History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 131

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 131

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" AUDITOR'S NOTICE.

" To the creditors and all others interested in the distribution of the estate of Isaac Beaver.

We, the undersigned auditors appointed by the court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County to andit, settle and adjust the rates and propositions of the assets remaining in the hands of Jolin Shearer, assignee of said Isaac Beaver, to and among his respective creditors ac- cording to the order established by law, will meet at the public-house of Jolin Brouch, in the borough uf Norristown, on Thursday the 9th day of June next, at 10 o'clock A.M., to fulfil the duties of said appointment, at which time and place you may attend if you think proper and present your claim.

"J. W. EVANS. "W. II. SLINGLUFF. "M. R. MOORE. " Auditors."

-Norristown Register, Muy 25, 1836.

RULES OF COURT .- The following appears editori- ally in the Norristown Register of December 28, 1836, and is believed to have been written by the late John B. Sterigere, Esq .:

" COURT RULES.

" We observe among the petitions enumerated as having been pre- sented in the House of Representatives on the 19th instant one by Mr. Crawford, from the Huntington bar, for the passage of a Inw requiring the judges of the respective courts to publish their rules of practice.

"This we regard as a most important measure, and so far as our observation enables ns to judge, will be alike beneficial to the Bench and Bar. That rules of practice should be definitely fixed upon and published, we think there can be no contraricty of opinion, for among other beneficial results which would flow from it, the necessity of appeal to the bench on points of practice would be fully obviated. We have deemed it advisable to notice this subject for the benefit of those concerned, to whom we submit it."

It would seem from the above that the published rules of court such as are now in use, are of compara- tively recent origin.

Among the civil causes tried in this county of great public interest was that of Bernard McCready vs. the l'resident and Managers of the Schuylkill Naviga- tion Company. The trial began on the 28th day of November, 1836, before Judge Fox, and continued for the period of one week.

The counsel for plaintiff were J. M. Pawling, John B. Sterigere, and H. J. Williams, Esqs., and for the defendants, John Freedley and Benjamin Tilghman, Esqs. The complaint was that in 1832 a portion of the dam at the foot of Swede Street, extending across the river Schuylkill, had sunk and the portion thus injured was washed away, depriving the plaintiff of the proper use of the water for his factory, and that the current thus formed created gravel-banks below the dam, causing back-water upon the sheeting of his water-wheels, and hence damage. The case involved extended inquiry, embracing expert testi- mony, much of which was of a conflicting character. Elaborate arguments were made in the submission of the cause to the court and jury. The verdict was for the plaintiff, five thousand five hundred dollars damages. The court sat ten hours each day in the hearing of this case, and its adjudication is said to have been among the important cases which practi- cally settled the law with reference to the liability of the Navigation Company for damages resulting from the improper construction of dams in the improve- ment of the Schuylkill River for navigation purposes.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

Early Iron Manufacture .- The unfriendly policy of England towards the development of the manutac- turing industries of the provinces was early manifested and continuously exerted, and towards none more unwisely, as time has shown, than Pennsylvania.

563

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

The necessities, not less than the enterprise of the pioneers of the colony induced explorations for min- erals, and the large bodies of hematite ores, fluxing materials and matchless forests of hard-wood found in close proximity invited capitalists to build furnaces for smelting and erect forges and stilling-mills for preparing iron for domestic use. Water-power was used in those days to propel ernde inventions, aided by the hands of the skilled laborer, to slowly produce the commodities that are now wrought by ingenionsly- devised machinery, responsive to steam-power. The natural resources of the colony and their variety gave rise to diversified industrial pursuits, and home de- mands invited convenient sources of supply. Three thousand miles of ocean separated the early settlers from the home country, and their increasing wants were not always supplied at the sea-port city, while the interior settlements were often destitute of the ordinary necessities of life, owing to the limited and costly character of transportation over unimproved highways and unbridged streams. As early as 1750 Pennsylvania led all the colonies in the production of iron and steel. Her pig-iron was of superior quality, and deemed of great commercial value in exchange for manufactured articles. Its production, therefore, was encouraged, but the manufacture of bar-iron for use by the skilled iron-worker was thought to be injurious to her home industries, and was there- fore prohibited.

