History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 53

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 53

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Unlike the ores underlying the Pittsburgh coal- bed, these lower ores are not wholly to be depended on ; the Kidney and Big Bottom show serious "wants" at several localities, and the Big Honeycomb occa- sionally fails for considerable distances. These irreg- ularities render extraction of the ore expensive and the supply somewhat uncertain. The amount of ore, however, is enormous, and the beds, notwithstanding the numerous gaps, are practically persistent. Drifts nearly one-half mile long have been run on the Big Bottom at the Dunbar mines, while drifts two-thirds as long have been run in on the Honeycomb and Kidney at Lemont. But in the present condition of knowledge the available amount of ore in these mountain beds can hardly be determined, for erosion has torn away much of the mountain-side.

tain ores. No furnace is in blast on the east side of Chestnut Ridge. The mountain ores are good on that side, and are present in large quantity, but no way of reaching market exists, and iron cannot be made ex- cept at a loss.

The Fayette County iron early attained celebrity, owing to the numerous improvements introduced into the manufacture by Mr. F. H. Oliphant. The Oli- phant iron was made at Fairchance Furnace, from a mixture of Blue Lump and mountain ore, the former predominating. This iron was neutral and had ex- traordinary strength. Cable tried at the Washington navy-yard, it proved to be more than twice as strong as the standard, and the links stretched eighteen inches before breaking. Excellent pig-metal was produced by the furnaces working on the mountain ores exclusively, and it always found a ready market. The iron ore made by Dunbar, Lemont, Oliphant, and Fairchance Furnaces is a good neutral iron, car- rying from one-half of one per cent. to one per cent. of phosphorus. Its quality would be improved by the omission of mill-cinder from the charge. The large amount of uncombined carbon in these irons renders them excellent for foundry purposes.

The proximity of coal, ore, and limestone gives the Connellsville basin of Fayette County great advan- tages over many other iron-producing localities. Iron can be made here profitably when selling at a price which would bring bankruptcy to the great majority of furnaces elsewhere. During 1877 good iron was made by Lemont Furnace at a cost of about eleven dollars per ton.

Limestone is abundant, though there are narrow strips running longitudinally through the country where no limestone is exposed. Thin beds only exist in the valley between Chestnut and Laurel Ridges, but an ample supply for all purposes can be obtained from the great mountain limestone which is exposed in deep hollows in the sides of both ridges. This great limestone is exposed also in the hollows along the western side of Chestnut Ridge, and it has been quarried at many localities, especially in the northern part of the county. Some of its beds yield lime as white as the celebrated Louisville brand.

Good lime is found nearly everywhere within the Connellsville basin, in the hills covering the Pitts- burgh coal-bed. This rock is in great part clean enough to be used as a flux in the iron furnaces, but contains more or less oxide of iron, and therefore the lime is not of pure white. The limestones exposed along the river and lying above the Pittsburgh coal-bed are thick, and some of them are very pure. They are quarried at more than one locality for shipment to Pittsburgh, where they are used in manufacture of glass and iron.

Four furnaces are now in operation along the west Fire-clays are abundant in different parts of the county. An excellent plastic clay occurs at Greens- foot of Chestnut Ridge, all of which depend chiefly on the coal ores, but they use more or less of the moun- . boro' and New Geneva, on the Monongahela River. It

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is employed largely in the manufacture of pottery, which has a high reputation, and can be found almost everywhere in the Southeastern States. Good brick clay is abundant everywhere in the subsoil. An ex- cellent non-plastic clay exists along the east slope of Chestnut Ridge, and lies not far above the great con- glomerate. It is manufactured into brick at Lemont, Mount Braddock, Dunbar, and on the Youghiogheny River above Connellsville. The bricks are decidedly good, and but little, if at all, inferior to the bricks made at Mount Savage. Another non-plastic clay occurs in Henry Clay and Stewart townships, and is the same with the celebrated Bolivar fire-clay of West- moreland County. No attempts have been made to utilize this clay here, but in chemical composition it approaches closely to the Mount Savage clay.1

IRON AND IRON-WORKS.

There is a tradition that the first discovery of iron ore west of the Allegheny Mountains was made by John Hayden in the winter of 1789-90. This state- ment has been so often made in the writings of Judge Veech and others without contradiction that it has come to be almost universally regarded as entirely authentic. That such is not the case, how- ever, and that iron ore was known to exist in the valley of the Youghiogheny at least nine years before the alleged first discovery by Hayden, is proved by an entry found in the First Survey Book of Yoho- gania County, Va.,2 and made a century ago by Col. William Crawford, then surveyor of the said county. The following is a copy of the entry :

"July 11, 1780.

