GUIDE-BOOK

OF THE

LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD

AND

ITS SEVERAL BRANCHES AND CONNECTIONS;

WITH AN ACCOUNT, DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL

OF THE

PLACES ALONG THEIR ROUTE;

INCLUDING ALSO

A HISTORY OF THE COMPANY FROM ITS FIRST ORGANIZATION AND INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADE IN THE LEHIGH AND WYOMING REGION.

HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED FROM RECENT SKETCHES.

PREFIXED TO WHICH IS A MAP OF THE ROAD AND ITS CONNECTIONS.

PHILADELPHIA:

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.

1873

Catasauqua

Beaver Meadow

Iron

CATASAUQUA.

Excerpt pp. 55 - 59

This town takes its name from the creek which here empties into the river, and whose signification is, parched land. In 1839 there were but two houses, one at each extreme end of the town plot. During that year, a company of gentlemen, mostly of Philadelphia, proposed the erection here (because of the proximity of the iron and limestone beds) of an iron furnace for the purpose of making iron with anthracite coal, which had been successfully accomplished in Wales a few years before by Mr. George Crane. The services of Mr. David Thomas, who was engaged there with Mr. Crane, were secured, and in 184o the first furnace was completed under his direction and superintendence. Since then, the town has steadily progressed, until now it bids fair to become one of the most important in the Valley. It is lowed in the midst of a rich iron-ore and limestone region, and possesses unusual railroad and canal facilities, thus marking it out as a peculiarly favorable opening for manufacturing establishments. It was incorporated as a borough in 1853, and contains a population of 6ooo. The town is well supplied with gas and water, and few places can boast of so perfect a drainage. It has twelve public schools, contained in four buildings, and comprising about 700 pupils. Its high-school will compare favorably with any in the State. It has a fine town-hall, erected at a cost of $15,000. On the western bank of the river, opposite the borough, there is a beautiful cemetery, called “Fair-View," commanding a magnificent view of the town and surrounding country. In it there has been erected a very handsome marble monument to the memory of the soldiers who fell in the late civil war, costing $6000.

In enumerating the industrial works coming properly under the head of Catasauqua, we include not only those actually located in the borough, but all, whether on one side of the river or the other, stretching from Allentown Furnace to this station.

The Crane Iron Company is a stock company, with a capital of $1,200,000, and has six furnaces. The size and capacity of each are as follows:

No. 1, 11 feet boshes	47 feet high	140 tons per week
No. 2, 11 feet boshes	47 feet high	150 tons per week
No. 3, 11 feet boshes	47 feet high	175 tons per week
No. 4, 11 feet boshes	55 feet high	250 tons per week
No. 5, 11 feet boshes	55 feet high	250 tons per week
No. 6, 11 feet boshes	60 feet high	250 tons per week

The hematite ore is obtained from Northampton, Lehigh, and Berks Counties, the magnetic from Lehigh Mountain, Pa., and Sussex and Morris Counties, New Jersey, and the limestone from the neighborhood. For the year 1872 this establishment consumed 108,274 tons of coal, 138,392 tons of iron Ore,, and 82,401 tons of limestone. Iron made during the year 54,037 tons. In connection with and for the use of the furnaces, there are car-shops, foundry and machine-shops, employing a large number of hands. Exclusive of miners, this company gives employment to about 1000 men.

The Catasauqua Manufacturing Company has a capital of $300,000. Its rolling-mill is engaged in manufacturing bar-iron, sheet-iron, and railroad-axles. It has a capacity of 13,000 tons per annum, and employs 350 men, using exclusively the pig-iron made in the Lehigh Valley. This company has recently bought out the Lehigh Manufacturing Company. In this branch of their works they employ 150 men, and make merchant bar-iron of various sizes. The ore for fettling the puddling furnaces is obtained from Port Henry, Lake Champlain, N.Y.

The amount of wages paid by the various manufacturing establishments in the borough averages $32,000 per month.

In the Catasauqua Car Works (Frederick & Co.) are made all kinds of cars, except passenger cars (coal, ore, freight, flats, etc.). They employ 130 men, and construct the whole of the car, except wheels and axles, having a foundry of their own, where castings of different descriptions are made. For the body of the cars, white oak exclusively is used, the lining being of white and yellow pine. In the foundry, nineteen tons of pig-iron are used per week, and twelve tons of forged iron. The capacity of the establishment is one hundred and fifty coal cars per month.