It is a remarkable providence of life that the feeble colony of two hundred thousand souls, less than a hundred and fifty years ago, should now be the most formidable rival of the country who then sought to repress its skilled labor by legislative enactment. Among the selected industries reported in the census of 1880 the annual product of iron and steel in Pennsylvania surpasses the money value of any one manufactured article in the United States, being $145,576,268.

The independence of the colonies having been declared, all the repressive measures of the mother- country were at an end. The long war that followed created a home demand for supplies that stimulated the manufacture of iron and textile fabrics. Many local. ities1 that have since become famous in the annals of manufacture owe their origin to the Revolutionary period and the impetus which it gave to skilled labor Eastern Pennsylvania was deemed remote from the

I LIST OF FURNACES IN PENNSYLVANIA.

1. Warwick * 1200 10. Cornwell (ITerryford) . 500

2. Ilopewell 700 11. Monut Ilope 500

3. Durham (Maryan) 400 12. Carlisle. . 500

4. German (Codorus) 300

13. Pine Grove 200

5. Oley (Martick) 200

14. Chalmbers 300

G. Mount Pleasant (Reading) . 50

7. Rebecca (Colebrookdale) . . 400

8. Berkshire 500

9. Elizabethi 500

Total 6150

Average 439

* I'robably the number of tons of iron made at each the year previous.

probable fehl of actual hostilities, and therefore a com- paratively sate locality for the establishment of depots for all the material supplies of warfare. Powder-mills, foundries for casting cannon, shot and shell, shops for making muskets, gun-carriages and wagons, were in successtil operation during the entire period. The necessities of the long and bitter struggle made the colonists self-reliant and encouraged the development of the natural resources of the country.

The First Iron Furnace in the province of Penn- sylvania is mentioned in one of Jonathan Dickin- son's 2 letters, written 1717 : "This last summer, one Thomas Rutter, a smith, who lived not far from Ger- mantown, hath removed up in the country, and of his own strength has set up on making iron. Such it proves to be as is highly set by all the smiths here, who say that the best of Swedish iron doth not exceed it, and we have heard of others 3 that are going on with the iron-works. It is supposed there is ore sufficient for ages to come, and in all likelihood hemp and iron may be improved and transported home, and, if not dis- couraged, certainly a few years may supply this place for its domestic services, as may be readily supposed." This establishment is located by Bishop, in his " History of Iron Mannfactures," who says : "A forge is men- tioned, in March, 1719-20, at Manatawny, then in Philadelphia, but now in Berks or Montgomery County. It was attacked by the Indians in 1728, but they were repulsed with great loss by the workmen.+

FORGES.

Salford, Green Lane, Valley, Pennel (36,000 bar), Sarmu, Twaddles (1000 tons casting), Doe Run, Brandywine, More's, Vanleer's, Coventry, Young's, Glasgow, Pine, Spring, Oley, Millgrove, Mount Pleasant, Fosh's, Birdsbur- rough, Gibraltar, Mosealom, Charming, Windsor, T. Old's, Martick, Speedwell, Hopewell, C. Grubb's, Cadorn's, Spring, ; Carlisle, Mountain, Chalmbers, -thirty-four forges.

Persons employed in making iron in Pennsylvania, between 10,000 and 12,000; supposed to consunie 132,000 Imshels of grain ; grain consumed by horses, 80,000 bushels; ¿ 63,000 expended in grain ; £100,500 produce of iron ; 5000 tons of pig iron.

The above list, found among the family papers, is valuable, as it pur- ports to give not only the names of the furnaces and forges in Pennsyl- vania, but the amount of iron made, the grain consumed and the number of people employed in the manufacture of this important article. Un- fortunately, the paper is without date, but there is internal evidence that it was prepared in 1793. It is in the handwriting of Samuel Potts, and I have little doubt but that it was compiled by him for the use of the Congress which enacted the tariff in 1789, whereby the iron interest of the country was protected .- Mrs. Thomas Potts James, "Potts Memo- riul."

