USA > Pennsylvania > Progressive Pennsylvania; a record of the remarkable industrial development of the Keystone state, with some account of its early and its later transportation systems, its early settlers, and its prominent men > Part 17
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The prominence of Pennsylvania as a leather producer is shown in the statistics for the census year 1900. In that year the whole country had 1,306 establishments en- gaged in the manufacture of leather, of which 254 were found in Pennsylvania; the capital invested in the whole country was $173,977,421, and in Pennsylvania it was $57,320,227; the number of wage earners, exclusive of officials, clerks, etc., in the whole country was 52,109, and in Pennsylvania it was 13,396; the wages paid to the whole number of wage earners was $22,591,091, and to those employed in Pennsylvania it was $5,457,518; the value of the whole country's leather products was $204,- 038,127, and the value of the leather products of Pennsyl- vania was $55,615,009. It will be seen that in the census year mentioned about one-third of the capital invested in the manufacture of leather in the United States was
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invested in Pennsylvania, that more than one-fourth of the wage earners employed in this industry in the whole country were employed in this State, and that of the to- tal value of the leather manufactured Pennsylvania's share was much more than one-fourth. The three States which come next to Pennsylvania in the manufacture of leather are Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin, in the order mentioned, but in the value of leather produced in the census year 1900 each of the above mentioned States fell more than fifty per cent. below the figures for Pennsylva- nia. Pennsylvania is not only the leading leather-produc- ing State but it is in no danger of losing that distinction. The growing scarcity of hemlock bark is being met by the substitution of a new form of tannic acid which is ob- tained from a tree found in South America.
Another of the leading industries of Pennsylvania is the manufacture of glass, in which it leads every other State and in which it has long been the leader. It was established long before the Revolution. In the census year 1904 the total capital invested in this industry in the whole country was $89,389,151; the number of wage earners employed, not including officials, clerks, etc., was 63,969 ; and the total amount paid to wage earners was $37,288,148. In the same year the capital invested in this industry in Pennsylvania was $40,612,180, and the num- ber of wage earners, exclusive of officials, etc., was 20,794, whose wages amounted to $12,518,440. The total value of the glass produced in 1904 was $79,607,998, of which Pennsylvania produced $27,671,693. The plate glass in- dustry especially has made great progress in the United States in late years, but greater progress in Pennsylvania than in all other States combined. In the census year 1900 there were 8 plate glass establishments in Pennsyl- vania, 3 in Indiana, 1 in Ohio, and 1 in Missouri, and in the census year 1904 there were 11 plate glass establish- ments in Pennsylvania, 2 in Indiana, 1 in Michigan, 2 in Missouri, and 1 in Ohio.
In the manufacture of chemicals Pennsylvania is only exceeded by New York. In the whole country the value of the chemical products in the census year 1900 was
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THE GREAT INDUSTRIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.
$62,676,730, of which New York contributed $15,994,366 and Pennsylvania $13,034,384. In the manufacture of paper Pennsylvania was the pioneer of all the colonies. By the census of 1900 it was fourth among the States in the aggregate value of all paper produced, but it was second in the value of some leading paper products.
The production of petroleum in this country in the calendar year 1905 was greater than in any previous year, but Pennsylvania had long lost its leadership in this in- dustry. The total output of crude petroleum in that year was 134,717,580 barrels, which exceeded by 17,636,620 bar- rels the production of 117,080,960 barrels in 1904. The production of petroleum in the United States more than doubled in the six years from 1900 to 1905. A table pub- lished by the United States Geological Survey, showing the rank of the States in the production of petroleum, is full of surprises. Of the total production in 1904 Califor- nia produced 25.33 per cent .; Texas, 19 per cent .; Ohio, 16.13 per cent .; West Virginia, 10.80 per cent .; Indiana, 9.69 per cent .; Pennsylvania, 9.50 per cent .; Kansas, 3.63 per cent .; and Louisiana, 2.51 per cent. Of the total pro- duction in 1905 California produced 24.81 per cent. ; Tex- as, 20.89 per cent .; Ohio, 12.13 per cent .; Kansas, Indian Territory, and Oklahoma combined, 8.92 per cent .; West Virginia, 8.59 per cent. ; Indiana, 8.14 per cent. ; Pennsyl- vania, 7.75 per cent .; and Louisiana, 6.61 per cent. The other oil-bearing States and Territories produced only small quantities in 1904 and 1905. In the early years of the petroleum industry, beginning statistically with 1859, Pennsylvania was the only State that produced petroleum in large quantities, and until 1895, when it was passed by Ohio, it led all the States in production, but in 1905 it produced less than one-twelfth of the total production, virtually all in Western Pennsylvania.
