USA > New York > Essex County > The military and civil history of the county of Essex, New York : and a general survey of its physical geography, its mines and minerals, and industrial pursuits, embracing an account of the northern wilderness > Part 32
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The Sanford Bed is situated about two miles from the former, and 'occupies the slope of a hill, which terminates upon Lake Sanford. The elevation of the bed is six hundred or eight hundred feet above the lake, but is approached by a gradual and easy ascent. This ore is less coarse than the preceding, and of a dark, black color. It has, when exposed in the bed, almost the appearance and form of a stratified rock. It possesses great and unusual purity, and is almost entirely exempt from stone. The ore may be projected from the bed to the lake, by an inclined plane, or it may be transported by teams loaded within the bed. The width of this vein is five hundred and fourteen feet, and its length along the centre, one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven. At each extre- mity it does not terminate, but passes beneath the rock. No correct or proximate calculation can be formed of the probable contents of this vast deposit. The minimum estimate exhibits the immense amount of 6,832,734 tons, which may principally be raised without blasting. This would yield 3,000,000 tons of the purest iron.1 Personal
1 Emmons's report.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
examination, corroborated by the opinions of highly prac- tical and intelligent men, warrants the conjecture that this estimate is below the real amount of ore. Ores, ex- hibiting similar qualities, crop out at different points, along an extension of the same course. One of these indications present a face of thirty-two rods in length, and fifteen rods in width. Such facts suggest the conclusion, that these veins are a prolongation of the Sanford deposit, and that its true magnitude may embrace a distance of two miles and a half in length, with a proportionate width. Another important deposit, known as Mount Magnet, apparently forms the mass of an eminence directly east and fronting the village. This is distinguished as the fine grained ore bed. This is very marked and peculiar in its characteristics. Although it is generally firm, with grains closely cemented together, it often becomes ex- tremely friable when exposed to atmospheric influence. The oxidation makes it appear as if mingled with rock. On the surface it has an aspect of leanness, although singularly rich, free from impurities, and probably of more practical value for the furnace, than either of the preceding veins.1
This vein is remarkably uniform and regular, and extends in length five thousand seven hundred and forty- two feet, and in width about seventy feet.2 It exhibits a strong appearance of stratification in the bed. The divi- sional seams are very distinct at the surface, but like those in the hyperstene rock, they are the result of a law of nature analogous, if not identical, to the principle of crys- talization. A small vein, or probably a branch of this bed, occurs in the same hill, and is designated the crystal- ized ore bed. This vein is lined on the sides by a wall a few inches thick, formed of pure hornblende. A rare and peculiar formation. On the eastern slope of the same eminence, another vein of fine grained ore is developed, and probably of equal extent with that already noticed.
1 R. Clark. 2 Professor Emmons.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
The Cheney bed, situated about three miles west of Lake Sanford, yields the finest grained ore of the district. It occurs in gneiss, and differs from every other vein in that peculiarity. Numerous other veins are known to exist in proximity to these, but have only been superficially explored. A supply of ores, that the consumption of centuries cannot exhaust, immediately encompasses these works. Little doubt can exist that the entire district con- stitutes one vast formation of ore, concealed by a narrow and slight encrustation of earth and rock. I found, in the centre of the Indian pass, a specimen of ore, closely analogous to the ore of the Sanford bed. These ores are all varieties of the black oxide of iron, exhibiting a mecha- nical mixture of the protoxide and peroxide of iron.
I propose to deviate from the formal arrangement of my subject, in order to present in one group, the varied and interesting topics embraced in this important district. An exhibition in one view, of its striking features; of its geology and mineralogy, the peculiar harmony and adap- tation of its resources to sustain its great predominant interest, will enable the reader more distinctly to appre- hend the nature, the varied capacities, and singular advantages of this extraordinary region. When appro- priate avenues, equal to its resources, shall connect it with the marts of commerce, the Adirondac iron district, it is adjudged, is capable of being made, and will pro- bably attain a position among the most extended and wealthiest iron manufactories of the earth. This strong declaration is predicated upon the facts, that these ores, so singularly and distinctly varied in their properties, that they are adapted to the manufacture of every iron fabric ; that they are inexhaustible and of the easiest access for working; that the stately forests which mantle the mountains, encircling these works, are nearly as boundless as the ores; and that every material, almost essential to the manufacture, are embraced within the district. Clay prevails contiguous to the works, of a quality, it is believed, adapted to the manufacture of the
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
required brick. Lime is abundant, and, although par- tially affected by native impurities, may be converted to the desired purposes. The hydraulic power will ever remain, and be always adequate to every demand. The resources of this region will ultimately compel the con- struction of appropriate avenues to it.