" No. 32-State Warrant .- Benjamin Johnston pro- duced a State Warrant from the Land Office for five hundred acres of land, dated the 12th day of May, 1780-No. 4926. Sixty acres thereof he locates on a big spring in the Allegany and Laurel Hills, on the waters of the Monongalia-and one hundred and fifty acres of sª Warrant he locates on lands of sª Hills, where an old deadening and Sugar Camp was made by Mr. Chr. Harrison, situate on the waters of Yoho- gania, to include a Bank of Iron Ore."

The precise location of the tract referred to as in- cluding the ore-bank is not known, nor is it material. The quotation is given above merely to disprove the long-accepted statement that the existence of iron ore west of the Alleghenies was unknown prior to 1789.

FIRST IRON FURNACE IN FAYETTE COUNTY.

The earliest reference to the existence of an iron furnace in Fayette County which has been found in any deed, record, or other document is in the min-

ntes of the June Term, 1789, of the Court of Quarter Sessions of the county, as follows: " A view of a Road, from the furnace on Jacob's Creek, to Thomas Kyle's mill." And the minutes of the March Ses- sion of 1791 mention "The petition for a road from Jacob's Creek Iron Works, to intersect the road lead- ing to Mr. Thomas Kyle's mill-granted."

The furnace referred to in these minutes was the " Alliance Iron-Works" of Turnbull, Marmie & Co. The tract on which the furnace was erected was one of three hundred and one acres, named " Rocksbury." It is described as "situate on Jacob's Creek, in the county of Fayette," and was patented to William Turnbull, of Pittsburgh, July 13, 1789.3 Two other tracts, adjoining this, but situated on both sides of Jacob's Creek, in Fayette and Westmoreland Coun- ties, were patented to Turnbull at the same time. These tracts were named "Frankford" and "Springs- bury," and contained respectively three hundred and one and two hundred and nineteen acres. A tract of two hundred and twenty-three acres called " Luton," situated in Tyrone township, which had been patented to Jacob Laurie, Jan. 9, 1789, was sold by the said Laurie to William Turnbull and Peter Marmie, Oct. 9, 1791.

Turnbull had been a purchasing agent and com- missary for the Pennsylvania troops during the Rev- olution. After the war he became associated in partnership with Col. John Holker and Peter Mar- mie. They claimed to have purchased the site of Fort Pitt, and started a mercantile establishment on the " Point" at Pittsburgh. Marmie managed the busi- ness in the West, and Turnbull remained most of the time in Philadelphia. The extract from the court records, as given above, shows that the furnace on Jacob's Creek was built or in process of erection be- fore Turnbull received the patent for the land on which it stood.

The Alliance Furnace was blown in in November, 1789, but nothing is known of the business done at that time. On the 6th of January, 1792, Gen. Knox, Secretary of War, wrote to Maj. Isaac Craig, com- mandant of the post at Pittsburgh, making this in- quiry : "Is it not possible that you could obtain shot for the six-pounders from Turnbull & Marmie's fur- nace?" In another letter, addressed to the same officer fifteen days later, he says, " Although I have forwarded the shot for the six-pounders (from Car- lisle), I am not sorry that you ordered those from Turnbull & Marmie. Let them send their propo- sals at what rates they will cast shot, shell, cannon, and howitzers, etc." And it is stated on good au- thority that shot and shell for Gen. Anthony Wayne's expedition against the Indians were furnished by Turnbull, Marmie & Co. from their works on Jacob's Creek.

In December, 1797, certain viewers appointed by

1 The above article on the mineral resources of Fayette County is fur- nished by Prof. J. J. Stevenson,

2 Yohogania County, as established by the Virginia Legislature in 1776, included all the northern and northeastern part of the present county of Fayette, as has been before explained. The Survey Book re- ferred to is still in existence i i a good state of preservation, and in pos- session of Boyd Crumrine, Esq., of Washington, Pa.

3 Record in the Roll's Office Patent Book No. 15, p. 97.

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the court reported on a road " from Turnbull's Iron- Works by the Little Falls." In March, 1799, a re- port was made to the court by viewers as follows : "Pursuant to an order of the Quarter Sessions for September, 1797, for Fayette County, we, the sub- scribers therein named, met and viewed the ground between Jacob's Creek furnace and the road leading

It will be noticed that the establishment was vari- ously designated as "Jacob's Creek Furnace," " Alli- ance Furnace," "Alliance Iron-Works," "Turnbull's Iron-Works," and "Col. Holker's Iron-Works." The last name was used when the works were carried on by Holker (as principal partner) with Marmie, after the retirement of Turnbull.