The production of natural gas in the calendar year 1905 amounted approximately in value to $41,562,855, which was an increase of $3,066,095 over the value of the gas produced in 1904. The production of Pennsylvania in 1905 was valued at $19,197,336, or over 46 per cent. of the total value, West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana coming
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next in rank in the order mentioned. The total produc- tion in 1905 was greater than that of any previous year. Pennsylvania was the first State to use natural gas in large quantities. It maintained a yearly increase in production in the nine years immediately preceding 1906, the pro- duction in 1905 being valued at more than three times that of 1897. All the natural gas that is produced in Pennsylvania is obtained in the northern and western parts of the State. It has not been found in the eastern part.
Pennsylvania is first of all the States in the production of Portland cement, which is rapidly becoming one of the country's great industries. In the calendar year 1904 Pennsylvania produced 11,496,099 barrels, while the whole country produced 26,505,881 barrels. The share of Penn- sylvania was over 43 per cent. of the total production. In 1907 the whole country produced 48,785,390 barrels, of which Pennsylvania produced 20,393,965 barrels, or nearly 42 per cent. of the total production. It is first of all the States in the production of roofing slate and lime- stone. Pennsylvania is also first of all the States in the production of fire brick and tiles, Ohio being second. In the manufacture of pottery, however, which is also a clay product, Pennsylvania is greatly exceeded by Ohio and New Jersey and in a less degree by New York, while it is closely followed by West Virginia.
In other manufactured products Pennsylvania is pre- eminent among all the States and is even distinguished. It was the first State to establish works for the exclusive manufacture of locomotives and its Baldwin Locomotive Works are the largest in the world. It builds more rail- road cars than any other State and it was the first to en- gage in the manufacture of steel cars, now a great national industry. Its Disston saws are of worldwide reputation. In iron and steel shipbuilding Pennsylvania has been the pioneer, and its Roach and Cramp shipyards have won for it many honors. Pennsylvania is also the only State that makes armor plate. But for the enterprise' of Pennsylva- nia steel manufacturers this important industry would not have had an existence in our country to-day.
Agriculture, the leading industry of our country, is
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also the leading industry of Pennsylvania. The value of the agricultural products of the United States is annually many times greater than the combined value of all our mineral products and all our iron and steel products, and the number of persons engaged in agricultural pursuits is greater than that of persons engaged in all our manufac- turing and mechanical industries. Our corn crop is an- nually of far greater value than any of our manufactured products. Our cotton crop, which, by the way, still con- tinues to be our leading export product, is of far greater value every year than all the coal we mine and coke we make. As an agricultural State Pennsylvania has long been noted for the great variety of its products. Its cli- mate and soil permit the production in large quantities of many crops that other States either do not produce at all or produce in only small quantities. Many States exceed it in the production of wheat, corn, oats, and live stock, but it is prominent in the production of other crops and farm products. Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, is the leading tobacco-growing county in the United States, and Washington county, Pennsylvania, is the leading wool- producing county in all the States east of the Rocky mountains. The annual value of the farm products of Lan- caster county is greater than that of any other county in the Union. Pennsylvania is exceeded only by New York in the value of hay and potatoes produced and it is next to Wisconsin in the production of rye. It is first in the production of buckwheat. It is second in the value of dairy products. It produces all the fruits and all the vege- tables that grow anywhere north of the cotton-growing States and east of the Rocky mountains. It runs a close race with New York for leadership in the production of apples and it is first of all the cherry-producing States. It is the third State in the total value of all fruits pro- duced, California being first and New York second.
The above references illustrate the variety and value of the agricultural products of Pennsylvania. These products would alone make it a State of great wealth, but, combined with its anthracite and bituminous coal, its coke, petroleum, lumber, and natural gas, and its long list
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of manufacturing industries, it is easily the leading State in the aggregate value of its industrial products.
