace : " The bitu-
minous coal of the Raccoon mines, now leased and worked
by the Etna Mining Company, can be brought to the fur-
nace by railway ; it is excellent for coke, and some thoughts
are entertained of turning the present furnace into a coke
furnace." In 1859 the limestone stack was torn down by the
East Tennessee Iron Company, of which James Henderson,
of New York, was the manager, and a new iron cupola stack,
11 feet wide at the boshes, was erected in its place, and Rac-
coon coke was thereafter used as fuel. The new furnace was
blown in in May, 1860, but owing to a short supply of coke
the blast lasted only long enough to permit the production of
about 500 tons of pig iron. All the machinery and appoint-
ments of the furnace worked satisfactorily. The furnace was
started on a second blast on the 6th of November, the day of
the Presidential election, but political complications and the
demoralized state of the furnace workmen were obstacles too
great to be overcome, and the furnace soon chilled from the
cause last mentioned, and in December Mr. Henderson aban-
doned the enterprise and returned to New York. In the sum-
mer of 1862, before the Union troops took possession of Chat-
tanooga, the machinery of the furnace was removed to Ala-
bama by Giles Edwards, who used it in the equipment of a
small charcoal furnace near the site of the present town of
Anniston. This furnace was active for about two years. The
stack of the furnace at Chattanooga was used by the Union
troops as a lime kiln, by whom it was subsequently torn down.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 291

This was the first coke furnace in either of the States of
Tennessee or Alabama, which are now the theatre of such
great present and prospective activity in the manufacture of
pig iron with this fuel.

The first coke furnace that was built in the South after
the war was the first of the. two Rockwood furnaces, at Rock-
wood, Roane county, Tennessee. This furnace was built in
1867 by the Rdane Iron Company, of which General J. T.
Wilder and Captain H. S. Chamberlain were the leading
spirits. It was successful from the start and is still active.

At the beginning of the war, in 1861, S. B. Lowe com-
menced the erection of the Vulcan rolling mill at Chatta-
nooga, to roll bar iron. This mill was not finished in 1863,
when it was burned by the Union forces. Mr. Lowe rebuilt
the mill in 1866. It was owned and operated by .the South
Tredegar Iron Company in 1890. In 1864 a rolling mill to
re-roll rails was built by the United States Government, un-
der the supervision of John Fritz, then superintendent of
the Bethlehem iron works. It was afterwards owned and op-
erated by the Roane Iron Company. The first open-hearth
steel made in any Southern State was made by the Siemens-
Martin process at Chattanooga by this company on the 6th
day of June, 1878, and 'in December of the same year the
first steel rails ever made in the South were rolled at its
works. Subsequently Bessemer steel works were built by
this company, its supply of pig iron coming from the Rock-
wood furnaces and the iron ore coming from the Cranberry
mines. They made their first blow on May 7, 1887, and on
that day the first Bessemer steel rail ever made in the
South outside of Wheeling was successfully rolled at these
works, but the rolling, of steel rails by this company has not
since been actively continued. The first basic open-hearth
steel ever made in Tennessee was made at the works of this
company by the Southern Iron Company on the 15th of Sep-
tember, 1890. Lookout rolling mill was built by the Tennes-
see Iron and Steel Company in 1876, and was started in Oc-
tober of that year. Lewis Scofield was at the time the presi-
dent of the company.

S. B. Lowe died at Chattanooga on April 13, 1891, aged
about 63 years.

292 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The prominence of Chattanooga as an iron centre is in
part due to the excellent bituminous coal which is found in
the neighborhood and in part to its superior transportation
facilities. Next to Chattanooga the most prominent iron cen-
tre in Tennessee is Knoxville, which has a varied and pros-
perous iron industry. The Knoxville Car Wheel Company
many years ago established a high reputation for its car
wheels, which were made from pig iron produced from lim-
onite ores at Carter and other furnaces in East Tennessee.
Nashville and South Pittsburg are also growing iron centres.

Carter furnace, on Stony creek, a branch of the Watauga,
was abandoned a few years ago. It was one of the last fur-
naces in the country to obtain its blast from a pair of square
wooden cylinders, or " tubs," driven by water-power. The
pioneer Cumberland furnace, which was built in 1792, was
blown by a trompe.

Tennessee is destined to become much more prominent in
the manufacture of iron than it has ever been. It will owe
this prominence partly to the abundance of good bituminous
coal which it possesses, but partly also to the improvements
in the manufacture of charcoal pig iron which have already
been adopted in many instances in this State, and partly to
the adaptability to the basic steel process of pig iron made
from its ores. Of the good quality of Tennessee ores for
general purposes nothing needs to be. said.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 293

CHAPTER XXIX.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN ALABAMA.

THE oldest furnace in Alabama mentioned by Lesley was
built about- 1818 a few miles west of Russellville, in Franklin
county, and abandoned in 1827. This unsuccessful venture
appears to have had a dispiriting effect on other schemes to
build furnaces in Alabama, as we do not hear of the erection
of any others for many years after it was abandoned. A fur-
nace was built at Polksville, in Calhoun county, in 1843 ; one
at Round Mountain, in Cherokee county, in 1853 ; and Shelby
furnace, at Shelby, in Shelby county, in 1848. These were all
charcoal furnaces, and were the only ones in Alabama enu-
merated by Lesley in 1856. The total product in that year of
the three last-named furnaces was 1,495 gross tons of pig iron.
Shelby furnace was built by Horace Ware, who many years
afterwards added a small foundry and a small mill for roll-
ing cotton-ties and bar iron. The furnace was burned in
1858, but was immediately rebuilt. The mill was commenc-
ed in 1859, and on the llth of April, 1860, the first iron was
rolled. It was burned in 1865 by General Wilson's com-
mand of Union cavalry and has not been rebuilt. Part of
the machinery was, however, removed to Helena, in Shelby
county, a few years afterwards, where a rolling mill was built
in 1872 and is now in operation. In place of the original fur-
nace at Shelby there are now two modern charcoal furnaces.

Alabama had a bloomary two and a half miles southwest
of Montevallo, in Shelby county, in 1825 ; several bloomaries
in Bibb county between 1830 and 1840; one in Talladega
county in 1842 ; two in Calhoun county in 1843 ; and others in
various counties at later periods. In 1856 Lesley mentioned
seventeen forges and bloomaries, mostly the latter, as having
been built at various periods prior to that year, about one-
half of which were then in operation, producing 252 tons of
blooms and bar iron. Since 1856 all these forges and blooma-
ries in Alabama have disappeared. Most of them were blown
with the trompe and the remainder with wooden "tubs."

294 THE MANUFACTURE OF

It will be noticed that as late as 1856 Alabama possessed
a very small iron industry. During the civil war several
new iron enterprises were undertaken. A furnace in Sanford
county was built in 1861 ; Cornwall furnace, at Cedar Bluff,
in Cherokee county, was built in 1862 ; a second Shelby fur-
nace, in Shelby county, to take the place of the original stack,
was built in 1863 ; Alabama furnace, in Talladega county, was
built in 1863, burned by General Wilson in April, 1865, and
rebuilt in 1873. Two furnaces and a small rolling mill were
built at Brierfield, in Bibb county, in 1863 and 1864. All
the furnaces were built to use charcoal. The Brierfield roll-
ing mill was first used for rolling bar iron and rails. In 1863
or early in 1864 it was sold to the Confederate Government,
by which it was operated until 1865, when it was burned by
the Union troops under General Wilson. It was rebuilt after
the war, and for some time was used to roll bar iron and
cotton-ties, principally the latter. This mill was again re-
built in 1882 and 1883.

The following interesting history of the Shelby furnace
and rolling mill, and of the part taken by them in supply-
ing the Southern Confederacy with iron for its military op-
erations, was sent to us in 1888 by the assistant secretary of
the Shelby Iron Company, Mr. E. T. Witherby.

The first blast furnace erected here went into blast in 1848. Horace
Ware was its proprietor. In 1854 Mr. Robert Thomas made iron in a forge
near here. This iron was sent to England and returned in razors and
knives. In 1859 Mr. Ware began the erection of a rolling mill. It was
completed and started in the spring of 1860. In 1862 Mr. Ware sold his
property to the Shelby County Iron Manufacturing Company, which erect-
ed a new furnace, the one which we have recently torn down, and on
whose site we are erecting a new stack. The rolling mill was enlarged in
1862 and was operated continuously until March 31, 1865, when it was de-
stroyed by General Wilson of the Union army. It was in this mill, in
1864, that the plates were rolled for the armor of the ironclad ram Ten-
nessee. Judge James W. Lapsley, one of the stockholders and directors of
the present Shelby Iron Company, was made a prisoner by the Union
forces in 1863 while in Kentucky looking for puddlers for this mill.

When I came here, nearly twenty years ago, we had plates, merchant
bars, and strap rails on hand made entirely of Shelby iron and rolled in
this mill. Some of the plates, known to us now as the "gunboat iron,"
are still in our store house, but they have been slowly disappearing under
the demand of our blacksmiths for an " extra good piece of iron " for " this
job " or " that particular place," etc. Some of these plates are 8 inches by

IRON IN ALL AGES. 295

3 inches and others 11 inches by 5 inches, and of various lengths; orig-
inally they were, perhaps, 10 feet long.

Shelby pig iron was also shipped to the Confederate arsenal and found-
ry at Selma, Alabama, in 1864, where the Tennessee was constructed and
fitted out. This iron doubtless went into guns and other castings for this
vessel. Catesby ap Jones was superintendent of the arsenal, and with his
senior in rank, Franklin Buchanan, both pupils of that sea-god, Matthew
Calbraith Perry, wrought out the Tennessee. They were as full of progress-
ive ideas regarding steam and armor as their master, and nothing but the
scanty means at their disposal prevented a much more formidable ironclad
than the Tennessee from being set afloat. Car-wheel makers are now the
exclusive users of our iron.

The existence of bituminous coal in Alabama was first
observed in 1834 by Dr. Alexander Jones, of Mobile, but little
was done to develop the ample coal resources of the State un-
til after the close of the civil war, when it was found that the
coal in the neighborhood of Birmingham and at other places
would produce excellent coke for blast furnaces, and that at
least two coal fields — the Black Warrior and Coosa — were so
extensive as to set at rest all apprehension concerning a con-
stant supply of coal for a long period of time. These discov-
eries, joined to the possession of an abundant supply of good
ores, at once gave Alabama prominence as a State which
would in a few years boast a large iron industry, and this
promise has been fulfilled. Birmingham is now the centre
of the most extensive manufacture of coke pig iron in the
Southern States. There are also at Birmingham and its vi-
cinity several rolling mills, all built during the last few years.
The first rolling mill at Birmingham was built in 1880. The
rapid growth of this place as a centre of iron production is
one of the marvels of our wonderful industrial development,
both North and South, since the close of the war. But the
manufacture of charcoal pig iron in Alabama has also grown
rapidly since the close of the war, and the State can now
boast more charcoal furnaces than, ever before in its history.

Colonel J. W. Sloss was the pioneer in the coke pig-iron
industry of Alabama. In 1876 he and his associates built
the Eureka coke furnace at Oxmoor. Subsequently he was
instrumental in developing the celebrated Pratt seam of cok-
ing coal. Colonel Sloss was born in Alabama in 1820 and
died on Ma^ 4, 1890. The first furnace at Birmingham was
Alice furnace, built by H. F. DeBardeleben in 1879 and 1880.

296

THE MANUFACTURE OF

It was put in blast on November 23, 1880. It was followed
by the first of the Sloss furnaces, which was put in blast on
April 12, 1882.

As Alabama is the last of the Southern States which has
an iron industry worthy of special consideration we will here
present the record of the marvelous progress in the produc-
tion of pig iron made by all the Southern ironmaking States
from 1880 to 1890. In this table, following the ante bettum
geographical divisions, we class Maryland among the South-
ern States.

STATES.

Net tons of 2,000 pounds.

1880.

1882.

1884.

1886.

1888.

1889.

1890.

Alabama
Tennessee

77,190
70,873
29,934
70,338
57,708
27,321
61,437
2,500

112,765
137,602
87,731
73,220
66,522
42,440
54,524
1,321
1,150

189,664
134,597
157,483
55,231
45,052
42,655
27,342
5,140
435

283,859
199,166
156,250
98,618
54,844
46,490
30,502
3,250
2,200

449,492
267,931
197,396
95,259
56,790
39,397
17,606
6,587
2,400

791,425
294,655
251,356
117,900
42,518
27,559
33,847
4,544
2,898

914,940
299,741
327,912
144,970
53,604
32,687
165,559
10,865
3,181

Virginia

West Virginia

Xentucky .

Georgia

Maryland

Texas

North Carolina

Total

397,301

577,275

657,599

875,179

1,132,858

1,566,702

1,953,459

From 1880 to 1883 Alabama more than doubled its pro-
duction of pig iron ; from 1883 to 1888 it was again more
than doubled ; and from 1888 to 1890 it was once more
doubled.

Late in 1890 there were thirty-seven completed coke fur-
naces in Alabama and two in course of erection, and fifteen
•completed charcoal furnaces and others that were projected.
At the same time there were in Alabama eight completed
rolling mills and others in course of erection. There was
a small steel plant at Birmingham, and a larger plant was
in course of erection at Fort Payne and others were project-
ed. It can not be said, however, that Alabama has yet made
any noteworthy progress in the establishment of a steel in-
dustry. Its strength has thus far been mainly devoted to the
manufacture of pig iron.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 297

CHAPTER XXX.

PRIMITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTHERN
IRON INDUSTRY.

THE establishment at an early day of so many charcoal
furnaces and bloomaries in Western North Carolina and East
Tennessee, sections of our country remote from the sea-coast
and from principal rivers, is an interesting fact in the iron
history of the country. The people who built these furnaces
and bloomaries were not only courageous and enterprising:,
but they appear to have been born with a genius for mak- (
ing iron. With scarcely an exception they were Scotch-Irish ;
emigrants from the North of Ireland or their descendants.!
Wherever they went they seem to have searched for iron ore,/
and having found it their small charcoal furnaces and bloom-1
aries soon followed, the furnaces to produce simple castings
and the bloomaries to make bar iron. No pioneers in any
of the States of the Union have shown more intelligent ap-
preciation of the value of an iron industry than the people
of North Carolina and Tennessee, and none have been more
prompt to establish it. In a less degree but upon precisely
the same lines of activity the pioneers of Northern Georgia
and Northern Alabama have shown praiseworthy enterprise.
It is true that the aim of all these people until in very re-
cent years has been mainly to supply their own wants, but
this is a motive to be commended, and no community should
be found fault with if a lack of capital and of means of trans-
portation prevents it from cultivating a commercial spirit.

The enterprise of the early ironworkers of all the States
and sections above mentioned assumes a picturesque aspect
when viewed in connection with the primitive methods of
manufacture which were employed by them and which have
been continued in use until the present day, when they may
be said to have at last yielded to modern methods. Their
charcoal furnaces were blown through one tuyere with wood-
en " tubs " adjusted to attachments which were slow in mo-
tion and which did not make the best use of the water-power

298 THE MANUFACTURE OF

that was often insufficiently supplied by mountain streams
of limited volume. A ton or two of iron a day, usually in
the shape of castings, was a good yield. The bloomaries,
with scarcely an exception, were furnished with the trompe,
or water-blast, a small stream with a suitable fall supplying
both the blast for the fires and the power which turned the
wheel that moved the big hammer. Of cast-iron cylinders,
steam-power, two and three tuyeres, the hot-blast, and other
valuable improvements in the charcoal-iron industry these
people knew but little, and that little was mainly hearsay.
They were pioneers and frontiersmen in every sense; from
the great world of invention and progress they were shut out
by mountains and streams and hundreds of miles of un-
subdued forest. Nor would other than primitive methods of
manufacturing iron have been adapted to their wants and
their isolated condition. It is to their credit that they dil-
igently sought to utilize the resources which they found
under their feet, and that they made good use of the only
means for the accomplishment of this purpose of which
they had any accurate knowledge.

It is a curious fact that the daring men who pushed their
way into the wilds of Western North Carolina and East Ten-
nessee in the last century, and who set up their small furna-
ces and bloomaries when forts yet took the place of hamlets,
founded an iron industry which has only lately yielded the
primitive features which so long characterized it. Less than
ten years ago there were furnaces still in operation .in these
sections which used wooden "tubs," and there were in Ten-
nessee about two dozen bloomaries and in North Carolina a
dozen or more which were in all respects the counterparts in
construction of those which the pioneers established. Nearly
every one of these bloomaries was blown with the trompe,
and in all other respects they were as barren of modern ap-
pliances as if the world's iron industry and the world itself
had stood still for a hundred years. They were fitfully op-
erated, as the wants of their owners or of the neighboring
farmers and blacksmiths required, or as the supply of water
for the trompes and hammers would permit. " Thundergust
forges" is an irreverent term that was frequently applied to
them. They furnished their respective neighborhoods with

IRON IN ALL AGES. 299

iron for horseshoes, wagon-tires, and harrow-teeth. Mr. J.
B. Killebrew, of Nashville, informed us a few years ago that
throughout the counties of Johnson and Carter in Tennessee,
where many of these bloomaries were located, bar iron was
still used as currency. He then said : " Iron is taken in ex-
change for shoes, coffee, sugar, calico, salt, and domestic and
other articles used by the people of the country. It is con-
sidered a legal tender in the settlement of all dues and lia-
bilities. This bar iron, after being collected by the mer-
chants, is sent out and sold in Knoxville, Bristol, and other
points affording a market." The same usage prevailed in
some other Southern States not many years ago, and it pre-
vailed in many Northern States long after they began to
make iron a century or two ago. In New England the sala-
ries of some of the preachers were once paid in bar iron.

The explanation of the survival in this country and until
a late day of primitive methods of making iron which had
long been abandoned by progressive communities lies in the
fact that the obstacles to free intercourse with other communi-
ties which hedged about the pioneers of whom we are writing
have never been broken down and have only recently been
modified. Few of the mountains and streams and forests of
these sections had been tunneled, or bridged, or traversed by
modern means of communication twenty years ago. The iron
horse had made but slow progress in bringing this part of
our country into association with other sections. There were
no canals, and good roads were scarce. The pioneers were
cut off by their isolated situation and their poverty from all
intimate relations with the outside world.

Until a few years ago there were some bloomaries still
left in Southwestern Virginia which were similar in all re-
spects to those of Western North Carolina and East Tennes-
see, and which were used for precisely similar purposes. But
the manufacture of iron in bloomaries was never so promi-
nent a branch of the iron industry of Virginia as of the
other two States mentioned. Virginia learned at an early
day to convert the pig iron of its furnaces into bar iron in
refinery forges. It was settled long before Western North
Carolina, or Tennessee, or Georgia, or Alabama, and it had
from the first an active commerce with Europe and with the

300 THE MANUFACTURE OF

other colonies along the Atlantic coast. Its environments
were favorable to the acquisition of progressive ideas in the
manufacture of iron.

But old things must pass away, even in the iron industry
of the mountain regions of the Southern States. The trans-
formation in Tennessee and Alabama has already taken place.
North Carolina, with its magnificent iron and other resources,
must soon feel the pulse of a new industrial life. Georgia
has at least abandoned methods which are no longer profit-
able. Before another century is far advanced the sons of
the people of whom we have been writing will wonder that
the old ways of making iron stayed with their fathers as
long as they did.

Nevertheless our sympathy goes out to these old and dy-
ing ways, which well served the people of this country in the
early days. Among the treasures of our office is a piece of
bar iron, made in a Catalan forge in Virginia, which has the
ring of the best steel, and many of our readers know of pots
and kettles, still perfect and in all respects of the neatest
workmanship, which were cast at the old-fashioned furnaces
and are now precious heir-looms, having faithfully minister-
ed to the wants of generations that are now gone.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 301

CHAPTER XXXI.
THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN OHIO.

THE beginning of the iron industry of Ohio is cotempo-
rary with the admission of the State into the Union. It was
admitted in 1802, and in 1803 its first furnace, Hopewell, was
commenced by Daniel Eaton, and in 1804 it was finished.
The furnace stood on the west side of Yellow creek, about
one and a quarter miles from its junction with the Mahoning
river, in the township of Poland, in Mahoning county. On
the same stream, three-fourths of a mile from its mouth,
and on the farm on which the furnace of the Struthers Fur-
nace Company now stands, in the town of Struthers, another
furnace was built in 1806 by Robert Montgomery and John
Struthers. This furnace was called Montgomery. Thomas
Struthers says : " These furnaces were of about equal capac-
ity, and would yield about two and a half or three tons each
per day. The metal was principally run into moulds for
kettles, bake-ovens, flat-irons, stoves, andirons, and such other
articles as the needs of a new settlement required, and any
surplus into pigs and sent to the Pittsburgh market." The
ore was obtained in the neighborhood. Hopewell furnace is
said by Mr. Struthers to have had a rocky bluff for one of its
sides. It was in operation in 1807, but it was soon afterwards
blown out finally. Montgomery furnace was in operation un-
til 1812, when, Mr. Struthers says, " the men were drafted into
the war and it was never started again." This furnace stood
" on the north side of Yellow creek, in a hollow in the bank."
We are informed by Hon. John M. Edwards, of Youngstown,
that about 1807 Hopewell furnace was sold by Eaton to Mont-
gomery, Clendenin & Co., who were then the owners of Mont-
gomery furnace, John Struthers having sold his interest in
this furnace, or part of it, to David Clendenin in 1807 and
Robert Alexander and James Mackey having about the same
time become part owners.

The above-mentioned enterprises were the first furnaces in
Ohio, and, as will be observed, they were both on the West-

302 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ern Reserve. There were other early iron enterprises on the
Reserve. At Nilestown, now Niles, in Trumbull county, as
we are informed by Colonel Charles Whittlesey, of Cleveland,
James Heaton built a forge in 1809, for the manufacture of
bar iron from " the pig of the Yellow Creek furnace," Mont-
gomery furnace. " This forge produced the first hammered
bars in the State." It continued in operation until 1838.
About 1812 James Heaton built, a furnace at Nilestown, near
the mouth of Mosquito creek, where the Union school build-
ing now stands. It was called Mosquito Creek furnace. For
many years it used bog ore, the product being stoves and
other castings. It was in operation until 1856, when it was
abandoned.

About 1816 Aaron Norton built a furnace at Middlebury,
near Akron, in Summit county, and in 1819 Asaph Whittle-
sey built a forge on the Little Cuyahoga, near Middlebury.
A furnace at Tallmadge, in the same county, was built about
the same time. These two furnaces were in operation until
about 1835. Bog ore was used.

The beginning of the iron industry in the counties on
Lake Erie probably dates from 1825, when Arcole furnace was
built in Madison township, in the present county of Lake, by
Root & Wheeler. Concord furnace, in the same county, was
built by Fields & Stickney about 1828. In 1830 John Wil-
keson became the owner of Arcole furnace. Geauga furnace,
one mile north of Painesville, in Lake county, and Railroad
furnace, at Perry, in Geauga county, were built about 1828,
the former by an incorporated company and the latter by
Thorndike & Drury, of Boston. During the next ten or
twelve years many other furnaces were built near Lake Erie,
in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Huron, and Lorain counties.
At a still later period other charcoal furnaces were built in
the lake counties. All these lake furnaces, writes John Wil-
keson in 1858, " were blown some eight months each year,
and made about 30 tons per week of metal from the bog ore
found in swales and swamps near and generally to the north
of a ridge of land which was probably once the shore of Lake
Erie, found extending, with now and then an interval, along
from the west boundary of the State of New York to the
Huron river in Ohio. The want of wood for charcoal, conse-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 303

quent upon the clearing up of the land, has occasioned the
stoppage of most of these works. For a long time the set-
tlers upon the shores of Lake Erie and in the State of Mich-
igan were supplied with their stoves, potash kettles, and other
castings by these works."

All of the above-mentioned iron enterprises were on the
Western Reserve. Just outside of its limits Gideon Hughes
built a furnace in 1807 or 1808, on the Middle fork of Little
Beaver creek, one and a half miles northwest of New Lisbon,
in Columbiana county. It was in operation in 1808 and 1809.
It was first called Rebecca of New Lisbon, but was afterwards
named Dale furnace. Attached to this furnace a few years
after its erection was a forge, which was used for making bar
iron. John Frost, of New Lisbon, to whom we are indebted
for this information, also writes us that " some two or three
miles up the same stream Mr. Hughes and Joshua Malin
erected a rolling mill in 1822, to which a company of Eng-
lishmen^ said to be from Pittsburgh, not long afterwards
added aiail-making machinery. In addition to manufacturing
bar iron these works placed large quantities of nails in the
market. This concern was more or less active till 1832, when
the great flood of waters early in that year destroyed it, and
it was never rebuilt." New Lisbon is located about twelve
miles from the mouth of Little Beaver creek, which empties
into the Ohio river.

Soon after the beginning of the iron industry on the West-
ern Reserve the manufacture of iron was undertaken in some
of the interior and southern counties of the State. Bishop
says that Moses Dillon, who had been associated with Isaac
Meason and John Gibson in the building of Union furnace
in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1793, " afterwards erected
a forge on Licking river, near Zaiiesville, Ohio, possibly the
first in the State." This enterprise was preceded or immedi-
ately followed by a furnace which is said to have been erected
in 1808, but it may have been built a few years afterwards.
It was located " at the Falls of Licking," four miles northwest
of Zanesville, in Muskingum county, and its capacity was
about one ton per day. It was used -to produce castings, as
well as pig iron for the forge. Lesley says that this furnace
was not abandoned "until 1850 or later." The forge was

304 THE MANUFACTURE OF

also operated until about 1850. The furnace and forge were
known as Dillon's, and were widely celebrated.

Mary Ann furnace, ten miles northeast of Newark, in
Licking county, was built about 1816 by Dr. Brice and Da-
vid Moore. It was burned down "about 1850. In Tuscarawas
county the Zoar Community owned two early charcoal fur-
naces. One of these, called Tuscarawas, was built about 1830
by Christmas, Hazlett & Co., and was afterwards sold to the
Community ; the other, called Zoar, was built about the same
time by the Community. Both furnaces were finally blown
out before 1850.

Three furnaces were built in Adams county between 1811
and 1816 to use the bog ores of the Brush creek valley.
The first of these, Brush Creek, located twelve miles from
the Ohio river, was built in 1811 and operated in 1813 by
James Rodgers. It was probably built by Andrew Ellison,
Thomas James, and Archibald Paull. It was in operation
as late as 1837, when it produced 200 tons of iron, in 119
days. On the same stream, twenty-two miles from the Ohio,
was Marble furnace, built in 1816. Another furnace, known-
as Old Steam, was built in 1814. It is said to have been
built by James Rodgers, Andrew Ellison, and the Pittsburgh
Steam Engine Company. Thomas W. Means once inform-
ed us that " the first blast furnace run by steam in South-
ern Ohio, if not in the United States, was built by James
Rodgers in Adams county about 1814." This reference is to
Old Steam furnace. " Its product was less than two tons of
iron a day. Brush Creek furnace, in the same county, and
other furnaces of that period which were run by water hard-
ly averaged one ton of iron a day." Marble and Old Steam
furnaces were abandoned about 1826. Lesley mentions three
forges in Adams county — Steam, at Old Steam furnace;
Scioto, on the Little Scioto ; and Brush Creek, probably con-
nected with Brush Creek furnace. The date of the erection
of these forges is not given, but they were doubtless built
soon after the three Adams county furnaces. They were all
abandoned many years ago. There is now no iron industry
in Adams county.

In the chapter relating to Kentucky the beginning of the
iron industry in the Hanging Rock region has been noted.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 305

This celebrated iron district embraces Greenup, Boyd, Cart-
er, and Lawrence counties in Kentucky, andtLawrence, Jack-
son, Gallia, Vinton, and Scioto counties in Ohio. Just north
of the Ohio portion of this district is the newly-developed
Hocking Valley iron district, embracing Hocking county and
several other counties. The Hanging Rock district takes its
name from a projecting cliff upon the north side of the Ohio
river, situated back of the town of Hanging Rock, which is
in Lawrence county, three miles below Ironton. The first
furnace in the Ohio part of the Hanging Rock district was
Union furnace, located a few miles northwest of Hanging
Rock, built in 1826 and 1827 by John Means, John Sparks,
and James Rodgers, the firm's name being James Rodgers &
Co. Franklin furnace was the second on the Ohio side. It
stood sixteen miles east of Portsmouth, in Scioto county, and
half a mile from the Ohio river, and was built in 1827 by
the Rev. Daniel Young and others. The next furnace was
Pine Grove, on Sperry's fork of Pine creek, back of Hanging
Rock, in Lawrence county, five miles from the Ohio river,
built in 1828 by Robert Hamilton and Andrew Ellison. In
the same year Scioto furnace, in Scioto county, fifteen miles
north of Portsmouth, was built by William Salters. From
this time forward furnaces increased rapidly on the Ohio side
of the district, as well as on the Kentucky side. From 1826
to 1880 the whole number built on the Ohio side was about
sixty and on the Kentucky side about thirty. All the early
furnaces were built to use charcoal, but timber becoming
scarce coke was substituted at some of them while others
were abandoned. In late years a few furnaces have been
built in the district expressly to use coke or raw coal. In
1880 there were on the Ohio side thirty-one charcoal furna-
ces and seventeen bituminous coal or coke furnaces, but in
1890 the number of charcoal furnaces had been reduced to
eleven and the number of bituminous furnaces to fifteen.
At Vesuvius furnace, on Storm's creek, in Lawrence coun-
ty, Ohio, six miles northeast of Ironton, the hot-blast was
successfully applied in 1836 by John Campbell and others,
William Firmstone putting up the apparatus. It was also
at once applied at the La Grange and other Hanging Rock
furnaces.

306 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The Hanging Rock district, on both sides of the Ohio, has
produced many t eminent ironmasters, and its iron resources
have been developed with great energy. John Campbell, of
Ironton, and Thomas W. Means, of Hanging Rock, both prom-
inent among its early ironmasters, have lived to a good old
age. Mr. Campbell was born in 1808 in Brown county, Ohio,
and was in good health in June, 1891. With the aid of others
he Has built eleven furnaces in the Hanging Rock district.
He projected the town of -Ironton and gave it its name, and
also assisted in the founding of Ashland, Kentucky, and in
building its railroad. Like many of the ironmasters of this
district he is of Scotch-Irish extraction, his ancestors having
removed in 1612 from Inverary, in Argyleshire, Scotland, to
the neighborhood of Londonderry, in Ulster, Ireland. Their
descendants removed in 1729 and 1739 to Augusta county,
Virginia ; thence, in 1790, to Bourbon county, Kentucky ; and
thence, in 1798, to that part of Adams county, Ohio, which
is now embraced in Brown county. Mr. Means was born in
Union district, South Carolina, in 1803, and was of English
ancestry. He removed from Hanging Rock to Ashland, Ken-
tucky, in 1881, and died at that place on June 8, 1890, aged
about 87 years. Andrew Ellison, Robert Hamilton, James
Rodgers, and Andrew Dempsey, all of whom are now dead,
were enterprising and prominent iron manufacturers. In De-
cember, 1844, Mr. Hamilton successfully tried the experiment
of stopping Pine Grove furnace, which he then owned, on
Sunday, and his example has since been generally follow-
ed in the Hanging Rock region. This furnace is still active.
John Campbell, Robert Hamilton, and Thomas W. Means
were united in marriage with members of the Ellison fam-
ily. The third generation of this family is now engaged in
the iron industry of Southern Ohio.

John Means, a native of Exeter, in Devonshire, England,
removed to Pennsylvania in 1735. His son, William Means,
removed from Pennsylvania to South Carolina shortly be-
fore the Revolution, where he married Anna Newton, a rela-
tive of Sir Isaac Newton. Their son, John Means, removed
to Adams county, Ohio, in 1819, taking with him his slaves,
whom he liberated. He died on his farm near Manchester,
in Adams county, on March 15, 1837, and was buried in the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 307

churchyard at Manchester. He was part owner of a furnace
and a forge in Adams county in the early days. He was
the father of Thomas W. Means.

In the first number of the Journal of the United States As-
sociation of Charcoal Iron Workers for 1891 Mr. John Birkin-
bine, the editor, describes Olive furnace, in Lawrence county,
Ohio, in the Hanging Rock region, which, he says, "is the
only active blast furnace in the United States the sta€k of
which is largely hewn from the solid rock." It will be re-
membered that in our Kentucky chapter we mentioned Ar-
gillite furnace in that State as having been similarly con-
structed, but that furnace was long ago abandoned. It will
also be remembered that in one of our earlier chapters we
described two furnaces in Scotland, known as the Devon iron
works, which were cut out of the solid rock. Mr. Birkin-
bine's description of Olive furnace is as follows.

The Olive furnace was constructed and first operated in the year 1846,
and with the exception of one year it has been in blast every year since
its completion. Originally the furnace was run with cold-blast, the pig
iron being consumed principally by charcoal forges along the Ohio river
for the production of blooms, to be used in the manufacture of boiler
plates. After being operated in this way for ten years, during which
time the output averaged about six to eight tons per day, a hot-blast of
the ring pattern was added. Throughout the various changes the origi-
nal stack, built in 1846, was retained, and beyond an addition of 4 feet
to the top masonry, making the total height 40 feet, and widening one
tuyere arch, the main structure is as it was first built.

The peculiarity of construction consists in the lower half of the blast-
furnace stack being hewn from a ledge of solid rock, which is exposed
for a height of over 20 feet. This rock ledge is a sandstone, which cuts
easily when first hewn but hardens upon exposure. A suitable site hav-
ing been selected the earth in front of the rock was removed, and the
entire rock face thus exposed was dressed for a length of 60 feet, and
from this space the blast-furnace stack was cut, the additional height of
stack, 20 feet, being obtained by masonry built upon the rock.

In general appearance and outline the lower portion of the stack of
the Olive furnace does not, except in a total absence of bracing, differ
materially from the older stacks which were built of stone masonry ; the
stack is square in plan, with sloping sides, the bottom being 48 feet -square
and the top (20 feet above the bottom) 36 feet square. It stands at the
sides and rear from 4 to 6 feet and at the top still further away from the
mass of rock of which it originally formed a part. It is cored out to ac-
commodate the lining of the furnace, and the sides are pierced for one
fore arch and two tuyere arches, all cut in the solid rock.

Originally the inwall was laid with sandstone, and the hearth and

308 THE MANUFACTURE OF

bosh were constructed of the same material. In later years, however, fire-
brick has been used for the in wall and lining; but hearth and bottoms
are still cut from the sandstone, which occurs in great quantity and of
excellent quality convenient to the Olive furnace.

The frequent changes of temperature have caused the mass of rock
forming the lower portion of the stack to develop a number of cracks.
At first these were small, but at each blast they have opened until they
exhibit in a remarkable manner the marvelous power of expansion. This
portiqn of the stack being without bands or buck-staves has an appear-
ance of weakness, which, however, on closer examination, is removed, and
it is probable that the old hewn stack is good for years of service.

The good quality of Hanging Rock charcoal pig iron
and the conditions surrounding its production during the
last sixty years are told with a pleasing touch of sentiment
in the following anonymous newspaper paragraph, which
appeared in the latter part of 1890.

The old charcoal furnace of the Hecla Iron and Mining Company, at
Ironton, Ohio, which was succeeded by a new stack during the past sum-
mer, is one of the most celebrated in the Hanging Rock region, and will
for a long time remain as a landmark in that locality. The furnace was
built in 1833 and abandoned on April 15, 1890, and was a stone stack, 36 by
10£ feet, cold-blast, open top. The ores used were siderite and limonite, and
for years the product held an enviable place in the estimation of consum-
ers. The iron produced has commanded such customers as the United
States Government during the civil war (one or two blasts being about all
engaged) for ordnance, etc., cast at Pittsburgh. Its metal went into the guns
mounted in the Swamp Angel battery which besieged the city of Charles-
ton. The metal was also used in the armor plates of the gunboats which
stormed Forts Donelson and Henry. For many years the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company has taken about all the furnace would make of certain
grades, for use in the best class of car wheels. Other customers used the
metal for a fine quality of chilled rolls, etc., and the strongest parts of
machinery. The iron was produced in the simplest manner, many of the
employes having lived at the furnace all their lives, some 45, 55, and one
65 years. The charcoal used was from the company's lands, made in old
style and hauled by ox teams, producing iron at large cost and selling at
large prices, $80 and $90 during the war, $65 during the booms of 1873
and 1880, but since then at a minimum price, necessitating the abandon-
ment for more modern and cheaper methods, though the old stack will
be preserved. Scarred, rugged, moss-grown, picturesque, and unique, it will
serve as a reminder of pioneer days, of war's fierce alarms, and that sen-
timent still lives amidst this latter-day strife in ironmaking.

In 1833 a forge was built at Hanging Rock, after which
it was named, to manufacture blooms. It was owned by
J. Riggs & Co., and was built under the superintendence of
John Campbell and Joseph Riggs. A rolling mill was added

IRON IN ALL AGES. 309

before 1847. Both the forge and rolling mill have long been
abandoned. A forge was built at Sample's Landing, fifteen
miles below Gallipolis, soon after 1830, to make blooms for
the Covington rolling mill. Bloom forge was built at Ports-
mouth, in Scioto county, in 1832, and in 1857 a rolling mill
was added. A forge called Benner's, on Paint creek, near
Chillicothe, in Ross county, once owned by James & Wood-
ruff, was abandoned about 1850. There never were many
forges in Ohio for refining iron, and there have been few,
if any, for making bar iron directly from the ore. The first
iron enterprises in the State preceded by only a few years
the building of rolling mills at Pittsburgh.

The first rolling mill at Cincinnati was the Cincinnati
rolling mill, built about 1830 by Shreeve, Paull & McCand-
less. The Globe rolling mill was built at Cincinnati in 1845.
Joseph Kinsey writes us that " it was the first built in Cin-
cinnati for the purpose of making general sizes of merchant
iron, hoops, sheets, and plates. It was built by William Sell-
ers and Josiah Lawrence, and was considered a great enter-
prise at that time. Soon afterwards a wire mill was added
for the purpose of making the first wire used for the lines of
telegraph extending through this country." There are now in
Cincinnati and in its vicinity on the Ohio side of the Ohio
river two rolling mills but no blast furnaces or steel works.

Ohio is entitled to the honor of having had established
within its boundaries the first successful works in the United
States for the manufacture of crucible steel of the best quality.
The proof of this claim is ample, and it will be presented in
a subsequent chapter when we come to speak of this branch
of our steel industry. The works alluded to were located on
the bank of the Miami Canal, in Cincinnati, and were built
in 1832 by two brothers, Dr. William Garrard and John H.
Garrard, who were natives of England but residents of the
United States after 1822. After the works were built Will-
iam T. Middleton and Charles Fox were successively partners
with Dr. Garrard, his brother having retired. Dr. Garrard
was the inspiration of the enterprise and its master spirit
during the whole period of its existence. The firm failed in
1837, but the business was continued for some time afterwards.
During the first five years the best crucible steel was made

310 THE MANUFACTURE OF

at these works by Dr. Garrard, entirely with American mate-
rials. It was used for saws, springs, axes, reaper knives, files,
and tools generally.

The foregoing details relate to what may be termed the
charcoal era of the Ohio iron industry. The second stage
in the development of the iron industry of this State dates
from the introduction in its blast furnaces of the bituminous
coal of the Mahoning valley in its raw state. This coal is
known as splint coal, or block coal, or as Brier Hill coal, from
a locality of that name near Youngstown, where it is largely
mined. The first furnace in Ohio to use the new fuel was
built expressly for this purpose at Lowell, in Mahoning coun-
ty, in 1845 and 1846, by Wilkeson, Wilkes & Co., and it was
successfully blown in on the 8th of August, 1846. The name
of this furnace was at first Anna and afterwards Mahoning.
A letter from John Wilkeson, of Buffalo, New York, inform-
ed us a few years ago that William McNair, a millwright, was
the foreman who had charge of its erection. It was blown
in by John Crowther, who had previously had charge of the
furnaces of the Brady's Bend Iron Company, at Brady's Bend,
Pennsylvania. Mr. Wilkeson and his brothers were for many
years prominent charcoal-iron manufacturers on the Western
Eeserve. They were of Scotch-Irish extraction. Their father
was a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Immediately after the successful use of uncoked coal in
the furnace at Lowell many other furnaces were built in the
Mahoning valley to use the new fuel, and it was also substi-
tuted for charcoal in some old furnaces. At a later day the
use of this fuel in other parts of Ohio contributed to the fur-
ther development of the manufacture of pig iron in this State,
and at a still later and very recent date the opening of the
extensive coal beds of the Hocking valley and the utilization
of its carbonate ores still further contributed to the same
development, the Hocking valley coal being used in its raw
state. At the present time, however, Connellsville coke has
almost entirely superseded the use of raw coal in the Mahon-
ing valley, and in the Hocking valley coke is now largely
mixed with raw coal.

The proximity of the coal fields of Ohio to the rich iron
ores of Lake Superior has been, however, the most impor-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 311

tant element in building up the blast-furnace industry of the
State. The use of these ores in Ohio soon followed the first
use in the blast furnace of the block coal of the Mahoning
valley. An increase in the rolling-mill capacity of Ohio was
naturally coincident with the impetus given to the produc-
tion of pig iron by the use of this coal and Lake Superior
ores. David Tod, afterwards Governor of Ohio, bore a prom-
inent part in the development of the coal and iron resources
of the Mahoning valley. In a sketch of Youngstown, Past and
Present, (1875,) we find the following notice of Mr. Tod's en-
terprise in developing the coal trade of the Mahoning valley.

In 1840 David Tod was operating a mine at Brier Hill, and upon the
completion of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal from Akron, Ohio, to Bea-
ver, Pennsylvania, he shipped a couple of boat loads to Cleveland for the
purpose of introducing it as fuel on lake steamers, which was not easily
accomplished, there being considerable hostility manifested towards it by
engineers and firemen. Mr. Tod, however, was not to be discouraged by
these difficulties, and finally succeeded in making a successful experiment,
and in 1845 coal supplanted wood on the steamers on the lower lakes.
Large quantities were subsequently mined and shipped to Cleveland from
the Mahoning valley by Mr.' Tod, and but a few years elapsed until the
mining and shipping of coal became a prominent industry; later the
opening of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railway from Cleveland to
Youngstown, traversing the heart of the coal region, gave fresh impetus
to the mining interests.

The beginning of the iron industry at Youngstown, which
now has within its own limits or in the immediate vicinity
fifteen furnaces and eleven rolling mills, dates from about
1835, when a charcoal furnace, called Mill Creek, was built
on a creek of the same name, a short distance southwest of
the city, by Isaac Heaton, a son of James Heaton. There was
no other furnace at Youngstown until after the discovery at
Lowell that the block coal of the Mahoning valley could be
successfully used in the smelting of iron ore. In a sketch
of the history of Youngstown Hon. John M. Edwards says :
" In 1846 William Philpot & Co. built in the northwestern
part of Youngstown, adjoining the present city, and near the
canal, the second furnace in the State for using raw mineral
coal as fuel. In the same year a rolling mill was built in the
southeastern part of the village, and adjoining the canal, by
the Youngstown Iron Company. This mill is now owned by
Brown, Bonnell & Co."

312 THE MANUFACTURE OF

In Youngstown, Past and Present, a more detailed account
is given of its first bituminous furnace. It was known as
the Eagle furnace, and was " built in 1846 by William Phil-
pot, David Morris, Jonathan Warner, and Harvey Sawyer,
on land purchased of Dr. Henry Manning, lying between the
present city limits and Brier Hill. The coal used was mined
from land contiguous, leased from Dr. Manning." The sec-
ond furnace at Youngstown to use raw coal was built in 1847
by Captain James Wood, of Pittsburgh. It was called Brier
Hill furnace. There was a steam forge at Youngstown, called
the Fairmount iron works, whose history antedates that of
all the rolling mills of that place. We are indebted to Mr.
J. G. Butler, Jr., of Youngstown, for the following circum-
stantial account of this almost forgotten enterprise.

The firm of Spencer & Co. operated a small steam forge about 1840
on or near the present site of Smith's brewery, on West Federal street,
Youngstown. They used a small upright boiler, with a brick chimney.
The forge, after being operated for a time, failed to be profitable and was
sold under execution to Mr. Asahel . Tyrrell, of Tyrrell Hill, Trumbull
county, Ohio, now a station on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern
Railway. The forge was removed to Tyrrell Hill in the summer season,
leaving the chimney standing. The succeeding winter, after snow had
fallen, Mr. Tyrrell came to haul away the brick used in the construction
of the chimney. To this Jonathan Edwards, (a lineal descendant of his
great namesake,) who owned and leased the ground which Spencer & Co.
occupied, objected, claiming that the chimney was fixed property, or a
part of the realty. A law-suit grew out of the difference in opinion, and
.two young lawyers were pitted against each other, both of these lawyers
subsequently becoming famous ; one, the Hon. John Crowell, and the other,
Judge Rufus P. Ranney. Mr. Tyrrell won his suit and the chimney was
taken away. I get this information from old settlers and you may con-
sider it reliable.

The iron industry of Cleveland has been built up during
recent years, and this city is now one of the most prominent
centres of iron and steel production in the country. Charles
A. Otis, of Cleveland, writes us as follows concerning the first
rolling mills in that city : " The first rolling mill at Cleve-
land was a plate mill, worked on a direct-ore process, which
was a great failure. It went into operation in 1854 or 1855.
The mill is now owned by the Britton Iron and Steel Com-
pany. The next mill was built in 1857 by A. J. Smith and
others to re-roll rails. It was called Railroad rolling mill,
and is now owned by the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 313

At the same time a man named Jones, with several associ-
ates, built a mill at Newburgh, six miles from Cleveland,
also to re-roll rails. It was afterwards operated by Stone,
Chisholm & Jones, and is now owned by the Cleveland Roll-
ing Mill Company. In 1852 I erected a steam forge to make
wrought-iron forgings, and in 1859 I added to it a rolling
mill to manufacture merchant bar, etc. The Union rolling
mills were built in 1861 and 1862 to roll merchant bar iron."
The first furnace at Cleveland was the first of the Newburgh
furnaces, built in 1864. The Bessemer steel plant of the Cleve-
land Rolling Mill Company was commenced in 1867. The
open-hearth works of the Otis Steel Company Limited were
built in 1873 and 1874. There are now in Cleveland nine
rolling mills and steel works and five blast furnaces, as well
as several iron and steel establishments of a reproductive
character.

In the list of persons connected with the development of
the iron and steel industries of Cleveland the name of Henry
Chisholm is the most prominent. Mr. Chisli9lm was born at
Lochgelly, in Fifeshire, Scotland, on April 27, 1822, and died
at Cleveland on May 9, 1881, aged 59 years.

From 1846 to 1890 the iron industry of Ohio has made
steady progress, and the State now ranks second among the
iron-producing States of the Union. This was also its rank
in 1870 and in 1880. In the production of steel it was third
in the list in 1880, and this rank it has since maintained,
Pennsylvania being first and Illinois second.

314 THE MANUFACTURE OP

CHAPTER XXXII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN INDIANA.

INDIANA possessed a small charcoal-iron industry before
1840, but at what period in the present century this indus-
try had its beginning can not now be definitely determined.
Tench Coxe makes no reference to it in 1810, but mentions
one nailery in the Territory, which produced in that year
20,000 pounds of nails, valued at $4,000. He does not locate
this enterprise. In 1840 the census mentions a furnace in
Jefferson county, one in Parke, one in Vigo, one in Vermill-
ion, and three in Wayne county, the total product being 810
tons of " cast iron." A forge in Fulton county, producing 20
tons of " bar iron," is also mentioned. The furnaces of 1840
were probably all used as foundries, producing hollow-ware
and other castings from bog ores.

In a chapter on the geology of Monroe county, by George
K. Greene, printed in 1881, it is stated that "nearly forty
years ago an iron furnace was erected by Randall Ross, of
Virginia, on the lands of George Adams, of Monroe county,
on section 7, township 7, range 2 west. The investment soon
proved a failure, and the furnace has long gone to decay.
The ruins of the 'old iron furnace' are to-day the mourn-
ful monument of an early spirit of enterprise that deserved
a better fate."

The Fulton-county forge was only a bloomary. It was
located at Rochester, and was built about 1840. It used bog
ore, which was converted into bar iron. Dr. Ryland T.
Brown, of Indianapolis, told us in his lifetime that it had
a hearth about four feet square, with a stack about ten feet
high, much like the stack of an ordinary foundry. There
was an opening on one side large enough to admit of the
process of puddling, from which the bloom of iron was tak-
en and placed under the trip-hammer. The blast was sup-
plied by a pair of bellows like the ordinary bellows of the
blacksmith, but larger. The bellows and the hammer were
driven by water-power. It was Dr. Brown's opinion that

IRON IN ALL AGES. 315

the Fulton-county forge possessed all the characteristics of
a stiickofen, but Mr. D. S. Ross, who was still living at
Rochester in 1891, informs us that the forge was "an open-
hearth charcoal fire." He also informs us that the water-
power at Rochester being insufficient the forge was removed
"after a couple of years" to the Tippecanoe river, "at the
point where the railroad crosses the river, two and a half
miles north of Rochester." It was abandoned in 1858. The
last iron made by it was bought by a Pittsburgh firm to be
converted into carpet tacks.

There was another early forge " in the Twin lakes
country, in Marshall county," about 1845. It was built by
Charles Crocker, afterwards the California millionaire, and a
partner. The forge was located at Sligo. Mr. Crock er, had
previously worked at a forge at Mishawaka, in St. Joseph
county, which was owned by a Mr. Wilson. The bar iron
made at these forges was largely used for wagon tires. Bog
ore was used, as at Rochester. There were probably a few
other bog-ore bloomaries in Indiana at an early day like
those at Rochester, Sligo, and Mishawaka.

In 1859 Lesley enumerated five charcoal furnaces in In-
diana, as follows : Elkhart, in Elkhart county, date of erec-
tion unknown ; Mishawaka, in St. Joseph county, built about
1833; Indiana, a few miles northwest of Terre Haute, in
Vigo county, built in 1839 ; Richland, on Richland creek,
in Greene county, built in 1844 by A. Downing; and La
Porte, near the town of that name, in La Porte county, built
in 1848. Mishawaka, Indiana, and Richland were in opera-
tion in 1857, but were abandoned about 1860. Elkhart and
La Porte furnaces were idle in 1857, and probably had been
abandoned at that time. Elkhart, La Porte, and Mishawaka
used bog ore exclusively, and Richland used it in part ; in
1857 Mishawaka was still using it. Indiana used brown
hematite found in the neighborhood.

In 1860 there was only one furnace in blast in Indiana —
Richland. It was probably abandoned in that year, and from
this time until 1867 no pig iron was made in Indiana. In
the latter year the manufacture of pig iron in this State was
revived, the development of the block-coal district in the
neighborhood of Brazil, in Clay county, having led to the

316 THE MANUFACTURE OF

belief that this fuel might be profitably used in blast fur-
naces. Planet furnace, at Harmony, in Clay county, built in
the summer of 1867 and put in blast in November of that
year, was the first of eight furnaces that were built in Indi-
ana between 1867 and 1872 to use this coal, the ores for the
furnaces being mainly obtained from Missouri and the Lake
Superior district of Michigan. Five of these furnaces were
in Clay county. Of the eight furnaces built six have been
abandoned and torn down since 1872, and only two now
remain — Brazil and Vigo. No furnaces have been built in
Indiana since 1872.

The first rolling mill in Indiana was probably the Indi-
anapolis mill, built by R. A. Douglas, which was completed
in the autumn of 1857 and put in operation in November
of the same year. In 1858 Lesley says : " The machinery
and building were planned by Lewis Scofield, of Trenton,
New Jersey, who also built the Wyandotte mill and is build-
ing the mill at Atlanta, Georgia." There were in 1883 eight
rolling mills in Indiana — two at New Albany, two at Terre
Haute, and one each at Indianapolis, Greencastle, Aurora,
and Brazil. The State contained no works in that year for
the manufacture of steel. Early in 1891 there were thirteen
completed rolling mills in Indiana. Connected with some of
these rolling mills were a few small steel plants. The dis-
covery a few years ago of natural gas in Indiana gave a
fresh start to its rolling-mill industry and partly created its
steel industry. At the works of the Premier Steel Company
in Indianapolis the Adams direct process was introduced
about the beginning of 1890.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 317

CHAPTER XXXIII.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN ILLINOIS.

IN 1839 a small charcoal furnace was built four miles
northwest of Elizabeth town, in Hardin county, in the ex-
treme southeastern part of Illinois, by Leonard White, Galen
Guard, & Co. It was called Illinois. This is the first furnace
in the State of which there is any record, and it probably
had no predecessor. In 1853 it was purchased by C. Wolfe &
Co., of Cincinnati, who tore down the stack and built a larger
one in 1856, with modern additions. In 1873 this furnace,
after having been out of blast for several years, was repaired,
but it was never again active. A charcoal furnace called
Martha, also in Hardin county, was built in 1848 by Daniel
McCook & Co. about two miles east of Illinois furnace. It
was probably the second furnace in the State. Illinois and
Martha furnaces were both in blast in 1850, but in 1860 Illi-
nois only was in blast. Martha had not been in. operation
since 1856, and it probably never made any iron after that
year. It has long been abandoned. These furnaces were sup-
plied with hematite ore from the immediate neighborhood.

In the census of 1840 mention is made of a furnace in
Cook county, one in Fulton, one in Hardin, and one in Wa-
bash county. The furnaces in Fulton and Hardin counties
were idle, the furnace in Wabash county produced eight tons
of " cast iron," and the furnace in Cook county produced 150
tons. As the census of 1840 sometimes confounds blast fur-
naces with foundries full reliance can not be placed on the
correctness of its statements concerning furnaces in Illinois.
We have definitely ascertained that there was no furnace in
Cook county in that year, and that the furnace with which
it is credited in the census was Granger's foundry, the only
one in Chicago at that time.

There appears to have been no furnace in operation in
Illinois from 1860 to 1868. Soon after the close of the civil
war the attention of iron manufacturers was attracted to the
Big Muddy coal fields, in the southwestern part of Illinois,

318 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and to the proximity to these coal fields of the rich iron ores
of Missouri. In 1868 the Grand Tower Mining, Manufactur-
ing, and Transportation Company built two large furnaces at
Grand Tower, in Jackson county, Illinois, to use the Big Mud-
dy coal in connection with Missouri ores ; and in 1871 another
large furnace, called Big Muddy, was built at Grand Tower
by another company to use the same fuel and ores. The two
Grand Tower furnaces have been out of blast for several years
and are now abandoned, but the Big Muddy furnace was in
blast in 1881, since which year it has been idle. At East St.
Louis the Meier Iron Company built two large coke furnaces
between 1873 and 1875. These furnaces were in operation
in 1882, their fuel being mainly Carbondale coke, from Jack-
son county, Illinois, but they were never afterwards in blast.
In 1890 they were removed to Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

The iron industry at Chicago and its vicinity properly
dates from 1857, when Captain E. B. Ward, of Detroit, built
the Chicago rolling mill, on the right bank of the Chicago
river, " just outside of the city." This mill was built to re-
roll iron rails. It formed the nucleus of the extensive works
afterwards built by the North Chicago Rolling Mill Com-
pany. There was no furnace at Chicago until 1868, when two
furnaces were built by the Chicago Iron Company. They
were afterwards owned by the Union Steel Company. One
furnace was blown in early in 1869 and the other late in
the same year. Two furnaces were built at Chicago in 1869
by the North Chicago Rolling Mill Company. No other fur-
naces were built at Chicago until 1880, when seven new fur-
naces were undertaken, three of which were finished in that
year, two in 1881, and two in 1882. At Joliet, thirty-seven
miles southwest of Chicago, the Joliet Iron and Steel Com-
pany built two furnaces in 1873. They are now owned by
the Illinois Steel Company.

In 1883 there were seventeen rolling mills and steel works
in Illinois, four of which were Bessemer steel works — three at
Chicago and one at Joliet ; two were open-hearth steel works
— one at Springfield and one at Chicago ; and one was a cru-
cible st§el works at Chicago. At the beginning of 1884 there
were seventeen blast furnaces in the State, including the pio-
neer furnace, Illinois, which has since been abandoned.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 319

In 1890 there were fifteen completed furnaces in Illinois
and five more were in course of erection. In the same year
there were seven standard Bessemer steel works in the State,
four of which were owned by the Illinois Steel Company,
which had absorbed in 1889 the business of the North Chi-
cago Rolling Mill Company, the Union Steel Company, and
the Joliet Steel Company. There was also a Robert-Bessemer
steel plant in Illinois in that year. There were four open-
hearth steel plants and one crucible steel plant. The whole
number of rolling mills in Illinois was twenty-one, and two
others were projected.

In the aggregate production of iron and steel in 1880
Illinois ranked fourth among the iron and steel producing
States of the Union, making a great stride since 1870, when
it was fifteenth in rank. The State has long been second in
the production of Bessemer steel, and for a number of years
it was third in the production of pig iron, but in 1889 it fell
below Alabama as a producer of pig iron, Alabama taking
the third place. This State draws its supply of iron ore
from the Lake Superior region and its supply of coke al-
most wholly from the Connellsville district in Pennsylvania.

320 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXXIV.
EARLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN MICHIGAN.

IF we could credit the census of 1840 there were fifteen
blast furnaces in Michigan in that year — one in each of the
counties of Allegan, Branch, Cass, Kent, Monroe, and Oak-
land, two in Calhoun, two in Washtenaw, and five in Wayne
county. Some of these furnaces were doubtless foundries,
particularly in counties lying upon or near to Lake Erie,
vessels upon which could bring pig iron for these foundries
from the neighboring States. Others were undoubtedly true
blast furnaces, producing household and other castings from
bog ores. All of the fifteen enterprises mentioned were in
the southern part of the State. Their total production in
1840 was only 601 tons of " cast iron." Neither forges nor
bloomaries are mentioned in the census of 1840.

From 1840 to 1850 the iron industry of Michigan certain-
ly made no progress, and possibly declined. From 1850 to
1860 a marked improvement took place. Three new furna-
ces were built in the southern part of the State to use bog
ore, and in the northern peninsula and at Detroit and Wyan-
dotte a commencement was made in smelting the rich ores
which had been discovered in the now celebrated Lake Su-
perior iron-ore region. In 1859 Lesley enumerated the fol-
lowing bog-ore furnaces in the southern part of the State :
Kalamazoo, at the city of that name, in Kalamazoo county,
built in 1857 to take the place of an earlier furnace ; Quin-
cy, three miles north of the town of that name, in Branch
county, built in 1855 ; and Branch County, one mile from
Quincy furnace, built in 1854. All of these bog-ore furnaces
made pig iron in 1857. It is a curious fact that furnaces to
use bog ore should have been built in this State after 1850.

The development of the Lake Superior iron-ore region
marks an important era in the history of the American iron
trade, and the incidents attending its commencement have
fortunately been preserved.

We learn from A. P. Swineford's History of tJie Lake Supe-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 321

rior Iron District that the existence of iron ore on the south-
ern border of Lake Superior was known to white traders
with the Indians as early as 1830. The same writer further
informs us that the first discovery by white men of the iron
ore of this region was made on the 16th of September, 1844,
near the eastern end of Teal lake, by William A. Burt, a dep-
uty surveyor of the General Government. In June, 1845, the
Jackson Mining Company was organized at Jackson, Michi-
gan, for the purpose of exploring the mineral districts of the
southern shore of Lake Superior, and in the m summer of the
same year this company, through the disclosures of a half-
breed Indian named Louis Nolan and the direct agency of
an old Indian chief named Man-je-ki-jik, secured possession
of the now celebrated Jackson iron mountain, near the scene
of Mr. Burt's discovery. It appears, however, that the repre-
sentatives of the company had not heard of Mr. Burt's dis-
covery until they met Nolan and the Indian chief. P. M.
Everett, the president of the company, was the leading spirit
of the exploring party which secured possession of this valu-
able property.. The actual discovery of Jackson mountain
was made by S. T. Carr and E. S. Rockwell, members of
Mr. Everett's party, who were guided to the locality by the
Indian chief.

Referring to the iron ore of Jackson mountain in a letter
written at Jackson, Michigan, on the 10th of November, 1845,
Mr. Everett says that " since coming home we have had some
of it smelted, and find that it produces iron and something
resembling gold — some say it is gold and copper." This
smelting is not further described. In 1846 A. V. Berry, one
of the Jackson Mining Company, and others brought about
300 pounds of the ore to Jackson, and in August of that year,
writes Mr. Berry, "Mr. Olds, of Cucush Prairie, who owned a
forge, then undergoing repair, in which he was making iron
from bog ore, succeeded in making a fine bar of iron from our
ore in a blacksmith's fire, the first iron ever made from Lake
Superior ore." Mr. Swineford says that " one end of this bar
of iron Mr. Everett had drawn out into a knife-blade."

In 1847 the Jackson Mining Company commenced the
erection of a forge on Carp river, about ten miles from its
mouth and near Jackson mountain. It was finished early

322 THE MANUFACTURE OF

in 1848, and on the 10th of February of that year the first
iron made in the Lake Superior region was made here by
Ariel N. Barney. Mr. Swineford says that the forge, which
was named after Carp river, had " eight fires, from each of
which a lump was taken every six hours, placed under the
hammer, and forged into blooms four inches square and two
feet long, the daily product being about three tons. The first
lot of blooms made at this forge, the first iron made on Lake
Superior, and the first from Lake Superior ores, except the
small bar made by Mr. Olds, was sold to the late E. B. Ward,
and from it was made the walking-beam of the side-wheel
steamer Ocean." The forge was kept in operation until 1854,
when it was abandoned, having in the meantime " made little
iron and no money."

In 1849 the Marquette Iron Company, a Worcester (Mas-
sachusetts) organization, undertook the erection of a forge at
Marquette, and in July, 1850, it was finished and put in oper-
ation. Mr. Swineford says that " it* started with four fires,
using ores from what are now the Cleveland and Lake Su-
perior mines." It was operated irregularly until December,
1853, when it was burned down and was not rebuilt.

The Collins Iron Company was organized in 1853, with
Edward K. Collins, of New York, at its head, and in 1854 it
built a forge on Dead river, about three miles northwest of
Marquette, and in the fall of 1855 the manufacture of blooms
was commenced from ore obtained at the company's mines.
This forge was in operation in 1858, after which time it seems
to have been abandoned.

Another forge on Dead river was built in 1854 or 1855 by
William G. McComber, Matthew McConnell, and J. G. Butler.
The company failed in a few years, and in 1860 Stephen R.
Gay erected Bancroft furnace on the site of the forge. Before
1860 every forge in Michigan appears to have been aban-
doned. (Mr. Butler was the father of J. G. Butler, Jr., of
Youngstowii, Ohio, the present general manager of the Brier
Hill Iron and Coal Company.)

It will be observed that all of the pioneer iron enterprises
in the Lake Superior region were bloomary forges, the inten-
tion evidently having been to build up an iron industry simi-
lar to that of the Lake Champlain district.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 323

The first pig iron produced in the Lake Superior region
was made in 1858 by Stephen R. Gay, who then leased the
forge of the Collins Iron Company and converted it in two
days, at an expense of $50, into a miniature blast furnace.
In February, 1858, as we learn from the records of the Ameri-
can Iron and Steel Association, Mr. Gay wrote to C. A. Trow-
bridge that this furnace was " 2-J feet across the bosh, 8 feet
high, and 12 inches square at the top and 15 inches square
in the hearth," and would hold eight bushels of coal. He
gives the following details of its first and only blast : " Began
on Monday, finished and fired on Wednesday, filled with coal
Thursday noon, blast turned on Friday noon, and thenceforth
charged regularly with 1 bushel coal, 20 pounds of ore, and
7 pounds of limestone. Cast at six o'clock 500 pounds, and
again at eight o'clock Saturday morning, half a ton in all, 92
pounds of which were forged by Mr. Eddy into an 85-pound
bloom. This little furnace was run two and a half days,
made 2^ tons, carrying the last eight hours 30 pounds of ore
to a bushel of coal, equal to a ton of pig iron to 100 bushels
of coal." These experiments were made in February.

The first regular blast furnace in the Lake Superior region
was built by the Pioneer Iron Company in the present city
of Negaunee, convenient to the Jackson mine. It was com-
menced in June, 1857, and in February, 1858, it was finished.
Another stack was added in the same year. These furnaces
took the name of the company. Pioneer No. 1 was put in
blast in April, 1858, and Pioneer No. 2 on May 20, 1859.
Both furnaces are now owned by the Iron Cliffs Company.
They were burned and rebuilt in 1877. They were both in
operation in 1883 and have since been active. The second
regular blast furnace in this region was the Collins furnace,
built in 1858 by Stephen R. Gay, near the site of the Collins
forge. It made its first iron on December 13th of that year.
It was abandoned in 1873, owing to the failure of a supply
of charcoal. Other furnaces in the Lake Superior region soon
followed the erection of the Pioneer and Collins furnaces.
Mr. Swineford's history contains a record of these early en-
terprises.

While these early furnaces^and the few forges that have
been mentioned were being built on the shore of Lake Supe-

324 THE MANUFACTURE OF

rior two furnaces were built at or near Detroit to smelt Lake
Superior ores. These were the Eureka furnace, at Wyandotte,
built in 1855 by the Eureka Iron Company, of which Cap-
tain E. B. Ward was president, and put in blast in 1856 ; and
the Detroit furnace, at Detroit, built in 1856 by the Detroit
and Lake Superior Iron Manufacturing Company, of which
George B. Russell was president, and put in blast in January,
1857. These furnaces and the others that have been men-
tioned used charcoal as fuel.

The first shipment of iron ore from the Lake Superior re-
gion was made in 1850, according to Mr. Swineford, and con-
sisted of about five tons, "which was taken away by Mr. A.
L. Crawford, of New Castle, Pennsylvania." A part of this
ore was reduced to blooms and rolled into bar iron. " The
iron was found to be most excellent, and served to attract
the attention of Pennsylvania ironmasters to this new field
of supply for their furnaces and rolling mills." Mr. Craw-
ford informed us in his lifetime that he received at New
Castle in 1850 about ten tons of Jackson ore which had been
hauled around the falls of Sault Ste. Marie on a strap rail-
road one and a quarter miles long. In 1853 a few tons of
Jackson ore were shipped to the World's Fair at New York.

The first use of Lake Superior ore in a blast furnace oc-
curred in Pennsylvania. This important event is described
in a letter to us from the late David Agnew, of Sharpsville,
Mercer county, Pennsylvania, from which we quote as follows.

The Sharon Iron Company, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, about the
year 1850 or 1851 purchased the Jackson mines, and, in expectation of the
speedy completion of the Sault canal, commenced to open them, to con-
struct a road to the lake, and to build docks at Marquette, expending a
large sum of money in these operations. The opening of the canal was,
however, unexpectedly delayed until June, 1855. Anxious to test the work-
ing qualities of this ore the Sharon Iron Company brought, at great ex-
pense, to Erie, in the year 1853, about 70 tons of it, which were shipped
by canal to Sharpsville furnace, near Sharon, owned by David and John P.
Agnew. The first boat-load of ore, on its receipt, was immediately used in
the furnace, partly alone and partly in mixture with native ores, and the
experiment was highly, successful, the furnace working well and producing
an increased yield of metal, which was taken to the Sharon iron works and
there converted into bar iron, nails, etc., of very superior quality. The
second boat-load of ore was also brought to Sharpsville, but, having been
intended to be left at the Clay furnfce, owned by the Sharon Iron Com-
pany, was returned and used at that establishment.

IRON IN ALL AGES. . 325

The historical interest which attaches to the first use of
Lake Superior iron ore leads us to copy the following details
concerning the Sharon Iron Company and its connection with
the development of the Jackson iron mountain ore. Our au-
thority is a pamphlet copy of the prospectus of the Sharon
Iron Company, printed in 1852. We quote from the pam-
phlet, (which is signed by J. B. Curtis, president,) as follows.

The Sharon Iron Company was organized at Sharon, Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, in 1850, with a capital of $70,0£>0, under the general manu-
facturing law- of the State. of Pennsylvania, and possesses a charter from
that State. The manufacture of iron and nails was commenced in Decem-
ber, 1850, and the mill is in successful operation at the present time. The
company also own a blast furnace, with the necessary buildings, ore, and
coal privileges — now making forty-five tons of pig iron weekly, at a cost
of eighteen dollars per ton — situated one mile from the canal, and eight
miles from the mill, which they purchased on very advantageous terms.

The president of the company having visited the iron region of Lake
Superior in the fall of 1850 became so impressed with the boundless extent,
unrivaled richness, and great facilities of obtaining the ore of that region,
(and the specimens he procured having proved, on test, the superior qual-
ity and purity of the iron,) he recommended the company to purchase the
Jackson mountain, as being the nearest, largest, and best location, a prop-
erty owned by a corporate company, located in Jackson county, Michigan.
This property consists of 640 acres of land, (the Iron mountain,) 200 acres
lying between the mountain and lake, on which, there is a good water
power, a forge for making blooms in operation, and twenty dwelling-houses,
and also 60 acres of land at the harbor, on Lake Superior, called Iron bay.
After several attempts at negotiation the president of the Sharon Iron
Company, with others in interest, succeeded, in September, 1851, in pur-
chasing a controlling interest in said property, obtaining 1,507 shares out
of 3,000 at $15 per share, amounting to $22,605.

The Sharon Iron Company have manufactured this season 150 tons
blooms, made at the Jackson forge, into bar, boiler plate, nails, etc. They
have readily sold the bar iron at $80 per ton, when common puddled iron
goes begging at $50 per ton. It has been tested for steel wire and fine
tacks, and proved equal to the best Swedes.

In 1854, 1855, and 1856 Clay furnace, which was located on
Anderson's run, nine miles west of Mercer, continued the use
of Lake Superior ore, most of it mixed with native ore, and
used in all until August, 1856, about 400 tons. " Up to that
'date," as is stated by Mr. Frank Allen, its manager, " the
working of it was not a success. In October, 1856, we gave
the Clay furnace a general overhauling, put in a new lining
and hearth, and made material changes in the construction
of the same, put her in blast late in the fall, and in a few

326

THE MANUFACTURE OF

days were making a beautiful article of iron from Lake
Superior ore alone." The fuel used at Sharpsville and Clay
furnaces was the block coal of the Shenango valley. After
1856 other furnaces in Pennsylvania and in other States be-
gan the regular use of Lake Superior ore.

David Agnew was born at Frankstown, in Blair county,
Pennsylvania, on September 25, 1805, and died at Sharpsville,
in Mercer county, on August 24, 1882, aged almost 77 years.
His whole life was devoted to the manufacture of iron.

Until about 1877 the mining of .iron ore in the Lake
Superior region was confined to the territory in the immedi-
ate vicinity of Marquette. Since 1877, and particularly since
1879, a new iron-ore region has been developed in the north-
ern part of Menominee county and the southern part of Mar-
quette county, in Michigan, and in Florence county, Wiscon-
sin. It is called the Menominee district. This region has
proved to be very productive and the ore to be very pure.

