History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 16

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > West Virginia > Kanawha County > Charleston > History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens > Part 16

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CHARLESTON LAWYERS, 19II

(A)

Albertson, Ulysses S .; Alderson, Chas. M .; Alderson, George P .; Alexander, A. S .; Alle- bach, Leroy; Anderson, H. M .; Avis, S. B .; Ashby, W. L .; Atkinson, U. B.

(B)

Ballard, Albert M .; Black, V. L .; Belcher, A. M .; Bledsoe, T. A .; Bobbitt, Oliver B .; Briggs, Murray; Broun, Thos. L .; Burdette, F. G .; Byrne, George ; Brown, James F .; Bur- lew, Abram; Byrne, W. E. R .; Broun, C. Beverley; Bouchelle, J. F .; Burdette, E. M .;

Barnhart, W. G .; Bostic, H. B .; Boiarsky, Moses; Bowen, Samuel E.

(C)

Cato, Henry S .; Chilton, J. E .; Chilton, W. E .; Chilton, Samuel B .; Carr, F. N .; Clark, T. S .; Clay, Buckner; Cork, J. F .; Couch, Geo. S. Sr .; Couch, G. S., Jr .; Couch, C. B .; Clayton, Bruce; Campbell, J. Edgar; Carter, E. R .; Chappelle, John W.

(D)

Davis, D. C. T., Sr .; Davis, Staige; Don- nally, J. C .; Dyre, E. B.

(E)

Edwards, W. S .; Ellison, James B.

(F)

Fitzgerald, O. P., Jr .; Flournoy, S. L .; Flournoy, P. P .; Fry, Henry.

(G)

Gallaher, D. C .; Green, S. S .; Gaines, J. H .; Goldbarth, Irwin S .; Goshorn, Fred; Good, C. W .; Goettman, Chas. E.

(H)

Higginbotham, Upshur; Hardy, Waller C .; Hall, E. C .; Hays, G. W .; Hill, F. J .; Hous- ton, H. T .; Hyndly, J. H .; Harless, Floyd H .; Hunt, J. H .; Hall, Grant P .; Harrison, E. C .; Higginbotham, Marshall.

(J)

Jones, John B .; Jackson, Malcolm; Jordon, I. C.

(K)

Kennedy, J. W .; Knight, E. W .; Keatley, E. M .; Kenna, J. N .; Kenna, John; Koontz, A. B .; Kimbrough, C. E .; Kerse, T. L.

(L)

Laidley, W. S .; Laidley, W. Sydney, Jr .; Linn, R. G .; Littlepage, A. B .; Littlepage, S. D .; Littlepage, S. Collette; Littlepage, B. Kemp; Loeb, Leo .; LaFollette, L. M .; Little- page, Chas. F .; Lively, W. W .; Lively, Frank; Long, E. L.

(M)

Mollohan, McClintic, G. W .;

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

McCorkle, W. A .; MacCorkle, A. D .; McCorkle, W. G .; McDonald, A. W .; Mena- ger, J. B .; McCabe, R. E .; McWhorter, H. C., Judge; McWhorter, L. E .; Mathews, Daniel; Mathews, W. D .; Miller, J. B .; Minor, Berkeley, Jr .; Morgan, Ben S .; Mur- phy, P. H.

(N) Nash, J. H .; Nash, J. H., Jr. ; Nutter, T. G.

(O)

Owen, Morgan. (P)

Payne, J. M .; Payne, W. D .; Price, G. E .; Price, J. E .; Price, R. M .; Prichard, A. M .; Painter, Graham C .; Poteet, L. E.

(Q)

Quarrier, R. G. (R)

Reedy, E. K .; Ruffner, Joseph; Robertson, M. M .; Robertson, E. E .; Rummel, H. D.

(S)

Smith, H. B .; Spilman, R. S .; Shrewsbury, G. H .; Stiles, M. F .; Seaman, Jas. A .; Shir- key, D. M.

(T)

Thayer, J. A .; Taylor, D. W.

(V)

Vickers, Lorenzo. (W)

Watts, C. C .; Waters, J. T .; Wiley, Carl C .; Webb, B. H .; White, J. B .; Webb, S. L .; Wertz, W. W .; Walker, P. G.