To sum up important particulars : Pennsylvania is to- day first of all the States in the production of iron and steel, coal and coke, and carpets and rugs, and probably first of all in the manufacture of silk. In 1900 it was second in the manufacture of woolen products and in the total value of all textile products, fourth in the pro- duction of lumber and all kinds of paper, and second in the production of chemicals. It has long been first in the production of leather and in the manufacture of glass. It has lost its early leadership in the production of pe- troleum, but it is first in the production of natural gas. It is first in the production of Portland cement and in the manufacture of fire brick and tiles, and it is fourth in the manufacture of pottery. It leads all the States in the production of roofing slate and limestone and in the manufacture of locomotives, railroad cars, and saws, and it is the only State that makes armor plate. It is now third in iron and steel shipbuilding, not including Gov- ernment vessels, Michigan being first and Ohio second. In the annual value of many farm products it is either first or closely follows other States.
Pennsylvania is a small producer of zinc, which is found near Bethlehem. Lead was at one time produced at a mine near Phoenixville and smelted in the neighborhood. Copper also has been found and smelted in the vicinity of Phoenixville. The only nickel mine in the United States that has been profitably worked is in Lancaster county. In the first half of the nineteenth century Pennsylvania was one of the leading States in the manufacture of salt.
THE
EARLY IRON INDUSTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 185
CHAPTER XIX.
THE EARLY IRON INDUSTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
THE first settlers of Pennsylvania set up small fur- naces and forges soon after they had provided themselves with saw mills and grist mills. Iron ore was abundant, the forests supplied charcoal for fuel, and the streams fur- nished all the power that was needed. Mill seats were ob- jects of great interest in the settlement of a new country.
In 1716 the first iron works were established in Penn- sylvania. This event is described in one of Jonathan Dick- inson's letters, written in 1717, and quoted by Mrs. James in her Memorial of Thomas Potts, Junior : " This last sum- mer one Thomas Rutter, a smith, who lives not far from Germantown, hath removed farther up in the country and of his own strength hath set upon making iron, and we have accounts of others that are going on with iron works." Rutter's enterprise was a bloomary forge, which was prob- ably called Pool forge. It was located on Manatawny creek and about three miles above Pottstown. Iron was made directly from the ore, as in an ancient Catalan forge. In the Philadelphia Weekly Mercury for November 1, 1720, Thomas Fare, a Welshman, is said to have run away from "the forge at Manatawny." He was probably a redemp- tioner. Another Pool forge is known to have existed far- ther up the stream, probably built after the first one was abandoned. This Pool forge was attacked by a small band of Shawnese Indians in 1728, who were repulsed.
Mrs. James says that Rutter was an English Quaker who was a resident of Philadelphia in 1685 and who re- moved in 1714 from Germantown "forty miles up the Schuylkill, in order to work the iron mines of the Mana- tawny region." She gives a verbatim copy of the original patent of William Penn to Thomas Rutter for 300 acres of land "on Manatawny creek," dated February 12, 1714-15. The following obituary notice in the Pennsylvania Gazette, published at Philadelphia, dated March 5 to March 13,
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1729-30, ought to be conclusive proof of the priority of Thomas Rutter's enterprise : "Philadelphia, March 13. On Sunday night last died here Thomas Rutter, Senior, of a short illness. He was the first that erected an iron work in Pennsylvania." In his will he is styled a blacksmith.
In Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania mention is made of Samuel Nutt, an English Quaker, who built a forge called Coventry in the northern part of Chester county which "went into operation about the year 1720." This also was a Catalan forge. Nutt probably made iron at Coventry forge in 1718. Bishop refers to a letter writ- ten by Dickinson in July, 1718, stating that "the expecta- tions from the iron works forty miles up Schuylkill are very great." In April, 1719, Dickinson again wrote : "Our iron promises well. What hath been sent over to England hath been greatly approved. Our smiths work up all they make, and it is as good as the best Swedish iron." Dick- inson probably referred to Nutt's and Rutter's forges.
The next iron enterprise in Pennsylvania was undoubt- edly Colebrookdale furnace, which was built about 1720 by a company of which Thomas Rutter was the principal member. It was located on Ironstone creek, in Colebrook- dale township, Berks county, about eight miles north of Pottstown. This furnace supplied Pool forge with pig iron, and in course of time other forges, one of which was Pine forge, built on the Manatawny about 1740. A stove-plate cast at this furnace in 1763 was exhibited at the Phila- delphia Exhibition of 1876. In 1731 pig iron sold at Colebrookdale furnace "in large quantities" at £5 10s. per ton, Pennsylvania currency, a pound being equal to $2.66. Soon after Nutt had built Coventry forge he built a fur- nace on French creek, called "Redding," about 1720. It is probable that this was the second furnace in the State.