In 1884 the Vermilion iron-ore district, in St. Louis
county, Minnesota, on the northern shore of Lake Superior,
became a competitor with the Marquette and Menominee
districts in the production and shipment of iron ore, and in
the same year the Gogebic district, which lies west of the
Menominee district and is partly in Michigan and partly in
Wisconsin, also became a competitor. The shipments from
the Vermilion district in 1884 aggregated 62,124 gross tons,
and the shipments from the Gogebic district in the same
year aggregated 1,022 tons. The total shipments of iron ore
from the Marquette, Menominee, Gogebic, and Vermilion dis-
tricts from 1884 to 1890 have been as follows, in gross tons.

Districts.

1884.

1885.

1886.

1887.

1888.

1889.

1890.

Marquette.......
Menominee
Gogebic

1,558,033
895,634
1,022

1,430,422
690,435
119,590

1,627,383
880,006
756,237

1,851,717
1,199,343
1,285,265

1,926,954
1,191,097
1,433,689

2,634,817
1,796,764
2,016,391

2,997,927
2,289,017
2,845,171

Vermilion

62,124

225,484

304,396

394,252

511,953

844,782

880,264

Total

2,516,813

2,465,931

3,568,022

4,730,577

5,063,693

7,292,754

9,012,379'

In addition to the shipments above recorded there were
also shipped in 1884 and 1885 a few tons of iron ore from
a few small mines in Michigan which are not properly in

IRON IN ALL AGES.

327

any of the districts mentioned. These shipments amounted
to 1,879 gross tons in 1884 and to 441 tons in 1885. Ship-
ments from these mines do not appear to have been continued.
From the Marquette Mining Journal we compile the fol-
lowing table of the aggregate shipments from all the Lake
Superior iron-ore mines for each calendar year since the
commencement of regular mining operations in the region.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

1854

3 000

1867

473 567

1880

1 908 745

1855

1 449

1868

491 449

1881

o 3Qg 5Q5

1856

36 343

1869 . . .

617 444

1882

2 965 412

1857

25 646

1870

830940

1883

2 353 288

1858

15876

1871

779 607

1884

2 518 692

1859

68 832

1872

900901

1885

9 466 372

1860

114 401

1873

1 162 458

1886

3 568 092

1861

49909

1874

919557

1887

4 730 577

186-7

124,169

1875

891,257

1888

5 063 693

186;? .

203 055

1876

992,764

1889

7 292 754

1864

243 127

1877

1,015,087

1890

9 Ol9 379

236 *?08

1878

1 111 110

1866

°78 796

1879

1 375 691

Total

57 149 082

The iron ores of Lake Superior which are not used in
Michigan are mainly shipped to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois,
and Wisconsin. They have been shipped as far east as the
Hudson river valley in New York for blast-furnace use and
as far south as Alabama for use in puddling furnaces. About
one-half of all the pig iron that is now manufactured in
the United States is made from these ores.

From the discovery of iron ore in the Lake Superior re-
gion until 1883 there had been built on the upper peninsula,
in the vicinity of the mines, twenty-five furnaces, of which
thirteen had been abandoned. There had also been built at
other points in Michigan, to use Lake Superior ore, sixteen
furnaces, of which none had been abandoned in 1883. All of
these furnaces, with the exception of two at Marquette and
one at Detroit, were built to use charcoal, and the abandon-
ment of many of them is attributable to the scarcity of tim-
ber for fuel. Since 1883 there have been five furnaces built
or restored in Michigan, while a few have been abandoned,
the whole number of furnaces in the State at the beginning
of 1891 being twenty-nine, all charcoal furnaces except one.
Michigan has long been the first State in the Union in the

328 THE MANUFACTURE OF

manufacture of charcoal pig iron. Its largest production of
pig iron, all made with charcoal, was in 1890, when 258,461
net tons were produced. The three % bog-ore furnaces in Kal-
amazoo and Branch counties have long been abandoned.

In 1884 there wrere three active rolling mills in Michigan :
the Eureka, formerly the Wyandotte, at Wyandotte, built in
1855; the rolling mill of the Baugh Steam Forge Company,
at Detroit, built in 1877, the forge having been built in 1870 ;
and the works of the Detroit Steel and Spring Company, at
Detroit, which had recently commenced the manufacture of
crucible steel. In 1891 the same rolling mills were still in
operation, and a new one, built in 1890, was in operation at
Muskegon. The Detroit Steel and Spring Company added
a Robert-Bessemer steel plant to its works in 1889. In 1871
a rolling mill was built at Marquette which has since been
abandoned. In 1872 a rolling mill was built at Jackson,
in Jackson county, but it was torn down in 1879 and the
machinery removed to the mill of the Springfield Iron Com-
pany, at Springfield, Illinois.

Captain Ward was the most prominent of all the pioneer
iron manufacturers of Michigan, his enterprise in this respect
extending to other States than his own.

In 1870 Michigan ranked eighth in the list of iron and
steel producing States, and in 1880 its rank was the same.
In 1890 it was the ninth in rank.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 329

CHAPTER XXXV.

•

THE EAKLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN WISCONSIN.

THE census of 1840 mentions a furnace in " Milwaukee
town," which produced three tons of iron in that year. This
was probably a small foundry. In 1859 Lesley mentions'
three charcoal furnaces in Wisconsin — Northwestern, or May-
ville, at Mayville, in Dodge county, forty miles northwest of
Milwaukee and five miles from the Iron ridge, built in 1848
by the owners of Mishawaka furnace in Indiana, and to
which a foundry was added in 1858 ; Ironton, at Ironton, in
Sauk county, built in 1857 by Jonas Tower ; and Black Riv-
er, built in 1857 by a German company on the east bank of
Black river, near the falls, in Jackson county. Of these fur-
naces at least one, Ironton, was built to produce castings. A
description of it in 1858 says : " It is a small blast furnace,
capable of producing about three tons of iron per day, and
intended for the manufacture of stoves, castings, etc." The
Ironton furnace has recently produced castings as well as pig
iron. The Mayville furnace is still in operation, having been
rebuilt in 1872, but the Black River furnace has long been
abandoned. In its stead there was erected in 1885 and 1886
a modern charcoal furnace, known as the Minneapolis fur-
nace, owned by the York Iron Company. There appear to
have been neither forges nor bloomaries in Wisconsin in the
census years 1840, 1850, and 1860.

The furnaces which have been mentioned were all that
Wisconsin could boast until 1865, when a charcoal furnace at
Iron Ridge, in Dodge county, was built by the Wisconsin Iron
Company. This was soon followed by several other furnaces,
some of which were built to use native ores and some to use
Michigan ores from Lake Superior. The Appleton Iron Com-
pany built two furnaces at Appleton, in Outagamie county,
in 1.871 and 1872 ; C. J. L. Meyer built a furnace at Fond du
Lac in 1874, but it was not put in blast until the summer of
1883 ; the Fox River Iron Company built two furnaces at
West De Pere, in Brown county, in 1869 and 1872 ; the Green

330 THE MANUFACTURE OP

Bay Iron Company built a furnace at Green Bay, in the same
county, in 1870 ; and the National Furnace Company built
two furnaces at De Pere, in the same county, in 1869 and
1872. All of these ftirnaces were built to use charcoal. In
1870 and 1871 the Milwaukee Iron Company built two large
furnaces at Bay View, near Milwaukee, and in 1873 the Mi-
nerva Iron Company built a furnace at Milwaukee. These
three furnaces were built to use anthracite coal and bitumi-
nous coke and Lake Superior ores. A furnace called Rich-
land was built in 1876 at Cazenovia, in Richland county, but
was torn down in 1879. In 1883 there were fifteen furnaces
in the State, twelve of which used charcoal and three used
anthracite coal and coke. In 1890, however, the whole num-
ber of completed furnaces had been reduced to ten, of which
six used charcoal and four used coke. A new coke furnace
was in course of erection at West Superior, in Douglas coun-
ty. In 1887 and 1888 there was built at Ashland, in Ashland
county, a charcoal furnace, 60 feet high by 12 feet in width at
the boshes, which has made the best record in production of
any charcoal furnace in the United States. This furnace is
called Hinkle. Nearly all the old charcoal furnaces of Wis-
consin have been abandoned.

Wisconsin had no rolling mill until 1868, when its first
and thus far its only active mill was built at Milwaukee by
the Milwaukee Iron Company, of which Captain E. B. Ward
was a leading member. This was from .the first a large mill.
It was built to re-roll iron rails, but soon commenced the
manufacture of new rails. In 1874 a merchant bar mill was
added, and in 1884 a nail mill was added. This mill and
the two Bay View furnaces were operated in 1883 by the
North Chicago Rolling Mill Company, but they are now
owned by the Illinois Steel Company.

Within the last few years the mining of iron ore in Flor-
ence county, Wisconsin, forming the western continuation of
the Menominee district in Michigan, has been prosecuted with
much activity. In 1882 there were shipped from this county
276,017 tons of iron ore. But the greatest development of
the iron-ore resources of Wisconsin has taken place since 1884
in the Gogebic district, situated in the counties of Ashland,
in Wisconsin, and Ontonagon and Gogebic, in Michigan, the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 331

statistics of which district have already been given in the
Michigan chapter. The early charcoal furnaces of Wiscon-
sin used poor ores, which were not at all comparable with the
rich ores now obtained in the Gogebic and other districts of
the Lake Superior region.

Wisconsin advanced rapidly in the manufacture of iron
in the decade between 1870 and 1880. In the latter year it
ranked sixth among the iron and steel producing States of
the Union. In 1870 it was twelfth in rank. In 1890 it had
retrograded and was eighth in rank, being intermediate be-
tween its position in 1870 and 1880. It has not yet produced
any kind of steel. In 1890 the building of a Bessemer steel
plant was, however, undertaken at West Superior, in Wis-
consin. Its completion in the latter part of 1891 is promised.

/
332 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXXVI.
EAKLY IRON ENTERPRISES IN MISSOURI.

MISSOURI Jias an iron history which antedates its admis-
sion into the Union in 1821. The celebrated iron district in
Iron and St. Frangois counties, which embraces Iron Moun-
tain and Pilot Knob, appears to have contained the first iron
enterprise in this State.

Mr. William A. Fletcher, of Ironton, clerk of the court of
Iron county, writes us as follows : " There was once an iron
furnace in the northeast quarter of section 3, township 33,
north of range 4 east, on Stout's creek, just two miles east
of the Ironton court-house. Some of the debris remains to
be seen to this day. I can recollect seeing some of the old
castings, in the shape of wheels, scattered around when I
was a small boy some forty years ago."

We are also in receipt of a letter from Mr. A. W. Hollo-
man, of Arcadia, the county surveyor of Iron county for the
last thirty-three years, who gives us the recollections of Mr.
Leonard Sutton, an old settler, who distinctly remembers the
iron enterprise on Stout's creek, which he styles Ashebran's
furnace. Mr. Sutton says that the furnace was located on
Stout's creek, about one and a half miles from the settle-
ment of his father, who moved into the northeast corner of
Iron county (then known as Upper Louisiana Territory) in
1817. He further says that the furnace was built by a
person named Ashebran and others about 1815 or 1816, and
that he has often seen "the old shaft," to haul which requir-
ed the efforts of twelve oxen. Mr. Holloman says that he
has himself often seen the site of the furnace, or, as he terms
it, the forge. Mr. Sutton adds that the ore for the furnace
was obtained on Shepherd mountain, which was about three
miles northwest of the furnace. Mr. Holloman says that there
can be no doubt of the existence of this pioneer enterprise as
early as 1815 or 1816.

In a second letter from Mr. Holloman he says that Mr.
Sutton tells him that " castings" were made on Stout's creek,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 333

" but mostly bar iron," and Mr. Holloman himself says that
it is his own impression that " bar iron was what was most-
ly made by this infant enterprise." Mr. Sutton further says
that " on one end of the big shaft was a water-wheel and on
the other end was a wheel so arranged as to lift the hammer
which beat out the bars of iron." He intimates that a water-
blast was used. In a second communication Mr. Fletcher
states that he often heard his father speak many years ago
of the bar iron that was hammered at Ashebran's works, and
of Ashebran himself as a hammerman. The evidence seems
to be conclusive that both castings and bar iron were made
by Ashebran. Either a furnace and a refinery forge were
cotemporary enterprises or a furnace and a Catalan forge
were built at different periods. The works were located on a
stream which furnished excellent water-power.

Another early enterprise in Missouri of which we have
obtained full information was a bloomary forge on Thicketty
creek, a tributary of the Maramec river, in Crawford county,
near the Washington county line, three miles south of the
present town of Bourbon. Cresswell's mill was afterwards
built about one hundred yards from the site of this early
iron enterprise. The bloomary was variously styled Harri-
son's furnace, Harrison's forge, Harrison's bloomary, and the
Harrison iron works. The works were of a primitive char-
acter, consisting of " a stone stack built into the hill so that
it could be easily filled from the top. It was rudely con-
structed of logs and rock." They were built in 1819 or 1820
by William Harrison and Josiah Reeves, and were certainly
in operation in 1820. Thomas Reeves was the forgeman. We
are told that the bloomary " was built like a blacksmith's
forge, only much larger, and was a water-blast. The ore was
burnt, then crushed, and put into the forge with charcoal.
The iron was made into long bars." It was used for wagon
tires, mattocks, grubbing hoes, plowshares, horseshoes, etc.
The bloom of iron was hammered under a spring-pole ham-
mer on an anvil which rested upon " an anvil-block formed
of a section of a tree four feet in diameter and buried mostly
in the ground." The ore used was brown hematite mixed
with blue ore ; it was hauled in ox-carts from the adjacent
hills by Battle Harrison, a son of William Harrison. The

334 THE MANUFACTURE OF

works continued in operation for several years. They have
* long been in ruins, as is also Cresswell's mill.

For the above circumstantial information concerning the
Harrison bloomary we are indebted to the politeness of B. F.
Russell, Esq., editor of the Crawford Mirror, at Steelville, Mis-
souri. Judge Robinson, who was reared in the Iron Moun-
tain country, and who has been consulted by Mr. Russell,
says that there was '"a log furnace" in Iron county which
" was built about the time of the Harrison bloomary," thus
confirming other information which we have given concern-
ing that enterprise.

A few years after the establishment of the Harrison
bloomary a blast furnace, called Springfield, was built in
Washington county, about six miles south of Potosi. The
geologist G. C. Swallow is quoted by Lesley on page 597 of
The Iron Manufacturer's Guide as follows : " The earliest at-
tempt in Missouri, and in all probability in any of the States
west of the Ohio, to smelt iron ore was in 1823 or 1824, when
/a blast furnace was erected in Washington county by Eversol,
Perry & Ruggles, between Potosi and Caledonia. This fur-
nace was afterwards known as Perry's old iron furnace." The
ore for this furnace was at first obtained from Claer creek,
but afterwards " from near Absalom Eaton's place, and was
mixed with ore brought from the Iron Mountain." Mr. Swallow
continues : " In connection with this blast furnace were two
forges. The first bar of iron made out of pig metal in Mis-
souri, Colonel Mcllvaine says, was made on Cedar creek in
May, 1825, and the first blooms were made in 1832." The
enterprise here referred to was Springfield furnace, but it was
not the first furnace in Missouri, as has already been shown.

In the prospectus of the Missouri Iron Company, printed
in 1837, we find it stated that Springfield furnace had been
operated "for more than fifteen years " prior to that year. In
that year the furnace was in operation, when it was called
" a small furnace." A forge was then attached to it, and
" a blooming forge " was promised " the ensuing year." The
prospectus further states that " cannon balls, made from the
Iron Mountain ore during the late war, after having been
exposed for several years to the open atmosphere and rains,
still maintained their original metallic lustre." The cannon

IRON IN ALL AGES. 335

balls referred to. would probably be used in the Black Hawk
war of 1832. Mr. Russell tells us that cannon balls were
certainly made for the General Government at Springfield
furnace in 1832, citing as his authority a history of Craw-
ford and Franklin counties in his possession.

Maramec furnace, in Phelps county, about sixty miles west
of Iron Mountain, was finished in January, 1829, and rebuilt
many years afterwards. It was probably projected in 1826, as
in that year the ore banks in the vicinity, about half a mile
west of the Maramec river, wrere opened by Massey & James.
The ore was tested at Harrison's bloomary before the furnace
was built. This old furnace was still standing a few years
ago, but it was not in operation and has now tfeen abandoned.
At an early day a forge was added to the furnace, to convert
its pig iron into bar iron, and this forge, with eight fires, was
also recently standing but. abandoned, its product being char-
coal blooms. In 1843 a rolling mill was added to the furnace
and forge, but it was " abandoned after one year's trial, be-
cause of the sulphur in the stone coal obtained at a bank
fourteen miles southeast." The Maramec furnace and forge
were long called the Massey iron works.

In the census of 1840 Missouri is credited with two fur-

naces, one in Crawford county and one in Washington county.
It is also credited with three forges in Crawford county and
one in Washington county. The furnace in Crawford county
was Maramec, Phelps county not having then been organiz-
ed, and the forges in Crawford county were doubtless attach-
ed to Maramec furnace. The furnace in Washington county
was Springfield, and the forge was doubtless the one which
was attached toHhis furnace. We do not hear of Springfield
furnace and forge after this time.

In 1836 the remarkable iron-ore mountains already men-
tioned— Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob — attracted the atten-
tion of some Missouri capitalists, and in the fall of that year
the Missouri Iron Company, with a nominal capital of $5,000,-
000, was formed to utilize their ores, the legislature charter-
ing the company on December 31, 1836. In January, 1837,
the company was fully organized under the presidency of
Silas Drake, of St. Louis, who was soon succeeded by J. L.
Van Doren, of Arcadia, but active work in the development

336 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of its property does not appear to have been undertaken until
some years afterwards, when a few furnaces were erected at
the foot of the mountains by other companies. In 1846 a
furnace was built at the southwest base of Little Iron Moun-
tain, which was followed in 1850 by another furnace at the
same place, and in 1854 by still another. In 1849 a furnace
was built on the north side of Pilot Knob, which was follow-
ed in 1855 by another at the same place. These were all
charcoal furnaces, and were exceptionally well managed in
1857, when they were visited and described by Charles B.
Forney, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. At that time two of the
Iron Mountain furnaces and one of the Pilot Knob furnaces
used hot-blast. Of all these furnaces only one of the Pilot
Knob furnaces is now left, and it was remodeled in 1879.

In 1846 Moselle furnace was built at Moselle, in Franklin
/ county, and in 1859 a furnace was built at Irondale, in Wash-
ington county, both furnaces to use charcoal. These, with the
furnaces previously mentioned, appear to have been all that
were built in Missouri prior to 1860. Both the Moselle and
the Irondale furnaces have been abandoned. Since 1860,
and particularly since 1870, other charcoal furnaces have been
built in Missouri, but most of these have been abandoned,
only two of the new furnaces, Midland, in Crawford county,
built in 1875, and Sligo, in Dent county, built in 1880, being
now active.

The iron industry of St. Louis appears to have had its
commencement in 1850, when the St. Louis, or Laclede, roll-
ing mill was built. It was followed by the Missouri rolling
mill, built in 1854; by the Allen rolling mill, built in 1855;
by the Pacific rolling mill, built in 1856; and by Raynor's
rolling mill, built in 1858.

In 1880 there were seven rolling mills in St. Louis, and
there were then no others in Missouri. One of these, the
Vulcan, built in 1872, wras built to roll iron rails but after-
wards rolled steel rails. Two other mills rolled light iron
rails and bar iron. In 1882 there was one rolling mill less
than in 1880, six in all, and there were seven in 1890, five
in St. Louis. The Bessemer works of the Vulcan Steel Com-
pany were built in 1875 and 1876. They and the rolling
mill connected with them are now idle. They are owned

IRON IN ALL AGES. 337

by the St. Louis Ore and Steel Company. Missouri had no
other steel works in 1883. In 1887 Mr. J. H. Sternbergh, of
Reading, Pennsylvania, commenced the erection of bolt and
nut works, to which was attached a small rolling mill, near
Kansas City, and in 1889 a rolling mill of considerable ca-
pacity was built at St. Joseph, to Avhich was added in 1890
a Robert-Bessemer steel plant.

St. Louis had no blast furnaces until 1863, when the Pi-
oneer furnace was built at Carondelet, to use coke. It was
in blast in 1873, but in 1874 it was torn down and remov-
ed by the Pilot Knob Iron Company. In 1869 the Vulcan
Iron Works, now the St. Louis Ore and Steel Company,
built two furnaces, which were followed in 1872 by another
furnace built by the same company. In 1870 and 1872 the
South St. Louis Iron Company built two furnaces ; in 1870
the Missouri Furnace Company built two ; and in 1873 Ju-
piter furnace was built, but it was not put in blast until
1880. These eight furnaces were all built to use Illinois or
Connellsville coke and Missouri ores. Of the whole number
only five are now standing, and not all of these are active.

In 1871 a large forge, called the Germania iron works, was
built at South St. Louis to make charcoal blooms from pig
iron, but it has been abandoned for several years. In 1873 a
forge was built at Kimmswick, in Jefferson county, which was
enlarged and remodeled in 1877 by the Peckham Iron Com-
pany, its product after the enlargement being charcoal blooms
made direct from the ore. It was in operation in 1886, but
has since been abandoned and dismantled.

In 1883 there were nine charcoal furnaces and eight coke
furnaces in Missouri, but in 1890 there were only three char-
coal furnaces and five coke furnaces which could be regarded
as active or likely to be active. From 1870 to 1880 the iron
industry of Missouri was the prey of adverse circumstances,
and in the latter year it lost the prominent rank it had held
among iron-producing States. It ranked sixth in 1870, but
in 1880 it had fallen to the tenth place. In 1890 it was thir-
teenth in rank. The shipments of iron ore from Missouri
to other States for many years averaged over 100,000 tons
annually, but they have now greatly declined, and are so
small that they do not attract any attention.

338 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN TEXAS.

TEXAS had one blast furnace before the beginning of the
civil war. It was located in the extreme northeastern part
of Cass county, and had been in operation for several years
prior to 1859. In that year Dr. B. F. Shumard, State geol-
ogist, said of this furnace that "it was erected several years
since by Mr. Nash," whose full name was J. S. Nash. Dr.
Shumard said that it had been " in nearly constant, and I
believe profitable, operation up to the present time." This
furnace continued in operation during the war.

In 1859 the erection of a furnace about one and a half
miles southeast of Hughes Springs, in the southwestern part
of Cass county, was commenced, but the furnace was not
put in blast until 1861. " Mr. Hughes built the furnace but
never operated it, as the Confederate Government took charge
of it soon after its erection." In 1863 the Sulphur Fork
Iron Company built a furnace "on Horton's headright, just
west of Springdale," in Cass county. " The furnace was built
of brick, and was 34 feet square and 36 feet high." During
the war a furnace was built about eight miles from Jack-
sonville and three miles from the Neches river, in Cherokee
county, which was known as Young's iron works, taking its
name from Dr. Young, the president of the company which
built it. This furnace was built of brown sandstone, and
was 34 feet square at the base and the same number of feet
high. About eight miles south of Rusk, in Cherokee county,
were located Philleo's iron works, consisting of a blast fur-
nace and foundry, which were also built during the war.

While these furnaces were in operation during the civil
war, partly in aid of the Confederate Government, other iron
enterprises were undertaken in Texas. All these enterprises
were ore bloomaries. Near Nechesville, in Anderson county,
a bloomary was erected in 1863 by Dr. Charles Bussey and
Joseph P. Griggs, with whom was afterwards associated Dr.
J. B. Bussey. This bloomary was operated with steam-power

IRON IN ALL AGES. 339

" and two tub bellows, or blowing cylinders." Good iron was
made with ore from a neighboring mountain and pine char-
coal. The works were burned before the war closed. A
bloomary called Montalbo was built about 1863 on the south-
ern bank of Mount Prairie creek, eight or nine miles north of
Palestine, in Anderson county, and about ten miles south of
the Nechesville bloomary, which was operated by the Con-
federate Government. " From the iron smelted there gun
barrels and other munitions of war were manufactured." A
short distance north of the Nechesville bloomary, in the vicin-
ity of Kickapoo, the Confederate Government began the erec-
tion of Kickapoo fcloomary, but, as far as can be ascertained,
it was never completed. A bloomary, known as McLain, or
Linn Flat, was built during the latter part of the war in the
northern part of Nacogdoches county, about twelve miles from
the town of Nacogdoches and six miles from Linn Flat. It
was in operation eight months, and during that time made
about 150,000 pounds of hammered iron bars. This bloom-
ary, like the Nechesville bloomary, was burned. In addition
to the bloomaries above mentioned another was undertaken
by the Confederate Government a few miles east of Neches-
ville, in Cherokee county, but it was never finished.

Without an exception all the furnaces and bloomaries in
Texas which have been mentioned were abandoned either
during the civil war or soon after its close.

For the information contained in the foregoing summary
of early iron enterprises in Texas we are indebted to a valu-
able paper contributed by E. T. Durable and to be found in
the second annual report of the Geological Survey of Texas,
published by the State in 1891.

In 1869 a charcoal furnace was built five miles north of
Jefferson, in Marion county, which went into blast in 1870
but was rebuilt in 1874. It was in operation in 1880, and
was then the only active furnace in the State. It was called
Kelly furnace, after Mr. G. A. Kelly, the president of the
Jefferson Iron Company, by which it was built. In 1882 it
was sold to the Marshall Car Wheel and Foundry Company,
which changed its name to Lou-Ellen furnace and operated it
until 1885, when it was finally blown out. It was torn down
in 1888. It used brown hematite ore found in the neigh-

340 THE MANUFACTURE OF

borhood. In 1883 a furnace was built by the State of Texas
at Rusk, in Cherokee county, and called Old Alcalde. It
was put in blast in February, 1884, since which time it has
been almost continually in operation. A pipe foundry is
connected with the furnace, and melted iron is run directly
into water pipe of all sizes. These works are owned and
operated by the State of Texas in connection with the State
penitentiary at Rusk. In 1890 the Lone Star Iron Company
built a large furnace at Jefferson, in Marion county, which
was blown in in the spring of 1891. The name of the fur-
nace is Jefferson. In 1890 the New Birmingham Iron and
Land Company built a large furnace called Tassie Belle at
New Birmingham, in Cherokee county, which was put in
blast in the latter part of that year. In 1890 the Cherokee
Iron Manufacturing Company commenced the erection at
New Birmingham of a large furnace, at first called La Mas-
cotte and now known as Star and Crescent, which would
probably be completed in 1891. All these are charcoal fur-
naces.

The first rolling mill in Texas was started at Houston in
May, 1884. A small rolling mill at Fort Worth was built
in 1890 and 1891 and put in operation in the latter year.
The Houston and Fort Worth mills do not have puddling
furnaces.

Texas is well supplied with iron ores, some of which are
said to be of Bessemer quality, and for many years to come
there will be no scarcity of timber for charcoal. Brown coal
exists in many parts of the State, and good coking coal has
been fo^nd in the southwestern portion. Much is expected
from the promised development at an early day of the exten-
sive iron-ore deposits of Llano and adjacent counties. From
this time forth Texas is entitled to recognition as one of the
promising iron-producing States of the Union.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 341

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN VARIOUS WESTERN
STATES AND IN THE TERRITORIES.

IN 1884 Minnesota had one charcoal furnace, situated at
Duluth, which was commenced in 1872 and not finished un-
til 1880. It was put in blast on July 12, 1880, and ran ir-
regularly until 1883, after which year it was virtually aban-
doned. It is now wholly abandoned. Its projectors failed,
and after passing through the hands of creditors it was pur-
chased by the Duluth Iron Company. It obtained its sup-
ply of ore from the Lake Superior mines in Michigan. In
1889 the Duluth Iron and Steel Company commenced the
erection at Duluth of a large coke furnace, 75 feet high by
16 feet wide, which has since been completed but had not
been blown in early in 1891. In 1884 a small rolling mill
was built and put in operation at Minneapolis by Strothman
Brothers, but it was abandoned and dismantled in 1887. In
1885 and 1886 Morgan, Williams & Co. built a small rolling
mill at St. Paul, which was afterwards known as the Capital
iron works, but it was not long in operation and has been
abandoned. In 1888 and 1889 a more ambitious rolling-
mill enterprise was undertaken at Duluth by the Minnesota
Iron Car Company, and in the latter 'year it was put in op-
eration. It was in active operation in 1890. The valuable
iron-ore deposits in the Vermilion district of Saint Louis
county, Minnesota, have already been referred to in the
Michigan chapter. The ore of this district possesses the
same general characteristics as that of Northern Michigan.
Iron ore has been found in other counties in Minnesota.

In 1857 a bloomary called Big Creek was built about six \
miles southwest of Smithville, in Lawrence county, Arkansas,
by Alfred Bevens & Co. In 1858 Lesley describe* it as "a
bloomary with two fires and a hammer, making 250 pounds
of swedged iron per day per fire, with a cold-blast in Novem-
ber, 1857, but has now a hot-blast, and is making perhaps 800
pounds, using 300 bushels of charcoal to the ton of finished

342 THE MANUFACTURE OF

bars, made out of brown hematite ore." The bloomary was
driven by water-power. It is not mentioned in the census of
1860 or 1870, and has been abandoned. Mr. Clarke W. Har-
rington, of Berry ville, Carroll county, writes us that in 1850
an Englishman named Abram Beach built a bloomary in this
county, which was in operation for a few years, when it was
swept away by a freshet. It was succeeded by the " Hig-
gins grist mill." The hammer used at this bloomary may
now be seen on its site. Mr. Harrington says that "Beach
made a large number of plow coulters, many of which are
still in use." From the same gentleman we learn that old
residents of Carroll county have a tradition that iron was
once made in that county in hollow stumps of trees, which
is not improbable, the iron ore of this county being a soft
hematite, which could easily be reduced. Iron ore of the
quality mentioned is very abundant near Berryville. We
have no knowledge that any other iron enterprises than
those above mentioned have ever existed in this State.

Arkansas is, however, not lacking in the natural resources
which are required for the production of iron. It has iron
ore, coal, and limestone, and extensive forests of timber.
In 1885 two companies commenced the development of the
manganese deposits in the neighborhood of Batesville, in the
northeastern part of this State, but their operations have not
been very actively prosecuted. The total production of man-
ganese in Arkansas in 1889 was 2,528 gross tons.

In a pamphlet, entitled the Products and Resources of Ar-
kansas, compiled by D. McRae, and published by direction
of the Governor of Arkansas in 1885, we find the following
reference to a deposit of iron ore which is found in South-
western Arkansas. " Altogether the most remarkable and in-
teresting mineral of all this region is the white malleable
iron, regarding the existence and malleability of which a
great deal of skepticism is said to exist. It is found in the
corner of Howard county adjoining the frontier of Mont-
gomery, f^olk, and Pike. During the war, it is stated on
good authority, the inhabitants of the vicinity used to take
the ore as it was picked up from the ground and in an or-
dinary blacksmith's forge hammer it into horseshoe nails.
The outcrop of this ore, as far as it has been explored, runs

IRON IN ALL AGES. 343

for two miles west to east, showing a width of from 15 to
30 feet, with an unknown depth."

Kansas had two rolling mills in operation in 1880, both
of which were built to re-roll rails. One of these, at Rose-
dale, in Wyandotte county, three miles from Kansas City,
was then owned by the Kansas Rolling Mill Company.
This mill was once in operation at Decatur, Illinois, where it
was built in 1870, and whence it was removed to Rosedale
in 1875. It is now owned by the Western Iron Company.
It has been idle since 1882. The other mill was located at
Topeka, and was built in 1874 by the Topeka Rolling Mill
Company. This mill was burned in April, 1881, and was not
rebuilt.

In 1885 the Iowa Rolling Mill Company built a rolling
mill for the manufacture of bar iron at Burlington, Iowa,
and in the same year it was put in operation. In 1887 it
was enlarged and in 1889 it was still further enlarged. It
was idle in 1890. This is the only iron enterprise in Iowa.

Nebraska had one iron enterprise in operation in 1880,
a rolling mill and cut-nail factory at Omaha, owned by the
Omaha Iron and Nail Company. These works were first
built at Dunleith, Illinois, in 1875 and 1876, and were re-
moved to Omaha in 1879 and considerably enlarged. They
had -an annual capacity of 65,000 kegs of nails. These
works have been abandoned. The machinery was removed
to St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1888 and 1889.

The first iron enterprise in Colorado was a small charcoal
furnace at Langford, in Boulder county, in the northern part
of the State. Its erection was undertaken in 1862 by a com-
pany called Langford & Co., composed of A. G. Langford,
J. M. Marshall, William L. Lee, and Milo Lee, and it was
finished and put in blast in 1864. In 1865 it went out of
blast and was soon afterwards abandoned. It is said that
" in a two-months' run some 250 tons of pig iron " were pro-
duced. Iron ore was obtained in the neighborhood and char-
coal was burned " in the foot-hills." Mr. Marshall was the
manager. The furnace was abandoned because oxen furnish-
ed the only mode of transportation, which was too expensive.
In 1861 the same company built a foundry at Denver, but
during the next year it was removed to Blackhawk, in Gilpin

344 THE MANUFACTURE OF

county. The furnace at Langford was built to supply pig
iroh for foundry purposes. Bituminous coal is now mined
at Langford, and extensive deposits of iron ore are near at
hand.

In 1877 a rolling mill was removed by William Faux
from Danville, Pennsylvania, to Pueblo, Colorado, and put in
operation on March 1, 1878, the product being re-rolled rails.
In the same year it was removed to Denver. In 1880 this
mill was purchased from the Denver Rolling Mill Company
by the Colorado Coal and Iron Company. It was at work in
1883, rolling bar iron as well as re-rolling rails. It was aban-
doned in 1889. In 1880 the Colorado Coal and Iron Com-
pany commenced the erection of a large coke furnace at
Pueblo, Colorado, which was put in blast on September 7,
1881. In the former year it also commenced the construction
of Bessemer steel works at the same place, which were finish-
ed in 1882. These enterprises formed the beginning of a very
extensive and complete establishment, which now embraces
two blast furnaces, Bessemer steel works, rolling mills for
rolling steel rails, bar iron, etc., a pipe foundry, and a nail
mill. The erection of a third blast furnace has been com-
menced. Extensive coke works have been built by the com-
pany at El Moro, Crested Butte, and elsewhere. At Gunnison
the erection of two furnaces to use coke was undertaken by
the Gunnison Coal and Steel Company in 1884, but the fur-
naces were never built. At Trinidad, in Los Animas county,
a rolling mill was built in 1888 and 1889 and put in opera-
tion in April, 1889, to roll bar iron and light rails.

The Union Pacific Railroad Company built a rolling mill
to re-roll rails at Laramie City, Wyoming, in 1874, and put
it in operation in April, 1875. It has ever since been in op-
eration, but its products are now bar iron, mine rails, nuts,
bolts, spikes, and track fastenings.

In 1859 Lesley reported a forge in Utah Territory, " smelt-
ing iron ore found in the mountains east of Salt Lake City,
but no reliable information could be obtained respecting it."
It does not appear in the census of 1860. Dr. J. S. Newberry
writes that in 1880 he " visited the deposit of crystalline iron
ore of Iron county, in the southern part of the Territory.
These ore beds have been long known, and were to some ex-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 345

tent utilized by the Mormons in their first advent thirty years
ago. The iron region referred to lies nearly '300 miles direct-
ly south of Salt Lake City." In 1873 and 1874 the Great
Western Iron Company, of which John W. Young was pres-
ident, built a charcoal furnace at Iron City, in Iron county.
It was in blast in 1874 and the two following years, but was
afterwards abandoned and has had no successor. It was a
very small furnace, being only 19 feet high and 4 feet wide
at the boshes, with a daily capacity of 5 tons. The erection
of a much larger furnace, also to use charcoal, was com-
menced at Ogden City, Utah, in 1875, by the Ogden Iron
Manufacturing Company, and was intended to use hematite
and magnetic ores found in the neighborhood. The furnace
was completed and put in blast in 1882, but was blown out
after making a small quantity of pig iron, and has been
abandoned. The same company commenced building a roll-
ing mill at Ogden City in 1875, which was not completed
until 1882. It appears to have never been put in operation.
In 1884 the machinery was removed to Pueblo, Colorado,
where it was added to the plant of the Colorado Coal and
Iron Company. Utah not only contains extensive deposits of
very pure iron ore in Iron county and elsewhere but it also
contains plenty of coal in Iron and other counties, some of
which is said to make good coke.

346 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE IRON INDUSTRY ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

CALIFORNIA has had for many years a complete rolling
mill at San Francisco, owned by the Pacific Rolling Mill
Company. It was first put in operation on July 25, 1868. It
rolls rails, bar iron, angle iron, shafting, etc. An open-hearth
steel plant was added in 1884, and the first steel on the Pacific
coast was made on July 15, 1884. These works were in oper-
ation in 1891, and have always been well employed. In 1881
the Central Pacific Railroad Company built a rolling mill at
Sacramento to roll bar iron and shaped iron. In 1883 the
Judson Manufacturing Company completed and put in opera-
tion a rolling mill at Oakland for the manufacture of bar and
plate iron ; and in the same year the Pacific Iron and Nail
Company completed and put in operation at the same place
a large rolling mill and nail factory, with an annual capac-
ity of more than 100,000 kegs of nails. At San Francisco
there is an extensive shipyard for building iron and steel
vessels, known as the Union Iron Works, at which large war
ships for the United States navy have recently been built.

The first vessel of iron or steel built on the Pacific coast
was the Arago, a screw steamer of 828 gross tons. She was
built by the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, for the
Newport Coal Company, of Coos bay, Oregon, and she was
launched on April 2, 1885. This vessel was built entirely
of steel, the steel shapes being rolled by the Pacific Rolling
Mill Company, of San Francisco, and the steel plates by Car-
negie, Phipps & Co., of Pittsburgh. Her compound engine
is of 450 nominal horse-power. She has been steadily en-
gaged in the coal trade between Coos bay and San Francisco.

California has been unfortunate with her only blast fur-
nace. The California Iron and Steel ^Company commenced
in 1880 the erection of a charcoal furnace at Clipper Gap,
in Placer county, where iron ore had been discovered, and
the furnace was put in blast in April, 1881, and the first cast
was made on the 24th of that month. It was burned down

IRON IN ALL AGES. 347

in 1882 and rebuilt in 1883 and again put in operation, but
it has been out of blast since 1886 and may be regarded as
abandoned. Its fuel was charcoal. Unless good coking coal
should be discovered in California it is not probable that this
State will ever make much pig iron, although it possesses
many deposits of good iron ore, some of which are of Bes-
semer quality. It is doubtful whether the Mexican inhab-
itants of California ever engaged in the manufacture of iron
even in the most primitive manner. In Lower California,
just over the California State line, extensive deposits of rich
iron ore and anthracite coal have recently been discovered.

At Oswego, in Clackamas cotmty, Oregon, nine miles from
Portland, a 'furnace to use charcoal was built in 1866 and
1867 by the Oswego Iron Company and blown in on August
27, 1867. It was enlarged in 1879 by other proprietors. In
1883 it produced 7,000 net tons of pig iron. It was operated
irregularly until 1886, when it was purchased by the Oregon
Iron and Steel Company, which built a new furnace in 1888,
abandoning the old one in the same year. The charcoal for
both furnaces has been made exclusively from the fir tree.

A furnace at Irondale, near Port Townsend, in Jefferson
county, Washington, was built in 1880 and put in blast on
January 27, 1881. It was rebuilt in 1882 and 1883 and re-
modeled in 1884. It is still a small furnace. It was built
to make charcoal pig iron from Puget sound bog ore mixed
with Texada Island magnetic ore. It is owned by the Puget
Sound Iron Company, of San Francisco. It has not recently
been in blast. - In 1891 plans were in progress for the erec-
tion of a furnace at Kirkland, near, Seattle. This State con-
tains extensive deposits of hard coal, some of wrhich makes
good coke, and as iron ores are to be found within its own
borders and near at hand on British territory, some in Wash-
ington just discovered, it is expected that other iron enter-
prises will soon follow those which have been mentioned.

THE States and Territories which have not been referred
to in these pages are believed to have never been engaged in
the manufacture of iron, although iron ore has been found
in Louisiana and in some of the States and Territories of
the Rocky Mountain region which have not been mentioned.

348 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XL.
THE FIRST IRON WORKS IN CANADA.

A NOTICE in these pages of the first iron works in Cana-
da will be read with interest, especially as these works were
recently in operation. They are known as the forges of St.
Maurice, and are located near Three Rivers, in the province
of Quebec. Mr. A. T. Freed, the editor-in-chief of the Ham-
ilton (Ontario) Spectator, informs us that iron ore in the
vicinity of Three Rivers was discovered as early as 1667.
In 1672 the Count de Frontenac reported that he had com-
menced to mine the ore at Three Rivers. He strongly urged
the establishment of forges and a foundry. In 1685 the
Marquis de Denonville sent to France a sample of the ore
at Three Rivers, which the French ironworkers found to be
" of good quality and percentage." But no effort to establish
iron works at this place appears to have been made until the
next century, when the St. Maurice works were undertaken.
Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, of Montreal, supplied us in 1880 with
the following brief history of these works.

King Louis XV. gave a royal license in 1730 to a company to work the
iron ores of St. Maurice and the vicinity, and advanced 10,000 livres for aid
in erecting the furnace, etc. No work being done he took back the license,
and in 1735 granted it to a new company, which received 100,000 livres in
aid and in 1737 built a blast furnace. In 1743, however, the works revert-
ed to the crown, and were worked for the king's profit. *He then sent out
from France skilled workmen, who rebuilt, in part at least, the blast fur-
nace as it now stands, and ere'cted a Walloon hearth, which is still in use,
for refining. The works became the property of the British Crown at the
conquest, and were at first rented to a company and afterwards sold.
Smelting has been carried on at this place without interruption to the
present time, the bog ores of the region being exclusively used. Three
tons of ore make one ton of iron.

There seems to be no doubt that the stack is the one built in 1737, and
it is still in blast. It is 30 feet high, and the internal diameter at the hearth
is 2J feet, at the boshes 7 feet, and at the throat 3£ feet. There are two
tuyeres, and the blast is cold, with a pressure of one pound. The daily pro-
duction of iron is four tons, and the consumption of charcoal is 180 bush-
els, (French,) of about 12 pounds each, per ton of iron. The metal was
formerly used in the district for ordinary castings, but is now in great de-
mand for car-wheels. A very little is, however, refined in the Walloon

IRON IN ALL AGES. 349

hearth, and is esteemed by the blacksmiths for local use. The analysis of
a sample of the gray pig of St. Maurice made by me in 1868 gave : phos-
phorus, .450 ; silicon, .860 ; manganese, 1.240 ; graphite, 2.820 ; carbon com-
bined, 1.100.

In addition to the above information we find some facts
of interest concerning the St. Maurice iron works in Peter
Kalm's Travels into North America, written in 1749.

The iron work, which is the only one iri this country, lies three miles
to the west of Trois Rivieres. Here are two great forges, besides two lesser
ones to each of the great ones, and under the same roof with them. The
bellows wyere made of wood, and everything else as it is in Swedish forges.
The melting ovens stand close to the forges, and are the same as ours. The
ore is got two French miles and a half from the iron works, and is carried
thither on sledges. It is a kind of moor ore, which lies in veins, within six
inches or a foot from the surface of the ground. Each vein is from six to
eighteen inches deep, and below it is a white sand. The veins are surround-
ed with this sand on both sides, and covered at the top with a thin mould.
The ore is pretty rich and lies in loose lumps in the veins, of the size of two
fists, though there are a few which are eighteen inches thick. These lumps
are full of holes, which are filled with ochre. The ore is so soft that it may
be crushed betwixt the fingers. They make use of a grey limestone, which
is broke in the neighborhood, for promoting the fusibility of the ore ; to
that purpose they likewise employ a clay marble, which is found near this
place. Charcoals are to be had in great abundance here, because all the
country round this place is covered with woods which have never been
stirred. The charcoals from evergreen trees, that is from the fir kind, are
best for the forge, but those of deciduous trees are best for the smelting
oven. The iron which is here made was to me described as soft, pliable,
and tough, and is said to have the quality of not being attacked by rust so
easily as other iron ; and in this point there appears a great difference be-
tween the Spanish iron and this in shipbuilding.

This iron work was first founded in 1737, by private persons, who after-
wards ceded it to the king ; they cast cannon and mortars here, of different
sizes, iron stoves, which are in use all over Canada, kettles, etc., not to men-
tion the bars which are made here. They have likewise tried to make steel
here, but can not bring it to any great perfection because they are unac-
quainted with the manner of preparing it.

Mr. Freed says thdt the French company which establish-
ed the St. Maurice iron works in 1737 was known as Ctignet et
Cie. He also says that there was a French garrison at Three
Rivers at the time, and that the soldiers were the principal
workmen. He sends us a fcopy of a report made in 1752 to
M. Bigot, Intendant of New France, residing at Quebec, by
M. Franquet, who had been instructed to visit and examine
the St. Maurice works. From this report the following liberal
extract is taken.

350 THE MANUFACTURE OF

On entering the smelting forge I was received with a customary cer-
emony ; the workmen moulded a pig of iron about 15 feet long for my es-
pecial benefit. The process is very simple : it is done by plunging a large
ladle into the liquid-boiling ore and emptying the material into a gutter
made in the sand. After this ceremony I was shown the process of stove
moulding, which is also a very simple but rather intricate operation. Each
stove is in six pieces, which are separately moulded ; they are fitted into
each other and form a stove about three feet high. I then visited a shed
wrhere the workmen were moulding pots, kettles, and other hollow-ware.
On leaving this part of the forge we were taken to the hammer forge, where
bar iron of every kind is hammered out. In each department of the forges
the workmen observed the old ceremony of brushing a stranger's boots,
and in return they expect some money to buy liquor to drink the visitor's
health. The establishment is very extensive, employing upward of 180
men. Nothing is consumed in the furnaces but charcoal, which is made in
the immediate vicinity of the post. The ore is rich, good, and tolerably
clean. Formerly it was found on the spot ; now the director has to send
some little distance for it. This iron is preferred to the Spanish iron,Vnd
is sold off in the king's stores in Quebec.

In 1760 Canada passed into the possession of the British
Government, and with it the St. Maurice forges. For nearly
a hundred years the Crown leased these works to various
companies, by which they were operated with more or less
success.

In 1815 the St. Maurice works were still in active oper-
ation, as we learn from Joseph Bouchette's Lower Canada.
They are thus, described : " The establishment is furnished
with every convenience necessary to an extensive concern;
the furnaces, the forges, the founderies, workshops, etc., with
houses and other buildings, present the appearance of a tol-
erably sized village. The principal articles manufactured are
stoves of all kinds used in the province, large potash kettles,
machines for mills, and various kinds of cast and wrought
iron ; also a great quantity of pig and bar iron for exporta-
tion. The number of men employed fe from 250 to 300."

The St. Maurice works remained in the ownership of the
British Government until 1846, when they were sold to
Henry Stuart. A report to the Dominion Parliament in 1879
says that they were then owned by F. McDougall & Son, of
Three Rivers, and were using bog ore and making good iron
with charcoal. " The first furnace was erected in 1737 ; still
running ; capacity four tons."

In a valuable paper on the manufacture of iron in Can-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 351

ada, read at the Halifax meeting of the American Institute
of Mining Engineers in September, 1885, Mr. James Herbert
Bartlett, of Montreal, recorded in the following words the end
of the long career of the blast furnace of 1737 which was
connected with the St. Maurice forges : " The property is now
owned by George McDougall, of Three Rivers, the furnace
having been in blast until the summer of 1883, when, owing
to the ore and fuel becoming exhausted, it was finally closed."

At the time of its abandonment in 1883 the St. Maurice
furnace was the oldest active furnace on the American continent.
In that year there were still standing two very old furnaces
in the United States — Oxford, in New Jersey, and Cornwall,
in Pennsylvania, both built in 1742, but neither of these fur-
naces was in blast in 1883. They were last in blast in 1882.
Since that year Oxford furnace has been abandoned, but
Cornwall is still standing and in good repair.

Canada has had a few other iron enterprises and a few steel
works, but it has never been prominent as a manufacturer
of either iron or steel. Of late, however, much interest has
been taken by Canadians in the development of the iron and
steel resources of the , Dominion, and in this movement the
people of the United States will heartily sympathize.

IT would not be profitable to give such fragmentary in-
formation as is at our command concerning the very small
iron industry of Mexico and Central and South America.

352 THE MANUFACTURE OF

' CHAPTER XLI.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON WITH ANTHRACITE
COAL IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE details which have been given in preceding chapters
of the early ir.on history of every part of the United States
relate almost entirely to the manufacture of iron with char-
coal as fuel, no other fuel having been used in American
blast furnaces until about 1840, and but little use of any
other fuel having been made before that time in any other
branches of the American iron industry. The period of our
iron history prior to 1840 may therefore very properly be
styled the charcoal era. The later development of the iron
and steel industries of the United States will be generally
instead of provincially or geographically treated in the pres-
ent chapter and in succeeding chapters.

The line which separates the charcoal era of our iron his-
tory from the era which succeeded it, and which may be said
to still continue, is marked by the almost simultaneous intro-
duction of anthracite and bituminous coal in the manufact-
ure of pig iron. This innovation at once caused a revolution
in the whole iron industry of the country. Facilities for the
manufacture of iron were increased; districts which had been
partly closed to this industry because of a scarcity of timber
for the supply of charcoal were now fully opened to it ; and
the cheapening of prices, which was made possible by the
increased production and the increased competition, served to
stimulate consumption. A notable result of the introduction
of mineral fuel was that, while it restricted the production
of charcoal pig iron in the States which, like Pennsylvania,
possessed the new fuel, it did not injuriously affect the pro-
duction of charcoal pig iron in other States. Some of these
States, notably Michigan, which scarcely possessed an iron in-
dustry of any kind in 1840, now manufacture large quantities
of charcoal pig iron. The country at large now annually
makes more charcoal pig iron than it did in 1840 or in any
preceding year. Our production of charcoal pig iron in 1890

IRON IN ALL AGES. 353

was the largest in our history. The introduction of mineral
fuel did not, therefore, destroy our charcoal-iron industry,
but simply added to our resources for the production of iron.
This introduction, however, marked such radical changes in
our iron industry, and so enlarged the theatre of this indus-
try, that we are amply justified in referring to it as a revolu-
tion, and as one which ended the distinctive charcoal era.

Of the two forms of mineral fuel, anthracite and bitumi-
nous coal, anthracite was the first to be largely used in Ameri-
can blast furnaces, and for many years after its adaptability
to the smelting of iron ore was established it was in greater
demand for this purpose than bituminous coal, coked or un-
coked. In recent years the relative popularity of these two
fuels for blast-furnace use has been exactly reversed.

The natural difficulties in the way of the successful intro-
duction of anthracite coal in our blast furnaces were increas-
ed by the fact that, up to the time when we commenced our
experiments in its use, no other country had succeeded in
using it as a furnace fuel. We had, therefore, no other guide
in its use than our own unaided intelligence. The successive
steps by which we were enabled to add the manufacture of
anthracite pig iron to that of charcoal pig iron will be pre-
sented in chronological order.

In the suit of Farr & Kunzi against the Schuylkill Nav-
igation Company in 1840 Jesse B. Quinby testified that in
1815 he used anthracite coal for a short time at Harford
fufnace, in Maryland, mixed with one-half charcoal. Between
1824 and 1828 Peter Bitner, whose brother, Joseph Bitner,
was afterwards Governor of Pennsylvania, was successful for
a short time in using anthracite coal mixed with charcoal in
a charcoal furnace in Perry county, Pennsylvania. In 1826
the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company erected at Mauch
Chunk, in Pennsylvania, a small furnace intended to use an-
thracite coal in smelting iron ore. The enterprise was not
successful. In 1827 unsuccessful experiments in smelting
iron ore with anthracite coal from Bhode Island were made
at one of the small blast furnaces at Kingston, in Plymouth
county, Massachusetts. In 1827 and 1828 a similar failure
in the use of anthracite coal took place at Vizille, in France.
These experiments failed because the blast used was cold.

354 THE MANUFACTURE OF

In 1828 James B. Neilson, of Scotland, obtained a patent
for the use of hot air in the smelting of iron ore in blast
furnaces, and in 1829 pig iron was made in several Scotch
furnaces with the apparatus which he had invented. But the
coal used was bituminous. It was not until 1837 that the
smelting of iron ore with anthracite coal by means of the
hot-blast invented by Neilson was undertaken in Great Brit-
ain. In the meantime the application of the hot-blast to
anthracite coal in American furnaces was successfully experi-
mented with by an enterprising American citizen, the Rev.
Dr. Frederick W. Geissenhainer, a Lutheran clergyman of
New York city. A copy in his own handwriting of a letter
written by him in November, 1837, to the Commissioner of
Patents gives some interesting and valuable details concern-
ing his experiments. In this letter, which we have lying
before us, he says : " I can prove that, in the month of De-
cember, 1830, and in the months of January, February, and
March, 1831, I had already invented and made many suc-
cessful experiments, as well with hot air as with an atmos-
pheric air blast, to smelt iron ore with anthracite coal in my
small experimenting furnace here in the city of New York."

On the 5th of September, 1831, Dr. Geissenhainer filed in
the Patent Office at Washington an account of his invention,
for which he claimed a patent. On the 19th of December,
1833, a patent was granted to him for " a new and useful im-
provement in the manufacture of iron and steel by the ap-
plication of anthracite coal." From the long and remarkably
clear and learned specification by the Doctor, wrhich accom-
panied the patent, we learn that he discovered that iron ore
could be smelted with anthracite coal by applying " a blast,
or a column, or a stream, or current of air in or of such
quantity, velocity, and density or compression as the com-
pactness or density and the continuity of the anthracite coal
requires. The blast may be of common atmospheric or of
heated air. Heated air I should prefer in an economical point
of view."

The Doctor distinctly disclaims in his specification " an
exclusive right of the use of heated air for any kind of fuel,"
from which it is to be inferred that he had full knowledge of
Neilson's experiments with hot air in Scotland. He specif-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 355

ically claimed as his invention the adaptability of anthracite
coal to the manufacture of iron and steel, and he appears
to have largely relied for success upon the effect of a strong
blast.

The patent having been granted, Dr. Geissenhainer pro-
ceeded to build a furnace for the practical application of his
invention. This was Valley furnace, located on Silver creek,
in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, about ten miles northeast
of Pottsville.. In August and September, 1836, he was suc-
cessful in making pig iron at this furnace exclusively with
anthracite coal as fuel. His own testimony on this point is
given in the letter from which we have already quoted. The
blast used varied from 3^ to 3J, to 3, and to 2f pounds to the
square inch. That the furnace did not continue to make
iron after the autumn of 1836 is explained by Dr. Geissen-
hainer to have been due to an accident to its machinery. He
adds : " My furnace would have been put in operation again
long before this time with strong iron machinery, and a hot-
air apparatus, had I not been prevented by the pressure of the
times and by a protracted severe sickness from bestowing my
attention to this matter. The drawings for the iron machin-
ery and for the hot-air apparatus are already in the hands
of Messrs. Hay wood & Snyder, in Pottsville, who are to do
the work." The blast used at Valley furnace was heated.

The quantity of pig iron made at Valley furnace is not
stated by the Doctor. It probably did not exceed a few tons.
Governor Ritner visited the furnace on July 30, 1836, while
the Doctor's experiments were in progress. In the Pottsville
Miners' Journal for August 6, 1836, it is stated that speci-
mens of Dr. Geissenhainer's pig iron were then on exhibi-
tion at Pennsylvania Hall in Pottsville.

Before the Doctor's plans for improving his furnace were
completed he was called to another world. He died at New
York on the 27th of May, 1838, aged 66 years and 11 months.
He was born at Muhlberg, in the Electorate of Saxony, in
1771, and came to this country when he was about 18 years
old. His remains rest in the family burial vault in the Lu-
theran cemetery, in Queens county, New York.

Prior to the erection of Valley furnace Dr. Geissenhainer
had been engaged in the development of the iron and coal

356 THE MANUFACTURE OF

resources of Pennsylvania. As early as 1811 he was associ-
ated with Peter Karthaus, of Baltimore, in the mining of bi-
tuminous coal in Clearfield county, and a few years later in
the ownership of a charcoal furnace in that county. For two
or three years prior to 1830 he owned and operated a small
charcoal furnace in Schuylkill county, and it was near this
furnace that he afterwards built Valley furnace. Attached
to the charcoal furnace was a puddling furnace. He was the
pioneer in the development of the Silver creek anthracite
coal mines, the projector of the Schuylkill Valley Railroad,
and the sole owner of the Silver Creek Railroad. Dr. Geis-
senhaiher was, as has been seen, a man of great enterprise.
His memory as the first manufacturer of pig iron with an-
thracite coal and the hot-blast, even if only in a small way,
is entitled to greater honor than it has yet received.

On the 28th of September, 1836, when Dr. Geissenhainer's
Valley furnace was successfully making pig iron, and almost
three years after the Doctor had obtained a patent for his in-
vention, George Crane, the owner of several furnaces at Ynis-
cedwin, in South Wales, obtained a patent from the British
Government for the application of the hot-blast to the smelt-
ing of iron ore with anthracite coal. On the 7th of February,
1837, he successfully commenced the use of anthracite with
the hot-blast at one of his furnaces, obtaining 36 tons a week.
In May of that year Solomon W. Roberts, of Philadelphia,
visited his works and witnessed the complete success of the
experiment, which was the first successful experiment with
anthracite coal in a blast furnace in Europe. It was through
Mr. Roberts's representations to his uncle, Josiah White, and
to Erskine Hazard and others that the first successful an-
thracite furnace in the Lehigh valley was built at Catasau-
qua in 1839 and 1840 by the Lehigh Crane Iron Company.

Solomon White Roberts was born in Philadelphia on Au-
gust 3, 1811, and died in the same city on March 22, 1882.
He is buried in Woodlands cemetery, in West Philadelphia.

Mr. Crane endeavored to obtain a patent in this country
for his application of the hot-blast to anthracite coal in the
blast furnace, but was unsuccessful, Dr. Geissenhainer's patent
covering the same principle. The Doctor's patent, which was
only for the United States, was sold by his executors in 1838

IRON IN ALL AGES. 357 .

to Mr. Crane, who in November of that year patented in this
country some additions to it. The patents were not generally
enforced here, but Mr. Crane compelled Welsh ironmasters
to pay him for the use of his invention. Dr. Geissenhainer
never attempted to enforce his patent. The consideration
which his executors received from . Mr. Crane was $1,000
and the privilege of erecting, free of royalty, fifteen furnaces
for the use of anthracite coal with the hot-blast. The follow-
ing advertisement by Mr. Crane's agents in this country we
take from a Philadelphia newspaper published in December,
1839, over fifty years ago.

ANTHRACITE IRON. — The subscribers, agents of George Crane, Esq., are
prepared to grant licenses for the manufacture of iron with anthracite coal,
under the patent granted to Mr. Crane by the United States, for smelting
iron with the above fuel, in addition to which Mr. Crane holds an assign-
ment of so much of the patent granted to the late Reverend Dr. Geissen-
hainer as pertains to making iron with anthracite coal. The charge will be
25 cents per ton on all thus manufactured. It has been completely success-
ful both in Wales and at Pottsville, one furnace at the latter place yielding
an average product of 40 tons per week of excellent iron. All persons are
cautioned against infringing upon either of the above patents. Any appli-
cation of hot-blast in the smelting of iron ore with anthracite coal, without
a license, will be an infringement, and will be treated accordingly.
Apply to A. G. RALSTON & Co.,

dec 9 — 1m 4 South Front st.

We shall refer hereafter to the furnace at Pottsville which
had made "40 tons per week" with anthracite coal.

George Crane was born about 1784 at Bromsgrove, in Wor-
cestershire, England, whence he removed in 1824 to Wales.
He died on the 10th of January, 1846, in the 62d year of his
age. An obituary notice of Mr. Crane, written by Solomon
W. Roberts, is printed in the Journal of the Franklin Institute
for March, 1846.

Two interesting experiments in the use of anthracite coal
in the blast furnace were made in this country about the
time when Dr. Geissenhainer succeeded with his experiment
at Valley furnace. In 1836 and 1837 John Pott experimented
at Manheim furnace, at Cressona, in Schuylkill county, with
anthracite coal as a fuel for smelting iron ore. He first used
a mixture of anthracite -coal and charcoal with cold-blast.
The results accomplished were so encouraging that he added
a hot-blast and gradually reduced the proportion of charcoal

358 THE MANUFACTURE OF

until only anthracite was used. This he used alone and suc-
cessfully for a short time. But the blast was too weak, and
the furnace was not long in operation. Before the necessary
improvements could be made it was destroyed by a freshet.
In 1837 Jarvis Van Buren, acting for a company, built a fur-
nace at South Easton, m Northampton county, for the pur-
pose of experimenting with anthracite coal. Early in 1838
he was successful in making 20 tons of pig iron, when further
operations were stopped because the blast was too weak. We
are not informed whether it was hot or cold.

It is claimed that a successful experiment in the manu-
facture of pig iron with anthracite coal was made in 1837 by
a Mr. Bryant in a foundry cupola at Manayunk, near Phila-
delphia. The blast used was produced by " wooden bellows."
A few tons of the iron made were used by Parke & Tiers,
the owners of the foundry, " and proved to be of good gray
quality and of uncommon strength." The experiment was
conducted under the auspices of this firm and of Mr. Abra-
ham Kunzi, of the firm of Farr & Kunzi, manufacturing
chemists, of Philadelphia. The blast was cold.

The record which we shall now give of the successful use
of anthracite coal in American furnaces, after Dr. Geissen-
hainer and George Crane had established the practicability
of such use, will embrace only a few of the early anthracite
furnaces, and this we condense from Walter R. Johnson's
Notes on the Use of Anthracite, published in 1841, and from
William Firmstone's " Sketch of Early Anthracite Furnaces,"
published in the third volume of the Transactions of the Amer-
ican Institute of Mining Engineers. In each of the instances to
be referred to, all in Pennsylvania, the blast used was heated.

Late in 1837 Joseph Baughman, Julius Guiteau, and Hen-
ry High, of Reading, experimented in smelting iron ore with
anthracite coal in the old furnace of the Lehigh Coal and
Navigation Company at Mauch Chunk, using about 80 per
cent, of anthracite. The results were so encouraging that
they built a small water-power furnace near the weigh-lock
at Mauch Chunk, which was completed in July, 1838. Blast
was applied to this furnace on August 27th and discontinued
on September 10th, the temperature being heated to about
200° Fahrenheit. The fuel used was mainly but not entirely

IRON IN ALL AGES. 359

anthracite. A new heating apparatus was procured, placed in
a brick chamber at the tunnel-head, and heated by the flame
therefrom. Blast was applied in November, 1838, the fuel
used being anthracite exclusively, and athe furnace worked
remarkably well for five weeks " to January 12, 1839, when
it was blown out for want of ore. Some improvements were
made, and on July 26, 1839, the furnace wras again put in
blast, and so continued until November 2, 1839. Francis C.
Lowthorp, of Trenton, was one of the partners at this time.
For " about three months " no other fuel than anthracite was
used, the temperature of the blast being from 400° to 600°.
About 100 tons of iron were made. Mr. Lowthorp died at
Trenton on June 1, 1890, aged 81 years.

The next furnace to use anthracite was the Pioneer, built
in 1838 and 1839 at Pottsville by William Lyman, of Boston,
under the auspices of Burd Patterson, an enterprising citizen
of Pottsville, who inaugurated the enterprise. Until 1844
Pioneer furnace was called Pottsville. Blast was unsuccess-
fully applied on July 10, 1839. Benjamin Perry then took
charge of the furnace, and blew it in on October 19, 1839,
with perfect success. This furnace was blown by steam-pow-
er. The blast was heated with anthracite, in ovens at the
base of the furnace, to a temperature of 600°. The product
was about 28 tons a week of good foundry iron. This fur-
nace continued in blast for some time. A large premium
was paid by Nicholas Biddle and others to Mr. Lyman as the
first person in the United States who had made anthracite
pig iron continuously for three months. On January 18th,
1840, a dinner was given to Mr. Lyman at Pottsville in hon-
or of the important event, at which a notable address was
delivered by Mr. Biddle. Pioneer furnace was practically
rebuilt in 1853, torn down in 1866, and again rebuilt. In
April, 1888, the hot-blast fell down, and the furnace was torn
down in 1889 and a new furnace built in its stead. Other
furnaces and a large rolling mill and steel works, owned by
the Pottsville Iron and Steel Company, have been added to
the original furnace and its successors.

We have before us the original agreement between Rob-
ert Ralston, attorney in fact for George Crane, and William
Lyman, which conveyed to the latter a license to use Crane

360 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and Geissenhainer's patents for the use of anthracite coal in
the manufacture of pig iron. It is dated at Philadelphia,
on December 4, 1839, and the consideration named is twenty-
five cents per ton of pig iron made.

Danville furnace, in Montour county, was successfully
blown in with anthracite in April, 1840, producing 35 tons
of pig iron weekly with steam-power. Roaring Creek furnace,
in Montour county, was next blown in with anthracite on
May 18, 1840, and produced 40 tons of pig iron weekly with
water-power.

A charcoal furnace at Phcenixville, built in 1837 by
Reeves, Buck & Co., was blown in with anthracite on June
17, 1840, by William Firmstone, and produced from 28 to 30
tons of pig iron weekly with water-power. The hot-blast
stove, which was planned and erected by Julius Guiteau, of
the Mauch Chunk furnace, was situated on one side of the
tunnel-head and heated by the flame of the furnace. This
furnace continued in blast until 1841.

Columbia furnace, at Danville, was blown in with anthra-
cite by Mr. Perry on July 2, 1840, and made from 30 to 32
tons of pig iron weekly, using steam-power.

The next furnace to use anthracite, and the last one we
shall mention, was built at Catasauqua, for the Lehigh Crane
Iron Company, in 1839, by David Thomas, who had been
associated with Mr. Crane in his experiments at Yniscedwin,
and had there been successful in making anthracite pig iron.
This furnace was blown in by Mr. Thomas on July 3, 1840,
and its first cast was made on July 4th. From the first this
furnace produced 50 tons a week of good foundry iron, wa-
ter-power from the Lehigh being used. The furnace was in
active use until 1879, when it was torn down. Mr. Firmstone
says that "with the erection of this furnace commenced the
era of higher and larger furnaces and better blast machinery,
with consequent improvements in yield and quality of iron
produced." Four other furnaces built by Mr. Thomas for the
same company at Catasauqua soon followed the first furnace,
one built in 1842, another in 1846, and two in 1850. In all
Mr. Thomas built five furnaces for the Lehigh Crane Iron
Company. The prefix " Lehigh " was dropped in 1872.

In a memoir of Josiah White, by his son-in-law, Rich-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 361

ard Richardson, we find the following statement : " In 1838
Erskine Hazard went to Wales, and there made himself ac-
quainted with the process and manner of making the anthra-
cite iron, with the machinery and buildings needful for its
manufacture. He ordered such machinery as was necessary
to be made for the company, under the direction of George
Crane, the inventor, and engaged David Thomas, who was fa-
miliar with the process, to take charge of the erection of the
works and the manufacture of the iron. He arrived in the
summer of 1839, and to his faithful and intelligent manage-
ment much of the success of the enterprise is due." We do
not hesitate to say that to Mr. Thomas's management was
due the whole of the success of the anthracite furnaces built
by the Lehigh Crane Iron Company.

David Thomas was born on November 3, 1794, at a place
called, in English, Grey House, within two and a half miles
of the town of Neath, in the county of Glamorgan, South
Wales. He landed in the United States on June 5, 1839, and
on July 9th of that year he commenced to build the furnace
at Catasauqua. He died at Catasauqua on June 20, 1882, in
his 88th year. At the time of his death he was the oldest
ironmaster in the United States in length of service, and he
was next to Peter Cooper the oldest in years. David Thom-
as's character and services to the American iron trade are
held in high honor by all American iron and steel manufact-
urers. He is affectionately styled the Father of the Ameri-
can anthracite iron industry, because the furnace built under
his directions at Catasauqua and blown in by him was the
first of all the early anthracite furnaces that was complete-
ly successful, both from an engineering and a commercial
standpoint, and also because he subsequently became identi-
fied with the manufacture of anthracite pig iron on a more
extensive scale than any of his cotemporaries. He was the
founder of the Thomas Iron Company, at Hokendauqua,
which has long been at the head of the producers of anthra-
cite pig iron. The first two furnaces of this company were
built by Mr. Thomas in 1855. An obituary notice, of Mr.
Thomas will be found in The Bulletin of The American Iron
and Steel Association for June 28, 1882. ' William Cullen Bry-
ant and David Thomas were born on the same day.

362 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Mr. Thomas's three sons, John, Samuel, and David, all be-
came identified with their father's occupation and enterprises.
John and Samuel have been and still are among the most
prominent of our pig-iron manufacturers. David was killed
while the Hokendauqua furnaces were under construction.

In 1835 the Franklin Institute, of Philadelphia, offered a
premium of a gold medal "to the person who shall manu-
facture in the United States the greatest quantity of iron from
the ore during the year, using no other fuel than anthracite
coal, the quantity to be riot less than twenty tons," but we
can not learn that the medal was ever awarded to any of the
persons who were instrumental in establishing the manufact-
ure of anthracite pig iron in this country. The offer of the
medal proves that down to 1835 all efforts to manufacture
pig iron with anthracite coal had been unsuccessful.

The discovery that anthracite coal could be successfully
used in the manufacture of pig iron gave a fresh impetus to
the iron industry in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland,
as well as in Pennsylvania. In 1840 there were qnjy._sisjur-i
naces in the United States which used anthracite coal, and
they were all in Pennsylvania. The first anthracite furnace
outside of Pennsylvania was built at Stanhope, New Jersey,
in 1840 and 1841, by the Stanhope Iron Company, and it
was successfully blown in on April 5, 1841. On the 1st of
April, 1846, there were forty-two furnaces in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey which used anthracite coal as fuel, their
annual capacity being 122,720 tons. In 1856 there were 121
anthracite furnaces in the country which were either "run-
ning or in running order " — ninety-three in Pennsylvania,
fourteen in New York, six in Maryland, four in New Jersey,
three in Massachusetts, and one in Connecticut. These fig-
ures show rapid progress in building up in a brief period
a new branch of the American iron industry. • Soon after
1856 many other furnaces were built to use the new fuel.

Although the revolution to which we have referred prop-
erly dates from the first successful use of anthracite coal in
the blast furnace the new fuel had previously been used in
a small way in this country in other ironmaking operations.
Its use in these operations became general about the time
when pig iron was first made with it.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 363

To encourage the use of anthracite coal the Lehigh Coal
Mine Company executed, on the 18th of December, 1807,
a lease for twenty-one years to James Butland and James
Rowland of two hundred acres of its land in Northampton
county, Pennsylvania, with the privilege of digging iron ore
and coal free for the manufacture of iron. The enterprise
was unfruitful and the lease was abandoned about 1814. No
iron was made and we think that no coal was mined. The
following extract from the proposition of Butland & Rowland,
dated November 30, 1807, is worthy of preservation : " The
subscribers, having obtained by patent from the United
States an exclusive right of using a natural carbon or pecu-
liar kind of coal, such as is found in the neighborhood of
the Lehigh and Susquehanna rivers, and other parts of the
United States, for the purpose of manufacturing pig, cast,
and bar iron, propose commencing the operation in such a
situation as may be deemed best adapted to the purpose."

