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 37
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Elba. Iron Works. About the year 1809, Archibald Mc- Intire and his associates erected iron works upon a small stream among the head waters of the Au Sable river, and in a remote section of the county, comprised within the limits of the present town of North Elba. It was a forge of four to six fires, and designated the Elba Iron works. The ore used at the commencement was found in that region, but proving impracticable, was abandoned, and the works were afterwards supplied by ore transported from the Arnold bed in Clinton county, a distance of many miles, over roads only passable on snow. The products of the forge were exported both to the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain, but by routes laborious and expensive.
1 Letter of late Levi Highbey. 2 Goodhue's Shoreham.
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
The business for a series of years was eminently prosper- ous. The works, however, proved too remote from market, and ineligibly situated for enduring success, and in the year 1815 were abandoned. A decayed dam, and frag- ments of broken wheels and shafts, and similar vestiges, are the only memorials of their former existence. In the meanwhile other forges were gradually appearing in the region, and when, in 1820, the Champlain canal had been constructed, the iron interest rapidly expanded, and at once exhibited in the increase of its varied works, an earnest of its approaching prosperity and importance. The valley of the Au Sable river was early distinguished as the promi- nent seat of the iron manufactories, and it still maintains that preeminence.
AU SABLE VALLEY.
Wilmington. Some years after the Elba works had been abandoned, the Hon. Reuben Sanford, who occupied several political positions of prominence in the state, created an extensive manufacturing establishment in Wilmington, on the west branch of the Au Sable river and about twelve miles from Au Sable Forks. Severe changes in the fluctuations of business and serious calamities inflicted by the elements impaired his affairs, and the property passed into the proprietorship of others. It has since experienced many vicissitudes. The site is now occupied by a grist mill and starch factory; a saw-mill with three gates and running about forty saws, and a forge owned by Weston & Nye, with two fires but adapted to four. In 1868, about two hundred tons of iron were made at this forge. It con- sumes charcoal and produces bloom iron. At present it uses the Palmer Hill ore, drawn about thirteen miles, but a bed is now in process of opening, it is represented, with favorable indications in the extent and quantity of the ore. At the village of Bloomingdale, in the adjacent town of St. Armands, and upon a tributary of the Saranac there is at present in operation, a starch factory, and a grist and saw-mill.
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INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES.
Lower Jay Village. Upon the south branch of the Au Sable several mills and factories are in operating, but all of subordinate importance except upon this site. At this place extensive works were erected in 1809. While in the possession of Messrs. G. A. Purmort & Co., they included a grist and saw mill and forge with other minor workshops. These gentlemen suffered severe reverses, and in 1864, the property was purchased by Messrs. J. & J. Rogers. It is at this time embraced within their vast manufacturing domain. The establishment conspires a forge which has recently been rebuilt with six fires, one hammer of five tons, and four horizontal cylinders with various other mechanical works. All are impelled by water power. A brick yard is connected with the property that produced the past year four hundred thousand bricks, which were exclusively used in the business of the firm. The forge consumes charcoal burnt in close kilns, and is supplied with ore from the Palmer Hill mine. Since its construction, the forge is considered a work of the first class.