Durham furnace, on Durham creek, about one and a half miles above its entrance into the Delaware river in the extreme northern part of Bucks county, was built in 1727 by a company of fourteen persons. At the Philadel- phia Exhibition the keystone of Durham furnace, bearing date 1727, was an interesting feature.
In 1728 there were four furnaces in blast in Pennsyl-
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vania, one of which was certainly Colebrookdale ; another was Durham. The other furnaces were probably Sir Will- iam Keith's, on Christiana creek, in the present State of Delaware, and Nutt's Reading furnace, on French creek. In November, 1728, James Logan shipped three tons of Durham pig iron to England. In 1728-9 Pennsylvania sent 274 tons of pig iron to the mother country. Other furnaces and forges in Eastern Pennsylvania followed in rapid succession those already mentioned. As has been stated the early forges made iron directly from the ore, but after furnaces were built pig iron was generally used at the forges. The furnaces were required to produce both pig iron and castings, the latter consisting of stoves, pots, kettles, andirons, smoothing-irons, clock-weights, and simi- lar articles. In his History of New Sweden Israel Acrelius, who lived in this country from 1750 to 1756, says : "Penn- sylvania in regard to its iron works is the most advanced of all the American colonies." About 1750 the manufac- ture of cemented steel was commenced in Chester county.
Bishop says that in 1786 there were seventeen fur- naces, forges, and slitting-mills within thirty-nine miles of Lancaster. About 1789 there were fourteen furnaces and thirty-four forges in operation in Pennsylvania, according to a list published by Mrs. James. In 1791 the number of furnaces had increased to sixteen and of forges to thirty- seven. In 1796 the slitting and rolling mills were said to roll 1,500 tons per annum. At this time there were many furnaces and forges in the Schuylkill valley. The coun- ties on the west side of the Susquehanna river contained many active iron enterprises soon after the close of the Revolution, some of which had been established before the struggle for independence began. In 1838 there were 102 furnaces, forges, and rolling mills in existence within a radius of fifty-two miles of Lancaster.
Martic forge, on Pequea creek, near the present village of Colemanville, in Lancaster county, was built in 1755 and was last in operation in 1883. During the Revolution round iron was drawn under the hammer at this forge and bored out for musket barrels at a boring mill, in a very retired spot, on a small stream far off from any public
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road, doubtless with a view to prevent discovery by the enemy. The Continental Congress established and main- tained an armory at Carlisle, where muskets, swords, and "wrought iron cannon of great strength" were manufac- tured. In 1776, and throughout the war, anthracite coal was taken in arks from the Wyoming mines above Wilkes- barre down the Susquehanna to the Carlisle armory. Dur- ing the Revolution cannon and cannon balls were cast at many Pennsylvania furnaces. In his biographical sketch of David Rittenhouse in Harper's Magazine for May, 1882, Samuel W. Pennypacker says that at the beginning of the Revolution the leaden weights which were attached to Rittenhouse's clocks "were now needed for bullets," and it was ordered by the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety that Rittenhouse and Owen Biddle, both of Philadelphia, "should prepare moulds for the casting of clock-weights and send them to some iron furnace and order a sufficient number to be immediately made for the purpose of ex- changing them with the inhabitants of this city for their leaden clock-weights."
The bar iron and castings made in the Schuylkill val- ley during the eighteenth century were taken down the river to Philadelphia in boats, which were poled back to their starting points. These were doubtless Durham boats, so called because they were first used in carrying iron from Durham furnace by way of the Delaware river to Philadelphia.
