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 34
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The mine has three shafts ; two of which are now worked. Shaft designated number one, has a descent of five hun- dred and fifty feet, and number three has a descent of five hundred feet. The latter presents a breast of fifty feet and
401
NATURAL HISTORY.
twenty-five feet in height. The ore is said to become of a purer quality as the mine is developed, and is reputed to be well adapted to the fabrication of wire and steel. Horse power is used in raising the ore. This bed was sold to the present proprietors in 1863, for seventy-five thousand dollars. It is now owned by eastern capitalists. Mr. O. Hall is the resident manager.
The Cook, or M. T. Smith Shaft. The revelation of this valuable mine was a striking triumph of practical science and determined perseverance, that has few parallels in mining operations. The bed is situated on lot 37, Iron Ore tract, and about six miles from Port Henry. The site of this ultimate great success was an open range, and the particular locality a sandy knoll in a pasture, where not the slightest appearance was disclosed on the surface of the presence of ore, although its existence at the place had been long suspected, from an unusual magnetic attrac- tion. The needle, when passed along an area of about forty rods square, was drawn as much as possible to a vertical position. During the term of fifteen years, before the enterprise of Mr. M. T. Smith, several attempts to reach ore on the lot had been made and abandoned. Mr. Smith and an associate finally made an arrangement with Patrick Cook, the owner of the lot, to open the mine. In consideration of their services and disbursements, they were to receive a conveyance of two-thirds of the property. They commenced their labor, and, following the indications of the magnet, excavated a shaft ten feet square, through a hundred feet of earth, without finding any additional evidences of ore. Here they struck hard pan, but unde- terred by these adverse results, they persisted with una- bated zeal. At length they reached and passed through a very thin vein of ore, and this the croakers pronounced the cause of the attraction. But Mr. Smith, wisely judg- ing the deposit too small to have produced effects so powerful, and with unyielding confidence in the assurances of the needle, continued the excavation, and after pene- trating through rock and hard pan eighty feet further, he
26
402
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
revealed a fourteen feet vein of ore, of the first quality. The mine was opened in June, 1866. In the first year it produced eight thousand tons, and in 1868 yielded fourteen thousand five hundred tons. The breast now wrought is two hundred feet in length, and averages fifteen feet in width. The ore is exported to Troy, Hudson, Pittsburg, and various other manufacturing localities. It is raised by horse power, but the water is pumped out by steam. No separating of the ore is necessary. The mine is worked both night and day, and requires the labor of thirty or forty persons. The future of this bed promises results which must secure an ample remuneration to the skill and energy of the enterprising explorers.
The impurities which affected most of the ores of Moriah were chiefly phosphates and white flint; but all these ores have become purer and softer as descents have been made in the mines. The first separator erected in the town was built in 1842, by Eliphalet Hall. In the year 1853 Lee & Sherman consolidated their interests with S. H. & J. G. Weatherbee. The firm of Lee, Sherman & Weatherbees continued until 1862, when Mr. Lee re- tired, selling his title to Weatherbees, Sherman & Co., who also purchased the remaining small interest, and are now the sole owners of the old and new beds. Mr. George R. Sherman is a member of this firm. The Port Henry Iron Ore Company, consisting of the above firm, and Messrs. John A. Griswold and H. Burden & Son of Troy and Bech, Tower & Brinsmade of Pokeepsie, now owns the mines, designated Nos. 21, 23 and 24, with ore rights on the west end of lot 25. The ores from these and the adjacent mines have been transported for several years by a plank road, extending to the wharves of these companies at the lake. Immense loads, averaging about five tons, and sometimes it is stated reaching nine tons, along nearly an uninterrupted descent, are conveyed by this medium. The Lake Champlain and Moriah Rail Road Company, formed of the above companies, is now constructing a railway along the same route, which will be completed in the sum-
403
NATURAL HISTORY.
mer of 1869. It will supersede the plank for teaming, and must effect a great economy in transportation of ore. This railway overcomes an ascent of fourteen hundred feet in about seven miles, on the extraordinary grade of two hundred feet to the mile.