The Lehigh Car-Wheel and Axle Works employ 85 men, and consume from twenty to twenty-five tons of charcoal pig-iron a day. The capacity is 25,000 car-wheels per annum. Their iron comes mostly from Salisbury, Connecticut.

The Lehigh Fire-Brick Factory, owned by David Thomas (burnt in 1872, rebuilt same year), employs 40 men and boys, and has a capacity of 2000,000 bricks per annum, which are used in the Valley. The clay comes from New Jersey, and the sand from the neighborhood.

In addition, there are other smaller foundries and machine-shops, in which all manner of castings, steam engines, etc. are made; also, a shovel-factory, where thirty-five different shovels, spades, and hoes are made; a factory of circular, cross-cut, and other kinds of saws; a saw-mill, with which is connected a planing mill, sash and door factory, etc. Very large limestone quarries abound in this neighborhood, and are being extensively worked.

Of churches, there are 2 Presbyterian, 2 Rornan Catholic (English and German), 1 Lutheran, 1 Methodist, 1 Evangelical, 1 Reformed. The Episcopalians, Free Methodist, and Welsh Baptists each have a mission here. There are two weekly papers published in the town. There is a national bank, with a capital of $500,000.

The Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad connects at Catasauqua with the Lehigh Valley Railroad. This road was built in 1856, and opened in 1857; it is twenty miles long, and has several branches. It cost $500,000, and was built by the Lehigh Crane Iron Company and the Thomas Iron Company, for the purpose of reaching the great iron-ore beds owned by these companies, the ore being now brought from the mines direct to the mouth of the furnaces. About four miles from Catasauqua, this road crosses the Jordan Creek on a splendid iron bridge, said to be one of the largest and handsomest in the country. It is 1100 feet in length, with 11 arches. Each truss is 16 feet nigh. The cost of the bridge was about $78,000

Near the junction of the Catasauqua. Creek and the Lehigh River, just above Catasauqua, stands an old and crumbling stone house, which is rendered of interesting importance by having once been the residence of George Taylor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The walls of the building are nearly two hundred years old, and when laid were very thick and strong. The house was frequently used as a place of refuge and defense against attack of Indians.

Return to the Catasauqua Profiles Index

Top

BEAVER MEADOW

Excerpt pp. 127 - 129

This town (pleasantly situated on elevated ground, 16oo feet above tide-water) was first settled about 1833, although at that time the original house, built in 1804, was still standing, It derives its name from, Beaver Creek (running near by), upon which a dam is said to have existed, built by the beavers.

In 1806, the Susquehanna and Lehigh Turnpike, running from the Nesquehoning Creek and above to the Susquehanna, was completed and opened to the public.

Coal was taken away from Beaver Meadow as early as 1812, being conveyed to Berwick and Bloomsburg, where it was used in blacksmithing. Subsequently to 1826, it was also hauled to the Landing Tavern (just above Mauch Chunk), and sent thence by arks to Philadelphia, and sold at eight dollars per ton.

The Beaver Meadow Railroad and Mining Company was incorporated in 1830, and built the first road from its mines to Parryville (where the coal was tran-shipped to the canal-boats) about forty years ago, the first extensive opening of the mine being in 1831. The first President of the company was Mr. Samuel D. Ingham, Secretary of the Treasury under General Jackson. The trains in those primitive days consisted of fifteen cars of small tonnage, and were drawn southward by small engines, carrying on the down trip several mules to aid in the return. The business of the road gradually increased from year to year, until from being the means of transporting a small quantity of coal for the company's own mines at this point, in 1837, amounting to 33,617 tons, it became the outlet for numerous operations in the neighborhood, carrying nearly 750,000 tons of coal in 1859.

