USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume IV > Part 3
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heard the old settlers talking about, as they sipped their liot sling on a winter's evening in the old Fell tavern, in the year of our Lord 1800.
"But the old tavern had other attractions. The upper floor was so constructed that the whole space could be transformed into a ball room, and here, during the sessions of court and on other grand occasions, the girls and the matrons as well as the men paced through the stately minuet or threaded the maze of the cotillion, and during many a festive night 'soft eyes looked love to eyes which spoke again and all went merry as a marriage bell.' I have in my possession a diary kept, as was the fashion by the young ladies of that day, apparently for the double purpose of a confessional and conscience-prodder, and as an abstract of the time, also, in which the writer describes a ball on the evening of St. John's Day, at the Fell tavern, in the year 1803. That the hilarity of the occasion was somehow overdone, may be fairly inferred from the statement that 'some of the gentlemen on the floor might better have been in their beds.'
"In the main room of this tavern, Jesse Fell, on the 11th, February, 1808, first tried the experiment of burning anthracite coal in a common grate. It is not claimed as is sometimes erroneously stated, that this was the first use of our coal as a heat producer. It had been for several years employed by blacksmiths in their shops, where, by means of the draft from the bellows, it had been easily ignited and made to burn. And while there were.earlier experiments in the use of Anthracite coal as a fuel for domestic purposes, there is no satisfactory evidence that it had come into common use as a house fuel, or had superseded the use of wood for that purpose, until the discovery made by Fell.
"By a coincidence which, in view of subsequent events, may be regarded as noteworthy, it so happened that on the 11th day of February, 1858, exactly fifty years later, four men were riding together in a carriage on a road leading to this city. One of thein, James P. Dennis, a grandson of Jesse Fell, had upon that day, by a mere accident, taken up this 'Illustration of Masonry' and examined its contents, but without any particular reference to the entry on the fly leaf to which I have referred. Being interrupted, he had put the book in his pocket, and while driving produced it, and called attention to the entry. While this was being examined, it suddenly occurred to one man of the party, that it was the exact fiftieth anniversary day of the event. It was at once resolved that something should be done to commemorate the occasion. A meeting of a number of the prominent gentlemen of the town was called for that evening, at the Old Fell tavern, which was still a public house. An old grate was procured-said to have been the original one, but for this I do not vouch-and set up in the ancient fireplace. A fire was built, and around it'gathered a number of young antiquarians, all inspired with the thought that they were assembled in the very room, and about the very hearthstone, where anthracite coal had been first burned as a fuel. It would be neither possible nor perhaps profitable, to recall all that was said and done, but you will be interested in knowing that it was at this meeting, thus hastily convened, that a plan of permanent organization was adopted, which became the foundation of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. Of the four men who were driving together upon that day, the present speaker was one, and of the four is now the sole survivor. The others were Henry M. Hoyt, J. Butler Conyngham, and James P. Dennis. The proceedings of the meeting at the old tavern were carefully preserved, and are now spread in full upon the records of this Society."
It is difficult to imagine by what roundabout methods the human mind sometimes approaches a simple task.
The use of anthracite for domestic purposes had long been a matter of discussion. Various were the suggestions made. The Gores having demonstrated that it would burn on a smith's hearth with an air blast, ingenious devices were contrived to supplant the needed blast for the home fires. Clock work machinery, driven by a weight or spring was the suggestion from one source. An air tube, coming up through the hearth underneath the grate, was an idea emanating from another budding genius. Complicated contrivances of all sorts for supply- ing forced draughts were in the minds of many.
To Judge Fell, the idea of a natural air current, set in motion by heat from the fire itself, seemed worth trying.
In a lecture on "Mineral Coal" delivered by Volney L. Maxwell, Esq., read at Institute Hall, Wilkes-Barré, on the fiftieth anniversary of Judge Fell's experiment (reprinted in Vol. XVII:95, Proceedings of the Wyoming Histor- ical and Geological Society) the speaker asserted that, on authority of some of those who saw the experiment, the original grate used was fashioned from green hickory in order to test the Judge's ideas. This state- ment is at variance with that of other writers on the subject who assert that the Judge, being a practical blacksmith himself, would naturally think in terms of substantial iron rather than in the most artful contrivance of
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wood. According to the Johnson narrative* the Judge made at least one private ex- periment before he invited an incredulous public to view the results of his efforts.