2 Logan MSS.

8 John Nutt.

+ I think there is every reason to believe that Pool Forge was the scene of the Indian fight. To-day it is more lonely and desolate than it was one hundred and forty-four years ago. No house is visible, but imagination peoples the waving woods and the banks of the beautiful stream with living beings long since passed away, -the painted Ravages in all their horrid accessories of war; the workmen issuing from their fiery labors at the sound of the Indian war-whoop, their black and grimy faces blanched with fear, yet each strong arm wielding gun, pick or hammer, whatever was nearest at hand ; the screaming women and children flying along the path by the water-side to reach a place of safety, while, roused by the news, the venerable Thomas Rutter rides

+ Probably in York County ; not the one named in the preceding columnn.

564

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Local authority1 more definitely locates the spot whereon the original furnace or forge (probably both) was built, " at a place called Pool Forge, on the Man- atawny." Pool Forge is located on Scull's map, 1770. Historians refer to another Pool Forge, built several miles further up the Manatawny, erected possibly after the first was abandoned, as it seems to have been a custom at that time to carry the old name to the new place. These changes were deemed prudent in some instances, in order to be nearer to wood, which, at that period, was a supply of the first importance. The Manatawny stream must have watered a region that abounded in minerals and timber prior to and during the Revolution, as we find the following iron-works in operation as early as 1776: Mount Pleasant Furnace and Forge, Spring Forge, Colebrookdale Furnace and Forge, Amity Forge and McCall's Forge.2 Add to these Warwick and Coventry, and others within a radius of ten to twenty miles, and a substantial reason will be manifest for the movement of Washington and the Continental army to Pottsgrove township subsequent to the battle of Brandywine and the affairs at White Horse Tavern and Paoli. Exact data of the cost of these very early iron-works, the capital in- vested and number of men and animals employed in working them is difficult to obtain. The following statistics are deemed well authenticated and of in- terest to the public, as showing the facilities of the pioneers of the leading industry in the county and State during that period. In 1731 the following- named furnaces and forges were owned by the per- sons herein named, with shares or proportion of in- terest annexed :

Pool Forge. Colebrookdale Furnace

Anthony Morris. . .1-8

Alex. Wooddrop. . 1-8

Samuel Preston. 1-16

Samuel Preston. 1-12

William Attwood. 1-16

William Attwood . 1-12

John Leacock . 1-16

Anthony Morris 1-12 1734.

Nathaniel French 1-16

John Leacock 1-12

George Mitdia 1-16

George Mifflin . 1-12

Tho. Potts aod G. Boon .. . 1-16 The other 3-8 belonged to the Rutters.

The whole amount subscribed is reported to be five hundred and fifty pounds. The cost of rebuild- ing the Colebrookdale Furnace is given in detail,

copied from the account of Thomas Potts with the company,

" Dr. The Furnace.

1733. £. 8. d.

Xber 19. To a log halled to the saw-pitt and squar'd long 161/2 fot, broad 2 foot, deep 2 foot 4 inches . . 0 10 0 Xber 19. To paid helping the Sawyers to fitt the Logg . . 0 09 Xber 20. To my 2 Negro Men getting in wall Stones, each 9 days at the rate of 358. ? month. 1

1 0

Xber 22. To paid Expenses When the Company mett at ye Scales . 0 5 6

Xber 22. To paid ditto when the Company mett at Joho Roberts's. . 020 Xber 24. To paid Thomas Day for 9 days getting in Wall Stones, at the rate of 35s. A month . 0 10 6 1733-4.