Since the removal to Weatherly of the machine- and car- repair-shops, formerly located here, the business of the place is almost exclusively that connected with the mining of coal in the neighborhood. At these shops there were built, under the superintendence of Hopkin Thomas and Aaron H. Van Cleve, some of the first four-wheeled and six-wheeled locomotives ever constructed in the State. It may be interesting to note in this connection that Mr. Thomas was the first to introduce the burning of anthracite coal in locomotives. There are churches belonging to the Presbyterians and Methodists. The population is 6oo.

Return to the Beaver Meadow RR Page

Top

APPENDIX B.

IRON.

Excerpt pp. 152 - 170

IT is not positively known when or where iron was first made in the United States, but the attention of the first settlers of the British Colonies was very early directed (no doubt by the previous knowledge of the Indians) to the iron ore with which the country abounds, and in various sections furnaces wert soon erected for its conversion into metal. Perhaps the first production from native ore in Pennsylvania was at the Coventry Forge, in Chester County, in 1720.

It was not until after the discovery of the use of anthracite coal in furnaces, that the foundations of the immense establishments were laid which have given to this trade its present importance. Prior to this time the ore was converted into metal by the use of bituminous coal, charcoal, and coke. This process was far less economical than was desirable, and therefore when the value of anthracite for ordinary purposes of fuel was fairly tested, its adaptation to smelting uses was tried, and, after a series of reverses and a period of general incredulity, gladly hailed as a great saving in both metal and fuel. This success added largely not only to the prosperity of the iron trade, but of the coal trade also.

Up to about 1833 the cold blast was exclusively employed in the furnaces. At that time the Rev. Frederic W. Geisenhainer, of Schuylkill County, after various experiments in the treatment of anthracite with the hot blast, obtained a patent for the same, and in 1835 he made iron by this process in a small stack near Pottsville.

The Lehigh Valley has now become the largest producing region in the country, having at the present time more than forty furnaces in operation, with an annual capacity or over 400,000 tons. Quite a contrast to this is afforded in the list of articles transported by the Lehigh Canal in 1836, when there were carried of iron only 1197 tons, while of whisky there were 641 tons. The quantity of pig-metal manufactured in the United States during 1872 is estimated as follows:

Anthracite	1,137,010 tons.
Raw coal and coke	742,500 "
Charcoal	498,500 "

In 1810 it is computed that there were 30,000 tons produced.

The product of the English furnaces during the year 1872 is estimated to have been 7,000,000 tons.

Touching the question of who first used anthracite coal in the manufacture of iron, the following documents are submitted. Reference has already been made to this subject under the head of Mauch Chunk, where it is stated upon good authority that an attempt in this direction prior to the dates below mentioned was made at Mauch Chunk by members of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.

The first letter, originally published in the American Manufacturer, is as follows :

"CATASAUQUA, PA., Feb. 23d, 1872.

“B. F. H. LYNN, Esq. -

"DEAR SIR,-The question of who was the first person to use anthracite coal for smelting iron, is difficult to answer; but I will give you a few facts, from which you can draw your own conclusions.

"In the year 1825, while manager of the Yniscedwyn Works, South Wales (where I was from 1817 to 1839), I built a blast furnace of 9 feet bosh and 30 feet high to make experiments with anthracite coal, which abounded in that neighborhood, while we brought coke 14 miles by canal to smelt ore with. This furnace was blown in with coke in 1826, and the anthracite introduced first one-sixteenth part of the fuel and gradually advanced to one-half, when we had to stop and blow out. It was a failure.

“In 1832, the same furnace was altered to 45 feet high and 11 feet bosh, and the same experiment tried, with the same result.

"In 1836, hot-blast ovens were built to this furnace, according to Mr. Neilson's patent for hot blast, of Glasgow, Scotland, and on the 5th of February, 1837, anthracite iron was made, and quite successfully, and in that I claim to have been the first person to obtain successful results, - at least as far as I know or ever heard of.

“By an agreement in writing, made with the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (which agreement I still have in my possession), I came to this country in the spring of 1839, at which time I found a small furnace at South Easton, worked by a Mr. Van Buren, who was endeavoring to make iron with anthracite coal. It was run some ten days or two weeks, when it chilled, and proved a failure, both financially and as a furnace. There was another at Mauch Chunk, owned by three or four men, - a Mr. Bauhm, a Mr. Gitto, and a Mr. Lathrop (the latter I think still being at Trenton, N. J.). This furnace was chilled up in about one week after blowing-in.