Au Sable Forks. The West and South Branch unite at this place and form distinctively, the Au Sable river. Each stream presents at this point a valuable water power of nearly equal volume. The premises which include these sites were originally owned by Zephaniah Palmer. Messrs. Burts & Vanderwarker became owners of the pro- perty in 1825 and erected a saw-mill with two gates. About the year 1828, this company in connection with Keese, Lapham & Co., with which Caleb & Barton was associated, built a forge of four fires. The forge was chiefly supplied with ore from the Arnold bed, and in part from Palmer hill. Nearly at this time, another saw-mill was erected; and soon after, the association sold out to a stock company, which was organized in 1834 under the name of the Sable Iron Company, and repre- sented by Reuben Sanford, Arden Barker, James Rogers, John Fitzgerald, Richard H. Peabody, Robert B. Hazard, and Calvin Cook, as trustees. The ensuing year, the works were carried on for the company under the agency
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
of John Woodman. In 1836, operations were suspended, and in 1837, the entire property was purchased by Messrs. J. & J. Rogers. The corporate name, for many purposes, is still retained, although the title and exclusive interest is now owned by the Messrs. Rogers. Immediately after these gentlemen had acquired the property, they pursued the most efficient measures to enlarge and improve the works. On the West Branch, a short distance above the confluence of the two streams, a heavy dam has been built. which is thoroughly protected from freshets and ice by strong bulwarks. A forge was erected on this dam in 1848 upon the site of one which had been consumed, and is the only important structure at this place situated on the West Branch. This forge contains four fires, one hammer of five tons and three horizontal oscillating cylinders, thirty-one inches diameter and forty inches stroke. On the south bank of the South Branch and on a peninsula formed by it and the main stream most of the prominent works are located. The rolling mill was built in 1834. It has two trains, three heating furnaces, two engines, and one water wheel. The nail factory contains forty-eight machines, with a capacity of producing eighty thousand kegs of nails and spikes annually. The motive power of the rolling mill is created by water taken from the forge pond on the West Branch, and conducted to the mill by a wooden tube or aqueduct five and a half feet in diameter and ninety rods in length. This aqueduct is carried over the South Branch upon a bridge one hundred and fifty feet long, and eleven feet above the water. A carpenter shop, and stave machinery, are driven by escape water from the forge wheels. These works include all the necessary machinery for preparing the material for making nail kegs. The timber is sawed the appropriate length, the staves as per- fectly formed and grooved; the heading is cut out and ad- justed in form, and nothing remains for the exercise of manual labor, but to put the different parts together. A wheelwright shop is also attached to this range of build- ings. A circular saw forty-eight inches, with a carriage
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fifty feet long and capable of greater expansion is driven by an overshot wheel. The boilers attached to the engines are chiefly heated by breese (the screenings of the coal), shavings and chips. In the connection may be noticed, an improved and most effective method of economizing fuel. Between the fires and boilers, iron bars, not unlike a grid- iron in form, are arranged, and upon these are placed nail plates, and thus the same fires heat both the boilers and the plates. The rolling mill is now in the most perfect and efficient condition. The cupola furnace and foundery which stands in immediate proximity to the rolling mill are mainly if not exclusively employed in fabricating cast- ings, constantly required by the various departments of the business of the concern. It consumes scrap iron and pigs brought from distant furnaces, and possesses a capacity equal to the casting of articles of five tons weight in a single process.
Another division of this immense business is located on Black brook, a tributary of the Au Sable, and is situated in Clinton county about four miles from Au Sable Forks, and a mile and a half north of the Essex county line. Although separated in location from the works at the Forks, by motives of expediency and convenience, those at Lower Jay and Black Brook are in effect a part of the same establishment, as much as if connected with it by contiguous position. The interests are identical ; all their operations are inspired by the same intelligent spirit and guided by the same enlarged business capacities. Each branch and all their varied departments, move in their re- spective orbits in perfect system and undisturbed harmony. Mr. James Rogers is the resident partner and manager at Au Sable Forks, while Mr. John Rogers, residing at Black Brook, exercises the immediate supervision of the division located at that place. Messrs. Henry D. Graves and Halsey Rogers are the efficient assistant managers at the Forks, and E. Fairbank at Jay.