A cloud seems to have rested upon the mines of Moriah for some period after their discovery. A distrust prevailed in regard to the character of the ore, and it required the struggle of several years before the confidence of the iron manufacturers could be secured. The sales of ore from these mines during the first three or four years amounted to scarcely two hundred tons annually, and then decreased to half that quantity. The aggregate of ore which had been sold, when Lee, Sherman & Hall came into posses- sion of their interest, was about six thousand tons, at prices ranging from fifty cents to two dollars and a half, at the beds, payable in barter or on such terms as the purchaser proposed. The first specific trial of these ores was made at Ticonderoga, with a load sent there for the purpose. This issue was favorable, and about three hundred tons were raised the same year, only a part of which was sold, but the next year an increased interest in the ore was manifested by a more animated demand for it, by their iron works in Vermont. From that period, the sales of ore have been rapidly progressive. In 1847 Lee & Sherman effected a sale of twenty thousand tons to F. H. Jackson of the Sisco furnace at Westport. This was the first sale made of ore to be used in furnaces. About the same time their ores were introduced in furnaces at Troy and other points on the Hudson. The mines owned by this firm produced between the years 1846 and 1854, about fifty thousand tons of ore. A competent authority estimates the aggregate of ore raised from the mines of Moriah from their development up to January 1st, 1869, at one million and one hundred thousand tons, of which one-third has been raised during the last six years. These ores are used in all the manufacturing districts of New England and the middle states, and largely at the west and south. A heavy
404
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
supply of the ore is constantly maintained at the depot in Cleveland, Ohio, to meet the demand in that state and Western Pennsylvania. The ores of Moriah are all mag- netic and chiefly cold short, and are in request to combine with the red short ores of other districts to form a neutral iron. This trade is steadily increasing, while in Moriah new mines are constantly developing. The product of the several ore beds in the town in 1868 is as follows :
Tons.
The Cheever bed, .
68,000
Mines of Port Henry Iron Co.,.
59,000
66
Weatherbees, Sherman and Co., 59,500
66
Lake Champlain Mining Co., 2,500
66
M. T. Smith,
14,500
66 Fisher bed, 6,500
230,000
Most of these companies have supplied their different openings with improved hoisting power. The Port Henry Iron Ore Company and Weatherbees, Sherman & Co., are now prepared, if the demand justifies the effort, to raise one thousand tons daily from their various mines.1 In the summer of 1869, a fresh activity seems to animate the business of Moriah. A fleet of vessels assembled about the wharves at Cedar Point, loading or awaiting their turns. Fifteen hundred tons, in part the accumulation of the winter, are daily shipped, while five hundred tons are delivered from the beds by teams. In the above aggregate of two hundred and thirty thousand tons of ore, it is com- puted that eighteen thousand tons are consumed by the works in Moriah, leaving two hundred and twelve thousand tons for exportation.
Spear and Butler Bed. In a former work, I used the fol- lowing language in relation to this mine. This bed lies about a mile and a half from the lake. The ore is a mag-
1 I owe these statistics to a very intelligent paper, supplied by W. F. Gookin, Esq.
405
NATURAL HISTORY.
netic oxide, impressed with a hermatite type. The vein has been traced by a magnet nearly one-half a mile. It has been opened about ten rods in length, and about twenty feet in depth, presenting a breast of nine feet, widening as it descends. This ore is very peculiar and of great value from its malleability and toughness. It is mixed with silex and carbonate of lime; requires separat- ing, but works freely and reduces rapidly in a common force fire. The bed was discovered in 1848. The first analysis of the ore was made at my request by Professor Salisbury, and presents the following results:
Butler's Magnetic ore.
Peroxide of iron,
56.53
Protoxide of iron,
28.49
Silica, .
13.81
Alumina,
1.62
Carbonate of lime,
.....
99.85
Percentage of pure iron in the per and prot- oxides,. 61.202
Percentage of oxygen in the per and protox- ides,
23.318
I learn that this bed has never been worked, but remains in the same condition as when I examined it.
THE ELIZABETHTOWN AND WESTPORT DISTRICT.