"At the same time there was another building at Pottsville, by Mr. Lyman. I received a communication from this gentleman by the hand of the President of the Lehigh Crane Iron Company, for whom I was building the first furnace at this place. This letter urged me to come to Pottsville. I visited him in August, 1839, and furnished him with plans of in-wall, bosh., hearth, etc., and continued to visit him about once a month until the furnace was completed, which was in January, 1840. Then I was so engaged here that I could not remain with him long enough to put it in blast. He accordingly obtained the services of Mr. B. Perry, who blew it in, as founder. They made iron for some weeks, - I am not able to say how many, but, the machinery not being strong, they broke down, and I believe the furnace chilled up, though I will not be positive on this point, as it might have been blown out.

“On the 4th of July, 1840, 1 made the first iron on this plan in our first furnace here, and kept it running month after month and year after year. In 1841, I built the second, in 1846, the third, in 1849, the fourth and fifth, and in 1860, the sixth, and there are now in this valley 46 anthracite furnaces, producing over 400,000 tons of pig-iron annually.

“1 am sorry I have to write this so long, but could not well make it intelligible if shorter. When next I see you I will take pleasure in telling you of scores of experiments made with anthracite coal. I have been in the blast-furnace business sixty years the 12th of April next, and forty-five to fifty of these years I have been experimenting with anthracite. I care very little about the glory, - who was, or who is the successful candidate, - as men’s praises are like shadows.

"You may use this, as I fear no contradiction. I have written nothing but plain facts, but not one-tenth of what might be said did necessity call for it.

"I should be glad to hear from you.

“Yours very truly,

"DAVID THOMAS.

“P. S.-Mr. Richards did not buy the Mauch Chunk Furnace until 1842or 1843, and he used charcoal in it."

We give below a letter from Mr. James Pott, of Harrisburg, to the editor of the Coal and Iron Record:

"In No. 1 of vol. i. of your journal, you give a sketch of David Thomas, in the course of which you say, ‘He was the first man to demonstrate the practicability of using anthracite in smelting iron ores. . . . . And of all this magnificent industry, the furnace started by Mr. Thomas, at Pottsville, less than thirty years ago, has been the pioneer.'

"My object in addressing you is, not to detract from the credit due Mr. Thomas for the perfection to which he has carried this business, but to correct what I believe to be an error. My father, John Pott, used anthracite coal to smelt iron ore in his furnace (Manheim Iron Works), on the West Branch of the Schuylkill, as early as 1836-7: first in connection with charcoal, then with wood cut short, like stovewood, and finally, by making some change in the interior of the furnace, with anthracite alone, - a hot blast having already been attached.

“These experiments, running through several years, demonstrated to his entire satisfaction the practicability of using anthracite in reducing iron ore; but about 1838-39 the works stood idle for a year or more, when, in the year 1840, he made preparation to enlarge the furnace and to construct it on different principles, which its former size would not admit of. In the early spring of 1841, and before the work was completed, carne a terrible ice-freshet, which swept away everything, tearing up the very foundations of forge and furnace; and this was the end of the ‘Manheim Iron Works.' A few years later my father sold the property, and in 1844 removed to Bedford (now Fulton) County, Pa., where, for several years, he conducted the ‘Hanover Iron Works.' The paralyzation of this industry, following the adoption of the tariff of 1846, compelled him to abandon the business in 1847, and thenceforth he devoted himself to agriculture and milling until he died, in November, 1856.

“From early life, my father had been engaged in the manufacture of iron, and so also was his father (John Pott), who, in 1807, built ‘Greenwood Furnace' on the ‘Island,' where Atkins' extensive furnaces, at Pottsville, now are.

" Mr. Thomas is a public benefactor, and deserves great credit for his energy and enterprise in carrying forward this business to such perfection and success; but I feel that it is but just to correct what I believe to be an error, and to claim for John Pott the credit of having first successfully demonstrated the I practicability of using anthracite in smelting iron ores, and for little ‘Manheim Furnace' the distinction of having been the pioneer in what has since grown into such wondrous proportions under the skill and tact of Mr. Thomas.