The works at Black Brook are situated on two sites, about one-fourth mile apart, and designated, the Upper and
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
Lower village. At the former, the Hon. Halsey Rogers of Saratoga, John McIntire and William McDonald in 1830, erected a saw mill and other structures. In 1832, Messrs. Mc- Intire built a forge of two fires which they run until 1835. Messrs. J. & J. Rogers, in company with the Hon. Halsey Rogers and Mr. Thomas Rogers, now of Dubuque, Iowa, as part owners, in 1832 cominenced business at the Lower village. In the year 1835, Messrs. J. & J. Rogers became sole proprietors of both the forges at Black Brook, and soon after one-third owners of the saw-mill and the lands connected with it. Nearly at this time John McGregor purchased the one-third interest of Mr. McDonald in the saw-mill property, and resided on the premises about twenty years. John McIntire soon after sold his one-third of the property to Caleb D. Barton, who after holding it a few years conveyed his interest to Henry Martin. He, after occupying it a short term, sold to Messrs J. & J. Rogers, who subsequently bought the part owned by Mr. McGregor. These transactions occurred between the years 1853 and 1846 and invested Messrs. Rogers with the title of the whole property. In 1832, the six forge fires operating at Black Brook produced six tons of blooms per week; at present ten fires at the same place yield seventy-five tons in the same period. Such has been the amazing progress of manufacturing skill and science. The Messrs. Rogers estimate that one thousand bushels of good coal will now make three tons of iron. Two saw mills are running at Black Brook; one containing two gangs, and the other a single gang, with a circular saw in each mill. These mills cut from one hundred thousand to two hundred thou- sand pieces of boards annually. These are partly consumed in the various operations of the concern, and the residue, formerly transperted by plank road to Port Kent for ex- portation. A shingle mill is now completed at Black Brook village.
The forge fires embraced in the different works of the Messrs. Rogers amount in the aggregate to twenty-two fires, and yield an average of one ton each per day. The
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INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES.
concern owns forty-three covered kilns for making char- coal, and burn in them every variety of wood. They use charcoal exclusively in their works, except in the process of heating blooms for rolling mills in which they employ Pennsylvania coal. The iron business of the Messrs. Rogers embraces such proportions, and is arranged with so much system and efficiency, that they are prepared for almost every exigency of the market. When nails and bars are the most desirable fabrics, a large proportion of their blooms are rolled, but if blooms occupy a higher place in market, nails and bars become with them a subordinate production. The end chunks, cut from the blooms, are rolled into bars and nail plates. Their nail factory when in full operation presents a spectacle of the greatest animation and interest.
The bloomeries of the Messrs. Rogers are known in trade as Peru iron. Their blooms are chiefly sent to Pittsburg, Penn., and there made into cast steel, which it is asserted, is equal to any made on this continent or in Europe. It is confidently believed by its manufacturers, that American cast steel may soon become an important article of exportation. The ore used in the works of the Messrs. Rogers is derived wholly from the Palmer mine, and they calculate that four tons of this ore in a native condition, or from two to two and a quarter tons of sepa- rated ore, will produce a ton of iron. It is considered that the Palmer ore possesses qualities which peculiarly adapt it to the fabrication of steel. The company have two separators on Palmer brook, and another building near the ore bed, and one also at the Forks. The opera- tions of this concern in their diversified forms and singular ramifications transcend in magnitude most business trans- actions in northern New York, and in all their proportions can scarcely be excelled by any private interest in the state. The Messrs. Rogers possess a landed estate exceed- ing fifty thousand acres, and this enormous territory is maintained principally to secure an inexhaustible supply of fuel for their works. This domain furnishes nearly
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
every raw material they require in their varied operations. Their interest in the Palmer hill mine secures all the ore they consume; their boundless forests afford wood for the kilns and timber for the saw mills. They own a limestone quarry near the works at Black Brook, of the choicest quality, at which for their own use they burn annually about five thousand bushels of lime. They possess clay beds, where all the brick they need is produced. The immense amount of agricultural commodities they yearly consume, alone exceeds their capacity for producing. The moulding sand used in the foundery they procure from the bed of Mr. Mace, on the bank of the river above Keeseville, although they own a large deposit of the material.