Still another account of a private experiment came in the form of a letter to the Society from Col. John Miner Carey Marble, of Los Angeles, California, dated July 15, 1903, which purports to give the recollections of David Thomas,t an eye witness to the event. According to the Thomp- son version, as narrated in the let- ter, a preliminary trial of the Judge's ideas was demonstrated in a grate constructed by laying "some pieces of iron about two feet long upon the andirons, which were placed against the chimney wall. They then laid brick flat on the end of the irons and laid iron on the brick in front four inches high."
Whatever contrivances were used in these preliminary experiments, eye witnesses and others concur in the assertion that when the Judge was fully satisfied that the time had arrived for a public demonstration, he helped fashion an iron grate of his own design in the nearby blacksmith shop of his nephew, Edward Fell. JUDGE JESSE FELL From a Silhouette-the only likeness of Judge Fell in existence Setting the grate with brick in the bar- room of the tavern, the Judge issued invitations to his rather dubious and amused friends, that a coal fire would add to the conviviality of a gathering on the following evening. A majority of ac- counts of the experiment quote the entry made by the Judge on the fly leaves of a valued book "The Free Mason's Monitor" (now in possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society) which reads as follows:
"February 11th, of Masonry 5808. Made the experiment of burning the common stone coal of the valley in a grate, in a common fireplace in my house, and find it will answer the purpose of fuel, making a clearer and better fire, at less expense, than burning wood in the common way. "February 11th, 1808.
JESSE FELL.'
Few early historians, however, were acquainted with a letter, describing the experiment in detail, which was written by the Judge, in 1826, to his cousin,
*The following information, known as the "Johnson Account," wasfurnished the Wyoming Historical and Geo- graphical Society on January 18, 1912, by Jesse T Morgan of Wilkes-Barré:
"Regarding Solomon Johnson who assisted Judge Fell in the first burning of Anthracite coal for domestic purposes. He was a son-in-law of Judge Fell. a blacksmith by trade. While working in the blacksmith shop of Judge Fell, where they were burning Anthracite coal in the forge, they frequently discussed the use of Anthracite for domestic purposes and determined upon a trial which was made in that portion of Judge Fell's house known as the wash room. They put up the grate, filled it with coal placing the kindling on top, which then was the custom in igniting charcoal. They worked with bellows until they became discouraged, and then piled lots of kindling on top the coal and left the room. Sometime afterward it was noticed through the windows that the room was all aglow, whereupon opening the door they observed the glory of the first grate of burning Anthracite coal.
"Nancy Johnson from whom this narrative was taken, was the only issue of Solomon Johnson and Judge Fell's daughter. She lived with Judge Fell at the time of the incident and remembered distinctly the details of the burning. which she related to me at times when she was impressive and I receptive.
"Nancy Johnson married Jacob Hann, with whom she lived at Huntington Mills, Luzerne County. He was a black- smith who, prior to marriage, made his home with Judge Fell."
tDavid Thompson was an early resident of Wyoming. He was Postmaster of Nanticoke in 1830. and Justice in 1840; married Susan Taylor, and was the father of Dr. William Thompson of Luzerne, Surgeon 133d, 42d and 198th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1862-1865.
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Jonathan Fell, Treasurer of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and read February 21, 1827, before the Council of Pennsylvania Historical Society, in whose possession the original now remains. The letter follows:
"Esteemed Cousin :
"Wilkes-Barre, Dec. Ist, 1826."
"When I saw thee last I believe I promised to write thee and give some data about the first discovery and use of the Stone Coal in our valley. (I call it stone coal because everybody knows what is meant by that name.)
"The late Judge Gore in his lifetime informed me that he and his brother, the late Capt. Daniel Gore (both being blacksmiths), were the first that discovered and used this coal in their blacksmith's fires, and found it to answer their purpose well. This was before the Revolutionary War, and as near as I can collect the information, about the year 1770 or 1771, and it has been in use ever since by blacksmiths of the place.