“1 remember well hearing my father often remark that he was the first to use and demonstrate the adaptability of anthracite to blast-furnaces, and that others - the name of Mr. Thomas being mentioned in his observations - had carried it forward to perfect success.

"At the time of the destruction of the works, the supply of anthracite for the reconstructed furnace bad been contracted for, and a large quantity had already been delivered on the furnace ‘bank,' - a pile so large as to seem to my youthful eyes like a mountain of coal.

"You will not blame me, sir, for being a little sensitive on this subject. I have not at hand my father's books, from which to obtain data, and am writing from memory, making the ‘Hard-Cider' campaign in 1840 and the great freshet in 1841 the points from which I calculate. If I am in error, I am willing to be corrected."

The following was published in the Mauch Chunk Democrat:

"TRENTON, N. J., March 26th, 1872.

“MR. EDITOR,- Some unknown person (a friend, I suppose) has sent me an article of about half a column in length, clipped from some newspaper, upon the margin of which I find written in pencil the question: ‘How about this?'

"The article begins thus: ‘For some time past there has been a discussion going on in regard to the credit of making the first anthracite iron in the United States, - Mr. David Thomas, of the Thomas Iron Works, Mr. John Richards, deceased, once of the old Mauch Chunk Furnace, and Mr. Lyman, of Pottsville, each having their friends to advocate their separate claims to the honor.'

“Next follows a letter from Mr. David Thomas, relating his experience and knowledge of the matter in question, in the course of which lie makes the following statement: ‘There was another [furnace] at Mauch Chunk, owned by three or four men, - a Mr. Bauhm, a Mr. Gitto, and a Mr. Lathrop (the latter, I think, is still living at Trenton, N. J.). This furnace was chilled up in about one. week after blowing in.'

“Mr. Thomas’s memory must certainly have failed him, or he was misinformed in regard to the Mauch Chunk Furnace, as will appear evident from the following extracts from

“ ’Notes on the Use of Anthracite in the Manufacture of Iron; with some Remarks on its Evaporative Power. By Walter R. Johnson, A.M., Boston, 1841.'

“ ‘The furnace at Mauch Chunk, which stands at the head of the preceding table, is believed to have been the first in this country at which any considerable success was attained in the smelting of iron with anthracite.* Their ore produced was of various, but mostly inferior, qualities, owing probably to deficiency of blast. The blowing cylinders were of wood (single acting), and at the speed employed did not furnish over 700 cubic feet of air per minute.

*Beaver Meadow (Pa.) coal.

“ ‘Their apparatus for hot blast was at first defective, and was afterwards placed at the tunnel-head, where it could be seen as well regulated as though managed in separate ovens, with an independent fire. Hence, even of the limited supply of air taken into the bellows, a considerable portion must have been lost by leakage, and by escapes at the open tuyeres there applied.'

“ ‘BEAVER MEADOW, PA., November 9th, 1840,

“ ‘SIR ,- Agreeably to a request of Col. Henry High, of Reading, I send you the following hastily-written statement of the experiments made by Baughman, Guiteau & Co., in the smelting of iron ore with anthracite coal as a fuel.

" ‘During the fall and winter of the year 1837, Messrs. Joseph Baughman, Julius Guiteau, and Henry High, of Reading, made their first experiment in smelting iron ore with anthracite coal, in an old furnace at Mauch Chunk, temporarily fitted up for the purpose.

" ’They used about 80 per cent. of anthracite, and the result was such as to surprise those who witnessed it (for it was considered an impossibility even by ironmasters), and to encourage the persons engaged in it to go on. In order, therefore, to test the matter more thoroughly, they built a furnace on a small scale near Mauch Chunk Weigh Lock, which was completed during the month of July, 1838. Dimensions: Stack 21-1/2 feet high, 22 feet square at base, boshes 5-1/2 feet across, hearth 14 to 16 inches square, and 4 feet 9 inches from the dam-stone to the back. The blowing apparatus consisted of two cylinders, each 6 feet diameter; a receiver, same diameter, and about 2-1/2 feet deep; stroke 11 inches. Each piston making from 12 to 15 strokes per minute. An overshot water-wheel, diameter 14 feet, length of buckets 3-1/2 feet ; number of buckets, 36; revolutions per minute, from 12 to 15.