A single fact will illustrate the great and diversified resources of this company. They have recently erected a large and elegant edifice, appropriated to their own use, for a store, warerooms and offices. They have also an extensive store at Black Brook and another at Jay. The building at the Forks is constructed chiefly of brick and iron, and is one hundred and eight feet in height, and fifty-eight feet wide, and stands three stories high -two of thirteen feet and the other of fifteen feet in height, above the basement. The latter is sufficiently high and capacious to allow teams to drive in and unload. The edifice is situated at the Au Sable Forks, and placed in a locality so secluded, is an object that excites alike surprise and admiration. But we are impressed by greater astonish- ment, when we learn that nearly every article, which entered into its construction, was produced from the pre- mises of the proprietors. The glass, the paints and oil and trimmings were purchased. The felt and cement for the roof were not embraced in their resources, but the gravel to cover it was procured within a mile of the build- ing. The brick was burnt from clay found on their own soil; the nails were made from ore taken from their own mines, and the massive castings which adorn and strengthen the building were fabricated in their workshops; the lum-
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INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES.
ber was felled in their forests and cut at their own mills. In their ardor for the realization of the idea, that this work should be accomplished from their own resources, the Messrs. Rogers utilized the black ash, a denizen of the of swamps, usually deemed of no consideration, and even little value for fuel. This wood has been discovered to be a beautiful building material, and it now decorates their rooms in exquisite panel work and columns. Its dark grain presents richly variegated shades in strong, deep coloring, with a peculiarly soft and rich surface. Is there any other business institution in the country capable of achieving a triumph like this ?
That so much energy and enterprise has met with ade- quate success, seems to be attested by the fact, that the aggregate revenue returns of the different partners, has amounted to more than $200,000 in a single year. The gross sales at Au Sable Forks and Jay, in the year 1867, amounted to $748,837.59. The company has paid internal revenue tax from 1863 to Dec. 1, 1868, $82,541.97.
The course of these gentlemen have not been uniformly prosperous, or exempt from the vicissitudes of human affairs. In 1856 a freshet of unexampled severity occurred in the South Branch, and in the ensuing year another with almost equal violence devastated the West Branch. By each of these the Messrs. Rogers lost about $25,000. They have also suffered severely from fires, particularly in 1864, when their loss, including insurance, amounted to $90,000.
In noticing the affairs of Messrs. Rogers, it is necessary to state that the ore used in their various works annually, is estimated at 23,210 tons delivered at the separating machine, and 9,716 tons drawn from it, and the charcoal consumed at 1,440,000 bushels. Au Sable Forks and Black Brook are connected with Lake Champlain at Port Kent, by a plank road. The former is situated seventeen miles, and the latter four miles farther from the lake. Jay is six miles from the Forks by an earth road. The Plattsburg and Whitehall rail road, which is now in running order from Plattsburg to the Point of Rocks on
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HISTORY OF ESSEX, COUNTY.
the Au Sable, a distance of twenty miles, has a depot within three miles of Au Sable Forks.
Clintonville. The great water power formed by the Au Sable river at Clintonville, and situated about six miles above Keeseville, was occupied by forges early in the first quarter of the century. The property passed into the possession of a company of southern capitalists, incorpo- rated under the name of the Peru Iron Company, with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars. Joshua Aiken was the first agent of this company. They established, at an early period, one of the most extended and successful iron works in the state. Nearly fifty years ago their establish- ment consisted of a forge of eighteen fires, which manu- factured from two to three thousand tons of iron annually ; a rolling mill, from which was produced yearly, eighteen hundred tons of marked iron and nail plates. A nail factory which fabricated twelve hundred tons of cut nails ; a chain cable factory, a pocket furnace, machine shop, and grist mill, all of which belong to the company. The fabrics of these works established a high reputation, and were quoted specifically in the prices current of that period. Their peculiar and superior qualities were essentially imparted by the remarkable properties of the ores from which these fabrics were produced. The ore was derived partially, and at an early day, from two small beds in the vicinity, known as the Winter and Finch veins; but sub- sequently, the works used exclusively, ore taken from the Palmer bed and Arnold Hill mine, but particularly from the latter. This extraordinary deposit of ore was at that time, esteemed superior to any known to exist in the country, alike in its magnitude and the excellence of its qualities. It is situated on lots Nos. 199 and 200. Maule's patent was discovered in the year 1805, and purchased from Elisha Winter in 1806, for eight hundred dollars, by Elisha Arnold and associates. The mine was occupied by four main veins, from three to eight feet in width, running parallel to each other, but varying decidedly in the character and ingredients of the ore. The most ex-
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INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES.