Jao. 3. To paid William Bird for Cutting Wood for the Lime- kilo 6 days, at 2s. 9d. ? day. 0 16 6 Jan. 3. To paid for 3 Ih. steel and sharpening tools 030

Jao. 5. To paid Daniel Wommeldorfe for steeling 4 stone axes at both ends . 0 12 0 Jan. 17, To 10 Bushells Lime at 1s. 3d. 0 12 6

Jan. 18. To paid Thomas Gilham for hauling 6 Tonns, 2 cwt.,

1 q. 14 Th. of inn Wall Stones trom Schuylkill to the Fur- nace 10s. 6d. . 3 1 21/4 Jan. 20. To 10 bushells lime at 1s. 3d 0 12 6

Jan. 21. To paid Jonas Yocum for haulling 33 cwt. of inn wall stones from Schuylkill to the Furnace at 108. 7 tonn . . 0 16 6 Feb. 1. To paid Richard Dnackley for hanlling 34. 8. 1. 24 of Ion Wall Stones from the Quarry to Schuylkill at 2s. 9d. ₱ Tono . 4 14 8.

Feb. 1. To paid Oliver Duackley loading Ditto at the Quarry 1 10 0

Feb. 6. To 12 Gallon of Rum given to the Workmen at the Limekiln 0 3 0

Feh. 9. To 8 Bushells Lime at Is. 3d. 0 10 0

Feb 11. To 5 Bushells Lime at 1s. 3d .. 0 63

Fehy. 13. To paid Wm. Jones his bill of lahouriog Work, viz., 23 days pulling down the Furnace at 2s. 9d. . 3£. 3s. 3d. FebJ. 13. One day at the limekilo . 2s. 9d. 3 6 0

Feby. 15. To 8 Iron Iloops for the Girders, wtt. 80 1h. at 8d. . 2 13 4

Febr. 26. To 1/2 Gallon of Rum Given to the Workmen help- ing up with the Girders 0 30

March 12. To paid Adam Widenner for 500 bricks at 18. 6d . 0 12 6 March 13. To paid Thomas Hill for labouring Work pulling down the Furnace, Serving his Masoos and Getting Sand and Stones, in all 231/2 days at 38. B. 3 10 6 March 12. To Paid Ditto for gettingthe 12 part of Lime Stone for one Kiln ₱ agreement . 0 15 0

April 5. To paid Joseph Miller for canoeing over Schuylkill

34 t. 8 cwt. 1 qr. 24 lb. of Inn Wall Stones at 1s. A. . 1 14 51%

To Daniel Shroar for ditto 10s. Od. To Jnº. Dunckley for ditto 108. Od.

To Francis Epley for ditto . I08. Od.

To Thomas Smith for 33 cwt. ditto . . 168. 6d. 2 16 6 April 5. To my Teams Hauling Ion Wall Stones from Schuyl- kill to the Furnace, in all 21 Tonas at 10s. ? . 10 10 0 April 5. To paid Samuel Osborne 1312 days attending ye Ma- sons at 2s. 9d. ? day 1 15 9

April 5. To paid Emanuel Goulding for 1812 days Carpenter's

work making a mould for the Ion walls, etc., at 38. 6d. ₿ 2 14 9 April 5. To paid ditto for making 4 pair Girders ? agreement 2 10 0 April 5. To paid Derick Cleaver for 1/2 of 315 Bushels of Lime at 6d. ? 3 18 9 April 5. To paid Ditto for 50 Bushels Ditto at 6d. 1 0 5 April 5. To my Servants and Negroe's helping to pull down y Stack, getting Stones and attending masons etc., in all 207 days at 28. 9d. ? day . 28 9 3 April 5. To my Teams haulling Stones, lime and Sand, in all

51 days at 108. ? day . 25 10 0

rapidly down from Popodickon and Thomas Potts from Pine Forge, with his son John, in the strength of manhood and youth, armed with rifle and sabre, go forth to stop the fight. Farther on riding in the King's name from his home on the other side of the Schuylkill, comes Samuel Nutt, a fine English gentleman, with no sigo of the Quaker garb and plainness the careful appointments of his magnificent horse, his laced ruffles and cocked hat, all show that he was a man having anthority. But the scene vanishes. I hear ao words of query or aoswer ; the summer woods wave as green as on that May day so long ago, and the bright, rippling Manatawny flows on in peace, though to my listening ear it repeats the story this 30th of May, in the year of grace, 1872 that it heard on that memorable May day in 1728 .- Mrs. Potts James, " Potts Memorial."