The upper works, and the village of Adirondac, are situated upon the river, midway between Lakes Hender- son and Sanford, in a narrow ravine, embosomed amid the lofty pinnacles that surround it. This neat little village realizes to the mind our ideality of a Swiss ham- let, its lake, its river, its mountains " crowned with their coronal of snow." Lake Henderson, in exceeding loveli- ness, slumbers in quiet and beauty at the foot of the giant Santonine, and is almost enveloped in a mountain screen. These works, by the existing circuitous road, are about fifty miles removed from Lake Champlain.
A ponderous and costly dam erected by the Adirondac Company, at the lower works, a distance of ten miles, throws back the volume of water to the very base of a dam erected at the upper works, in connection with the furnace completed in 1861. This fact affords striking evidence of the formation of the country. An excellent water communication is created by this improvement between the upper and lower works. At each extremity of the navigation, wharves, cranes, and every other appli- ance, are constructed to facilitate the transportation of heavy commodities. A survey has established the exist- ence of a practicable and cheap route for either a rail road or a plank road, from the lower works to the Schroon valley, a distance of only eighteen miles. The wants of an industrious community, and the exigencies of general business, must secure the construction of a rail road through that valley to the Hudson. When this most desirable project is accomplished, the furnaces and ore beds of the Adirondac district will be separated by a land transportation of only eighteen miles from New York. The rail road at this moment approaching Essex
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county through Warren, promises still more practical result, by penetrating in its proposed route, within a few miles of the Adirondac mines.
The lofty group of mountains which occupy this region formed almost exclusively of the hyperstene rock, which has been rendered somewhat familiar to the scientific world by the reports of the state geologists. This rock, in different proportions, is diffused through almost every section of the county. The mineral hyperstene from which it derives its name, is incorporated in it, in very minute quantities, whilst the labradorite or opalescent feldspar constitutes its most conspicuous element. Al- though essentially granite, the hyperstene does not exhibit the ordinary appearance of that rock. Its color, as revealed in the quarry, is a smoky gray. In some quarries it is lighter, and in others it presents a strong green tinge, which forms a predominant shade. On the surface this rock is seamy to so great a degree, as to present almost an appearance of stratification; deeper in the quarry it is thrown out in large and firm blocks. Its beauty is greatly enhanced when lines of lighter color occur, by which it is traversed. Experiments have been successfully made in sawing and polishing slabs from this rock. If it yields blocks sufficiently firm and consolidated for this purpose, it will prove a most valuable and desirable material for the structure of the delicate and ornamental fabrics, to which the choicest marble is only appropriated. No Egyptian stone surpasses it in its beautiful and variegated colors, or in the brilliancy of its lustre. The hyperstene is equal to the granite as a building material. The labradorite is an exquisitely beautiful mineral, rivaling the plumage of the peacock in its brilliant iridescence when wet or polished, and exposed to the action of the light.1 Highly opalescent specimens are not common, although that characteristic is partially exhibited in every crystal. Blue is the predominant shade, at times mingled
1 R. Clark.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
with green. The green seldom occurs alone, but is exceed- ingly brilliant and beautiful. Gold and bronze specimens are occasionally discovered, and rarely, crystals are found combining all these colors in a splendid iridescence. At times the crystals are striated, each alternate stria showing the opalescent reflection. Occasionally two colors alternate in the same crystal; both are seldom seen in the same direction of light. The bed of the Opalescent river, which derives its name from the circumstance, abounds in this mineral, and when the sun shines at the cascades through the clear water, the whole rock seems to beam and glow with the refulgence of the beautiful gems.1 Bright opal- escent specimens, polished and in settings, are highly valued in jewelry. This mineral was discovered by the Moravian missionaries in Labrador, and when originally introduced into England, commanded most exorbitant prices. There are but few foreign minerals enclosed in the hyperstene rock. Some of the feldspar taken from a vein near the works are peculiarly beautiful; they exhibit a remarkable glittering, spangled appearance. Crystals of iron have been found in this vein, similar to the crys- talized ore. Serpentine is also sparsely mingled in it.2