RUINS OF OLD ALLIANCE FURNACE.

to Peterstown; and we do agree to return a public road two perches wide, beginning at the county line, on the bridge across Jacob's Creek at Alliance Fur- nace," etc. In September, 1799, there was presented to the court "a petition for vacating a road from Col. Holker's Iron-Works to near Laurel Hill meeting- house."

The title to the real estate was in Turnbull, who on the 10th of February, 1797, conveyed to John Holker, in consideration of £2000, "all that mes- suage, forge, furnace, and tract of land called Rox- bury," and also the other tracts designated as "Frankford" and "Springsbnry." The works were carried on by Holker & Marmie until 1802, when

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IRON AND IRON-WORKS.

their operations ceased, and the fires of the old fur- nace were finally extinguished.1

The Alliance Iron-Works with contiguous lands were offered for sale by Samuel Hughes in an adver- tisement dated March 27, 1807, but it does not ap- pear that any purchaser was found, and the property was afterwards assigned by Col. Holker in trust to Paca Smith, who conveyed it to Henry Sweitzer, in pursuance of an agreement made Jan. 20, 1817.

The cut correctly represents the appearance of the ruins of the old Jacob's Creek furnace-stack at the present time. Parts of the ancient walls of the furnace are still standing, though greatly dilapidated, and the walls of the charcoal-house in the rear of the furnace remain nearly entire, but gray and moss- covered. The site of the old iron-works is on low ground, on the south side of Jacob's Creek, in the present township of Perry. The land is now owned by the Jacob's Creek Oil Company.

UNION FURNACE.

The old Union Furnace in Dunbar township was built by Isaac Meason at about the same time that Turnbull & Marmie erected their furnace on Jacob's Creek, but it is conceded by all who have any knowl- edge of the facts that the last named was first blown in. Mr. Edmund C. Pechin, who has carefully gathered all obtainable information in reference to the old Union Furnace, says it was first blown in in March, 1791, which gives a precedence of about sixteen months to the furnace of Turnbull & Marmie. The first mention which has been found of the Union Furnace is in the records of the court of Fayette County for the June term of 1791, when there was presented " a petition for a road from Union Furnace to Dickinson's Mill."

The original furnace was a small establishment, but in 1793 Mr. Meason associated with him John Gibson and Moses Dillon, and this firm (styled Meason, Dil- lon & Co.) erected a much larger furnace and foundry on the site of the first one. On the formation of the partnership, July 16, 1793, Meason transferred to Dillon and Gibson one-sixth of six hundred acres of land on both sides of Dunbar Creek, " which includes the furnace which is now erecting," with the houses and appurtenances, and also one-half of two thousand seven hundred acres adjoining, and between it and the Youghiogheny River.

The establishment of Meason, Dillon & Co. pro- duced large quantities of castings, stoves, pots, dog- irons, sugar-kettles, salt-kettles, and other articles. The following advertisement of their business appears in the Pittsburgh Gazette of 1794 :

" MEASON, DILLON & CO.

" Have for Sale at their furnace on Dunbar's Run, Fayette county, three miles from Stewart's Crossings,

on Youghiogheny river, a supply of well assorted castings, which they will sell for cash at the reduced price of £35 per ton (§93.33).

"UNION FURNACE, April 10, 1794."

In 1804 an extensive order was filled at the Union Furnace for large sugar-kettles, to be used on the plantations of Louisiana. After that time the works were continued by different parties for more than fifty years, and finally suspended operations. About the year 1868 the property passed into possession of the Youghiogheny Iron and Coal Company, of which Edmund C. Pechin was .president. Under his man- agement extensive improvements were made, and the subsequent success of the works has been largely due to his energy. In 1871 the company was reorganized as the Dunbar Iron Company, and later as the Dun- bar Furnace Company, which now owns and operates the works.

SPRING HILL FURNACE.