1 L. II. Davis, Esq., Pottstowa, Pa.

2 All these furnaces and forges were owned and carried on by the united families of Rutter and Potts.

Nathaniel French 3-12

Alex. Wooddrop. . 3-12

T. Potis aod G. Boon .. . 1-12

April 5. To paid ditto for Sharpening Mason Tools . . . 0 90 April 5. To paid Timothy Miller for dyett and the allowance of Rum to the Workmen when Getting Inn Wall Stones over Schuylkill .. 1 80 April 5. To paid Sundrys for hauling Inn Wall Stones, viz. To George Ilollobaugh for a Tonn . 108. 0d.

565

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

April 5. To paid Jonathan Chapman for cutting the Iuwall Stones . 5 0 0 April 5. To paid Ditto for 5 days Work at the Charge and lime Kilo at 68. ? day . 1 10 0

April 5. To his Dyett and a Mason he had sometime to assist

in all 17 weeks at 58. F . 5 5 0

April 5. To my Smith for Sharpening Mason Tools 300

$196 11 10"

The absence of dates in the above interesting paper leaves the time occupied in the construction of the furnace a matter of conjecture; but as has been stated in the Potts memorial, "by the item of the diet of a mason for seventeen weeks, covering a period of between four and five months," we may infer that the greater part of the year was oeenpied in its con- struction. Some conception of the importance that woodland bore to the early manufacture of iron will be understood from the following extract of the pro- ceedings of those in interest :

" To the persons in this ininitt named, viz. : Alexd Woodrupps, Wm. Attwood, Wm. Pyewell for Thos. Rutter, Anth. Morris, George Mifflin and Tho's Potts, Being a majority of the proprietors of Colbrook ffurnace mett This 16 day of 6 mo. 1736. And on a complaint yt some of the own's of sd ffurnace were deficient in finding their proportion of Wood for Coal for the carrying on the Blast of sd ffurnace, according to articles of agree- ment wth Thomas Potts, Therefore made Ioquiry Thereunto, and find that there is a deficiency Chargable upon the Persons under named, and it is now agreed and concluded that they and every of them immediately find and Provide the Quantity of woodland annexed to their names and yt ye possess Thos. Potts with the wood thereon standing for the use of the sd Colbrook furnace the next ensuing blast. On failure whereof 'tis Concluded and Agreed yt the sd Thomas Potts reserve and sell so much of their part and share of the Pig Iron fast, or to be runn and cast as shall or may fully purchase or pay for their full proportion of wood according to the undr Estimate made the day and date above, viz. :

Thomas Rutter, 1 deceased, to make good. . 55 acres wood land. John Rutter, 1 deceased, and Thos. Potts 75 Ditto.

Samuel Prestull 75 Ditto.

Edward ffream 75 Ditto.

Nath! ffrench 75 Ilo.

Jno. Leycock 75 111.

Geo. Buon.

3712 Ih).

41714

Captain Attwood

" Taken from the minutes of st Compr ant signed by us,

" ANTHO. MORRIS.

" ALEXANDER WOODDROP.

" WILLIAM PYEWELL.

" GEORGE MIFFLIN.

" War. ATWOOO.

"' THOMAS POTTS."

The consumption of wood by these early furnaces was enormous. Warwick, when in full blast, is said to have used six thousand cords of wood annually, or an equivalent to the product of two hundred and forty acres. These facts bring back to our vision vast regions of stump-land, teams of oxen, mules and hor- ses, old-fashioned winter scenes when axemen camped out on the forest hills of the Schuykill, Mana- tawny and Perkiomen. It is not surprising that the Indian tribes, still hunting within sight of these inroads upon the primitive forest, became disaffected and alienated and sought upon slight pretexts to

repel further invasions of their hunting-grounds. To their far-sighted chiefs this wholesale destruction of woodland must have presented a melancholy pie- ture.