Graphite exists in this locality, but has not been dis- covered either in sufficient extent or purity to give it value, although often found in very beautiful radiated nodules. It usually occurs in small quantities at the juncture of the gneiss and primitive limestone rocks. Slight veins of trap are numerous, and, I may add, to avoid recurrence to the subject, that this rock is prevalent in almost every section of the county, sometimes exhibiting extensive walls, and forming the dyke of most of the iron ore beds. At Jay, lower village, it spans the river in a massive dam. Re- markable developments of trap dykes occur both on Mt. McMartin and Mt. McIntyre, on the former its disintegra- tion has formed a huge gorge, which, at its entrance, is
1 R. Clark. 2 Idem.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
one hundred feet wide and one hundred and fifty feet deep. This gorge beautifully discloses the entire stratifi- cation of the rock. The debris from the gorge, in large masses, was deposited in Avalanche lake. This lake is a fountain head of the Hudson, situated two thousand five hundred feet above its level, and is probably the most elevated body of water in the state. Its cold element is only inhabited by a small lizard.
The Adirondac Company was originally incorporated with a capital of $1,000,000. Large sums have been dis- bursed in the progress of these improvements, in opening the wilderness, and in a series of experiments upon the ores of this district. The tragic death of Mr. Henderson in the midst of these scenes, which his great energy and spirited enterprise had tended so much to animate and reveal, impeded these efforts. Not a sound, not a pulsa- tion of business indicates the heart of a region boundless in the wealth of nature.
The lofty upheaval, that embraces the immense de- posits of iron ore, which have been revealed in the Adiron- dac district, extends northerly through Essex and into Clinton county, and includes the town of Minerva at the south. The rocks and general geological formation throughout this extended territory are closely assimilated. In Clinton county, this range is the site of most of the valuable ore beds belonging to that district.
The town of Minerva, lying directly south of Newcomb, exhibits the evidence of great mineral wealth, although but one bed of iron ore has been actually opened and partially worked. In the language of a correspondent; " Minerva. may already be regarded as a mineral town, with wood equal to the supply of charcoal, for fifty years." The bed which has been opened, lies on lot 21, township 25, Totten and Crossfield purchase. It is owned by a com- pany, composed of Hon. E. H. Rosekrans, J. C. Durand, and other prominent and energetic men. On the surface, the ore is somewhat impregnated with sulphur, but as the excavation penetrates the deposit, the quality of the ore
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
obtained is pure, rich, and highly magnetic. It is easily reduced, and is pronounced better adapted for making pig, than bloom iron, but has produced in the forge, the best quality of iron.1 The abundant presence of ore on the ad- joining lot No. 28, and upon most of the contiguous ter- ritory, is satisfactorily ascertained. In comparing the results of my examinations of the ore beds fifteen years ago, with their present condition, I observe many striking changes in the characteristics of the ore. In the ores from several of these mines, sulphates, phosphates and other foreign substances were then incorporated; but in almost every instance in which the mines have been worked to any considerable extent, the ore is now wholly or nearly so exempt from the impurities.
SCHROON.
The Schofield Bed is situated in the town of Schroon, near the head of Paradox lake, and was opened in the year 1828, by Horace Hall. Bar iron was at that time made in the Schroon forge from the ore of this mine, which was worked by various proprietors, until 1845. In this year, I infer, operations were suspended at the bed. An average of two hundred tons of iron was made during the above period, which established and maintained the highest character in market. The bed has been again worked during the last year by the present owner, Mr. John Roth, and the ore has been used in both of his forges in Schroon, with decided success. The ore yields fifty per cent of iron of the first class. The vein is only from three to four feet in thickness, and has been worked about two hundred and fifty feet in length and from twenty to sixty feet in depth. Horse power is used in hoisting the ore, but the pit is pumped by steam.