“ ‘The blast was applied August 27th, and the furnace kept in blast until September 10th, when they were obliged to stop in consequence of the apparatus for heating the blast proving to be too temporary. Several tons of iron were produced of Nos. 2 and 3 quality. I do not recollect the proportion of anthracite coal used. Temperature of the blast did not exceed 200^o Fahrenheit.

" 'A new and good apparatus for heating the blast was next procured (it was at this time I became a partner in the firm of B. G. & Co.), consisting0f 200 feet in length of cast-iron pipes 1-1/2 inches; it was placed in a brick chamber, at the tunnel-head, and heated by a flame issuing thence. The blast was again applied about the last of November, 1838, and the furnace worked remarkably well for five weeks, exclusively with anthracite coal; we were obliged, however, for want of ore, to blow out on the 12th of January, 1839. During this experiment, our doors were open to the public, and we were watched very closely both day and night, for men could hardly believe what they saw with their own eyes, so incredulous was the public in regard to the matter at this time; some iron-masters expressed themselves astonished that a furnace would work, whilst using unburnt, unwashed, frozen ore, such as was put into our furnace.

" ‘The amount of iron produced was about 134 tons per day, when working best, of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 quality. The average temperature of the blast was 400^o Fahrenheit.

“ ‘The following season we enlarged the hearth to 19 by 20 inches, and 5 feet 3 inches from the dam-stone to the back of the hearth, and on July 26th the furnace was again put in blast, and continued in blast until November 2nd, 1839, a few days after the dissolution of our firm, when it was blown out in good order.

“ ‘For about three months we used no other fuel than anthracite, and produced about 100 tons of iron of good Nos. 1, 2, and 3 quality. When working best, the furnace produced two tons a day.

“ ‘Temperature of the blast 400^o to 6oo^o Fahrenheit. The following ores were used by us, viz.: “Pipe ore," from Miller's mines, a few miles from Allentown; “brown hematite," commonly called “top mine," or surface ore; “rock ore" from Dickerson mine in New Jersey; and “Williams Township ore" in Northampton County. The last-mentioned ore produced a very strong iron and most beautiful cinder.

“ ‘The above experiments were prosecuted under the most discouraging circumstances, and if we gain anything by it, it can only be the credit of acting the part of pioneers in a praiseworthy undertaking.

“Most respectfully, sir, Your obedient servant,

" ‘ F. C. LOWTHROP.

“ ‘Prof.WALTER R. JOHNSON, Philadelphia.' “

“ ‘Correct copy from the book:

"'JOHN WISE,

“ ‘Librarian Franklin Institute,

“ ‘ Philadelphia, Pa.'

“As an evidence of the reliability of the work from which the above extracts were taken, I would remind your readers that its author, in 1844, published, by order of Congress, a ‘Report on the Different Varieties of Coal' in order to determine their evaporative powers.

“Respectfully yours,

“ F. C. LOWTHROP.

Subsequently the following appeared in the Bethlehem Times:

“The following documents have been placed in our hands for publication, and we hope that any persons who may have facts or evidence of facts which will throw light on the subject will forward them to us, that we may lay them before our readers. Some time since, we published the following paragraph:

“ ‘The first successful use of anthracite coal for the smelting of iron was in 1839, at the Pioneer Furnace, at Pottsville, Pa. It had been tried on the Lehigh in 1826, but was unsuccessful.'

"To some extent to corroborate this statement, which was called in question in private conversation by some gentlemen, a friend banded us the following letter and petition to the Legislature, with the request to publish them, as throwing light on the subject. We are unable to give the presentation of the petition to the Legislature. Does any one know when it was circulated or signed? There may have been debate in the Assembly on the reference of the petition when presented, which might contain interesting facts.

“ ‘To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: The petition of the subscribers respectfully sheweth, That the State of Pennsylvania has been greatly benefited by the results of the experiments lately so successfully made to manufacture iron with anthracite coal. They conceive that these results are mainly to be attributed to the exertion of William Lyman, of Schuylkill County, who, at his own risk and expense, put into successful operation in this country the first anthracite blast-furnace (on a practical scale), the origin, therefore, of all others since built and now projecting; and they, therefore, pray your honorable bodies that an act may be passed conferring on him such privileges as in your wisdom may be deemed expedient; thereby encouraging useful enterprises in future, and affording some compensation for the heavy outlays always necessarily incident to the commencement of every such undertaking.'