This old furnace, situated in Spring Hill township, was built by Robert and Benjamin Jones, who were Welshmen by birth, and had been interested in the development of mineral lands in their native country. Emigrating to America, they became owners of the lands on which they built this furnace, as stated. The precise date of its erection is not known, but its commencement is placed in 1794 with a good deal of certainty, for the reason that the assessment-roll of Spring Hill township for 1793 shows that Robert Jones was then assessed on four hundred acres of "unseated lands," and that the roll of the same town- ship for 1795 shows, under the head of " Fulling Mills and Furnaces," the name of Robert Jones assessed on " One Furnace, valued at $300." That the works were in operation at least as early as the autumn of the latter year is proved by the following advertise- ment, found in the Western Telegraphe (then published at Washington, Pa.), bearing date Oct. 13, 1795, viz. :

"Springhill Furnace, Ruble's Run, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, within three miles of the river Cheat, near its confluence with the Monongahela.

" For Sale, at said Furnace, a good assortment of beautiful Castings, allowed by real judges to be some of the very best ever cast in America, amongst which are Stoves and Salt kettles of the finest quality.

"By R. & B. Jones, Wells & Co."

James Tucker, of Washington County, had a one- eighth interest in the firm, and assumed the manage- ment of the works, being a practical iron-worker. On the 8th of November, 1799, the firm leased the property to Jesse Evans (a son-in-law of Robert Jones) for three years, for the consideration of twenty tons of assorted iron castings.

In 1803 (March 29th), Robert and Benjamin Jones, "of Whitely Creek, Greene Co.," entered into an agreement with Jesse Evans to convey to him, for the consideration of €4000, "the seven-eighths part of Springhill furnace and everything thereunto be-

1 An interesting account of some of the operations at the old furnace on Jacob's Creek will be found embodied in a letter written by Peter Marmie, which is given in the history of Perry township.

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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

longing, flasks, teams, patterns, and land, containing eight hundred acres; also a piece of land joining, formerly part of Isaac Beal's plantation, containing seven acres, with the remainder of the pigs and stock now on the premises ; also three hundred acres for- merly belonging to William Wells." On the 9th of August of the following year Evans purchased the one-eighth interest owned by James Tucker, of Wash- ington County, for six tons of assorted castings and two hundred dollars' worth of bar iron, at six cents per pound.

Jesse Evans operated the iron-works until April, bis son, Col. Samuel Evans, now resides. He died in Uniontown, Aug. 15, 1842.

1831, when he removed to Spring Grove farm, where their joint benefit, a forge and furnace on a tract of land which contains four hundred and thirty-six acres, having from seventy to eighty acres cleared, When Mr. Evans retired from the business of the furnace, in 1831, it was sold to J. Kennedy Duncan, and two years later, after several changes, it was pur- chased by F. H. Oliphant, who kept it in successful operation till 1870, when it was sold to the Fairchance Company, the present owners. and about four hundred fruit-trees," etc. It appears that this tract had already been bargained for with its owner, Joseph Huston (then sheriff of Fayette County), at three hundred pounds, and by the terms of the agreement between Hayden and Nicholson the latter was to send that amount of money by hand of Albert Gallatin to Huston to pay for the land.

During Mr. Oliphant's occupaney he carried into effect the idea (which had heen conceived by him in 1825) of utilizing the furnace gases. He had impar- ted his discovery to an Alabama company, who used the hint received from him to some advantage in the construction of their furnace. When he reconstructed the Spring Hill Furnace, he made practical his idea by placing the boiler-house upon the top of the stack ; this in a erude manner carried out his idea with consider- able advantage.

HAYDEN'S FORGE AND FAIRFIELD FURNACE.

On the 6th of March, 1792, Robert Peoples, of Georges township, a miller by trade, conveyed to John Hayden, iron-master, in partnership with John Nich- olson, of Philadelphia, a tract of land in the said township of Georges, containing fifty-one acres and twenty-four perches, with all buildings, iron-works, houses, cabins, etc., the consideration heing £119. The tract was the same which Peoples had purchased a few days before from Jonathan Reese, who had pur- chased it Feb. 5, 1790, from Philip Jenkins, who pat- ented it from the State May 31, 1787.

As to the "iron-works" which were mentioned as being then located on the land conveyed by Reese to Hayden, it cannot be stated with any certainty by whom they were built. It is not probable they were built by Reese, for he had owned the property only a few days. The previous owner of the land, Philip Jenkins, might have erected them, but the probability is that they were commenced by John Hayden before the property came into possession of himself and Nicholson, and that Reese had been employed to pur- chase the land from Jenkins, and then convey it to them, as he did.

In the assessment-rolls of Georges township for that year (1792) John Hayden was assessed on fifty- one acres of land (evidently the same purchased from

Reese) and a " bloomery" or forge. No assessment on any such establishment is found in the rolls of that township in any preceding year.