The Skiff Bed lies about two miles from Paradox lake. It was opened by A. P. Skiff in the year 1857, but is now owned by Mr. Roth. This ore, like that from the Scho-
1 E. F. Williams.
.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
field bed possesses the highest qualities, but. the same embarrassments impede at present its successful and re- munerative development. The vein is small, where it has been disclosed, and is compressed between walls of rock, that immensely enhance the difficulties and expense of working it. The energetic owner, under the conviction that a wider vein exists and can be reached, has already expended many thousands of dollars, in the construction of a tunnel at the base of a mountain, in the hope of re- vealing such a vein. If this enterprise, which is still to be pressed, results in the discovery of a large deposit of ore equal to that which has been worked, this bed will proba- bly be made one of the most valuable in the region. The ore furnished by both of these mines is generally conceded to be equal to any in the country.
CROWN POINT.
Near the boundary line between Schroon and Crown Point two iron ore beds of great value are located, which were included formerly by the state geologists in the Mo- riah district. They are of the magnetic type, and appear to possess inexhaustible deposits of the mineral. They are known as the Hammond, and Penfield mines. These mines are situated about ten miles from Lake Champlain.
Hammond Bed. The existence of this mine was ascer- tained as early as 1827, but it was not worked extensively until 1845. It is situated on lot No. 278 in Paradox tract, and is now owned by G. & T. Hammond and E. S. Bogue. It has been constantly worked since 1845, and produces an average of about four thousand tons of ore annually, which is consumed in the blast furnace of the proprietors, for making pig iron. It requires no sepa- rating. It is a black magnetic ore, of a close, fine grain or texture, with very pure white quartz in small particles disseminated very evenly through it. The ore is hard to drill and sledge. Worked in a blast furnace, it yields a fluid glassy cinder, and makes a superior quality of pig iron. The ore has no infusion of sulphates or phos-
384
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
phorus. There are two pits opening out of this mine ; one descends, at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the depth of four hundred feet, and the other, recently opened, has reached a descent of about fifty feet. The ore is raised by horse power. In 1852, I saw teams loaded alongside of the breast of ore. The Hammond ore pos- sesses the highest qualities of peculiar strength and soft- ness, and is eminently adapted to the purposes of the foundery and the fabrication of machinery. The harder parts of the pig metal are particularly calculated for the manufacture of car axles and malleable articles. The ex- treme fluidity of this iron, and the long time it remains fluid, renders it highly valuable in the manufacture of these fabrics.
Penfield Bed is about half a mile from the Hammond bed. The ore is very similar, and the mines are probably parts of the same deposit. The Penfield bed was first opened many years since, but not worked to any extent until 1824, when it was opened by Messrs. Penfield & Taft. Since that period, it has been in constant operation. It was subsequently carried on by Penfield & Son ; after- wards by Penfield, Harwood & Co., and at present by Penfield & Harwood. Although worked for so long a term, this mine exhibits no appearance of exhaustion. The ore excavated is used in the forges of the proprietors in Crown Point. I regret that I have been unable to procure more in detail statistics of this highly import- ant mine. The description, however, of the characteristics and qualities of the Hammond ore has a general applica- tion to the ore of this bed. I shall refer to the properties of the iron it produces, in my notice of the Irondale forge.
In the south part of Crown Point large deposits occur of magnetic iron ores, but these are strongly impregnated with sulphurets. In the central part of the town an ore bed, known as the Saxe bed was worked about forty years ago by Jacob Saxe, and used in a blast furnace, of which he was the proprietor, that stood at the mouth of the Sal- mon river in Plattsburgh. The furnace has long since been
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NATURAL HISTORY.
abandoned and fallen into ruins. The bed has not re- cently been worked, and is superseded by mines yielding richer and more desirable ores. The Saxe bed and ore are fully noticed in the Natural History of the state, part 4, Geology, page 232.
TICONDEROGA.
The development of iron ore in the eastern part of the town of Ticonderoga has not been favorable. Graphite appears at present to be the prominent mineral of the dis- trict. A bed known as the Vineyard possesses a large de- posit of iron ore, but it is so impregnated by sulphur as to be unavailable for practical purposes. A vein of red oxide has been opened, from which about one thousand five hundred tons of ore have been taken, but it is too hard in drilling to be remunerative. A vein of magnetic ore about two feet wide upon Mount Defiance is being opened by Weed & Burleigh. A shaft is excavating, in the hope of discovering a large expansion of the vein. Upon the Tub-mill property five veins of iron ore have been partially opened, and afford evidence of large deposits of good ore. They are situated ten miles from the lake, and have been only partially developed.