The first use of anthracite coal in connection with the
manufacture of- iron in the United States dates from 1812,
in Avliicli year Colonel George Shoemaker, of Pottsville, Penn-
sylvania, loaded nine wagons with coal from his mines at
Centreville and hauled it to Philadelphia, where with great
difficulty he sold two loads at the cost of transportation and
gave the other seven loads away. He was by many regarded
as an impostor for attempting to sell stone to the public as
coal. Of the two loads sold one was purchased by White &
Hazard, for use at their wire works at the Falls of Schuyl-
kill, and the other was purchased by Malin & Bishop, for
use at the Delaware County rolling mill. By the merest ac-
cident of closing the furnace doors Mr. White obtained a hot
fire from the coal, and from this occurrence, happening in
1812, we may date the first successful use of anthracite coal
in the manufacture of iron in this country and in the man-
ufacture of other American products. At both the establish-
ments mentioned it was used in heating furnaces. Previous
to this time bituminous coal from Virginia and Great Brit-
ain had been relied upon for manufacturing purposes in the
Atlantic States in all cases where wood was not used. The
war of 1812 prevented the importation of British coal and
interfered with the supply of Virginia coal, and there were

364 THE MANUFACTURE OF

as yet no means of communication with the bituminous coal
fields of Western Pennsylvania or Western Maryland. The
firm of White & Hazard was composed of Josiah White and
Erskine Hazard.

In the latter part of 1823 the Boston Iron Company, own-
ing the Boston iron works, obtained a full cargo of Lehigh
anthracite -coal for use in heating iron to be rolled in its mill
and for smith-work. A short time previous to this transac-
tion, but in the same year, Cyrus Alger, of South Boston,
obtained a lot of about thirty tons of Lehigh coal, which he
used in a cupola for melting iron for castings.

Anthracite coal for the generation of steam was first used
in this country in January, 1825, under the boilers of the
rolling mill at Phoenix ville, of which Jonah and George
Thompson, of Philadelphia, were the proprietors. It is also
claimed that, two years later, in 1827, the first use of anthra-
cite coal in the puddling furnace in this country was made
at the same rolling mill, Jonah and George Thompson still
being the proprietors. It is stated that anthracite coal was
used in 1834 in puddling at a rolling mill at Pottsville,
owned by Buckley & Swift. But the use of anthracite coal
for puddling did not become general until about 1840. In
1839 it was used in puddling at the Boston iron works by
Ralph Crooker, the superintendent. About 1836 Thomas and
Peter Cooper, brothers, used anthracite in a heating furnace
at their rolling mill on Thirty-third street, near Third ave-
nue, New York, and about 1840 they began puddling with
anthracite. In April, 1846, there were twenty-seven rolling
mills in Pennsylvania and New Jersey which were using an-
thracite coal in puddling and heating furnaces as well as in
producing steam.

The following notice of the success of the Messrs. Thomp-
son in the use of anthracite coal for the production of steam
appeared in 1825 in a newspaper published at West Chester,
Pennsylvania : " We understand that the Messrs. Thompson,
at the Phoenix nail works, on French creek, have fully suc-
ceeded in constructing a furnace for a steam engine calcula-
ted' for the use of anthracite coal, and in discovering a mode
by which this fuel may be most advantageously applied to
that important purpose. We would heartily congratulate the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 365

eastern section of our State upon this valuable discovery.
Nothing within our knowledge has occurred of recent date
which can have a more auspicious influence upon our man-
ufacturing interests."

We may properly close this chapter and introduce its
successor by quoting the following extract from the letter of
instructions addressed to its European agent, William Strick-
land, by the Acting Committee of the Pennsylvania Society
for the Promotion of Internal Improvement. This letter is
dated at Philadelphia, March 18, 1825. In speaking of the
manufacture of iron in Pennsylvania, and the necessity of
enlarging it by the adoption of European methods, the com-
mittee says':

" No improvements have been made here in it within the
last thirty years, and the use of bituminuous and anthracite coal
in our furnaces is absolutely and entirely unknoivn. Attempts,
and of the most costly kind, have been made to use the coal
of the western part of our State in the production of iron.
Furnaces have been constructed according to the plan said to
be adopted in Wales and elsewhere ; persons claiming expe-
rience in the business have been employed ; but all has been
unsuccessful."

366 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XLIL

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON WITH BITUMINOUS
COAL IN THE UNITED STATES.

IT is remarkable that the introduction of bituminous coal
in the blast furnaces of this country should have taken place
at so late a day in our history and within the memory of men
who are not yet old. Bituminous coal had been discovered
in the United States long before any attempt wras made to
use it in our furnaces, and Great Britain had taught us while
we were still her colonies that it could be so used. IixJLZ35
Abraham Darby, at his furnace at Coalbrookdale, in Shrop-
shire, ha3 successfully made pig iron with coke as fuel ; in
1740 a coke furnace was built at Pontypool, in Monmouth-
shire ; and in 1796 charcoal furnaces had been almost entire-
ly abandoned in Great Britain. Our delay in following the
example of the mother country may be variously explained.
There was a lack of transportation facilities for bringing iron
ore and coke together ; not all of the bituminous coal that
had been discovered was suitable for making coke ; the man-
ufacture of coke was not well understood ; the country had
an abundance of timber for the supply of charcoal; and,
finally, a prejudice existed in favor of charcoal pig iron and
of bar iron hammered in charcoal forges. It was not until
about 1840 that successful efforts were made to introduce the
use of bituminous coal in American blast furnaces, but its
use made slow progress for many years, the principal reason
being the poor quality of the coke that was made. Our best
coking fields had not been developed. As late as 1849 Over-
man, in his Manufacture of Iron, in treating of coke furnaces
in the United States, said : " As there is but little prospect
of an addition to the number of coke furnaces which now
exist we shall devote but a limited space to this subject."

The successful introduction of bituminous, coal as a fuel
in American blast furnaces was naturally preceded by many
experiments in its use, which were attended with varied suc-
cess, but none of them with complete success. It appears to

IRON IN ALL AGES. 367

be mathematically certain that down to 1835 all of these ex-
periments had been unsuccessful, as in that year the Franklin
Institute, of Philadelphia, offered a premium of a gold medal
" to the person who shall manufacture in the United States
the greatest quantity of iron from the ore during the year,
using no other fuel than bituminous coal or coke, the quan-
tity to be not less than twenty tons." The Institute would
not have been likely to make this offer if even so small a
quantity as twenty tons of pig iron had been made in one
furnace with bituminous coal, either coked or uncoked.

The earliest experiment in the United States in the man-
ufacture of pig iron with bituminous coal that appears to be
fully authenticated was made at Bear Creek furnace, in Arm-
strong county, Pennsylvania, in 1819. This furnace was built
to use coke, with steam-power, and in the year named it was
blown in with this fuel, but the blast was cold and too weak
and the furnace chilled after two or three tons of iron had
been made. Charcoal was then substituted.

In a report by a committee of the Senate of Pennsylvania,
of which Hon. S. J. Packer was chairman, read in the Senate
on March 4, 1834, it was stated that " the coking process is
now understood, and our bituminous coal is quite as suscep-
tible of this operation, and produces as good coke, as that
of Great Britain. It is now used to a considerable extent by
our iron manufacturers in Centre county and elsewhere." It
is certain that, at the time this report was written, coke could
not have been used in blast furnaces in any other way than
as a mixture with charcoal, except experimentally. Its use
as a mixture with charcoal would naturally precede its sole
use as a blast-furnace fuel. Mr. Packer doubtless also had
in mind the use of coke in melting pig iron in " run-out "
or " finery " fires preparatory to converting it into blooms
or bars in charcoal forges. We have elsewhere referred to
the use of coke in a refinery at Plumsock, in Fayette county,
Pennsylvania, as early as 1817.

The offer of the gold medal by the Franklin Institute
doubtless assisted in stimulating action upon a subject which
had already attracted much attention. In the year in which
this offer was made, 1835, that accomplished furnace mana-
ger, William Firmstone, was successful in making good gray

368 THE MANUFACTURE OF

forge iron for about one month at the end of a blast at Mary
Ann furnace, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, with coke
made from Broad Top coal. This iron was taken to a forge
three miles distant and made into blooms. The coke used
at the furnace was not prepared to be so used, but had been
made for use in the " run-out " fires at the forge connected
with the furnace. Mr. Firmstone did not claim the medal.
He may not have known that a premium had been offered
for the achievement which he undoubtedly accomplished.

In a pamphlet published in April, 1836, Isaac Fisher, of
Lewistown, Pennsylvania, stated that " successful experiments
have lately been tried in Pennsylvania in making pig iron
with coke." It is probable that Mr. Fisher had in mind Mr.
Firmstone 's experiment at Mary Ann furnace.

William Firmstone was born at Wellington, in Shropshire,
England, on October '19, 1810. When quite a young man he
was manager at the Lays works, near Dudley, which were
then owned by his uncles, W. &. G. Firmstone. In the spring
of 1835 he emigrated to the United States. After filling many
responsible positions in connection with the manufacture of
pig iron in his adopted country he died at his residence near
Easton, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1877, and is buried
at that place. He was one of the first to introduce the hot-
blast in the United States, having successfully^ added this
improvement to Vesuvius furnace, in Lawrence county, Ohio,
in 1836. In 1839 he added a hot-blast to Karthaus furnace,
in Pennsylvania.

About 1837 F. H. Oliphant, a skillful ironmaster, made
at his furnace called Fairchance, near Uniontown, in Fayette
county, Pennsylvania, a quantity of coke pig iron exceeding
twenty tons, and probably exceeding 100 tons. He did not,
however, long continue to make coke iron, and resumed the
manufacture of iron with charcoal. Mr. Oliphant had heard
of the offer of the gold medal, and in a letter to the Institute,
dated October 3, 1837, he modestly referred to his success in
making pig iron with coke, and suggested that possibly he
was entitled to the premium. Accompanying his letter was
a box of pig iron and the raw materials of its manufacture.
We can not learn that he ever received the medal, or that
anybody received it.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 369

Between 1836 and 1839 other attempts to use coke were
made at several furnaces in Pennsylvania, but all the experi-
ments were unsuccessful or unfortunate. The legislature of
Pennsylvania passed an act on June 16, 1836, "to encourage
the manufacture of iron with coke or mineral coal," which
authorized the organization of companies for the manufact-
ure, transportation, and sale of iron made with coke or coal.
At Farrandsville, in Clinton county, six miles north of Lock
Haven, half a million dollars were sunk by a Boston com-
pany in a disastrous attempt to smelt the neighboring ores
with coke and to establish other iron and mining enterprises.
This company had commenced operations in mining coal as
early as 1833. The furnace was blown in in the summer
of 1837 and ran probably until 1839. About 3,500 tons of
iron were made, but at such great cost, owing to the impurity
of the coal and the distance from the ore, that further efforts
to make iron with coke were abandoned. At Karthaus, in
Clearfield county, the Clearfield Coal and Iron Company,
embracing Henry C. Carey, Burd Patterson, John White, and
others, succeeded in 1839, under the management of William
Firmstone, in making pig iron with coke in a furnace which
was built in 1836 by Peter Bitner (brother of Governor Bit-
ner) and John Say, but at the close of the year the whole
enterprise was abandoned, owing to the lack of proper trans-
portation facilities. A furnace at Frozen run, in Lycoming
county, made some pig iron with coke in 1838, but in 1839
it was using charcoal. The furnaces at Farrandsville and
Karthaus were both supplied with hot-blasts, the former in
1837 and the latter in 1839. The apparatus at Farrandsville
was made at Glasgow and was the best then known.

Henry Charles Carey, the distinguished political econo-
mist and son of Mathew Carey, who was also similarly distin-
guished, was born in Philadelphia on the 15th of December,
1793, and died in the same city on the 13th of October, 1879,
having nearly completed his 86th year. He was buried at
Burlington, New Jersey, where his wife had previously been
buried. It is not generally known that Henry C. Carey was
ever interested pecuniarily in the manufacture of iron, as we
have shown above.

The first notable success in the use of bituminous coal in

370 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the blast furnace in this country was achieved at three fur-
naces in Western Maryland. Lonaconing furnace, at Lonaco-
ning, in the Frostburg coal basin, on George's creek, about
j eight miles southwest of the National Road at Frostburg, in
.Alleghany county, was built in 1837 by the George's Creek
Company to use coke, and in June, 1839, as is stated by
Johnson, in his Notes on the Use of Anthracite, it was making
about seventy tons per week of good foundry iron. Alexan-
der says that this furnace was fifty feet high, and 'that "the
air was heated by stoves placed near the tuyere arches, and
attained a temperature of 700 degrees Fahrenheit." The fur-
nace was blown by an engine of sixty horse-power. In the
same coal basin, on the south branch of Jenning's run, nine
miles northwest of Cumberland, two large blast furnaces
were built in 1840 by the Mount Savage Iron Company to
use the same fuel. These furnaces were for several years
successfully operated with coke. It is worthy of notice that
Alexander's report to the Governor of Maryland, made in
1840, and which was the first able and comprehensive con-
tribution to the technical literature of the iron and steel in-
dustries of this country, was written partly to show to the
people of Maryland the feasibility of substituting, coke for
charcoal in the manufacture of pig iron, the British blast-
furnace practice at that time being largely drawn upon for
illustrations of what had already been accomplished with the
new fueL

But the use of coke did not come rapidly into favor, and
many experiments with it were attended . with loss. It was
not until after 1850 that its use began to exert an appreciable
influence upon the manufacture of pig iron. In 1849 there
was not one coke furnace in blast in Pennsylvania. Over-
man stated in that year in his book that he knew of no
coke furnaces in this country which were then in operation.
Thus far the use of coke had not contributed to the revo-
lution to which we have referred in the preceding chapter.
In 1856 there were twenty-one furnaces in Pennsylvania and
three in Maryland which were using coke or were adapted
to its use, and their total production in that year was 44,481
gross tons of pig iron. After 1856 the use of this fuel in
the blast furnace increased in Pennsylvania and was extended

IRON IN ALL AGES. 371

to other States, but it was not until after 1865 that its .use for
this purpose increased rapidly. Not more than 100,000 gross
tons of coke were consumed in the production of pig iron in
this country in that year. A tremendous stride was taken
in the next fifteen years, however, the quantity of coke con-
sumed in the blast furnaces of the United States in the cen-
sus year 1880 having been 2,128,255 net tons. In the census
year 1890 the consumption was about 10,000,000 net tons.

The first furnaces south of the Potomac which used coke ,
as fuel appear to have been Potomac furnace, on the Poto- /
mac river, in Loudoun county, Virginia, about three-quarters
of a mile below Point of Rocks ; Clinton furnace, nine miles
south of Morgantown, in Monongalia county, West Virginia ;
and Vulcan furnace, in Hampshire county, Virginia, nine
miles southeast of Cumberland. These furnaces were origi-
nally built to use charcoal, but they used small quantities of
coke before the civil war. Potomac furnace is said by Lesley
to have commenced to use coke in 1848, and Clinton furnace
used the same fuel in 1856. About 1858 Vulcan furnace
was blown in with coke. We presume that all these furnaces
drew their supply of coke from the Frostburg region. We
know of no other coke furnaces south of the Potomac and
the Ohio rivers prior to 1860. Potomac furnace was owned
in 1859 by John W. Geary, afterwards Governor of Pennsyl-
vania. Anna furnace, on the right bank of Cheat river, in
the village of Pridevale, in Monongalia county, West Virgin-
ia, made an unsuccessful experiment with coke in 1854, after
having previously used charcoal.

In our Tennessee chapter we have given the history of
the first coke furnace which was built south of the Potomac
region. This was Bluff furnace, at Chattanooga, which was
successfully blown in with coke in May, 1860, after having
previously used charcoal.

The first coke furnace built in the South after the war .
was the first of the two Rockwood furnaces, at Rockwood, *
in Roane county, Tennessee. This furnace was built by the
Roane Iron Company in 1867.

While the effort was being made in a few localities in
Pennsylvania and Maryland to introduce the use of coke in
the blast furnace attention was also directed to the possibility

372 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of using uncoked coal for the same purpose. Alexander
says that the proprietors of Lonaconing furnace, in Western
Maryland, used raw coal before the appearance of his report
in 1840. He leaves the reader to infer that it was success-
fully used, but he probably wrote from imperfect information.
Some unsuccessful experiments were made with raw coal in
Clarion county, Pennsylvania, about 1840. In the sketch of
Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in Day's Historical Collections,
printed in 1843, it is stated that, " in the vicinity of Sharon,
on the Pittsburgh and Erie canal, exists a most valuable bed
of coal of peculiar quality, between anthracite and bitumi-
nous, without the least sulphur. It has been tried success-
fully for smelting iron in a common charcoal furnace." It
is very probable that the furnace referred to was in Mer-
cer county. The coal mentioned is now classed among bitu-
minous varieties. At Arcole furnace, in Lake county, Ohio,
operated by Wilkeson & Co., raw coal from Greenville, Mer-
cer county, Pennsylvania, was experimented with about 1840.
John Wilkeson, one of the owners of the furnace at that
time, writes us that the experiment " met with a small meas-
ure of success." Doubtless the several experiments mention-
ed were not the only ones that were made with raw coal be-
fore success in its use was fully achieved ; and doubtless, too,
none of the experiments mentioned produced any more sat-
isfactory results than the qualified success attained at Arcole
furnace.

The first completely successful use of raw bituminous
coal in the blast furnace occurred in the autumn of 1845. It
is circumstantially described in the following extract from a
pamphlet entitled Youngstown, Past and Present, published in
1875. " In July, 1845, Himrod & Vincent, of Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, blew in the Clay furnace, not many miles from
the Ohio line, on the waters of the Shenango. About three
months afterwards, in consequence of a short supply of char-
coal, as stated by Mr. Davis, their founder, a portion of coke
was used to charge the furnace. Their coal belongs to seam
No. 1, the seam which is now used at Sharon and Youngs-
town, in its raw state, variously known as ' free-burning
splint/ or ' block coal,' and which never makes solid coke.
A difficulty soon occurred with the cokers, and, as Mr. Him-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 373

rod states, he conceived the plan of trying his coal without
coking. The furnace continued to work well and to produce
a fair quality of metal. It is admitted that Mr. David Him-
rod, late of Youngstown, produced the first metal with raw
coal about the close of the year 1845."

The furnace here alluded to was situated on Anderson's
run, in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, about two and one-half,
miles southeast of Clarksville, and was built in 1845. It has
been abandoned for many years. In the chapter relating to
Michigan we have mentioned the part taken by this furnace
at a later day in smelting Lake Superior iron ores with the
block coal of the Shenango valley.

In 1845 Messrs. Wilkeson, Wilkes & Co., of Lowell, in
Poland township, Mahoning county, Ohio, commenced the
erection of Mahoning furnace, as related in the chapter de-
voted to Ohio, expressly to use coal in its raw state from
their mine near Lowell. The furnace was successfully blown
in with this fuel by John Crowther on the 8th of August,
1846. It was while this furnace was in course of erection
that the use of raw coal at Clay furnace was commenced. It
may be added that Mr. Davis, the founder of Clay furnace,
visited and inspected Mahoning furnace while work upon it
was progressing, and that he had been an employe of the
owners of Arcole furnace and was familiar with the experi-
ments that had been made at it in the use of raw coal about
1840. The Trumbull Democrat, of Warren, Ohio, for August
15, 1846, in an account of the blowing in of Mahoning fur-
nace, states that " to these gentlemen (Wilkeson, Wilkes •&
Co.) belongs the honor of being the first persons in the United
States who have succeeded in putting a furnace in blast with
raw bituminous coal."

John Crowther wras an Englishman, born at Broseley, in
Shropshire, on May 7, 1797. He emigrated to the United
States in 1844, immediately prior to which time he had been
the manager of seven blast furnaces in Staffordshire — five
at Stowheath and two at Osier Bed. Prior to his connection
with the Lowell furnace he had been employed as manager
of the furnaces at Brady's Bend. He adapted many furnaces
in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys to the use of block
coal, and instructed three of his sons in their management,

374 THE MANUFACTURE OF

namely, Joshua, Joseph J., and Benjamin. He died on April
15, 1861, at Longton, in Staffordshire, England, where he is
buried. Joshua Growth er died in this country in October,
1883, aged over 60 years.

After it had been demonstrated at Clay and Mahoning
furnaces that the block coal of the Shenango and Mahoning
•valleys could be used in the manufacture of pig iron other
furnaces in these two valleys were built to use this fuel, and
some charcoal furnaces were altered to use it. In 1850 there
were, however, only four furnaces in the Mahoning valley
and only seven in the Shenango valley which used raw coal.
After 1850, and especially after the introduction into these
valleys of Lake Superior ores about 1856, the use of raw coal
greatly increased. In 1856 six furnaces in Pennsylvania and
thirteen in Ohio were using this fuel, their total production
in that year being 25,073 gross tons. Some progress was
afterwards made in its use in other States, particularly in In-
diana, and also in the Hocking valley in Ohio, but down to
1880 its use had been mainly confined to the Shenango and
Mahoning valleys. Since 1880 its use has gradually declin-
ed, coke having almost entirely taken its place, even in these
two valleys.

Probably the first use of raw bituminous coal in a fur-
nace south of the Ohio river was at " Alexander's steam, hot-
blast, stone-coal furnace," afterwards called Airdrie furnace,
located on the south bank of Green river, at Paradise, in
Muhlenburg county, Kentucky. Lesley says that this furnace
was built in 1857 " for bituminous coal from the Airdrie bed
and black-band iron ore, both mined close by the furnace."

An air furnace was built at Westham, on the James river,
six miles above Richmond, during the Revolution, which is
said to have used bituminous coal from Chesterfield county,
Virginia, in the manufacture of shot and shells for the Con-
tinental army until the furnace was destroyed by Benedict
Arnold in 1781.

But a much earlier use of bituminous coal in connection
with the manufacture of iron in this country was at Colonel
Spotswood's air furnace at Massaponax, which is mentioned
in our Virginia chapter. Colonel Byrd says that " sea coal,"
the old name for pit coal or bituminous coal, was used at this

IRON IN ALL AGES. 375

air furnace when he visited it in 1732. " Sea coal " was so
named because it was originally taken to London from the
north of England by sea. The phrase entered into common
use, and was applied indiscriminately to all bituminous coal,
even if it had not been near the sea. It may still be heard
in New England. The " sea coal " used at Massaponax had
undoubtedly come from England or Wales.

Bituminous coal was used at an early day in a raw state
in the heating furnaces attached to American rolling and
slitting mills, and in 1817, when a rolling mill was built at
Plumsock, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, it was so used
in both heating and puddling furnaces. In the same year
coke was used in a refinery at this mill. It was not, howev-
er, until about 1830, when rolling mills became numerous at
Pittsburgh, that the use of bituminous coal in puddling and
heating furnaces assumed noteworthy prominence.

BEFORE the close of the charcoal era in 1840 steam had
been applied to the blowing of American furnaces, but water-
power was still in general use. The necessity of increasing
the blast and other considerations soon led to the more gen-
eral use of steam blowing engines in connection with anthra-
cite and bituminous furnaces. Another improvement in blast-
furnace management also had its beginning about the close
of the charcoal era, namely, the utilization of the combustible
gases emitted from blast furnaces. These gases were first used
to heat the boilers for the blowing engines and afterwards
to heat the hot-blast stoves. This branch of our general sub-
ject will be referred to hereafter.

376

THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XLIII.

STATISTICS OF THE PRODUCTION OF PIG IRON IN
THE UNITED STATES.

THE following table, compiled from statistics obtained
by the American Iron and Steel Association, exhibits the
production of pig iron in the United States in each year
from 1854 to 1890, classified according to the fuel used. In
the bituminous column is included pig iron made with both
raw coal and coke. Net tons of 2,000 pounds are used.

Years— Net tons.

Anthracite.

Charcoal.

Bituminous.

Total tons.

1854

339,435

342,298

54,485

736 218

1855 (anthracite passes charcoal)
1856

381,866
443,113

339,922
370,470

62,390
69,554

784,178
883,137

1857

390,385

330,321

77,451

798,157

1858

361,430

285,313

58,351

705,094

1859

471,745

284,041

84,841

840,627

I860

519 211

278 331

122228

919 770

1861

409,229

195,278

127,037

731,544

1862

470,315

186,660

130,687

787,662

1863

577,638

212,005

157,961

947,604

1864 .-

684,018

241.853

210,125

1,135,996

1865

479,558

262,342

189,682

931,582

1866

749 367

332,580

268,396

1 350 343

1867

798638

344,341

318,647

1 461 626

1868

893,000

370,000

340,000

1 603000

1869 (bituminous passes charcoal)
1870

971,150
930,000

392,150
365,000

553,341
570,000

1,916,641
1,865,000

1871

956,608

385,000

570,000

1,911,608

1872

1,369,812

500,587

984,159

2,854,558

1873

1,312,754

577,620

977,904

2,868,278

1874

1 202 144

576 557

910 712

2 689 413

1875 (bituminous passes anthracite)..
1876

908,046
794578

410,990
308649

947,545
990,009

2,266,581
2 093 236

1877

934 797

317,843

1,061,945

2 314,585

1878

/•! 092 870

, 293, 399

1,191,092

2,577,361

1879

1,273 024

358,873

1,438,978

3,070,875

1880

1 807 651

537 558

1 950 205

4 °95 414

1881

1 734 462

638 838

2 268 264

4641 564

1882

2 042 138

697 906

2 438 078

5 178 122

1883

1 885 596

571 726

2689650

5 146,972

1884

1586453

458418

2 544,742

4,589,613

1885

1 454 390

399,844

2,675,635

4,529,869

1886

2,099,597

459,557

3,806,174

6,365,328

1887

2 338 389

578 182

4 270 635

7 187,206

1888...

1 925 729

598 789

4 743 989

7,268,507

1889

1 920 354

644 300

5 951 495

8,516,079

1890

2 448 781

703 522

7,154,725

10,307,028

IRON IN ALL AGES. 377

This table shows the growth of the manufacture of pig
iron with anthracite and bituminous coal since 1854, and also
the periods at which the use of anthracite coal and bitumi-
nous coal respectively overtook that of charcoal in the blast
furnace, and the period when the use of bituminous coal
overtook that of anthracite coal.

Some of the pig iron classed above as having been pro-
duced with anthracite and bituminous coal, respectively, was
produced with a mixture of these fuels, the quantity of pig
iron so produced being mainly represented in the anthracite
column. The mixed fuel referred to was not used to any
noticeable extent until about 1875, and its use has increased
in every' succeeding year. The total quantity of pig iron
made with mixed anthracite and bituminous fuel in the cen-
sus year 1880 was 713,932 net tons. Of the production of
1,885,596 net tons of so-called anthracite pig iron in 1883
not less than 920,142 tons were produced with mixed fuel,
or nearly one-half of the total quantity. Of the production
of 2,448,781 net tons of anthracite and mixed anthracite and
bituminous pig iron in 1890 only 279,184 net tons were made
with anthracite alone. Very little of the pig iron in the bi-
tuminous column was made with mixed anthracite and bi-
tuminous fuel. In late years mixed fuel has only been used
in the furnaces represented in the anthracite column.

Prior to the organization of the American Iron and Steel
Association, at Philadelphia, on March 6, 1855, the statistics
of our production of pig iron were not annually obtained.
Such statistics as were obtained and have been preserved are
herewith presented, in gross tons, by decades. For 1810 and
1840 they embrace castings from the furnace as well as pig
iron. For 1810, 1840, and 1850 the figures given are census
statistics; for 1820 and 1830 they are from estimates by rep-
utable authorities.

Production of pig iron in the United States in 1810 —
53,908 gross tons; in 1820—20,000 tons; in 1830—165,000
tons; in 1840—286,903 tons; in 1850—564,755 tons. We have
no statistics for an earlier period than 1810.

For the first time in our history the production of pig
iron in the United States in 1890 exceeded that of Great
Britain in her year of greatest production.

378 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XLIV.

THE MANUFACTURE OF BLISTER AND CRUCIBLE
STEEL IN THE UNITED STATES.

STEEL was manufactured in a small way in several of
the American colonies, either " in the German manner " or
by the more clearly defined cementation process. We have in
preceding chapters incidentally recorded some of the earliest
attempts that were made to manufacture steel by these pio-
neer methods. In this chapter and in the next two chapters
we will endeavor to present in sufficient detail the leading
facts in the development of the present magnificent steel in-
dustry of our country. To do this we must first briefly notice
the very insignificance of our small steel industry as it exist-
ed in colonial times and long after the close of the Revolu-
tionary struggle.

Bishop states that the first suggestion of the manufacture
of steel in the colonies was made in 1655, when John Tucker,
of Southold, on Long Island, informed the general court of
New Haven "of his abilitie and intendment to make steele
there or in some other plantation in the jurisdiction, if he
may have some -things granted he therein propounds." In
October, 1655, and May, 1656, special privileges were granted
to the petitioner, but we are not told whether he ever made
any steel or not. Bishop cites Hoadly's N&iv Haven Colonial
Records as his authority for these statements.

We will here copy from Colonel William Byrd's Progress
to the Mines, in 1732, from which we have heretofore quoted,
a part of his interview with Mr. Chiswell, the manager of a
Virginia furnace : " He told me a strange thing about steel,
that the making of the best remains at this day a profound
secret in the breast of a very few, and therefore is in dan-
ger of being lost, as the art of staining of glass and many
others have been. He could only tell me they used beech
wood in the making of it in Europe, and burn it a consider-
able time in powder of charcoal ; but the mystery lies in the
liquor they quench it in." As Mr. Chiswell was himself a

IRON IN ALL AGES. 379

skilled metallurgist it may be assumed that he correctly ex-
pressed the sentiment of his day, that the manufacture of
cemented steel, otherwise known as blister steel, was a great
mystery. Crucible steel had not then been invented. It is
not strange, however, that it should have been supposed as
late as 1732 that the quality of steel should at all depend up-
on the " liquor " in which it was quenched, as the same an-
tiquated notion still exists in Sheffield. It will be remem-
bered by the reader that in the early chapters of this history
we referred to the use by the ancient steelmakers of certain
waters in Italy and Spain, as is recorded by Pliny and Livy.
In the chapter relating to the extension of the manufact-
ure o£ iron in New England we have stated that in 1728
Samuel Higley, of Simsbury, and Joseph Dewey, of Hebron,
in Connecticut, represented to the legislature that the first-
named had " with great pains and cost found out and obtained
a curious art, by which to convert, change, or transmute com-
mon iron into good steel, sufficient for any use, and was the
very first that ever performed such an operation in America."
They asked the exclusive right " of practicing the business or
trade of steel-making" for twenty years. A patent was grant-
ed to them for ten years, provided that "the petitioners im-
prove the art to any good and reasonable perfection within
two years after the date of this act." They do not seem to
have succeeded in placing their enterprise on a firm founda-
tion. Mr. Charles J. Hoadly, the librarian of the Connecti-
cut State Library, sends us a copy of the certificate of two
smiths who certified to the excellence of Mr. Higley's steel.

This may certify all concerned that Samuel Higley of this town of
Simsbury came to the shop of us the subscribers being blacksmiths, some
time in June in the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty-five, and
desired us to let him have a pound or two of iron made at the new works
near Turkey Hills, which we according to his desire let him have, shapeing
severall peices according to his order. He desired that we would take no-
tice of them that we might know them again, for, said he, I am a going to
make Steel of this Iron, and I shall in a few days bring them to you to try
for steel. Accordingly he brought the same pieces which we let him have,
and we proved them and found them good steel, which was the first steel
that ever was made in this country that ever we saw or heard of. Since
which he hath made farther experiment, taking from us Iron & returning
it in good Steel. As- witness our hands this 7th day of May, 1728.

TIMOTH PHELPS. JOHN DRAKE.

380 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Mr. Hoadly informs us that the mother of Governor Jon-
athan Trumbull, of Connecticut, (" Brother Jonathan/') was
a member of the Higley family, and that John Brown, of
Ossawatomie, was descended from the same family.

In October, 1740, the Connecticut legislature granted to
Messrs. Fitch, Walker, and Wyllys " the sole privilege of
making steel for the term of fifteen years, upon this condition,
that they should in the space of two years make half a ton
of steel." It appears, however, that this condition was not
complied with, and that the privilege was extended two years
longer, or until 1744, before which time Aaron "Eliot and Ich-
abod Miller certified that, " after many expensive and fruit-
less trials with which sundry of the owners were discouraged,
the affair being still pursued by others of them, it has so far
succeeded that there has been made more than half a ton of
steel at the furnace in Symsbury which was erected for that
purpose by the gentlemen to whom the aforesaid grant was
made." Fitch, Walker, and Wyllys were not mechanics, the
first two being lawyers and the last-named being the secre-
tary of the colony. These facts we learn from Mr. Hoadly.

Some time previous to 1750 Aaron Eliot owned a steel
furnace at Killingworth, in Middlesex county, Connecticut,
and in this furnace he succeeded in 1761 in converting into
good steel a bar of iron made in a common bloomary from
magnetic sand by his father, the Rev. Jared Eliot, who re-
ceived a gold medal from the London Society of Arts " for
producing malleable iron from the American black sand."
It was sent through "the care of our friend, Ben Franklin."

In May, 1772, the following petition wras presented to the
legislature of Connecticut by Aaron Eliot, for a copy of which
document we are indebted to the politeness of Mr. Hoadly.

To the Honl General Assembly now sitting in Hartford. The memo-
rial of Aaron Eliot of Killingworth humbly sheweth,

That your memorialist has for a number of years carried on the Steel
Manufacture in this Colony and has made very large quantities, sufficient
to supply all the necessary demands of that article in this Colony as well
as to export large quantities for supplying the neighbouring governments ;
that the fortune of your memorialist has not been large enough to supply
himself with a sufficient stock to carry on his business, & has therefore
hitherto been obliged to procure his stock of iron at New York on cred* and
pay for the same in his steel when made at the moderate price of £56 per

IRON IN ALL AGES. 381

ton, [$186.66|, the £ being equal to $3.33£,] from whence it has been again
purchased in this Colony at the price of £75 and £80 per ton, and for sev-
eral years past almost the whole supply of steel in this Colony has been
from New York of the manufacture of your memorialist at the aforesd enor-
mous advance, and your memorialist humbly conceives that the interest of
the Colony is to incourage necessary and advantageous manufactories with-
in the Colony, not only for the necessary consumption of the Colony but
for export, which your memorialist will be able to effect in the aforesd arti-
cle of steel with some small assistance from your Hon™ to procure him a
sufficient stock and thereby save larger sums of money within this Colony
which is annually paid to New York for the steel manufactured in this Col-
ony : Wherefore your memorialist humbly prays your Honours to loan to
him £500 out of the publick treasury for three years without interest,
whereby he will be enabled to carry on the afores business to consider-
able publick advantage, and he as in duty bound shall ever pray.

AARON ELIOT.

Mr. Eliot's petition was granted in 1772, and in 1775 the
loan was continued for two additional years.

In 1750 Massachusetts had one steel furnace. In the New
England chapter already referred to we have stated that steel
was made by Eliphalet Leonard at Easton, in Massachusetts,
about 1775 or 1776, and that in 1787 his son, Jonathan Leon-
ard, increased the facilities for its manufacture at the same
place. It is stated that "the article was made in considera-
ble amount, and cheaper than imported steel," but it was in-
ferior to foreign steel for edge tools and cutlery. This was
cemented steel. By reference to the same chapter it will be
seen that during the Revolution steel was made at Cumber-
land, in Rhode Island, by a German, "from the pig after the
mode of his country," and that about 1799 steel was made at
Canton, in Massachusetts, "from crude iron by the German
process." Other early steel enterprises in Massachusetts are
recorded in the same chapter.

Peter Townsend, who became the proprietor of the Ster-
ling iron works in New York before the Revolution,
in 1776 the first steel made in that province. It was made
" at first from pig and afterwards from bar iron, in the Ger-
man manner." Blister steel was made in 1810 by Peter Town-
send, Jr., which is said to have been of as good quality for
the manufacture of edge tools as steel made from Danne-
mora iron. At Amenia, in Dutchess county, New York, steel
was made for the use of the Continental army.

New Jersey had one steel furnace in 1750. Steel was made

382 THE MANUFACTURE OF

at Trenton during the Revolution, "but the business after-
wards declined."

Pennsylvania had a steel furnace in Chester county, called
Vincent's, about 1750, and in that year it had two other steel
furnaces at Philadelphia. Of one of the last named, Will-
iam Branson's, Richard Hockley writes to Thomas Penn on
June 3, 1750 : " As to steel, Mr. Branson says the sort he
made, which was blistered steel, 10 tons would be ten years
in selling." The other furnace, Stephen Paschal's, which
was built in 1747, was owned in 1787 by Nancarrow & Mat-
lock, when it was visited by General Washington, and is said
to have been "the largest and best in America." In 1770
Whitehead Humphreys was the proprietor of a steel furnace
on Seventh street, in Philadelphia. During the Revolution
he made steel for the Continental army from Andover iron.
In 1786 the legislature of Pennsylvania loaned £300 to Mr.
Humphreys for five years to aid him in making steel from
bar iron " as good as in England."

During the Revolution Henry Hollingsworth, at Elkton,
in Cecil county, Maryland, manufactured muskets for the
Continental army. Some of his bayonets were complained
of as being too soft, " which he ascribed to the bad quality
of the American steel with which they were pointed." Bishop
does not mention any steel furnace in Maryland, and we are
therefore unable to conjecture where Mr. Hollingsworth ob-
tained his poor steel. We are also without positive informa-
tion concerning the colonial or Revolutionary steel industry
of Virginia and other southern colonies. In most of these
colonies bounties wrere offered at the beginning of the Revo-
lution for the establishment of steel furnaces as well as other
manufacturing enterprises.

In the celebrated report of Alexander Hamilton, dated
December 5, 1791, it is stated that "steel is a branch which
has already made a considerable progress, and it is ascertain-
ed that some new enterprises on a more extensive scale have
been lately set on foot." In the same year, 1791, in a reply
to Lord Sheffield's Observations on the Commerce of the United
States, Tench Coxe stated that "about one-half of the steel
consumed in the United States is home-made, and new fur-
naces are building at this moment. The wrorks being few,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 383

and the importations ascertained, this fact is known to be
accurate." The works here referred to were all doubtless
cementation furnaces, which produced blister steel.

In 1805 there were two steel furnaces in Pennsylvania,
which produced annually 150 tons of steel. One of these was
in Philadelphia county. In 1810 there were produced in the
whole 'country 917 tons of steel, of which Pennsylvania pro-
duced 531 tons in five furnaces, one at Philadelphia, and one
each in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Dauphin, and Fayette coun-
ties. Tlie remainder was produced in Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, New Jersey, Virginia, and South Carolina, each State
having one furnace. In 1813 there was a steel furnace at
Pittsburgh, owrned by Tuper & McKowan, which was the
first in that city. Tench Coxe declared in this year that the
manufacture of " common steel, iron wire, and edge tools "
had been greatly advanced since 1810.

In 1818 John and Jacob Rodgers, Isaac Smedley, and
James Wood were engaged in the manufacture of saws at
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on the Montgomery county side
of Valley creek. Mr. Wood was the manager of the works.
The company built a furnace in that year for the manufact-
ure of crucible steel for saw plates, John Parkins and his
son, John Parkins, Jr., both from England, being employed
as practical steelmakers. These persons are said to have
made an unsuccessful attempt to make cast steel at New
York city in 1812. The company at Valley Forge is said
by Mr. Wood's son, Mr. John Wood, of Conshohocken, who
is now living, to have made some excellent steel, but the
project was soon abandoned. Clay for crucibles was brought
from Perth Amboy, and some plumbago crucibles were im-
ported from England. This is the first important crucible-steel
enterprise in our history that has been brought to our notice.

In 1831 a convention of the friends of American industry
assembled at New York, at which were submitted many able
reports upon the iron and steel industries of this country as
they existed at that time. From one of these reports, pre-
pared by Mr. John R. Coates, of Philadelphia, we learn that
there wrere then in the United States fourteen blister-steel
furnaces, distributed as follows: two at Pittsburgh, one at
Baltimore, three at Philadelphia, three at New York, one in

384 THE MANUFACTURE OF

York county, Pennsylvania, one at Troy, New York, two in
New Jersey, and one at Boston. The report mentioned that
" these furnaces are known to be now in operation, and of a
capacity sufficient to supply more than 1,600 tons of steel an-
nually, an amount equal to the whole importation of steel of
every kind." The report continued : " But it should be ob-
served that steel for common agricultural purposes is not the
best, although it is most used ; and that American is quite
equal to English steel used for such purposes in England.
American competition has excluded the British ' common
blister steel altogether. The only steel now imported from
Great Britain is of a different and better quality than that .
just mentioned." The common blister steel of American
manufacture which is above referred to was used for plow-
shares, shovels, scythes, and cross-cut and mill saws.

The better qualities of steel which were not made in this
country in 1831, but were imported from Europe, almost
entirely from England, were known as (1) best blister steel,
made from iron from the Dannemora mines in Sweden ; (2)
shear steel, of the same origin ; and (3) cast steel, made in
crucibles. Concerning blister steel of the best quality the re-
port from which we have quoted says that " steel is now made
at Pittsburgh, and may be made in New York and Connecti-
cut, bearing a fair comparison with the best hoop L or Dan-
nemora steel. No difference is observed where trials have
been made without disclosing to the judges the origin of
either." The report adds that iron equal to Swedish for the
manufacture of steel had been recently manufactured "by
improved processes from the ore of Juniata, and both sides
of the line between New York and Connecticut." Shear steel
was the best blister steel of the cementation furnace rework-
ed under a hammer into bars suitable for the manufacture
of coarse cutlery and edge tools. The manufacture of this
steel was then about being introduced into this country.
The report says : " England has hitherto monopolized this
branch also, from being in possession of the only European
steel that would bear the expense of preparation, and from
the perfection of her machinery. She has now the honor
of transferring a portion of her experience and skill to the
United States."

IRON IN ALL AGES. 385

Cast steel, which was then made only from the best blister
steel, was not made in the United States. Several attempts
to make it with profit had been unfortunate in their results.
" The causes of failure," says the report, " were, first, the
want of the best quality of blister steel at a reasonable price,
and, second, the want, or expense, of crucibles of proper
quality, wherein the blister steel is to be melted and smelted.
Black lead and a variety of clays have been tried, but the
weakness of these materials has heretofore caused a loss to
the manufacturer." The English Stourbridge clay was the
only clay which in 1831 was known to possess the qualities
required for crucibles. The report says that " the explorations
of the present year have disclosed the existence of clay anal-
ogous to that of Stourbridge," the discoveries being made in
Centre, Clearfield, and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania
and in the vicinity of Baltimore. The expectations created by
these discoveries were never realized.

From 1831, the date of the report from which we have just
quoted, to 1860 very little progress was made in developing
the manufacture of the finer qualities of steel in the United
States. In the first edition of Appletons' Cydopcedia, printed
in 1860, it was stated that " American cast steel is hardly
known in the markets." During this period of thirty years,
however, indeed just after its commencement, there was one
notable and successful attempt to make steel of the best
quality, the detailed history of which we shall now give.

In August, 1832, William Garrard and John Hill Gar-
rard, brothers, commenced the manufacture of crucible steel
on the Miami Canal, at Cincinnati, in works which had been
previously erected by them, and which were projected in the
autumn of 1831. Both were comparatively young men, na-
tives of England, but residents of the United States for ten
years previous to the year mentioned. The style of the firm
was Garrard Brothers, but William, the elder brother, was the
projector and practical manager of the enterprise. To him
and to his friend, Mr. James E. Emerson, of Beaver Falls,
Pennsylvania, we are indebted for the very full details we
are enabled to present of the first successful works in the
United States for the manufacture of crucible steel of the
best quality. Mr. Emerson has also sent us an illustration

386 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of the works, printed from a wood-cut made in 1833. They
were called the Cincinnati steel works.

The works were located on Canal street, extending back
to Providence street, and were built upon a portion of the
ground now occupied by the Lion brewery. They embraced
a furnace for converting bar iron into blister steel ; two pot-
holes, each accommodating two pots, or crucibles ; and the
necessary machinery for manufacturing sawrs and files. In
August, 1832, the first cast steel was made, and in November,
1832, the first mill and cross-cut saws were made. Dr. Gar-
rard wrote us in 1884 as follows concerning his enterprise.

I made my own blister steel. You will see in the picture of my works
a large round stack that contained my converting furnace. It was built for
two ten-ton converting furnaces. The first crucibles I experimented with
were German plumbago pots, but they were a failure, as they spoiled the
steel by giving out too much gross carbon. I then went to Western Vir-
ginia, near New Cumberland, and found a clay that very much resembled
English Stourbridge clay, and by putting in the pots made of it about the
same proportion of burnt material they stood about as well as the Stour-
bridge pots, and answered my purpose very well. In respect to the build-
ing of my works, I was my own architect, drew a plan for my works on
paper, and superintended the brick-laying myself; in fact, the building and
machinery were all made from my own drawings and under my own su-
perintendence. I sold my steel and manufactured articles principally to
manufacturers. There were some wholesale houses that bought of me, but
they were importing houses, and when the Sheffield manufacturers found
that I was making as good steel and manufactured saws and files as good
as they did they gave our merchants such an extended time of credit that
they bought as little as possible from us.

Mr. Emerson furnished us in 1883 with the following ad-
ditional information concerning the Cincinnati steel works.

The Doctor still has his old moulds in which he formed his crucibles,
in the regular English way. For best cast steel he first used Swedes' iron.
For steel used for saws, springs, etc., he used Tennessee charcoal iron. For
best cast steel he also used considerable Missouri charcoal iron. In addi-
tion to saws and springs he made steel for chopping axes, files, and tools in
general. The material used was all very high-priced, so that the owners
were obliged to sell their spring steel at from. 10 to 15 cents per pound, and
best cast steel at from 18 to 25 cents. The very crude machinery and man-
ner in which all of the work had to be done added also to the cost.

The enterprise was started during Jackson's first term of office, and
about the time that the law was passed for a gradual reduction of duties on
all imports for a decade, and with this gradual reduction of duties foreign
importation increased, to pay for which the country was drained of money.
Manufactures were closed, culminating in the great panic of 1837, at which

IRON IN ALL AGES. 387

time the enterprise of our venerable friend went down in the general wreck
that engulfed the infant manufactures in their cradles all over the country.

After Garrard Brothers had commenced the manufacture
of steel W. T. Middleton became a partner in the enterprise,
taking the place of Dr. Garrard's brother. Subsequently
Charles Fox, a lawyer, became a partner. After the failure
in 1837 the business was continued in a restricted way until
1844 by Dr. Garrard and Mr. Fox, the principal product of
the works being blister steel.

In the Cincinnati Directory for 1834, published by E.
Deming, at No. 5 Johnston's ROWT, there will be found the
following announcement on page 233 : " Steel, Saw, and File
Factory, on Plumb Street, near the corporation line, owned
by Middleton, Garrard & Co., manufacturers of all kinds of
Cast Steel, by steam-power. Attached to this establishment
is a Saw and File Factory, in which these articles are made
equal in quality to those imported."

Mr. Emerson has sent us a file made in 1833 from the
crucible steel of these works, and a turning-tool made from
some of the very first steel made by them in 1832, and used
in the works for turning their chilled rolls for sheet steel.
He has also sent us other interesting relics of these works,
which he thus describes in a letter written in 1884.

At the first available opportunity, after receiving your letter of the 26th
of December, I visited the home of Dr. Garrard and secured an old turning
tool and an old punch used as a die for cutting teeth in saws, the steel of
which the Doctor informed me was made in 1832. I have forged quite a
ghastly-looking knife-blade off the end of the old turning tool, and a small-
er blade off the end of the saw-tooth punch, and have hardened, temper-
ed, and finished them. I have been working steel for about forty years.
At Trenton, New 'Jersey, during the civil war, I manufactured over 75,000
cavalry sabres and over 100,000 officers' swords for the United States Gov-
ernment, and I think that I know something about steel and about tools. I
am willing to submit these tools to any expert and risk my reputation that
in quality they are fully -equal to the best steel made in this country to-
day, and also equal to the best imported English steel. Here is an affidavit
from the Doctor :

Personally appeared Dr. William Garrard, of Fallston, Beaver coifhty,
Pennsylvania, and being duly sworn deposes and says : That the two pieces
of steel from which these two knives were forged, tempered, and finished
by Messrs. Emerson, Smith & Co., of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, Were made
by him at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1832, by first converting Missouri charcoal
iron into blister steel by the usual cementation process, then by melting in
pots made by himself, pouring into ingots, then forging or tilting in the

388 THE MANUFACTURE OF

usual manner. The large piece was used as a lathe turning tool, and the
small one as a punch for toothing saws. Furthermore the said William
Garrard sayeth not.
Sworn and subscribed before me this 28th day of 1

January, A. D. 1884. WINFIELD S. MOORE, [• WILLIAM GARRARD.

[SEAL] Notary Public.}

The Doctor has placed in my hands numerous testimonials from man-
ufacturers who used his steel for different purposes — for chopping axes, files,
springs, saws, etc.

All of the articles mentioned above are now in our pos-
session and we prize them highly. An examination of them
by experts will fully sustain the claim that they are made
of the best crucible tool steel.

At our request Mr. J. Blodget Britton, the eminent metal-
lurgical chemist, has made an analysis of liberal borings from
the end of the turning tool from which Mr. Emerson has
forged the " ghastly-looking knife-blade," the remaining part
forming the handle of the knife. The analysis is as follows.
It will possess great interest for all our readers who would
know the chemical elements of the first tool steel of best qual-
ity that this country has produced.

Pure iron 98.770

Carbon 1.048

Silicon 102

Silicates... .020

Manganese 019

Sulphur doubtful traces

Total 99.974

Phosphorus 015

Dr. Garrard was born in Laxfield parish, Suffolk county,
England, on the 21st of October, 1803. He removed with his
father's family to the United States in 1822, the whole fam-
ily finding a home near Pittsburgh. The Doctor says : " It
was during the last two years that I was with my father
that I built a small converter and experimented on the vari-
ous kinds of bar iron, converting them into blister steel, and
through a careful test of the same I became convinced that I
could make steel equal to the English." He was not a trained
steelmaker, nor even an ironmaker. His trade was that of a
bricklayer, but he had a liking for chemistry, and his atten-
tion being turned to the manufacture of steel this taste was
utilized. The rest of his story we have told.

John Hill Garrard died at Pittsburgh in 1883, aged 78
years, and Dr. Garrard died at Fallston, in Beaver county,
Pennsylvania, on March 18, 1889, aged over 85 years. '

IRON IN ALL AGES. 389

The following is a list of all the works in Pennsylvania
that were engaged in the conversion of steel in 1850, with
their product : James Rowland & Co., Kensington, (Philadel-
phia,) 600 tons ; J. Robbins, Kensington, 500 tons ; Earp &
Brink, Kensington, 100 tons ; Robert S. Johnson, Kensington,
400 tons; W. & H. Rowland, Oxford, (Philadelphia,) 700 tons;
R. & G. D. Coleman, Martic, Lancaster county, 400 tons ; R.
H. & W. Coleman, Castle Fin, York county, 100 tons ; Singer,
Hartman & Co., Pittsburgh, 700 tons; Coleman, Hailman &
Co., Pittsburgh, 800 tons ; Jones & Quigg, Pittsburgh, 1,200
tons; Spang & Co., Pittsburgh, 200 tons; G. & J. H. Shoen-
berger, Pittsburgh, 200 tons; S. McKelvy, Pittsburgh, 178
tons ; total, thirteen works, with a product of 6,078 tons. Of
this quantity only 44 tons were cast steel. The foregoing in-
formation is not found in the census of 1850, but was obtain-
ed by an association of Pennsylvania ironmasters. The cen-
sus of that year greatly understates the extent of our steel
industry, and erroneously makes no mention of the manu-
facture of steel in any other State than Pennsylvania.

From about 1830 to 1860 many attempts were made at
Pittsburgh to produce blister and crucible steel. Between
1828 and 1830 Simeon Broadmeadow, an Englishman, and
his son made blister steel, and about 1831 they made some
cast steel in pots of their own manufacture. The attempt to
manufacture cast steel was a failure. Josiah Ankrim & Son,
file-makers, are said to have succeeded in making their own
steel after 1830, but by what process is not stated. In 1831
Wetmore & Havens successfully produced blister steel. In
1833 the firm of G. & J. H. Shoenberger commenced to man-
ufacture blister steel, and in 1841 Patrick and James Dunn
attempted the manufacture of crucible cast steel for this firm.
This last enterprise was abandoned in a year or two. " The
crucibles employed were made of American clay, and, as may
be supposed, were ill-suited to the purpose required." The
firm continued to make »blister steel until 1862, when its fur-
ther manufacture was abandoned. It used Juniata blooms
exclusively. About 1840 the firm of Isaac Jones & William
Coleman was formed to manufacture blister steel, which busi-
ness was successfully prosecuted until 1845, when the firm
was dissolved, Mr. Jones retiring. In the same year Jones &

390 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Quigg built the Pittsburgh steel works, also to manufacture
blister steel. Mr. Coleman continued alone the manufacture
of blister steel until 1846, when a partnership was formed un-
der the name of Coleman, Hailman & Co. Both of these new
firms were successful in making blister steel of good quality.
They were also successful in manufacturing some cast steel
of a low grade. The first slab of cast plow steel ever rolled
in the United States was rolled by William Woods at the steel
works of Jones & Quigg, in 1846, and shipped to John Deere,
of Moline, Illinois. About 1846 the firm of Tingle & Sug-
den, file-makers, made its own steel. This is said to have been
cast steel. The firm is also reported to have made some cast
steel for sale. Juniata iron was used by nearly all of these
manufacturers.

In 1852 McKelvy & Blair, of Pittsburgh, who had com-
menced the manufacture of files in 1850, made cast steel of
good quality, but not always of the best quality. It was,
however, t)f a quality so creditable, and so uniformly superi-
or to any that had previously been made at Pittsburgh, that
the firm may be regarded as the pioneer in the production of
cast steel in large quantities in that city. In 1853 the firm
of Singer, Nimick & Co., of Pittsburgh, which had been or-
ganized in 1848 for the manufacture of blister steel, and in
1855 Isaac Jones, then doing business in his own name, were
successful in producing the- usual grades of cast steel for
saw, machinery, and agricultural purposes, but they did not
make tool steel of the best quality as a regular product. That
honor was reserved for the firm of Hussey, Wells & Co.,
which began business in 1859 and in the following year was
successful in making crucible cast steel of the best quality
as a regular product. This was done with American iron.
In 1862 the firm of Park, Brother & Co., also of Pittsburgh,
accomplished the same achievement, also with American iron.
These were the first firms in this country to meet with com-
plete financial as well as mechanical* success in this difficult
department of American manufacturing enterprise. Both of
the works referred to are still in operation.

For many of the foregoing details concerning the man-
ufacture of steel at Pittsburgh we are indebted to an anony-
mous publication, entitled Pittsburgh, its Industry and Com-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 391

merce, published in 1870, and to George H. Thurston's Pitts-
burgh and Allegheny in the Centennial Year.

While these experiments in the manufacture of the best
quality of steel were being made at Pittsburgh other locali-
ties were engaged in making similar experiments. By far
the most important of these were made by the Adirondack
Iron and Steel Company, whose works were at Jersey City,
New Jersey. They were built in 1848 to make blister steel
from charcoal pig iron made at Adirondack, in Essex county,
New York, and also to make cast steel. The pig iron was
puddled with wood at Adirondack, and then formed into bars
under a hammer, which were sent to Jersey City, where they
were converted into blister steel. An attempt to make cast
steel by melting the blister steel in clay crucibles was a fail-
ure, but subsequently cast steel of good quality was made in
black-lead crucibles. This result was reached as early as
February, 1849, and possibly a few months earlier. Of the
excellent quality of the cast steel manufactured at this time
at these works there is abundant evidence in the testimony
of government experts and also of many consumers, all of
which is now before us. It was used for chisels, turning and
engravers' tools, drills, hammers, shears, razors, carpenters'
tools, etc. Its manufacture was continued with encourag-
ing results until 1853, when the business was abandoned by
the company. It had not proved to be profitable, partly be-
cause of the prejudice existing against American cast steel.
The works were then leased for ten years, during which time
they were operated with varying success. James R. Thomp-
son was the manager from 1848 to 1857. In 1863 they
were purchased by Dudley S. Gregory, one of the original
stockholders, and were from that time managed with uni-
form success for the owner by H. J. Hopper. In 1874 Mr.
Gregory died, and the work's descended to his sons. They
were afterwards owned by Andrew Williams. In 1885 they
were abandoned and* dismantled. At the time of their aban-
donment they were the oldest active cast-steel works in the
United States, having been continually employed in the pro-
duction of this kind of steel since 1849.

It is proper to add that, while good cast steel was made
after 1849 at the works of the Adirondack Iron and Steel

392 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Company, the product was not for many years of uniform
excellence. Much of it was good tool steel, but much of.it
was also irregular in temper. The exact truth appears to be
that the cast steel produced by this company during the
early years of trial, or from 1849 to 1853, was more uniform-
ly excellent than that which had been produced by earlier
or by cotemporary American steel works, the Cincinnati steel
works of Garrard Brothers alone excepted. This excellence
was due to the superiority of Adirondack iron. Since 1852
the Adirondack works have had many rivals in the produc-
tion of crucible cast steel, the earliest of which have already
been described.

James R. Thompson died on Monday, April 18th, 1887,
at his home, No. 128 Fifth avenue, New York. He was
born at Broadalbin, in Fulton county, New York, about 1822.

Mr. Thomas S. Blair, of Pittsburgh, has kindly furnished
us with the following reminiscences of the American steel in-
dustry as it existed at Pittsburgh about 1850.

The blister steel made at Pittsburgh was sent all over the West, and
was used by the country blacksmiths for the pointing of picks, mattocks,
etc., and for plating out into rough hoes, etc. It was usually made from
Juniata blooms, especially in the period anterior to 1850. After that date
Champlain ore blooms were used to a considerable extent. German steel
was simply blister steel rolled down. The two leading applications of
German steel were springs and plow-shares. The business was very large
at one time. G. & J. H. Shoenberger pushed this brand vigorously from
about 1840 to 1860. Meanwhile quite a number of other concerns entered
into the competition at various times.

The Shoenberger experiment in the manufacture of crucible steel failed
on account of the inferior quality of the product. The firm were so con-
fident that no iron could be found in this country that could in any respect
excel the Juniata iron that, when that article failed to produce steel equal
to that of Sheffield, they gave up the manufacture of crucible steel. In the
light of the experitnce gained under the scientific methods which the Bes-
semer process has made a necessity we now understand that the Shoen-
bergers could not make good crucible *steel out of iron containing two-
tenths of one per cent, of phosphorus.

McKelvy & Blair at first made their pots out of Darby and Stanning-
ton clay, imported from England. The brilliant success of Joseph Dixon,
of Jersey City, New Jersey, in perfecting the manufacture of plumbago
crucibles, for which the crucible steel interest in the United States owes
him a monument, gave to that firm and to the Jersey City steel works a
very valuable lift. With these crucibles and with Adirondack blooms Mr.
Thompson made some excellent steel. Along in 1853 and 1854 McKelvy &
Blair made steel from the Adirondack blooms which was used in the nail

IRON IN ALL AGES. 393

factory of G. & J. H. Shoenberger. It may be added, also, that the knives
and dies of nail-cutting machines afford an admirable test of endurance in
tool steel. The American steel made from American iron was fully up to
the English steel in every particular.

It was not possible for McKelvy & Blair to obtain the Adirondack
blooms in any quantity, and they had no other resource than the Cham-
plain and Missouri blooms, all of which produced red-short steel. This,
notwithstanding that drawback, found a market so extensive that the firm
sent to Sheffield and brought out several skilled workmen, and the busi-
ness of manufacturing handsomely finished bars, plates, and sheets was
fairly inaugurated. The drawbacks, however, of pioneer operations, chief
among which was the abominable English system, imported with the skill-
ed labor, of "working to fool the master," were too much for the financial
strength of the firm, and in 1854 they were forced to drop the enterprise.

The manufacture in this country of crucible cast steel of
the best grades may be said to have been established on a
firm basis after Hussey, Wells & Co., Park, Brother & Co.,
and Gregory & Co., in the years 1860, 1862, and 1863, respect-
ively, succeeded in making it of uniform quality as a regular
product. The event was one of great importance, as it mark-
ed the establishment in this country of a new industry which
was destined to assume large proportions and to be of very
great value. It met a want that had long been felt, and dis-
sipated the long-standing belief that this country possessed
neither the iron nor the skill required to make good cast steel.
The establishment of this new industry, following closely in
the wake of our successful application of anthracite and bitu-
minous coal in the manufacture of pig iron, assisted greatly
to advance our metallurgical reputation and to create confi-
dence in our future metallurgical possibilities. But none of
the three firms named could have succeeded in giving to
this country a crucible-steel industry worthy of the name if
the Morrill tariff of 1861 and its supplements had not en-
couraged our manufacturers by imposing for the first time in
our history really protective duties on steel of foreign manu-
facture. Our whole steel industry of every description is in-
deed in an eminent degree the child of protective legislation.

Sixty years ago, when the convention of the friends of
home industry met at New York, we were struggling with
the difficulties which then prevented the manufacture of blis-
ter steel of best quality ; now we have not only solved that
problem but thirty years ago we solved the greater problem

394 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of the manufacture of crucible steel, and a few years later we
achieved the still greater triumph of firmly planting upon
American soil the Bessemer steel industry. To this marvel-
ous industry we have added the manufacture of steel by the
open-hearth, or Siemens-Martin, process — a method of pro-
ducing steel second only to the Bessemer process in cheapness
and productiveness.

Yet we might have had and should have had a crucible-
steel industry at a much earlier day. The success of Garrard
Brothers in manufacturing the best quality of tool steel at
Cincinnati from 1832 to 1837, and of the Adirondack Iron
and Steel Company in accomplishing the same result at
Jersey City in 1848 and for several years afterwards, in both
instances from raw materials of domestic production, proves
that this country was long prevented from having a credit-
able crucible-steel industry because the injurious effects of
foreign competition were not sufficiently guarded against in
the framing of tariff legislation. The compromise tariff of
1833 closed the Cincinnati ateel works. The tariffs of 1846
and 1857 gave no encouragement to our people to engage in
the manufacture of crucible steel. Even the manufacture
of blister steel in this country was almost destroyed by for-
eign competition prior to 1860. With the establishment af-
ter that year of our crucible-steel industry upon a firm basis,
through protective legislation, there was no need to revive on
a large scale the manufacture of the inferior product, except
as an adjunct of the manufacture of crucible steel.

The production of crucible steel in the United States
amounted to 89,762 net tons in 1881, which is the highest
annual product yet attained. As late as 1877 the production
was only 40,430 tons, which had not previously been exceeded
in any year. The production of crucible steel in this country
has been practically stationary for many years, the failure of
this branch of our steel industry to advance being chiefly
due to the competition of open-hearth steel. Bessemer steel
is also a sharp competitor. The crucible-steel industry of
Great Britain and the Continent of Europe has also made no
progress for a number of years and for the same reasons.

Dr. C. G. Hussey was born near York, Pennsylvania, in
August, 1802, and was in good health in August, 1891.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 395

CHAPTER XLV.
THE INVENTION OF THE BESSEMER PROCESS.

THE Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel con-
sists in forcing streams of cold air, usually under a high
pressure, into a pear-shaped vessel called a converter, which
has been partly filled with melted cast iron, by which opera-
tion the oxygen of the air combines with and eliminates the
carbon and silicon in the iron, the product being decarburiz-
ed and desiliconized iron. But, as some carbon is always re-
quired to produce steel, a definite quantity of manganifer-
ous pig iron (spiegeleisen) or ferro-manganese is added to the
contents of the converter while they are still in a state of fu-
sion, by which addition the requisite amount of carbon is ob-
tained, while the manganese combines with and liberates the
oxygen that has united with the iron during the blast. The
product is Bessemer steel, of a quality or temper correspond-
ing to the character and proportions of the materials used.
A distinguishing feature of the Bessemer process consists in
the entire absence of any fuel whatever in converting the
already melted cast iron into steel, the carbon and silicon in
the iron combining with the oxygen of the atmospheric
blast to produce an intensely high temperature. The Besse-
mer converter holds from five to twenty tons. The charge
of cast iron which it receives preliminary to a conversion,
or blow, may be supplied directly from a blast ' furnace or
from a cupola in which pig iron has been melted. The latter
method is generally employed in both Europe and the United
States, although the direct method is employed at some of the
large Bessemer works in our own country.

Sir Henry Bessemer, of London, the generally accredited
inventor of the process which bears his name, commenced in
1854 to experiment in the manufacture of iron for an im-
proved gun. " In the course of his experiments," says Mr. J.
S. Jeans, in his comprehensive work on Steel, " it dawned up-
on him that cast iron might be rendered malleable by the in-
troduction oi atmospheric air into the fluid metal." In 1855

396 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and 1856 patents were granted to Mr. Bessemer for this dis-
covery, but it was not until 1858 that complete success was
achieved by him in the conversion of cast iron into cast steel.
Nor was this success achieved without the assistance of oth-
ers, Robert Forester Mushet, of Cheltenham, England, and
Goran Fredrik Goransson, of Sandviken, Sweden, contributing
greatly to this result. Without the assistance rendered by Mr.
Mushet, of which we shall speak hereafter, Mr. Bessemer's in-
vention would not have been of much value. It may also
be added that many and valuable improvements have been
made in the application of the Bessemer process since its
introduction in Europe and America. These improvements,
however, detract nothing from the honor that is due to Sir
Henry Bessemer, since it is true of all valuable inventions
that their value is increased by the ingenuity and skill of
those who use them. In addition to discovering that melt-
ed cast iron could be decarburized and desiliconized and ren-
dered malleable by blowing cold air through it at a high
pressure, Sir Henry is entitled to the whole credit of invent-
ing the wonderful machinery by which this discovery has
been applied to the rapid production of large quantities of
Bessemer steel. The purely engineering feats accomplished
by him in the development of his invention were essential
to its success, and they amaze us by their novelty and mag-
nitude. Those who have never seen this machinery in op-
eration can form but a faint idea of its exquisite adaptation
to the purposes to be accomplished. A Bessemer converter,
weighing with its contents from twenty to forty tons, is moved
at will on its axis by machinery controlled by the touch of
a man or boy, and receives, in response to the same touch,
a blast so powerful that every particle of its many tons of
metallic contents is heated to the highest temperature ever
known in the mechanic arts. The honor of inventing this
machinery is all claimed for Sir Henry Bessemer.

In 1856 Mr. Bessemer obtained in this country two pat-
ents for his invention, but was immediately confronted by a
claim of priority of invention preferred by William Kelly,
an ironmaster of Eddyville, Kentucky, but a native of Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania. This claim was heard by the Commis-
sioner of Patents and its justice was conceded, the Commis-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 397

sioner granting to Mr. Kelly a patent which at once operated
as an impediment to the use of the patents granted to Mr. Bes-
semer. The effect of this action by the Commissioner was to
prevent for several years any serious effort from being made
to introduce the Bessemer process into this country. As a
matter of interest and of history we here give, before pro-
ceeding further, a complete account of Mr. Kelly's invention,
prepared for these pages by Mr. Kelly himself.

In 1846 I purchased, in connection with my brother, John F. Kelly, a
large iron property in Lyon county, Kentucky, known as the Eddyville
iron works ; and the beginning of 1847 found the firm of Kelly & Co. fairly
under way, making pig metal and charcoal blooms. Our forge contained
ten forge fires and two large finery, or run-out, fires.

To the processes of manufacture I gave my first and most serious at-
tention ; and, after close observation and study, I conceived the idea that,
after the metal was melted, the use of fuel would be unnecessary — that the
heat generated by the union of the oxygen of the air with the carbon of
the metal would be sufficient to accomplish the refining and decarboniz-
ing of the iron. I devised several plans for testing this idea of forcing in-
to the fluid metal powerful blasts of air; and, after making drawings of the
same, showed them to my forgemen, not one of whom could agree with me,
all believing that I would chill the metal, and that my experiment would
end in failure. I finally fixed on a plan of furnace which I thought would
answer my purpose. This consisted of a small blast furnace, about 12 feet
high, having a hearth and bosh like a common blast furnace. In this I ex-
pected to produce decarbonized metal from the iron ore ; but, if I failed in
this, I could resort to pig metal and thereby have good fluid metal to blow
into. The novelty of this furnace was that it had two tuyeres, one above
the other. The upper tuyere was to melt the stock ; the lower one was fix-
ed in the hearth near the bottom, and intended to conduct the air-blast in-
to the metal. That portion of the hearth in which the lower tuyere was
placed was so arranged as to part from the upper portion, and consisted of
a heavy cast-iron draw, lined inside with fire-brick, so that, when the iron
was blown to nature by the lower tuyere, the draw could be run from under
the hearth, and the iron taken out, carried to the hammer, and forged.

I began my experiments with this furnace in October, 1847, but found
it impossible to give it sufficient attention, as I had then commenced to
build a new blast furnace, the Suwannee, on our property. This occupied
so much of my time that I had but little left in which to attend to my new
process. In the year 1851, having finished our new blast furnace, I found
myself more at leisure, and again directed my attention to my experiments ;
and, on looking for the cause of failure in my experimental furnace, found
that my chief trouble lay in the melting department, not in the more im-
portant matter of blowing into the iron, so that the question presented it-
self to my mind, Why complicate my experiments by trying to make pig
metal in a furnace not at all suited to the business ? Why not abandon al-
together the melting department and try my experiments at our new blast

398 THE MANUFACTURE OF

furnace, where I could have the metal already melted and in good condi-
tion for blowing into ? I fully believed that I could make malleable iron
by this process. In my first efforts with this object in view I built a furnace
consisting of a square brick abutment, having a circular chamber inside,
the bottom of which was concave like a moulder's ladle. In the bottom
was fixed a circular tile of fire-clay, perforated for tuyeres. Under this tile
was an air-chamber, connected by pipes with the blowing engine. This is
substantially the plan now used in the Bessemer converter.

The first trial of this furnace was very satisfactory. The iron was well
refined and decarbonized— at least as well as by the finery fire. This fact
wras admitted by all the forgemen who examined it. The blowing was usu-
ally continued from five to ten minutes, whereas the finery fire required
over an hour. Here was a great saving of time and fuel, as well as great
encouragement to work the process out to perfection. I was not satisfied
/with making refined or run-out metal ; my object was to make malleable
iron. In attempting this I made, in the course of the following eighteen
months, a variety of experiments. I built a suitable hot-blast oven ; but,
after a few trials, abandoned it, finding the cold-blast preferable, for many
reasons. After numerous trials of this furnace I found that I could make
refined metal, suitable for the charcoal forge fire, without any difficulty,
and, when the blast was continued for a longer period, the iron would oc-
casionally be somewhat malleable. At one time, on trying the iron, to my
great surprise, I found the iron would forge well, and it was pronounced as
good as any charcoal forge iron. I had a piece of this iron forged into a bar
four feet long and three-eighths of an inch square. I kept this bar for exhi-
bition, and was frequently asked for a small piece, which I readily gave un-
til it was reduced to a length of a few inches. This piece I have still in
my possession. It is the first piece of malleable iron or steel ever made by
the pneumatic process. The variability of results in the working of my ex-
perimental furnace was then a mystery which is now explained. An anal-
ysis having since been made of all the ore deposits of Suwannee furnace
they were found to embrace cold-short, red-short, and neutral ores. Some
of the deposits showed a large percentage of manganese.