The territory included in this designation, is a continu- ation of the same mountainous range, which embraces most of the important iron mines in Moriah. Similar in its general characteristics, it is identical in geological forma- tion, and it seems to exhibit a prolongation of the same veins and deposits. A large number of mines have been already discovered, and the presence of iron ore in almost every section of the district is disclosed by evidence existing upon the surface, and the unerring indications of the mag- net. Most of these mines have been but partially opened;
406
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
neither have such indications in all instances been effici- ently pursued. Although the magnitude of the deposits has been confidently asserted, their full development has been impeded by unfavorable circumstances. These beds are generally remote from the facilities of commercial in- tercourse, and the character of most of the ores for practical purposes is yet to be determined. They necessarily have been depressed in competition with mines enjoying every convenience of access, and with ores, whose high qualities have been established by long experience and the severest tests. A cautious observer remarks in reference to the ore beds of this district: "All that is wanting to render at least nine out of ten of these beds profitable and valua- ble, is means of transportation and a market." I have been unable to collect the materials necessary to a just and competent account of the mines of this district, and am constrained to present scarcely more than a bare enumera- tion of them. For the limited statistics I have received, I am indebted to the zeal of a gentleman who possesses no pecuniary interest in the property.
ELIZABETHTOWN.
Castaline Bed was discovered and worked to some ex- tent about the year 1800. Considerable quantities of ore were transported from this mine to Hinesburg, Vermont, and used in the iron works at that place at an early day. The bed is situated on land owned by M. J. Post, but the heirs of W. D. and H. H. Ross are proprietors of the ore. The following is an analysis of the Castaline ore :
Black oxide of iron, 95.04
Silex alumina,. 3.12
Lime and magnesia, 1.84
100.00
Ross Bed is located on lot No. 72, Roaring Branch tract, and about one mile north-east of the above. It was dis- covered about the same period, and is very similar in its
407
NATURAL HISTORY.
qualities to the Castaline. "The ore has been partially worked and makes good iron. The declination of the vein under or into a mountain, prevents at present an extensive opening of the bed. The land belongs to Mr. Thomas Doyle, and the ore to the heirs of the Messrs. Ross. The following is an analysis of the ore :
Black oxide of iron,.
87.64
Silex and alumina, 9.80
Lime and magnesia,
2.56
100.00
Nigger Hill Bed. This mine was discovered between the years 1825 and 1830, and slightly opened by Frederick Hoag. It is about five miles south of the Court House in Elizabethtown, and was long known as the Hoag bed. The ore was used at the Kingdom forge, by Mr. H. R. Noble, in a considerable amount for several years, and was esteemed a good furnace ore. Mixed with the old Sanford bed of Moriah, it worked successfully in a forge. Portions of this ore work admirably alone. This ore bed was sold in 1864, by the heirs of Mr. Noble, for $100,000, to the present owners, the Lake Champlain Ore and Iron Company. The property was assessed in 1868 on the grand list at $12,000. This mine is described as an im- mense mass of magnetic ore, so rich that it does not require separating, but so hard that it has to be roasted.1 The following is an analysis of this ore :
Black oxide of iron,.
89.36
Silex and alumina,
6.96
Lime and magnesia,
3.68
100.00
Wakefield Bed was discovered about 1845, and opened by Col. E. F. Williams. The title of the land is in Stephen Pitkin. The ore is owned by the heirs of the Messrs. Ross.
1 W. G. Neilson's report.
408
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
Little Pond Bed. This remarkable deposit was found about 1840. It is situated on lot No. 199, Iron Ore tract, and a half mile from the village of Elizabethtown. It was opened by E. F. Williams. A correspondent remarks, " this is a wonderful mass- a mountain of ore." The title to this property has been repeatedly changed, and is now held by W. J. Averill, of Ogdensburg. In a report on the survey of Essex county in 1852, I advanced these views in reference to this deposit: The Little Pond bed is among the most remarkable formations of ore in this county, and from the quality of the ore, the apparent magnitude of the deposit, and its favorable position, may be classed among the most valuable mines of the region. This bed is situated about six miles from the lake, and near a plank road. It apparently forms the mass of an eminence, probably covering at the base an area of forty acres, and elevated nearly two hundred feet. The exa- minations already made, which are corroborated by the general appearance and indications of the mound, seem to authorize the opinion, that this entire eminence is a mass of ore, covered only by an incrustation of rock and earth of a few feet in depth.
If further developments shall establish this fact, the quantity of the ore in this deposit may be pronounced illimitable, and in value and importance almost beyond computation. The subjoined is an analysis of this ore made by Dr. Chilton :
Protoxide of iron with a little peroxide of iron, 40.27
Silica, ..
4.11
Alumina, .22
Lime, .83
Magnesia,
3.43
Water, etc., 1.14
100.00
Judd Bed was discovered in 1845, and was opened to some extent between that year and 1855, by David Judd. The
409
NATURAL HISTORY.
present proprietors are the Kingdom Company of Lake Champlain.