MORIAH IRON DISTRICT.
This tract, scarcely, if at all subordinate, to the Adiron- dac district in the extent of its deposits, perhaps superior in the quality of its ores and far more eligibly situated, is calculated to excite the wonder and admiration of the observer. The immense aggregate of iron ore which has been dug from those rugged hills, instead of affording any evidence of appreciable diminution, seems to prove the boundless magnitude of this source of enterprise and wealth. As these excavations widen and deepen, and the quantity of the mineral appears to augment, its quality almost universally improves. An air of life, of prosperity and success animates the whole scene. Activity and effort are everywhere impressed upon the character of the peo-
25
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
ple. Idleness in this stirring community has no tolerance. Brain and muscle are put upon their highest tension. I propose to present a brief outline of the progress, and pre- sent condition of each of the ore beds in this district sepa- rately, and although I have made every effort to obtain ample information on the subject, the interests are so diver- sified and my materials so incomplete, I fear the result of my labor will appear inadequate and unsatisfactory.
The Cheever Ore Bed. A knowledge of the existence of ore in this locality appears to have been almost cotempo- raneous with the settlement. The first child born in the township after the revolution, who is still living,1 states, that his earliest recollections are associated with this ore. It cropped out so prominently on the surface, as to attract the notice of any casual observer. Local legends refer the earliest working of the mines to squatters upon the land without title. Ore is known to have been procured from the bed in the year 1804, but the subject excited slight interest, and no appreciation existed of the vast magnitude and incalculable value of the deposit. In 1820, '21, it was leased to a Charles Fisher, at a rent of two gross tons of bloom iron, worth at that time, one hun- dred dollars per ton.2 I have found it difficult to trace the varied ownership of the property, but ascertain that between thirty and forty years ago the title was in a person named John Coates, to whom Dr. Abijah Cheever as guardian of minor children, had loaned certain funds. Dr. Cheever was ultimately obliged with great reluctance to accept this property, either in payment or as security for the debt. It is a striking incident in the history of its pro- gressive value, that this ore bed, now almost beyond price in the hands of the present owners, should in a compara- tively recent period, have been urged upon the market by Cheever, and offered at scarcely above a nominal price with- out a purchaser, and ultimately sold, it is said, at five thou- sand dollars. This sale was made in the year 1838, to Horace
1 Alexander McKensie.
2 Hon. John A. Lee.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
Grey of Boston. The statement of the amount of the price paid for the property varies from two thousand five hun- dred dollars to six thousand five hundred dollars. I have adopted that which appears to be the most authentic. In 1840, Mr. Grey transferred his interest to the Port Henry Iron Company, and leased from them in 1846, the furnace property and the Cheever ore bed. In the fall of 1852, Mr. Benjamin T. Reed of Boston purchased all the property of the Port Henry Iron Company, and in the following year transferred the ore bed to the Cheever Ore Bed Com- pany.1 Mr. John O. Presbrey is the present resident agent and manager of the mines. The bed has been owned and worked since 1853, by that company, which is an incor- porated organization composed of gentlemen of affluence residing in Massachusetts. It is situated on the J. Wil- liams tract, formerly called the Rogers Ore Bed patent, about three miles from Port Henry, and less than three fourths of a mile from Lake Champlain. Since the occupa- tion by the present proprietor, the mine has been worked without intermission, and yields annually from fifty thousand to sixty thousand tons of ore. A large per centage of this ore is used by the furnaces of the Bay State Iron Company at Port Henry. The remainder is exported to Massa- chusetts, Pennsylvania, and to various points in New York and other sections of the Union. The ore is found in a regular vein and perfectly developed, from five to fifteen feet in thickness. The vein is reached by five different shafts or pits, one of which descends vertically to the depth of three hundred and fifteen feet. The work of opening has been pursued from the several pits and shafts, until a breast work of nearly one thousand and five hundred feet of ore has been formed and is now worked. From the foot of the perpendicular shaft, four distinct rail tracks have been constructed, which enable cars to transport the ore a dis- tance of about two hundred feet. At the shaft, the ore is tipped into iron buckets, capable of holding about a ton
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