"In the year 1787, I used it in a nailery, and found it to be profitable in that business. The nails made with it would net the weight of the rods and frequently a balance over. But it was the opinion of those that worked it in their furnaces that it would not do for fuel, because when a small parcel was left on their fires and not blown, it would go out.
"Notwithstanding this opinion prevailed, I had for some time entertained the idea that if a sufficient body of it was ignited, it would burn. Accordingly, in the month of February, 1808, I procured a grate made of sınall iron rods, ten inches in depth and ten inches in height, and set it up in my common room fireplace, and on first lighting, I found it to burn excellently well.
"This was the first successful attempt to burn our stone coal in a grate, so far as my know- ledge extends.
"On its being put in operation my neighbors flocked to see the novelty, but many would not believe the fact until convinced by ocular demonstration.
"Such was the effect of this pleasing discovery that in a few days there were a number of grates put in operation. This brought the stone coal into popular notice.
"I need not mention the many uses to which it may be applied, as you who are in the coal concern have the means of knowing its value.
"I find we have various qualities of coal, but our best specimens are said to be superior to any yet known, and we have it in sufficient quantity to supply the world.
"Here it is-but the best way of getting it to market is yet to be discovered. The market at present is down the Susquehanna River, but great improvements must be made in the river ere it can be a safe and sure conveyance. Looking forward, Wilkes-Barre is but eleven miles from Lehigh below the junction of all the creeks you pass from Pokono to Wilkes-Barre mountain. This I suppose is known and I believe the principal transport of our coal will in time pass down the Lehigh; but this I do not expect to live to see.
"I am thy affectionate cousin.
Upon the visit of Prof. Benjamin Silliman, of Yale College, to Wilkes-Barré, in 1829, the dis- tinguished scientist obtained an interview with Judge Fell, the substance of which was printed in Silliman's Journal, Vol. VIII, July, 1830, as follows:
Helge Fell
"There has been some inquiry as to whom and by whom this coal was first used. The late Judge Obadiah Gore, a blacksmith by trade, came into this valley as a Connecticut settler, at an early day, and he himself informed me that he was the first person that used the coal of this region in a blacksmith's fire; it was about the year 1768 or 1769. He found it to answer well for this purpose, and the blacksmiths of this place (Wilkes-barre) have used it in their forges ever since. I find no older tradition of its being used in a fire than the above account. About forty-two years ago I had it used in a nailery; I found it to answer well for making wrought nails, and instead of losing in the weight of the rods, the nails exceeded the weight of the rods, which was not the case when they were wrought in a charcoal fire. There is another advantage in working with this coal-the heat being superior to that of any other fire; the iron is sooner heated, and I believe a blacksmith may do at least one-third more work in a day than he could do with a charcoal fire.
"From observation I had conceived an idea that if a body of this coal was ignited and con- fined together, it would burn as a fuel. To try the experiment, in the month of February, 1808, I had a grate constructed for the purpose, eight inches in depth and eight inches in height, with feet eight inches high, and about twenty-two inches long, (the length is immaterial, as that may be regulated to suit its length or convenience) and the coal, after being ignited in it, burned beyond the most sanguine expectation. A more beautiful fire could not be imagined, it being clear and without sinoke. This was the first instance of success, in burning this coal in a grate, in a common fireplace, of which I have any knowledge; and this experiment first brought our coal into use for winter fires, (without any patent right.)
"When, how, or of what matter it (coal) was formed I do not know and do not ever expect to know, but its usefulness we do know and appreciate, still believing its use to be as yet only in its infancy."
As to whether the experimental iron grate used by Judge Fell is still in existence and, if so, who owns it, have been matters of controversy for nearly
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a century. It will be noted from the Silliman interview that Judge Fell speci- fically described the dimensions of the grate he used. It is an easy matter to eliminate the hickory grate of the Maxwell narrative and the bar and brick grate mentioned in the Marble letter. But still others contend for the honor. When the four founders of the present Wyoming Historical and Geological Society so fortuitously assembled in the tap room of the Old Fell Tavern to commem- orate the fiftieth anniversary of the experiment, there was no grate in the then yawning fireplace. Judge Stanley Woodward, in mentioning the occasion, stated that "an old grate was procured, said to have been the original one, but for this I do not vouell."