Finney Bed was discovered in 1854 on lot 139, Iron Ore tract, and was opened by O. Abel, Jr., W. W. Root, J. E. McVine and J. H. Sanders. Several hundred tons have been raised and sold from this bed. It melts readily and produces superior iron. In 1865, the bed was sold for five thousand dollars to the present owners, the Vulcan Furnace Company.
Gates Bed was found about the same time as the Finney bed, and upon an adjoining lot. It is supposed to be a con- tinuation of the same vein, which may be distinctly traced for the distance of more than. half a mile. It has been partly opened by Willis Gates, who has been offered and refused ten thousand dollars for his interest.
Burt Bed was discovered in 1840. It is located in the extreme south-east corner of Elizabethtown, and near the Fisher Hill mine. The ore is very similar to that taken from that mine, and was formerly pronounced by an expe- rienced manufacturer to be the best forge ore in the county. The vein of the Burt ore dips at an angle of forty-five degrees, and is opened by a slope over three hundred feet long. The area excavated at the bottom was in 1867 about eighty-five feet, with a breast of ore of about fourteen feet. The ore is hoisted, in boxes, which slide on beams laid along the slope, or by horse power. There are several other openings on the same lot, which exhibit strong indi- cations of the presence of valuable veins. The Burt ore has been successfully used both at the Valley and Kingdom forges. This property was purchased by the present owners, the Essex and Lake Champlain Ore and Iron Company, in 1864, at thirty-five thousand dollars. It is assessed on the grand list at fifteen thousand dollars.
Steel Bed is situated about a half mile south-east of the village of Elizabethtown on lot No. 189, Iron Ore tract. The bed was discovered in 1810, and the ore worked in local forges in combination with other ore to some extent.
410
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
After the destruction of these forges by the freshet of 1830, the bed was not worked for many years. The ore was originally considered sulphurous, but Messrs. Whallon & Judd in 1850, successfully consumed a considerable quan- tity, which had been raised for some time and exposed to the action of the elements. Mr. R. Remington in 1866, sunk a shaft, and obtained ore of a superior quality, and apparently free from the infusion of sulphur. The present proprietors of this bed are the Kingdom Iron Ore Com- pany and Mr. Remington. This property is assessed at one thousand dollars.
Odell Bed. Two openings in the eastern part of Eliza- bethtown have received this name. Neither have been worked to any extent, but they are esteemed good deposits of ore. Mitchell bed is on lot No. 116, Iron Ore tract, and was discovered about 1830. It was partially opened by Eliab Mitchell. The ore is very similar in its qualities to the ore of the Burt bed. The property is owned by the Essex and Lake Champlain Ore and Iron Company.
Buck and Noble Beds. These beds are situated upon lots Nos. 109 and 110 Iron Ore tract, and near the boundary line between Elizabethtown and Moriah. Lot No. 109 is owned by the heirs of Hiram Buck, and No. 110 by the heirs of Henry R. Noble. The deposit was discovered in 1865. It has been sufficiently worked to disclose the existence of a great body of ore, with the most promising evidences of superior qualities. The ore does not require separating, but pounding in the machine prepares it for the forge. The bed on 109 is opened about forty feet in length with an average depth of about twenty feet.
Thompson Shaft. On lot No. 48, Iron Ore tract, and about eight rods from the M. T. Smith shaft on lot No. 47 in Moriah. This mine has been recently opened. A shaft has been sunk one hundred and thirty feet, and about twenty- five tons of ore are raised daily by horse power. The ore is similar to that of the adjoining Smith shaft. The bed is owned by W. Thompson, M. T. Smith and others.
411
NATURAL HISTORY.
On lot No. 127, North River Head tract, a vein was dis- covered in 1854. Partially developed it presents a view of about ten feet in thickness of ore suitable for the furnace.
WESTPORT.
The Campbell Bed, now more generally designated the Norway Bed, was opened between the years 1845 and 1850, and lies on lots Nos. 166 and 168, Iron Ore tract. It was worked by Mr. Henry J. Campbell and Whallon & Judd, in 1852 and 1853. Several hundred tons of the ore during that period were manufactured by Whallon & Judd. It has established a reputation as a first class forge ore, very similar in its qualities to the Burt and Fisher hill ores. The ore is lean. The strongest indications exist, that this mine embraces a vast deposit of superior ore. The proprietors of the property are Hon. A. C. Hand, R. Remington and the Kingdom Iron Company of Lake Champlain. A road is now in process of construction to connect the Norway Bed with Lake Champlain at the village of Westport.