I now decided that, if I could not succeed in making malleable iron, I
could turn my invention to practical account by putting up a furnace of suf-
ficient capacity to supply our forge with refined or run-out metal, and at the
same time continue my experiments as before. The difficulty here was in
my blast. The furnace engine, though large and powerful, would not give
over 5 pounds' pressure to the square inch. To overcome this difficulty I
built a converting vessel and placed it in the pig-bed convenient to the tap-
ping-hole of the hearth. This furnace was circular, built of boiler-plate
iron, was about 5 feet high and 18 inches inside diameter ; and, instead of
blowing up through the bottom, the blast was applied to the sides, above
the bottom, through four three-quarter-inch tuyeres. Experience soon
proved that a single tuyere, an inch in diameter, answered my purpose
; best. In this vessel I could refine fifteen hundredweight of metal in from
five to ten minutes. Should the blast prove weak, as was often the case,
the tuyeres could be snuffed in the same way as in a finery fire. In this
way a heavy charge could be worked with a weak blast. This furnace had
an opening in the side, about nine inches square, three feet from the bot-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 399

torn, to run in the metal ; also a tap-hole to let out the metal into a set of
iron moulds such as are used about finery fires. This furnace was found to
answer a valuable purpose, supplying a cheap method of making run-out
metal, and, after trying it a few days, we entirely dispensed with the old
and troublesome run-out fires.

Our blooms were in high repute, and were almost entirely used for
making boiler plates, so that many steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers were using boilers made of iron treated by this process some years
before it was brought out in England. My process was known to every
iron-maker in the Cumberland river iron district as Kellyj air-boiling proc-
ess. The reason why I did not apply for a patent for it sooner than I did
was that I flattered myself I would soon make it the successful process I at
first endeavored to achieve, namely, a process for making malleable iron
and steel. In 1857 I applied for a patent, as soon as I heard that other men
were following the same line of experiments in England ; and, although
Mr. Bessemer was a few days before me in obtaining a patent, I was grant-
ed an interference, and the case was heard by the Commissioner of Patents,
who decided that I was the first inventor of this process, now known as the
Bessemer process, and a patent was granted me over Mr. Bessemer.

It will be seen that Mr. Kelly claims for himself the dis-
covery of the pneumatic principle of the Bessemer process
several years before it dawned upon the mind of Mr. Besse-
mer. The validity of this claim can not be impeached. But
it must also be said that Mr. Bessemer, with the aid of Mr.
Mushet, successfully employed this principle in the produc-
tion of steel and that Mr. Kelly did not. The Kelly process
produced refined iron of good quality. Furthermore, the ma-
chinery with which Mr. Kelly operated his process was not
calculated to produce rapidly or at all large masses of even
refined iron ; whereas Mr. Bessemer's machinery was successful
after it was perfected in producing steel in large quantities
and with great rapidity.

Mr. Kelly claimed that his process, if successful in con-
nection with the limited operations of the refinery forge at-
tached to his blast furnace at Eddyville, would be applicable
also to the refining of iron for rolling mills, and would take
the place of puddling. Some experiments with this end in
view were made at the Cambria iron works, at Johnstown,
Pennsylvania, in 1857 and 1858, in a converting vessel simi-
lar to that now used in the Bessemer process. They were so
far successful that Mr. Kelly wrote from Johnstown on the
29th of June, 1858, that he had not " the slightest difficulty
in converting crude pig iron into refined plate metal by blow-

400 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ing into it for about fifteen to twenty-five minutes." These
experiments were not, however, continued. Mr. Robert W.
Hunt, in his History of the Bessemer Manufacture in America,
read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers in
1876, says that at Johnstown Mr. Kelly " met with the usual
number of encouraging failures." The converting vessel used
by Mr. Kelly at Johnstown was built by himself. Mr. Hunt
says that it was " the first Bessemer converter ever erected in
America." We give this honor to the Eddyville converter.

Mr. Bessemer's process having failed in 1855 and 1856
to produce any successful result in the manufacture of steel,
Robert F. Mushet, then of the Forest steel works, and late of
Cheltenham, England, on the 22d of September, 1856, took
out a patent for his process of adding to melted cast iron,
which had been decarburized and desiliconized by a pneu-
matic blast, a melted triple compound of iron, carbon, and
manganese, of which compound spiegeleisen was the cheap-
est and most convenient form. The addition of from one to
five per cent, of this compound to the cast iron mentioned at
once overcame the obstacle which had been fatal to the suc-
cess of Mr. Bessemer's invention. Mr. Bessemer had decar-
burized and desiliconized melted cast iron, but he had not
(been able to retain or restore the small quantity of carbon
• that was necessary to produce steel, and in the oxygen of
his powerful blast he had given to the contents of his con-
verter an element which prevented the production of even
good iron. Mr. Mushet's invention regulated the supply of
carbon and eliminated the oxygen. It must be added that,
even with the assistance of Mr. Mushet's invention, only pig
iron which is practically free from phosphorus was found to
be adapted to the Bessemer process as it was originally em-
ployed. The basis modification of the Bessemer process, an
invention of later years, permits the use of pig iron that is
high in phosphorus.

Early in 1857, pending the publication of Mr. Mushet's
patent, and during the erection for him of a blowing appara-
tus and small converter, provided by the late Samuel Holden
Blackwell, of Dudley, Mr. Mushet obtained from the Ebbw
Vale Iron Company a supply of Bessemerized hematite cast
iron. This he melted in crucible-steel melting pots, adding

IRON IN ALL AGES. 401

to the forty-four pounds' charge of each pot, when melted,
two pounds of melted spiegeleisen. From this mixture in-
gots of from 500 to 800 pounds were cast, and one of these
ingots was rolled at the Ebbw Vale works into a double- /
headed rail, which was sent to Derby railway station, on the
Midland Railroad, to be laid down there at a place where
iron rails had sometimes to be renewed within three_months.
This was early in 1857. Sixteen years afterwards, in June,
1873, the rail referred to .was taken out. This was the first
Bessemer steel rail ever laid doivn. During its lifetime about
1,250,000 trains and a like number of detached engines and
tenders passed over it.

Having obtained the blowing apparatus and converter
already mentioned Mr. Mushet was enabled in 1857 to cast
small ingots of tool steel by the direct Bessemer process with
the addition of spiegeleisen by his own process. The first
charge of Bessemer steel ever made with the addition of spie-
geleisen was tapped from the small converter at Mr. Mush-
et's Forest steel works by a young workman, William Phelps.
Soon afterwards Bessemer steel was produced in England in
commercial quantities by Mr. Bessemer and his business as-
sociates.

At the international meeting of the Iron and Steel Insti-
tute of Great Britain, the Verein deutseher Eisenhilttenleute, and
the American Institute of Mining Engineers, held in the
hall of the Carnegie Library in Allegheny City, Pennsylva-
nia, in October, 1890, Sir James Kitson, president of the
British Institute, delivered the opening address. In his re-
marks Sir James said that Sir Henry Bessemer had prepar-
ed, at his request, an account of his discovery of the proc-
ess of manufacturing Bessemer steel. A letter in Sir Henry
Bessemer's own handwriting was then read. The letter is
dated at Denmark Hill, September 10, 1890, and is addressed
to Sir James Kitson. As a history of the successive steps
by which Sir Henry's great invention was developed and
perfected it is very disappointing. We look in vain, for in-
stance, in its elaborate and detailed statements for any rec-
ognition whatever of Mr. Mushet's invaluable aid in perfect-
ing the Bessemer process ; even Mr. Mushet's name is not
mentioned.

402 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Mr. Bessemer's first public account of his invention was
read by him at the annual meeting of the British Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science, held at Cheltenham,
in August, 1856. It was entitled : " On the Manufacture of
Malleable Iron and Steel without Fuel." His first English
patent in connection with his great invention was granted
on October 17, 1855. The paper read at Cheltenham in 1856
is clear and satisfactory.

Mr. Mushet's English patent for the use of spiegeleisen as
a recarhurjzer was permitted to lapse because of his poverty
and other causes which he could not control and before he
had received any pecuniary benefit from his invention. Mr.
Mushet says of this turning point in his life : " So my proc-
ess became public property, and Mr. Bessemer had a perfect
right to make use of it, and his prosperity dated from that
period." Mr. Bessemer afterwards recognized his indebtedness
to Mr. Mushet's invention by allowing him an annuity of
£300, and the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain in
1876 awarded to him the Bessemer gold medal for that year
in recognition of the great value of his invention. Mr. Bes-
semer's profits from his own invention have been enormous.
In 1879 Mr. Jeans said that "from first to last Bessemer's
patents have brought him royalties to the value of over
£1,057,000." Mr. Jeans also gives some interesting particu-
lars concerning the profits of the first company that was or-
ganized in England to work the Bessemer process. Mr. Bes-
semer was the projector of this company and a member of
it, his associates being his earlier partner, Mr. Robert Longs-
don, his brother-in-law, Mr. Allen, and William and John Gal-
loway of Manchester. The works were located at Sheffield.
Mr. Jeans' statement is as follows. It is confirmed in the
letter of Sir Henry Bessemer, dated September 10, 1890.

On the expiration of the fourteen years' term of partnership of this
firm, the works, which had been greatly increased from time to time, en-
tirely out of revenues, were sold by private contract for exactly twenty-four
times the amount of the whole subscribed capital, notwithstanding that the
firm had divided in profits during the partnership a sum equal to fifty-sev-
en times the gross capital, so that by the mere commercial working of the
process, apart from the patent, each of the five partners retired, after four-
teen years, from the Sheffield works with eighty-one times the amount of
his subscribed capital, or an average of nearly cent, per cent, every two
months — a result probably unprecedented in the annals of commerce.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 403 -

With the exception of the annuity and the gold medal
mentioned above Mr. Mushet's profits and honors from his
great invention have been inconsiderable. He lived and died
a poor man. In a monograph which he printed in 1883 in
advocacy of his own claims to recognition as an inventor of
the process which should rightly be called the Bessemer-
Mushet process he makes the following pathetic complaint
of the ingratitude of his countrymen.

My invention and Sir Henry Bessemer's have made a great mark in
the world, a very great mark indeed ; so great that I have sometimes
thought that the Iron and Steel Institute might have made me an honorary
member and the Eoyal Society an F. R. S., or that Her Gracious Majesty
might have revived my ancestors' title of knights banneret, which was for-
feited during the rebellion of Montrose. At all events the vast industry
of steel makers, including his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, who gets
£12,000 per annum out of my little process, might at least accord me a
vote of thanks for the wealth my invention has brought to them. I should
value any of these honors very much, es I have valued the gold medal so
kindly presented to me by the Iron and Steel Institute and Sir Henry Bes-
semer in 1876.

In looking back twenty-six years, to the time when Mr. Bessemer's
process and mine were made the subject of patents, I may observe that
the loss of my patent, through the inconceivable neglect of the trustees in
whose hands it was placed, left me without any share in the enormous
royalties reaped from the success of our joint processes. In consequence
of this the world, true to itself, has done its best to ignore me and my
process. The world shuns the man who does not get the money.

Like the majority of inventors, I have benefited others but not my-
self, and I have been very hardly dealt with, as much so, perhaps, as any
inventor has ever yet been; but I have accepted it all cheerfully and
without repining, though I have often felt sorry for those who, in their
dealings with me, forsook the paths of honor and integrity and took an
unworthy advantage of me.

Mr. C. I. Valentine, of the Moss Bay Iron Company, is the only mem-
ber of the iron trade from wrhom since the loss of my patent I ever re-
ceived either kindness or sympathy ; and Mr. Samuel Osborn, of the Clyde
Steel Works, is the only steel manufacturer who has dealt honorably and
kindly with me : and to both these gentlemen, and their respective firms,
I tender thus publicly my sincere thanks. I do not, of course, class Sir
Henry Bessemer as a steel manufacturer, but as an inventor, who has
called into successful activity a great many steel manufacturers. For what
he has kindly done for me I thank him also very much.

The British Government has conferred upon Mr. Besse-
mer the honor of knighthood in recognition of the value of
his invention of an official stamp, and he is now Sir Henry
Bessemer by virtue of that honor.

~ 404 THE MANUFACTURE OF

In 1858 Mr. Goran Fredrik Goransson, a Swedish iron-
master, was enabled by using pure manganesic Swedish pig
iron to produce Bessemer steel of excellent quality ivithout
adding spiegelpisen, the iron used being practically free from
phosphorus and sulphur but having the requisite percentage
of manganese. Except in rare instances, when pure manga-
nesic pig iron can be obtained, Mr. Mushet's process still con-
tinues to be absolutely essential to the manufacture of Besse-
mer steel. We give below Mr. Goransson's own account of
the important part taken by him in the development of the
Bessemer process, which account, in his own handwriting, is
now in our possession. This account was given to Professor
Richard Akerman, of Stockholm, who had at our request in
1879 addressed a letter to Mr. Goransson requesting a state-
ment of the facts which are of such great historical value.

PROFESSOR RICHARD AKERMAN, Stockholm.

DEAR SIR : In conformity to your friendly letter of the 2d instant I
will try to give you in English a short sketch of the difficulties I had in
commencing with the Bessemer method and how I at last overcame them.

My full name is Goran Fredrik Goransson. I bought part of the Swed-
ish Bessemer patent in June, 1857, after a conversation with, then, Mr. Hen-
ry Bessemer, and on his promise that he would arrange the necessary plant
and send over an engineer for starting the manufacture in accordance with
his patents.

In the autumn he sent over his plant, namely, a converter of his con-
struction and a steam blast engine constructed by Messrs. Galloway & Co.,
of Manchester, accompanied by an engineer for conducting the manufact-
ure. We started in November, but we soon found that the converter was
impracticable, difficult to handle, and giving no good result. We then con-
structed a fixed converter on the same principle as the small fixed vessel
which Mr. Bessemer used for his first experiments at Baxter House, in Lon-
don, but, according to Mr. Bessemer's advice, with two rows of tuyeres, six in
each row, the lower row at the bottom of the converter and the other some
inches above ; but the result was not good. Mr. Bessemer then advised us
to augment the pressure of the blast, and to effect this we took away the
upper tuyeres and used only the six below, each about five-eighths of an
inch in diameter, and we then sometimes succeeded, particularly during the
cold, dry, winter days, in getting malleable ingots, but very irregular and
generally full of slag. The engineer, not knowing anything more than my-
self, "then left the works.

We tried every possible means of augmenting the pressure of the blast
by reducing the diameter of the tuyeres and using smaller charges, as we
had reached the limit of the pressure which could be produced by the blast
engine, but all with less and less success, and, on the point of giving up the
experiments, I resolved, in spite of all advisers, to diminish the pressure and
instead use a larger quantity of air. For this purpose we put all the twelve

IRON IN ALL AGES. 405

tuyeres in one line at the bottom of the converter, and augmented the diam-
eter of them to seven-eighths of an inch, to see what change they would
produce. The result was astonishing. The temperature of the fluid steel was
very much raised, the slag came up on the top beautifully, the ingots turned
out perfectly even in temper, free from slag, and extremely malleable, more
so than any iron made on the old process. The first charge with the con-
verter so arranged was made on the 18th of July, 1858, and from that date
the Bessemer method can be regarded as started.

I sent fifteen tons of ingots to a firm in Sheffield and fifteen tons to
Messrs. Henry Bessemer & Co.'s works at the same place, and went over to
England in September to have them tried. I found then that Mr. Bessemer
had not succeeded, but had to granulate in water the steel he got from the
converter and afterwards remelt it in crucibles. As such a process could not
give any profit the friends who assisted him were losing all hope of success,
but they all came down to Sheffield to see my ingots tried before they final-
ly gave up this business. The Sheffield firm, thinking it their interest not
to forward the Bessemer method, got the whole lot burnt at the wash weld-
ing, but the fifteen tons hammered and tilted at Messrs. Henry Bessemer &
Co.'s works turned out to full satisfaction after having been tried for knives,
scissors, razors, other tools, and plates.

The result of these trials has led to the further improvement and to
the present extension of the Bessemer process, for which Mr. Bessemer and
others have done much, but Professor Viktor Eggertz's practical invention
to find out the percentage of carbon in the steel has overcome the great-
est difficulty then remaining. Faithfully Yours, G. F. GORANSSON.

SANDVIKENS JERNVERKS, AKTIE BOLAG, SANDVIKEN, November 6, 1879.

An important improvement upon the Bessemer process is
the work of two English chemists, Sidney Gilchrist Thomas
and Percy C. Gilchrist, both of London. It renders possi-
ble the use in the converter of cast iron which contains a
large percentage of phosphorus, no method of eliminating
from it this hostile element having previously been in use.
The first patent of Mr. Thomas, the principal inventor of this
successful method of dephosphorizing iron, is dated Novem-
ber 22, 1877, and relates to the application of a lime lining
to the Bessemer converter and to the use of lime in combina-
tion with its melted contents. The Thomas-Gilchrist process
is now employed with success in the manufacture of Besse-
mer steel in Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Bel-
gium, and Russia, but it has met with the greatest favor in
Germany. It has been introduced in this country in con-
nection with the Bessemer process, but only in a small way.

Mr. George J. Snelus, of England, claims to have solved
the problem of dephosphorization in the same way that
Thomas and Gilchrist solved it, and some time before their

406 THE MANUFACTURE OF

attention was turned to the subject. His invention was pat-
ented in 1872. A consolidation of his interests with those
of Thomas and Gilchrist was effected without difficulty.
Mr. Jacob Reese, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also claims pri-
ority over Messrs. Thomas and Gilchrist in the invention of
the basic process, and this claim was long a subject of con-
troversy in the United States. It rests upon patents which
/ were granted to Mr. Reese in this country in 1866. These
patents and the Thomas-Gilchrist patents were purchased in
1879 for this country by the Bessemer Steel Company Lim-
ited, but controversy concerning the exact scope and signifi-
cance of Mr. Reese's patents did not end until 1888, when the
ownership of all the patents for the United States was finally
vested in the company mentioned.

Mr. James Henderson, of New York city, made many in-
teresting experiments in the use of lime as a dephosphorizer
before Mr. Snelus had conceived that it could accomplish this
result. Mr. Henderson took out a patent in England for his
invention in 1870, and his process was used with satisfactory
results at Du Motay's experimental works in Belgium in the
summer of 1872. The pig iron which was dephosphorized
and converted was obtained at the Bowling works, in Eng-
land.

Colonel J. B. Kunkel, of Frederick county, Maryland, took
out letters-patent in the United States in 1876 for the elimi-
nation of phosphorus from pig iron by the use of magne-
sian limestone in the blast furnace. He also claimed that
by the use of this agent pig iron could be freed from phos-
phorus while being refined into iron or steel. No notable
results appear to have attended the granting of this patent.

The Clapp-Griffiths and Robert-Bessemer processes for the
manufacture of Bessemer steel are recent modifications of
the standard Bessemer process which need not be described
in these pages. They are in limited use in Europe and the
United States. Both are slow processes, and they are used
to secure special products. As in the standard process the
pneumatic principle is an essential adjunct of both these
minor processes. Neither process appears to be growing in
favor either in this country or in 'Europe. Nor have we
deemed it necessary to devote any part of our space to a

IRON IN ALL AGES. 407

consideration of the experiments about 1855 of Joseph Gil-
bert Martien, of Newark, New Jersey, in refining melted cast
iron by the use of a blast of cold air. They were not suc-
cessful in producing any practical results. They are inter-
esting simply because they show that Martien, as well as
Kelly, undertook to refine melted cast iron with a cold blast
before Bessemer set out to accomplish the same result. The
following letter from Mr. Martien to Messrs. Munn & Co., of
New York, the well-known patent agents, written in 1857, is •
of interest in this connection.

MESSRS. MUNN & Co., New York.

GENTLEMEN : Relative to the claims of William Kelly, of Lyon county,
Kentucky, and myself to certain improvements in the manufacture of iron
without the use of fuel, I take this occasion of informing you and the pub-
lic generally that agreeably to appointment for the examination of vari-
ous witnesses in the above case for priority of invention between myself
and Mr. Kelly I have found and have been made perfectly satisfied from
the ample testimony laid before me in the case that Mr. Kelly is hon-
estly the first and original inventor of the said process of manufacturing
iron without fuel. I find, moreover, that he has quietly been and is mak-
ing improvements and advancing with his invention in a very praise-
worthy manner, and of which the public will be put in possession in a
short time. I have therefore deemed it a duty that I owe to myself and
the original inventor to come out and publicly state the above facts and
thereby give publicity to the same, trusting he may receive the due
honour therefor and be richly rewarded for his genius.

, Respectfully, J. G. MARTIEN.

NEWARK, NEW JEESEY, May 29, 1857.

The establishment of the Bessemer steel industry in many
countries is justly regarded as constituting a much more
important revolution in the production and use of iron and
steel than had been created by any preceding influence or
combination of influences in any age of the world's history.
And yet this great industry did not for many years after it
was established in Europe attract the attention either on that
continent or on this which its importance deserved. In his
report on the Paris Exposition of 1867 the Hon. Abram S.
Hewitt said : " In view of the small amount of Bessemer steel
as yet produced in the United States we are struck in Europe
with surprise at the enormous provision made for its supply ;
and it is quite evident that the business is overdone, and,
contrary to all past experience, the inventor and the public
at large seem to have profited by its introduction at the ex-

408 THE MANUFACTURE OF

pense of the manufacturer." Since Mr. Hewitt's admirable
report was written how great has been the development in
Europe of an industry which was then " overdone," and how
great have been the profits of the European manufacturer
of Bessemer steel ! And for how many years after the ap-
pearance of Mr. Hewitt's report did the new industry liter-
ally languish in this country !

Although Bessemer steel is adapted to all purposes fof
which other steel is used, except perhaps the manufacture of
fine cutlery, its use in Europe has been mainly confined to the
production of railway bars, and its use in this country has
been even more narrowly limited to the same product. For
many years after the introduction of the Bessemer process in
the United States it was used to produce nothing but rails.
In both geographical divisions it is now widely used for
other purposes.

Robert Forester Mushet, without whose triple compound
of iron, carbon, and manganese the Bessemer process for mak-
ing steel could not have been successful, died at Cheltenham,
England, on January 29, 1891, in his 80th year. He was the
youngest son of the celebrated steelmaker, David Mushet,
and was born at Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, in 1811.
To his birth in the Forest Mr. Mushet owed his middle
name of Forester.

Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, to whom the chief credit is
undoubtedly due for the invention of the basic process by
which phosphorus is eliminated from pig iron, was born in
England in April, 1850, and died on February 1, 1885, in
his 35th year. In a biographical sketch of Mr. Thomas Mr.
George W. Maynard truly says : " It has rarely fallen to the
lot of one so young to add so much to the world's knowl-
edge and wealth as did Sidney Gilchrist Thomas."

IRON IN ALL AGES. 409

CHAPTER XLVI.
THE BESSEMER PROCESS IN THE UNITED STATES.

As EARLY as 1861 Captain E. B. Ward, of Detroit, and Z.
S* Durfee, of New Bedford, obtained control of the patents of
William Kelly, and in that year Mr. Durfee went to Europe
to study the Bessemer process. During his absence Captain
Ward invited Mr. William F. Durfee, also of New Bedford,
and a cousin of Z. S. Durfee, to erect an experimental plant
at Wyandotte, Michigan, for the manufacture of pneumatic
steel, and this work was undertaken in the latter half of 1862.

In May, 1863, Daniel J. Morrell, of Johnstown, and Will-
iam M. Lyon and James Park, Jr., of Pittsburgh, having be-
come partners of Captain Ward and Z. S. Durfee in the con-
trol of the patents of Mr. Kelly, the Kelly Pneumatic Process
Company was organized, Mr. Kelly retaining an interest in
any profits which might accrue to the company. It was re-
solved to complete the experimental works already under- *
taken, and also to acquire the patent in this country of Mr.
Mushet for the use of spiegeleisen as a recarburizing agent.
The patent was granted in England in 1856 and in this
country in 1857. Mr. Z. S. Durfee accordingly went to Eng-
land to procure an assignment of Mr. Mushet's patent. The
latter purpose was effected on the 24th of October, 1864, upon
terms which admitted Mr. Mushet, Thomas D. Clare, and John
N. Brown, of England, to membership in the Kelly Process
Company. On the 5th of September, 1865, the company was
further enlarged by the admission to membership of Charles
P. Chouteau, James Harrison, and Felix Valle, all of St.
Louis. In September, 1864, William F. Durfee succeeded in /
making Bessemer steel at the experimental works at Wyan-
dotte. This was the first Bessemer steel made in the United States.
A part of the machinery used at the Wyandotte works was ,
an infringement upon Mr. Bessemer's American patents.

The control in this country of Mr. Bessemer's patents was
obtained in 1864 by John F. Winslow, John A. Griswold, and
Alexander L. Holley, all of Troy, New York, Mr. Holley vis-

410 THE MANUFACTURE OF

iting England in 1863 in the interest of himself and his asso-
ciates. In February, 1865, Mr. Holley was successful at Troy
in producing Bessemer steel at experimental works which he
had constructed for his company at that place in 1864. Mr.
Mushet's method of recarburizing melted iron in the con-
verter was used at Troy, and this was an infringement upon
his patent in this country.

As the Kelly Process Company could not achieve success
without Mr. Bessemer's machinery, and as the owners of the
right to use this machinery could not make steel without Mr.
Mushet's improvement, an arrangement was made by which
all of the American patents were consolidated early in 1866.
Under this arrangement the titles to the Kelly, Bessemer,
and Mushet patents were vested in Messrs. Winslow, Griswold,
and Morrell, the first two being owners of seven-tenths of
the property and Mr. Morrell holding the other three-tenths
in trust for the Kelly Process Company. This arrangement
continued until the formation of the Pneumatic Steel Asso-
ciation, a joint-stock company organized under the laws of
New York, in which the ownership of the consolidated patents
was vested. Z. S. Durfee acted as the secretary and treas-
urer of the company. The ownership of the patents was af-
terwards vested in the Bessemer Steel Company Limited, an
association organized in 1877 under the laws of Pennsylvania.
This association has been succeeded by the Steel Patents
Company, organized in 1890. All the original English and
American patents have expired. The Steel Patents Company,
however, owns other patents relating to the manufacture of
Bessemer steel which have not expired.

Mr. Wm. F. Durfee has described in the following words
the quality of the Bessemer steel first made at Wyandotte.

Various experiments were tried to test the ductility and working qual-
ities of the steel produced at Wyandotte. Some of the early product was
sent to Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and there rolled into tack plate and
cut into tacks which were pronounced to be very much superior to any
previously made of iron. In order to test the welding qualities of the
steel John Bishop, the blacksmith of the works, made a tobacco-pipe the
size of an ordinary clay pipe, the bowl and stem of which were welded
up of Wyandotte steel, and when perfectly polished there was no visible
evidence of a weld. I have now two jackknives and a razor made from
this steel ; the knives are rather soft, but the razor was used regularly
by my father for fifteen years to his entire satisfaction.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 411

The consolidation in 1866 of the various interests above
mentioned was followed by a large reduction in fees and roy-
alties, and thenceforward the business of making Bessemer
steel was rapidly extended in this country. The order in
which the pioneer Bessemer steel works of the United States
were established down to 1876 is presented below. From
1876 to 1881 no Bessemer steel works were established in
this country. Beginning with 1881 many new Bessemer
works have been built in the United States, but a list of
these works in these pages would occupy too much space.

1. Kelly Pneumatic Process Company, Wyandotte, Wayne county, Mich-
igan. One 2£-ton experimental converter. Made its first blow in Septem-
ber, 1864. Bought by Captain E. B. Ward in^lSGS and abandoned in 1869.
These experimental works were connected with an iron rolling mill.

2. Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel Company, Troy, New York.
Experimental Bessemer plant established by Winslow, Griswold & Holley.
One 2^-ton converter. Made its first blow February 15, 1865. Now two
10-ton converters. Added to an iron rail mill.

3. Pennsylvania Steel Works, Pennsylvania Steel Company, Steelton,
Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. Two 7-ton converters. Made its first
blow in June, 1867. An entirely new works. Three 8-ton converters
added in 1881.

4. Freedom Iron and Steel Works, Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pennsyl-
vania. Two 5-ton converters. Made their first blow May 1, 1868. Added
to the works of the Freedom Iron Company. Failed in 1869 and Besse-
mer works dismantled ; most of the machinery was taken to Joliet, Illinois.

5. Cleveland Rolling Mill Company, Cleveland, Ohio. Two 6|-ton con-
verters. Made its first blow October 15, 1868. Now two 10-ton converters.
Added to an iron rail mill.

6. Cambria Iron and Steel Works, Cambria Iron Company, Johnstown,
Pennsylvania. Two 6-ton converters. Made its first blow July 10, 1871.
Added to an iron rail mill. Now two 11^-ton converters.

7. Union Steel Company, Chicago, Illinois. Two 6-ton converters.
Made its first blow July 26, 1871. Added to an iron rail mill. Now two
10-ton converters.

8. North Chicago Rolling Mill Company, Chicago, Illinois. Two 6-ton
converters. Made its first blow April 10, 1872. Added to an iron rail mill.

9. Joliet Steel Works, Joliet Steel Company, Joliet, Illinois. Two 8-ton
converters. Made its first blow January 26, 1873, and its first steel rail
March 15, 1873. An entirely new works.

10. Bethlehem Iron Company, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Two 7-ton
converters. Made its first blow October 4, 1873, and its first steel rail Oc- \
tober 18_^1873. Now four 7-ton converters. Added to an iroTFrafl mill.

11. Edgar Thomson Steel Works, Carnegie Brothers & Co. Limited,
Bessemer station, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. Two 7-ton converters.
Made their first blow August 25, 1875, and their first steel rail September 1,
1875. An entirely new works. Now four 15-ton converters.

412 THE MANUFACTURE OF

12. Lackawanna Iron and Steel Works, Lacka wanna Iron and Coal
Company, Scranton, Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania. Two 5-ton con-
verters. Made its first blow October 23, 1875, and its first steel rail De-
cember 29, 1875. Added to an iron rail mill. Now three 7-ton converters.

13. St. Louis Ore and Steel Company, St. Louis, Missouri. Two 7-ton
converters. Made its first blow September 1, 1876. Added to an iron rail
mill. These works have long been idle.

Mr. Robert W. Hunt informs us that the first conversion
made at Troy was from Crown Point charcoal pig iron, melt-
ed in a reverberatory furnace, and Mr. William F. Durfee in-
forms us that the first steel made at Wyandotte was converted
from Lake Superior charcoal pig iron, also melted in a rever-
beratory furnace, although on a number of subsequent occa-
sions the metal for conversion was taken directly to the con-
verter from the Eureka charcoal blast furnace.

It is supposed that the first attempt made in the world
to melt pig iron in a cupola for conversion into steel by
the Bessemer process was made by Mr. Z. S. Durfee at the
works at Wyandotte during the spring of 1865. This at-
tempt failed of success, owing to the small size of the cupola
and the length of time required to accumulate enough iron
in the traveling ladle for use in the converter ; but the pres-
ent general employment of the cupola whenever pig iron is
used for conversion into Bessemer steel is sufficient evidence
that the thought which prompted this first experiment had
a substantial and practical foundation. Mr. Hunt states that
on July 20, 1865, Mr. Holley successfully used the cupola at
Troy in connection with the Bessemer process. The English
practice at this time was to use the reverberatory furnace.

The first Bessemer steel rails ever made in this country
were rolled at the North Chicago rolling mill on the 24th of
May, 1865, from ingots made at the experimental steel works
at Wyandotte under the supervision of William F. Durfee,
superintendent. The rolls with which the steel rails were
rolled at the North Chicago rolling mill had been in use for
rolling iron rails. The steel rails came out sound and well-
shaped. Several of these rails were laid in the track of one
of the railroads running out of Chicago and were still in use
in 1875. The American Iron and Steel Association was in
session at Chicago at the time, and several of its members
witnessed the rolling of the rails.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 413

The following letter from Mr. O. W. Potter, of Chicago,
long president of the North Chicago Rolling Mill Company,
written to Mr. William F. Durfee in 1865, two days after the
rolling of the first American steel rails in that city, is of his-
torical value and worthy of preservation.

MY DEAR DURFEE : The meeting of the iron and steel men adjourned
yesterday to meet in Cleveland the fourth Wednesday in August. I regret
very much you could not have been here, particularly to see how well your
steel behaved, and you must allow me to congratulate you upon its entire
success, and I assure you I was but too proud for your sake that everything
we had to do with it proved so very successful. The hammer was altogether
too light -of course, and it took more time than it otherwise would to draw
the ingot down, yet all the pieces worked beautifully, and we have made
six good rails from the ingots sent over, and not one bad one in any re-
spect. The piece you sent over forged is no w^ lying in state at the Tremont
House, and is really a beautiful rail, and has been presented to the Sanitary
Fair by Captain Ward. We rolled three rails on Wednesday and three on
Thursday. At the first rolling only your cousin and George Fritz were pres-
ent ; at the rolling yesterday were Senator Howe, of Wisconsin ; B. F.
Jones, of Pittsburgh ; R. H. Lamborn, of Philadelphia ; Mr. Phillips, of Cin-
cinnati ; Mr. Swift, of Cincinnati ; Mr. Kennedy, of Cincinnati ; Mr. May>
of Milwaukee, and three ladies ; Mr. Scofield, of Milwaukee ; Mr. Fritz, of
Johnstown ; and Mr. Thomas, of Indianapolis, with four strangers. Every-
thing went so well I really wanted you to see some of the good of your la-
bors for so long a time and under such trying circumstances. You have
done what you set out to do, and done it well, and I am glad to congratu-
late you and rejoice with you, for I can appreciate some of your difficulties,
and wanted you to hear some of the praises bestowed upon your labors as
you richly deserve. I know this would make no sort of difference to you,
yet we all have vanity enough (especially in such cases as this) to feel grat-
ified at any little compliments we know we are entitled to, but I will not
tire you with any more, as your cousin [the late Z. S. Durfee] can tell you
all and more than I can write, but with kindest regards allow me to remain
Yours Most Obt., 0. W. POTTER.

OFFICE OF THE CHICAGO ROLLING MILL, CHICAGO, May 26, 1865.

The first steel rails ever rolled in the United States upon
order, in the way of regular business, were rolled by the Cam-
bria Iron Company, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in August,
1867^ from ingots made at the works of the Pennsylvania
Steel Company near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and by the
Spuyten Duyvil Rolling Mill Company, at Spuyten Duyvil,
New York, early in September of that year, from ingots made i
at the Bessemer steel works at Troy, New York, then owned
by Winslow & Griswold.

Important improvements upon Mr. Bessemer's machinery

414

THE MANUFACTURE OF

have been invented and patented by A. L. Holley, George
Fritz, Robert W. Hunt, William R. Jones, and other American
engineers. Of these improvements the most notable is the
Fritz blooming mill, which is in general use in this country
and in Europe. The largest number of improvements were
made by Mr. Holley. The inventive genius and rare me-
chanical skill of Mr. John Fritz, of the Bethlehem Iron Com-
pany, have also produced many valuable improvements which
were clearly patentable but have not been patented.

In the early stages of the Bessemer steel industry in this
country great difficulty was experienced in obtaining suitable
pig iron and also materials for the lining of the converters.
Large quantities of Bessemer pig iron were annually import-
ed. Our manufacturers were uncertain whether American
ores would make good Bessemer pig iron, and many failures
occurred in using domestic pig iron that was unsuited for
conversion into steel. The lack of skilled workmen was also
severely felt. All difficulties, however, have long been over-
come. It is now universally admitted that in the United
States this industry has been brought to a higher state of
perfection than it has attained in any other country. The
American Bessemer steel works have been constructed after
plans which are in the main greatly superior to those of
European works. The United States is now not only inde-
pendent of other countries for its supply of Bessemer pig
iron but it is also the largest producer of Bessemer pig iron
in the world.

Since 1867 the American Iron and Steel Association has
annually ascertained the production of Bessemer steel ingots
in the United States. It has been as follows, in net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1867

3000

1875

375 517

1883

1 654 627

1868

8,500

1876. . . .

525 996

1884

1 540 595

1869

12,000

1877

560 587

1885

1 701 762

1870

42,000

1878

732 296

1886

o JJ41 493

1871

45000

1879

928 972

1887

3 288 357

1872

120 108

1880

1 203 173

1888

2 812 500

1873

170,652

1881

1 539 157

1889

3 281 899

1874

191,933

1882.

1 696 450

1890

4 131 535

The Association has also ascertained as follows the pro-

IRON IN ALL AGES.

415

duction of Bessemer steel rails in the United States in net
tons since the commencement of their manufacture in this
country as a commercial product in 1867. The total pro-
duction of rails from 1867 to 1890 was 19,483,930 net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1867

2550

1 1875

290,863

1883

1 286 554

1868

7 225

i 1876

4r2,461

1884

1 116 621

1869

9 650

1877

432,169

1885

1 074 607

1870

34,000

1878

550,398

1886

1,763 667

1871 • ..

38,250

i 1879

683,964

1887

2,354,132

94,070

1880

954,460

1888

1,552,631

1873

199 015

1881

1 330 302

1889

1 691 264

1874

144,944

1882

1,438,155

1890

2,091,978

A comparison of the production of ingots and rails will
show approximately the quantity of Bessemer steel that has
annually been used in miscellaneous forms. Virtually all of
the Bessemer steel that has been produced in this country has
been used at home ; only a small quantity has been exported.

The following table shows in gross tons the production of
Bessemer steel ingots and Bessemer steel rails in the United
States and in Great Britain from 1877 to 1890.

Years.

United States— Gross tons,

Great Britain— Gross tons.

Ingots.

Rails.

Ingots.

Rails.

1877

500,524
653,773
829,439
1,074,262
1,374,247
1,514,687
1,477,345
1,375,531
1,519,430
2,269,190
2,936,033
2,511,161
2,930,204
3,688,871

385,865
491,427
610,682
852,196
1,187,770
1,284,067
1,148,709
996,983
959,471
1,574,703
2,101,904
1,386,277
1,510,057
1,867,837

750,000
807,527
834,511
1,044,382
1,441,719
1,673,649
1,553,380
1,299,676
1,304,127
1,570,520
2,089,403
2,032,794
2,140,791
2,014,843

508,400
622,390
520,231
732,910
1,023,740
1,235,785
1,097,174
784,968
706,583
730,343
1,021,847
979,083
943,048
1,019,606

1878

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

1886

1887

1888 .. .

1889

1890

The benefits which this country has derived from home-
made steel rails, which have long been cheaper than iron rails \ \
were ever sold, are so numerous and enter so largely into the / *
daily life of all our people that they have ceased to excite
comment, like the natural blessings of light, air, and water.
The wearing qualities of a steel rail being much superior

416 THE MANUFACTURE OF

to those of an iron rail it is capable of supporting a much
heavier weight of cars, locomotives, freight, and passengers,
and it permits trains to be moved at a much greater rate
of speed ; hence the carrying capacity of our railroads has
been greatly increased and the cost of operating them has
been greatly decreased. The life of a steel rail being much
longer than that of an iron rail the cost to our railroad
companies for renewals of track is many times less than if
iron rails were still used. The immense agricultural crops of
the country in the last twenty years never could have been
moved to either home or foreign markets if iron rails had
been continued in use; the attempt to transport them upon
iron rails would have so worn out the rails that the tracks
would constantly have been torn up for repairs, and this
would have resulted in a continual interruption to all traffic.
If our dependence for steel rails had been on foreign sources
of supply the cost of transportation resulting from the high
prices of foreign rails would have been so great that it would
not have been profitable to grow these immense crops ; in-
deed the prices of foreign rails would have been so high that
few railroads would have been built in the Western States
and Territories, and the marvelous development of that sec-
tion could not have taken place. Finally it may be said that,
but for our cheap home-made steel rails, flour and meat,
lumber and coal, and other heavy products could not have
| been cheaply distributed to consumers; the necessaries of
jllife would have been largely enhanced in price through the
high cost of transportation; and the whole country would
have had a much less rapid growth than it has experienced.

The following persons who were prominently identified
with the introduction of the Bessemer steel industry into this
cptfntry have passed to the other world.

John A. Griswold was born at Nassau, Rensselaer county,
New York, on November 14, 1818, and died at Troy, New
York, on October 31, 1872, aged almost 54 years.

George Fritz was born in Londonderry township, Ches-
ter county, Pennsylvania, on December 15, 1828, and died at
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on August 5, 1873, aged almost 45
years. For many years he was the chief engineer of the
Cambria iron wt>rks.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 417

Captain E. B. Ward was bom in Canada, of Vermont
parents, on December 25, 1811, and died suddenly at Detroit,
Michigan, on January 2, 1875, aged over 63 years.

Z. S. Durfee was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, on
April 22, 1831, and died at Providence, Rhode Island, on June
8, 1880, aged over 49 years.

Alexander L. Holley was born at Lakeville, Connecticut,
on July 20, 1832, and died at Brooklyn, New York, on Janu-
ary 29, 1882, aged nearly 50 years.

James Park, Jr., was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
on January 11, 1820, and died at Allegheny City, Pennsylva-
nia, on April 21, 1883, aged over 63 years.

Daniel J. Morrell was born in North Berwick,York county,
Maine, on August 8, 1821, and died at Johnstown, Pennsylva-
nia, on August 20, 1885, aged over 64 years. At the time of
his death Mr. Morrell was the president of the American Iron
and Steel Association.

Thomas M. Carnegie, one of the founders of the Edgar
Thomson steel works, was born at Dunfermline, Scotland, on
October 2, 1844, and died at Homewood, near Pittsburgh, on

«,ober 19, 1886, aged over 42 years.
William Kelly, the American inventor of the pneumatic
process for making steel, was born at Pittsburgh on August
21, 1811, of Irish parentage, and died at Louisville, Kentucky,
on February 11, 1888, in his 77th year.

Samuel M. Felton, president of the Pennsylvania Steel
Company, and one of its founders, was born at West New-
bury, Massachusetts, on July 17, 1809, and died at Philadel-
phia on January 24, 1889, in his 80th year.

William M. Lyon was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
on April 29, 1809, and died at Pittsburgh on July 3, 1889,
aged over 80 years.

Captain William R. Jones, general superintendent of the
Edgar Thomson steel works, was born at Hyde Park, (Scran-
ton,) Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on February 23, 1839,
and died at Braddock on September 28, 1889, in his 51st
year. He was fatally burned by the bursting of Furnace C.

The deaths of Henry Chisholm and Alfred Hunt, which
properly should be recorded in this connection, have already
been noticed in the Ohio and Pennsylvania chapters.

418 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XLVIL
THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN-HEARTH STEEL.

THE open-hearth process for the manufacture of steel, of
which the Siemens-Martin furnace is the most popular type,
consists in melting pig iron in a large dish-shaped vessel,
or reverberatory furnace, and afterwards decarburizing it by
adding wrought iron, steel scrap, or iron ore, a deficiency of
carbon being supplied, as in the Bessemer process, by the ap-
plication of spiegeleisen or ferro-manganese. The product is
steel, containing any percentage of carbon that may be de-
sired. The materials used are melted by the union in the
furnace of atmospheric air and combustible gases, affording
an intense heat. All of the heat employed is obtained by
the use of a regenerative gas furnace. The melted pig iron,
previous to receiving the decarburizing ingredients, is term-
ed a, bath. The quantity of steel which may be made at one
operation, or heat, ranges from five to thirty-five tons,
ing to the size of the furnace.

The open-hearth process, although capable of producing
as large masses of steel as the Bessemer process, is much
slower in its operation, but it possesses the advantage over its
rival that the melted mixture may be indefinitely kept in a
state of fusion until experiments with small portions deter-
mine the exact conditions necessary to produce a required
quality of steel. Another important distinction may be
noticed. While the cardinal features of both the Bessemer
and the open-hearth processes embrace strictly chemical op-
erations on a large scale, no direct manipulation of the con-
tents of the Bessemer converter or the open-hearth furnace
being necessary, there is this mechanical difference, that the
success of the former mainly rests upon the wonderful pow-
er and perfection of the machinery by which it is operated,
while the success of the latter mainly rests upon the appli-
ances for producing and storing up the gases used in creat-
ing combustion.

Both processes may be combined with already-existing

IRON IN ALL AGES. 419

iron rolling mills or crucible steel works, but the open-hearth
process can be most economically added to such establish-
ments, and this is one cause of its increasing popularity, al-
though, as already intimated, its productive capabilities are
much less than those of the Bessemer process. The- open-
hearth process is also especially adapted to the utilization of
the scrap steel and rail ends which accumulate at Bessemer
steel works, and very naturally, therefore, many open-hearth
furnaces have been built in connection with these works, both
in Europe and in the United States. Another advantage of
this process is its ready adaptation to the remelting of worn-
out steel rails for the production of steel in other forms. A
popular use of the open-hearth process in both Europe and
America is the production of steel plates for boilers and fire-
boxes. On both continents open-hearth steel is also largely
used as a substitute for iron in shipbuilding and bridge-
building. It is also rapidly coming into use in all countries
in the manufacture of all kinds of tools, and generally as a
competitor of wrought iron and other kinds of steel.

The importance of the two processes which have been
mentioned, and the extent of the revolution they have ef-
fected, may be inferred from the fact that they have united-
ly increased the world's production of steel at least one hun-
dred fold in the last thirty-five years.

Previous to 1856, the same year in which Mr. Bessemer
obtained his most important patent, (February 12, 1856,) Dr.
Charles William Siemens, in conjunction with his brother,
Frederick Siemens, both of whom were natives of Hanover,
in Germany, but at the time were citizens of England and
residents of London, devoted his inventive genius to the con-
struction of a gas furnace for the manufacture of iron, steel,
glass, and other products which require a high and uniform
heat. These gentlemen were in that year successful in per-
fecting the Siemens regenerative gas furnace, which has since
been widely introduced in Europe and in this country, and
without which no open-hearth steel can be made. The first
patent in connection with this invention was granted in 1856
to Frederick Siemens alone.

As early as 1861 Dr. Siemens experimented with the re-
generative furnace in the production of cast steel in a rever-

420 THE MANUFACTURE OF

beratory furnace, or open-hearth, for which application of the
regenerative furnace he obtained a patent. He subsequently
encountered great practical difficulties in establishing his
process of making steel, efforts to accomplish this result be-
ing made in 1862 at Tow Law and in 1863 and 1864 at Bar-
row and Fourchambault, the first two places being in Eng-
land and the last place being in France.

In 1864 Messrs. Emile and Pierre Martin, of the Sireuil
works, in France, erected with the assistance of Dr. Siemens
one of the Siemens regenerative gas furnaces to melt steel in
an open-hearth, or reverberatory furnace, of their own con-
struction. In this furnace they produced cast steel of good
quality and various tempers, and at the Paris Exposition of
1867 their product secured for them a gold medal. Previous
to this time and subsequently the Messrs. Martin obtained
patents for various inventions which were applicable to the
manufacture of steel by the Siemens regenerative furnace.
Their principal patent, describing the combined process of
decarburization and recarburization, was obtained in France
in 1865.

Dr. Siemens claims, in a letter which is now before us,
that both at Tow Law and Fourchambault cast steel had
been produced from pig iron, spiegeleisen, and scrap iron
upon an open-hearth which had been especially constructed
by himself for that purpose previous to the Messrs. Martin's
connection with the process. The furnace at Tow Law was a
small one, and several such furnaces were at work there a
few years ago in the manner originally designed by Dr. Sie-
mens. In 1865 Dr. Siemens commenced the erection at Bir-
mingham, in England, of steel works of his own, in which
the regenerative furnace should be used in producing steel.
These works, which were completed in 1867, have produced
satisfactory results.

The Messrs. Martin devoted their efforts to the production
of steel by the use of wrought iron and steel scrap and also
iron ore as decarburizers in a bath of pig iron, while the ef-
forts of Dr. Siemens were more especially directed to the pro-
duction of steel by the use of iron ore alone as a decarbur-
izer in a bath of pig iron, the ore being either in the raw
state or in a more or less reduced condition. Until recently

IRON IN ALL AGES. 421

the " pig and ore " method was generally employed in Great
Britain. The " pig and scrap " method is chiefly used on the
Continent and in this country. In Great Britain a combina-
tion of both methods is to-day in use. Under an agreement
between the Messrs. Martin and Dr. Siemens the open-hearth
process as developed by them was called the Martin-Siemens
process on the Continent and the Siemens-Martin process in
Great Britain. In this country this process is uniformly
styled the Siemens-Martin process. The credit of introduc-
ing the " pig and scrap " method into this country is due to
the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, of New York, who was favorably
impressed with it when visiting the Paris Exposition in 1867
as a commissioner of the United States. At his request Mr.
Frederick J. Slade, his assistant, went to Sireuil to study the
process that it might be put into practice in this country.

Dr. Siemens and the Messrs. Martin obtained patents in
this country for the use of their respective processes for man-
ufacturing steel, and Dr. Siemens also obtained American pat-
ents for the Siemens gas furnace. The validity of the Mar-
tin patents in this country was never sustained by the courts.

The open-hearth process in the manufacture of steel did
not originate with either Dr. Siemens or the Martins, having
been proposed and experimented with by various other in-
ventors prior to their connection with it, among whom Jo-
siah Marshall Heath was most prominent as early as 1845,
but it is entirely just to add that it was not made a success
until the great heat supplied by the Siemens regenerative
gas furnace was applied to it.

In the conversion into steel of the raw materials used in
the open-hearth process the invention of Mr. Mushet, describ-
ed in the preceding chapter, is indispensable. The dephos-
phorizing process of Messrs. Thomas and Gilchrist is also
applicable to the manufacture of steel in the open-hearth
when the materials to be used contain a large percentage of
phosphorus.

On the 1st of December, 1862, Park, McCurdy & Co., of
Pittsburgh, sent Lewis Powe, the manager of their copper
works, to England to study- the manufacture of tinplates.
While there he visited Birmingham and saw a Siemens gas
furnace and procured one of the Siemens pamphlets contain-

422 THE MANUFACTURE OF

ing a full description of it. On his return home he called
the attention of Mr. James Park, Jr., to the merits of the
furnace. Immediately after July 4, 1863, the erection of a
Siemens gas furnace was commenced at the copper works.
This furnace was erected for the purpose of melting and re-
fining copper, and was completed on the 14th of August, 1863.
It was constructed after the drawings contained in the Sie-
mens pamphlet and worked well. In the fall of 1863 Mr.
Powe revisited England, and while there had an interview
with Dr. Siemens. Soon afterwards the firm of Park, Broth-
er & Co. built a Siemens furnace to heat steel, but it was not
a success. In 1864 James B. Lyon & Co., of Pittsburgh, built
a Siemens gas furnace for making glass. The enterprise,
however, although mechanically successful, met with an ac-
cident which suddenly brought it to an end. This furnace
was also constructed after published designs. The introduc-
tion into this country of the Siemens furnace by each of the
above-named firms was accomplished in an irregular manner,
without first obtaining licenses from Dr. Siemens.

The first Siemens gas furnace that was regularly intro-
duced into this country for any purpose was built by John
A. Griswold & Co., at Troy, New York, and used as a heating
furnace in their rolling mill, the license having been granted
on the 18th of September, 1867. The next gas furnace that
was regularly introduced was used as a heating furnace by
the Nashua Iron and Steel Company, of New Hampshire,
the license for which was granted on the 26th of September,
1867. The next furnace that was regularly introduced was
built by Anderson & Woods, of Pittsburgh, for melting steel
in pots, the license for which was dated in November, 1867.
About 1869 the owners of the Lenox plate-glass works, in
Massachusetts, also built a Siemens gas furnace. All of these
furnaces gave satisfaction.

The first open-hearth furnace introduced into this country
for the manufacture of steel by the Siemens-Martin process
was built in 1868 by Frederick J. Slade for Cooper, Hewitt
& Co., owners of the works of the New Jersey Steel and Iron
Company, at Trenton, New Jersey. The building of this fur-
nace was commenced in the spring of 1868, and in December
of the same year it was successfully put in operation.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 423

The Pernot furnace is a modification of the open-hearth
process which has been introduced into the United States
from France, but, while producing good steel, it is not likely
to grow in favor because of the great trouble and expense,
which are necessary to keep it in working order. The Pon-
sard furnace is another modification, but it has not been ex-
perimented with in this country and is not likely to be.

The first successful application in this country of the
Siemens regenerative gas furnace to the puddling of iron was
made under the direction of William F. Durfee at the roll-
ing mill of the American Silver Steel Company, at Bridge-
port, Connecticut, in 1869. Prior to this event an unsuccess-
ful attempt was made to accomplish the same result at the
Eagle rolling mill of James Wood & Co., on Saw Mill run,
near Pittsburgh.

Experimental works were erected at Pittsburgh in 1877
by Park, Brother & Co., in conjunction with Miller, Metcalf
& Parkin, for the manufacture of refined iron directly from
the ore by a process invented by Dr. Siemens and success-
fully tested by him at his experimental works at Towcester,
England. The process embodies the application of the Sie-
mens gas furnace. The experiment was abandoned in 1879,
the results not being satisfactory. The same process was
subsequently applied at Tyrone Forges, in Pennsylvania, by
Anderson & Co., of Pittsburgh. In 1881 Robert J. Anderson
and his associates, under the name of the Siemens-Anderson
Steel Company, built extensive works of the same character
at Pittsburgh. Neither the enterprise at Tyrone Forges nor
the last-mentioned enterprise at Pittsburgh was long in op-
eration. Other processes for the manufacture of iron or steel
directly from the ore have been tried in this country and
have commended themselves more or less to popular favor,
all being used in connection with the open-hearth furnace.
The Adams direct process has been in use at Indianapolis,
Indiana, and at Pittsburgh. Some preparations have been
made to introduce it at other places. The Carbon Iron Com-
pany has in successful operation at Pittsburgh another direct
process ; and at Brewster, in Putnam county, New York, the
Conley-Lancaster direct process has attracted some attention.

In an official report by Dr. Wm. M. Sweet, special agent

424 THE MANUFACTURE OF

for the collection of the statistics of iron and steel in the
census year 1890, dated on October 31, 1890, we find the fol-
lowing statement concerning the manufacture of basic open-
hearth steel in the United States.

The first basic steel made in the United States was produced experi-
mentally at Steelton, Pennsylvania, by the Pennsylvania Steel Company,
on May 24, 1884, in a Bessemer converter. The beginning of the manu-
facture of basic steel in this country as a commercial product, however,
dates from 1888, on the 28th of March of which year the first basic open-
hearth steel was produced at the Homestead steel works of Carnegie,
Phipps & Company Limited, at Homestead, near Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania. Since that date the manufacture of basic open-hearth steel has
been continued at these works, and during 1890 this firm commenced the
erection of eight additional open-hearth furnaces for the manufacture of
basic steel, of which number four are now in operation and the remain-
ing four furnaces are expected to be ready for working in a short time.
When completed these works will contain 16 open-hearth furnaces pre-
pared to manufacture basic steel. The manufacture of basic steel is now
also regularly carried on at the Steelton works of the Pennsylvania Steel
Company, wrhere a combination of the Bessemer and open-hearth proc-
esses is used. During 1890 the Henderson Steel and Manufacturing
Company, at Birmingham, Alabama, produced steel experimentally by the
basic process. Since the close of the census year the Southern Iron
Company has successfully commenced the manufacture of basic open-
hearth steel at its works at Chattanooga, Tennessee, [the exact date of
this event being September 15, 1890.] The Pottstown Iron Company, at
Pottstown, Pennsylvania, has also produced steel by the basic process.

The total production of basic steel in the United States during the
census year 1890 [ending on June 30, 1890,] amounted to 62,173 tons of
2,000 pounds, nearly all of which was made by the basic open-hearth
method, a small part being produced by the duplex process, a combina-
tion of the Bessemer and open-hearth methods.

The production of basic steel by the open-hearth and du-
plex processes in the calendar year 1890 probably amount-
ed to about 90,000 net tons, or over one-seventh of the open-
hearth production of the year. On August 24, 1891, basic
steel was successfully produced in the Bessemer converter
of the Southern Iron Company, at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
This was the first basic Bessemer steel produced in the South.

The production of open-hearth steel in the United States
in 1870 was only 1,500 net tons, and in 1873 it was only 3,500
tons. The production in the census year 1880 was 84,302 net
tons. Only 9,105 tons of rails were made. At the close of
the census year 1880 there were 37 completed open-hearth
furnaces in the United States. Since 1884 the production of

IRON IN ALL AGES.

425

open-hearth steel has steadily increased, amounting in 1890 to
574,820 net tons. Only 4,018 tons of rails were made, nearly
all in California. The total number of completed open-hearth
steel works in the United States at the close of 1890 was 62.

Our open-hearth steel industry is already an important
factor in supplying the domestic demand for steel for all
purposes for which Bessemer steel and the ordinary qualities
of crucible steel may be used. This industry is destined to
be still further developed in the immediate future.

The following table shows in net tons the production of
open-hearth steel in the United States from 1870 to 1890.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

'
! Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1870

1 500

1877

25 031

1884

131 617

1871

2,000

1878...

36,126

1885

149,381

1872

3 000

1879

56 290

1886

245 °50

1873

3 500

1880

| 112 953

1887

360 717

1874

7 000

1881

j 146 946

1888

352 036

1875

9 050

1882

160 549

1889

419 488

1876

21 490

1883

i 133 679

1890

574 820

Great Britain is the largest producer of open-hearth steel
in the world, and in this branch of the steel industry the
United States is still a long distance behind its great iron
and steel rival. Only a small part of Great Britain's annual
production is made by the basic process. The following table
gives in gross tons the production of open-hearth steel in
Great Britain from 1879 to 1890.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

1879

175,000

1883

455500

1887

981 104

1880

251,000

1884

475250

1888

1 292 742

1881

338,000

1885

583 918

1889

1 429 169

1882

436,000

1886

694150

1890

1,564,200

The distinguished scientist, Dr. Charles William Siemens,
died suddenly at London, on November 20, 1883, of rupture
of the heart, produced by a fall in Park Lane. He was born
at Lenthe, in Hanover, on the 4th of April, 1823, and was
consequently in his 61st year at the time of his death. In
April of the year in which he died the honor of knighthood
was conferred upon him for his distinguished services as a
scientist. He was thereafter known as Sir William Siemens.

426 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XLVIII.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF IRON RAILS IN THE
UNITED STATES.

THE influence of railroads upon the development of the
iron and steel industries of the United States has been so
great that we may appropriately present in this chapter the
leading facts connected with the laying of the first rails upon
American railroads and with the manufacture of the first
American rails.

The first railroads in the United States were built to
haul gravel, stone, mineral coal, and other heavy materials,
and were all short, the longest not exceeding a few miles in
length. Strictly speaking they were tramroads and not rail-
roads. One of these was built on Beacon Hill, in Boston, by
Silas Whitney, in 1807 ; another by Thomas Leiper, in Dela-
ware county, Pennsylvania, in 1809 ; and another at Bear
Creek furnace, in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, in 1818.
The tracks of these roads were composed of wooden rails.
Other short tramroads were built at various places early in
this century and were similarly constructed. In George W.
Smith's notes on Wood's Treatise on Railroads (1832) it is
stated that in 1816 the first railroad in the United States
on which self-acting inclined planes were used was " built
by Mr. Boggs," on the Kiskiminetas river, in Western Penn-
sylvania. This road was used to convey bituminous coal to
Andrew Boggs's salt works below Saltsburg.

Prior to 1809 Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, to whom
as much as to any other person the honor of inventing the
locomotive is due, urged in repeated addresses to the public
the construction of a passenger railroad from Philadelphia to
New York, and in that year he unsuccessfully attempted to
form a company for this purpose. In 1812 Colonel John Ste-
vens, of Hoboken, New Jersey, published a pamphlet recom-
mending the building of a passenger railroad from Albany
to Lake Erie, but his suggestions were not heeded. In the
History of Morris County, New Jersey, Mr. Halsey says : " As

IRON IN ALL AGES. 427

early as 1815 a railroad, either of wood or iron, was char-
tered from the Delaware river near Trenton to the Raritan
near New Brunswick. This was the first railroad chartered
in America. It was never built."

On April 7, 1823, the New York legislature chartered the
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company to construct a canal
and railroad from the coal fields of Pennsylvania to the
Hudson river at Rondout, in New York. The canal was
completed in 1828, but the railroad was not completed until
1829. The latter was 16 miles long, and extended from
Honesdale to Carbondale. It was built to carry coal.

In 1826 the Quincy Railroad, in Massachusetts, 4 miles
long, including branches, was built by Gridley Bryant and
Colonel T. H. Perkins to haul granite blocks from the Quincy
quarries to the port of Neponset. The rails of this road were
made of wood, but strapped with iron plates 3 inches wide
and \ of an inch thick. In 1827 the Mauch Chunk Railroad,
in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, 9 miles long, with 4 miles of
sidings, was built to connect the coal mines of the Lehigh
Coal and Navigation Company with the Lehigh river. Its
rails were made of wood and strapped with iron. Gordon,
in his Gazetteer of the State of Pennsylvania, says of this road :
" The railway is of timber, about 20 feet long, 4 inches by 5,
and set in cross-pieces made of cloven trees placed 3J feet
from each other and secured by wedges. The rail is shod on
the upper and inner edge with a flat bar of iron 2J inches
wide and •£ of an inch thick." In the Philadelphia Rail-
way World for May 8, 1875, Mr. Solomon W. Roberts says of
the Mauch Chunk road : " It was laid mostly on the turnpike,
and was a wooden track, with a gauge of 3 feet 7 inches, and
the wooden rails were strapped with common merchant bar
iron, the flat bars being about Ij- inches wide and £ of an
inch thick. The holes for the spikes were drilled by hand.
Although a great deal of bar iron of somewhat varying sizes
was bought for the purpose the supply fell short, and to
prevent delay in opening the road strips of hard wood were
spiked down in place of iron on about a mile and a half or
two miles of the road, as a temporary expedient."

Mr. Roberts relates that the Lehigh Coal and Navigation
Company made a short section of experimental railroad at its

428 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Mauch Chunk foundry in the summer of 1826. " The idea
then was to make a road with rails and chairs of cast iron,
like those in use at the coal mines in the North of England.
After casting a good many rails, each about four feet long, the
plan was given up on account of its being too expensive."

In 1826 the New York legislature granted a charter for
the construction of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, for
the carriage of freight and passengers from Albany to Sche-
nectady, a distance of 17 miles. Work on this road, however,
was not commenced until August, 1830. It was opened for
travel on September 12, 1831.

On February 28, 1827, the Maryland legislature granted a
charter for the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road, which was the first railroad in the United States that
was opened for the conveyance of passengers. Its construc-
tion was commenced on July 4, 1828, the venerable Charles
Carroll, of Carrollton, laying the corner-stone. In 1829 the
track was finished to Vinegar Hill, a distance of about 7
miles, and " cars were put upon it for the accommodation of
the officers and to gratify the curious by a ride." Mr. Poor,
in his Manual of the Railroads of tJie United States, says that
the road was opened for travel from Baltimore to Ellicott's
Mills, a distance of 13 miles, on May 24, 1830. The Washing-
ton branch was opened from Relay to Bladensburg on July
20, 1834, and to Washington City on August 25, 1834.

The next passenger railroad that was undertaken in the
United States was the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, in'
South Carolina, which was chartered on December 19, 1827.
Six miles of the road were completed in 1829, but they were
not opened to the public until December 6, 1830, when a lo-
comotive was placed on the track. The road was complet-
ed in September, 1833, a distance of 135 miles. At that time
it was the longest continuous line of railroad in the world.
The Columbia branch was opened on November 1, 1840, and
the Camden branch on June 26, 1848. We need not further
note the beginning of early American railroads.

The rails used on the Charleston and Hamburg and the
Mohawk and Hudson railroads were made of wood, with flat
bar iron nailed on their upper surface. A writer in Brown's
History of the First Locomotives in America says that the track

IRON IN ALL AGES. 429

of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad consisted of cedar cross-
pieces and of string-pieces of yellow pine " from 12 to 24 feet
long and 6 inches square, and slightly beveled on the top of
the upper side for the flange of the wheels, which was at that
time on the outside. On these string-pieces iron rails were
placed and securely nailed down with wrought-iron nails, 4
inches long. After several miles of this description of road
had been made long granite slabs were substituted for the
cedar cross-pieces and the yellow-pine stringers. Beyond
Vinegar Hill these huge blocks of this solid material could
be seen deposited along the track, and gangs of workmen
engaged in the various operations of dressing, drilling, lay-
ing, and affixing the iron." Brown says that " iron strips
were laid, for miles and miles, on stone curbs on the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad." Appletons' American Cyclopaedia
says that the iron used was i and f of an inch thick, and
from 2^ to 4J- inches wide, and that the heads of the spikes
which fastened it were countersunk in the iron.

Before the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had been built
to Point of Rocks in 1832 " wrought-iron rails of the English
mode," says Brown, had been laid down on a part of the line.
It had been found in practice that the strap rail would be-
come loosened from the wooden or stone stringer, and that
the ends of it, called " snakes' heads," were liable to be forced
by the wheels through the bottom of the cars, to the jeopardy
of the passengers. The English rails obviated this inconve-
nience and risk. Some account of these rails is here given.

About the time when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
was finished to Point of Rocks various patterns of heavy
rolled iron rails were in use in England. The first of these
to be used was the fish-bellied rail, which was invented by
John Birkinshaw, of the Bedlington iron works, and patented
in October, 1820, and which fitted into a cast-iron chair. A
thin wedge, or key, of wrought iron was driven between the
inside of the chair and the rail, to keep the latter firmly in
its place, and the operation of " driving keys " had to be re-
peated almost every day.

The BirkinsKaw~rail was used on the Stockton and Dar-
lington Railroad in England, which was opened in September,
1825, and was the first railroad in the world that was opened

430 THE MANUFACTURE OF

for general freight traffic and passenger travel. The greater
part of the Stockton and Darlington road, which was 37 miles
long, was laid with rolled rails of this pattern, weighing 28
pounds to the yard ; a small part of the line was laid with
fish-bellied cast-iron rails. The Liverpool and Manchester
Railroad, which was opened in September, 1830, and which
was the second railroad built in England for general business
in the transportation of freight and passengers, used rails
which were also of the Birkinshaw pattern. " The rails used
were made of forged iron, in lengths of 15 feet each, and
weighed 175 pounds each. At the distance of every 3 feet
the rail rests on blocks of stone. Into each block two holes,
6 inches deep and 1 inch in diameter, are drilled ; into these
are driven oak plugs, and the cast-iron chairs into which the
rails are fitted are spiked down to the plugs, forming a struct-
ure of great solidity." This road was about 31 miles long.

The Clarence rail was an English improvement on the
Birkinshaw rail ; it also rested in a chair, but it did not have
the fish-belly, its upper and lower surfaces being parallel to
each other. Rails of the Clarence pattern were used on the
Allegheny Portage Railroad in Pennsylvania, which was fin-
ished in 1833, and many of the stone blocks on which they
were laid can yet be seen in its abandoned bed. The Co-
lumbia and Philadelphia Railroad was opened on the 16th
of April, 1834. On a small part of this road flat rails were
laid, either directly on granite blocks or on wooden string-
pieces, but on the greater part of it Clarence rails were laid
on stone blocks. On the Boston and Lowell Railroad, which
was chartered in June, 1830, and completed in 1835, stone
cross-ties were at first laid, some of which wrere in use as late
as 1852. On one track of this road the fish-bellied Birkin-
shaw rail was used and on -the other the H rail was laid.
This rail, which rested in a chair, had a web, or flange, simi-
lar to that of the modern T rail. The H rail wras laid on
the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
It was 15 feet in length, weighed 40 pounds .to the yard, and
was laid on string-pieces of wood. Wooden cross-ties have
been substituted for stone blocks on all American railroads.

The flat rail which was first used on American railroads
continued in use for many years, notwithstanding the difli-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 431

culty experienced in keeping it in its place. At first the holes
for the spikes were drilled by hand. The flat rails that were
afterwards made were indented, or countersunk, at regular
distances in their passage through the rolls. The centre of
the countersunk surface was then punched through for the
admission of the spike. As late as 1837, when the Erie and
Kalamazoo Railroad was in course of construction from To-
ledo to Adrian, it was proposed to put down wooden rails of
oak studding 4 inches square, and to draw the cars by horses.
But wiser counsels prevailed, and by great exertions sufficient
funds were obtained to enable the management to iron the
road with flat rails f of an inch thick. In 1839 the first
railroad in Illinois, known as the Northern Cross, which now
forms a part of the Wabash system, was completed. The road
extended from Jacksonville to Meredosia, a distance of 24
miles ; it was built by the State and laid with flat iron. Mr.
Poor says : " It was not until 1850 that the longitudinal sill
and the flat rail were entirely removed from the Utica and
Schenectady Railroad, the most important link in the New
York Central line." Flat rails were in use on many other
railroads in this country after 1850, and may yet be seen on
some Southern railroads. They are also in use on street rail-
roads and on some mine roads.

The following extract from a New York newspaper, dated
May 30, 1844, shows the risk to which travelers were subject-
ed who journeyed on railroads the tracks of which were laid
with flat rails.

RAILROAD CASUALTY. — The cars on the railroad a short distance east of
Rome, New York, came in contact with a " snake head " on Saturday morn-
ing which threw several of the passenger cars and the mail car off the
track. The crush was tremendous, and the cars were torn to splinters,
though happily no lives were lost. Mr. Peter Van Wie was badly bruised
and some others slightly injured.

Cast-iron rails were made in this country in small quan-
tities during the early years of our railroad history, notwith-
standing the unfavorable experiment in their use at Mauch
Chunk which is noted by Mr. Roberts. Johnson, in his Notes
on the Use of Anthracite, published in 1841, records a series of
tests made in that year with rails for mine roads which were
cast in a foundry from pig iron made at the Pottsville fur-

432 THE MANUFACTURE OF

nace of William Lyman. These rails were 6 feet long and
were of various weights. It is particularly stated of one rail
which was tested that it was " intended to sustain locomo-
tives." The rails were bulbous at both the top and bottom,
like the double-headed, or H, rail now used in England, but
at each end, for about 3 inches along the base, they had
flanges for securing them to the cross-ties, which caused an
end view of them to resemble that of a modern. T rail.

Many years elapsed after the first railroad was built in
this country before any other than flat iron rails were made
in American rolling mills. Among the proposals to furnish
heavy rails for the Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad, re-
ceived in May, 1831, there were none for American rails, and
the whole quantity was purchased in England. It is neces-
sary to explain here that previous to the passage of the
tariff act of September 11, 1841, rails were admitted into the
United States free of duty when proof was furnished that
they had actually been laid on railroads and inclined planes.
On the passage of that act and the more comprehensive
tariff act of 1842 American capitalists began to prepare for
the manufacture of heavy rails.