“ ‘POTTSVILLE. OCT. 14th, 1840

“ ‘This is to certify to all whom it may concern, that all contracts or bargains for ore which may be made by the bearer, Mr. Lance, will be confirmed by Messrs. Marshall & Kellogg, proprietors of the anthracite furnace at this place; and all ore purchased by Mr. Lance will be paid for by city acceptance, as shall be agreed on between the parties. - For Marshall & Kellogg. Wm. LYMAN.' "

The following article is from the Pottsville Miners' Journal:

"This subject has again been broached in a letter which we published a few days ago from James Pott, in which he stated that his father, John Pott, was the first to make anthracite iron at his furnace in 1837-38, located in the West Branch Valley. This we know is correct as far as it goes; but in the use of anthracite coal alone lie failed in making it in a merchantable quantity, and ceased working until the trial was made at the Pioneer Furnace on the Island in 1839. After the success at the Pioneer Furnace, he did intend to remodel his furnace to use anthracite coal exclusively; but a freshet came and swept away his works, and he moved to Bedford - now Fulton-County. Mr. Geisenheitner made a small quantity of anthracite iron at the Valley Furnace, and took out a patent, but afterwards abandoned it. Small quantities were made on the Lehigh; and we believe that the late Mr. Ridgway succeeded in making a small quantity at the old Pott Furnace near the Island. But, as they were all charcoal furnaces, of course no quantity could be made. Anthracite iron was also made in Wales. But these experiments satisfied Burd Patterson, and other parties deeply interested in coal and iron interests, that iron could be made with anthracite coal; and then he and other parties commenced building the Pioneer Furnace on the Island after the model of the furnace in Wales, which Mr. David Thomas had seen, and who superintended the building of this furnace. They ran out of funds, and the late Nicholas Biddle and others made up a fund of $5000 as a premium, which they offered to any person who would make anthracite iron for commercial use, and run the furnace for a period of six months. Mr. William Lyman then took the furnace, and completed it after the model of the Wales furnace, which Mr. Thomas furnished. When finished, the furnace was blown in by Mr. Benjamin Perry; and it was a success, and the furnace was kept running for the period of six months. The premium, after full investigation, was awarded to Mr. Lyman, at the Mount Carbon House, in 1840, where a supper was given, and it was at this supper that Nicholas Biddle gave the following toast:

“ ‘OLD PENNSYLVANIA - her sons like her soil - rough outside, but solid stuffed within; plenty of coal to warm her friends, and plenty of iron to cool her enemies. '

"The iron trade at that time was so much depressed under the compromise tariff of 1833, reducing the duties down to 20 per cent. in 1840, and the opposition to the use of anthracite iron by the charcoal interests, that Mr. Lyman failed a short time after; then Mr. Marshall, now of Shamokin, ran it afterwards, and he met with the same fate. The furnace was afterwards run by other parties who had but little capital, and they too failed, when it finally fell into the hands of the Atkins Brothers, who took charge of it in 1857 or 1858, and they too became to some extent involved, owing to the dull state of the iron trade under the free trade system; and if it bad not been for the Rebellion occurring in 1861-62, which put up the price of iron, they might have met the same fate; but they succeeded, and added another furnace to the old Pioneer; then tore down and remodeled the Pioneer, and are now erecting a third furnace on the Island on a larger scale than the others. Of the three brothers, our citizen, Mr. Chas. Atkins, is the only survivor. After the success at the Pioneer, other parties, avoiding the defects of the old Pioneer, erected other furnaces on the Lehigh and elsewhere, and anthracite iron was soon made in large quantities, and in 1871, out Of 1,914,000 tons of iron produced in the United States, 957,608 tons, a little more than one-half of the supply, was made with anthracite coal. In 1861 the product was 409,229 tons, having more than doubled in ten years.