OLD FELL TAVERN ROOM AND GRATE
From a drawing in possession of Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.
His recollection of the celebration is amply substantiated by Mrs. B. G. Carpenter, a granddaughter of Judge Fell, who, in 1907, shortly before lier death, made record of the fact that Capt. James P. Dennis called at her house on February 11, 1858, and asked her the loan of a grate to temporarily install in the fireplace. She further stated that the grate loaned by her for the occasion was one that had come from the old tavern and had long been used in a bedroom of her home, but, being then considered unsafe, had been removed and a modern grate installed. The whereabouts of this grate are at present unknown.
William Penn Miner, who acted as Secretary of the gathering held in 1858, corroborates Mrs. Carpenter in stating that the borrowed grate was one used by Judge Fell, and also narrates that Josiah Lewis at that time claimed to liave the Simon pure grate used by the Judge. Descendants of Mr. Lewis however, know nothing of the existence of any such grate.
From these circumstances, both the Carpenter and Lewis grates seem to be out of the running insofar as present interest is concerned.
The grate at present walled into a part of the old Fell Tavern chimney, fortunately preserved when the present structure was erected, in 1893, at the corner of Northampton and Washington streets, has a peculiar history.
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No grate at all was there in 1848. Again in 1878, no grate was found, when it was determined to hold another meeting in the then standing Tavern, during the celebration of the centenary of the Battle of Wyoming.
Capt. Calvin Parsons loaned an old grate in his possession upon that occa- sion in order to provide the customary coal fire for this gathering. Shortly there- after, Captain Parsons sought to have the grate returned to him but the landlord refused, claiming that it was the original Fell grate and belonged there. As Captain Parsons never made claim to its being a grate even used by Judge Fell. but was one made for his own home, the present Fell House grate is therefore dismissed as having any claim to historic honors.
This leaves a final claimant to be disposed of. It is known as the Kiernan or Eich grate and is now in possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, an illustration of which is here shown. In the Wilkes-Barre Advocate of February 14, 1858, the following letter was published indi- cative of the history of this commonly accep- ted representative of one of the grates used by Judge Fell:
"From the granddaughter of Mrs. Hannah C. Fell I have the following statement: Mrs. Fell's daugh- ter by a former husband, married Patrick Kiernan* and lived with her mother in the old Fell house until the Judge died, in 1830, when they moved to Canal street. But her mother, Mrs. Hannah C. Fell, was un- willing to leave the grate behind and took the grate with her to Canal street and used it many years. It was the first grate in which Judge Fell burned coal. On the night that it was first used, Judge Fell had a party and they danced by the light of the fire and one candle. He made the grate in the blacksmith shop of his nephew, back of the Fell house. He also made others, but did KIERNAN OR EICH GRATE Now in possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. not like them as well as this. I was born in 1844. My Grandmother Kiernan, who died in 1880, gave me the grate the year before she died. It is now at iny son's, 21 Exeter Lane, Wilkes-Barre.
"Signed, Mrs. John Eich, "Phillipsburg, N. J."
The above mentioned grate was obtained from William McKenna, in whose possession it was at the time of transfer. It measures 2412 inches in length, 11 inches in width, is 9 inches deep, stands on four legs, and is 18 inches high. When compared with the dimensions given by Judge Fell, it is not the grate he first constructed, but its pedigree, back to the early times of the Old Fell Tavern seems reasonably satisfactory and we can be content in the thought that its , cheerful glow, either in 1808, or soon thereafter, was a comfort and satisfaction to one of Wilkes-Barre's distinguished citizens.
From the tone of Judge Fell's own description of his experiment, one may gather that he believed his effort was the first successful attempt thus to burn anthracite. His generosity was manifest, as he states, in making no attempt to patent his experimental grate. Instead, he invited in the neighborhood to witness a new and practical use of coal and doubtless, in the smith-shop of his son-in- law, he helped fashion grates for others with no thought of reward. The historian may never detract from the large heartedness of the man, or lessen in any degree, the historical fact that Judge Fell first disseminated the full and unrestricted know- ledge of his discoveries to the world at large.