On the 31st of March, 1792, John Nicholson, of Philadelphia (State comptroller), and John Hayden, of Fayette County, entered into articles of agreement, from which the following is an extract : "Whereas the said Hayden represents that there is on the head- waters of Georges Creek, within said county, a valu- able iron-mine of sufficient quantity, that there are also streams and seats suitable for a forge and fur- nace, and whereas it is agreed to have erected for

On the same day Hayden and Nicholson entered into a further agreement, by the terms of which Hay- den was to finish the forge or bloomery (which, as it thus appears, was not then completed) on the Reese land, and to build a furnace at such place as might be thought best for the purpose on the larger (Huston) tract, and to complete the same on or before Sept. 1, 1794. And Nicholson, on his part, agreed to lease and did lease to Hayden his interest in the forge and furnace at eight hundred pounds per year for the term of seven years, commencing April 1, 1792, the payments to be made semi-annually, and not to begin until Sept. 1, 1794, and if the furnace and forge were completed sooner than that time, then John Hayden was to have the use thereof until Sept. 1, 1794, gra- tuitously, as well as all the timber and ore he could use up to that date. On the 16th day of March, 1793, they entered into another agreement, in which it is stated that owing to a want of funds the work was lagging, and in order that the work might be prosecuted "with newness of vigor," and that a forge might be built, Nicholson agreed to advance to Hay- den twelve hundred pounds, Pennsylvania money, in addition to what had already been advanced and ex- pended, and Nicholson's agent, Jesse Evans, was to take this sum of money to Hayden. But their finan- cial difficulties still continued, the work was not prosecuted, Nicholson became a defaulter, and the partnership between him and Hayden failed. On the 30th of May, 1796, John Hayden, "iron-master," conveyed to Jonathan Hayden, of Georges township, the fifty-one-acre traet purchased from Robert Peo- ples in the spring of 1793, including the bloomery, cabins, and other buildings.

The agreement between Nicholson and Hayden, made March 31, 1792, was not carried out as to the building of the furnace at the time specified, and in-

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deed none was built at any time under this partner- ance April 5, 1797. Soon after the purchase Pears ship. In 1795, Hayden was still assessed on the erected upon it the furnace known as Old Redstone, bloomery. On the 18th of March, 1797, William which was operated by him for a year or two after its starting, and then rented by Mayberry & Stevens. Nixon and wife conveyed to John Hayden for the ' consideration of £118 88. 9d. thirty-eight and one-

On the 26th of December, 1803, Pears sold the land fourth acres of land in Georges township, "for the pur- | and furnace for $3000 to Joseph Huston, who operated pose and convenience of erecting a furnace thereon," this land being a part of a tract named "Fairfield," which was patented to Nixon Sept. 7, 1790.

On the land which he purchased of Nixon, Hayden built the Fairfield Furnace. The date of its erection is placed at 1797, because in that year he was assessed for " Rearly place Forge," "Old Place," " mountain land," and "furnace land," but no furnace; but in the following year " Fairfield Furnace" was included in his assessment at $4000. At the same time the old forge was assessed to him at $250.

the Furnace tract, "with an equal part of the furnace and all other buildings thereon erected," to Stephen Hayden, Jr., by deed dated Dec. 25, 1797, and on the 16th of January following he conveyed another un- divided one-fourth part of the same property to John Oliphant, Andrew Oliphant, and Nathaniel Breading for £2000. These three gentlemen, on the 8th of March, 1805, purchased another one-fourth interest in the property from Neil Gillespie, and at the same time purchased still another one-fourth from John Gil- lespie, who had bought it at sheriff's sale in 1803, at which time it was sold by Sheriff Allen on a judg- ment against John Hayden. Finally, John and An- drew Oliphant came into possession of the entire property, and the furnace was operated by them until January, 1817, when their partnership was dissolved by mutual consent, John Oliphant purchasing the in- terest of Andrew in the Fairfield and Fairchance Fur- naces and Sylvan Forge at 84000. The Fairfield Furnace was rented by him to John St. Clair and Isaiah Marshall, who were succeeded by William Paull, Sr., and he in turn by John Martin, whose oc- cupancy continued until the furnace was finally blown out and abandoned.

It is said by old people that during the Oliphants' operation of Fairfield Furnace they furnished from it a quantity of solid shot, which were shipped on small craft down the Monongahela, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, and were used by Gen. Jackson's artillery in the battle of New Orleans. Some of the ruins of old Fairfield are still visible.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 53

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314