Early in 1844 there were still no facilities in this country
for the manufacture of heavy iron rails to supply the wants
of the 4,185 miles of American railroad which existed at the
beginning of that year, and of a few hundred additional
miles which were then projected. In a memorial which was
laid before Congress in that year the Hon. John Tucker, the
president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com-
pany, and afterwards Assistant Secretary of War, made the
following declaration under date of May 4, 1844.

Immediately on the line of the road are rich mines of iron ore. Last
fall and winter it was generally known in that section of the State through
which the road passes, as well as on other portions of it, that this company
intended to lay a second track, and that about 8,300 tons of railroad iron
was wanted. Public proposals were issued for all the materials required,
except the iron. The iron was not included in these proposals for the sim-
ple reason that I knew that it could not be furnished in this country, but I
had interviews with several of the largest ironmasters, and freely express-
ed my desire to contract for American railroad iron, provided it could be
furnished at the time it was wanted. I received no proposition to deliver
the rolled bars. I inclose a copy of a letter from one of the largest iron-
mongers in the State, offering cast-iron rails, which, I presume you are

IRON IN ALL AGES. 433

aware, have not answered any good purpose. I also inclose a copy of my
answer, to which I have not received a reply. I unhesitatingly express my
conviction that the railroad iron needed by this company could not have
been obtained in this country, at the time they required it, at any price ;
and I am equally confident that there are no parties ready to contract to
deliver such iron for a long time to come. This company was therefore
compelled to import their iron.

The following is the correspondence referred to above
concerning the proposition to make cast-iron rails for the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.

PHILADELPHIA, November 7, 1843.

MR. TUCKER. DEAR SIR : Since my conversation with you, in relation
to substituting cast-iron rails for your new track of rails which you contem-
plate laying soon, I have concluded to propose to you that I should cast
eighteen bar-rails 15 feet long from the model in the Franklin Institute, as
a sample of the strength and durability of rails made from cast iron. The
price to be $30 per ton cash upon delivering at Broad street.

With respect, yours, CLEMENT B. GRUBB.
Direct Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

OFFICE OF THE PHILADELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD COMPANY, -i
PHILADELPHIA, November — ,1843. J

CLEMENT B. GRUBB, ESQ., Lancaster. DEAR SIR : I duly received your
communication of the 7th instant. This company is not disposed to make
any experiment with the cast-iron rails on their own account. But if you
choose to send the eighteen bars they shall be laid on the road; and if,
after a trial of six months, they are found to answer a good purpose the
company will pay you $30 per ton for the rails. If. they are not* suitable for
4he road they will then be delivered to you, the company merely incurring
the expense of laying down and taking up the rails.

Your obedient servant, JOHN TUCKER, President.

1 No reply to this letter was received. The 8,300 tons of
rails which were wanted by Mr. Tucker, and which he was
compelled to buy in England, were of the H pattern, then
very popular. The rails weighed 60 pounds to the yard and
cost £5 10s. per ton in England.

In a letter dated May 22, 1844, which formed part of the
above-mentioned memorial to Congress, Joseph E. Bloomfield
made the following statement.

There is no doubt of the fact that there are no establishments for the
manufacture of railroad iron in Pennsylvania prepared to produce a moiety
of the iron required for the railways actually commenced. Mr. Oakley, of
Brooklyn, made a statement, that at the time was combated and denied,
that he could furnish from one set of works 10,000 tons of railroad iron per
annum. This is so palpably incorrect that it needs no refutation. There
is no iron establishment of this kind in this country.

434 THE MANUFACTURE OF

On the 24th of April, 1844, th^ Hon. Edward Joy Morris,
a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, declared that " not
a ton of T rail had yet been made in this country."

The manufacture of heavy iron rails in this country was

Uommenced early in 1844 at the Mount Savage rolling mill,
n Alleghany county, Maryland, which was built in 1843 by
the Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company espe-
cially to roll these rails. The first rair rolled at this rolling
mill, and in honor of which the Franklin Institute of Phila-
delphia awarded a silver medal in October, 1844, (now in the
museum at Ince Blundell, Lancashire, England,) was an in-
verted U rail, known in Wales as the Evans patent, of the
Dowlais iron works, at Merthyr Tydvil. -It was intended to
be laid on a wooden longitudinal sill and to be fastened to it
by an iron wedge, keying under the sill, thus dispensing with
outside .fastenings. This rail weighed 42 pounds to the yard.
About 500 tons of rails of this pattern were rolled early in
1844 and laid in that year on a part of the road then being
built between Mount Savage and Cumberland, a distance of
nine miles. In that year rails weighing 50 pounds to the
yard were also rolled at the Mount Savage rolling mill for
the road leading from Fall River to Boston. These last rails
were T r.ails, and were ordered by Colonel Borden, of Fall
River. The foregoing information we have obtained from
Mr. Henry Thomas Weld, of Mount Savage. Mr. Stephen
S. Lee, of the old firm of Manning & Lee, of Baltimore, says
that in 1845 and 1846 the firm sold to Boston purchasers T
rails which were made at Mount Savage. The Mount Savage
rolling mill was still rolling rails as late as 1856, but was
dismantled in 1875, after having been abandoned for many
years. Mr. Weld tells us that U rails were in use in the sid-
ings of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad as late as
1869. We have a piece of an inverted U rail in our office.
The Montour rolling mill, at Danville, Pennsylvania, was
built in 1845 expressly to roll rails, and it is claimed that here
were rolled in October of that year the first T rails made in
the United States. The facts above presented give this hon-
or to the Mount Savage rolling mill. T-rail rolls were made
for the Montour rolling mill by Haywood & Snyder, pro-
prietors of the Colliery iron works at Pottsville, the work

IRON IN ALL AGES. 435

being done at their branch establishment at Danville. The
Boston iron works were started in January, 1824, to manufact-
ure cut nails, hoops, and tack plates, but they subsequently
rolled rails, and on the 6th of May, 1846, they rolled the first
T rails in Massachusetts, Ralph Crooker being superintend-
ent. In 1845 the rolling mill of Cooper & Hewitt was built
at Trenton, New Jersey, to roll heavy rails, and on the 19th
of June, 1846, their first T rail was rolled. About the 1st of
September, 1846, the New England Iron Company, at Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, commenced to roll T rails. The first
lot of these rails rolled by the company was delivered to the
Providence and Worcester Railroad on September 11, 1846.
T rails were rolled in November, 1846, at Phoenixville, Penn-
sylvania; in the fall of the same year at the Great Western
iron works at Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, and at the Lack-
awanna iron works at Scranton, Pennsylvania ; early in 1847
at the Bay State rolling mill, in Boston, then owned by
the Massachusetts Iron Company; in January, 1848, at the
Rough-and-Ready rolling mill at Danville, Pennsylvania ;
and in the same year at Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania. On
May 10, 1848, Manning & Lee, the agents of the Avalon iron
works, near Baltimore, Maryland, contracted to obtain at
these works for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
400 tons of U rails, to weigh 51 pounds to- the yard and to be
from 19 to 21 feet in length, the price to be $65 per gross ton,
delivered at Baltimore. These rails were made in 1848. All
of the T rails made at the mills above mentioned were roll-
ed with a base or flange similar to that of the present T rail.
Some of them did not differ greatly from the H rail, and
when laid rested, like it, in a chair. Indeed the H rail was
sometimes called the T rail. A few other mills rolled heavy
rails before 1850, but at the beginning of that year, owing to
the severity of foreign competition under the tariff of 1846,
only two out of fifteen rail mills in this country were in
operation.

In a letter dated December 26, 1849, the Hon. Abram S.
Hewitt described the state of our iron-rail industry at that
time in the following language : " Of fifteen rail mills only
two are in operation, doing partial work, and that only be-
cause their inland position secured them against foreign com-

436 THE MANUFACTURE OF

petition for the limited orders of neighboring railroads, and
when these are executed not a single rail mill will be at work
in the lanoV'

From A History of the Growth of the Steam Engine, by Rob-
ert H. Thurston, we learn that the T rail vwhich is now in gen-
eral use is an American invention. Professor Thurston says :
" Robert L. Stevens, the president and engineer of the Cam-
den and Amboy Railroad, and a distinguished son of Colonel
John Stevens, of Hoboken, was engaged, at the time of the
opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, in the
construction of the Camden and Amboy Railroad. It was
here that the first of the now standard form of T rail was
laid down. It was of malleable- iron. It was designed by
Mr. Stevens, and is known in the United States as the ' Ste-
vens ' rail. In Europe, where it was introduced some years
afterwards, it is sometimes called the ' Vignoles ' rail." This
name is derived from Charles B. Vignoles, an English rail-
road engineer, who visited the United States in 1817 and re-
mained here several years in the practice of his profession.
The first Vignoles rail appears to have had a wider base and
a shorter stem than the Stevens rail. (See Life of Charles
Blacker Vignoles, by his son, 1889, page 224.) Professor Thurs-
ton adds that a part of the track of the Camden and Am-
boy Railroad at Bordentown was laid down and opened for
business in 1831. T rails were laid on the whole line, which
crossed the State of New Jersey.

Through the courtesy of Professor Thurston we have been
furnished with a foe-simile of the circular issued by Mr. Ste-
vens in 1830, inviting proposals from British manufacturers
for supplying the Camden and Amboy Railroad with T rails.
It will be found in our report on iron and steel forming a
part of the tenth census (1880) of the United States. In this
circular Mr. Stevens specified that the rail which he desired
to have rolled should have a base, stem, and head like the
T rail of the present day, the rail to be 12 or 16 feet long,
and to be laid on cross-ties, but that it should have " projec-
tions on the lower flange at every two feet," where it would
rest on the ties.

The sides of the rails rolled for Mr. Stevens were made
straight, and without "the projections on the lower flange at

IRON IN ALL AGES. 437

every two feet" which were specified in his circular. These
projections were intended to serve the purposes of the chairs
then in use, by giving a broad base to the rail at its connec-
tion with the cross-ties. They were, of course, not necessary,
but that the rails were rolled without them was clearly not
in accordance with Mr. Stevens's original design. However,
he may truthfully be said to have invented the T rail. It
was the first heavy rail made which dispensed with chairs. .

Mr. Francis B. Stevens, of Hoboken, New Jersey, a neph-
ew of Robert L. Stevens, has supplied us in the following
letter with much valuable additional information concerning
the history of the T rail.

HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, May 31, 1881.

DEAR SIR : In answer to your letter of the 27th instant I will say that
I have always believed that Robert L. Stevens was the inventor of what is
called the T rail, and also of the method of fastening it by spikes, and I
have never known his right to the invention questioned.

The rail of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, on its opening, in
September, 1830, was of wrought iron, divided into fish-bellied sections,
each section being supported by a cast-iron chair, to which it was secured
by a wooden wedge. This form was derived from the old cast-iron fish-
bellied tram rail, cast in single sections, each about 36 inches long. This
wrought-iron rail was afterwards improved by making its bottom straight
uniformly throughout its length.

Mr. Stevens's invention consisted in adding the broad flange on the
bottom, with a base sufficient to carry the load, and shaped so that it could
be secured to the wood below it by spikes with hooked heads ; thus dis-
pensing with the cast-iron chair, and making the rail and its fastening such
as it now is in common use. In the year 1836 and frequently afterwards he
spoke to me about his invention of this rail, and told me that in London,
after unsuccessful applications elsewhere in England, shortly after the open-
ing of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, he had applied to Mr. Guest,
a member of Parliament, who had large rolling mills in Wales, to take a
contract to make his rail for the Camden and Amboy Railroad, of which he
was the chief engineer ; that Mr. Guest wished to take the contract, but
considered that it would be impracticable to roll the rail straight; that,
finally, Mr. Guest agreed to go to Wales with him and make a trial ; that
great difficulty was at first experienced, as the rails coming from the rolls
curled like snakes, and distorted in every imaginable way ; that, by perse-
verance, the rail was finally successfully rolled ; and that Mr. Guest took
the contract. The Camden and Amboy Railroad, laid with this rail, was
opened October 9, 1832, two years after the opening of the Liverpool and
Manchester Railroad. Of this I was a witness.

This rail, long known as the old Camden and Amboy rail, differed but
little, either in shape or proportions, from the T rail now in common use,
but weighed only 36 pounds to the yard. For the next six or eight years
after the opening of the Camden and Amboy Railroad this rail was but little

438 THE MANUFACTURE OF

•

used here or abroad, nearly all the roads built in the United States using
the flat iron bar, about 2} inches by f inch, nailed to wooden rails, and the
English continuing to use the chair and wedge.

My uncle always regretted that he had not patented his invention.
He mentioned to me, upwards of forty years ago, that when advised by his
friend, Mr. F. B. Ogden, the American consul at Liverpool, who was famil-
iar with the circumstances of his invention, to patent it, he found that it
was too late, and that his invention had become public property.

Yours Truly, FRANCIS B. STEVENS.

Smith, in his notes on Wood's Treatise on Railroads, thus
describes the T rail which was laid on the Camden and Am-
boy Railroad : " The rails are of rolled iron, 16 feet long, 2-J
inches wide on the top, 3J inches at the bottom, and 3£ deep ;
the neck half inch thick ; the weight is 209 pounds = 39T3g-
pounds per yard ; they are secured by clamps of iron, riveted
at the extremity of each bar. The rails are attached to the
stone blocks and sleepers by means of nails or pins, at the
sides, driven into wooden plugs; chairs are dispensed with."

The first 30-foot rails rolled in this country are claimed
to have been rolled at the Cambria iron works, at Johnstown,
in 1855. These rails were perfectly made, but there being no
demand for them they were used in the tracks of the Cam-
bria Iron Company. It is claimed that the first 30-foot rails
rolled in the country on order were rolled at the Montour
rolling mill, at Danville, in January, 1859, for the Sunbury
and Erie Railroad Company. The first 60-foot, or double-
length, rails rolled in this country were rolled by the Edgar
Thomson Steel Company, at Bessemer station, near Pitts-
burgh, in the fall of 1875, and were__of steel. In 1877 the
Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, at Scranton, commenc-
ed to roll 60-foot steel rails. At the Centennial Exhibition
at Philadelphia, in 1876, the Edgar Thomson Steel Company
exhibited a steel rail which at that time was the longest
steel rail that had ever been rolled. It was 120 feet long
and weighed 62 pounds to the yard.

As late as 1880 the T rail was not much used in Great
Britain. The pattern most in use in that country was the
double-headed, or H, rail, which is set in a cast-iron chair.
The bridge, or U, rail was in use on the Great Western Rail-
way and on some other British railroads. The Clarence rail
was used on the Great Eastern Railway, and perhaps on some

IRON IN ALL AGES. 439

other British railroads. In the United States the T rail is
now almost exclusively used, and its weight per yard is heav-
ier than formerly. It seems strange that this rail should not
have become generally popular in this country until after
1845, having been used as early as 1831. We may here men-
tion that the various patterns of rails which superseded the
flat rail were long known as edge rails.

The first locomotive ta run upon an American railroad
was the Stourbridge Lion. It was first used at Honesdale, in
Wayne county, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, August 8, 1829,
on the coal railroad of the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Company. The Stourbridge Lion was built in England and
weighed about six tons. Its use was not long continued be-
cause it was too heavy for the superstructure of a large part
of the road. The first locomotive built in the . United States
and used on a railroad wras the Tom Thumb, which was built
by Peter Cooper at Baltimore and successfully experimented
with on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in August, 1830.
The fuel used for this pioneer American locomotive was an- .
thracjte coal. The boiler was tubular, and for want of spe-
cially-constructed tubes Mr. Cooper used gun barrels. The
locomotive, which was also its own tender, did not weigh a
ton ; the boiler was about as large as a flour barrel. Strictly
speaking it was a working model, but it worked well and led
the way to the construction of more powerful locomotives.
Mr. Cooper was his own engineer. The first American loco-
motive that was built for actual service was the Best Friend
of Charleston, which was built at the West Point foundry, in
New York city, for the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad,
and was successfully put in use on that road in December,
1830. On the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the Allegheny
Portage Railroad, the Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad,
and a few other railroads horse-power was exclusively used
for some time after they were opened in the decade between
1830 and 1840.

Mr. Brown informs us that " the first charter for what
are termed city passenger or horse railroads was obtained in
the city of New York and known as the New York and Har-
lem, and this was the first road of the kind ever constructed,
and was opened in 1832. No other road of the kind was

440

THE MANUFACTURE OF

completed till 1852, when the Sixth Avenue was opened to
the public. "

The first elevated city passenger railroad ever built was
the Greenwich street railroad in New York, which was com-
menced in 1866 and has been in successful operation since
1872. It is now known as the Ninth Avenue Elevated Kail-
way. The next project of this character was the Gilbert
elevated railroad, in New York, for the construction of which
a charter was granted in 1872. New York city has now
several elevated local passenger railroads. As late as 1883
only one American city, Brooklyn, had copied the exam-
ple of New York in building railroads of this class, but in
1891 Chicago also had an elevated railroad.

The first elevated railroad constructed in this country in
connection with a regular freight and passenger railroad was
undertaken by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1880
and finished in 1881. It constitutes an extension of the
main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad to the heart of the
city of Philadelphia, and is over a mile long.

The production of iron rails in the United States has
been as follows in net tons from 1849 to 1890. Since the
beginning of 1883 the manufacture of iron rails has been
almost entirely superseded by the manufacture of steel rails.
Such iron rails as have since been made have been chiefly
street rails and light rails for mines and tramways.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1849

24 318

1863... .

275 768

1877

332,540

1850

44,083

1864

335,369

1878

322,890

1851

50,603

1865

356,292

1879

420,160

1852

62 478

1866

430778

1880

493 762

1853

87864

1867

459558

1881

488581

1854

108 016

1868

499489

1882

227,874

1855

138 674

1869

583,936

1883

64,954

1856

180018

1870

586,000

1884

25,560

1857

161,918

1871

737,483

1885

14,815

1858 .

163,712

1872

905,930

1886

23.679

1859

195 454

1873

761 062

1887

23,062

1860

205038

1874. .

584469

1888

14,252

1861

189 818

1875

501 649

1889

10,258

1862

213 912

1876

467,168

1890

15,548

The excellent wearing qualities of American iron rails
were well illustrated at the Philadelphia Exhibition in 1876,

IRON IN ALL AGES.

441

when the Cambria Iron Company exhibited an iron rail
which had been in use nineteen years, three rails which had
been in use eleven years, and five rails which had been in use
ten years, all under severe wear. The same company also
exhibited two iron rails which bridged a gap 12 feet wide and
12 feet deep that had been washed out under the track of a
western railroad, and which carried safely over the gap an
engine weighing 57,400 pounds and a train of seven cars.

In 1879 the American Iron and Steel Association collect-
ed a mass of statistics from American railroad companies
relative to the wear of domestic and foreign steel rails, and
the general conclusion was derived that American steel rails
were superior to English steel rails, while the testimony of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company demonstrated that the
American steel rails which had been laid in its tracks were
wearing almost twice as well as the foreign steel rails it was
also using.

In Poor's Manual for 1891 there appears the following
table showing the extent to which steel rails had superseded
iron rails in the United States down to 1890, double and side
tracks being included in the figures given.

Years.

Miles of
steel rails.

Miles of
iron rails.

Total
miles.

Per cent,
steel of total.

1880

33 680

81 967

115 647

29.1

1881

49063

81 473

130,536

37.5

1882 *

66691

74 269

140,960

47.3

1883

78491

70 692

149 183

52.7

1884

90243

66254

156,497

57.6

1885

98 102

62495

160,597

61.0

1886

105 724

62 324

168,048

62.9

1887

125 459

59 588

185 047

67.7

1888

138 516

52 981

191 497

72.3

1889

151 723

50 513

202 236

75.0

1890

167 606

40 697

208 303

80.4

It will be noticed that, in the decade covered by the table,
while the iron-rail mileage has decreased one-half the steel-
rail mileage has increased fivefold, until at the present time
80 per cent, of our railroad tracks are laid with steel rails.

Henry Thomas Weld was in 1844 the managing agent
and director for the English stockholders in the Mount
Savage company. He was born at London on January 31,
1816, and was living at Mount Savage in September, 1891.

442 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER XLIX.
IRON SHIPBUILDING IN THE UNITED STATES.

IN his admirable paper on the shipbuilding industry of
the United States, to be found in the 8th volume of the re-
ports of the census of 1880, Henry Hall says that in 1825
a small iron steamer, named the Codorus, was launched in
Pennsylvania for service on the Susquehanna river, but he
adds that this vessel may have been " one of several which
were exported from England in pieces to America and put
together here during that early period." Ten years later, in
1835, Mr. Hall says that " there were five iron steamers al-
ready on the Savannah river, which appear to have been
built in the North." He also says that in 1836 an iron
steam vessel was built at New York which engaged in the
mail service to New Orleans. The iron vessels mentioned
by Mr. Hall are the first in this country of which any rec-
ord appears to have been preserved, and unfortunately the
information which has been accessible to him is not complete.

In 1839 the first iron steamboat built for service on our
western rivers was built at Pittsburgh and called the Valley
Forge. She was launched on September 9, 1839. It was said
when the Valley Forge was built that she was the first iron
vessel "of any considerable size" that had been built in the
country. The dimensions of the Valley Forge were as fol-
lows : Length on deck, 160 .feet ; length of keel, 140 feet ;
breadth of beam, 25 feet 4 inches ; depth of hold, 6 feet.
For general navigation purposes the Valley Forge was com-
pletely successful. Other iron vessels were afterwards built
at Pittsburgh which fully realized the hopes of their build-
ers, among them an iron schooner for ocean service and an
iron steamer, the Michigan, for service on the lakes — both
built by order of the General Government about 1842. The
Michigan was very recently in active service on the lakes as
a revenue cutter. She was taken to Erie in sections on boats
that were towed from the Ohio river through the Beaver Ca-
nal, and was put together at Erie. She wras built of Sligo iron.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 443

Mr. Hall says that in 1841 Jabez Coney built for the
Government an iron revenue cutter, the Saranac, at Boston.
Another authority says that Mr. Coney built the revenue
cutter McLaine at Boston about 1842. Mr. Hall also says that
" as early as 1842 Philadelphia had produced a line of small
iron steamboats to trade to Hartford, Connecticut."

In 1842 Captain John Ericsson, of New York, furnished
designs for four freight propeller iron steamers which were
built for the Delaware and Raritan Canal, each 96 feet long,
24 feet beam, and 7 feet deep. In 1843 there was also built
after his designs the propeller iron steamer Legare, for the
Government revenue service, 150 feet long, 26 feet beam, and
10 feet deep, and four iron propeller boats for the Erie Canal,
each 80 feet long, 14 feet beam, and 6 feet deep. In the same
year Captain Ericsson built two steam passenger boats of iron
to run on the James River Canal, in Virginia, and about the
same time other small iron vessels were built after his de-
signs. In 1846 an iron passenger steamer, the Iron Witch,
220 feet long, 27 feet beam, and 13 feet deep, was built at '
New York, after designs furnished by Captain Ericsson, to
run on the Hudson river to Albany. In 1845 R. B. Forbes,
of Boston, built a powerful iron wrecking vessel of JOQ-ians' }
burden, which was named after himself. Other iron vessels
were subsequently built at Boston and elsewhere. The build-
ing of iron vessels in this country made but slow progress,
however, until after 1860, when the civil war created a de-
mand for iron and ironclad war vessels, one of the first to be
built being the celebrated Monitor.

Until recently the business of iron shipbuilding has not
nourished in this country like other leading branches of
American industry, but it has in the last few years attained
to very respectable proportions, the building of a new Amer-
ican navy having given it a great impetus. In 1868 only
five iron steamships were built for ocean service. Since that
year over 600 iron and steel vessels have been built, chiefly
at shipyards on the Delaware, not including naval vessels.

The first Transatlantic iron steamships to attract atten-
tion which were built in this country were the four vessels
of the American Steamship Company's line, the Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, built of Pennsylvania iron at Phil-

444 THE MANUFACTURE OF

adelphia in 1871, 1872, and 1873 by W. Cramp & Sons, and
still running regularly between that port and European ports.
Their tonnage capacity was originally 3,100 tons each. Most
of the European visitors to the Centennial Exhibition came
to Philadelphia and returned to their homes in the vessels of
this line. In 1874 John Roach & Son built at Chester, Penn-
sylvania, for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, two iron
steamships of large size and superior equipment, which fully
equaled in all respects the best British-built iron steamers.
These were the City of Peking and the City of Tokio, twin
vessels in every respect. Their registered tonnage was 5,000
tons each.

From a paper by Rev. Dr. Francis B. Wheeler, in which
he acknowledges his indebtedness for valuable information
to a paper by E. P. Dorr, which was read before the Buf-
falo Historical Society on the 3d of January, 1874, and from
a statement prepared by Captain Ericsson we compile the
following account of the building of the famous Monitor.
This account we have submitted to the Hon. John F. Wins-
low, of Poughkeepsie, New York, one of the builders of the
vessel, who pronounces it to be correct in every particular.

The invention of the Monitor belongs to Captain John Ericsson, of New
York city, but its creation is due to two distinguished ironmasters of the
State of New York, namely, the Hon. John F. Winslow and his partner in
business, the Hon. John A. Griswold. They were not shipbuilders, had no
special facilities for constructing vessels, and knew nothing by experience
of the business, and there had never been any iron war ships built in this
country ; hence for them to attempt to put afloat any kind of a war vessel
was a hazardous experiment. The Monitor in all its parts was designed by
Mr. Ericsson — hull, turret, steam machinery, anchor-hoister, gun-carriages,
etc. ; all were built from working drawings made by his own hands, furnish-
ing the rare instance of such a structure in all its details emanating from a
single person. But the Monitor would not have been built if Messrs. Wins-
low & Griswold, who were iron manufacturers and men of the highest pa-
triotism, had not pressed upon the Government the adoption of the invent-
or's daring scheme and afterwards furnished the means to secure the con-
struction of the vessel.

Mr. Winslow carefully examined the plans prepared by Captain Ericsson
for the construction of the Monitor — plans which had found no favor with
the special naval board appointed in 1861, in accordance with an act of Con-
gress, to examine and report upon the subject of iron-clad shipbuilding.
Mr. Winslow became satisfied that Captain Ericsson's plans were both fea-
sible and desirable. After conferring with his partner, Mr. Griswold, it was
determined to lay the whole matter before President Lincoln. This was

IRON IN ALL AGES. 445

done in October, 1861. The earnestness with which Mr. Winslow and Mr.
(iiiswold pressed the subject upon the attention of the President secured
from him the promise that he would meet them on the next day at the
olliro of Commodore Smith, a member of the board already referred to, and
talk the subject over. The meeting took place. There were present Mr.
Lincoln, the Secretary of the Navy, (Mr. Welles,) Commodore Smith, and
other officials of the Navy Department. Mr. Winslow again presented the
merits of Captain Ericsson's plans for the construction of the Monitor. The
President expressed his wish that the subject should be still further investi-
gated by Commodore Smith, and then withdrew. The interview resulted
in a contract with Captain Ericsson and Messrs. Winslow & Griswold for the
construction of the Monitor, the vessel to be placed in the hands of the Gov-
ernment within 100 days, at a cost of $275,000. Mr. C. 8. Bushnell, the
business associate of Captain Ericsson, also signed the contract. The con-
tract was burdened with many exacting conditions and restrictions, which
amounted to almost a prohibition of the enterprise. The contractors, how-
ever, at once entered upon their important undertaking. Winslow & Grw-
wold took all the riskx of loxx if tlw enterprise should prove to be a failure.

The hull of the vessel was built by Thomas F. Rowland, agent of the
Continental iron works, at Green Point, Long Island, the plates, burs, and
rivets being largely supplied to him by the Albany iron works of Winslow
& Griswold. The Delarnater iron works, of New York, were commissioned
to manufacture the steam machinery, propellers, and internal apparatus of
the turret. The Novelty iron works, of New York, built the turret, and the
turret-plating and a part of the armor-plating, composed of a series of plates
one inch thick, were rolled by H. Abbott & Son, of Baltimore. The port
stoppers were assigned to Charles D. DeLancy, of Buffalo. The work was
pushed with all diligence until the 30th of January, 1862, when the ship was
launched at Green Point, 101 days from the execution of the contract. Dur-
ing its construction Captain Ericsson gave his personal attention to all the
details, and the launching of the vessel in the remarkably brief period of
101 days from the signing of the contract was in large part the result of his
untiring energy and devotion.

The first trial trip of the Monitor was on February 19, 1862, and on that
day she was delivered to the navy yard for her armament and stores. She
made two trial trips afterwards. The first and second trips were not satis-
factory, the first because the cut-off valve had been improperly set and
would not admit the steam properly to the cylinders ; the second from some
sliirlit defect in the steering apparatus, which was speedily corrected.

On January 13, 1862, Lieutenant Worden, afterwards rear-admiral, was
ordered to the command of the Monitor, then on the stocks. On the 20th of
February, 1862, he received sailing-orders from the Secretary of the Navy to
proceed to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and there report to the Navy Depart-
ment. On the afternoon of the 6th of March, 18(52, the Monitor, with a pick-
rd crew from the war ships North Carolina and Sabinc, fifty-eight officers and
men all told, left the lower bay of New York, with a moderate wind and
smooth sea, in tow of a small tug, the Scth Low, and accompanied by the
United States steamers Currilnck and Sachem. After encountering a severe
Rtorni the .Monitor passed Cape Henry light-house at four o'clock on the af-
ternoon of March 8th. At this point heavy firing in the direction of For-

446 THE MANUFACTURE OF

tress Monroe indicated an engagement, and very soon Lieutenant Worden
learned from a pilot of the advent of the Merrimac and the disaster to the
ships Cumberland and Congress. On the information received from the pilot
Lieutenant Worden ordered the Monitor to be prepared for action, and at
nine o'clock that evening anchored at Hampton Roads near the frigate Roa-
noke, to the commander of which Lieutenant Worden reported.

The next morning, March 9, 1862, the Merrimac was observed under
way, steaming slowly from SewelPs Point, where she had anchored during
the night, to accomplish more perfectly her work of the day before. The
Monitor immediately stood for her with crew at quarters, and the fierce and
remarkable fight began, continuing from eight o'clock A. M. to one and a half
o'clock P. M., and resulting in the discomfiture of the Merrimac and the full
proof of all that had been claimed for the Monitor.

Orders for more monitors were at once given, and Captain Ericsson and
the firm of Winslow & Griswold had the confidence and gratitude of the
whole American people. The great regret was everywhere expressed that
the Monitor was not at Hampton Roads one day sooner to save the Cumber-
land and the Congress with the brave men who went down with them.

The life of the Monitor was as short as it was eventful. From the 10th
of March until the destruction of the Merrimac on the llth of May, 1862,
she lay in Hampton Roads as a guard for the vast interests centred there.
On the 12th of May she led the vessels which went to Norfolk on the evac-
uation of that city by the Confederates, and subsequently performed other
services on the James river. In September sh,e was at the Washington navy
yard for repairs, sailing again for Hampton Roads in November. On the
29th of December, 1862, she sailed for Beaufort, North Carolina, in company
with the steamer Rhode Island, her convoy, and on the night of the 30th she
foundered near Cape Hatteras, carrying down about one-half of her officers
and crew.

The revolving turret of the Monitor and its successors of
the same type was not the invention of Captain Ericsson
but of Theodore R. Timby, who explains its history as fol-
lows in published letters dated March 7, 1888.

The first sight of the circular form of " Castle William," on Govern-
or's Island, in the harbor of New York, suggested to me the idea of a re-
volving plan for defensive works, and in April, 1841, (when I was but nine-
teen years of age,) I came to Washington and exhibited a model and plans
of a revolving battery, to be made of iron, to the then chief of engineers
and the chief of ordnance, U. S. Army. I also submitted this model and
these plans to the Hon. John C. Calhoun and many of his distinguished
friends. In January, 1843, 1 made a model of a marine turret, which model
is now in my possession. At this date I made my first record in the Uni-
ted States Patent Office, and from January, 1841, to 1861 I continued to
urge the importance of my plans upon the proper authorities at Washing-
ton and elsewhere. In 1856 I exhibited the plans to the Emperor Napo-
leon III., and received some encouragement, but without practical results.
In 1862 I entered into a written agreement with the contractors and build-
ers of the original Monitor, (John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold, of

IRON IN ALL AGES.

447

Troy, New York, C. S. Bushnell, of New Haven, Connecticut, and their as-
sociates,) for the use of my patents covering the revolving turret, by which
they agreed to pay me, and did pay me, $5,000 as a royalty on each turret

constructed by them

It is in no degree probable that the Monitor or anything like it would
ever have been built had it not been for the liberality, patriotism, and per-
sistence of Hon. John F. Winslow and John A. Griswold.

The following table gives the. number and gross tonnage
of all iron and steel vessels, except those for the navy, which
have been built in the United States in the fiscal years from
1868 to 1891. Nearly all were steam vessels. Since 1883 we
have built many vessels of steel, and the tendency now is
to use steel in constantly increasing quantities in the con-
struction of both merchant and naval vessels. This table
has been compiled from the reports of the Bureau of Navi-
gation of the Treasury Department.

Years.

No.

Tons.

Years.

No.

Tons.

Years.

No.

Tons.

1868

2,801

1876 . ...

21 346

1884

35 631

1869

4,584

1877

5,927

1885

440^8

1870

8,281

1878

26 960

1886 .. ..

14 908

1871

15,479

1879

22008

1887. . . .

34 354

1872

12,766

1880

25 582

1888 .

36719

1873

26,548

1881

28392

1889

53 513

1874

33,097

1882

40 097

1890 . . .

80 378

1875

21,632

1883

39 646

1891....

105,618

John Ericsson, distinguished on two continents as an en-
gineer, was born in the province of Wermland, Sweden, on
July 31, 1803, and died in New York city on March 8, 1889,
aged over 85 years. In 1890 his remains were taken to Swe-
den in a United States naval vessel.

Mr. Winslow is now living in retirement at Poughkeepsie,
New York, and was in good health late in 1891. He was
born at Bennington, Vermont, on November 5, 1810.

448 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER L.
THE HISTORY OF CUT AND WIRE NAILS.

IN one of our chapters devoted to the early iron history
of New England and in our New York chapter we have re-
ferred to the invention in the closing years of the last cent-
ury of machines for cutting nails and have claimed for this
invention an American origin. We now supplement these
statements with some additional information concerning the
manufacture of both steel and iron cut nails and also con-
cerning the manufacture of wire nails.

Knight, in his Mechanical Dictionary, thus briefly summa-
rizes the leading facts connected with the invention of cut
nails, some of which, derived from other sources, we have
already presented in preceding chapters.

Cut nails were first made in this country. About 1775 Jeremiah Wil-
kinson, of Cumberland, Ehode Island, cut tacks from plates of sheet metal,
and afterward made nails and spikes in a similar manner, forming the
heads in a vise. Ezekiel Reed, of Bridge water, Massachusetts, in 1786 in-
vented a machine for cutting nails from the plate, and in 1798 obtained a
patent for cutting and heading them at one operation. Benjamin Cochran
had also constructed a machine of this kind; and Josiah Pierson, of New
York, in 1794 patented a machine for cutting nails from the sheet. Per-
kins's machine, invented in 1790 and patented in 1795, is said to have been
capable of making 200,000 nails per day. These and Odiorne's, which em-
braced some improvements upon them, attracted great attention in England,
where they soon came into extensive use. At the close of the century twen-
ty-three patents had been granted for improvements in nail machines.

In 1879 Mr. Shubal Wilder, of New Castle, Pennsylvania,
then an old man, who had been employed as a nail-cutter'
from his boyhood, first at Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1826,
and afterwards in Pennsylvania, published the following
opinion of several nail-cutting and nail-heading machines
which had been in use during his day.

From 1825 to 1835 there was a great increase in the number of nail
machines and factories in New England, New York, and through New Jer-
sey and Eastern Pennsylvania; consequently there was a great demand
for men to run nail machines. Almost all the time men kept coming to
Massachusetts from New Jersey and Pennsylvania on the hunt for nailers,

IRON IN ALL AGES. 449

and this is the reason why so many New England people or their descend-
ants are found in nearly every town where there are iron works and nail
factories. The Reed nail machine, now in use, is the only one among the
many that have been patented that has succeeded. The Perkins machine,
invented by Jacob Perkins, of Massachusetts, made a very good nail, but it
was very expensive to keep in order. The Odiorne machine also made
a good nail, but was attended with the same difficulty as the Perkins.
There were several other side shear machines built, but they never came
into use. The improvements made by Melville Otis on the Reed machine
have brought it to a high state of perfection : the only thing now remain-
ing to be done is the introduction of a reliable self-feeder, which if not
already invented will be an accomplishment of the near future.

Since Mr. Wilder wrote these words the wire nail has
largely supplanted the cut nail, and his own town of New
Castle has become very prominent in its manufacture.

The primitive nail-cutting machines which were used
about the beginning of the present century and for some
years afterwards are doubtless correctly described in the
following extract from the History of Indiana County, Penn-
sylvania, reference being made to a machine used in 1818
by a blacksmith in the town of Indiana, who is said to have
manufactured all the cut nails that were used in Indiana
county and adjoining counties.

The machine used was propelled by one person using the right hand
on one lever and the right foot on another lever. The left hand was occu-
pied in manipulating the iron from which the nails were cut. The iron was
called " nail iron," and was of different widths, according to the requisite
sizes desired, such as shingle, clapboard, brads, lathing, etc. Two-inch
shingle nails were sold for 37 £ cents per pound ; clapboard do., 25 cents ;
brads, 18 cents ; lathing, 31 cents, etc. Before cutting, the iron was brought
to a red heat in the common blacksmith fire. After the nails were cooled
they were taken to a place to be headed. This was done with a spring vice,
which was closed by the pressure of the right foot. Only one nail was in-
serted at a time. One stroke of the hammer on the nail made a brad ; two
more made a clapboard or weather-boarding nail. The iron was procured
at the different rolling mills in Huntingdon county, and hauled in wagons
to Indiana county.

These nails were cut from plate iron, w7hich was rolled in
the small rolling mills of the day and before the time when
bar iron was rolled. To these small rolling mills were some-
times added slitters for slitting the flat strips of iron into
nail-rods, which were converted into so-called wrought nails
exclusively by hand, as has been elsewhere explained. The
iron to be used in the early nail- cutting machines was first

450 THE MANUFACTURE OF

hammered to the thickness of about half an inch and then
rolled to the width and thickness required by the sizes of
the nails to be cut.

In Knight's Mechanical Dictionary, published as late as
1877, the wire nail is thus referred to : " Chests and boxes
from the Continent of Europe and from Asia are found to be
fastened with nails of this character." Knight neither gives
the origin of the wire nail nor describes any of the machines
by which it is made. Since the publication of his Dictionary
. the wire nail has become a leading product of American skill.

The first wire nails manufactured in the United States
were made in 1851 or 1852 at New York by William Has-
sall. Six of the machines at first used by Mr. Hassall are
still in use in the wire-nail factory of his son, John Hassall,
in Brooklyn. Previous to the introduction of wire made of
/ Bessemer steel all the wire nails made by William Hassall
were made from iron or brass wire. The wire nails made
by William Hassall were of small sizes, escutcheon and up-
holsterer's nails being specialties. William Hassall was born
at Birmingham, England, in 1817, emigrated to New York
city in 1850, and died there in 1888, aged 71 years.

The wire nail as a substitute for the cut nail did not,
however, come into notice in this country until a very few
years ago, in 1883 or 1884. Mr. E. J. Buffington, treasurer
of the American Wire Nail Company, whose works are now
located at Anderson, Indiana, sends us the following interest-
ing account of the organization of his company, which was
the first company to give the wire nail a start in American
markets as a competitor of the cut nail.

The origin of the present American Wire Nail Company dates back as
far as 1871, when a few German residents of Covington, Kentucky, contrib-
uted to a fund for importing three German machines. These three ma-
chines made nothing larger than a 3d fine nail, and were kept busy prin-
cipally on cigar-box nails and small wire brads. For several years the pro-
moters of this new industry met with no success. However they were not
discouraged from adding to their then surplus capacity. The American
Wire and Screw Nail Company, which was the predecessor of our present
company, was organized in 1875, and its management passed into the hands
of men with enthusiastic views as to the future of wire nails in this country.
The trade in cigar-box nails had grown to be of considerable importance to
them, and the plant was increased to twenty machines. Very great difficul-
ty was experienced in inducing the hardware trade to recognize the wire

IRON IN ALL AGES.

451

brad and wire nail as a salable commodity. From 1878 to 1880 the growth
of the wire nail was very slow and was attended with many difficulties.
Deep-rooted prejudices of all kinds had to be overcome. It was not until
the year 1883 or 1884 that the wire nail came into the market prominently
as a competitor of the cut nail, and it was at this time that the standard
wire nail was instituted. Each successive year after this the demand for
wire nails increased phenomenally, and, in fact, passed beyond the wildest
hopes of the most sanguine.

Down to 1883 all the cut nails manufactured in this
country in commercial quantities were made of iron, but in
that year cut nails made of Bessemer steel and others made
of combined iron and steel were sold in American markets.

The production of iron and steel cut nails in the Unit-
ed States, not including wire nails, has been as follows from
1873 to 1890, in kegs of 100 pounds.

Years.

Kegs!

Years.

Kegs.

Years.

Kegs.

1873

4,024,704

1879

5,011,021

1885

6 696 815

1874

4,912,180

1880

5,370,512

1886

8 160 973

1875

4 726 881

1881

5 794 206

1887

6 908 870

1876

4 157 814

1882

6 147 097

1888

6 493 591

1877

4,828,918

1883

7,762,737

1889

5,810,758

1878

4 396 130

1884

7 581 379

1890

5 640 946

In 1884 the production of steel cut nails in the United
States, including 500 kegs of combined iron and steel nails,
was 393,482 kegs, or 5 per cent, of the total cut-nail pro-
duction. Down to and including 1890 the maximum total
production of cut nails was reached in 1886, with 8,160,973
kegs, and the maximum production of steel cut nails alone
was reached in 1888, with 4,323,484 kegs. In 1889 and 1890
over two-thirds of the total production of cut nails was made
of steel. The quantity of combined iron and steel nails
made in 1890 was about 111,000 kegs.

In 1886 the production of wire nails was estimated to
have amounted to 600,000 kegs of 100 pounds, made by 27
wire nail works ; in 1887 the production was estimated to
have been 1,250,000 kegs, made by 47 works ; in 1888 it was
estimated to have been 1,500,000 kegs; in 1889 it was esti-
mated to have been 2,435,000 kegs. The actual production
in 1890 was 3,135,911 kegs, nearly all the nails being made
of steel. The wire nails made in 1890 were produced by 47
works.

452 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER LI.

IMPKOVEMENTS IN AMERICAN BLAST FURNACE
PRACTICE.

IN our Maryland and Virginia chapters extracts are given
from letters written by members of the Principio Company,
which built Principio furnace and forge in Maryland, and
afterwards, in connection with Augustine Washington, built
Accokeek furnace in Virginia. We now make some additional
extracts from one of these letters, written by John Wightwick
to John England, and dated at London on October 2, 1730,
which we give to show the technical ideas which prevailed
in those days in England and America concerning the man-
ufacture of pig iron. Referring to letters from Nathaniel
Chapman, the clerk at Accokeek furnace, Mr. Wightwick says :

He says he thinks it will be cheaper to send hearths from England
than to bring the stones 20 miles land carriage from a quarry (where he
says there are good ones) at that distance from the works, but I hope you
will consider that point thoroughly, because sending hearths from hence
is very chargable in freight, as well as troublesome to get them and put
them on board. Bellows leather I suppose you must always have from
hence. The price of piggs is very low at present ; we hope in a short time
it will be better. The Potomack piggs will not reach 5Z. 15s., they being
cheap piggs are fittest for founderys, and I don't doubt but we might sell
a large quantity yearly in London for that use. We have sold some of
these last arrived, but the dealers complain they are too white; if they
were grey they would go off much better.

The way to distinguish grey piggs from white is this: taber upon
them with a hammer, and if they have a deadish leaden sound they are
grey ; they will also be pretty level in the belly of the pigg, & the edges
of them will be blunt. If they are white by hammering on them they
will ring much more, the under sides of them will be hollow, & the edges
much more sharp, and if you strike the white ones at the end they will
break short. This information I had from a Founder whom we sold a parcel
to ; and this difference is not so much owing to the ore as the fluxing,
for we have pretty near an equal quantity of grey piggs mixed with the
white, which inclines me to think this must be some mismanagement of
the Founder that they are not all grey. I therefore hope you will con-
sider and give directions to the Founder accordingly ; and let the hearths
at both works be always set burrow and not transheer, for white
will do us great prejudice in the sales.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 453

Since the introduction into this country of the hot-blast
in connection with the manufacture of pig iron, which occur-
red in the decade between 1830 and 1840, many methods of
heating the blast have been in use. The first practical appli-
cation of the hot-blast in this country was made at Oxford
furnace, in New Jersey, in 1834, by William Henry, the man-
ager. The waste heat at the tymp passed over the surface of
a nest of small cast-iron pipes, through which the blast was
conveyed to the furnace. The temperature was raised to 250°
Fahrenheit, and the product of the furnace was increased
about 10 per cent. In 1835 a hot-blast oven, containing cast-
iron arched pipes, was placed on the top of the stack by Mr.
Henry and heated by the flame from the tunnel-head. By
this means the temperature of the blast was raised to 500°.
This innovation in American blast-furnace practice increased
the product of Oxford furnace about 40 per cent., with a sav-
ing of about the same percentage of fuel. No better device
for heating the blast was in use in this country until about
1840. Hot-blast ovens, supplied with cast-iron arched pipes,
of various patterns, were in general use in subsequent years
down to about 1861, when an improvement in the construc-
tion of the oven, but embodying no essential modification of
the system, was introduced by Samuel Thomas and adopted
at many furnaces. In 1867 or 1868 John Player, of England,
introduced his iron hot-blast stove into the United States,
which soon became popular, owing to the facilities which it
afforded for increasing the heat of the blast. Mr. Player per-
sonally superintended the erection of the first of his stoves
in this country at the anthracite furnace of J. B. Moorhead
& Co., at West Conshohocken, in Montgomery county, Penn-
sylvania. A few years ago it was still in use. Down to the
introduction of the Player hot-blast the ovens, or stoves, were
generally placed at the tunnel-head ; Mr. Player placed his >.
stove on the ground.

It is due to the memory of John Player that the fact
should here be plainly stated that the introduction of his
stove was instrumental in greatly increasing the yield of
American furnaces and decreasing the quantity of fuel used ,
to the ton of pig iron. After its introduction the tempera-
ture of the blast was generally raised, even where the Thorn-

454 THE MANUFACTURE OF

as and other ovens were used, and before long powerful blow-
ing engines were more generally used and higher furnaces
were built. Connellsville coke was found to work admirably
as a fuel for blast furnaces in connection with a powerful
blast and high temperature. Since 1868 cast-iron stoves of
various patterns have been increased in size, and- in this
and other improvements their efficiency in raising the tem-
perature of the blast has been greatly promoted.

The Whitwell fire-brick hot-blast stove, also an English
invention, was first used in this country at Rising Fawn
furnace, in Dade county, Georgia, on June 18, 1875. Its
next application was at Cedar Point furnace, at Port Hen-
ry, in Essex county, New York, on August 12, 1875. The
stoves at Cedar Point furnace were, however, built before
those at Rising Fawn furnace. The first application of this
stove in Pennsylvania was made as late as February, 1877,
at Dunbar furnace, in Fayette county. The Rising Fawn
and Dunbar furnaces used coke as fuel, while Cedar Point
furnace used anthracite. The first set of Siemens-Cowper-
Cochrane fire-brick hot-blast stoves erected in this country
was erected at one of the Crown Point furnaces, in Essex
county, New York, in 1877 ; but the first set of these stoves
in any part of America was erected at Londonderry, in Nova
Scotia, by the Steel Company of Canada Limited, in 1876.
The Siemens-Cowper-Cochrane stove is also an English in-
vention. Both it and the Whitwell stove embody the regener-
ative principle in storing heat. Other stoves built upon the
same principle have been introduced in European and Amer-
ican blast-furnace practice in late years. The introduction of
all these stoves has greatly promoted the economic manage-
ment of American blast furnaces and increased their yield,
supplementing and in all respects adding to the good work
inaugurated when the Player stove was introduced.

In the twenty years between 1840 and 1860 the plan of
conveying the escaping gases from the top of the blast fur-
nace to the boilers and hot-blast ovens, or stoves, gradually
came into general use as a substitute for independent fires
or for the use of the flame at the tunnel-head. Its introduc-
tion was greatly promoted between 1844 and 1850 by the
efforts of C. E. Detmold, a German engineer, then residing

IRON IN ALL AGES. 455

at New York, who had taken out a patent in this country
as the assignee of Achilles Christian Wilhelm von Faber du
Faur, the superintendent of the government iron works at
Wasseralfingen, in Wurtemberg, Germany, who had invented
a method of using furnace gases in heating the blast. The
first practical experiments with this invention in utilizing
furnace gases in the production of heat were made in 1836
and 1837 at Wasseralfingen.

David Thomas, of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, was the first
person in this country to fully realize the value of power-
ful blowing engines in the working of blast furnaces. About
1852 he introduced engines at his furnaces at Catasauqua
which increased the pressure to double that which was then
customary in England. The results were surprising. But
many years elapsed before Mr. Thomas's example was gen-
erally followed in this country. Within the past few years,
however, our superior blast-furnace practice has been mainly
due to the use of blowing engines of great power. English
ironmasters have only in late years commenced to imitate
the best American practice in this respect.

Mr. Joseph C. Kent, superintendent of the blast furnaces
of the Andover Iron Company, at Phillipsburg, New Jersey,
writes us concerning two noteworthy achievements at one of
these furnaces many years ago. These furnaces were then
known as the Cooper furnaces. In one week in 1850 there
were produced by No. 1 furnace 251-J- tons of pig iron, and in
one week in 1858 there were produced by the same furnace
319 tons of pig iron. The fuel used in both instances was
anthracite coal ; the engines used were not large, being capa-
ble of blowing only from 7,000 to 8,000 cubic feet of air per
minute, under a pressure of from 3 to 3j- pounds per square
inch. The blast was heated in ordinary syphon pipe ovens
to 500° Fahrenheit. The size of this furnace was 20 feet by
55 feet. The above products were respectively the largest that
had been anywhere produced down to the dates mentioned,
but to-day we have furnaces which make as much pig iron
in a day as they made in a week.

Isabella furnace No. 1, located at Etna, near Pittsburgh,
closed early in 1884 a three-years' blast which produced re-
sults which were at that time justly regarded as remarkable

456 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and were certainly unexampled. Its product was as follows,
in tons of 2,268 pounds. Pig iron made in 1881, 324 days,
37,4374 tons; in 1882, 365 days, 59,032 tons; in 1883, 365
days, 66,408£ tons; in 1884, 19 days, 3,927 tons: total in
three years, less 22 days, 166,805 tons, or an average of 1,090
tons per week. The unexampled good work of this furnace
was obtained notwithstanding a serious interruption caused
by a freshet in the Allegheny river, and notwithstanding
other drawbacks. The furnace was 75 feet high, 20 feet in
diameter at the bosh, and 11 feet in diameter at the hearth,
contained a 14-foot stock line, and had seven, 7-inch tuyeres.
It was equipped with three Whitwell stoves of the largest
size and three engines having 7-foot blowing cylinders with
a 4-foot stroke.

By far the best work ever done by a coke furnace was
accomplished in 1889 and 1890 by one of the furnaces con-
nected with the Edgar Thomson steel works at Braddock,
Pennsylvania, known as furnace F, owned by Carnegie Broth-
ers & Co. Limited. For the following account of the great
record made by this furnace in the years mentioned, as well
as of the good work which it had previously done, we are in-
debted to a paper by Mr. James Gayley, superintendent of
the Edgar Thomson furnaces, which he read at the meeting
of the Iron and Steel Institute at New York in October, 1890.

This furnace was built in 1885-6. The total height is 80 feet ; the di-
ameter of hearth, 11 feet; the diameter of bosh, 23 feet. The bell is 12
feet in diameter and the stock line 16 feet. The cubical capacity is 19,800
feet. There are 7 tuyeres, each 6 inches in diameter. The furnace was start-
ed in October, 1886. The record for the next three months is as follows.

Months.

Gross tons. ; Pounds of coke per ton of iron.

November, 1886 | 6,735 2,128

December I 7,494 I 2,105

January, 1887 | 8,398 1,935

From January to May, inclusive, the average monthly output was 8,150
tons on a coke consumption of 1,980 pounds. The volume of air blown was
27,000 cubic feet per minute, which was heated to an average temperature of
1,200 degrees. The pressure at the tuyeres varied from 9 to 10 pounds, and
was generally the latter figure when the outputs were largest. In June the
furnace was banked for eight days on account of a scarcity of coke. The
monthly output from this time up to January, 1888, was 7,400 gross tons,
when a second stoppage on account of labor troubles occurred. The length

IRON IN ALL AGES.

457

of this stop was sixty-seven days. A portion of the upper lining giving
way in August, 1889, the furnace was blown out. The furnace was in blast
(exclusive of the two stoppages I have mentioned) two years, seven months,
and ten days, and made in that time 224,795 tons of iron on an average
coke consumption of 2,317 pounds. The output for the first twelve full
months was 88,940 tons on 2,150 pounds of coke. The furnace was relined
without delay, and after a two weeks' drying out was put in blast on Sep-
tember 25, 1889, just seven weeks from the time of blowing out. The con-
struction was the same in every particular except that the diameter of the
bosh was reduced to 22 feet and the stock line to 15 feet 6 inches. This
change reduced the cubical capacity to 18,200 feet. The same number and
size of tuyeres were used. The volume of air blown was 25,000 cubic feet
per minute, a reduction of 2,000 cubic feet from that used in the previous
blast. Beginning with October the record of monthly outputs and coke con-
sumption to June, 1890, was as follows.

Months.

Gross tons.

Pounds of coke per ton of iron.

October, 1889

6,521

2,450

November

9,097

1,897

December

10,603

1,756

January, 1890

10,536

1,737

February

8,954

1,859

March

9,941

1,845

April

10,075

1,847

May

10 035

1 884

The best output for any one week was 2,462 tons. The best output for
a single day was 502 tons and 240 pounds, made on September 3, 1890.
The temperature of the blast averaged 1,100 degrees, and the pressure 9J
pounds. The temperature of the escaping gases was 340 degrees.

Counting the time the furnace was running in the first blast, and up to
the end of May, 1890, in the second blast, including also the time spent in
relining, the period covered is three years and five months, and in that time
this furnace made an output of 301,205 tons, a record which is unparalleled.
In the month of May this furnace, together with a companion furnace of
precisely the same dimensions, made an' output of 20,192 tons on an aver-
age coke consumption of 1,882 pounds per ton of iron. The ores used were
from the Lake Superior region, and yielded through the furnace 62 per cent,
of iron. The proportion of limestone carried was 28 per cent, of the ore
burden. The silicon in the iron averaged 1.60 per cent., the iron being run
into ladles and sent to the converting mill direct. I shall not undertake
to say what these furnaces will accomplish on an uninterrupted blast, but
I believe the day is not far distant when we shall be able to show a rec-
ord of 300,(JOO tons from a furnace in three years, and on a single lining.
[The product for the first two years is 208,050 gross tons, showing that
this prediction will probably be fulfilled.]

In the period covered by the last decade there are three steps in the
development of American blast-furnace practice that might be mentioned.
First, in 1880, the introduction of rapid driving, with its large outputs and
high fuel consumption; second, in 1885, the "production of an equally large

458 THE MANUFACTURE OF

;/ amount of iron with a low fuel consumption by slow driving ; and, third,
I in 1890, the production of nearly double that quantity of iron on a low
fuel consumption through rapid driving.

The best record ever made by a charcoal furnace in this
country or any other country was made in 1890 by a new
furnace in Wisconsin. Mr. M. R. Hunt, the manager of the
Hinkle charcoal furnace, at Ashland, Wisconsin, owned by the
Ashland Iron and Steel Company, reports that in the sev-
en days which ended on October 4th the furnace produced
1,009 gross tons of pig iron. The best day's run yielded 150
tons and the worst yielded 141 tons. The stack of this fur-
nace is 60 feet highland the diameter of the bosh is 12 feet.
Neither scrap nor mill cinder was used. The ores came from
the Gogebic range. The average consumption of ore per ton
was 4,021 pounds ; of charcoal, a little over 82 bushels of 22
pounds to the bushel ; of limestone, 174 pounds.

Mr. J. King McLanahan informs us that in 1853 Frank s-
tftwn charcoal furnace, in Blair county, Pennsylvania, was
changed to a coke furnace, the first in that county, and made
No. 1 foundry pig iron from Frank stown block fossil ore.
The furnace buildings were burned down in 1855, and Mr.
McLanahan, the manager, " banked up on a full burden."
After a delay of exactly fourteen d&ys the blast was again
turned on, and in twelve hours the furnace was working as
well as before the accident occurred. Mr. McLanahan says
that this was the first attempt that was made in this country
to " bank up " a coke furnace for so long a time.

Achilles Christian Wilhelm von Faber du Faur was born
on December 2, 1786. He studied at Freiberg in 1808^ was
first assistant superintendent of the government iron works
at Koenigsbronn in 1810, and afterwards was superintendent
for thirty-two years of the government iron works at Was-
seralfingen. He died on March 22, 1855.

Christian Edward Detmold was born in Hanover, Ger-
many, on February 2, 1810, and died at New York on July
2, 1887, aged over 77 years. He was a civil engineer, in
which profession he became very prominent. He was also
engaged in the manufacture of pig iron in Maryland, the
mining of coal in Pennsylvania, and the manufacture of
spiegeleisen from zinc residuum in New Jersey.

IRON IN ALL AGES.

459

CHAPTER LIT.

THE MANUFACTURE OF TINPLATES IN THE UNITED

STATES.

THE manufacture of tinplates in the United States was
undertaken in 1873 at Wellsville, Ohio, and at Leechburg,
Pennsylvania. In 1875 it was also undertaken at Demmler,
near Pittsburgh. Owing, however, to the low duty which was
imposed on foreign tinplates domestic tinplates ceased in
1878 to be made at the three places mentioned, and no fur-
ther attempts to establish the tinplate industry in our country
were made until about the time of the passage of the tariff
act of October 1, 1890, in which the previously existing duty
on tinplates was more than doubled. Since that date sev-
eral works for the manufacture of tinplates have been estab-
lished in the United States, while the building of others has
been commenced, and the prospects for the complete success
of this new industry are now most favorable.

The following table, compiled from the publications of
the Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department, shows
the quantities of tinplates imported into the United States
in each year from 1871 to 1890, with their foreign values.

Years.

Gross tons.

Values.

Years.

Gross tons.

Values.

1871

82 969

$9 946 873

1881

183 005

$14 886 907

1872

85 629

13 893 450

1882

213 987

17,975,161

1873

97 177

14 240 868

1883

221 233

18,156,773

1874

79 778

13 057 658

1884

216 181

16,858,650

1875 . . .

91 054

12 098 885

1885

228,596

15,991,152

1876 ....

89 946

9 416 816

1886

257,822

17,504,976

1877

112,479

10 679 028

1887

283,836

18,699,145

1878

107 864

9069967

1888

298,238

19,762,%!

1879

154 250

13,227 659

1889

331,311

21,726,707

1880

158 049

16 478 110

1890

329 346

23 670,158

The total quantity of tinplates imported into this country
in these twenty years was 3,622,750 gross tons, and the total
foreign value of these importations was $307,341,404. In
addition to this sum American consumers paid freights and
duties and importers' profits.

460 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER LIIL

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS RELATING TO THE AMERI-
CAN IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES.

IT would far transcend the limits assigned to this work
if all the modern inventions connected with the manufacture
of iron and steel in this country were to be made the subject
of historical and statistical inquiry. The most important
of these inventions, and the history of their introduction
in our country, have been referred to in preceding chapters.
Several subjects of less prominence, but all of them relating
to the mechanical development of our iron and steel indus-
tries, will now be noticed, with which notice this branch of
our general subject will be dismissed.

At the Siberian rolling mill of Rogers & Burch field, at
Leechburg, in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, natural gas,
taken from a well 1,200 feet deep, was first used as a fuel in
the manufacture of iron. In the fall of 1874 it was stated
that during the preceding six months the gas had furnish-
ed all the fuel required for puddling, heating, and making
steam, not one bushel of coal having been used. Between
1874 and 1881 natural gas for puddling was successfully
used «,t the same rolling mill at Leechburg ; at the works
of Spang, Chalfant & Co. and Graff, Bennett & Co., in Alle-
gheny county, Pennsylvania ; and at the rolling mill of the
Kittanning Iron Company, at Kittaiining, Pennsylvania.
In each instance the gas used at these works was obtained
from wells that were sunk for oil but were found to produce
only gas. Since 1881 natural gas has been introduced into
many iron and steel works in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
and West Virginia. In 1884, however, there were still only
six rolling mills and steel works in the United States which
used natural gas as fuel. In 1886 there were 68 ; in Novem-
ber, 1887, there were 96 ; and in November, 1889, there were
104. Since the last date the use of natural gas in our iron
and steel works has greatly declined, owing to a failure of
the supply in many places. The method employed in using

IRON IN ALL AGES. 461

natural gas at Kittanning in the summer of 1881 is here
preserved as a matter of historical interest.

The gas is brought from a well some three miles distant, in four-inch
casing, and at the mill is distributed amongst eighteen boiling furnaces.
The furnaces are the same as those in which coal is used. The gas enters
the rear of the furnace in three small pipes, shaped at the end like a nozzle.
There being quite a pressure the gas enters with considerable force, and by
means of dampers to regulate the draft an intense and uniform heat is ob-
tained. After a heat the furnace is cooled and prepared for the next heat
in the same manner as with coal. When the metal is in place the gas is
turned on, and the operation of puddling is the same, with the exception
that it is somewhat slower. Only one-half of the well's production of gas
is in fact consumed by the eighteen furnaces here described. The puddlers
like the gas very much, as it reduces their labor to some extent, and they
say they can make better weight than with coal. The, furnaces being free
from sulphur a better quality of iron is produced, and it brings a slightly
advanced price in the market. These furnaces have been running all the
time for some months past, and have used nothing but gas for fuel, which
has proved satisfactory in every respect, and is found to be much cheaper
than coal.

We have previously recorded the erection in 1817, at
^Plumsock, in Fayette aaunty, Pennsylvania, of the first roll-
ing mill in the United States 'for the production of bar iron.
The first puddling in this country was also done at this roll-
ing mill in the same year. It may seem strange to many of
the present generation, who witness the number and magni-
tude of our iron and steel establishments, that such impor-
tant processes as the puddling of pig iron and the rolling
of bar iron should not have been introduced into the United
States until 1817, but after careful inquiry we have been un-
able to place their introduction at an earlier period. Ralph
Crooker, recently of the Bay State iron works, at Boston, the
oldest rolling-mill superintendent in the United States, writes
us that the first bar iron rolled in New England was rolled
at the Boston iron works, on the mill-dam in Boston, in 1825,
and that the first puddling done in New England was at
Boston, on the mill-dam, by Lyman, Ralston & Co., in 1835.

Before the use of bituminous and anthracite coal became
general in this country wood as it comes from the forest was
sometimes used to puddle pig iron, as it is now used at some
places in Sweden, and it was also used in the heating furna-
ces of rolling mills. From 1821 to 1825 the Fall River roll-
ing mill, in Massachusetts, used wood irrigating iron for nail

462 THE MANUFACTURE OF

plates. In 1848 pig iron was puddled with wood at Adiron-
dack, in Essex county, New York. Prior to 1850 puddling
with wood was done at Horatio Ames's works at Falls Vil-
lage, in Connecticut. In 1858 the Hurricane rolling mill and
nail works, on Pacolet river, 43 miles west of Yorkville, in
/ South Carolina, used dry pine wood in its puddling and heat-
ing furnaces; and in the preceding year the Cherokee Ford
rolling mill, on Broad river, in Union county, in the same
State, used "splint" wood for the same purpose.

The Phoenix wrought-iron column, or wrought-steel col-
umn, which is now in general use in this country and in
Europe in the construction of bridges, viaducts, depots, ware-
houses, and other structures, is the invention of the late
Samuel J. Reeves, of Philadelphia, a member of the Phoenix
Iron Company, of Phosnixville, Pennsylvania. The invention
was patented on June 17, 1862.

Down to 1846, when John Griffen built a rolling mill at
Norristown, Pennsylvania, for Moore & Hooven, steam boil-
ers had never been put over puddling and heating furnaces
in any country. In this mill • all the steam that was needed
for driving the mill was generated in boilers over the pud-
dling and heating furnaces, no auxiliary boilers being used,
thus greatly economizing fuel. Mr. Griffen met with much
opposition from observers while engaged in constructing the
mill upon this plan, and many predictions were made that
the new arrangement would be a failure. It was a great in-
novation on the practice then prevailing, but it was a com-
plete success, and its general adoption has effected a saving
in fuel to the iron manufacturers in this country of many
millions of dollars.

In 1856 two shafts were made for the steamship Adriatic
at the Reading steam forge, at Reading, Pennsylvania. Each
shaft when finished was 35 \ feet in length, 27 J inches in di-
ameter, and weighed 78,500 pounds, or 35 tons. Two cranks
of 12-foot stroke were made at the same time, each weighing
when finished 18,800 pounds, or 8.39 tons. The forge was
then the largest and most complete in this country. It con-
tained four hammers, of -J, f , 1.-J-, and 7 tons' weight respect-
ively. An account of the forging of the shafts says: "The
shafts of the Adriatic were forged in twelve working days

IRON IN ALL AGES. 463

each. They were commenced on what is called a porter
bar, forming a tapering handle, to which are attached levers,
or cranks, to turn the shaft in its slings while under the
hammer. The porter bar was first heated, and then flattened
at its thick end to receive a pile of bloom bars each about
250 pounds' weight, all of which were welded solid with
each other and the bar, thus forming the commencement of
the shaft itself. The end of the shaft thus commenced was
again heated to receive another pile of bars as already de-
scribed, and the same process thus repeated until the shaft
was made the length required. When the shaft becomes
sufficiently long the porter bar is cut off and the turning
cranks attached to the shaft itself."

On the 6th of September, 1881, Park, Brother & Co., of
^Pittsburgh, put in operation for the first time their 17-ton
steam hammer, which was for many years the largest in the
United States. It will work steel ingots two feet square.
The hammer itself was built by William B. Bement & Son,
of Philadelphia. The anvil, which was the heaviest iron cast-
ing then made in this country, weighing 160 tons, was cast a
few feet from its place with five cupolas, under the direction
of Park, Brother & Co., on October 5, 1880. It is 11 feet
high, and measures 8 by 10 feet at the base and 4 by 6 feet
at the top. The hammer and its fittings occupy a ground
space 26 feet long by 13 feet wide. Its height from the
ground is 32 feet. The framing is of wrought-iron plates
from J- of an inch to 1J inches thick, bolted and riveted and
strengthened with angle irons. The weight of the cast-iron
cylinder is about 11 tons, the bore is 40 inches, and the
stroke 9 feet. The piston, rod, ram, and die weigh about
17 tons. When the steam is admitted on top of the piston
it, wTill produce an additional force or weight of about 50
tons, making 67 tons' pressure in all when the ram or ham-
mer is stationary. The whole cost of the hammer, anvil,
and fittings, ready for operation, is estimated at $52,000. In
August, 1883,. Park, Brother & Co. forged with this hammer
a steel steamboat shaft 32£ feet long and weighing 30,240
pounds, or 13£ tons. The ingots used, which were of open-
hearth steel, weighed 32,000 pounds. The shaft was hexag-
onal in the centre, tapering at each end to a circular shape.

464 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Since the completion of the 17-ton hammer above de-
scribed two other hammers of still larger proportions have
been erected in this country, namely, the 20-ton hammer of
the Latrobe steel works, at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and the
larger hammer of the Midvale steel works, at Philadelphia,
both employing steam pressure to increase their forging pow-
er. But it has been left for the Bethlehem Iron Company to
erect the largest and most efficient hammer in the world — a
single-acting hammer of 125 tons. We are indebted to Lieu-
tenant W. H. Jaques, ordnance engineer of the Bethlehem
Iron Company, for the following description of this hammer.

The building in which this hammer has been erected is 500 feet long,
and is located on ground that was partly an island and partly the bed of
the southern channel of the Lehigh river, turned from its course to pro-
vide the hammer site. A pit 60 feet square was excavated below the water
level, and piles were thickly driven both for the anvil foundation an<i
hammer frames. The stone walls for supporting the latter have a depth
of 30 feet, separated from the anvil foundation lest any sinking of this
latter should affect the . framework of the structure itself.

The hammer was designed by Mr. John Fritz, chief engineer and su-
perintendent of the company; all of its parts were manufactured at the
works ; and, although the officers of the Bethlehem Iron Company had free
consultation with the. owners of the Creusot works in France, the ham-
mer differs radically in many points from the celebrated Creusot hammer.
It rises to a height of 90 feet from the floor line. The housings proper are
each composed of two parts, the lower ones weighing 71 tons each, the
upper ones 48 tons each. These are bolted together and surmounted by
an entablature of 61 tons, carrying a 76-inch cylinder 24 feet high. The
housings are clamped to base plates, each 10 feet by 8 feet, and weighing
56 tons, giving a 42-foot longitudinal wTidth of frame and a working floor
width inside of housings of. 22 feet.

A 16-inch steel piston rod, 40 feet long, operates the enormous tup,
which is composed of three parts, two forming the ram and a third the die.
The hammer is single-acting, (steam-lifting only,) the total weight of fall-
ing parts, length of stroke, and gravity governing the work done.

The anvil foundation consists of piles driven to bed-rock or gravel,
with timber frames, steel slabs and 22 iron blocks carefully machined and
fitted forming a metal mass of 1,800 tons arranged in the form of a pyr-
amid. To secure an even floor for working the spaces between the frame
and anvil foundations are closed with cribbing, leaving exposed only the
anvil block. The special valve gears designed at Bethlehem have worked
most satisfactorily, one man easily controlling the motions with one hand.

The hammer is served by four heating furnaces, conveniently placed,
and by four gigantic cranes, each of 300 tons' capacity, having longitudinal,
transverse, vertical, and turning motions, by which every required position
and movement of the forgings can be easily controlled.

In describing this hammer as one of 125 tons it is meant that the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 465

weight of the tup, (including die,) piston, and rod is 125 tons, which, fall-
ing a distance of 16£ feet, (full stroke,) without top steam, produces the full
power of the hammer. As such the following hammers have comparative
weights: Sir William G. Armstrong, Mitchell &'Co. Limited, Elswick, Eng-
land, 35 tons; Woolwich, England, 35 tons; Perm, Eussia, 50 tons; Abou-
koff Steel Works, Russia, 50 tons ; Krupp, Essen, Germany, 50 tons ; St.
diamond, France, 80 tons ; Schneider & Co., Creusot, France, 100 tons ; Mar-
rel Brothers, Rive de Gier, France, 100 tons; and the Terni Steel Works,
Italy, 100 tons. All these hammers are single-acting except those at Els-
wick, Woolwich, and Aboukoff.