The Merriam Bed is situated on lot No. 165, in the Iron Ore tract, about five miles from Westport. It was opened by Messrs. W. P. & P. D. Merriam in 1867. Two other distinct veins are disclosed on the same lot, which have not been developed to any extent. The opening which has been partially worked, exhibits a vein of five feet of very pure ore, from eighteen to twenty feet in width. One shaft has been sunk to the depth of twenty-five feet. This ore, it is claimed, yields more than sixty per cent of sepa- rated ore. It is neutral in its qualities, and produces in a forge good iron. It has been successfully used in the forge of the owners, since the bed was opened. The train road of the Norway Company, will, when completed, approach to within forty rods of this bed.
Jackson's Bed. Some years since a bed was opened in Westport, by Mr. F. H. Jackson and slightly worked. He used the ore to some extent in the Sisco furnace but re- cently it has not been operated.
412
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
ESSEX AND WILLSBORO'.
The evidences of iron ore existing in both of these towns are copious, but no large beds have been distinctly revealed. A deposit is now being opened by Messrs. Nichols, Lynde & Ross, about four miles south of the village of Essex and near Split rock, and another, about a mile distant from this, known as the Hill bed, by an Albany company.
Numerous veins of iron ore have been found in Chester- field, Keene, Jay, St. Armands and Wilmington. The appearance of most of these indicate, that when fully de- veloped, they will prove extensive and valuable. I exa- mined in North Elba, several large deposits, apparently of a high grade of ore. These were strangely overlooked, when the original beds owned by the Elba Company were abandoned, and it was judged necessary to export the raw material from the Arnold bed. Beds of hematite iron ore are found in the various sections of the county. Deposits of iron ore pervade almost every section of the county, and to such a degree, as to often embarrass the operations of the surveyor, in the use of ordinary instruments. I have been able to exhibit a mere outline of the incomputable wealth embraced in the iron mines of the region. The past history and progress of these mines sustain the con- viction, that deposits of ore remain unrevealed of equal magnitude and of as high properties as those already dis- covered. Those known to exist can only be regarded as the types and harbingers of the infinite treasures still hid- den in the mountains, and beneath the soil of northern New York. These vast storehouses of private and national wealth will be unlocked when the demands of business and facilities of intercourse shall stimulate the application of enterprise and capital.
The Palmer Bed. This mine, remarkable even in this region for its magnitude and the quality of the ore, lies in the town of Black Brook, Clinton county, on Lot No. 15, in the eighth division of Livingstone's patent, and
413
NATURAL HISTORY.
within a short distance of the Essex county line. It is situated nearly equidistant between the works of Messrs. J. & J. Rogers, at Black Brook, and those at Au Sable Forks, and about three miles from the depot of the White- hall and Plattsburgh rail road. Its site is upon a bleak and rocky eminence, that reveals no evidence of the vast wealth it embraces. This bed was discovered by Zepha- niah Palmer, near the year 1820, both from indications on the surface, and the attraction of the magnet, but was not efficiently worked until 1833. For a period, the title was disturbed by a severe legal controversy ; but these have long since been adjusted, and the unquestioned ownership of the property is now held by the Messrs. Rogers, and the Peru Steel and Iron Company ; five-eighths belonging to the former, and the balance to the latter. The average yield of this mine, during the last six years, has exceeded twenty thousand tons of raw ore to the Messrs. Rogers, and from twelve thousand to fourteen thousand tons to the other proprietors. Nearly the whole of this large aggregate is consumed by the owners of the bed in their own works, leaving at present none for exportation. This ore has been used principally in forges. It is a lean and magnetic ore, and almost uniformly requires sepa- rating.
The long term of years in which the Palmer bed has been worked, has produced excavations that form a large area, but without exhibiting the slightest appearance of exhaustion in the affluent material. The working breasts of ore are reached by a number of distinct shafts or pits ; the lowest of which has descended to a depth of eight hun- dred feet. A map of the premises, which has been oblig- ingly furnished me by Mr. Graves, exhibits the hill as literally honeycombed by these various openings. The ore is raised from these pits by steam power. About one hundred and fifty laborers are employed on the Rogers section of the bed alone. I refer in other places to this interesting locality, its labor and system of operations.
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