Mount Pleasant Furnace is said to be the second 2

2 Following the order of time, we must now cross the Schuylkill and look in at the French Creek Iron-Works. Those in operation there about 1734 were, as far as I can learn, Redding* Furnare, Coventry Forge and the Vincent Steel-Works ; though the place once occupied by the last two has been pointed out to me, I was unable to trace any re- mains of the buildings that once stood there. The mines that supplied these works are situated a few miles above, and consist of surface de- posits of brown and other hematite ores ; they are worked io an open quarry over several acres, and by a shaft one hundred and eighty feet deep. This rich mineral deposit was partly included in the grant of eight hundred acres to Samuel Nutt in 1718, and of one thousand more in 1733. That copper, as well as iron, was extensively mined at French Creek is proved by a letter from Richard Peters, secretary to the Board of War, August 19, 1777, wherein he asks that a load of copper, which had lwen sent to l'hiladelphia from that place, and is said to belong to the State, may be appropriated to the use of a furnace which had been casting caonon, and was standing still for want of that metal. He also mentions that the affairs of French Creek, etc., were nosettled.

Mr. Nntt, who had no children to inherit his name and property, ap- pears to have been particularly attached to his wife's daughter, Rebecca Savage. Having a nephew and name ake in England, of a proper age, he sent for him to come over and marry her, arranging the matter ac- curding to the English fashion of those days. Both parties, as far as we can learn, were quite willing to enter into the engagement made for them by their elders. Samnel, Jr., probably arrived here in 1733, and they were married either in that or very early the following year, as Re- becca's name and that of her husband are signed to the marriage certifi- cate of her sister Ruth andl John Potts, April 11, 1734. At this date she could not have been sixteen years of age. Tradition asserts that she was a very beautiful girl, and that her rich dowry was far out- weighed by her personal and mental charms. Her wedding-dress, of very elegant brucade, with high hveled buckled shoes to match, were im- ported from England (as well as the bridegroom), and are still in posses- sion of the family of the writer. The first house built by Samuel Nutt at Coventry, and where, probably, both Rebecca and Ruth Savage were mar- ried, has long since been taken down, but it was described to me as similar to the ancient houses in the old English town of Coventry. The frame was of intense hewn logs, between which were cemented stones. It was built beyond the present mansion house, and higher up the hill, and was stand- ing until after the Revolution, for during that time Mrs. Grace (formerly Mrs. Nutt, Jr.) entertained three officers of the army of Valley Forge. It is still spokeo of as Coventry Hall. The house was built, it is supposed, by Robert Grace for Thomas Potts, on his marriage with Auna Nutt. We knew that their daughter Henrietta was married there, and that sixty years after that last event her husband, still living at the advanced age uf ninety-six, stood upon the same spot in the parlor where more than half a century before he had received the marriage benediction. The loth day of March, 1736, Samoel Nutt and William Bronson entered into an agreement with John Potts to carry on their furnace called Redding, recently boilt near Coventry, and of which they are styled " joint owners." He was " to cast the quantity of twenty eight hundred weight of Cart Boxes, Sash Weights or any other Particular small cast- ings, every month during the cootionance of the said Blast. . . . And they also cuvenant that they, ye said owners, or their Clerks or Agents for the Time being, shall deliver no quantity of Rum to any of the People Be- longing to the Furnace, or therein concerned, without a note or Token from the said John Potts or his Agents or Assistants." +

NOTE .- Franklin, in his autobiography, relates the following : " In or- der of time, I should have mentioned before that having in 1742 invented an open fire place for the better warming of rooms and at the same time saving of fuel, as the fresh air admitted was warmed in entering, I made a present of the model to Robert Grace, one of my early friends, who, having an iron furnace, found the casting of the plates for these stoves a profitable thing, as they were growing in demand." During a visit to

1 These were the two sons of Thomas, Sr. Thomas, Jr., died in 1735, and John in 1734.

* The name is so spelled on old plans and maps. Two furnaces were erected, bearing that name, about a mile from each other. + Potts Memorial.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 131

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534