The first blast furnace in the Juniata valley was Bed- ford furnace, on Black Log creek, built in 1787 or 1788 on the site of the present town of Orbisonia, in Hunting- don county, by the Bedford Company, composed of Ed- ward Ridgely, Thomas Cromwell, and George Ashman. It made from eight to ten tons of pig iron a week. Lytle, in his History of Huntingdon County, says that it was built mostly of wood and was five feet wide at the bosh and either fifteen or seventeen feet high. A forge was subsequently built on Little Aughwick creek, four miles southwest of the furnace, by the same company, which supplied the neighborhood with horseshoe iron, wagon tire, harrow teeth, etc. Large stoves and other utensils were
THE EARLY IRON INDUSTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 189
cast at Bedford furnace. At the Philadelphia Exhibition there was a stove-plate which was cast at this furnace in 1792. On September 10, 1793, Thomas Cromwell, for the company, advertised in the Pittsburgh Gazette castings and bar iron for sale at Bedford furnace. The first Ameri- can-made bar iron ever taken to Pittsburgh is said to have been made at Bedford forge. "In the forge the pig iron of the furnace was hammered out into bars about six or eight feet long, and these were bent into the shape of the letter U and turned over the backs of horses and thus transported over the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh," the first part of the way by bridle paths.
Bedford furnace was certainly in operation before 1790, as on the 2d day of March of that year Hugh Needy en- tered into an agreement with the company to deliver twenty-eight ten-gallon kettles and seven Dutch ovens, the whole weighing 12 cwt., 3 qrs., and 21 lbs., to Daniel Depue, "on or near the Monongahela river, near Devor's ferry, in eight days ensuing the date hereof." Devore's ferry was on the Monongahela river where Monongahela City is situated. It was probably established as early as 1770. The articles which are above mentioned were carried on pack-horses. The forge appears to have been built in 1791, as is shown by an itemized account of iron made by the company from "the time the forge started " in that year until October 12, 1796, the product in these six years being 497 tons, 8 cwt., 2 qrs., and 26 lbs.
Bar iron and castings from Bedford furnace and other iron works in the Juniata valley were taken down the Ju- niata river in arks, many of them descending to as low a point as Middletown, on the Susquehanna, whence the iron was hauled to Philadelphia. Much of the iron of the Ju- niata valley was also sent to Baltimore in arks down the Susquehanna river.
Centre furnace, located on Spring creek, in Centre county, was the second furnace erected in the Juniata val- ley or near its boundaries. It was built in the summer of 1791 by Colonel John Patton and Colonel Samuel Miles, both Revolutionary officers. The first forge in Centre county was Rock forge, on Spring creek, built in 1793 by
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General Philip Benner, who subsequently established other iron enterprises in Centre county.
In 1832 there were in operation in Huntingdon coun- ty, which then embraced a part of Blair county, eight fur- naces, ten forges, and one rolling and slitting mill. Each of the furnaces yielded from 1,200 to 1,600 tons of iron annually. In the same year an incomplete list enumerated eight furnaces and as many forges in Centre county. In 1850 there were in these two counties and in Blair county (formed out of Huntingdon and Bedford in 1846) and Mifflin county forty-eight furnaces, forty-two forges, and eight rolling mills.
Much of the iron made in the Juniata valley during the palmy days of its iron industry was sold at Pittsburgh, first in the form of castings, afterwards in both pigs and bars, and finally chiefly in the form of blooms. Before the completion of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Portage Railroad bar iron from Centre county was at first carried on the backs of horses to the Clarion river and was then floated on flatboats and arks to Pittsburgh. Pig iron and bar iron from Huntingdon county were hauled over the Frankstown Road to Johnstown and floated to Pittsburgh by way of the Conemaugh river. Subsequently blooms were hauled to Pittsburgh from Huntingdon county by wagon. "Dorsey's iron from Barree forge" was for sale at Pittsburgh in October, 1805, by Thomas Cromwell. In April, 1807, at Pittsburgh, E. Denny advertised "barr iron for sale, from Huntingdon and Centre counties, at a re- duced price." Juniata iron was long noted throughout the country for its excellence.
Before the Pennsylvania Canal was completed in 1834 the hauling of Juniata blooms to Pittsburgh had been for some years an important business. In the Blairsville Rec- ord for January 31, 1828, Mulhollan & McAnulty adver- tise for teams to haul blooms from the Sligo iron works, in Huntingdon county, to Blairsville, offering $15 per ton. This hauling was done over the Huntingdon, or Northern, Turnpike, which had been built only a few years before and which passed through Huntingdon, Hollidaysburg, Ebensburg, and Blairsville to Pittsburgh. Soon after the
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THE EARLY IRON INDUSTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
canal was finished and the Portage Railroad from Holli- daysburg to Johnstown was completed, the latter in 1834, the shipment of Juniata blooms to Pittsburgh greatly in- creased. The canal was finished to Blairsville in 1829.
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