Begun in 1889 the Bethlehem hammer was successfully put in opera-
tion on June 30, 1891, since which time many huge forgings for armor
plates and other war and structural material have been shaped under it.

In 1884 there were still in existence in this country sev-
eral old-fashioned slitting mills, which were used spasmodic-
ally in the conversion of iron into nail rods. There was a
slitting mill at the Cambridge rolling mills near Boston ; at
the Norway steel and iron works at South Boston ; at the
Eagle iron works at Roland, Centre county, Pennsylvania ;
and at the Oxford iron and steel works at Frankford, in
Philadelphia. The demand for slit nail rods grows less,
however, every year, and it is probable that even the occa-
sional use of the slitting mills above mentioned will soon be
a thing of the past.

In his History of Philadelphia (1884) Thompson Westcott
says that the first wire suspension bridge in the United States,
if not in the world, was thrown across the Schuylkill river,
near the Falls of Schuylkill, in Philadelphia, in 1816. Its
history is as follows : In 1809 Robert Kennedy and Conrad
Carpenter built a chain bridge at the Falls of Schuylkill
which broke down in 1811. Josiah White and Erskine Haz-
ard, afterwards prominent as the pioneers in the anthracite
coal trade of Pennsylvania, had erected a rolling mill and a
wire factory in the neighborhood, and after the bridge fell
they formed a new company and another chain bridge was
constructed in April, 1811, but this new bridge in turn gave
way in 1816. White & Hazard then swung a wire suspen-
sion bridge across the river from an upper window of their
factory to some large trees on the west bank, steps leading
from the trees to the ground. This primitive bridge struct-
ure was intended for foot passengers only, and but eight
persons were allowed to go upon the footway at one time.

466 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The bridge is said to have cost $125. We find the essential
parts of this statement accepted and presented in detail in a
lecture delivered before the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia,
in 1884, by Professor L. M. Haupt.

Wire fences are not a new thing under the sun. As far
back as 1816 they were in limited use in the neighborhood
of Philadelphia. The wire was manufactured by White &
Hazard at their wire works at the Falls of Schuylkill. In
a communication from this firm to Richard Peters, " Presi-
dent of the Agricultural Society," dated January 2, 1816, the
use of wire fences was recommended, and an elaborate cal-
culation was given to show the economy there would be- in
using them. In speaking of the strength of a wire fence
they said : " We have given it a fair trial at the Falls, with
the most breachy cows of the neighborhood, and it is re-
markable that even dogs avoid passing over it." It was rec-
ommended that " living trees " be used as a substitute for
posts, and that the wire used be protected by a coating of
linseed oil or paint. The fence at the Falls was without
barbs, which are a modern invention.

Samuel J. Reeves was born at Bridgeton, New Jersey, on
March 4, 1818, and died at Phoenixville on December 15, 1878,
aged* over 60 years. For many years prior to his death he
had been President of the American Iron and Steel Associa-
tion and the head of the Phoenix Iron Company.

John Griffen was born at Mamaroneck, in Westchester
county, New York, on February 16, 1812, and died at Phoe-
nixville, Pennsylvania, on January 14, 1884, aged nearly 72
years. He was the inventor of the Griffen gun, and was for
many years the general superintendent of the Phoenix iron
works, at Phoenixville.

Ralph Crooker, the oldest rolling-mill superintendent in
the United States at the time of his death, was born in the
town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on May 28, 1801, and
died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1886, aged al-
most 85 years.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 467

CHAPTER LIV.

EARLY DISCOVERIES OF COAL IN THE UNITED

STATES.

THE abundance and wide distribution of mineral fuel in
the United States have greatly assisted in the development
of our iron and steel industries. A notice of the early discov-
eries of coal in our country therefore properly finds a place
in these pages.

In the Statistics of Coal, by Richard Cowling Taylor,
published in 1848, it is stated that the earliest historic men-
tion of coal in this country is by the French Jesuit mission-
ary, Father Hennepin, who saw traces of bituminous coal on
the Illinois river in 1679. In his journal he marks the site
of a "cole mine" above Fort Crevecoeur, near the present
town of Ottawa, in Illinois.

We find the next historic reference to coal in this country
in a letter written by William Byrd, of Virginia, the first of
the name, on May 10th and llth, 1701, in part as follows :
"• The 10th of May, last, I with Coll. Randolph, Capt. Epes,
Capt. Webb, &c., went up to the new settlements of ye ffrench
Refugees at ye Manakan Town. . . . Wee went up to ye
Cole, w'ch is not above a mile and a half from their settle-
ment on the great upper Creeke, w'ch, riseing very high in
great Raines hath washed away the Banke that the Coal lyes
bare, otherwise it's very deep in the Earth, the land being very
high, and near the surface is plenty of Slate." The discov-
ery of coal had been made by a Huguenot settler. The In-
dian town referred to was situated about twenty miles above
Richmond, on the south side of the James river, now in Pow-
hatan county. For the above information we are indebted to
the courtesy of Mr. R. A. Brock, of Richmond.

In his account of A Progress to the Mines of Virginia in
1732, from which we have quoted in our Virginia chapter,
Colonel Wm. Byrd, in describing the air furnace at Massapo-
nax, gives us the earliest mention of the use of coal in this
country that we have found. He says : " There is an opening

468

THE MANUFACTURE OF

about a foot square for the fresh air to pass through from
without. This leads up to an iron grate that holds about
half a bushel of sea coal." This " sea coal " was probably
brought from over the sea.

In the map of the middle colonies, published by Lewis
Evans in 1755, we find mention of coal in Ohio, but no men-
tion of coal is made anywhere within the limits of Penn-
sylvania. In Nicholas Scull's map of Pennsylvania, publish-
ed, in 1759, coal is not marked. But Mr. Hungerford calls
our attention to the fact that coal in Western Pennsylvania
is mentioned in 1759 in the journal of Colonel James Burd,
written in that year. Colonel Burd was in command of a
detachment of 200 of the king's troops, who were opening
a road from Braddock's old road at Gist's plantation (now
Mount Braddock) to the Monongahela river at the mouth of
Dunlap's creek. Mr. Hungerford says that, having proceeded
from Gist's toward the Monongahela to a point about four
and a half miles from the river, Colonel Burd encamped
there on the evening of the 21st of September, and on the
following day moved on westward and made in his journal
this entry, namely : " Saturday, Sept. 22, 1759. The camp
moved two miles to Coal Run. This run is entirely paved
in the bottom with fine stone coal, and the hill on the south
of it is a rock of the finest coal I ever saw. I burned about
a bushel of it on my fire."

A coal seam near Pittsburgh took fire in 1765 and is said
to have burned steadily for sixteen years. In William Scull's
map of Pennsylvania, published in 1770, coal is marked in
Berks county and at Pittsburgh. In George Washington's
journal of a tour to the Ohio river in 1770 he says, under
date of October 14th of that year: "At Captain Crawford's
all day. We went to see a coal mine not far from his house,
on the banks of the river. The coal seemed to be of the very
best kind, burning freely, and abundance of it." The Cap-
tain Crawford referred to was the celebrated and unfortunate
William Crawford, and his residence at the time of Washing-
ton's visit was at Stuart's Crossing, on the Youghiogheny riv-
er, where New Haven now stands, opposite Connellsville.

In 1763 Colonel Croghan, a British officer, noticed on
the south side of the Wabash river " a high bank in which

IRON IN ALL AGES. 469

are several fine coal mines," which is the earliest reference,
says Taylor, to coal in that region. In the map of Captain
Hutchins, published at London in 1777, coal deposits are
marked at various places in the basin of the Ohio river.

In a paper read before the Historical Society of Penn-
sylvania on the 4th day of January, 1875, Mr. William J.
Buck quotes from the Penn manuscripts to show that the
Penns were fully aware as early as 1769 of the existence of
coal at Pittsburgh. Thomas Penn, in a letter of instructions
dated at London, January 31, 1769, to his nephew, Lieuten-
ant Governor John Penn, says : " We desire you will order
5,000 acres of land to be laid out about Pittsburgh, including
the town, which may now be laid out, and I think from its
situation will become considerable in time ; and that the land
may be laid out to Colonel Francis and his associates, and
other gentlemen of whom I wrote, as contiguous as it may
be, and in regular right-angled tracts, if possible." On the
following 12th of May he writes to Mr. Tilghman respecting
this survey, and says : " I would not engross all the coal-hills,
but rather leave the greater part to others who may work
them." The difficulties between the mother country and her
colonies prevented these instructions from being carried out.

In 1784, however, the Penns, who retained their propri-
etary interest in large tracts of Pennsylvania after the close
of the Revolution, including the manor of Pittsburgh, sur-
veyed into building lots the town of Pittsburgh, and in the
same year the privilege of mining coal in the " great seam "
opposite the town was sold at the rate of £30 for each min-
ing lot, extending back to the centre of the hill. This event
may be regarded as forming the beginning of the coal trade
of Pittsburgh.

On the 1st of November, 1785, Samuel Boyd patented a
tract of bituminous coal land near Oldtown, in Clearfield
county, Pennsylvania, but no coal from this tract was sent
east of the Alleghenies until 1804. In that year William
Boyd shipped the first ark-load of Clearfield county coal down
the Susquehanna to Columbia, in Lancaster county, a distance
of 260 miles. The new fuel, we are told, " was a matter of
great surprise " to the good people of that county. Other
ark -loads followed the first venture, and all the towns along

470 THE MANUFACTURE OF

the Susquehanna were soon familiar with bituminous coal.
In 1828 the first cargo of Pennsylvania bituminous coal
reached Philadelphia from Karthaus, in Clearfield county.
This coal was shipped by the Allegheny Coal Company, un-
der the superintendence of Dr. Frederick W. Geissenhainer.
The coal was taken down the Susquehanna to Port Deposit,
at the head of Chesapeake bay, and thence by vessel to Phil-
adelphia. About the same time coal was sent to Baltimore
from the same place. The distance from market was too
great, however, and the means of transportation too imperfect
to permit the building up of a large trade in bituminous coal
between the Alleghenies and the seaboard, and the situation
was not materially changed for many years after the comple-
tion in 1834 of the Pennsylvania system of internal improve-
ments. The competition of domestic anthracite and of for-
eign and domestic bituminous coal, the last mentioned from
Virginia and Maryland, was too great to be easily overcome,
and in the case of anthracite it has never yet been over-
come, although the shipments of Western Pennsylvania coal
and coke to the seaboard are steadily increasing.

The Virginia coal mines were most likely the first that
were worked in America. Bituminous mines were opened
and operated on the James river, in Chesterfield county,
probably about 1750. In July, 1766, in the Virginia Gazette,
Samuel Duval advertises coal for sale at Rockett's, a lower
landing of Richmond, at 12d. per bushel, " equal to Newcastle
coal." Virginia coal was extensively used during the Revolu-
tion. An air furnace was built at Westham, on the James
river, above Richmond, which used coal in the manufacture
of shot and shell for the Revolutionary army. Virginia
coal. was exported to various cities on the Atlantic coast be-
fore the Revolution. On the 31st of August, 1776, Thomas
Wharton, Jr., and Owen Biddle, of Philadelphia, were au-
thorized to employ proper persons to bring coal from Vir-
ginia which had been contracted for by the Committee of
Safety. In 1789 Virginia coal sold in Philadelphia at Is. 6d.
a bushel. In 1846 the price at the same city was 20 to 22
cents a bushel, which was two or three cents per bushel high-
er than Allegheny bituminous coal. It was the scarcity of
Virginia coal in the Philadelphia market, especially during

IRON IN ALL AGES. 471

the war with Great Britain from 1812 to 1815, which largely
contributed in the early part of the present century to the
development of the vast anthracite coal deposits of Pennsyl-
vania. The exportation of Virginia coal amounted to 42,-
000 tons in 1822, and it reached its culmination in 1833,
when 142,000 tons were shipped to neighboring States. In
1842 the shipments had fallen to 65,000 tons. Up to about
that year it was a leading source of the domestic supply of
mineral fuel in this country, and down to about 1850 it con-
tributed the principal supply to the gas works of Philadel-
phia and other American cities, for which use it was well
adapted. For about twenty years after 1833 the importation
of bituminous coal from Great Britain and the British prov-
inces into Philadelphia, principally for the gas works, stead-
ily increased, owing to the growing scarcity of Virginia coal.
About 1845 coal from the Pittsburgh seam began to be used
in Philadelphia, transportation being by the Pennsylvania
Canal, and about 1855 the gas coal of Western Pennsylvania,
on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was introduced into
Philadelphia.

Coal is improbably said to have been discovered six miles
northeast of Baltimore by Benjamin Henfrey in 1801. The
Western Maryland coal basin was soon afterwards opened,
and in 1820 the first shipment of coal from Alleghany coun-
ty, Maryland, seems to have been made, when a few thou-
sand tons were sent down the Potomac in boats. In 1832
the annual shipment of Cumberland coal down the Potomac
had increased to about 300,000 bushels, most of which was
not sent below Harper's Ferry. The price of Cumberland
coal at tidewater at Georgetown in the District of Columbia
in 1838 was 20 cents a bushel. In 1842 the shipment of
Cumberland coal to Baltimore by the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad was commenced, with a total tonnage of 1,708 tons.

In 1804 the first discovery of coal west of the Mississippi
was made by the exploring expedition under the leadership
of Lewis and Clarke, who traced brown coal or lignite from
about twenty miles above the Mandan villages, on the Mis-
souri, nearly to the base of the Rocky mountains, and also
upon the Yellowstone and other streams. In one of the ex-
ploring expeditions through Louisiana Territory which was

472 THE MANUFACTURE OF

led by Captain Z. M. Pike " fine seams of coal " were dis-
covered "far up the Osage river" in 1806.

Anthracite coal was discovered in the Wyoming valley as
early as 1766, as appears from Mr. Buck's paper. He says
that James Tilghman, of Philadelphia, addressed a letter to
the Proprietaries, Thomas and Richard Penn, at Spring Gar-
den, London, on the 14th day of August, 1766, in which he
stated that his brother-in-law, Colonel Francis, had gone " up
the N. E. Branch as far as Wyoming, where he says there is
a considerable body of good land and a very great fund of
coal in the hills, which surround a very fine and extensive
bottom there. This coal is thought to be very fine. With his
compliments he sends you a piece of the coal. This bed of
coal, situate as it is on the side of the river, may some time
or other be a thing of great value." By way of postscript he
adds : " The coal is in a small package of the Governor's."
In a reply from Thomas Penn to Mr. Tilghman, dated at
London on the following 7th of November, he says, in ac-
knowledgment : " I desire you will return my thanks to Col-
onel Francis for his good services in removing the intruders
that were settled on the Indians' land, and for the piece of
coal, which we shall have examined by some persons skillful
in that article and send their observations on it." It is fur-
ther stated by Mr. Buck that the next mention of coal in this
section is in a draft by Charles Stewart from a survey made
in 1768 of a large tract of land on the west side of the
Susquehanna, opposite to the present city of Wilkesbarre,
which has " stone coal " marked thereon. The German trav-
eler, Dr. Schoepf, tells us that in 1783 he found specimens
of coal in the Swatara creek, in Lebanon county, and learned
of its existence up the west branch of the Susquehanna.

The Wyoming valley was partly settled by a colony of
Connecticut people in 1762, representing " The Susquehanna
Company." In the same year the Indians murdered about
twenty of the colony and the remainder of the settlers were
driven away. Gradually the survivors and others associated
with them returned to the valley, and in 1768-9 it is claimed
that two of the settlers, being two brothers named Gore, from
Connecticut, who were blacksmiths, were the first persons in
this country to use anthracite coal, using it in a forge fire.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 473

In 1776 and throughout the Revolutionary war anthra-
cite coal was taken in arks from the Wyoming mines above
Wilkesbarre down the Susquehanna to the United States ar-
mory at Carlisle. Mr. Buck says that the first shipment of
about twenty tons of this coal " was obtained from a bed
belonging to Judge Hollenback, one mile above Wilkesbarre,
near the mouth of Mill creek." S. H. Daddow says in the
American Cydopcedia that some of it also came from the old
Smith mine in the vicinity of Plymouth.

At Carbondale, in the northeastern section of the Wyo-
ming coal field, anthracite coal was discovered in 1804 by a
surveyor named Samuel Preston, and in 1814 William and
Maurice Wurtz commenced to make arrangements for its de-
velopment. In 1815, after many discouraging attempts, they
succeeded in sending one ark-load of coal to Philadelphia
through the Lackawaxen and Delaware rivers, but the ex-
periment was not repeated until 1823, after which shipments
to Philadelphia were successfully made.

Anthracite coal appears to have been known to the set-
tlers within the limits of the Schuylkill coal field as early
as 1770. In William Scull's map of Pennsylvania, publish-
ed in that year, " coal " is marked about the head waters of
Schuylkill creek, thence stretching westward to those of the
Swatara and to "the wilderness of St. Anthony." This "wil-
derness," we may mention, extended from Peters's mount-
ain, in Dauphin county, westward to the Kittatinny or Blue
mountains.

The act of the Pennsylvania legislature of March 15,
1784, for the improvement of the navigation of the Schuyl-
kill, mentions " the coal mines at Basler's saw-mill " in
Schuylkill county. A hunter named Nicholas Allen is said
to have discovered coal in 1790 at the foot of Broad mount-
ain, in the same county. No attempt to mine the coal dis-
covered by Nicholas Allen seems to have been made. Read-
ing Howell, in his map of Pennsylvania, published in 1792,
marks the existence of " coal " near the source of Panther
creek, about five miles east of the present town of Tamaqua,
and on the border of Carbon county. In 1795 a blacksmith
named Whetstone used anthracite coal near Pottsville, while
others attempted to use it and abandoned it in disgust.

474 THE MANUFACTURE OF

About 1800 William Morris took a wagon-load of anthra-
cite coal from near Port Carbon to Philadelphia, but nobody
wanted it, and Mr. Morris made no further efforts to mine or
sell coal. About 1806 coal was found at Valley Forge, on the
Schuylkill river, and a blacksmith named David Berlin and
others successfully used it. In 1812 Col. George Shoemaker,
of Pottsville, loaded nine wagons with coal from his mines
at Centreville and hauled it to Philadelphia, where with
great difficulty he sold two loads at the cost of transporta-
tion and gave the other seven loads away. He was by many
regarded as an impostor for attempting to sell stone as coal.

The first discovery of anthracite coal in the Lehigh re-
gion is said to have been made in the Mauch Chunk mount-
ain, about nine miles west of Mauch Chunk, where the town
of Summit Hill is now located, by a poor hunter named Phil-
ip Ginter, in 1791. Pieces of the coal discovered by'Ginter
were taken to Colonel Jacob Weiss, at Fort Allen, who opened
a " quarry " in the coal mountain that year. The discovery
of coal on the Lehigh was announced as follows in the New
York Magazine for February, 1792, in a communication dated
Philadelphia, January 31st: "A coal mine has been discovered
on the Lehigh, in the county of Northampton. The coal yet
found is small, but there is every reason to believe that by
searching deeper it will be found larger. The quality is good.
If this natural advantage is improved it will be a prodigious
resource to the city and cheapen the article of fuel, which
now, from the labor of transportation, bears a high price."

In 1793 Colonel Weiss, John Nicholson, Michael Hillegas,
Charles Cist, Robert Morris, (of Revolutionary fame,) J. An-
thony Morris, and others organized the Lehigh Coal Mine
Company, which obtained control of about six thousand acres
of coal land, and several tons of coal were soon " dug up."
But there was no market nearer than Philadelphia, and there
were poor means of communication with that city. It was
not until 1803 that the company succeeded in floating two
arks to Philadelphia, through the Lehigh and Delaware riv-
ers, laden with two hundred tons of coal. Five arks were
started, but three, of these were wrecked. The coal, however,
could not be made to burn, probably because large lumps
were used, and it was thrown away as useless for any purpose

IRON IN ALL AGES. 475

except to " gravel footwalks." In 1806 William Turnbull,
of Philadelphia, floated three hundred bushels of coal from
this region to Philadelphia in an ark he had constructed at
Lausanne. The coal was sold to the officers of the Central
Square water works, but it proved to be unmanageable, and
Mr. Turnbull's experiment was not repeated.

In 1814 two ark-loads of Lehigh coal reached Philadel-
phia from the mines of the Lehigh Coal Mine Company, then
leased by the Hon. Charles Miner and Jacob Cist, a son of
Charles Cist, and this time the coal was sold at $21 a ton
and successfully used by the purchasers, Josiah White and
Erskine Hazard, who were then manufacturing wire at the
Falls of Schuylkill. After this venture Miner and Cist aban-
doned the mining of anthracite coal. They had lost money.

In 1817 White & Hazard and George F. A. Hauto be-
came interested in the improvement of the navigation of the
Lehigh river for the purpose of aiding in the development
of the Lehigh coal mines, and on the 20th of March, 1818,
an act of the Pennsylvania legislature was passed authorizing
the incorporation of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com-
pany. This company obtained a lease for twenty years of
the Lehigh Coal Mine Company's lands, then amounting to
ten thousand acres, for one ear of corn a year, if demanded ;
with the proviso that, from and after three years, the latter
company should send, on its own account, at least 40,000
bushels of coal, or about 1,500 tons, per annum to Philadel-
phia. The new company commenced work immediately. In
1820 it sent 365 tons of anthracite coal to market ; in 1821,
1,073 tons ; in 1822, 2,240 tons ; in 1823, 5,823 tons ; and in
1826 its trade increased to 31,280 tons. During the next
year, 1827, the Mauch Chunk Railroad was finished and the
improvement of the ascending navigation was put under
contract, soon after which shipments steadily increased.

The Middle coal region, occupying a wild and broken
section of country between the Wyoming and Schuylkill re-
gions, and extending on the east to the Lehigh region, was
the last of the four great anthracite coal fields of Pennsyl-
vania to be developed. The Mahanoy and Shamokin basins
compose its principal divisions. Coal pits or mines are mark-
ed in the neighborhood of Mahanoy creek, above Crab run,

476 THE MANUFACTURE OF

in William Scull's map of Pennsylvania in 1770. But little
mining was done in the region until 1834, owing mainly to
its inaccessibility. In that year 500 tons were mined and
hauled in wagons to neighboring districts.

Down to 1808 the anthracite coal of the Wyoming valley
was used only in smiths' forges, but in that year Judge Jesse
Fell, of Wilkesbarre, was successful in using it in a grate, as
clearly appears from a memorandum signed with his name
and dated February 11, 1808. This may have been the first
successful attempt that had been made to use the new fuel
for domestic purposes in a grate either in this country or
in any other country. (Anthracite coal was not used in
Wales until 1813, nor in France until 1814.) Its use in
grates soon became general wherever it was mined or could
be transported. " In the year 1788," says Judge Fell, " I
used it in a nailery, and found it to be profitable in that
business. The nails made with it would neat the weight of
the rods, and frequently a balance over." It is claimed by
Dr. T. C. James, of Philadelphia, in a paper read before
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on April 19th, 1826,
that he successfully used anthracite coal in his house in 1804
and thenceforward. Unfortunately Dr. James does not say
whether he used the coal in a stove or a grate.

The well-known Blossburg semi-bituminous coal region
of Pennsylvania was not brought into public notice until
after 1832, in which year it was geologically surveyed by
Richard Cowling Taylor. In 1840 its development began by
the building of a railroad to reach northern markets. In
that year 4,235 tons were sent to market, followed by 25,-
966 tons in 1841. The Broad Top semi-bituminous coal re-
gion of Pennsylvania was but very slightly developed until
1856, when the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad was
completed and the first coal was sent eastward to market.

Anthracite coal of inferior quality was discovered in
Rhode Island and Massachusetts about 1760. It has also
been discovered in Virginia, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The existence of coal in Alabama was first noticed in
1834, by Dr. Alexander Jones, of Mobile.

The beginning of the regular manufacture of Connells-
ville coke, which is widely celebrated for its excellence as a

IRON IN ALL AGES. 477

fuel for blast furnaces, dates from the summer of 1841, when
Provance McCormick and James Campbell made an agree-
ment with John Taylor by which he was to erect two ovens
for making coke on his farm lying on the Youghiogheny
river, near Sedgwick station, a few miles below Connellsville,
Pennsylvania. The ovens were built of the bee-hive pattern!
After repeated failures a fair quality of coke was produced
in the winter of 1841-2. By the spring of 1842 enough
coke had been made to load two boats, each of which was 90
feet long. These boats were built by McCormick and Camp-
bell, who were carpenters. Both boats were taken by William
Turner, pilot, down the Youghiogheny, the Monongahela, and
the Ohio to Cincinnati, where purchasers were obtained for
the coke after much difficulty. Others embarked in 1842 in
the manufacture of coke, and were more successful.

About 1844 improved ovens were introduced in the Con-
nellsville district by Colonel A. M. Hill, whose energy and
success gave much impetus to the business of making coke.
In 1855 there were only 26 coke ovens at work in the dis-
trict " above Pittsburgh," and in all Western Pennsylvania
there were probably less than a hundred; now the number
of ovens in the Connellsville district alone may be counted
by thousands, most of them built after improved models.
To-day Connellsville coke is extensively used in the blast
furnaces of many States, its use for this purpose extending
to the Mississippi valley, while it is used as far west as
Utah and California for other purposes. Over one-third of
the annual production of pig iron in this country is now
made with this fuel. Its use as a furnace fuel properly
dates from 1860, when it was first used at Pittsburgh in a
furnace owned by Graff, Bennett & Co., and known as Clin-
ton furnace. This was the first continuous and successful
use of Connellsville coke in a blast furnace. This coke is
free from sulphur, but contains more ash than the celebrat-
ed Durham coke of England. One hundred pounds of Con-
nellsville coal will make 62j- pounds of coke.

The shipments of Connellsville coke in 1890 amounted
to 6,221,518 net tons. The shipments of Pocahontas Flat
Top coke, from Virginia and West Virginia, amounted in the
same year to 433,319 net tons.

478

THE MANUFACTURE OF

We give below the official statistics of the production
of coal in the United States in the census years 1870 and
1880, ending on the 31st day of May of each year, and in
the census year 1889, ending on the 31st day of December.

Years— Gross tons.

Bituminous coal.

Anthracite coal.

Total.

Census year 1870 .. ..

15 356 621

13 985 960

29 342 581

Census year 1880

38 242 641

25 580 189

63 822 830

Census year 1889

85,383 059

40 714 720

126 097 779

The production of bituminous coal in the nine years
and seven months ending with December 31, 1889, increased
123 per cent., while the production of anthracite coal in-
creased 59 per cent* The total production in the same pe-
riod increased about 98 per cent.

The following table gives in tons of 2,000 pounds the
production of bituminous and anthracite coal in the United
States in the census year 1889, by States and Territories.

States and Territories.

Production in
1889— Net tons.

States and Territories.

i Production in

j 1889— Net tons.

Bituminous

I Ohio

9 976 787

3 572 983

Pennsylvania

36,174,089

279584

Tennessee

1,925,689

184 179

Texas

128,216

2 544 144

Utah

236,651

Tllinrvi«

19 104 ^72

Virginia

I 865 786

2 845 057

Washington

1,030,578

752 832

West Virginia

6,231,880

4 095 358

Wyoming

1,388,947

Kansas and Nebraska

2,222,443

Total bituminous

95,629,026

Kentucky

2,399,755

Maryland

2 939 715

Anthracite.

Michigan

67 431

Pennsylvania

1 45 544 970

Missouri

2 557 823

Colorado New Mexico and

Montana

363 301

Rhode Island. . . .

.1 55,517

New Mexico

486,463

Total anthracite

; 45,600,487

North Carolina and Georgia..

226,156

North Dakota

28,907

Grand total

141,229,513

For the facts contained in this chapter we are indebt-
ed to many sources of information, but we have been most
assisted by the patient researches of William J. Buck, by the
exhaustive work of Samuel Harries Daddow and Benjamin
Bannan on Coal, Iron, and Oil, published in 1866, and by
the valuable Introduction to the report on manufactures ac-
companying the census of 1860. The census statistics for
1889 were compiled by Mr. John H. Jones, special agent.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 479

CHAPTER LV.

BRITISH EFFORTS TO PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE AMERICAN IRON INDUSTRY.

MANY of the difficulties encountered in the early devel-
opment of all our industries were inseparable from the con-
ditions which attend the settlement of a new country, but
others were of a political character, and grew out of the
dependent relation of the colonies to Great Britain. The
first Lord Sheffield declared that "the only use and advan-
tage of American colonies or West India islands is the monop-
oly of their consumption and the carriage of their produce."
McCulloch, in his Commercial Dictionary, admits that it was
" a leading principle in the system of colonial policy, adopted
as well by England as by the other European nations, to dis-
courage all attempts to manufacture such articles in the colo-
nies as could be provided for them by the mother country."
Dr. William Elder, in his Questions of the Day, says : " The
colonies were held under restraint so absolute that, beyond the
common domestic industries and the most ordinary mechan-
ical employments, no kind of manufactures was permitted."
Bancroft, in his History of the United States of America, says
that " England, in its relations with other States, sought a
convenient tariff ; in the colonies it prohibited industry." He
further says : " The British nation took no part in the strifes
between the governors and the colonies; but they were jeal-
ously alive to the interests of their own commerce and manu-
factures. That the British creditor might be secure lands in
the plantations were, by act of Parliament, made liable for
debts. Every branch of consumption was, as far as practica-
ble, secured to English manufacturers ; every form of compe-
tition in industry, in the heart of the plantations, was dis-
couraged or forbidden." In 1750 appeared the celebrated de-
liverance of a prominent Englishman, Joshua Gee, in which
he boldly declared that the British people "ought always to
keep a watchful eye over our colonies, to restrain them from
setting up any of the manufactures which are carried on in

480 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Great Britain, and any such attempts should be crushed in
the beginning, for if they are suffered to grow up to maturity
it will be difficult to suppress them." He especially recom-
mended that " all slitting mills, and engines for drawing wire
or weaving stockings, be put down." Mathew Carey, in his
Essays on Political Economy, says : " The great Chatham, the
least hostile to British America of British ministers, in his
speech in the House of Lords, on the address to the throne,
in 1770, expressed his utmost alarm at the first efforts at
manufactures in America." Henry C. Carey informs us, in
his Principles of Social Science, that even the distinguished
Lord Chatham " declared that he would not allow the colo-
nists to make even a hobnail for themselves."

A law of Virginia, to encourage textile manufactures in
that province, passed in 1684, was annulled in England. In
1699 the exportation, by land or water, of wool and woolen
manufactures from one colony to another was prohibited.
This was done that English woolen manufacturers might
have a monopoly in supplying the colonists with woolen
goods. From 1719 to 1732 British merchants " complained in
memorials to the government that the people of Massachu-
setts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland
were setting up manufactures of woolen and linen for the use
of their own families, and of flax and hemp for coarse bags
and halters." Bancroft says: " In the land of furs it was
found that hats were well made : the London company of
hatters remonstrated, and their craft was protected by an act
forbidding hats to be transported from one plantation to an-
other." " In 1732," says Henry C. Carey, in his great work
above mentioned, " the exportation of hats from province to
province was prohibited, and the number of hatters' appren-
tices was limited by law." In 1750 a hatter-shop in Massa-
chusetts was declared by the British Parliament to be a nui-
sance.

Concerning the attitude of Great Britain toward the wool-
en manufactures of the colonies at as late a period as the
beginning of the Revolution we quote from Adam Smith, in
his Wealth of Nations, published in 1776 : " She prohibits the
exportation from one province to another by water, and even
the carriage by land upon horseback or in a cart, of hats, of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 481

wools and woolen goods, of the produce of America ; a reg-
ulation which effectually prevents the establishment of any
manufacture of such commodities for distant sale, and con-
fines the industry of her colonists in this way to such coarse
and household manufactures as a private family commonly
makes for its own use, or for that of some of its neighbors
in the same province."

In the seventeenth century the colonial iron industry
was so slowly developed that it attracted but little attention
in Great Britain; but at the beginning of the eighteenth
century, when Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia began
to manufacture iron and to export it to England, the possi-
bilities of its development in competition with the English
iron industry became a source of uneasiness to English
ironmasters. In the following passage Bancroft details the
results of this apprehension.

The proprietors of English iron. works were jealous of American indus-
try. In 1719 news came that, in some parts of Massachusetts, " the inhabit-
ants worked up their wool and flax, and made a coarse sort for their own use ;
that they manufactured great part of their leather, that there were also hat-
ters in the maritime towns ; and that six furnaces and nineteen forges were
set up for making iron." These six furnaces and nineteen forges were a
terror to England, and their spectres haunted the public imagination for
a quarter of a century. The House of Commons readily resolved that
" the erecting manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen their depend-
ence ;" and, under pretense of encouraging the importation of American lum-
ber, they passed a bill having the clause, "that none in the plantations
should manufacture iron wares of any kind out of any sows, pigs, or bars
whatsoever." The House of Lords added, " that no forge, going by water,
or other works should be erected in any of the said plantations, for the
making, working, or converting of any sows, pigs, or cast-iron into bar or
rod iron." The opposition of the northern colonies defeated the bill ; Eng-
land would not yet forbid the colonists to manufacture a bolt or a nail ; but
the purpose was never abandoned.

The distinguished American historian records in the fol-
lowing language the culmination of the repressive policy of
the mother country toward the iron industry of the colonies.
"America abounded in iron ore; its unwrought iron was ex-
cluded by a duty from the English market; and its people
were rapidly gaining skill at the furnace and the forge.
In February, 1750, the subject engaged the attention of the
House of Commons. To check the danger of American rival-
ry Charles Townshend was placed at the head of a committee.

482 THE MANUFACTURE OF

After a few days' deliberation he brought in a bill which per-
mitted American iron in its rudest forms to be imported duty
free; but, now that the nailers in the colonies could afford
spikes and large nails cheaper than the English, it forbade
the smiths of America to erect any mill for slitting or rolling
iron, or any plating-forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any
furnace for making steel. . . . The house divided on the
proposal that every slitting mill in America should be abol-
ished. The clause failed only by a majority of twenty-two ;
but an immediate return was required of every mill already
existing, and the number was never to be increased." The
act of Parliament to ^ which Bancroft here alludes contained
many provisions, but its principal provisions were as follows.

WHEREAS, The importation of bar iron from His Majesty's colonies in
America into the port of London, and the importation of pig iron from the
said colonies into any port of Great Britain, and the manufacture of such
bar and pig iron in Great Britain, will be a great advantage, not only to the
said colonies, but also to this kingdom, by furnishing the manufacturers of
iron with a supply of that useful and necessary commodity, and by means
thereof large sums of money, now annually paid for iron to foreigners, will
be saved to this kingdom, and a greater quantity of the woolen, and other man-
ufactures of Great Britain, will be exported to America, in exchange for such iron
so imported; be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent majesty,
by and with the advice and consent of the Lords, spiritual and temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority
of the same, that from and after the twenty-fourth day of June, one thou-
sand seven hundred and fifty, the several and respective subsidies, customs,
impositions, rates, and duties, now payable on pig iron, made in and import-
ed from His Majesty's colonies in America into any port of Great Britain,
shall cease, determine, and be no longer paid ; and that from and after the
said twenty -fourth day of June no subsidy, custom, imposition, rate, or duty
whatever shall be payable upon bar iron made in and imported from the
said colonies into the port of London ; any law, statute, or usage to the con-
trary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

And, that pig and bar iron made in His Majesty's colonies in America
may be further manufactured in this kingdom, be it further enacted by the
authority aforesaid, that from and after the twenty-fourth day of June, one
thousand seven hundred and fifty, no mill or other engine for slitting or
rolling of iron, or any plateing forge to work with a tilt hammer, or any fur-
nace for making steel, shall be erected, or after such erection continued in
any of His Majesty's colonies in America ; and if any person or persons
shall erect, or cause to be erected, or after such erection continue, or cause
to be continued, in any of the said colonies, any such mill, engine, forge, or
furnace, every person or persons so offending shall, for every such mill, en-
gine, forge, or furnace, forfeit the sum of two hundred pounds of lawful
money of Great Britain.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 483

And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every
such mill, engine, forge, or furnace, so erected or continued, contrary to the
directions of this act, shall be deemed a common nuisance, and that every gov-
ernor, lieutenant-governor, or commander-in-chief of any of His Majesty's
colonies in America, where any such mill, engine, forge, or furnace shall
be erected or continued, shall, upon information to him made and given,
upon the oath of any two or more credible witnesses, that any such mill,
engine, forge, or furnace hath been so erected or continued, (which oath
such governor, lieutenant-governor, or commander-in-chief, is hereby au-
thorized and required to administer,) order and cause every such mill, en-
gine, forge, or furnace to be abated within the space of thirty days next
after such information given and made as aforesaid.

The provision in the above act which repealed the du-
ties on colonial pig iron and bar iron imported into Great
Britain was wholly based on the necessities of the mother
country, and was not in the least due to a desire to build up
a colonial iron industry for the benefit of the colonies them-
selves. There was in 1750 a scarcity of wood in England for
the supply of charcoal, which was then the principal fuel
used in the smelting and refining of iron, but forests every-
where abounded in the colonies and iron ore had been found
in many places. The manufacture of pig iron and bar iron
in the colonies, and their exportation to England, to meet a
scarcity of the domestic supply of these raw products, and to
be exchanged for British woolen and other manufactures, was
therefore encouraged. The provision relating to articles made
from pig iron and bar iron was intended to be prohibitory
of their manufacture in the colonies. Adam Smith thus de-
scribed in 1776 the character of this legislation, which had not
been repealed nor altered down to that period, the beginning
of the Revolution : " While Great Britain encourages in Amer-
ica the manufactures of pig and bar iron, by exempting them
from duties to which the like commodities are subject when
imported from any other country, she imposes an absolute
prohibition upon the erection of steel furnaces and slit-mills
in any of her American plantations. She will not suffer her
colonists to work in those more refined manufactures even for
their own consumption, but insists upon their purchasing of
her merchants and manufacturers all goods of this kind
which they have occasion for."

Bancroft comments as follows upon the reception which
was given in England to the new law.

484 THE MANUFACTURE OF

While England applauded the restriction, its owners of iron mines
grudged to America a share of the market for the rough material ; the tan-
ners, from the threatened inaction of the English furnaces, feared a dimin-
ished supply of bark ; the clergy and gentry foreboded injury to the price
of woodlands. The importation of bar iron from the colonies was therefore
limited to the port of London, which already had its supply from abroad. The
ironmongers and smiths of Birmingham thought well of importing bars of
iron free ; but, from " compassion " to the " many thousand families in the
kingdom " who otherwise " must be ruined," they prayed that " the Ameri-
can people " might be subject not to the proposed restrictions only, but to
such others " as may secure for ever the trade to this country." Some would
have admitted the raw material from no colony where its minute manufact-
ure was carried on.

The act of 1750 was generally enforced in the colonies,
and the further erection of slitting and rolling mills, plating
forges, and steel furnaces was prevented. Works of the char-
acter described which had been erected previous to the pas-
sage of the act could not, however, be legally prevented from
continuing in operation. The governors of the several colo-
nies issued proclamations commanding obedience to the re-
quirements of the new law. The proclamation of lieutenant-
governor James Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, was printed by
Benjamin Franklin. An original copy may be seen in the
library of the Pennsylvania Historical Society in Philadel-
phia. It reads as follows.

By the Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, ESQ., Lieutenant-Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania and Counties of
New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware.

A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS, By an act of Parliament passed in the twenty-third year of
His Majesty's reign, entituled " An act to encourage the importation of pig
and bar iron from His Majesty's colonies in America, and to prevent the
erection of any mill, or other engine, for slitting or rolling of iron, or any
plating-forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or any furnace for making steel
in any of the said colonies," it is enacted — " That from and after the twen-
ty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
and fifty, every governor, lieutenant-governor, and commander-in-chief of
any of His Majesty's colonies in America shall forthwith transmit to the
commissioners for trade and plantations a certificate, under his hand and
seal of office, containing a particular account of every mill or engine for
slitting and rolling of iron, and every plating-forge to work with a tilt-ham-
mer, and every furnace for making steel, at the time of the commencement
of this act, erected in his colony ; expressing, also, in the said certificate,
such of them as are used, and the name or names of the proprietor or pro-
prietors of each such mill, engine, forge, and furnace, and the place where
each such mill, engine, forge, and furnace is erected, and the number of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 485

engines, forges, and furnaces in the said colony." To the end therefore that
I may be the better enabled to obey the directions of the said act, I have
thought fit, with the advice of the council, to issue this proclamation, here-
by enjoining and requiring the proprietor or proprietors, or in case of their
absence, the occupiers of any of the above-mentioned mills, engines, forges,
and furnaces, erected within this province, to appear before me, at the city
of Philadelphia, on or before the twenty-first day of September next, with
proper and ample testimonials of the rights of such proprietor, proprietors,
and occupiers therein, and sufficient proofs whether the said mills, engines,
forges, and furnaces respectively were used on the said twenty-fourth day
of June or not : And I do further hereby require and command the sheriff1
of every county in this province respectively, on or before the said twenty -
first day of September, to appear before me, at the city of Philadelphia
aforesaid, and then and there by writings, under their hands and seals, to
certify and make known to 'me every mill or engine for slitting and rolling
of iron, every plating-forge to work with a tilt-hammer, and every furnace
for making steel, which were erected within their several and respective
counties on the said twenty-fourth day of June, and the place and places
where the same were erected, with the names of their reputed proprietor
or proprietors, and the occupiers of them, and every of them ; and whether
they or any of them were used on the said twenty-fourth day of June or
not, as they and each of them will answer the contrary at their peril.

Given under my hand and the great seal of the province of Pennsyl-
vania, at Philadelphia, this sixteenth day of August, in the twenty-fourth
year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, GEORGE the Second, King of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, etc., and in the year of our Lord 1750.

By His Honour's command. JAMES HAMILTON.

EICHARD PETERS, Secretary.

GOD Save the KING.

PHILADELPHIA: Printed by B. FRANKLIN, Printer to the Provin6e, MDCCL. v

As may easily be imagined the passage of this act arous-\
ed anew the feeling of discontent in the colonies which had
been created and kept alive by many repressive measures of
the mother country directed against our colonial manufact-
ures. These measures of repression formed a large part of
that " long train of abuses and usurpations " which led to the
war of independence.

From the passage of the act of 1750 down to the Revo-
lution our iron industry was mainly confined to the produc-
tion of pig iron and bar iron and castings from the blast fur-
nace. The effect of this act was to repress the development
of our steel industry and of the finished branches of our
iron industry. During this period we made pig iron and bar
iron in sufficient quantities for our own use and the surplus
was sent to the mother country.

486 THE MANUFACTURE OF

But the colonies suffered also from the general restrictive
policy of Great Britain affecting the manufactures of all for-
eign countries, particularly from its numerous acts of Parlia-
ment prohibiting the exportation of skilled artisans and im-
proved machinery: Adam Smith gives us these facts.

By the 7th and 8th of William III. [1696 and 1697], chapter 20, section
8, the exportation of frames or engines for knitting gloves or stockings is
prohibited under the penalty not only of the forfeiture of such frames or
engines so exported, or attempted to be exported, but of forty pounds —
one-half to the king, the other to the person who shall inform or sue for
the same.

By the 5th George I. [1718], chapter 27, the person who shall be con-
victed of enticing any artificer of, or in any of the manufactures of, Great
Britain, to go into any foreign parts in order to practice or teach his trade,
is liable, for the first offense, to be fined in any sum not exceeding one hun-
dred pounds, and to three months' imprisonment, and until the fine shall
be paid ; and, for the second offense, to be fined in any sum at the discre-
tion of the court, and to imprisonment for twelve months, and until the
fine shall be paid. By the 23d George II. [1749], chapter 13, this penalty
is increased, for the first offense, to five hundred pounds for every artificer
so enticed, and to twelve months' imprisonment, and until the fine shall
be paid; and, for the second offense, to one thousand pounds, and to two
years' imprisonment, and until the fine shall be paid.

By the former of these two statutes, upon proof that any person has
been enticing any artificer, or that any artificer has promised or contracted
to go into foreign parts for the purposes aforesaid, such artificer may be
obliged to give security at the discretion of the court that he shall not go
beyond the seas, and may be committed to prison until he give such se-
curity.

If any artificer has gone beyond the seas, and is exercising or teaching
his trade in any foreign country, upon warning being given to him by any
of his majesty's ministers or consuls abroad, or by one of his majesty's sec-
retaries of state for the time being, if he does not within six months after
such warning return to this realm, and from thenceforth abide and inhabit
continually within the same, he is from thenceforth declared incapable of
taking any legacy devised to him within this kingdom, or of being exec-
utor or administrator to any person, or of taking any lands within this
kingdom by descent, devise, or purchase. He likewise forfeits to the king
all his lands, goods, and chattels, is declared an alien in every respect, and
is put out of the king's protection.

Sir William Blackstone, in the chapter on offenses against
public trade, in his Commentaries on the Laivs of England, re-
cites some of the details above given by Adam Smith, and
adds important testimony to the character of the restrictive
legislation adopted by Great Britain in 1774, during the long
reign of George the Third. He says :

IRON IN ALL AGES. 487

To prevent the destruction of our home manufactures by transporting and se-
ducing our artists to settle abroad, it is provided, by statute 5 George I., c. 27,
that such as so entice or seduce them shall be fined £100 and be imprison-
ed three months ; and for the second offense shall be fined at discretion,
and be imprisoned a year ; and the artificers so going into foreign countries,
and not returning within six months after warning given them by the Brit-
ish ambassador where they reside, shall be deemed aliens, and forfeit all
their land and goods, and shall be incapable of any legacy or gift. By stat-
ute 23 George II., c. 13, the seducers incur, for the first offense, a forfeiture
of £500 for each artificer contracted with to be sent abroad, and imprison-
ment for twelve months ; and for the second, £1000, and are liable to two
years' imprisonment; and, by the same statute, connected with 14 George
III., c. 71, if any person exports any tools or utensils used in the silk, linen,
cotton, or woolen manufactures (excepting wool cards to North America),
he forfeits the same and £200, and the captain of the ship (having knowl-
edge thereof) £100 ; and if any captain of a king's ship, or officer of the
customs, knowingly suffers such exportation he forfeits £100 and his em-
ployment, and is forever made incapable of bearing any public office ; and
every person collecting such tools or utensils in order to export the s&me
shall, on conviction at the assizes, forfeit such tools and also £200.

The policy which is epitomized above by the great Eng-
lish political economist and the great English commentator
was continued throughout the Revolution and long after the
colonies secured their independence. The details of British
legislation at this period are worthy of preservation.

The following summary of the provisions of various re-
strictive acts of Parliament enacted in 1781, 1782, 1785, and
1795 is derived from Pope's Laws of the Customs and Excise.

(1781.) It was enacted (21 Geo. III., c. 37) that any person who packed
or put on board, or caused to be brought to any place in order to be put on
board any vessel, with a view to exportation, "any machine, engine, tool,
press, paper, utensil, or implement, or any part thereof, which now is or
hereafter may be used in the woolen, cotton, linen, or silk manufacture of
this kingdom, or goods wherein wool, cotton, linen, or silk are used, or any
model or plan thereof," etc., should forfeit every such machine and the
goods packed therewith and £200, and suffer imprisonment for twelve
months. The like penalties attached to having in custody or power, or
collecting, making, applying for, or causing to be made, any such machin-
ery, and the forfeitures were to go to the use of the informer after the ex-
penses of prosecution were paid. The exportation, and the attempt to put
on board for that purpose, of "any blocks, plates, engines, tools, or utensils
used in, or which are proper for the preparing or finishing of, the calico,
cotton, muslin, or linen printing manufactures, or any part thereof," were
the next year (1782) prohibited under penalty of £500. The same act in-
terdicted the transportation of tools used in the iron and steel manufact-

(1785.) The great improvements which had been made in England in

488 | THE MANUFACTURE OF

all branches of the iron manufacture, and the competition springing up in
Europe and America in the production of raw iron, doubtless prompted the
act of 1785 (25 Geo. III., c. 67) to prevent, under severe penalties, the en-
ticing of artificers or workmen in the iron and steel manufactures out of
the kingdom, and the exportation of any tools used in these branches to
any place beyond the seas.

(1795.) The act of Parliament of 1785, prohibiting the exportation of
tools and machinery used in the iron and steel manufactures, was made
perpetual by the statute 35 Geo. III., c. 38. It recapitulates the several de-
scriptions of machine's, engines, implements, utensils, and models, or parts
thereof, employed in rolling, slitting, pressing, casting, boring, stamping,
piercing, scoring, shading, or chasing and die-sinking iron and other metals.
It included machines used in the button, glass, pottery, saddle and harness,
and other manufactures, wire moulds for paper, etc.

We copy below the leading provisions of the act of the
British Parliament, (chapter 37,) adopted in 1781, the twenty-
first year of the reign of George the Third, which prohibited
the exportation from Great Britain of machinery used in the
manufacture of cotton, linen, woolen, and silk goods.

An act to explain and amend an act made in the fourteenth year of
the reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act to prevent the exporta-
tion to foreign parts of utensils made use of in the cotton, linen, woollen,
and silk manufactures of this kingdom, . . . That if, at any time after the
twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one,
any person or persons in Great Britain or Ireland shall . . . put on board
of any ship or vessel, which shall not be bound directly to some port or
place in Great Britain or Ireland, . . . any machine, engine, tool, press,
paper, utensil, or implement whatsoever, which now is, or at any time or
times hereafter shall or may be used in, or proper for the preparing, work-
ing, pressing, finishing, or completing, of the woollen, cotton, linen, or
silk manufactures of this kingdom . . . ; or any model or plan, or
models or plans, of any such machine, engine, tool, press, paper, utensil,
or implement, or any part or parts thereof, . . . the person or persons
so offending shall, for every such offence, not only forfeit all such ma-
chines, engines, tools, press, paper, utensils, or implements, models or
plans, or parts thereof respectively, together with the packages, and all
other goods packed therewith, if any such there be, but also the sum of
two hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain ; and shall also suf-
fer imprisonment . . . for the space of twelve months, without bail or
mainprize, and until such forfeiture shall be paid.

The act of 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of
George the Third, a little over one hundred years ago, was
undisguisedly passed to cripple if possible the iron industries
of foreign countries. Its principal provisions were as follows.

An act to prohibit the exportation to foreign parts of tools and utensils
made use of in the iron and steel manufactures of this kingdom ; and to

IRON IN ALL AGES. 489

prevent the seducing of artificers or workmen, employed in those manufact-
ures, to go into parts beyond the seas.

Whereas, the exportation of the several tools and utensils made use of
in preparing, working up, and finishing the iron and steel manufactures of
this kingdom, or either of them, will enable foreigners to work up such
manufactures, and thereby greatly diminish the exportation of the same
from this kingdom; therefore, for the preserving, as much as possible, to
His Majesty's subjects the benefits arising from those great and valuable
branches of trade and commerce, be it enacted, that if, at any time, after
the first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, any
person or persons in Great Britain shall, upon any pretence whatsoever, ex-
port, load, or put on board, or pack, or cause or procure to be loaden, put on
board, or packed, in order to be loaded or put on board of any ship or ves-
sel which shall be bound to some port or place in parts beyond the seas
(except to Ireland), or shall lade, or cause or procure to be laden, on board
any boat or other vessel, or shall bring, or cause to be brought, to any quay,
wharf, or other place, in order to be so laden or put on board any such ship
or vessel, any tool or utensil hereafter mentioned; that is to say, hand
stamps, dog head stamps, pulley stamps, stamps of all sorts, hammers and
anvils for stamps, screws for stamps, iron rods for stamps, presses of all
sorts, in iron, steel, or other metal, which are used for giving impressions
to metal, or any parts of these several articles ; presses of all sorts called
cutting-out presses, beds and punches to be used therewith ; piercing presses
of all sorts, beds and punches to be used therewith, either in parts or pieces,
or fitted together ; iron or steel dies to be used in stamps or presses either
with or without impressions on them ; rollers of cast iron, wrought iron, or
steel, for rolling of metal, and frames for the same; flasks or casting moulds,
and boards used therewith ; lathes of all sorts for turning, burnishing, pol-
ishing, either the whole together, or separate parts thereof; lathe strings,
polishing brushes, scoring or shading engines, presses for horn buttons, dies
for horn buttons, sheers for cutting of metal, rolled steel, rolled metal, with
silver thereon, parts of buttons not fitted up into buttons, or in an unfinish-
ed state ; engines for chafing, stocks for casting buckles, buttons, and rings ;
cast-iron anvils and hammers for forging mills for iron and copper; roles, slit-
ters, beds, pillars, and frames for slitting mills; die-sinking tools of all sorts,
engines for making button shanks, laps of all sorts, drilling engines, tools
for pinching of glass, engines for covering of whips, polishing brushes, bars
of metal covered with gold or silver, iron or steel screw plates, pins, and stock*
for making screws, or any other tool or utensil whatsoever, which now is, are,
or at any time or times hereafter shall or may be used in, or proper for the
preparing, working, finishing, or completing of the iron or steel manufact-
ures of this kingdom, or either of them, by what name or names soever
the same shall be called or known, or any model or plan, or models or plans,
of any such tool, utensil, or implement, or any part or parts thereof; the
person or persons so offending shall for every such offence not only forfeit
and lose all such tools or utensils, or parts or parcels thereof, together with
the packages, and all other goods packed therewith, if any such there be,
the person or persons so offending shall, for every such oflence, for-
feit the sum of two hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain, and
shall also suffer imprisonment, in the common gaol, prison, or house of cor-

490 THE MANUFACTURE OF

rection, . . . for the space of twelve months, without bail or mainprize,
and until such forfeiture shall be paid.

And whereas, for the encouragement of such manufactories in this kingdom,
it is necessary that provision should be made to prevent artificers, and others em-
ployed therein, from departing, or from being seduced to depart out of this king-
dom ; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after
the said first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, if
any person or persons shall contract with, entice, persuade, or endeavor to
seduce or encourage any artificer or workman concerned or employed, or
who shall have worked at, or been employed in, the iron or steel manufact-
ures in this kingdom, or in making or preparing any tools or utensils for
such manufactory, to go out of Great Britain to any parts beyond the seas
(except to Ireland), and shall be convicted thereof . . . shall, for every
artificer so contracted with, enticed, persuaded, encouraged, or seduced, or
attempted so to be, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred pounds of law-
ful money of Great Britain, and shall be committed to the common gaol,
. . . there to remain without bail or mainprize for the space of twelve
calendar months, and until such forfeiture shall be paid; and in case of a
subsequent offence of the same kind the person or persons so again offend-
ing shall, upon the like conviction, forfeit and pay, for every person so con-
tracted with, enticed, persuaded, encouraged, or seduced, or attempted so to
be, the sum of one thousand pounds, . . . and shall be committed to the
common gaol as aforesaid, there to remain, without bail or mainprize, for
and during the term of two years, and until such forfeitures shall be paid.

In 1786 some trifling changes were made in the list of ar-
ticles the exportation of which was prohibited, but the prin-
cipal tools used in the manufacture of iron and steel were
carefully preserved in this list. At the same time tools for
making paper, for making and working glass, and for mak-
ing pottery and harness were added to the list. In 1795, as
already stated, the act of 1785 was made perpetual. In 1799
an act was passed providing that, " Whereas, there have of
late been many attempts to seduce colliers out of Scotland
into foreign countries, be it therefore further enacted that all
persons seducing, or attempting to seduce, colliers . . . from
the kingdom of Great Britain shall be punished in the same
manner as persons seducing, or attempting to seduce, manu-
facturers or other artisans are punishable by law." This last
act would have a tendency to prevent the mining of coal in
the United States, which had scarcely been commenced at the
time of its passage.

The prohibition of the exportation of machinery for the
manufacture of iron and steel and of other machinery contin-
ued until long after the beginning of the present century.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 491

In 1825 and again in 1833 the exportation of machinery
for the manufacture of cotton, woolen, linen, and silk goods
was again prohibited. It was not permitted to be exported
until 1845. In the London Times for October 30, 1811, will
be found a detailed account of the arrest of Hugh Wagstaff
for placing on board the American ship Mount Vernon,
bound to New York, twenty- three boxes containing spindles
used in the spinning of cotton. Wagstaff was committed to
Lancaster Castle for trial under the act of 21 Geo. III., chap-
ter 37, and the boxes were seized. The Hon. John L. Hayes,
of Boston, the highest authority in the United States upon
the literature of our textile industries, informs us that "the
patriotic Tench Coxe, the able coadjutor of Alexander Ham-
ilton in the Treasury, entered into a bond with a person in
London who engaged to send him complete models of Ark-
wright's patents. The models were completed and packed,
but were detected and forfeited." In 1832 the model of a roll-
er for calico printing, to be used at Lowell, in Massachusetts,
could be obtained from England only by concealing it in the
trunk of a lady who was returning to this country. From
a letter in the possession of Dr. Hayes it appears that when,
in 1839, Messrs. Sharp & Roberts, of Manchester, England,
desired to introduce their self-acting mule into this country,
after obtaining a patent for it here, their American part-
ner, Mr. Bradford Durfee, of Fall River, was compelled to
smuggle through France the patterns for the castings. The
statutes interfering with the emigration of artificers were
not wholly repealed until 1825.

During the long period in the history of the mother
country in which she endeavored by the legislation above re-
cited to repress the development of our manufacturing indus-
tries she vigorously protected her own industries by customs
duties from foreign competition. The protection which she
gave to her iron industry after Cort had perfected for her
the puddling furnace and the rolling mill, and the owners of
her blast furnaces had generally introduced steam-power and
the use of mineral fuel, is especially noticeable. Prior to
this time Great Britain had not made enough iron to supply
her own wants ; now she could do this. We quote as follows
from Scrivenor's History of the Iron Trade.

492 THE MANUFACTURE OF

From 1782 till 1795 the duty on foreign bars was £2 16s. 2d. per ton.
It rose to £3 4s. 7d. in 1797 ; from 1798 to 1802 it was £3 15s. 5d. ; in two
years it had got to £4 17s. Id. ; from 1806 to 1808 it stood at £5 7s. 5f d. ; in
the three years between 1809 and 1812 it was £5 9s. 10d.; and in the five
years ending with 1818 it had been £6 9s. lOd. At this date a distinction
was made in the interest of British shipping; for whilst thenceforward, till
the close of 1825, the duty on foreign bars was £6 10s. if imported in Brit-
ish ships, it was £7 18s. 6d. if imported in foreign. Nor was this all ; iron
slit, or hammered into rods, and iron drawn down, or hammered, less than
three-quarters of an inch square, was made to pay a duty at the rate of £20
per ton; wrought iron, not otherwise enumerated, was taxed with a pay-
ment of £50 for every £100 worth imported ; and steel, or manufactures of
steel, were similarly loaded with a fifty per cent. duty.

It does not fall within the scope of this work to discuss
the revenue policy of the British Government at any period
of the history of our own country further than to show its
effects in retarding the development of our iron and steel
industries. This has been done. As germane, however, to
what has already been presented the following additional
testimony concerning the hostile policy of the British Gov-
ernment and people toward American manufacturing indus-
tries in the present century is of historical value.

In 1816 Lord Brougham, in a speech in Parliament ad-
vocating the increased exportation of British goods to the
United States, declared that " it was well worth while to incur
a loss upon the first exportation, in order by the glut to stifle
in the cradle those rising manufactures in the United States
which the war has forced into existence contrary to the nat-
ural course of things." Mr. Robertson, a member of Parlia-
ment, said in a memorable speech quoted by Henry Clay in
1832: "It was idle for us to endeavor to persuade other na-
tions to join with us in adopting the principles of what was
called free trade. Other nations knew, as well as the noble
lord opposite and those who acted with him, what we meant
by free trade was nothing more nor less than, by means of
the great advantages we enjoyed, to get a monopoly of all
their markets for our manufactures, and to prevent them,
one and all, from ever becoming manufacturing nations."
In 1843 the London Spectator said : " More general considera-
tions tend to show that the trade between the two countries,
most beneficial to both, must be what is commonly called a
colonial trade ; the new-settled country importing the maim-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 493

factures of the old in exchange for its own raw produce. In
all economical relations the United States still stand to Eng-
land in the relation of colony to mother country." William
Huskisson, the pioneer in the British free trade movement
and long a prominent member of the British Parliament, de-
clared in a speech in 1825 that, " to enable capital to obtain
a fair remuneration, the price of labor must be kept down." In
1854 a British Parliamentary commission declared : " The la-
boring classes generally in the manufacturing districts of this
country, and especially in the iron and coal districts, are very
little aware of the extent to which they are often indebted for
their being employed at all to the immense losses which their
employers voluntarily incur in bad times in order to destroy
foreign competition and to gain and keep possession of for-
eign markets. . . . The large capitals of this country are
the great instruments of warfare against the competing capi-
tal of foreign countries."

494 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER LVL

THE AMERICAN IRON INDUSTRY LONG DEPRESSED
BY FOREIGN COMPETITION.

DURING the Revolution and immediately after its close
the iron industry of Great Britain was greatly stimulated by
the general substitution of bituminous coal for charcoal, by
the application of the steam engine to the blowing of blast
furnaces, and by the introduction of the puddling furnace
and of grooved rolls in refining and finishing iron. These
improvements greatly increased and cheapened the products
of British iron works, so that, instead of being dependent up-
on the United States for a supply of pig iron and bar iron,
British iron manufacturers were enabled to send these and
other iron products to the former colonies of Great Britain
in successful competition with their own manufactures. The
effect of these changes was to greatly retard the extension
of our iron industry after the Revolution. The competition
which produced this result might have been averted if the
emancipated colonies had followed the example of the mother
country and imposed duties upon foreign iron and steel which
would have fully protected the domestic manufacture of these
products. But they did not do this, although the desire for
industrial independence was one of the leading causes of the
Revolution, and although the fact was fully recognized after
our political independence was secured that domestic manu-
factures were greatly in need of the protection against for-
eign competition which only high duties could give to them.
Under the Articles of Confederation, and for many years af-
ter the establishment of our " more perfect union," duties
upon foreign imports of every description were so low that
they afforded no adequate protection to American manufact-
ures. From 1789 to 1812 the duties on pig iron and bar
iron ranged from only 5 per cent, to 19 J per cent, of their
value. In the same years the duty on steel ranged from 50
cents to $1.10 per cwt. These were but little else than reve-
nue duties. During all of this period our manufactures of

IRON IN ALL AGES. 495

iron and steel did not flourish*; nor did any other American
manufacturing industry.

The following petition, presented to the General Assem-
bly of Pennsylvania on November 30, 1785, two years before
the framing of the Federal Constitution, shows the effect at
that time of foreign competition, principally from Great
Britain, upon the manufacture of bar iron in Pennsylvania.
It will be remembered that under the Articles of Confeder-
ation each State reserved to itself the control of all duties
upon imported foreign commodities, a reservation which work-
ed so badly in many ways that the creation of our present
form of government soon became a necessity from this cause
alone. Pennsylvania had, however, been slow to assert the
need of protection for some of her infant manufactures, as
the disastrous fate of the petition referred to will testify.

To the Honorable the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met.

The petition of the subscribers, manufacturers of bar iron within the
Commonwealth aforesaid, respectfully sheweth.

That, by an act passed during the last session of the late Assembly, ad-
ditional duties are laid on the importation of divers manufactures of Europe
and other foreign parts, for the purpose of protecting and encouraging the
manufactures of this State, wherein your petitioners find the article of bar
iron has been omitted.

That the manufacturing of bar iron within this State has not only been
found very useful and important during the late war, but has always been
considered as a source of public wealth and benefit ; as great sums of money
were thereby kept within the country ; which circulating through the hands
of several thousand persons, employed in the manufacture of bar iron and
furnishing the requisite materials, enabled them to maintain themselves
and their families and contribute to the support of government by payment
of taxes ; and an influx of specie and other considerable advantages were
also derived to the trade of this State by the exportation of great quantities
of bar iron to other parts of the continent.

That, although most of the iron manufactured within this State is con-
fessedly superior in quality to the iron imported from foreign parts, yet, be-
cause iron can not be manufactured at so low a price here as in countries
where the laborers are but little removed above the condition of slaves, the
sale of divers large quantities of foreign iron lately imported into this State,
notwithstanding its inferior quality, operates so much to the prejudice of all
persons concerned in the manufacture of bar iron here that there is great
reason to apprehend, unless the legislature shall extend their aid, further
importations of foreign iron will in a short time occasion a total stoppage
and destruction of that very useful and beneficial manufacture amongst us.

Your petitioners trust that, on full consideration of the premises, the

496 THE MANUFACTURE OF

manufacture of bar iron within this «,State will appear to your Honorable
House essentially entitled to public protection and encouragement, and
therefore pray your Honorable House may be pleased to grant relief in the
premises by laying such additional duties on foreign bar iron as will pre-
vent further importations thereof becoming destructive or oppressive to the
manufacture of bar iron within this State. And your petitioners as in duty
bound shall ever pray, &c.

JACOB MORGAN, JR. JOHN PATTON. JAMES OLD.

DAVID POTTS. GEORGE EGE. JNO. EDWARDS.

JAMES HARTLEY. JACOB WINEY. WILLIAM BIRD.

ANDW. PETTITT. VALENTINE ECKERT. JACOB LESHET.

JESSE GRUNFIELD. PETER GRUBB, JR. MICHL. EGE.

THOS. HUMPHREYS. CURTIS GRUBB. JN. HELLINGS.

THOS. RUTTER. PETER GRUBB, SR. ABRM. SHARPLES.

THOS. MAYBURRY. ROBT. COLEMAN. HILARY BAKER.

SAML. POTTS. MATTHIAS HOUGH. C. DOUGLASS.

J. HOCKLEY. WILLIAM OLDE. RICHD. BACKHOUSE.

WM. HAYES. DAVID JENKINS.

This petition was referred on the day of its presentation
to a committee composed of Mr. Fitzimmons, Mr. Clymer,
and Mr. Whitehill, who submitted an adverse report on the
7th of December, as follows : " That with respect to bar iron
it appears that a sufficient quantity may be made in the
State, not only for its particular use, but a large overplus for
exportation, but that, by the large importations lately made,
the price is so much reduced as to disable the owners of forg-
es to go on with their business. Your committee, however,
viewing bar iron as necessary to the agriculture and manu-
factures of the State, are doubtful of the propriety of impos-
ing a tax upon the importation thereof at this time." The
committee, however, recommended the imposition of an ad-
ditional duty of one penny per pound on all nails or spikes
imported into the State. The report of the committee was
adopted.

Further evidence of the injurious effects of foreign com-
petition upon our domestic iron industry immediately after
the peace is furnished in the following extract from the ac-
count of Dr. John D. Schoepf's travels* in {he United States,
published at Erlangen in 1788.

America is richly supplied with iron, especially in the mountainous dis-
tricts, and the ore is moreover easily obtained ; nevertheless, and in spite of
the abundance of wood, at present European iron can be brought to America
cheaper than the founders and forgers of that place are able to produce it, by
reason of the high wages of the workmen. The owners of the iron works

IRON IN ALL AGES. 497

in the different provinces, particularly in Pennsylvania and Jersey, tried in
vain to induce their governments to prohibit the importation of foreign iron,
or to clog it with high duties. As this proposition conflicted directly with the
interests of the members of the assembly, as well as with those of their fel-
low countrymen, it certainly could not be expected that they should decide to
pay dearer for their native iron and iron implements, when foreigners could
supply them cheaper. 'Formerly the Americans were able to send their pig
and bar iron to England with advantage, for they were relieved of the heavy
tax which Russian and Swedish iron paid there. This was the case princi-
pally from the middle colonies, and in the years 1768-70 the exports to Eng-
land amounted to about 2,592 tons of bar iron and 4,624 tons of pig iron,
with wThich they paid for a part at least of their return cargoes in England.
In return they took back axes, hoes, shovels, nails, and other manufactured
iron implements, for, although some of these articles were occasionally man-
ufactured in America just as good as in Europe, yet it could not be done
under at least three times the cost. Therefore, up to this time, the man-
ufacture of cast iron alone has been found to be particularly advantageous.

It %as not until our second war with Great Britain that
duties were so increased as to be really protective of domes-
tic industries against foreign competition. But these duties
were subsequently reduced, and again all our industries lan-
guished. The tariffs of 1824 and 1828 again revived them,
but subsequent tariff legislation was for many years so fitful
and in the main so unfriendly that no American industry
can truthfully be said to have been placed upon a substan-
tial basis of prosperity until after the adoption of the Morrill
tariff at the beginning of the civil war, in 1861. The pro-
tective policy which was then reaffirmed has since continued
in force without material modification, and the marvelous
progress of the country in the years that have since elapsed
is mainly the result of its beneficent operations.

The Morrill tariff act, as might be erroneously inferred
from its date, was not a war measure, but a measure render-
ed absolutely necessary by the depressed condition of our
manufacturing industries and by the low condition of the
national finances before the war-cloud arose. The bill was
reported to the House of Representatives on March 12, 1860,
by Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, from the Committee on Ways
and Means, and it passed that body on May 10th. It passed
the Senate on February 20, 1861, and was approved by Pres-
ident Buchanan on March 2d, taking effect on April 1, 1861.
Our present tariff, known as the McKinley bill, became a law
on October 1, 1890, and it took effect on October 6, 1890.

498 THE MANUFACTURE OP

CHAPTER . LVII.

IMPEDIMENTS TO THE CHEAP PRODUCTION OF IRON
AND STEEL IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE iron and steel industries of the United States are
subject to permanent disadvantages from which the same
industries of other countries are in a great measure relieved.
It is true that it can not now be said, as was once said, that
they lack the skill, or the capital, or the extensive and com-
plete establishments of other countries. With the exception
of our tinplate industry they are no longer infant industries
in any sense. Nor can it be said that the natural resources
of our country for the manufacture of iron and steel are not
abundant and varied. But our iron and steel industries are at
a disadvantage in two important particulars when compared
with those of other countries. The wages of labor are much
higher in this country than in any other ironmaking country
in the world, while the raw materials of production, rich and
abundant as they are, are in the main so remote from each
other that a heavy cost for their transportation is incurred
to which no other ironmaking country is subjected.

With reference to wages a single illustration will show
the disparity which exists in the iron and steel industries of
this country and Europe. At Pittsburgh the price of pud-
dling, or boiling, iron was fixed for one year on the 30th of
May, 1881, in an agreement between the employers and their
workmen, at a minimum of $5.50 per ton, the price to be
advanced if the price of bar iron should go above 2J- cents
per pound. Of the $5.50 the puddler's helper received about
one-third. These rates of wages still continue, with the excep-
tion that the base price of bar iron is now 2 cents. At Phil-
adelphia, in an agreement between the employers and their
workmen on the 24th of July, 1880, the price of puddling
was fixed for an indefinite period, which still continues, at
$4 per ton when bar iron should bring 2 cents per pound, of
which sum the helper receives about one-third. When the
price of bar iron is 2-J- cents per pound the price of pud-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 499

dling is to be $4.50 per ton, the helper to receive about one-
third. If the price of bar iron advances beyond 2-J cents
per pound the price of puddling is to be still further ad-
vanced. The Pittsburgh schedule of wages for puddling
prevails in the western parts of the United States, and the
Philadelphia schedule is fairly representative of the wages
paid in eastern rolling mills.