“ ‘These are the facts connected with the first manufacture of anthracite iron for commerce in the United States; and Mr. Lyman, who undertook the furnace, Mr. David Thomas, who superintended its erection, Mr. Benjamin Perry, who blew it in successfully, and the gentlemen who offered the premium of $5000 for its production in commercial quantities, are really entitled to the credit of establishing this branch of business in this country; while the other gentlemen, who had previously made small quantities before it was made in England, are entitled to the credit of demonstrating that it could be made with suitable fixtures; buit they all failed in making it in quantities for use."

The concluding letter was published in the Mauch Chunk Democrat.

“TRENTON, N. J., MAY 4th, 1872.

"MR. EDITOR:

"DEAR SIR, - In the Journal of March 30th last, you published for me a communication containing some extracts from a work issued during the year 1841 by Prof. Walter R. Johnson, of Philadelphia, entitled ‘Notes on the Use of Anthracite in the Manufacture of Iron with some Remarks on its Evaporative Power.'

“My object in sending you that article was simply to defend my former partners and myself from the detractive remarks made in a letter written by David Thomas, Esq., of Catasauqua, he having stated that our furnace at Mauch Chunk chilled up in about one week after blowing-in, whereas it, in fact, was not allowed to chill up at any time.

"Since my communication was written, I have read two or three articles from different papers asserting that I was- detracting, from the credit due Mr. Thomas.

"I have no wish to claim any glory rightfully belonging to Mr. Thomas, or to others. I merely, in defending the firm of B., G. & Co. from Mr. T’s unjust remark, quoted authentic history published more than thirty years ago, and which has never been contradicted.

"'Some of the parties who have been writing in behalf of Mr. Thomas, but who evidently know little about the smelting of iron ore, speak rather contemptuously of us because we operated with a small furnace.

“In a matter which at that time was looked upon, even by iron-masters, with much uncertainty as to its ultimate success, it would have been very unwise to go to the expense of building a large furnace at a cost of many thousands of dollars, when it was known that if the thing could be accomplished with a small furnace, it could be done much more easily, and far more profitably, with a large one.

“We did not enlarge our furnace, as one writer has stated, but simply the hearth, and we blew it out because it was too small to work at profit; and, not having funds with which to construct large works, we returned the property on which the furnace was built to the L. C. & N. Co., from whom it was leased, which was the last we bad to do with it.

"A few years afterward I was introduced to a gentleman from Pottsville, who, upon being informed by our friend that I had been connected with the Mauch Chunk furnace, asked if I recollected a committee of the citizens of Pottsville visiting us one night. I answered in the affirmative, and asked him what conclusion they arrived at. He replied, ’We watched you all night long, and returned home with the full conclusion that it was a perfect success.'

“Within the past week or two I have seen one or two articles from the pen of Mr. James Pott, of Harrisburg, who claims for his father, Mr. John Pott, the credit of having been the first in this country to smelt iron ore with anthracite. He dates his first success so far back as 1836 and ‘37. A more unpresuming and candid letter than that of Mr. Pott I have never read ; and if we are to look outside of published history for the one who was first successful, I should say that without a doubt (so far as I can learn) Mr. John Pott, of the Manheim furnace, was the man.

“Very respectfully yours,

“F. C. LOWTHROP.

We add an article from the Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette of May 25th, 1872 :

"Mr. James Cornelison formerly a blacksmith residing here, was in town on Monday last, and was ‘interviewed' concerning his knowledge of the first experiments in the manufacture of anthracite iron. He was employed in the establishment of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, whose works were upon the site of the present foundry of J. H. Salkeld & Co., and distinctly remembers the building about the year 1823 or 1824 of a stack some 15 or 20 feet high, for the purpose of smelting the iron ore with anthracite coal. This experiment was, at the time, so far successful, that Mr. Cornelison states several ‘pigs' were actually made with cold-air blast. Messrs. Josiah White and Erskine Hazard were concerned in the building of the stack, in whose operations much interest was taken. This statement, coming from a gentleman in every way reliable, makes good the assertion in Johnson's Notes on Anthracite Iron,' that the first known experiment in this important direction was made in Mauch Chunk."

Return to the Table of Contents

Top

About The Hopkin Thomas Project

Rev. January 2011