*PATRICK KIERNAN was a teacher in Wilkes-Barre from 1865 to 1873 and perhaps earlier; grocer 1873 to 1879: clerk 1879 to 1884, when he died.
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There is honor enough to this pioneer, to his descendants and to the city of his experiment in thus resting his case.
The fact remains, that anthracite, as well as bituminous coal, were success- fully burned in grates and peculiarly constructed stoves, several years before Judge Fell became interested in the effort that brought him lasting fame.
We may, in passing, turn to authentic records in proof of this statement. For many years, partisans of Jacob Cist* maintained that he knew how to burn and actually did burn anthracite several years before the Fell experiment. Mr. Cist, during his lifetime made no such claim. Indeed, he and Judge Fell were the best of friends and no controversy between them ever arose. It was not until the year 1808 that Mr. Cist came to Wilkes-Barré, having before that time lived with his father Charles Cist, at Philadelphia. Charles Cist and Col. Jacob Weiss were partners, in 1792, in the Lehigh Coal Mining Company, before mentioned, and became owners of nearly 10,000 acres of coal lands in Carbon County, later purchased and still owned by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, as a major portion of its anthracite holdings. Through his father's experiments in mining and marketing the first shipment of Mauch Chunk coal to Philadelphia, Jacob Cist was familiar with possibilities of anthracite develop- ment and was in correspondence with friends who were attempting to contrive ways and means of burning the "black stones." One of these was Oliver Evans, the inventor. It is upon letters written to Mr. Cist by Oliver Evans and later by Mr. Frederick Graff, also of Philadelphia, that evidence of priority of discovery of burning anthracite without an air blast rests. The letters follow :
"Being requested to give my opinion of the qualities of the Lehi coals, I do certify to those whom it may concern that I have experienced the use of them in a close stove and also in a fire.
*JACOB CIST, eldest son of Charles and Mary Cist, was born in Philadelphia, on March 13, 1782. On September 5. 1794, when only a little over twelve years of age, his father sent him to the Moravian boarding school, at Nazareth in Northampton County, Pa., where he remained three years, leaving on June 10, 1797, after complet- ing the established course of study at that time required, which, besides a thorough study of all the ordinary English branches, included a knowledge of Greek, Latin, German, and French. His love for and talent of easily acquiring languages he seems to have inherited from his father, who was an accomplished and enthusiastic linguist, and the knowledge derived from a three years' course under competent teachers was the groundwork upon which he perfected himself in after years. Here, too, under the old French drawing-master. MI. A. Benade, he acquired a considerable know- ledge of drawing and painting. He was particu- larly happy in catching a likeness. On his return to Philadelphia, in 1797, he assisted his father in the printing office, devoting his spare hours to study. and in the year 1800, when his father purchased property in Washington City and erected a print- ing office there, he went to that place to take charge of the office. Upon his father's relinquishing the business in Washington he determined to locate there, and applying for a clerkship, secured one in the postoffice department, which he retained from the fall of 1800 until he removed to Wilkes-Barré in the year 1808. So well satisfied were Post Master General Granger and his successors, with the capabilities of Mr. Cist, that upon his arrival in this city, he was appointed Post master, which office he retained until his death, in 1825, thus having been for a quarter of a century in the em- ploy of the postoffice department. Flis father writing to him in 1802, says: "As it is to your good conduct in the federal city that I chiefly ascribe the confidence the postmaster general places in you and . the kindness he shows in procuring you an advan- tageous post, I cannot refrain of recommending you the same conduct in your future stages of life as the -urest means of forwarding yourself in the world with credit and reputation." His spare time in Washington he appears to have devoted principally to painting and literature. He has left a good picture of Mr. Jefferson and an admirable copy of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Mrs. Madison, which JACOB CIST -he permitted him to paint, and a number of mini- atures. Being obliged to mix his own paints, and Photo-reproduction of an original miniature painted by himself
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not finding a mill to suit, he invented one and patented it in the year 1803. He was a contributor to The Literary Magazine as early as 1804, and to Charles Miner's paper in Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Miner writes, under date of Novem- ber 28, 1806: "I am charmed with your piece on 'Morning.' It possesses all the life, spirit, and variety of that charm- ing season."
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