tensive and valuable of these veins was designated the. Old blue vein, and has been worked to a depth of more than three hundred feet. The ore from this vein first imparted to the Peru iron the high reputation it has always maintained. The blue ore vein preserves an ave- rage width of four to five feet, sometimes compressed to two feet, and again expanding to eight. The properties of these ores, the great abundance of the deposits, and the unlimited demand for their consumption, have rendered this mine a source of great affluence, and several fortunes have been realized from it. It has been abandoned for many years for practical operation. The shaft became filled with water, and the machinery deranged and decay- ing. These circumstances may, to some extent, be attri- buted to special causes, but directly to the vast expenditure incident to excavating and raising the ore from the great depth to which the operations had penetrated; the depres- sion and fluctuations of the iron business, and the enhanced cost and difficulty of transporting the crude material to market. The mine has now passed into the hands of iron manufacturers of Pennsylvania, and is approached to the base of the eminence it occupies, by a rail road. The rea- sonable hope may be cherished that this immense fountain of public and private wealth will be returned to its former importance, where business shall resume its secure and defined channel.
The property at Clintonville has been subjected to many vicissitudes and numerous changes in interests. At one period it was owned by Francis Saltus and subsequently by his son, but the works are now in extensive and success- ful operation, controlled by proprietors of wealth and enterprise who in April, 1865, were chartered under the name of the Peru Steel and Iron Company, with a capital of eight hundred thousand dollars. Charles Bliven, Esquire, of New York, is president of the corporation, and John L. M. Taylor, vice president, and the efficient and judicious general manager of its affairs at Clintonville. The pro- ducts manufactured have been modified under the present
29
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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
name and management of the company, and are now essen- tially restricted to one branch; the fabrication of rolled and billot iron calculated for making cast steel. The ore used now is exclusively excavated from the Palmer hill bed, in which property this company holds a title to three- eighths interest. The elements of this ore, it is considered, peculiarly adapt the iron made from it for the production of steel. The motive power of these works, which occupy more than a mile in length along the northern bank of the river, is created by two dams. The works consisting of forges were originally situated on the opposite side of the river. The upper of these dams rests upon a rocky found- ation, and is a firm and ponderous structure nearly ver- tical in form and crescent-shaped, and designed to resist all freshets. The lower dam exhibits an unusual formation. It is built upon a sandy bottom, and to render it secure from the frequent floods which are peculiar to the stream and from the pressure of the ice often borne down by the current with immense force, a broad base is required. The dam is therefore constructed with two faces, presenting a front in each direction and at a small angle. By this arrangement a broad and effective foundation is attained, and a perpendicular pressure of the water secured which combine to support and strengthen the structure. The plan has proved eminently successful.
At the upper dam there is erected a saw mill, grist mill, rolling mill and a forge of four fires ; also a nail factory which formerly contained forty nail machines. The nail manufacture was abandoned by the Peru Iron Company, one of the former proprietors of these works in 1856-57, from the fact, that the superior quality of their iron ren- dered it more profitable to be sold in market as iron, than when wrought into nails. The forge and rolling mill are under the same roof. The four fires yield at the rate of twenty-four tons of bloomery iron per week, and with the escape heat from these fires, from fourteen to sixteen tons of iron are heated for rolling every twenty-four hours. The furnaces which are heated by the escape heat are
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called gas furnaces. Each one of these is attached to two of the forge fires. There are also two coal furnaces, for heating iron for rolling, in which bituminous coal is used. Experience has proved that the gas furnaces are the most economical, and for several years the coal furnaces have been almost abandoned. The rolling mill has three trains for rolling iron. The largest is a sixteen inch train, capable of rolling iron 12 X 3 to 4 X 1 inch iron. Rounds and squares from 1} to 3 inch, and also wide band iron. The next in size is a ten-inch train, from which are rolled HI. S. Strapes. Rounds and squares from 2 to 12, small bands and small tires. The smallest of those trains is used exclusively for rolling rounds and squares from } to 1 % of an inch.
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