Now let these rates of wages be compared with the corre-
sponding rates which prevail in England, in which country
the wages of iron and steel workers are usually higher than
in any other part of Europe. The North of England is the
principal seat of the iron industry of that country. A board
of arbitration and conciliation for the manufactured iron
trade of the North of England adjusts the wages of all roll-
ing-mill workmen in the district every three months upon
the basis of the average net selling price of rolled iron dur-
ing the three months preceding the month in which the
board meets. The average net selling price of rolled iron
for the three months which ended on the 30th of June,
1881, (a period of prosperity and good prices,) was <£6 2s. 2d.,
and the wages of puddlers for the three months beginning
on the 1st of August was officially declared to be 7s. per
ton, or about $1.75, of which sum the puddler's helper, in
accordance with the general custom, received about one-third.
The official announcement of the adjustment of wages, dated
July 29th, is as follows : " In accordance with the sliding-
scale arrangement and the resolution of the employers'
meeting of February 24th the above-named figure of £6 2s.
2d. gives 7s. per ton as the rate for puddling over the three
months commencing on the 1st of August, and a reduction
of other forge and mill wages of 2-J- per cent, upon last quar-
ter." The same system of adjusting wages prevails in the
North of England to-day, and wages are no higher now than
in 1881. The difference in puddlers' wages in the North of
England and in this country in the same periods of time
is thus seen to be very great.

With regard to the cost of transporting raw materials in
this country and in Europe the testimony of a distinguish-
ed English ironmaster will be sufficient to show the great
disparity which exists in the distances over which they

500 THE MANUFACTURE OF

must be transported. Sir Lowthian Bell, a commissioner
from Great Britain to .the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876,
says in his official report : " The vast extent of the territory
of the United States renders that possible which in Great
Britain is physically impossible ; thus it may and it does
happen that in -the former distances of nearly 1,000 miles
may intervene between the ore and the coal, whereas with
ourselves it is difficult to find a situation in which the two
are separated by even 100 miles." From the iron-ore mines
of Michigan and Minnesota to the coal of Pennsylvania is
1,000 miles. Connellsville coke is taken 600 miles to the
blast furnaces of Chicago and 750 miles to the blast furnaces
of St. Louis. The average distance over which all the do-
mestic iron ore which is consumed in the blast furnaces of
the United States is transported is not less than 400 miles,
and the average distance over which the fuel which is used
to smelt it is transported is not less than 200 miles. Great
Britain is our principal competitor in the production of
iron and steel. In France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and
other European ironmaking countries the raw materials of
production may not be found in such close proximity as in
Great Britain, but they lie much nearer to each other than
is usual in the United States. Even when it is necessary
to transport raw materials from one European country to
another, as in taking the iron ores of Spain to England or
Germany, the cost of removal is usually an unimportant
consideration because of the short distances they are carried
and the facilities which in most cases exist for carrying
them by water.

But it is not only on the raw materials that the cost of
transportation operates as an impediment to European prices
for iron and steel products in this country. The manufact-
ured products themselves must frequently be transported
long distances to find consumers. The conditions favorable
to the production of iron and steel are not equal in many
sections of the Union, and in some sections do not exist at
all ; iron and steel can not, therefore, be extensively or prof-
itably manufactured in all sections. The country, too, is of
vast extent, while its railroad and other enterprises which
consume iron and steel are found in every part of it. It is

IRON IN ALL AGES. 501

noticeable, also, that railroads form the principal means of
communication between the producers and consumers of iron
and steel in this country, and that railroad transportation is
more expensive than transportation by natural water routes.
Heavy products of iron and steel, for instance, can be car-
ried much more cheaply from Liverpool to the gulf ports of
the United States than from our own rolling mills and blast
furnaces which are not situated on the sea-coast or on the
Mississippi river, and very few of them are so situated.
Steel rails for railroads on the Pacific coast can be trans-
ported more cheaply from Liverpool to San Francisco than
from Pittsburgh or Chicago. Even to ports on the Atlantic
coast it can truthfully be said that, taking them as a whole,
British iron and steel products can be carried more cheaply
than from our own iron and steel works which are located
only a short distance in the interior. No freight is better
adapted to the ballasting of ships which come to this country
for grain and cotton than heavy products of iron and steel,
and these products are therefore usually carried at very low
rates. Ocean freight charges afford no protection to our iron
and steel manufacturers.

So much are high wages and the high cost of transporta-
tion hindrances to the cheap production of iron and steel in
this country that English newspapers frequently boast of the
superior facilities possessed by British manufacturers in these
respects. The London Colliery Guardian for January 25, 1884,
remarks upon this subject 'as follows : " The very smallness of
Great Britain tells in its favor as a manufacturing country.
Raw materials have to be carried comparatively limited dis-
tances, and coal, iron, and labor are collected and brought
together with extreme ease, while the manufactured article,
when ready for exportation, has to be carried only a few
miles to some convenient port. All these elements of indus-
trial success are more or less lacking in the United States.
Labor is still comparatively scarce there and has to be re-
munerated at higher rates, while coal and iron have to be
hauled great distances before they become available for use.
When manufactured goods are turned out they have also
in many cases to be carried heavy distances before they can
be put on board ship."

502 THE MANUFACTURE OF

CHAPTER LVIII.

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN THE DESCENDANTS OF
COLONIAL IRONMASTERS.

THE completeness of the narrative which will be pre-
sented in this chapter requires that we reproduce a few facts
which have already been stated.

In our researches into the history of the manufacture of
iron and steel in the United States we have been impressed
by the fact that many of the men who have been promi-
nent in shaping the destinies of the country, either as sol-
diers or statesmen, or whose descendants have been thus
distinguished, have also been prominent as manufacturers of
iron and sometimes also of steel. Among the ironmasters
and ironworkers in colonial times we find the names of
Mordecai Lincoln, the progenitor of Abraham Lincoln ; Sir
William. Keith, Governor of Pennsylvania ; Colonel Alexander
Spots wood, Governor of Virginia ; Captain Augustine Wash-
ington, the father of George Washington and his two elder
half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine Washington ; Colonel
Ethan Allen, General Daniel Morgan, and General Nathanael
Greene, of the Revolutionary army ; and Stephen Hopkins,
George Taylor, George Ross, and James Smith, signers of
the Declaration. Benjamin Franklin was the inventor of the
Franklin stove. Since the Revolution we find that a still
larger number of our public men have been identified with
our iron and -steel industries, many of whom have been mem-
bers of Congress and Governors of States. Henry Baldwin,
one of th.e Justices of the United States Supreme Court;
John Henry Hopkins, Episcopal Bishop of Vermont ; and
General Arthur St. Clair were Pennsylvania ironmasters
early in the present century. At a later day Thaddeus Ste-
vens was a Pennsylvania ironmaster.

The close connection of the Washington family with our
colonial iron history is a fact of special interest to all who
care anything about the early history of our iron and steel
industries. Captain Augustine Washington was engaged in

IRON IN ALL AGES. 503

making pig iron at Accokeek furnace, in Stafford county,
Virginia, about fifteen miles from Fredericksburg, when his
son George Washington was born. This furnace had been
built by the Principio Company, composed of English capi-
talists, as early as 1726 on land owned by Augustine Wash-
ington, aggregating about 1,600 acres and containing iron
ore, Captain Washington becoming the owner of one-sixth
of the furnace property in consideration of the transfer of
his land to the company. In Maryland the Principio Com-
pany had other iron enterprises. Captain Washington ap-
pears to have visited England in 1729 and 1730 in relation
to the management of Accoceek furnace. During his absence
his wife died, but this event excites no sympathy in a letter
from John Wightwick, one of the English stockholders in
the Principio Company, written at London on October 2,
1730, and addressed to John England, the company's gen-
eral agent in Maryland and Virginia. From this letter we
quote literally as follows.

You remember what steps we made with Captn Washington in order
to his management at Accokeek, which we did suppose when he arrived
there, & after he had agreed with the founder as to the quality of the pig
metall, he would have given orders to his agent here to have exchanged
the articles with us (which he left ready executed for that purpose) and
on your arrival in Virginia to see the stock valued and to have the prop-
er securities given for his returning it to us at the end of his term, he
would have entered immediately on that work according to our agreement
in the said articles, but we have Ltres. from him of the 10th of July in
which he says that on his arrival, to his great grief, he found his wife
was dead ; that he had been at the furnace, and that we might depend
of his using as much prudence and caution 'till your arrival as if it was
for himself, but says not one word whether he would take to his bargain
with us or not, having had sufficient time to consider of it between the
26th May the time of his arrival & the 10th July the date of his let-
ter. I think this is treating us neither kindly nor Honorably to leave us
in so great a state of uncertainty. As to Mr. Gee he says he is on this
account very unwilling to have anything to do with him. As to Mrs
[Messrs.] Chetwynds and myself, & I believe Mr. Russell, we shall sub-
mit to what you shall advise us in case when you come to talk with him
you find him inclined to pursue his bargain. If you find he does not pur-
sue his bargain, I don't doubt but you will settle our affairs there on as
good a foot as the nature thereof will allow, and I hope by the help of
N. Chapman and your directions that work will be as well managed as if
Captn W. undertook it.

Nathaniel Chapman was the clerk at Accokeek furnace.

504 THE MANUFACTURE OF

Gee, Russell, and the Chetwynds were English stockholders.
We have been unable to discover whether Captain Washing-
ton kept his " bargain " to manage the furnace or not, but
in Colonel William Byrd's Progress to the Mines, written in
1732, he mentions " England's iron mines, called so from the
chief manager of them, tho' the land belongs to Mr. Wash-
ington." Two miles distant from the mines was the furnace.
Colonel Byrd says : " Mr. Washington raises the ore and carts
it thither for twenty shillings the ton of iron that it yields.
Besides Mr. Washington and Mr. England there are several
other persons in England concerned in these works."

In 1731 Captain Augustine Washington married for his
second wife Mary Ball, a daughter of Joseph Ball, who re-
sided in Lancaster county, Virginia, forming a part of " The
Neck." It was in this county that Mary Ball was born.
Captain Washington's home was in Westmoreland county,
and it was here that Mary Washington's first child, George
Washington, was born, as all the world knows, on February
11, 1731-2, old style.

When Augustine Washington died in 1743 he owned an
interest ki all the property of the Principio Company, which
he bequeathed to his son Lawrence, who died in 1752, be-
queathing to his daughter Sarah his interest " in the Prin-
cipio, Accokeek, Kingsbury, Laconshire, and North East iron
works in Virginia and Maryland." George Washington was
one of the executors of this will. Sarah dying soon after-
wards her iron interests were conveyed, by the terms of her
father's will, to her uncle, Augustine Washington. At the
breaking out of the Revolution " a certain Mr. Washington "
owned a one-twelfth interest in the possessions of the Prin-
cipio Company. He was probably a son of George Washing-
ton's half-brother, Augustine Washington. We have in our
possession a pig of iron which was made at Principio fur-
nace in 1751, when Lawrence Washington was one of its
owners. The facts which we have presented show that the
Father of his Country was the son of a Virginia ironmas-
ter, and that both his half-brothers and other relatives were
also ironmasters.

Abraham Lincoln's paternal ancestry was also identified
with the manufacture of iron. It is not so generally known

IRON IN ALL AGES. 505

as it should be that his ancestors on his father's side were
natives of Massachusetts and were among its pioneer iron-
masters. In Johnson's Cyclopaedia there is preserved a bio-
graphical sketch of Abraham Lincoln, written in 1859 with
his own hand, in which occurs the following reference to
his father's family.

" My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated
from Kockbridge county, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781
or 1782, where a year or two later he was killed by Indi-
ans— not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to
open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers,
went to Virginia from Berks county, Pennsylvania. An effort
to identify them with the New England family of the same
name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of
Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mor-
decai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like." Mr. Lincoln prob-
ably meant Rockingham county and not Rockbridge county.

Researches which have been made since Abraham Lin-
coln became President clearly establish the fact that the
head of the American branch of his father's family, Samuel
Lincoln, emigrated from Norwich, England, to Massachusetts,
whence two brothers, his grandsons, emigrated to Pennsylva-
nia, one of wrhom was the President's great-great-grandfather.

A communication to the Hingham Journal of October 10,
1879, says that among the early settlers of Hingham, Mas-
sachusetts, which was settled in 1635, were seven persons
named Lincoln who became the heads of families. Four of
these were named Thomas. Samuel Lincoln, who came to
Hingham in 1637, had four sons, Samuel, Daniel, Mordecai,
and Thomas. Mordecai Lincoln, born at Hingham on June
14, 1657, followed the trade of a blacksmith at Hull, from
which he removed to Scituate, where " he built a spacious
house and was a large contributor toward the erection of
the iron works at Bound Brook " in 1703. These Bound
Brook iron works comprised nothing more ambitious than
a Catalan forge, which made wrought iron from the ore.

Mr. George Lincoln, of Hingham, informed us in a letter
dated on October 28, 1879, that the Bound Brook iron works
were located near the line dividing Scituate from Cohasset,
at a place called Conah asset, and that Mordecai and Daniel

506 THE MANUFACTURE OP

Lincoln were owners of the works. Cohasset until 1770 was
the easterly precinct of Hingham, and Scituate was also near
the Hingham boundary line. Mr. Lincoln also furnished us
with abstracts of some deeds recorded in Plymouth and Suf-
folk counties proving the connection of Mordecai and Daniel
Lincoln with the Bound Brook iron works, which are styled
" a forge or irori works." From one of these abstracts we
take the following circumstantial statement : " Dec. 21, 1713.
George Jackson, of Marblehead, sells to Mordecai Lincoln, of
Scituate, ' blacksmith,' two parcels of salt-meadow land lying
and being in Cohasset within the township of Hingham," one
of which is bounded " east by a brook or river called Bound
Brook," etc. Other abstracts show that Mordecai Lincoln
was a prime mover in the erection of the Bound Brook iron
works, and that it was from him that Daniel Lincoln obtain-
ed a one-eighth interest in the works.

Mordecai Lincoln's first wife was Sarah Jones, the daugh-
ter of Abraham and Sarah Jones, of Hull. Their sons were
Mordecai, Jr., born April 24, 1686 ; Abraham, born January
13, 1688-9 ; and Isaac, born October 24, 1691. The Hing-
ham Journal says that Mordecai, Jr., and his brother Abra-
ham removed from Scituate "it is supposed " to Pennsylva-
nia, for their names afterwards appear among a list of tax-
ables in Exeter township, Berks county, Pennsylvania. But
first at least one of the brothers emigrated to New Jersey.
Nicolay and Hay state in their life of Lincoln that Mordecai
Lincoln removed from Massachusetts to Moiimouth, New Jer-
sey, and thence to Amity township, Berks county, Pennsyl-
vania. He died there in 1736. His brother Abraham finally
settled in Springfield township, Chester county, Pennsylva-
nia, as early as 1729. Like his father he was a blacksmith.
He died in 1745. The townships of Oley, Amity, and Exe-
ter, in Berks county, are contiguous, and in their early rec-
ords the name of Lincoln often appears.

Monmouth county, New Jersey, was settled in part by a
colony of Massachusetts people, who erected iron works at
Tintern Falls in the township of Shrewsbury about 1676.
It is probable that the Lincoln brothers emigrated to this
county because Massachusetts people were there already and
because they were themselves ironworkers.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 507

Mordecai Lincoln, who emigrated to Berks county, Penn-
sylvania, and died there in 1736, and who was a Quaker, left
three sons, John, Mordecai, and Thomas, and probably, as
a communication in the Philadelphia American says, a post-
humous son named Abraham. A posthumous child was
provided for in Mordecai Lincoln's will. John emigrated to
Buckingham county, Virginia, about 1750. He had a son
Abraham, who emigrated to Kentucky and was killed by
the Indians, as the President states. This Abraham was the
grandfather of the President, his father being Thomas Lin-
coln. It will be remembered that there were many Thomas
Lincolns at Hingham, and that the father-in-law of Morde-
cai Lincoln of Scituate was Abraham Jones. The frequent
appearance of the names Mordecai, Abraham, and Thomas at
various periods in the history of the Massachusetts Lincolns
and their descendants will be noticed by the reader.

An Abraham Lincoln of Berks county, who was either
the posthumous son of Mordecai Lincoln or a grandson,
was long prominent as a politician. He was one of the
county commissioners of Berks county from 1773 to 1779,
and from 1782 to 1786 he was a member of the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania. A letter from Reading, published
in the Philadelphia Press, says that after his service in the
Assembly Abraham Lincoln was a justice of the peace and
ex-officio one of the justices of the quarter sessions. "His
signature, which can be found attached to various ancient
documents in the commissioners' office, indicates that he was
a man of affairs, and it is not unlike that of his illustrious
namesake which is attached to the proclamation of eman-
cipation." He was a member of the State Convention of
1787 which ratified the Federal Constitution of that year,
and which he voted against, and he was an influential mem-
ber of the State Constitutional Convention of 1790. He died
in 1806 in his 70th year, having been born in 1736.

The connection of the Lincoln family with the manufact-
ure of iron does not entirely end with Mordecai and Abra-
ham who emigrated from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania.
About 1775 a furnace was built on Mossy creek, Augusta
county, Virginia, by Henry Miller and Mark Bird, of Berks
county, Pennsylvania, Bird soon selling his interest to Miller.

508 THE MANUFACTURE OF

The furnace was called Miller's furnace. Jefferson mentions
it in his Notes on the State of Virginia. J. Marshall McCue,
Esq., of Fishersville, Augusta county, Virginia, writes us an
interesting letter concerning the early history of this furnace.
He says : " Miller married Hannah, the oldest of seven chil-
dren of William Winter and Annie Boone, the latter a cousin
of Daniel Boone. Nancy, the second, married George Craw-
ford, of this county, and Elizabeth, the fourth, married Abra-
ham Lincoln, the grandfather of President Lincoln. Miller
carried on the furnace successfully until some time in March
or April, 1790, when he died. He left four sons and four
daughters. The oldest son, Captain Samuel Miller, carried
on the furnace energetically up to his death, which occurred
in 1830. He built a forge, called Mt. Vernon, on South river,
near Weyer's Cave, and two miles from Port Republic, in
1810." It will be seen from this letter that the grandmother
of President Lincoln on his father's side was Elizabeth Win-
ter, the sister-in-law of Henry Miller, and that Captain Sam-
uel Miller was a cousin of President Lincoln's father. The
Boones were Quaker neighbors of the Lincolns, residing in
Berks county, Pennsylvania. The communication in the
Philadelphia American from which we have already quoted
says that George Boone was one of the trustees named in
Mordecai Lincoln's will and was the uncle of Daniel Boone.

A communication in a recent issue of the Philadelphia
Ledger says that there is an Abraham Lincoln still living in
Pennsylvania. He lives in Caernarvon township, Lancaster
county, about fourteen miles from Reading, and is about 80
years old. " He lives on a large and productive farm, has
a family, never had any ambition for office, and in general
appearance he is not unlike President Lincoln, having the
same large, erect, gaunt form, and retaining to a remarkable
degree some of the general characteristics of his famous rela-
tive and namesake." Other Lincolns are still living in Berks
county.

It may not be inappropriate to mention, as an additional
historical link, that Nancy Hanks, the mother of President
Lincoln, was also descended from a Berks county family
which emigrated first to Virginia and afterwards to Ken-
tucky.

IRON IN ALL AGES.

509

CHAPTER LIX.

PRODUCTION AND PRICES OF IRON AND STEEL IN
THE UNITED STATES.

No TABULATED statistics of the production of iron in our
colonial history are extant, and the materials for such a com-
pilation appear to be entirely wanting ; nor do the census
statistics of the United States contain any reference to the
industries of the country until 1810.

In 1814 there was published A Statement of the Arts and
Manufactures of the United States of America as they existed
in 1810, prepared by Tench Coxe, under the authority of
Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury. From this report
we obtain the following information concerning the condi-
tion of our iron industry in 1810. The tons are gross tons.

Establishments and products.

United States.

Pennsylvania,

Number of blast furnaces .... i

Number of air furnaces . . . /

153

Tons of cast iron made

53 908

26 878

Value of cast iron made

82 981 277

$1 301 343

Number of bloomaries

135

Tons of iron made

2564

Value of iron made

$226034

$16 000

Numbpr of forges

330

Tons of bar iron etc made

24 541

10 969

Value of bar iron, etc., made
Number of trip hammers ... .

$2,874,063
316

$1,156,405
50

Product of trip hammers in tons

600

Value of product of trip hammers

$397 898

$73 496

Rolling and slitting mills

Tons of rolled iron made . -v

4 502

Product of slit iron in tons j

9,280

Value of rolled and slit iron

$1 215 946

$606 426

Number of naileries

410

175

Pounds of nails made.

15 727 914

7 270 825

Value of nails made

$2 478 139

$760 862

In the totals for the United States above given we be-
lieve the values to be correct, as they include returns from
every State, but some of the quantities given are not strictly
accurate, because some of the States did not report quanti-
ties although they reported values.

The product of the steel furnaces in Massachusetts, Rhode

510 THE MANUFACTURE OP

Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Caro-
lina in 1810 was 917 tons, valued at $144,736. Of the whole
number of steel furnaces Pennsylvania contained 5, of which
Philadelphia city and Philadelphia, Lancaster, Dauphin, and
Fayette counties each contained one. The product of Penn-
sylvania was 531 gross tons, valued at $81,147.

In the census year 1820 the value of all the manufact-
ures of pig iron and castings in the United States was $2,-
230,275, of which Pennsylvania's share was $563,810. In
the same year the United States produced manufactures of
wrought iron of the value of $4,640,669, of which Pennsyl-
vania's share was $1,156,266. Quantities were not given.

In the census year 1830 the value of the pig iron and
castings manufactured in the United States was $4,757,403,
of which the share of Pennsylvania was $1,643,702. -In
the same year the country's production of manufactures of
wrought iron amounted in value to $16,737,251, of which
Pennsylvania's share was $3,762,847. Quantities were not
given.

In the census year 1840 there were in the United States
804 furnaces, which produced in that year 286,903 gross tons
of " cast iron." Pennsylvania had 213 furnaces, and it pro-
duced 98,395 tons of "cast iron." In the same year there
were 795 bloomaries, forges, and rolling mills in the United
States, of which Pennsylvania had 169. The number of
gross tons of bar iron produced in that year was 197,233, of
which Pennsylvania produced 87,244 tons.

In the census year 1850 there were produced in the Unit-
ed States 563,755 gross tons of pig iron by 377 establish-
ments, of which Pennsylvania produced 285,702 tons in 180
establishments. In the same year the United States produc-
ed wrought iron manufactures of the value of $22,629,271
in 552 establishments, Pennsylvania contributing $9,224,256
in value in 162 establishments.

In the census year 1860 the United States, in 97 estab-
lishments, produced 51,290 gross tons of blooms, valued at
$2,623,178 ; Pennsylvania, in 57 establishments, produced 24,-
700 tons of blooms, valued at $1,467,450. In the same year
the United States, in 286 establishments, produced 987,559
tons of pig iron, worth $20,870,120 ; Pennsylvania, in 125 es-

IRON IN ALL AGES.

511

tablishments, produced 580,049 tons of pig iron, worth $11,-
262,974. In 256 establishments the United States produced
513,213 tons of rolled iron, worth $31,888,705 ; Pennsylvania,
in 87 establishments, produced 266,253 tons of rolled iron,
worth $15,122,842. In 13 establishments the United States
produced 11,838 tons of steel, worth $1,778,240; Pennsylva-
nia, in 9 establishments, produced 9,890 tons of steel, worth
$1,338,200.

As has been stated the ton used in the census statistics
of 1810, 1840, 1850, and 1860 was the gross ton of 2,240
pounds, but in the census statistics of 1870, 1880, and 1890
the net ton of 2,000 pounds was used. We do not give the
census statistics for the last three decades Because they are
largely superseded by the statistics for the last thirty years
which have already been presented in these pages or will yet
be presented in this chapter, and which have been compiled
by the American Iron and Steel Association from returns
received annually from the manufacturers.

In preceding chapters we have given in their proper con-
nection the statistics of the production of pig iron, iron rails,
Bessemer steel ingots, Bessemer steel rails, and open-hearth
steel in the United States for a long series of years. We
now present some additional statistics of production in the
United States down to the close of 1890.

The production of. all kinds of crude steel in the United
States in 1863 was 9,044 net tons ; in 1864, 10,369 tons ; in
1865, 15,262 tons ; in 1866, 18,973 . tons ; and in 1867, 22,-
000 tons, including 3,000 tons of Bessemer steel ingots.
Our production of crude steel since that year has been as
follows, the figures embracing Bessemer, open-hearth, and
crucible steel ; also a few thousand tons annually of blister
and 'other kinds of steel.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1868

30000

1876

597 174

1884

1 736 985

1869

35000

1877 *

637 972

1885

1 917 350

1870

77 000

1878 Y

819 814

1886 . .

2 870 003

1871

82000

1879.

1 047,506

1887

3,739,760

1872

160,108

1880

1,397,015

1888

3,247,373

1873

222,652

1881

1,778,912

1889

3,792,020

1874

241 614

1882

1 945 095

1890

4 790,319

1875

436 575

1883

1 874 359

512

THE MANUFACTURE OF

The following table gives the production of all rolled
iron in the United States, except iron rails, which have al-
ready been given, but including nail plate, from 1865 to 1890,
covering the period since the close of our civil war.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1865

500 048

1874

1 110 147

1883

2 283 920

1866

595,311

1875

1 097 867

1 1884

1 931 747

1867

579,838

1876

1 042 101

i 1885

1 789 711

1868

598,286

1877

1,144,219

1886

2 259 943

1869

642 420

1878

1 232 686

1887

2 565 438

1870

705000

1879

1 627 324

1888

2 397 402

1871

710000

1880

1 838 906

1889

2 576 127

1872

941992

1881

2 155 346

1890

2 804 899

1873

1 076 368

1882

2 265 957

The following table shows the production of spiegeleisen
and ferro-manganese in the United States from 1875 to 1890.
This production is included in that of pig iron already given.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

Years.

Net tons.

1875

7 832

1881

21 086

1887

47 598

1876

6 616

1882

21 963

1888

54 769

1877

8845

1883

24574

1889

85823

1878

10674

1884

33893

1890

149 162

1879

13931

1885

34671

1880

19 603

1886

47 982

The geographical centre of total production of the iron
and steel industries of the United States is the point at
which equilibrium would be established were the country
taken as a plane surface, itself without weight but capable
of sustaining weight, and loaded with its production of iron
and steel, each ton exerting pressure on the pivotal point
directly proportioned to its distance therefrom. The centre
of production of iron and steel in the United States in the
census year 1880 was found to be at 40° 43' north latitude
and 79° 20' longitude west from Greenwich. This point is
in Pennsylvania, on the boundary line between Armstrong
and Indiana counties, and about 12 miles northeast of Apol-
lo and 12 miles west of Indiana, Laufman & Go's rolling
mill at Apollo being the nearest iron works. At the centre
of production thus ascertained iron has never been manu-
factured in any form. It will be interesting to note the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 513

equilibrium point of production as it will be established by
the census of 1890, which is not yet completed.

The thoughtful reader will look for statistics of produc-
tion to be accompanied by a record of the prices paid by
our people for leading iron and steel products. This record
is presented in the following tables. It goes back to the clos-
ing years of the last century and comes down to the end
of 1890. It is as complete as it has been possible to make
it, and no pains have been spared to make it accurate. We
have not attempted a compilation of colonial prices, but the
curious reader will find occasional references to them in pre-
ceding pages.

The first table contains the average prices of charcoal pig
iron at Philadelphia from 1799 to 1849, when anthracite pig
iron became the standard of comparison. Until 1827 the
prices are for the best pig iron ; from 1827 to 1833 they are
for an average of all grades; from 1833 to 1840 they are for
gray iron ; and from 1840 to the close of the table they are
for No. 1 foundry. The same table also gives the aver-
age prices of hammered bar iron at Philadelphia from 1794
to 1844, although its manufacture and sale, which had been
declining prior to 1844, continued for several years after-
wards.

In the second table the average prices .of No. 1 anthra-
cite foundry pig iron at Philadelphia are given from 1842,
in which year quotations first appear, to 1890. In the same
table the average prices of best refined rolled bar iron at
Philadelphia are given from 1844 to 1890, and the average
prices of iron rails delivered at Philadelphia are given from
1847 to 1882. In 1883 the manufacture in this country of
iron rails of standard sections virtually came to an end, al-
though a few light iron rails are still manufactured. A few
standard iron rails, as well as light rails, were made in
that year, but at higher prices than steel rails commanded.
The column devoted to steel rails in the second table gives
the average prices at works in Pennsylvania from 1867, when
they were first made in commercial quantities, to 1890. The
same table also gives the average wholesale prices of cut
nails in eastern markets, in kegs of 100 pounds, from 1835 to
1890. The tons used in the tables are tons of 2,240 pounds.

514

THE MANUFACTURE OF

TABLE
1.

Charcoal

Hammered

TABLE

No. 1 an-
thracite

Best re-
fined

Iron

Steel

Cut nails,
per keg

Years.

pig iron.

bar iron.

of 100
pounds.

1794

$77 50

1835

eg 00

1795

8250

1836

6 00

1796

10650

1837

6 00

1797

101.50

1838

6 00

1798

97.50

1839

6 12

1799

$36.25

98.50

1840

550

1800

35.75

100.50

1841

5 25

1801

32.75

117.50

1842

$25.60

4 75

1802

30.75

99.00

1843

4 25

1803

29.25

97.50

1844 .. .

25.75

$85.62

4 50

1804

29.75

98.50

1845 ....

29.25

93.75

4 75

1805

30.75

101.00

1846 . .. .

27.88

91.66

4 50

1806

3575

10850

1847

30 25

8604

$69 00

4 50

1807

3875

11050

1848

2650

79 33

62 25

4 25

1808

40.00

104.00

1849

22.75

67.50

53.88

4.00

1809

40.00

107.50

1850

20.88

59.54

47.88

3.71

1810 .-.

38.00

108.00

1851

2138

54 66

45 63

3 28

1811

44.00

105.00

1852

22.63

58.79

48.38

3.13

1812

47.50

106.00

1853

36.12

83.50

77.25

4.85

1813

47.25

106.00

1854

36.88

9133

80 13

476

1814

46.00

133.00

1855

27.75

7458

6288

4 10

1815

53.75

144.50

1856

27.12

73.75

6438

392

1816

50.25

127.00

1857 .

26.38

71.04

64.25

372

1817

47.00

114.00

1858 .

22.25

62.29

5000

353

1818—

42.25

110.00

1859 .

23.38

60.00

49.38

3.86

1819

36.50

110.00

I860

22.75

58.75

48.00

3.13

1820

35.00

103.50

1861

20.25

60.83

42.38

2.75

1821

35.00

90.50

1862

23.88

70.42

41 75

3.47

1822
1823

35.00
35.25

94.50
90.00

1863
1864

35.25
59 25

91.04
146 46

76.88
126 00

5.13

7 85

1824

40.00

82.50

1865

46.12

106.38

98.63

7.08

1825

46.75

97.50

1866

46 88

98 13

86 75

6 97

1826..

46.50

101.50

1867

4412

8708

8313

$166 00

592

1827

39.25

10000

1868

39 95

85 63

78 88

158 50

5 17

1828

35.00

10000

1869

40 63

81 66

77 25

132 25

4 87

1829
1830

35.00
35.00

97.00
87.50

1870
1871

33.25
35.12

78.96
78 54

72.25
70 38

106.75
10250

4.40
4.52

1831

35.00

8500

1872

48 88

97 63

85 13

liooo

5 46

1832

35.00

8500

1873

42 75

86 43

76 67

120 50

4 90

1833
1834
1835
1836

38.25
30.25
30.25
41.50

82.50
82.50
81.50
100 00

1874
1875
1876

1877

30.25
25.50
22.25
18 88

67.95
60.85
52.08
45 55

58.75
47.75
41.25
35 25

94.25
68.75
59.25
45 50

3.99
3.42
2.98
9 57

1837

41.25

111 00

1878

17 63

44 ^4

33 75

42 25

2 31

1838

32.25

93 50

1879

21 50

51 85

41 25

48 25

2 69

1839
1840

30.00
32.75

96.50
90.00

1880
1881

28.50
25.12

60.38
5805

49.25
4713

67.50
61.13

3.68
3.09

1841
1842
1843

28.50
28.00
26.75

85.00
83.50
77.50

1882
1883
1884

25.75
22.38
19.88

61.41
50.30
44.05

45.50

48.50
37.75
30.75

3.47
3.06
2.39

1844

28.25

75.00

1885

18.00

40.32

28.50

2.33

1845

32.25

1886

18 71

43 12

34 50

2 27

1846

31.25

1887

2092

4937

37 08

2.30

1847

31.50

1888

18 88

44 99

29 83

°03

1848

28.50

1889

17 75

43 40

99 25

200

1849

24.50

1890

18 40

45 92

31 75

2 CO

IRON IN ALL AGES. 515

A study of the foregoing tables reveals many and wide
fluctuations in prices. The greatest uniformity will be no-
ticed during the charcoal era, ending about 1844, allowance
being made for the disturbing effects of the second war with
Great Britain. The greatest fluctuations will be found since
the close of that era, not counting the great enhancement
in values during the civil war. In other words, before we
began to produce iron largely, and especially while we held
to the old ways of manufacturing it, the market for its sale
was least excited and least depressed. The new methods re-
duced prices to lower figures than they had ever touched dur-
ing the charcoal era, and the rebound has frequently been
proportionately greater than at any time during that era.
Until we began to manufacture pig iron with anthracite coal
its yearly price after 1798 never fell below $29 per ton, but
in 1878 the average price for the year of No. 1 anthracite
foundry pig iron was $17.63. Until we began to roll the
most of our bar iron, instead of hammering it, its yearly
price after 1794 did not fall below $77.50 per ton, but in
1885 the average price for the year was $40.32, or much less
than two cents per pound. The greatest fall in prices has
been in steel rails, which have been sold at less than one-
sixth the price charged for them when we began their man-
ufacture in 1867. The lowest average annual price at which
Bessemer steel rails have been sold in this country was reach-
ed in 1885, namely, $28.50 per ton, but sales were made at
still lower figures in 1884, 1885, 1888, and 1889— as low as
$26 and $27. Wholesale prices of cut nails have fallen from
$6 per keg in 1835 to an average of $2 per keg in 1889 and
1890, sales having been made in eastern markets in the last
years mentioned at $1.90 per keg.

The production of iron ore in the United States in the
calendar year 1889 has been ascertained and published by
the Census Office, the statistics having been gathered by Mr.
John Birkinbine, special agent. The quantity of iron ore
produced in the United States during the year 1889 was 14,-
518,041 gross tons, valued at $33,351,978, an average of $2.30
per ton. The total production in the census year 1880 was
7,120,362 tons, valued at $23,156,957, an average of $3.25
per ton. The increase in production in 1889 over the census

516

THE MANUFACTURE OF

year 1880 was 103.89 per cent. Of the twenty-six States and
two Territories producing iron ore in 1889 the four leading
States were as follows: Michigan, 5,856,169 tons; Alabama,
1,570,319 tons; Pennsylvania, 1,560,234 tons; and New York,
1,247,537 tons : these four States producing 10,234,259 tons,
or 70.49 per cent, of the total production. The details of the
production of iron ore by all the iron-ore producing States
and Territories in 1889 are as follows.

States and Territories.

Production in
1889— Gross tons.

States and Territories.

Production in
1889— Gross tons.

Alabama

1 570 319

New Mexico and Utah

36 050

Colorado

109 136

I New York ... .

1 247 537

Connecticut Maine and

Ohio

254 294

Massachusetts

88 251

i Oregon and Washington.

26 283

Delaware and Maryland

29380

j Pennsylvania

1,560234

Georgia and N. Carolina

258 145

Tennessee

473,294

24 072

Texas

13 000 $

Kentucky

77487

Virginia and West Virginia.

511,255

Michigan

5 856 169

Wisconsin

837399

Minnesota

864 508

Missouri

265,718

New Jersey

415 510

Mr. Birkinbine shows that 62.38 per cent, of the iron
ore produced in the United States in 1889 was red hematite ;
that 17.38 per cent, was brown hematite ; that 17.26 per cent,
was magnetite ; and that 2.98 per cent, was carbonate.

Mr. Birkinbine also shows that the total cost of the iron
ore mined in the United States in 1889 aggregated $24,781,-
658, equivalent to an average cost of $1.71 per ton, against
$2.21 in the census year 1880, a decrease of 50 cents per
•ton, or 22.62 per cent. In the same year, 1889, the average
earnings of iron-ore miners and other iron-ore producers, in-
cluding foremen, in the United States amounted to $409.95,
against an average of $308.94 in the census year 1880, an
increase of 32.70 per cent.

It will be observed that the statistics of our iron-ore in-
dustry which are above presented show an increase in pro-
duction in 1889 over the census year 1880 of over 100 per
cent., an average decrease in the cost of mining of 50
cents per ton, an average decrease in value at the mines of
95 cents per ton, and an average increase in earnings per
man of more than $100 per annum.

IRON IN ALL AGES.

517

CHAPTER LX.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF IRON AND STEEL BY
THE UNITED STATES.

THE exportation of bar iron from the American colonies
began in 1717, when 2 tons of bars were sent to England
from the British West India islands of Nevis and St. Chris-
topher, but which had evidently been taken there from one
of the Atlantic coast colonies. We present below a table,
compiled from Scrivenor's History of the Iron Trade, showing
the quantity of colonial iron exported to England from 1718
to 1776, inclusive. The colonies which made the shipments
were New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Virginia, and the Carolinas. They were not permitted to ex-
port their iron to any country but Great Britain or one of
its colonies, and not to Ireland until 1765.

Years.

Pig iron.

Bar iron.

Years.

Pig iron.

Bar iron.

Tons. cwt. qr. Ibs.

1718

3700

1751

3,210 11 1 0

5429

1728-9...

1,132 234

1752....

2,980 132

81 7 0 26

1730

1,725 14 3 7

1753

2,737 19 3 27

247 19 3 11

1730-1...

2,250 5 3 14

1754

3,244 17 1 23

270 15 1 4

1731-2...

2,332 14 3 15

1755

3,441 238

389 18 3 20

1732-3...

2,404 17 1 12

1761

2,766 2 3 12

39 1 0 0

1733

0 11 3 0

1762

1,766 16 0 2

. 122 12 2 14

1733-4...

2,197 10 1 14

1763

2,566 8 0 25

310 19 3 2

1734

0 0 2 12

1764

2,554 8 3 21

1,059 18 0 10

1734-5...

2,561 14 3 11

1765 ..

3,264 8 1 22

1,078 15 0 16

1735

55 6 3 21

1766

2,887 5 1 15

1,257 14 3 9

1739

2,417 16 2 4

1767

3,313 2 1 19

1,325 19 0 18

1740

2,275 710

5 4 1 21

1768

2,953 0 2 14

1,989 11 0 6

1741

3,457 9 0 18

5000

1769

3,401 12 2 2

1,779 13 1 23

1742

2,075 0 0 23

1770

4,232 18 1 18

1,716 8 0 21

1743

2,985 928

1771

5,303 6 3 13

2,222 4 3 24

1744

1,861 16 1 22

57 0 0 0

J772

3,724 19 2 25

965 15 0 23

1745

2,274 5 1 17

4 5 2 14

1773

2,937 13 0 2

837 15 0 6

1746

1,861 2 3 13

196 18 0 12

1774

3,451 12 2 19

639 0 0 23

1747

2,156 15 3 16

82 11 2 11

1775

2,996 0 2 24

916 5 2 11

1748

2,155 15 2 23

4000

1776

316 1 2 8

28 0 0 0.

1750

2,924 0 0 20

5 17 3 0

In addition to the foregoing there were exported to Scot-
land 264 tons of pig iron and 11 tons of bar iron in the
ten years from 1739 to 1749, and 229 tons of pig iron in the

518

THE MANUFACTURE OF

six years from 1750 to 1756. In 1770, as we learn from Tim-
othy Pitkin's Statistical Vieiv of the Commerce of the United
States, the following quantities of iron were exported to all
countries, including England, which is given above sepa-
rately : Pig iron, 6,017 tons, valued at $145,628 ; bar iron, 2,463
tons, valued at $178,891; castings, 2 tons, valued at $158;
and wrought iron, 8 tons, valued at $810. These are all the
particulars of our colonial iron exports that are obtainable.

From 1776 to 1791 there is no record of any shipments
abroad of American iron, although some iron may have been
shipped in each year immediately after the peace. Since
1791 our exports of iron and steel, except in the form of ma-
chinery and other manufactured products, have not consti-
tuted any considerable part of our foreign trade. Until 1840
our annual exports of iron and steel and manufactures there-
of uever amounted in value to one million dollars. In 1865
they first amounted to ten million dollars.

The foreign value of the imports into the United States
from all countries of iron and steel and manufactures there-
of, including tinplates, in the twenty calendar years from
1871 to 1890 is given in the following table, together with the
value of the exports from the United States to all countries
of domestic iron and steel and manufactures thereof in the
same calendar years, agricultural implements not included.

Years.

Imports.

Exports.

Years.

Imports.

Exports.

1871

157 866,299

$14,185 359

i 1881

$61 555 077

$18 216 121

1872,

75,617,677

12,595,539

1882

67 075 1^5

22 348 834

1873!

60,005,538

14,173,772

1883

47 506 306

°2 716 040

1874

37,652,192

17,312,239

1884

37 078 122

19 290 895

1875

27,363,101

17,976,833

1885

31 144 552

16 622 511

1876

20 016 603

13 641 724

1886

41 630 779

14 865 087

1877

19 874 399

18 549 922

1887

56 420 607

16 °35 922

1878

18 013 010

15 101 899

1888

42 311 689

19 578 489

1879

33,331,569

14,223,646

1889

42 027 742

23 712 814

1880

80,443,362

15,156,703

1890

44540084

27 000 134

Our exports of iron and steel in 1890 were the largest
•in. our history. As in other years they consisted chiefly of
machinery, hardware, sewing machines, saws and tools, loco-
motives, fire-arms, scales and balances, nails and wire, car-
wheels and miscellaneous castings, and engines and boilers.
Our exports of pig iron and steel rails are increasing.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 519

CHAPTER LXL

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS OF IRON, STEEL, IRON
ORE, AND COAL.

THE year 1890 is notable in the history of the iron and
steel industries of the United States as the year in which
our production of pig iron exceeded for the first time that
of Great Britain, not only in 1890 but in 1882, the year of
her greatest production. This achievement by American
pig-iron manufacturers justifies of itself the presentation in
these pages of complete statistics of Great Britain's produc-
tion of pig iron for a long series of years.

In 1740, exactly 151 years ago, the production of pig ijpn
in Great Britain was only 17,350 tons, the denudation of her
forests having almost destroyed her pig-iron industry by
decreasing the supply of charcoal, and mineral coal not yet
having come into general use.

In 1788 there were only 77 active blast furnaces in Eng-
land and Wales and 8 active furnaces in Scotland, and their
production was 68,300 gross tons of pig iron. Of the whole
number of furnaces 26 used charcoal and 59 used coke. The
imports of pig iron by Great Britain in that year amounted
to about 15,000 tons, and the imports of bar iron amounted
to 51,469 tons. In 1796 there were 104 furnaces in blast in
England and Wales, producing 108,993 tons of pig iron, and
in Scotland there were 17 furnaces in blast, producing 16,^86
tons. In 1806 there were 233 furnaces in all Great Britain,
of which 173 were in blast, producing 243,851 tons.

The following table shows the growth of the pig-iron in-
dustry of Great Britain from 1788 to 1890. For this valuable
and accurate table we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr.
Richard Meade, of the Mineral Statistics Branch of the Home
Department of Her Majesty's Government. The table is com-
piled from the official records of the Department. It begins
with the revival of the British iron industry which followed
the general ' introduction of coke in the blast furnace and of
the puddling furnace and grooved rolls in finishing iron.

520

THE MANUFACTURE OF

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

1788

68 300

1852

2 701 000

1872

6 741 929

1796

125,079

1854

3,069,838

1873 . ...

6 566 451

1806

243,851

1855

3,218,154

1874

5 991 408

1818

325 000

1856

3 586 377

1875

6 365 462

1820

400,000

1857

' 3,659,447

1876

6,555,997

1823

455166

1858

3 456 064

1877

6 608 664

1825

581 367

1859

3 712 904

1878

6 381 051

1827

690000

1860

3 8^6 752

1879

5 995 337

1828..

703184

.V.,

1861..

3 712 390

1880

7 749 233

1830

677 417

1862 . .

3 943 469

1881

8 144 449

1833....

700000

1863 .

4,510 040

1882

8 586 680

1836

1,000000

1864 . . ..

4,767,951

1883

8529300

1839

1,248,781

1865

4,825,254

1884 .

7 811 727

1840

1,396,400

1866

4,523,897

1885

7 415 469

1842

1,099,138

1867

4,761,023

1886

7009 754

1843

1,215,350

1868

4,970,206

1887

7,559,518

1844

1,999,608

1869

5,445,757

1888

7,998 969

1845

1,512,500

1870

5,963,515

1889

8,322,824

1847

1.999.508

1871

6.627.179

1890

7.904.214

The production of pig iron in the United States in 1890
was 9,202,703 gross tons, which was 1,298,489 gross tons more
than that of Great Britain in the same year.

Great Britain has been a large importer of iron ore in re-
cent years from Spain, Italy, and other countries, but chiefly
from Spain. In 1887 the quantity imported amounted to
3,765,788 tons, in 1888 to 3,562,071 tons, in 1889 to 4,031,-
265 tons, and in 1890 to 4,471,790 tons. The total quantity
of iron ore mined in Great Britain in 1887 amounted to
13,098,041 tons, in 1888 to 14,590,713 tons, in 1889 to 14,-
546,105 tons, and in 1890 to 13,780,767 tons. Great Britain,
therefore, now imports nearly one-fourth of her annual sup-
ply of iron ore. The sources of her supply of foreign ore
in 1889 and 1890 and the quantities and values of the im-
ports in these two years were as follows.

Gross tons.

Values.

Gross tons.

Values.

Australasia

1,858

£8,026

3,475

£15,266

Greece

79,007

79,314

112,764

101,662

Algeria

205,670

153,836

237,609

190,940

Italy

79,312

68,542

46,517

,43,411

Spain

3 627 646

2608856

4,028,672

3,129,656 .

Turkey

19588

88,131

18,968

90,036

Other countries

18,184

17,900

23,785

25,085

Total

4 031,265

£3,024 605

4,471,790

£3,596,056

1890.

IRON IN ALL AGES.

521

Great Britain also annually imports large quantities of
cupreous iron pyrites, from which she obtains purple ore
as a residuum for use in her blast furnaces. She obtained
447,580 tons of purple ore from this source in 1887, 464,-
207 tons in 1888, 483,257 tons in 1889, and 492,669 tons in
1890.

Great Britain's exports of iron ore are usually only nom-
inal, but in 1886 and 1887 they attained respectable propor-
tions. In 1886 they amounted to 70,527 tons, of which
69,639 tons were sent to the United States. In 1887 they
amounted to 56,394 tons, of which 53,817 tons were sent to
the United States. They have since greatly declined.

As the prosperity of the British iron trade rests so com-
pletely upon the abundant home supply of bituminous coal
the statistics of its production also properly find a place in
these pages. The following table shows the annual produc-
tion of coal in Great Britain from 1855 to 1890. This table
has been carefully revised for these pages by Mr. Meade.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

Years.

Gross tons.

1855

64 453 079

1867

104 500 480

1879

133 720 393

1856

66 645 450

1868

103 141 157

1880

146 969 409

1857 . '.. .

65 394 707

1869

107 427 557

1881

154 184 300

1858 '.

65 008 649

1870

110 431 192

1882

156 499 977

1859

71 979 765

1871

117 352 028

1883

163 737 327

1860 . .

80 042 698

1872

123 497 316

1884

160 757 779

1861

84 013 941

1873

128 680,131

1885

159 351 418

1862

81 638 338

1874

126 590 108

1886

157 518482

1863

86,292,215

1875

133,306,485

1887 .

162 119 812

1864

92,787,873

1876

134,125,166

1888

169 935,219

1865

98,150,587

1877....

134,179 968

1889

176,916 724

1866

101 630 544

1878

132 612 063

1890

181 614 288

A steady decline in the production of coal in Great Britain
from 1883 to 1886 will be noticed, but in 1887 the production
increased, in 1888 and 1889 it still further increased, and in
1890 it reached the astonishing total of 181,614,288 tons.

Germany has for a long time been third in the list of
iron and steel producing countries, the United States and
Great Britain being first and second. The growth of Germa-
ny's iron and steel industries in recent years has been rapid.
The following table, which has been carefully revised for
these pages by Dr. Hermann Wedding, of Berlin, shows the
production of pig iron in Germany and the Grand Duchy

522 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of Luxemburg, included in the Zollverein, from 1844 to 1890.

Years.

Metric tons.

Years.

Metric tons.

Years.

Metric tons.

1844

171,000

1869

1 413,029

1880

2 729 038

1854

369 000

1870

1 391 124

1881

2 914 009

1860

599 087

1871

1 563 682

1882

3 380 806

1861

591 593

1872

1 988 394

1883

3 469 719

1862

696 350

1873

2 240 575

1884

3 600 612

1863

812 555

1874 ..

1 906 263

1885

3 687 433

1864

904,658

1875

2 029 389

1886

3 528 658

1865

988,191

1876

1 846 345

1887

4 023 953

1866

1 046 954

1877

1 934 726

1888

4 337 421

1867

1,113,606

1878

2 147 641

1889

4 524 558

1868

1.264.347

1879....

2.226.587

iKon

4 fi37 9SQ

In 1834, ten years earlier than the year first named in
the table, the production of pig iron in Germany and Lux-
emburg was only 110,000 metric tons.

As the iron and steel industries of Germany owe their
present prominence in large part to the possession by Ger-
many of an abundant local supply of mineral fuel we give
below a table, also verified for these pages by Dr. Wedding,
showing the aggregate production of both coal and lignite in
Germany from 185.3 to 1890.

Years.

Metric tons.

Years.

Metric tons.

Years.

Metric tons.

1853

10,714,556

1869 . .

34 343 913

1880

59 118 035

1857

14,867,121

1870

34 003 004

1881

61 540 485

1860 '

16 730 492

1871

37 856 110

1882

65 378,211

1861 . .

18 755 361

! 1872

42 324 467

1883

70 449 648

1862

20 660 677

1873

46 145 194

1884

72 113 820

1863

22,366,203

1874

46,658,145

1885

73 675 515

1864

25 612 899

1 1875

47 804 054

1886

73 682 584

1865
1866

28,552,762
28,162,805

1876
1877

49,550,461

48 229 882

1887

1888

76,232,618
81 960 083

1867

30 802 889

1878

50 519 899

1889

84 788 609

1868

32 879 123

1879

53 470 716

1890

89 051 527

In 1848 the total production of coal and lignite in Ger-
many was only 5,800,985 tons.

Germany . and Luxemburg produced 10,664,307 tons of
iron ore in 1888, 11,002,187 tons in 1889, and 11,409,625 tons
in 1890. The imports of iron ore into Germany and Luxem-
burg, chiefly from Spain, amounted to 1,163,373 tons in 1888,
1,234,789 tons in 1889, and 1,522,181 tons in 1890 ; and the
exports, chiefly from Lothringen, amounted to 2,211,820 tons
in 1888, 2,179,836 tons in 1889, and 2,208,120 tons in 1890.

IRON IN ALL AGES.

523

In the following table we give the statistics of the pro-
duction of basic steel by countries in the last four years.

Countries— Gross tons.

1887.

1888.

1889.

1890.

England .

364 526

408 594

493 919

503 400

Germany,

Luxemburg, and Austria

1,102,496
176 500

1,276,070
229 333

1,481,642

222 39'>

1,695,472
240 638

Belgium,

Russia, and the United States

60,959

46,237

76,599

163,573

Total

1 704 481

1 953234

2 274 552

2 603 083

The increased production of basic steel in 1890 over 1889
was 328,531 gross tons. The total production of basic steel
since the invention of the basic process down to the close
of 1890 is reported to have .been 13,448,000 gross tons.

Of the total production of basic steel in 1890 there wrere
made by the basic Bessemer process 2,232,639 tons and by
the basic open-hearth process 370,444 tons. Of the basic
Bessemer production 1,593,148 tons contained under .17 per
cent, of carbon, and of the basic open-hearth production
298,867 tons contained under .17 per cent, of carbon.

In the production of 2,603,083 tons of basic steel in 1890
there were also produced 623,000 tons of slag, containing
about 36 per cent, of phosphate of lime, nearly the whole
of which was used as a fertilizer.

The position of the United States among iron and steel
producing countries at the .present time is correctly indicat-
ed in the following table of the world's production of pig
iron and steel of all kinds, which we have compiled from the
latest and most reliable statistics that are accessible. Most
of the details are derived from official sources, while only
those relating to " other countries " have been estimated. This
table places the world's production of pig iron in 1890 at
26,968,468 tons, and the world's production of steel in that
year at. 12, 151, 255 tons. The percentage of pig iron produc-
ed by the United States was 34.1, and its percentage of steel
was 35.2. Tons of 2,240 pounds are used in giving the
statistics of Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and
" other countries," and metric tons of 2,204 pounds for all
the Continental countries of Europe. As the difference be-
tween the gross ton and the metric ton is so trifling it is
not necessary to change official figures.

524

THE MANUFACTURE OF

Pig

iron.

Bfc

:el.

Years.

Tons.

Years.

Tons.

United States

1890

9 202 703

1890

4 277 071

Great Britain

1890

7904214

1890

3 679 043

Germany and Luxemburg
France

1890
1890

4,637,239
1 970 160

1890

2,161,821
704 013

Belgium

1890

JZ81.958

1890

239 266

Austria and Hungary

1890

925 308

1890

440 605

Russia (including Siberia)

1889

745,872

1889

263719

Sweden

1890

456 102

1890

169 986

Spain

1888

232000

1888

28 645

Italy

1889

13473

1889

157 899

Canada

1890

19439

1889

24 887

Other countries

1890

80 000

1890

5 000

Total .

26 968 468

12 151 255

Percentage of the United States

34 1

35 2

In the following table we also give the latest accessible
information concerning the production of coal and iron ore
throughout the world. The percentage of production of coal
by the United States is seen by this table to have been 25.7
and its percentage of production of iron ore is seen to have
been 31.4.

Countries.

Iron ore.

Coal.

Years.

Tons.

Years.

Tons.

United States
Great Britain

1890
1890

18,000,000
13,780,767
11,409,625
2,579,465
202,431
2,200,000
1,433,513
941,241'
4,500,000
173,489
68,313
2,000,000

1889 . . .

126097 779

1890
1890
1890

1 181,614,288
| 89,051,527
25,836,953

Germany and Luxemburg

1890

France

1887

Belgium

1889

1890

90 343 495

Austria and Hungary
Russia (including Siberia)

1890

1888

1889

25 326 417

1889

. 1 6,228 000

Sweden

1890

1 258000

Spain

1888

1888
1889

1,203,119
j 390,320

Italy

1889

Canada

1890

1890
1890

1 2,783,626
.11,200,000

Other countries (including Cuba)....

1890

Total

57,288,844

1 490,333,524

Percentage of the United States

31.4

25.7

It is not pretended that all of the details in the above
tables are absolutely accurate ; at the present stage of statis-
tical inquiry even in highly civilized countries this would
be impossible. But they are substantially accurate.

IRON IN ALL AGES. 525

CHAPTER LXII.

SOME OF THE IMPORTANT USES OF IRON AND
STEEL IN THE UNITED STATES.

IN Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines we
find this comprehensive and eloquent description of iron :
" Every person knows the manifold uses of this truly precious
metal. It is capable of being cast in moulds of any form ; of
being drawn out into wires of any desired strength or fine-
ness ; of being extended into -plates or sheets ; of being bent
in every direction ; of being sharpened, hardened, and soften-
ed at pleasure. Iron accommodates itself to all our wants,
our desires, and even our caprices ; it is equally serviceable to
the arts, the sciences, to agriculture, and war ; the same ore
furnishes the sword, the ploughshare, the scythe, the prun-
ing-hook, the needle, the graver, the spring of a watch or of
a carriage, the chisel, the chain, the anchor, the compass, the
cannon, and the bomb. It is a medicine of much virtue, and
the only metal friendly to the human frame."

The people of the United States are the largest per capita
consumers of iron and steel in the world, and of all nations
they are also the largest aggregate consumers of these prod-
ucts. Our annual consumption of iron and steel has for sev-
eral years averaged over 300 pounds for every man, woman,
and child in the United States. Great Britain makes about
as much iron and steel as we do, but she exports about one-
half of all the iron and steel that she makes, much of it in
the form of iron and steel ships, machinery, cutlery, etc. We
estimate Great Britain's annual home consumption of iron
and steel in recent years to be less than 275 pounds per cap-
ita. No other European country equals Great Britain in
the per capita consumption of iron and steel.

A simple enumeration of some of the more important
uses to which iron and steel are applied by our people will
show how prominent is the part these metals play in the
development of American civilization and in the advance-
ment of our greatness and power as a nation.

526 THE MANUFACTURE OF

We have built more miles of railroad than the whole of
Europe, and have used in their construction as many rails,
and now use in their equipment fully as many railroad cars
and locomotives. At the close of 1889 this country had
161,319 miles of railroad, Europe had 136,859 miles, and all
the rest of the world had 71,965 miles. The United States
had 25 miles of railroad to every 10,000 of population, while
Europe had a little more than 4 miles to the same popula-
tion. Railroads, it is well known, annually consume in rails,
bridges, cars, and locomotives about one-half of the world's
total production of iron and steel. The street railway is
an American invention, and we are far in advance of every
other nation in its use. We were also the first nation in the
world to introduce elevated railways especially to facilitate
travel in large cities. Beauty of design, fitness of parts, and
strength of materials have been so perfectly combined in the
construction of our elevated railways as to excite the ad-
miration of all who behold them. We are the foremost of
all nations in the use of iron and steel in bridge-building
for railroads and. ordinary highways, and the lightness and
gracefulness of our bridges are nowhere equaled, while their
strength and adaptability to the uses for which they are re-
quired are nowhere surpassed. The steel wire in the Brook-
lyn bridge, which is in many respects the most notable bridge
in the world, is all of American manufacture.

In the use of iron for water, sewage, and illuminating gas
pipes we are far in advance of every other nation, because
our small cities and country towns now quickly adopt all
the improvements of large cities.

;We make more iron stoves for heating halls and dwell-
ings and for the purposes of the kitchen than all the rest of
the world, and in the use of kitchen ranges we are in ad-
vance of every other nation. Our household stoves, both for
heating and cooking, are works of real art as well as of util-
ity. They are ornaments of American homes instead of be-
ing conveniences simply. Our heating stoves are especially
handsome, bright, cheerful, clean, and conducive to health.
The heating of public and private buildings with hot-air
heaters has long been more popular in our country than in
any other country, but in late years steam and hot-water pipes

IRON IN ALL AGES. 527

are rapidly coming into use as rivals of hot-air flues. Cook-
ing and other domestic utensils of iron have always, even in
colonial days, been freely used in American households.

We make liberal use of both cast and wrought iron and
steel in the construction of public and private buildings.
Our use of iron and steel for these purposes has rapidly in-
creased in late years, and in much of our work of this char-
acter we have given truly artistic effects to these metals. We
probably excel all nations in the use of iron and steel for
ornamental purposes in connection with masonry, brick-work,
and wood-work. Fine illustrations of the artistic combina-
tion of iron with other materials ten years ago may be seen
in the interior of the new State Department building at
Washington and in the interior of the passenger station
of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Philadelphia, while upon
every hand are seen later illustrations of our artistic uses
of iron and steel.

We consume large quantities of wire rope in our extend-
ed and varied mining operations, and we lead the world in
the use of Bessemer steel wire for fencing purposes. We have
more miles of telegraph wire in use than any other country.
The electric telegraph and telephone are American inven-
tions ; barbed wire fencing is also an American invention.
Large quantities of iron and steel are now required annually
for the electrical machinery which is in general use in this
country in the production of light and power.

We have made rapid progress in late years in the con-
struction of iron and steel ships and lake and river steam-
ers, and we would have made much greater progress if the
same encouragement that has been given by other nations
to their shipping interests had been given to ours. Our
new navy is being built almost wholly of steel.

We use irnmense quantities of plate iron and steel in the
storage, transportation, and refining of petroleum, in the pro-
duction of which nature has given us a great advantage.
The oil wells themselves yearly require thousands of tons
of iron and steel pipes for tubing. Our natural gas wells
also create a large demand for iron and steel pipes. We
make liberal use of plate and sheet iron and steel in the
construction of the chimneys of steamboats on our lakes

528 THE MANUFACTURE OF

and rivers, and in the construction of factory and rolling-
mill chimneys and the stacks of blast furnaces. The jackets
of hot-blast stoves also require large quantities of plate iron
and steel in their construction. American planished sheet
iron has almost entirely superseded Russia sheet iron in our
markets. We use it for locomotive jackets, in the manufact-
ure of stoves and stove-pipe, and for many other purposes.
We are the largest consumers of tinplates in the world, Great
Britain, their principal manufacturer, sending us annually
more than three-fourths of her total exports ; indeed we con-
sume more tinplates than all the rest of the world. We are
also large consumers of galvanized sheet iron and steel for
spouting, coal-buckets, portable heaters, and other purposes.

Our portable and stationary steam engines create a con-
stant demand for large quantities of iron and steel. Porta-
ble engines are widely used in the lumber districts of this
country and in threshing grain upon American farms. Our
extensive mining operations require the most powerful en-
gines, while our manufacturing enterprises and the steam
vessels on our lakes and rivers and on the ocean require both
large and small engines. Steam cranes and elevators, steam
dredges, steam hammers, and steam and hydraulic pumps
create a market for large quantities of iron and steel. Our
beautiful steam fire-engines are the product of American
taste and skill, if they are not strictly an American inven-
tion, and we annually make large numbers for home use
and for exportation. Anchors and chains, cotton-presses and
cotton-ties, sugar-pans and salt-pans, and general foundry
and machine work require large quantities annually of both
iron and steel. We make our own cotton and woolen manu-
facturing machinery, and nearly all the other machinery
that we use. The manufacture of the printing presses of
the country consumes immense quantities of iijon and steel.
No other country makes such free use of the printing press
as this country. We are the leading agricultural country
of the world, and hence are the largest consumers of agri-
cultural implements ; but we are also in advance of every
other country in the use of agricultural machinery, the best
of which we have invented.

We lead all nations in the manufacture of cut nails, wire

IRON IN ALL AGES. 529

nails, and spikes. Having a larger and more rapidly-increas-
ing population than any other country that is noted for its
consumption of iron and steel we are consequently the
largest consumers of nails and spikes in the construction of
dwellings and public buildings, stores, warehouses, and like
structures. The nail-cutting machine is an American inven-
tion. Our manufactures of scales and balances, letter-press-
es, burglar-proof and fire-proof safes, sewing-machines, and
wagons and carriages consume iron and steel in large quan-
tities. Sewing-machines are an American invention. We
use more pleasure carriages in proportion to population than
Great Britain, France, Germany, or any other country, and
we also use many bicycles. Large quantities of iron and steel
are used for fire-arms, sewer and other gratings, street-cross-
ings, iron pavements, lamp-posts, posts and frames for awn-
ings, posts for electric lights, fire-plugs, fire-escape ladders,
builders' hardware and all sorts of small hardware, horse-
shoes and horseshoe nails, wire rope for miscellaneous pur-
poses,tbarrel and baling hoops, cots and bedsteads, burial
caskets, chairs and settees, woven-wire mattresses, screens, wire
netting, wire mats, wire belting, railings, and street letter-
boxes. In the manufacture of machine and hand tools and
general cutlery we are excelled by no other country, and in
the use of machine tools we are in advance of every other
country. No other country makes such free use of labor-
saving inventions of all kinds as this country, most of which
require iron and steel in their manufacture. Our saws and
axes especially enjoy a world-wide reputation, and so also
do American shovels. Not the least important use to which
iron and steel are put in this country is in the extension of
the iron industry itself, every blast furnace, rolling mill, and
steel works that is erected first consuming large quantities
of these products before contributing to their general supply.
In the substitution of steel for iron this coimtry has made
rapid progress, especially in the construction and equipment
of its railroads. During the past ten years virtually all the
rails that have been laid on American railroads have been
made of Bessemer steel. The manufacture of iron rails in
this country is practically ended, steel rails now costing much
less than iron rails. On most American railroads the boilers

530 THE MANUFACTURE OP

of all new locomotives are now, required to be made of steel,
and the tendency is toward the exclusive use* of steel for
locomotive boilers and its general use for stationary and
marine boilers. The tires of American locomotives are now
made exclusively of steel, and the fire-boxes of our locomo-
tives are generally made of steel. The steel used in the con-
struction of American locomotives is now chiefly produced by
the open-hearth process. We have built many steel bridges,
and there is a marked tendency to substitute steel for iron
in bridge-building. In shipbuilding we commenced the use
of steel as a substitute for iron several years ago. The use
of rolled steel for building purposes in this country is mak-
ing rapid headway. Steel is now largely used in the manu-
facture of wire for miscellaneous purposes, and for car and
carriage axles, carriage tires, screws, bolts, rivets, and many
other articles for which iron was formerly used. All of our
barbed wire fencing is made of steel. Until recently steel
had not been much used in this country for any kind of
nails, but it is now in general use in their manufacture.

Mention has been made of the artistic finish of some of
our iron and steel work, but the subject seems worthy of fur-
ther notice. It is not only in stove-founding, in the grace-
ful designs of bridges and elevated railways, and in the deli-
cate combination of iron and steel with other materials in
the construction and ornamentation of buildings that Amer-
ican ironworkers have displayed both taste and skill. The
fine arts themselves are being enriched by our ironworking
countrymen. An iron foundry at Chelsea, in Massachusetts,
has reproduced in iron castings various works of art with
all the fidelity and delicacy of Italian iron founders. The
most delicate antique patterns have been successfully copied.
Shields representing mythological groups and classic events,
medallions containing copies of celebrated portraits, panels
containing flowers and animals, an imitation of a Japanese
lacquer tray one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and a triumphal
procession represented on a large salver comprise some of the
work of the Chelsea foundry. Some of the castings have
been colored to represent bronze and others to represent steel,
while others again preserve the natural color of the iron.
The bronzed castings resemble beaten work in copper. Amer-

IRON IN ALL AGES. 531

ican pig iron has been chiefly used. Other foundries have
produced similar castings.

Until recently we conspicuously fell behind European
countries in the use of iron and steel for military purposes.
We maintain only a small standing army, and hence still
have but little use for iron and steel for the supply of this
branch of the public service. But we are now building a
large navy, which will soon compare favorably in the num-
ber and size of its vessels and in their equipment with the
navies of Europe. We are behind other countries in the use
of iron and steel sleepers for railroad tracks. We yet have
an abundance of timber for railroad cross-ties, and hence do
not need to substitute either iron or steel cross-ties. Except
as an experiment there is not an iron or steel cross-tie in use
in this country. We have long used coal cars made of plate
iron, but recently we have commenced the building of iron
and steel cars for the transportation of ordinary freight. We
still import many blacksmiths' anvils, their manufacture be-
ing a branch of the iron industry to which we have not
yet given adequate attention. Anvils of the best quality are,
however, made in this country. A far more serious hiatus
in our iron and steel industries existed until recently in the
total absence of the manufacture of tinplates, which are al-
most entirely composed of sheet iron or steel. As we can
import the crude tin as easily as we import other commodi-
ties our failure to manufacture tinplates must be ascribed
to the only true cause, our inability to manufacture sheet
iron and steel and coat them with tin as cheaply as this is
done by British manufacturers. Tin ore has been discover-
ed in this country in several places and is now being smelt-
ed, and it is not improbable that block tin may yet be pro-
duced at home in sufficiently large quantities to supply any
domestic demand for it that may be created. The passage
of the* McKinley tariff act in 1890 has led to the establish-
ment of many tinplate enterprises in our country in 1891.

Ojther uses of iron and steel in the United States might
be discovered upon further reflection and investigation, but
enough particulars have been recited to show to how many
uses these metals are applied and how large is their part
in meeting the numerous wants of our American civilization.

532 THE MANUFACTURE OF

•

CHAPTER LXIII.
CONCLUSION.

IN reviewing the preceding pages the most striking fact
which presents itself for our consideration is the great stride
made by the world's iron and steel industries in the last
hundred years. In 1788 there were only 85 active furnaces
in Great Britain, and their total production was only 68,300
gross tons of pig iron. In 1882 Great Britain had 929 fur-
naces, many of which were idle, and their production was
8,586,680 tons, which has not since been exceeded. In 1810
the production of pig iron in the United States was 53,908
gross tons, and in 1890 the production was 9,202,703 tons.
A hundred years ago there were no railroads in the world
for the transportation of freight and passengers. Iron ships
were unknown ; there were no steamships ; and all the iron
bridges in the world could be c«*nnted on the fingers of
one hand. Without railroads and their cars and locomo-
tives, and without iron ships and iron bridges, the world
needed but little iron. Steel was still less a necessity, and
such small quantities of it as were made were mainly used
in the manufacture of swords and tools with cutting edges.
It was at the beginning of the railroad era, at the close of
the first quarter of the present century, that the first marked
increase in the use of iron and steel in modern times took
place. This was in 1825, just sixty-six years ago, when the
Stockton and Darlington Railroad in England was opened.
The invention of the steam engine in the latter half of the
preceding century made the railroad era possible.

The great progress made by the world's iron and steel
industries in the last hundred years is as plainly marked in
the improvement of the processes of manufacture as in the
increased demand for iron and steel products. A little over
a hundred years ago all bar iron was laboriously shaped
under the tilt-hammer and the trip-hammer ; none of it was
rolled. Nor was iron of any kind refined at that time in
the puddling furnace ; it was all refined in forges, and much

IRON IN ALL AGES. 533

of it was made in primitive bloomary forges directly from
the ore. Cort had just perfected the rolling mill and the
puddling furnace. Only a few years ago a prejudice still
existed in favor of hammered bar iron. Nearly all the blast
furnaces of a hundred years ago were blown with leather
or wooden bellows by water-power, and the fuel used in
them was chiefly charcoal. Steam-power, cast-iron blowing
cylinders, and mineral fuel had just been introduced in
Europe, but not in this country. ] Sixty-five years ago heat-
ed air had not anywhere been used in the blowing of blast
furnaces, and fifty-six years ago anthracite coal had not been
used in them, except experimentally. Forty years ago the
Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel had not been
heard of, and the open-hearth process for the manufacture
of steel had not been made a practical success. Thirty-five
years ago the regenerative gas furnace had just been invented.
The nineteenth century has been the most prolific of all the
centuries in inventions which have improved the methods
of manufacturing iron and steel and which have facilitated
their production in large quantities.

The next most important fact that is presented in the
preceding chapters is the astonishing progress which the iron
and steel industries of the United States have made within
the last thirty years. During this period we have not only
utilized all cotemporaneous improvements in the manufact-
ure of iron and steel, but we have shown a special aptitude,
or genius, for the use of such improvements as render pos-
sible the production of iron and steel in large quantities.
Enterprising and progressive as the people of this country
have always been in the manufacture of iron and steel they
have shown in the last thirty years that they have in all re-
spects been fully alive to the iron and steel requirements of
our surprising national development. If we had not applied
immense blowing engines and the best hot-blast stoves to our
blast furnaces our present large production of pig iron would
have been impossible. If we had not built numerous large
rolling mills and steel works we could not have had a suf-
ficient supply of plate iron and steel for locomotive and
other boilers, and for the hulls and frames of ships, nor for
oil tanks, nails and spikes, and other important uses ; nor

534 THE MANUFACTURE OF

of sheet iron and steel for stoves, the coverings for locomo-
tives, and for domestic utensils ; nor of beams, tees, angles,
and channel iron for bridge-building and general construction
purposes ; nor of iron rails for our railroads ; nor of bar iron
and rod iron for a thousand uses. If we had not promptly
introduced the Bessemer process the railroads of the country
could not have been cheaply supplied with steel rails, and
without the eighteen million tons of American steel rails
which have been laid in American railroad tracks in the
past twenty-four years our leading railroads could not have
carried their vast tonnage of agricultural and other products,
for iron rails could not have endured the wear of this ton-
nage. If we had not established the manufacture of cruci-
ble steel and introduced the open-hearth process there would
have been a scarcity of steel in this country for the manu-
facture of agricultural implements, springs for railroad pas-
senger cars, and springs and tires for locomotives. Foreign
countries could not in late years have supplied our extraor-
dinary wants for pig iron, rolled iron, iron and steel rails,
and crucible and open-hearth steel ; for, if there were no other
reasons, the naturally conservative character of their people
would have prevented them from realizing the magnitude of
those wants, j If our iron and steel industries had not been
so largely developed in the past thirty years it is clear that
our railroad system could not have been so wonderfully ex-
tended and strengthened as it has been ; and without this
extension of our railroads we could not have produced our
large annual surplus of agricultural products for exporta-
tion, nor kept the price of these products to our own peo-
ple within reasonable limits ; nor could our population have
been so largely increased by immigration as it has been.

We can not fully comprehend the marvelous nature of
the changes which have taken place in the iron and steel in-
dustries of this country in recent years unless we compare
the early history of those industries with their present devel-
opment.

In Alexander Hamilton's celebrated Report on tJie Subject
of Manufactures, presented to Congress on the 5th of Decem-
ber, 1791, just one hundred years ago, it was stated with evi-
dent satisfaction that " the United States already in a great

IRON IN ALL AGES. 535

measure supply themselves with nails and spikes/' so unde-
veloped and primitive was our iron industry at that time.
In the same report it was stated that in the fiscal year which
ended on the 30th of September, 1790, our imports of nails
amounted to 1,800,000 pounds. In 1790 Morse's Geography
claimed, in a description of New Jersey, that " in the whole
State it is supposed there is yearly made about 1,200 tons of
bar iron, 1,200 ditto of pigs, and 80 of nail rods," and in
1802 it was boastingly declared in a memorial to Congress
that there were then 150 forges in New Jersey, "which at
a moderate calculation would produce twenty tons of bar iron
each annually, amounting to 3,000 tons." In 1891 there were
several rolling mills in New Jersey and over one hundred in
the United States each of which could produce much more
bar iron in three months than all of the 150 forges of New
Jersey could produce in a year.

Sixty years ago the American blast furnace which would
make four tons of pig iron in a day, or 28 tons in a week,
was doing good work. We had virtually made no progress
in our blast-furnace practice since colonial days. In 1831
it was publicly proclaimed with some exultation that " one
furnace erected in Pennsylvania in 1830 will in 1831 make
1,100 tons of pig iron." But, as George Asmus has pleas-
antly said, "a time came when men were no longer satisfied
with these little smelting pots, into which a gentle stream of
air was blown through one nozzle, which received its scanty
supply from a leather bag, squeezed by some tired water-
wheel." After 1840 our blast-furnace practice gradually im-
proved, but it was not until about 1850 that any furnace in
the country could produce 150 tons of pig iron in a week,
and not until 1865 that this product had ceased to excite sur-
prise. Ten years later, in 1875, we had several furnaces each
of which could make 700 tons of pig iron in a week ; in
1880 we had several each of which could make 1,000 tons in
a week ; in 1881 we boasted of having one furnace which
had made 224 tons in a day, 1,357 tons in a week, and 5,598
tons in a month; but in 1890 we had one furnace which
had made 502. gross tons in a day, 2,462 tons in a week, and
10,603 tons in a month.

In 1810 we produced 53,908 gross tons of pig iron and

536 THE MANUFACTURE OF

cast iron ; in 1840 we produced 286,903 tons of pig iron ; in
1860 we produced 821,223 tons ; in 1880 we produced 3,835,-
191 tons; and in 1890 we produced 9,202,703 tons.

[In his Twenty Years of Congress Mr. Elaine says that in
the First Congress, in 1789, Mr. Clymer, of Pennsylvania,
asked for a protective duty on steel, stating that a furnace
in Philadelphia " had produced 300 tons in two years, and
with a little encouragement would supply enough for the
consumption of the whole Union." In 1810, eighty-one
years ago, we produced only 917 tons of steel, none of which
was crucible steel. In 1831, twenty-one years later, we pro-
duced only 2,000 tons of steel, certainly not one pound of
which was crucible steel, all being blister steel. So humble
were our attainments as steelmakers in 1831 that we con-
sidered it a cause of congratulation that " American compe-
tition had excluded the British common blister steel alto-
gether." In 1849 Frederick Overman declared that "the
United States are at present, and will be for some time to
come, dependent upon other countries for steel." He added
that "in Pittsburgh attempts have been made to manufact-
ure steel, but we doubt whether an article of good quality
can ever be produced in that region." In 1882 we had
virtually ceased to make even the best blister steel, better
American steel having taken its place, and in that year we
produced 1,736,692 gross tons of steel of all kinds, 75,972
tons of which were crucible steel. In 1880 our production
of Bessemer steel and Bessemer steel rails was larger than
that of Great Britain, and in nearly every subsequent year
our production of Bessemer steel ingots has continued to be
larger, while our production of Bessemer steel rails has in-
variably been larger. In 1890 we produced a grand total of
4,277,071 gross tons of steel, which was far more than Great
Britain had ever produced in one year.

It was not until 1844 that we commenced to roll any
other kind of rails than strap rails for our railroads. In
that year we rolled our first ton of T rails. In 1847 we rolled
40,966 gross tons of rails ; in 1849 the production fell to 21,-
712 tons ; in 1854 it increased to 96,443 tons ; and in 1855 it
was hoped by the officers of the American Iron Association
that it would amount to 135,000 tons, but this hope was not

IRON IN ALL AGES. 537

quite realized. In 1880 we produced 1,305,212 gross tons of
rails, nearly two-thirds of which were steel rails. In 1881
we increased our production of rails to 1,646,518 gross tons,
nearly three-fourths of which were steel rails. In 1882 and
1883 the proportion of steel rails to iron rails produced was
much larger. In recent years we have rolled steel rails al-
most exclusively, and in 1887 our total production of rails
of all kinds amounted to 2,139,640 gross tons, which has not
since been exceeded owing to the decline in the building of
new railroads. ,

Although this country can not produce iron and steel
as cheaply as European countries which possess the advanta-
ges of cheap labor and proximity of raw materials it is not
excelled by any other country in the skill which it displays
or the mechanical and scientific economies which it practices
in any branch of their manufacture, while in certain leading
branches it has displayed superior skill and shown superior
aptitude for economical improvements. Our blast-furnace
practice is the best in the world, and it is so chiefly because
we use powerful blowing engines and the best hot-blast
stoves, possess good fuel, and carefully select our ores. The
excellent quality of our pig iron is universally conceded.
Our Bessemer-steel practice is also the best in the world.
We produce much more Bessemer steel and roll more Besse-
mer-steel rails in a given time with a given amount of ma-
chinery, technically termed a plant, than any of our Euro-
pean rivals. No controversy concerning the relative wearing
qualities of European and American steel rails now exists,
and no controversy concerning the quality of American Bes-
semer ores ever has existed. We experience no difficulty in
the manufacture of open-hearth* steel in the Siemens-Mar-
tin or Pernot furnace, and our steel which is thus produced
is in general use side by side with crucible steel. In the
manufacture of crucible steel our achievements are in the
highest degree creditable. In only one respect can it be said
that in its manufacture we fall behind any other country ;
we have not paid that attention to the production of fine cut-
lery steel which Great Britain has done. This is, however,
wholly due to commercial and not to mechanical reasons.
American crucible steel is now used without prejudice in the

538 THE MANUFACTURE OF

manufacture of all kinds of surgical instruments and dental
tools, and in the manufacture of many other articles for
which the best kinds of steel are required.

In the quantity of open-hearth and crucible steel produced
in a given time by a given plant we are certainly abreast of
all rivals. Our rolling-mill practice is fully equal to the best
in Europe. The quality of our rolled iron and steel is gener-
ally superior to and is always equal to that of foreign rolled
iron and steel. In the rolling of heavy armor plates we have
recently made great progress. In the production of heavy
forgings and castings, as well as of all lighter products of the
foundry and machine-shop, this country has shown all the
skill of the most advanced ironmaking countries in Europe.
At the works of the Bethlehem Iron Company we have the
largest steam hammer in the world, and at the same works
there are hydraulic forging presses which will favorably com-
pare with any in Europe. In the production of steel cast-
ings we have also shown great skill and much enterprise.

All our leading iron and steel works and very many of
our small works are now supplied with systematic chemical
investigations by their own chemists, who are often men of
eminence in their profession. The managers of our blast
furnaces, rolling mills, and steel works are themselves fre-
quently well-educated chemists, metallurgists, geologists, or
mechanical engineers, and sometimes all of these combined.
Our rapid progress in increasing our production of iron and
steel is not merely the result of good fortune, or favorable
legislation, or the possession of unlimited natural resources,
but is largely due to the possession of accurate technical
knowledge by our manufacturers and by those who are
in charge of their works, Combined with the characteristic
American energy which all the world has learned to respect.
The " rule of thumb " has long ceased to govern the opera-
tions of the iron and steel works of this country.

What wonderful changes have taken place since those
" good old colony times " and the early days of the new re-
public, when our fathers needed only a little iron and what
little they required was made by slow and simple methods !

A feature of our iron and steel industries which has
attended their marvelous productiveness in late years is the

IRON IN ALL AGES. 539

aggregation of a number of large producing establishments
in districts, or " centres," in lieu of the earlier practice of
erecting small furnaces and forges wherever sufficient water-
power, iron ore, and charcoal could be obtained. This ten-
dency to concentration is, it is true, not confined to our iron
and steel industries, but it is to-day one of the most power-
ful elements which influence their development. It had its
beginning with the commencement of our distinctive roll-
ing-mill era, about 1830, but it received a powerful impetus
with the establishment of our Bessemer-steel industry within
the last twenty years. Pittsburgh is to-day the most pro-
ductive steel centre in the world.

How great has been the change ! In colonial days and
long after the Revolution our ironmaking establishments be-
longed to the class of manufacturing enterprises described
by Zachariah Allen, in his Science of Mechanics, in 1829.;
" The manufacturing operations in the United States are all
carried on in little hamlets, which often appear to spring up
in the bosom of some forest, gathered around the waterfall
that serves to turn the mill-wheel. These villages are scat-
tered over a vast extent of country, from Indiana to the
Atlantic, and from Maine to North Carolina, instead of be-
ing collected together, as they are in England, in great man-
ufacturing districts." While these primitive and picturesque
but unproductive methods could not forever continue it is
greatly to be regretted that our manufactures of iron and
steel and other staple products could not have grown to their
present useful and necessary proportions unattended by the
evils which usually accompany the collection of large man-
ufacturing populations in small areas. '

But the progressive spirit of this wonderfully creative
age not only tends steadily toward still further concentration
of our manufacturing industries in districts or centres but
it also invites and in many instances even compels the con-
solidation under one management of large amounts of man-
ufacturing capital and of separate manufacturing resources.
The iron and steel industries of this country furnish in late
years a notable illustration of this latter tendency. At Pitts-
burgh Mr. Andrew Carnegie and his associates, at Chicago
the Illinois Steel Company, and at Steelton and Sparrow's

540 THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN ALL AGES.

Point the Pennsylvania Steel Company respectively control
plants for the manufacture of pig iron and steel which sepa-
rately have greater producing capacity in each of these spe-
cialties than the plants of any European company, while the
works of the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company at Scran-

*ton can produce more steel alone than any European plant.
Is it any wonder that in 1890 this country produced over

,34 per cent, of the world's production of pig iron and over
\ 35 per cent, of its production of steel !

Upon the future prospects of the iron and steel industries
of this country it is not necessary for us to dwell. Our re-
sources for the increased production of iron and steel for
an indefinite period are ample, and all other essential con-
ditions of continued growth are within our grasp. We are
to-day the first ironmaking and steelmaking country in the
world. We surpass even Great Britain in the production of
pig iron and in the aggregate production of steel. We con-
sume much more iron and steel than any other country.
These conditions and results are certainly gratifying to our
national pride. They mark wonderful industrial achieve-
ments by a young nation in a space of time so brief that
we may almost say it dates from yesterday. They are also
prophetic of other and still greater achievements. If it be
true, as it is recorded in the second chapter of Daniel, that
" iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things," then the
country which produces and consumes the most iron and
steel must take the first rank in extending and influencing
the world's civilization.

Meanwhile the fact is worthy of notice that the saying
of Bishop Berkeley, " westward the course of empire takes
its way," has already received a new interpretation, for the
iron industry, the source and sign of material power, which
had its beginning in Asia and afterwards passed successively
to the countries upon the Mediterranean, along the Rhine,
and in the north and west of Europe, and thence crossed the
Atlantic ocean, now finds a home in the shadows of the
Rocky mountains and by the Golden Gate of the Pacific
ocean. It has made the circuit of the world.

PERSONAL INDEX,

This index includes the names of only a few writers who have been quoted, and
does not include the names of persons of antiquity, scriptural names, nor the names of
emperors, kings, and other potentates. In the preparation of this index the main object
has been to record the names of pioneer iron and steel manufacturers. Names of manu-
facturing companies and of iron and steel works are omitted.

A. Page

Abbott, Dr. Henry 2

Abbott, H., & Son 445

Acrelius, Israel 154, 155, 156, 171, 173, 174

177, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188

Adam, John 117

Adams, David 229

Adams, George 314

Adams, John and John Quincy 113

Adams, W. H * 262

Agnew, David 270, 324, 326

Agnew, David and John P 324

Agricola, Georgius 82, 83, 95

Akerman, Professor Richard 93, 94, 404

Albright, Joseph J 192

Alden, John and Mason F 200

Alexander, J. H 27, 28, 39, 240, 249, 253

256, 370, 372

Alexander, Robert 301

Alexander, William (Lord Stirling) 152

Alexander's furnace 374

Alger, Cyrus 364

Allaire, James P 158

Allison & Henderson 208

Allen, Mr. (Bessemer's brother-in-law)... 402

Allen, Colonel Ethan 128, 129, 502

Allen, Frank '. 325

Allen, Job 148

Allen, John 157

Allen, Nicholas 473

Allen & Turner 156

Allen, William (chief justice) 155, 156

159, 168

Allen, Zachariah 539

Ames, Fisher 133

Ames, Horatio *.. 462

Anderson, James 230

Anderson, Robert J 423

Anderson & Co 423

Anderson and Cooper 151

Anderson & Woods 422

Ankrim, Josiah, & Son 389

Anshutz, George .'. 207, 218, 225, 226, 231

Archibald, C. D 44

Armstrong, John 185

Page

Arnold, Benedict 268

Arnold (historian) 134

Ashbridge, George 158

Ashebran, Mr 332, 333

Ashman, George 204, 205

Asmus, George 535

Backhouse, Richard 496

Backus, Rev. Isaac 124

Baker, Elias 208, 222

Baker, Hilary 496

Baldwin, Judge Henry 223, 502

Baldwin, Robinson, McNickle & Beltz-

hoover 223, 228, 229

Ball, Daniel 129

Ball, John 234, 236, 237

Ball, Joseph 504

Ball, Mary, (mother of Washington) 504

Ball, William 237

Ballendine, Mr 268

Balliet, John 192

Balliet, Stephen 192

Bancroft', George 479, 480, 482, 483

Bannan, Benjamin 478

Barkers, (Massachusetts iron workers) 120

Barney, Ariel N 322

Barnum, Milo 130

Barnum, Hon. William H 130, 135

Bartholomew & Dorsey 207

Bartlett, James Herbert 351

Baude, Peter 47

Bauerman, H 75

Baughman, Joseph 358

Baxter, William 250

Beach, Abram 342

Beale, Thomas 210

Beall, Walter 282, 283, 284

Beekman, William 233

Beelen, Anthony 226, 227

Belcher, Governor of New Jersey 159

Belknap, M. B 229

Belknap, Bean & Butler 229

Bell, Herbert C 169

542

PERSONAL INDEX.

Bell, Dr. John 32, 68

Bell, John, & Co 218

Bell, Sir Lowthian 500

Bell, Martin 208

Bell, William 91

Belzoni, Giovanni Battista 3

Bemeut, William B., & Son 463

Benezet, Daniel 179

Beninger, John 219

Benner, General Philip 206

Benner's forge 309

Bennet, Nehemiah 133

Bennett, Richard 241

Bennett, William 184, 212

Berkeley, Bishop 540

Berkley, John 104, 105

Berkley, Maurice 104

Berkley, Sir William 258

Berlin, David 474

Berry, A. V 321

Berry, George A 225, 226

Bessemer, Sir Henry 63, 395, 396, 397, 399

400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 407, 409, 410, 419

Bessemer, Henry, & Co 405

Bevens, Alfred, & Co 341

Beverley, Robert 103, 104, 105, 106

Biddle, Nicholas 359

Biddle, Owen 470

Bigot, M 349

Birch, George H 44

Bird, Mark 175, 176, 184, 267, 507

Bird, William 175

Bird, William (another) 496

Birkinbine, John 307, 515, 516

Birkinshaw, John 429, 430

Bishop, John 410

Bissell, John 230

Bissell, Samuel 127

Bitter, Michael, & Son 201

Black, William 249

Blackstone, Sir William 486

Elaine, James (ironmaster) 210

Elaine, Hon. James G 536

Elaine, Walker & Co 210

Blair, Thomas S 392

Blake, Henry 230

Blockley, Thomas 91

Bloomfield, Joseph E 433

Board, Cornelius 149

Board, Joseph 149

Bochs, Godfrey 48

Boggs, Andrew 426

Boggs, MCses 206

Boone, Annie 508

Boone, Daniel 508

Boone, George ^ 508

Borden, Colonel T. 434

Borden, Joseph 157

Bouchette, Joseph (historian) 350

Bowen, R '228, 229

Bowie, James 233

Page

Bowman, Jacob 216

Boyce, James P 290

Boyd, Samuel 469

Boyd, William 469

Bradford, William 104

Bradley, William A 257

Branson, William 171, 173, 174, 178, 236, 382

Breading, Nathaniel. 215

Breckinridge, John 283, 284

•Breckinridge, John C 284

Brewster, Samuel 139

Brice, Dr 304

Brick, Joseph W 158

Bridges, Robert 108

Briggs, Benjamin F 274

Brinkerhoff, John 143, 144

Britton, J. Blodget 388

Broadmeadow, Simeon 389

Brock, R. A 106, 258, 266, 467

Brougham, Lord 492

Brown, John 128

Brown, John, of Ossawatomie 380

Brown, John N 409

Brown, Joseph H 222

Brown, Nicholas and Moses 127

Brown, Dr. Ryland T 314

Brown, William 210

Brown, Bonnell & Co 311

Brown & Watson 198

Brown's History of Locomotives.. 428, 429, 439

Bruce, Mr 72, 73

Bryant, Mr 358

Bryant, Gridley 427

Bryant, William Cullen 361

Buchanan, Franklin 295

Buchanan, James 497

Buck, William J 469, 472, 473, 478

Buckley & Swift 364

Buckwalter, John 220

Budd, Eli and Wesley 158

Budd, Thomas 147

Buffington, Mr , 276

Buffington, E. J 450

Burd, Colonel James 468

Burden, Henry 145, 230

Burr, John 155

Burrell, Thomas 220

Burrell, Walter, Esq 86

Burrows, William 161

Burt, William A 321

Bushnell, C. S 445, 447

Bussed, Dr. Charles 338

Bussey, Dr. J. B !.. S38

Butland, James 363

Butland & Rowland 363

Butler, J. Green 222

Butler, J. G., Sr 322

Butler, J. G., Jr 312, 322

Byrd, Col. William, 1st 106, 467

Byrd, Colonel William, 2d...259, 260, 261, 262
263, 266, 267, 374, 378, 467, 504

PERSONAL INDEX.

543

C. Page

Caldwell, Charles and George 129

Calhoun, Hon. John C 446

Callaway, Thomas 268, 269

Callender, Norman 199

Campbell, James 477

Campbell, John 305, 306, 308

Canan, Stewart & Moore 208

Canfield, Israel 160

Carey, Henry C 369, 480

Carey, Mathew 369, 480

Carnegie, Andrew 539

Carnegie, Thomas M 417

Carnegie Brothers & Co. Limited 411, 456

Carnegie, Phipps & Co. Limited 424

Carpenter, Conrad 465

Carr, S. T 321

Carroll, Charles (of Carrollton) 428

Carroll, Dr. Charles 250

Carroll, Tasker, and others 252

Cary, Colonel Archibald 106, 107

Cary, Robert 262

Chamberlain, Captain H. S 291

Chambers, Colonel James 198, 254

Chambers, William, Benjamin, and George 197

Chapman, Nathaniel 247, 452, 503

Chatham, Lord 480

Chaucer, Godfrey 43

Chetwynd, Walter 242, 245, 265, 503, 504

Chetwynd, William..,.. 242, 245, 246, 247, 249

265, 503, 504

Child, Robert 113

Chisholm, Henry 313, 417

Chiswell, Mr 260, 266, 378

Chouteau, Charles P 409

Chrisman family ' 167

Christmas, Hazlett & Co 304

Cist, Charles 474, 475

Cist, Jacob 475

Clapham, Mr 267

Clare, Thomas D 409

Clarke, Captain Thomas 118

Clay, Henry 492

Clendenin, David 301

Clendenin & Co 301

Clinton, Governor of New York 137

Clymer, Mr. (member of First Congress). 536

Coates, John R 383

Cobb, Andrew B 162

Cochran, Benjamin 448

Cockerill, John 54, 88

Cole, Sarrtuel 197

Coleman, Hon. G. Dawson 180

Coleman, Robert... 179, 180, 181, 183, 196, 496

Coleman, R. & G. D 389

Coleman, R. H. &W 389

Coleman, Thomas Burd 196

Coleman, William 389, 390

Coleman, Hailman & Co 389, 390

Collins, Edward K 322

Collins, John, Governor of Delaware 238

Colt, Samuel and John : 160

Page
Coney, Jabez .......................................... .. 443

Conyngham, Redmond ............................ 168

Cooke, John Esten (historian) .......... 259, 262

Cooper, Benjamin .................................... 151

Cooper, Peter ...................... 161, 361, 364, 439

Cooper, Thomas ........................................ 354

Cooper & Hewitt ............................... 159, 435

Cooper, Hewitt & Co ............................... 422

Cope, Gilbert ............................................ 171

Corning, Erastus ....................................... 144

Cort, Henry..53, 54, 56, 63, 90, 94, 98, 491, 533
Cosby, Governor of New York ................. 135

Cowan, Christopher ............ 212, 227, 228, 229

Cowan, Dr. Frank ................................... 9

Coxe, Colonel Daniel ............................... 157

Coxe, Tench... 237, 239, 273, 277, 285, 314, 382

.......................................... ...... 383, 491, 509

Craig, Isaac, Esq ............................... 212, 227

Craig, Major Isaac .................................... 214

Cramer's "Almanack" ...... 227, 228, 229, 270

Cramp, W., & Sons .................................. 444

Crane, George ........... 56, 63, 356, 357, 358, 359

...................................................... 360, 361

Cravens, Robert ....................................... 290

Crawford, Alexander L .................... 223, 324

Crawford, George ..................................... 508

Crawford, A. L. and J. M ....................... 223

Crawford, J. M., & Co ............................. 223

Crawford, Colonel William ............... 213, 468

Crawley, Ambrose .................................... 163

Creve-Cceur, Marquis de .......................... 140

Crocker, Charles ...................................... 315

Croghan, Colonel ..................................... 468

Cromwell, Thomas ................................... 204

Crooker, Ralph ................... 364, 435, 461, 466

Crosby, John ............................................ 177

Crowell, Hon. John ................................. 312

Crowther, John ................................. 310, 373

Crowther, Joshua, Joseph J., and Benja-

min ....................................................... 374

Crumrine, Boyd ........................................ 213

Cuddy & Ledlie ....................................... 229

Cunningham, Messrs ................................ 139

Curtin, Andrew G., Governor of Penna... 206
Curtin, Roland ......................................... 206

Curtis, J. B .............................................. 325

Custis's "Recollections" ......................... 263

Daddow, S. H ................................... 473, 478

Dankers, Jasper ....................................... 163

Darby, Abraham ...................... 52, 53, 63, 366

Davenporte, John ................................. .... 118

Davies, Gabriel ........................................ 181

Davies, Margaretta ................................... 181

Davies & Potts ......................................... 183

Davis, Mr. (founder) ......................... 372, 373

Day, St. John V ............ 4, 8, 9, 66, 68, 79, 95

Day, Sherman ............... 168, 193, 203, 222, 372

Dean, Theodore ....................................... 115

Deane, Francis B .................................... 270

544

PERSONAL INDEX.

Deane, William Read 115, 146

DeBardeleben, H. F 295

D6by, M. Julian 25

Deere, John 390

Deering, Richard 285

DeLancy, Charles D 445

Delaplaine, Nicholas 160

Deming, E 387

Dempsey, Andrew 306

Denonville, Marquis de 348

Depue, Daniel 205

Despard, Lambert and Mark 120

Detmold, C. E 454, 458

Devonshire, Duke of. 403

Dewees, Colonel William 174

Dewey, Joseph 131, 379

Dexter, Thomas 108

Dickerson, Hon. Mahlon 147

Dickinson, Jonathan 164, 166

Dicks, Peter 177, 184, 186

Diller, Roland 208

Dillon, Moses 214, 303, 304

Dixon, Joseph 392

Doddridge, Rev. Dr. Joseph 101

Dorr, E. P 444

Dorsey family 255

Dorsey, Edward 253

Douglas, R. A 316

Douglass (historian) 121, 137

Douglass, C 496

Downing, A 315

Downing, Samuel 125

Doyle, John 209

Drake, John 379

Drake, Silas 335

Dredge James 26, 76

Dubbs, Rev. Joseph Henry 179

Dubbs, Martin 207

Du Chaillu, Paul B 30

Dudley, Dud 46, 51, 52, 53, 97

Dumble, E. T 339

Du Motay '.... 406

Dunbar & Leonard 126

Duncan, Stephen 211

Dunlap's "Pennsylvania Packet" 178

Dunlop, John 201, 206

Dunn, Patrick and James 389

Dunn, General Samuel 197

Durfee, Bradford 491

Durfee, William F 409, 410, 412, 413, 423

Durfee, Z. S 409, 410, 412, 413, 417

Dutton, Robert 241

Duval, Samuel 470

Eager (historian) 137, 138

Earl, Anthony S 220

Earl, William 220

Earp & Brink 389

Eaton, Absalom 334

Eaton, Daniel 301

Page

Eckert, Valentine 496

Eddy, Mr 323

Edwards, Giles 290

Edwards, John 496

Edwards, Hon. John M 301, 311

Edwards, Jonathan 312

Ege, George 176, 200, 496

Ege, Michael 185, 198, 200, 496

Eggertz, Professor Viktor 405

Egle, Dr. William H 166, 168

Egleston, Professor Thomas 142

Eichelberger, Frederick 184

Elder, Dr. William 479

Eliot, Aaron 131, 132, 380, 381

Eliot, Rev. Jared 131, 380

Eliot, John 131

Elliot, Shadrach 238

Elliott, Charles G 131

Ellison, Andrew 304, 305, 306

Emerson, James E 385, 386, 387, 388

Emerson, Smith & Co 387

Endicott, Mr., of Salem 108

England, James B., Esq 248

England, John 235, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246

247, 248, 250, 253, 261, 265, 266, 452, 503, 504

England, Joseph 248

Ericsson, Captain John... 443, 444, 445, 446, 447

Erskine, Rev. Ralph 151

Erskine, Robert 150, 151

Erwin, Walter 149

Estell, John 157

Evans, John 235

Evans, Lewis 468

Evans, Oliver 426

Evans, Robert 253

Evans, Stephen 174

Everett, P. M 321

Eversol, Perry & Ruggles 334

Fackenthal, B. F., Jr 169

Faesch, John Jacob 150, 151, 152

Fahnestock, Samuel 207

Fairbairn, William 36, 73

Falkner, Ralph 247

Fare, Thomas 165

Farmer, Joseph 241, 242, 244, 246, 249

Farmer, Joseph, & Co 241

Farnsworth, Daniel. 157

Farr & Kunzi ! 353, 358

Faur, Achilles Christian Wilhelrn Von

Faber du 455, 458

Faux, William *... 344

Fegar, Colonel J. M > 172

Fell, Judge Jesse 476

Felton, Samuel M 417

Fields & Stickney 302

Firmstone, William. ..305, 358, 360, 367, 363, 369 .

Firmstone, W. & G 368

Fisher, Isaac 368

Fisher, Thomas 131

PERSONAL INDEX.

545

. Page

Fisher, Morgan & Co 211

Fitch, Walker, and Wyllys 380

Fitz Williams, Mr 260

Fletcher, H. A 39

Fletcher, William A 332, 333

Flower, Philip William 49, 82, 90, 91

Flower, Samuel 173

Fobes, Rev. Dr 112, 115

Foley, Richard 48

Forbes, David, F. R. S 71

Forbes, R. B 443

Forbes, Samuel 128

Ford, ColonelJacob, Sr 153

Ford, Colonel Jacob, Jr 153

Ford, Samuel 151

Forney, Charles B 336

Foster, John Wells 101

Foster, William E 127

Fox, Charles, Esq 309, 387

Frame, Richard 164, 233

Francis, Colonel 469, 472

Franklin, Benjamin 131, 172, 243, 380, 484

485, 502

Franklin, William, Governor of N. J 160

Franquet, M 349

Franquoy, or Francois, M. Jules 25, 75

Frazer, Colonel Persifor 178

Frazer, Mrs. Persifor 178

Freed, A. T 348, 349

Freeman, Mr 218

Fritz, George 413, 414, 416

Fritz, John 291, 414, 464

Frost, John 303

Fulton, Henry 200

Fulton, James 183, 189

Gallatin, Albert 509

Galloway, William and John 402

Galloway & Co 404

Gantt, Fielder 254

Garrard Brothers 385, 387, 392, 394

Garrard, John H 309, 385, 387, 388

Garrard, Dr. William... 309, 310, 385, 386, 387

388

Garret & Co. (Gurrit & Co.) 183

Gates, Sir Thomas 103, 107

Gay, Stephen R 322, 323

Gayley, James 456

Geary, John W., Governor of Penna... 220, 371

Geary, Richard 220

Gee, Joshua... 241, 242, 244, 246, 265, 479, 503

.' 504

Geissenhainer, Rev. Frederick W 201, 202

354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 360, 470

Gerehart & Reynolds 219

Gibson (historian) 184

Gibson, John 214, 216, 303

Gibson, Joshua 215

Gifford, John 113

Gilchrist, Percy C 405, 406, 421

Giles, Nathan ;. 135

Ginter, Philip 474

Gladstone, Right Hon. William E 12

Gloninger, Judge John 207, 225

Gloninger, Anshutz & Co 207

Gooch, Governor of Virginia 249

Goodwin, William 253

Goransson, Goran F..... 63, 396, 404, 405

Gordon's "Gazetteer"... 207, 218, 221, 223, 427

Gore Brothers 472

Gormly, John 227

Gorringe, Commander H. H 3

Grace, Robert 172

Graff, Bennett & Co 231, 460, 477

Graffenreidt, Baron de 259

Green (historian) 38

Green, Willis 283, 284

Greene, George K 314

Greene, Jabez 127

Greene, Nathanael 127

Greene, Major General Nathanael.... 127, 502

Greenup, Christopher 282, 283, 284

Gregg, Andrew 211

Gregory, Dudley S 391

Gregory & Co 393

Griffen, John 462, 466

Griffith, William 158

Griggs, Joseph P 338

Griswold, Hon. John A 409, 416, 444, 445

446, 447

Griswold, John A., & Co 422

Grover, James 146

Growdon, Joseph 245

Grubb family 168, 183, 196

Grubb, Clement B 433

Grubb, Curtis 182, 496

Grubb, E. B. & C. B 200

Grubb, Henry 184, 185

Grubb, Henry Bates 196

Grubb, John 182

Grubb, Peter 182, 184

Grubb, Colonel Peter 182, 496

Grubb, Ptter, Jr 196, 496

Grtiner, Professor 97

Grunneld, Jesse 496

Guard, Calen, & Co 317

Guest, Mr. (member of Parliament) 437

Guiteau, Julius 358, 360

Haldeman, Dr. E 199

Haldeman, Henry 199

Haldeman, Jacob 199

Haldeman, Jacob M 199

Haldeman, Jacob S 199

Haldeman, John 199

Haldeman, Paris 199

Haldeman, Richard 199

Haldeman, Professor S. S 199

Hall, George 114

Hall, Henry 442, 443

546

PERSONAL INDEX.

Page
Hall, John (of Philadelphia county, Pa.) 178

Hall, John (of Taunton) 114

Hall, Captain J. W. D 114, 116, 117

Halsey, Hon. Edmund D... 148, 149, 151, 152

155, 160,426

Hamilton, Alexander 382, 491, 534

Hamilton, Andrew 235 j

Hamilton, James 218 |

Hamilton, Lieut. Governor James.... 484, 485 j

Hamilton, Robert 305, 306 j

Hammer, John 220

Hanbury, Capel 56

Hanbury, Major John 53, 63, 90, 91, 94

Hanks, Nancy 508

Hanssien, a Voigtlander 27

Hariot, or Heriot, Thomas (historian) 102

Harper, Samuel 218

Harriman, John 153

Harrington, Clarke W 342

Harris, Thomas & Co 206

Harrison, Battle 333

Harrison, Chr 213

Harrison, James 409

Harrison, Joseph and Carlisle 283

Harrison, William 333

Harrison, William Henry 121

Hartland, Mr. (Egyptian explorer) 4

Hartley, James 496

Harvey, Nathan 201

Haseltine, John •. 128

Hasenclever, Peter 149, 150

Hassall, John 450

Hassall, William 450

Hatherly, Timothy 120

Hathorne, Captain William 121

Haupt, Professor L. M 466

Hauser, George 273

Hauto, George F. A 475

Hawes, John 54

Hawkes, Adam Ill

Hawkes, Nathan M 110, 112

Hawkhurst, William 137

Hay, Sir George 59

Hayden, John 213, 215

Hayes, Hon. John L 132, 491

Hayes, William 496

Hays, William B .'. 229

Haywood & Snyder 355, 434

Hazard, Erskine 356, 361, 364, 465, 475

Heath, Josiah Marshall 421

Heaton, Isaac 311

Heaton, James 302, 311

Heimbach, David, Sr 191, 192

Heimbach, David, Jr 191, 192

Heister, Gabriel 199

Helfrick, Samuel 192

Hellings, John 496

Henao, Father Gabriel de 23

Henderson, James 290, 406

Henderson & Ross 255

Henfrey, Benjamin 471

Page

Hennepin, Father 467

Henry, Matthew S 191

Henry, William (of Nazareth, Pa.) 191

Henry, William (of Oxford furnace) 453

Herndon, Samuel 283

Hewitt, Hon. Abram S 150, 161, 407, 408

421, 435

High, Henry 358

Highly, Levi 142

Higley family 380

Higley, Samuel 131, 379

Hill, Colonel A. M 477

Hill, William 276, 277

Hill's bloomary 273, 274

Hillegas, Michael 474

Himrod, David 373

Himrod & Vincent 372

Hinijossa, Alexander De 233

Hoadly, Charles J 378, 379, 380

Hockley, J 496

Hockley, Richard 173, 382

Hodge's forge v 279

Hoff, Charles 152

Hoff, Joseph 151, 152

Hogge, Ralph 47

Holker, Colonel John 214

Hollenback, Judge 473

Holley, A. H., Governor of Connecticut... 130

Holley, A. L 77, 130, 409, 410, 412, 414, 417

Holley & Coffing 129

Holliday, John '. 220

Hollingsworth, Henry 382

Hollingsworth, John 283

Holloman, A. W 332, 333

Hoopes, Townsend & Co 222

Hopkins, James M 196

Hopkins, John Henry (bishop).. 218, 222, 502

Hopkins, Stephen 127, 502

Hopper, H. J 391

Homer, Isaac 157

Hough, Matthias 496

Houghton, John 88, 91, 92, 94

Housum, Peter and George 198

Howard, Dr 255

Howe, Senator Timothy 0 413

Howell, Reading 473

Hubbard, Rev. William 110, 116

Huber, John 179

Hudson, Thomas Ill

Hughes, Mr 338

Hughes, Daniel and Samuel 198

Hughes, Gideon 303

Hughes, Samuel and Daniel 254

Humphreys, A. \V 138

Humphreys, Thomas 496

Humphreys, Whitehead 153, 178, 382

Hungerford, Austin N 155, 157, 158, 192

209, 213, 214, 233, 234, 235, 236, 238, 468

Hunt, Alfred 193, 417

Hunt, Mordecai 193

Hunt, M. R 458

PERSONAL INDEX.

547

Page

Hunt, Robert 34, 53, 55

Hunt, Robert W 400, 412, 414

Hunt, Dr. T. Sterry 348

Hunter, James 266, 268

Huntsman, Benjamin.... 54, 55, 63, 67, 95, 96

98, 99

Kurd, Jacob 148

Hurst, Rev. Joseph 77

Huskisson, William (member of Parlia-
ment) 493

Hussey, Dr. C. G 394

Hussey, Wells & Co 390, 393

Hutchins, Captain '.... 469

Hutton (historian) 49

Illing, C. (German traveler) 69

Irvin, General James 211

Irvine, John 209

Jackson, General Andrew.. 215, 227, 284, 386

Jackson, George 506

Jackson, John 148

Jackson, Col. Joseph and William... 160, 161

Jackson & Updegraff.' 270

Jacobs, Benjamin 204, 253

Jacobs, Cyrus 182

Jacobs, Elizabeth E 199

Jacobs, Joseph 204

Jacques, Mr. (Maryland pioneer) 254

James, Mrs. (historian) 164, 165, 166, 167

168, 171, 172, 174, 234

James, Samuel 234, 236

James, Dr. T. C 476

James, Thomas 304

James & Woodruff. 309

Jaques, Lieutenant W. H 464

Jeans, J. S 395, 402

Jefferson, Thomas 266, 268, 269, 282, 508

Jenkins, David 173, 496

Jenkins, John 173

Jenkins, Robert 173, 174

Jenks, Joseph Ill, 112, 119

Jenks, Joseph, Governor of Rhode Island. 119

Jenks, Joseph, Jr... 119

Johns, Benjamin 220

Johnson, Governor of Maryland 254

Johnson, Edward 110

Johnson, James 254

Johnson, James, & Co 254

Johnson, John and Thomas 47

Johnson, Robert S 389

Johnson, Roger 254

Johnson, Dr. Samuel : 90

Johnson, General Thomas 255

Johnson, Walter R 358, 370, 431

Johnston (historian)..., 241, 247

Johnston, Alexander 219

Johnston, A., & Co 219

Johnston, Benjamin 213

Page
Johnston, John ........................................ 153

Johnston, William F., Governor of Pa ..... 219

Johnston, McClurg & Co .......................... 218

Jones, Abraham ................ ................. 506, 507

Jones, Dr. Alexander ........................ 295, 476

Jones, Hon. B. F ..................................... 413

Jones, Benjamin and Robert .................. 215

Jones, Catesby ap ..................................... 295

Jones, David ............................................ 138

Jones, Isaac ....................................... 389, 390

Jones, John H ......................................... 478

Jones, Reece ............................................. 236

Jones, Sarah (mother and daughter) ...... 506

Jones, Captain William R ................ 414, 417

Jones & Quigg .................................. 389, 390

Kalm, Peter ............................... 137, 177, 349

Kane, Charles .......................................... 142

Karsten, Karl Johann Bernhard.... 25,82, 83

Karthaus, Peter ................................. 201, 356

Karthaus & Geissenhainer ....................... 201

Keith, Charles P ............................... 156, 235

Keith, Sir William ....... 234, 235, 236, 248, 502

Kelly, G. A .............................................. 339

Kelly, John F .......................................... 397

Kelly, William ...... 396, 397, 399, 400, 407, 409

....................................................... 410, 417

Kelsey, John ............................................ 129

Kennedy, Mr. (of Cincinnati) ................. 413

Kennedy, Robert ..................................... 465

Kent, Joseph C ........................................ 455

Kerpely, Professor Anton ..................... 18, 28

Killebrew, J. B ........................................ 299

Kimmell, Peter ............. .1 ......................... 220

King, George S ........................................ 221

King, John .............................................. 117

King, Seth ............................................... 129

King, Swope & Co ................................... 209

Kinsey, Joseph ......................................... 309

Kinsley, Adam ......................................... 126

Kirk, Kelton & Co....: .............................. 201

Kirkbride, Joseph .................................... 148

Kiser, Philip ............................................ 273

Kitson, Sir James .................................... 401

Knight, Edward H ...................... 82,448, 450

Knox, General Henry ...................... 152, 214

Krupp, Alfred .......................................... 27

Krupp, Friedrich ..................................... 27

Krupp, Friedrich Alfred .......................... 27

Krupp, Therese...! .................................... 27

Kunkel, Colonel J. B .............................. 406

Kunzi, Abraham ...................................... 358

Kurtz (Amish Mennonite) ........................ 168

Lamb, Thomas 128

Lambing, Rev. A. A 227

Lamborn, Robert H 413

Landrin, M. H. C., Jr 45, 97

Lane, Ralph .- 102

548

PERSONAL INDEX.

Page

Lane, William 208

Langford, A. G 343

Langford & Co 343

Lapsley, Judge James W 294

Lardner, Lynford 173

Latham, Joseph 148

Laubach, Charles 169

Laufman & Co 512

Lauth, Bernard 206

Laveleye, M. Ed. de 80, 88

Lawrence, Josiah 309

Layard, Austin Henry 4, 5

Layton, Hon. Caleb S 238

Leach, General 126

Leacock, John 165

Leader, Richard 109, 112, 113, 121

Lee, Anthony 165

Lee, Milo 343

Lee, General Robert E 198

Lee, Stephen S 434

Lee, William L 343

Leephar, Crotzer & Co 197

Leiper, Thomas 426

Leonard, Eliphalet.^ 125, 381

Leonard, Elisha Clarke 114

Leonard, George 116

Leonard, Henry 112, 113, 114, 115, 146

Leonard, James 110, 112, 113, 114

Leonard, James, 2d 116

Leonard, Jonathan 125, 126, 381

Leonard, Joseph, Benjamin, and Uriah.. 116
Leonard, Nathaniel, Samuel, and Thomas 115

146

Leonard, Reuben 229

Leonard, Samuel (of Taunton) 117

Leonard, Samuel (of Pittsburgh) 228

Leonard, Thomas 116

Leonard, Captain Thomas 114

Leonard, Captain Zephaniah 117

Leonard & Kinsley 126

Lesher, John 171

Leshet, Jacob 496

Lewis, Mr. (of Philadelphia) 157

Lewis, Alonzo 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113

; 114, 115

Lewis, George 217, 229

Lewis, James - 165, 167

Lewis, James F 141

Lewis, Llewellyn and Arthur 112

Lewis, Samuel C 217

Lewis, Thomas 215

Lewis, Thomas C 217

Lewis, General William 210

Lewis and Clarke 471

Lincoln, Abraham (President)... 444, 445, 502

504, 505, 506, 507, 508

Lincoln, Abraham (of Berks county, Pa.). 507
Lincoln, Abraham (of Lancaster county,

Pa.) 508

Lincoln, Abraham (of Scituate) 506

Lincoln, Abraham (of Virginia). 505, 507, 508

Page
Lincoln, Daniel (of Hingham)... 120, 505, 506

Lincoln, George (of Hingham) 505, 506

Lincoln, Isaac (of Scituate) 506

Lincoln, John (of Berks county, Pa.) 507

Lincoln, Mordecai (of Berks county, Pa.). 507
Lincoln, Mordecai (of Scituate).. 120, 502, 505

506, 507

Lincoln, Mordecai, Jr. (of Scituate).. 506, 507

508

Lincoln, Samuel (of Hingham) 505

Lincoln, Samuel (of Norwich, England). 505

Lincoln, Thomas (of Hingham) 505

Lincoln, Thomas (of Berks county, Pa.). 507

Lincoln, Thomas (of Kentucky) 507

Lindley & Speek 211

Livingston, David 220

Livingston, Philip 136, 153

Livingston, Philip (signer of the Decla-
ration of Independence) 136, 153

Lloyd, Steel & Co 211

Lobsinger, Hans 27, 89

Logan, James 163, 168, 169, 170

Longsdon, Robert 402

Longstreth, Benjamin 193

Losey, Jacob 160

Lossing, Benson J 139, 140

Lothrop, Sylvanus 230

Lowe, S. B 291

Lower, M. A 35, 44, 46, 47, 51

Lowry & Co 224

Lowthorp, Francis C 359

Loy & Patterson 208

Lukens, Dr. Charles 195

Lukens, Edmund T 154

Lukens, Mrs. Rebecca W 195

Luther, Martin 7

Lyman, William 359, 432

Lyman, Ralston & Co 461

Lyon, James B., & Co 422

Lyon, John 211, 229

Lyon, William M 226, 409, 417

Macadam, W. Ivison 58, 59, 78

McCaa, James 173

McCall, George , 170

McCarthy, C. R., Esq 205

McClurg, Alexander 218, 219, 227

McClurg, Joseph 226, 227

McComber, William G 322

McConaughey, William 236

McConnell, Matthew 322

McCook, Daniel, & Co 317

McCormick, Provance 477

McCue, J. Marshall, Esq 508

McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary 479

McCulloh, Thomas G 198

McDermett, Josephine 211

McDermett, Thomas 211

McDermett, William 211

McDougall, F., & Son 350

PERSONAL INDEX.

549

Page

McDougall, George 351

McKelvy, S 389

McKelvy & Blair 390, 392, 393

McKinley, Hon. William, Jr 497, 531

McLanahan, J. King 458

McNair, William 310

McPherson, Hon. Edward 197

McPherson, John B 197

McRae, D 342

McShane, Francis 201

Machin, Captain Thomas 139

Mackey, James 301

Maclay, William 210

Mahon, John D 211

Malen, Joshua (or Maliu) 228, 303

Malm & Bishop 363

Manning, Dr. Henry 312

Manning & Lee 434, 435

Marmie, Peter 214

Marshall, Caleb and John 239

Marshall, J. M 343

Marshall, O. H 140

Marshall, Samuel 207

Martien, Joseph Gilbert 407

Martin, Emile and Pierre 420, 421

Martin, James 273

Mason, Major John C 283

Massey, Mordecai 207, 225

Massey & James 335

Master, Legh 253

Mather, Cotton 101

Mathiot, Colonel 219

Matthews, George 255

Maw and Dredge (William H. Maw and

James Dredge) 26, 76

May, Mr. (of Milwaukee) 413

Mayberry, Thomas 155

Mayburry, Thomas 170, 496

Maybury, Jonathan, & Co 218

Maynard, George W 408

Meade, Richard 60, 61, 78, 519, 521

Means, John, 1st 306

Means, John, 2d 305, 306

Means, Thomas W 304, 306, 307

Means, William 306

Meason, Isaac 214, 215, 217, 219, 303

Meason, Colonel Isaac 217, 219

Meason, Dillon & Co 214

Medine, Don Pedro de 22

Megee, George 170

Meyer, C. J. L 329

Middleton, William T 309, 387

Middleton, Garrard & Co 387

Mifflin, George 165

Mighill, Rev. Thomas 120

Miles, Colonel Samuel 206

Miles, Harris & Miles 206

Miller, Henry '... 267, 268, 269, 507, 508

Miller, Ichabod 380

Miller, Hon. Jacob W 153

Miller, Michael 176

Page

Miller, Captain Samuel 508

Miller, Thomas C 197

Miller, William 192

Miller, Martin & Co 210

MiUer, Metcalf & Parkin 423

Miner, Hon. Charles 475

Mochabee, Reuben 215

Mockbee, John 284

Montgomery, Morton L 171, 176

Montgomery, Robert 301

I Moore, David 304

Moore, Matthew 273

Moore's furnace 267

Moore & Hooven 462

Moorhead, J. B., & Co 453

Moorhead, M. K 226

Morgan, General Daniel 169, 502

Morgan, Jacob, Jr 496

Morgan, James 169

Morgan, Williams & Co 341

Morosini, G. P 14

Morrell, Hon. Daniel J 409, 410, 417

Morrill, Hon. Justin S 393, 497

Morris, Anthony 167, 168, 170

Morris, David 312

Morris, Hon. Edward Joy 434

Morris, Mrs. Henry 181

Morris, J. Anthony 474

Morris, Jonathan 253

Morris, Joseph, John, and Samuel 185

Morris, Colonel Lewis 146, 147

Morris, Robert 474

Morris, William 474

Morrison, William 230

Morse, Dr. Jedidiah 123, 161, 535

Mulhollan & McAnulty 212

Miiller, Detmar Basse 222

Munn & Co 407

Mushet, David 28, 46, 408

Mushet, Robert F 63, 396, 400, 401, 402

403, 404, 408, 409, 410, 421

Myers, Christian 224

Myers, Jacob 282, 284

Nancarro, John 178

Nancarrow & Matlock 382

Napoleon III., Emperor 446

Nash, J. S 338

Nasmyth, James 63

Needy, Hugh 205

Negley, Major William B 226

Neill (History of the Virginia Company) 103

Neilson, James Beaumont 53, 63, 354

Nelson, Mr. (Virginia pioneer) 260

Nelson, William '. 148, 150, 160

Newberry, Dr. J. S 344

Newhall (historian) 108, 110, 113, 115

Newport, Captain Christopher 103

Nevin, Mrs. Martha J 174

Nicholas, Colonel George 283, 284

550

PERSONAL INDEX.

Page

Nicholls (historian) 38, 84

Nicholson, John 214, 474

Nicolai, Friedrich 27

Nicolai & Krupp 27

Nicolas, Dr. (Virginia pioneer) 260

Nicolay and Hay 506

Nikoll, John George 176

Noble, Abel 137

Noble, Henry and John 221, 222

Nolan, Louis 321

Norden, John 46

Norton, Aaron 302

Nutt, Samuel 166, 171, 172, 173, 174, 236

Nutt, Samuel, Jr 172

Oakley, Mr. (of Brooklyn) 433

Odiorne (inventor) 448, 449

Ogden, F. B 438

Ogden, Samuel 160

Ogden's furnace 155

Ogdens, the 149, 155

O'Hara & Scully 218

Old, Ann 181

Old, Davies 180, 182

Old, James 180, 181, 182, 496

Old, Margaretta 182

Old, William (son of James) 181

Old, William (brother of James) 181

Old, Wilkinson & Trent 269

Old's furnace 269

Olde, William 496

Oldmixon (historian) 130, 147, 233, 236

Olds, Mr 321, 322

Oliphant, F. H 217, 368

Oliphant, John and Andrew 215, 216

Oliver, Judge Peter 121

Onion, Stephen..241, 242, 243, 246, 247, 252, 253

Onion, Stephen, & Co 241

Orban, Michael 88

Orr, Hugh 120

Osborn, Jonathan 153

Osborn, Samuel 403

Osborne, William 113

Otis, Charles A 312

Otis, Melville . 449

Overman, Frederick 30, 81, 256, 366, 536

Owen, Evan 236

Owings, John Cockey 282, 283, 284

O wings, Colonel Thomas Dye 283

Packer, Hon. S. J 367

Palmer, Arthur 217

Pannebecker, Henry 165

Park, James, Jr 409, 417, 422

Park, Brother & Co 390, 393, 422, 423, 463

Park, McCurdy & Co 421

Parke, Judge John E 230

Parke & Tiers 358

Parker (historian) 41

Page

Parkins, John and John Jr 383

Parsons, Dr 85, 88

Paschall, Stephen 178, 382

Patterson, Burd 359, 369

Patton, Mrs. Bridget 175, 176

Patton, Edward B 211

Patton, John 175, 4%

Patton, Colonel John 206

Patton, General William 206

Paul, John and Joseph M 158

Paull, Archibald 286, 304

Paxson, Samuel 215

Paxton, James D 197

Paxton, James D., & Co 197

Payne, John 53, 63, 90, 91, 94

Pears, Jeremiah 215, 217

Pearse, Captain 260

Pechar, Joh 31, 73

Penn, Lieutenant Governor John 469

Penn, Richard 472

Penn, Thomas 178, 382, 469, 472

Penn, William 153, 163, 164, 166, 174

Pennock, Isaac 195

Pennypacker, Hon. Samuel W 165, 174

Percy, Dr. John.... 1, 27, 30, 37, 48, 55, 75, 80

81, 82, 83, 90, 95, 97

Perkins, Jacob 133, 448, 449

Perkins, Peter 273

Perkins, Colonel T. H 427

Perry, Benjamin 359, 360

Perry, Matthew Calbraith 295

Perry, Commodore O. A 227

Peters, Richard 466

Peters, Richard (secretary) 485

Pettitt, Andrew 496

Petty, Sir William 57

Pettybone, Daniel 126

Phelps, Timothy 379

Phelps, William 401

Philip, King (Indian chief) 114

Philips, Hardman 206

Phillips, Mr. (of Cincinnati) 413

Phillips, Wendell 8

Philpot, William 312

Philpot, William, & Co 311

Philson, Robert 220

Pickering, Colonel Timothy 139

Picton (English writer) 43

Pierson, Isaac 155

Pierson, Josiah G 144, 448

Pierson, Robert 221

Pike, Captain Z. M 472

Piper, Conrad 220

Pitkin, Timothy 136, 518

Player, John 453

Poague, George 286

Polhern, Christopher 93, 94

Polhem, Gabriel 94

Polk, Josiah 238

Poor, Henry V 428, 431, 441

Pope's Customs Laws 487

PERSONAL INDEX.

551

Page
Porter, David R., Governor of Penna ...... 211

Pott, John ......................................... 195, 357

Potter, O. W ..... ....................................... 413

Potts, David ............................................. 496

Potts, Isaac and David ........................... 175

Potts, John ......................... 167, 171, 172, 174

Potts, Joseph ............................................ 174

Potts, Robert S ........................................ 183

Potts, Samuel ........................................... 496

Potts, Thomas ..................... 157, 165, 167, 168

Potts, Thomas, Jr .................... .'. 164, 167, 171

Pourcel, M. Alexandre ............. 22/23, 75, 76

Powe, Lewis ..................................... 421, 422

Power, Captain William .......................... 211

Pratt, Jared ............................................. 199

Prescott, William H ................................. 101

Preston, Samuel ........................................ 473

Probst, John ...................................... 218, 225

Prowell, George R .................... ........ 184, 212

Pullman, J. Wesley ................................. 172

Putnam, Professor F. W ......................... 101

Q-

Quinby, Jesse B ....................................... 353

Rahm, Mrs
Rahm & Bean
Raleigh, Sir Walter
Ralston, A. G., & Co
Ralston, Robert

226
220
102
357
359

Ramsay, Dr. (historian) ........................... 276

Randolph, John C. F .............................. 9

Ranney, Judge Rufus P .......................... 312

Ravenzon (early English ironmaster) ...... 53

Rawle, Francis ......................................... 165

Ray, John ................................................ 86

Raymond, Philander ............................... 224

Read, Hon. Charles ................... 156, 157, 158

Reading, John ......................................... 148

Reaumur (French chemist) .................. 96, 97

Reed, Charles M ...................................... 224

Reed, Ezekiel ................................... 448, 449

Reese, Jacob ............................................ 406

Reese & Thomas ..................................... 195

Reeves, Benjamin and David .................. 160

Reeves, Josiah ........................................ 333

Reeves, Samuel J .............................. 462, 466

Reeves, Thomas ....................................... 333

Reeves, Buck & Co ................................. 360

Reis, Brown, Berger, and James Ward... 230
Renshaw, John A .................................... 226

Rentgen, Clemens ..................... 193, 194, 217

Reynolds, General James L ..................... 196

Reyuolds, General John F ....................... 196

Reynolds, Major Samuel M ..................... 196

Reynolds, Admiral William ..................... 196

Rhodes, Barnabas...'. ................................ 165

Rice, Jacob .............................................. 192

Richards, Mrs. Augustus H ..................... 157

Richards, Jesse ................................. 158, 159

Page

Richards, Louis, Esq 159

Richards, Mark 159, 220, 256

Richards, Samuel 159

Richards, William 159

Richards, Earl & Co 220

Richardson, Richard 361

Ridgely family 253

Ridgely, Charles 204

Ridgely, Edward 204

Rigby, John 185

Riggs, Joseph 308

Riggs, J., & Co 308

Ritner, Joseph, Governor of Pa... 353, 355, 369

Ritner, Peter 353, 369

Ritter, George K 223

Roach, John, & Son 444

Robbins, J 389

Robbins, Samuel S 129

Roberts, Solomon W 356, 357, 427, 431

Robertson, Mr. (member of Parliament). 492

Robeson, Hon. George M 154

Robeson, Jonathan 154

Robinson, David 221

Robinson, James 288

Robinson, Captain James 218

Robinson, Judge , 334

Robinson, L. C 284

Robinson, Morris 158

Robinson, William, Jr 228

Rock, James 35

Rockwell, E. S 321

Rodgers, James 304, 305, 306

Rodgers, James, & Co 305

Rodgers, John and Jacob 383

Roebuck, Dr 53

Rogers, Professor James E. Thorold.... 39, 41

42, 55

Rogers & Burchlield 460

Root & Wheeler 302

Ross, D. S 315

Ross, David 268, 269, 288

Ross, George 184, 502

Ross, George, & Co 184

Ross, John 171

Ross, Randall 314

Roup, Jonas 226

Rowland, Mrs. Harriet M 193

Rowland, James 363

Rowland, James and Maxwell 193

Rowland, James, & Co y 389

Rowland, Thomas F 445

Rowland, W. & H 389

Rowland & Hunt 193

Royer, Daniel 208

Royer, John 208

Royer, John (son of Daniel) 208

Ruck, John 115

Ruggles, George 113

Rupp, Isaac D 180, 202

Rush, Dr. Benjamin 166

Russell, B. F., Esq 334, 335

552

PERSONAL INDEX.

Page

Russell, George B : 324

Russell, Ralph 113, 114

Russell, Thomas... 241, 243, 245, 249, 251, 265

Russell, Thomas, 2d 251, 252

Russell, Thomas, 3d 252

Russell, William... 241, 242, 244, 245, 265, 503

504

Ruston, John 241, 242, 246, 249

Rutter, John 236

Rutter, Thomas.... 165, 166, 167, 170, 172, 175

Rutter, Thomas (1785) 496

St. Glair, General Arthur 218, 222, 502

Salters, William 305

Sandys, George 105

Saunders's furnace 269

Savage, John 208

Sawyer, Harvey 312

Say, John 369

Schliemann, Dr. Heinrich 12, 14

Schmucker, George 211

Schoepf, Dr. John D 187, 472, 496

Schwartz, Berthold 44

Scofield, Lewis ....^ 291, 316

Scofleld, Mr. (of Milwaukee) 413

Scott, Joseph 222

Scott, Matthias 220

Scott, Sir Walter 22, 40, 58

Scranton, George W. and Selden T 200

Scranton, Joseph H 200

Scrawley, Lawrence 137

Scull, Nicholas 168, 169, 173, 468

Scull, William... 166, 169, 173, 176, 468, 473, 476

Sellers, William 309

Shakespeare, William 22

Sharp & Roberts 491

Sharpies, Abraham 496

Sharswood, Dr. William 273

Shaw, Abraham 108

Sheffield, Lord 382, 479

Sheredine, Daniel 252

Shippen & McMurtrie *. 158

Shoemaker, B 178

Shoemaker, Charles 158

Shoemaker, Colonel George 363, 474

Shoenberger, George 207

Shoenberger, G. & J. H 389, 392, 393

Shoenberger, Peter 207

Shoenberger, Dr. Peter..207, 208, 221, 229, 230

270

Shoenberger & Agnew 270

Shorb, Anthony 211

Shreeve, Paull & McCandless 309

Shreeves, Leven, & Brother 285

Shryock, John K 221

Shryock, William L 221

Shumard, Dr. B. F. 338

Siemens, Dr. Charles William 63, 419, 420

421, 422, 423, 425

Siemens, Frederick

Sinclair, Sir John

Singer, Hartman & Co.
Singer, Nimick & Co...

Page
3, 419
... 60
... 389
... 390

Slade, Frederick J 161, 421, 422

Slocum, Ebenezer and Benjamin 200

Sloss, Colonel J. W 295

Sluyter, Peter 163

Smeaton, John 53, 63

Smedley, Isaac 383

Smiles, Samuel (historian) 37, 39, 40, 41

43, 46, 47, 164

Smith, A. J 312

Smith, Adam 480, 483, 486

Smith, Commodore 445

Smith, Edward 158

Smith, George W 426, 438

Smith (historian of New Jersey) 146

Smith, James 185, 502

Smith, Joseph 227

Smith, Richard 129

Smith, Thomas 183, 189

Smith, Dr. William Hooker 200

Snelus, George J 405, 406

Snowden, Thomas, Richard, and Edward 253

Snyder, Benjamin 158

Snyder, Colonel 202

Spang, Henry S 211, 229

Spang & Co 389

Spang, Chalfant & Co 229, 460

Sparks, John 305

Spence, T. A 256

Spencer & Co 312

Spotswood, Colonel Alexander... 258, 259, 260

261, 262, 267, 374, 502

Stackpole, William 223, 228

Stacy, Mahlon 155

Stedman, Charles and Alexander 180

Stephens, Edward W 230

Stephens, Richard 117

Stephenson, George 63

Sternbergh, J. H 337

Sterrett, William 210

Stevens, Francis B 437, 438

Stevens, Colonel John 426, 436

Stevens, Robert L 436, 437

Stevens, Thaddeus 197, 198, 502

Stevens & Paxton 198

Stevenson, Mr 185

Stewart, Charles 472

Stewart, David 221

Stewart, James 219

Stewart, John 192

Stewart, Richardson 255

Stewart, Robert T 229

Stewart, Captain William 230

Stiegel, Elizabeth 181

Stiegel, Henry William 176, 179, 180, 181

Stirling, Lord (William Alexander).. 138, 149

151, 152

Stone, Chisholm & Jones 313

PERSONAL INDEX.

553

Page

Strickland, William 365

Strothman Brothers 341

Struthers, John 301

Struthers, Thomas 301

Stuart, Henry 350

Sturtevant, Simon 46, 53

Stuttle, Amos 185

Sutton, James 200

Sutton, Leonard 332, 333

Stuyvesant, Petrus 233

Swallow, G. C 334

Swedenborg, Emanuel 93, 234, 235, 249

Sweet, Dr. William M 423

Swift, Mr. (of Cincinnati) 413

Swinburne, Sir John 71

Swineford, A. P 320, 321, 322, 323, 324

Swope & King 208

Taylor, George 170, 502

Taylor, Jacob 177

Taylor, James 273

Taylor, John (of Sarum iron works). 177, 178

Taylor, John (son of John Taylor) 178

Taylor, John (of Fayette county, Pa.).... 477

Taylor, Richard Cowling 467, 469, 476

Taylor, W. & B. F 176

Taylor's forge 268

Templeton, Samuel P 192

Thacher, Dr. James 120, 123, 124, 140

Thomas, Mr. (of Indianapolis) 413

Thomas, David 360, 361, 362, 455

Thomas, David, Jr 362

Thomas, Gabriel 164, 233

Thomas, John 362

Thomas, Robert 294

Thomas, Samuel , 362, 453

Thomas, Sidney Gilchrist... 405, 406, 408, 421

Thompson, George 8

Thompson, George (another) 283

Thompson, James R 391, 392

Thompson, Jonah and George 364

Thornburg, Robert, & Co 185

Thoruburg & Arthur 185

Thorndike & Drury 302

Throop, George 142

Thurston, George H 391

Thurston, Robert H 436

Tilghman, James 469, 472

Timby, Theodore R 446

Tingle & Sugden 390

Tod, David, Governor of Ohio 311

Torrey, James 120

Tower, Jonas 329

Townsend, Peter 138, 139, 140, 141, 381

Townseud, Peter, Jr 138, 381

Townsend, Peter, 3d 141

Townsend, Captain Solomon 138, 142

Townshend, Charles (member of Parlia-
ment) 481

Tracy, C. M Ill, 116, 119, 121

Page

Trago & Thomas 201

Trevor & McClurg 218

Trexler, Reuben 207

Trimble, David and John 285, 286

Trowbridge, C. A 323

Truman & Co 216

Trumbull, Jonathan, Governor of Conn... 380

Tucker, John 373

Tucker, Hon. John 432, 433

Tucker, Tempest 204

Tunner, Professor Peter Ritter von 95

Tuper & McCowan 227, 383

Turnbull, William 214, 475

Turnbull & Marmie 214

Turner, Daniel 206

Turner, Rev. Edward 35

Turner, Joseph 155, 156, 159, 168

Turner, Thomas 96, 97

Turner, William 477

Tuttle, Rev. Dr. Joseph F... 147, 148, 149, 150

151, 152

Tyrrell, Asahel 312

Updegraff, Abner 227

Ure, Dr. Andrew 90, 525

Valentine, C. 1 403

Valentines & Co 206

Valentines & Thomas 206

Valle, Felix 409

Van Buren, Jarvis 358

Van Cullen, Peter (Van Collet) 47

Van Doren, J. L 335

Van Wie, Peter 431

Vaughan, Colonel Joseph 237, 238

Veech, Judge James 213, 226, 270

Verlit, M 28

Vickroy, Joseph 220

Vickroy, Thomas 219

Vignoles, Charles B 436

Vincent, Francis 238, 239

Vincent steel works 173, 178, 382

Wagstaff, Hugh 491

Wahl, Dr. William H 194

Waldo, Samuel 127

Walker, Daniel 174

Walker, Lewis M 158

Wallace, James 183, 189

Waples, Colonel William D 238

Ward, Captain E. B.... 318, 322, 324, 328, 330

409, 411, 413, 417

Ward, James 230

Ward, Timothy 149

Ward & Colton 137

Ward & McMurtry 285

Ware, Horace 293, 294

Warner, Jonathan 312

554

PERSONAL INDEX.

Washington, "a certain Mr."... 251, 252, 504
Washington, Captain Augustine 246, 247

251, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 452, 502, 503, 504
Washington, Augustine, 2d.. 264, 265, 502, 504
Washington, George 152, 175, 246, 251, 252

262, 264, 382, 468, 502,503, 504

Washington, Lawrence 251, 264, 502, 504

Washington, Sarah 264, 504

Watson's Annals 178

Watt, James 53, 63

Watts, David 211

Wayne, General Anthony 214

Webb, James 189

Webb, Joseph 196

Webster, Isaac 253

Webster, John Lee 253

Wedding, Dr. Hermann 78, 521, 522

Weiss, Colonel Jacob 474

Welcker, Dietrich 176

Weld, Henry Thomas 434, 441

Welles, Albert (Washington genealogist).. 264
Welles, Gideon (Secretary of the Navy).. 445

Wendel, Dr. August 77

Westcott, Thompson 465

Wetmore & Havens 389

Wharton, Thomas, Jr 470

Wheeler, Rev. Dr. Francis B 444

Whetcroft, William 255

Whetstone (blacksmith) , 473

Whitaker, George P 252

White, James D 222, 223

White, John 369

White, Josiah 356, 360, 363, 364, 465, 475

White, Leonard 317

White & Hazard 363, 364, 465, 466, 475

Whiteley, Henry 250, 251, 264, 265

Whiteside, James A 290

Whiting, Ruggles 223, 228

Whitings, Messrs 229

Whitney, Silas 426

Whittlesey, Asaph 302

Whittlesey, Colonel Charles 302

Wickliffe, Robert 283

Wightwick, John 245, 265, 452, 503

Wilcox, John 272

Wilder, General J. T 291

Wilder, Shubal 222, 223, 448, 449

Wilkeson, John 302, 310, 372

Wilkeson & Co .,, 372

Wilkeson, Wilkes & Co 310, 373

Wilkins, Bishop 47

Wilkinson, Israel 1 127

Page

Wilkinson, Jeremiah 134, 448

Wilkinson, Sir John Gardner 66

Williams, Andrew 391

Williams, Jonas 139, 140

Williams, Joseph 174

Williams, Robert. 284

Wilson, General 293, 294

Wilson, Mr. (Indiana pioneer) 315

Winey, Jacob 496

Winslow, Hon. John F... 409, 444, 445, 446, 447

Winslow & Griswold 413, 444, 445, 446

Winslow, Griswold & Holley..... 411

Winslow, Griswold & Morrell 410

Winter, Elizabeth 508

Winter, Hannah 508

Winter, Nancy 508

Winter, William 508

Winthrop, John, Governor of Mass.. 108, 109

Winthrop, John, Jr 108, 109, 113, 118

Wisselman and Cobelly 191

Wistar, Caspar 236

Witherby, E. T 294

Wolfe, C., & Co 317

Wood, Alan .-. 239

Wood, Captain James 312

Wood, James 383

Wood, James, & Co 423

Wood, John 383

Wood's Treatise on Railroads 426, 438

Woodin, Abner or Peter 129

Woods, William 390

Woolman, Uriah 178

Worden, Lieutenant (U. S. N.) 445, 446

Wright, Colonel Gardiner H 238, 239

Wright, Hon. Samuel G 158, 238

Wright, Thomas 72

Wurtz, Samuel..., 215

Wurtz, William and Maurice 473

Yard, Benjamin 159, 160

Yarranton, Audrew 36, 49

Yoder, John 171

Young, Rev. Daniel 305

Young, Dr 338

Young, Dr. Edward 49

Young, John W 345

Young, V. B., Esq 282

Zane's furnace 267, 268

Zimmerman, Captain Jacob 180

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Full text of "History of the manufacture of iron in all ages, and particularly in the United States from colonial times to 1891. Also a short history of early coal mining in the United State .."

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