IN MEMORIAM

A list of members of the Kanawha bar that have, since the Civil War, departed this life.

(A)

Adams, W. W .; Armstead, William. (B)

Brown, Judge James H .; Brown, Joseph M .; Blair, A. C .; Boggs, H. L.

(C)

Carr, James Lawrence; Cole, John L .;

Couch, James H .; Cracraft, John W .; Cotton, John.

(D)

Doddridge, C. E .; Dawson, R. F .; DuBois, D.

(F)

Ferguson, James H .; Ferguson, J. D .; Fitzhugh, Nicholas; Flournoy, S. L .; Fon- taine, Peter.

(G)

Gray, James H. (H)

Hoge, James H .; Hedrick, Charles; Hoge -. man, Wm. H .; Hall, Cyrus; Hall, C. W .; Hindman, W. L.

(J)

Johnson, Judge Okey. (K)

Knight, Edward B .; Kenna, John E.

(L)

Lovell, Fayette A .; Laidley, James M. 4

(M)

Middleton, James E .; Middleton, Henry O .; Miller, Samuel A .; Morris, William H.

Nash, James H.

(N) (P)

Patton, Oliver A .; Patton, Geo. W .; Pals- ley, Judge Daniel.

(Q)

Quarrin, William A. (R)

Ruffner, David L. (S)

Smith, Benjamin H .; Smith, Isaac Noyes; Smith, Charles B .; Summers, Geo. W .; Sum- mers, William S .; Swann, Thomas B .; Swann, John S .; Stout, Traverse; Sperry, C. A .; Shrewsbury, Harvy D.

(T)

Tebbitts, A. G.

(W)

Warth, John A .; Wilson, E. Willis.

CHAPTER VII

INDUSTRIAL HISTORY

The Salt Industry-Rock Salt and Brines-Salt Boiling by the Indians-Homemade Salt- The First Salt Furnace in Kanawha-Pack-saddle Transportation-David and Joseph Ruffner's Salt Enterprise-The Great Buffalo Lick-Description of a "Gum"-Early Discouragements and Ultimate Success-A Revolution in Manufacture Caused by Coal- Mechanical Improvements-Burning Springs and Gas Wells-A Professor's Experiment and its Results-Col. Levi J. Woodyard-First Gas Well Bored by Capt. James Wilson- Patrick's Salt Furnace-Methods of Manufacturing and Shipping-Waste Products-Cost of Production-Soda Ash-List of Kanawha Salt Furnaces-Statistics-Kanawha Salt Makers-Cannel Coal Oil Manufactures on Kanawha-Great Kanawha Gas Co .- Vulcan Iron Works-Kanawha Brick Co .- Morgan Lumber & Manufacturing Co .- Gill Manu- facturing Co .- Banner Window Glass Co .- Tanners' and Dyers' Extract Co .- Kanawha Planing Mill Co .- Standard Brick Co .- Kanawha Woolen Mills-Charleston Woolen Mills-Diamond Ice & Coal Co .- Kanawha Mine Car Co .- Ohio Valley Furniture Co. -Charleston Window Glass Co .- L. Long & Sons-The Kanawha Land Co. (South Charleston)-South Charleston Crusher Co.

KANAWHA SALT

From a paper on salt written by J. P. Hale

Fossil or rock salt has not been found in the state; but salt brines of greater or less strength, and in greater or less abundance, are found by artesian borings, at various depths throughout the Appalachian coal field, which underlies the greater portion of our state.

The strength of these brines varies in differ- ent localities, and in different wells in the same locality; the range may be stated at, say six degrees to twelve degrees by the salometer, Baume scale (distilled water being zero, satu- ration twenty-five degrees), but the average strength of the brines from which salt is now made is about eight degrees to ten degrees. The value of these brines depends, of course, upon their location, as regards accessibility, and cheap transportation of the products to market, as well as the convenient proximity of cheap coal for fuel, and timber for barrels. Only locations on the navigable rivers, or lines

of railways at present fulfill these indications ; but, as population increases, and new routes of travel and traffic are opened up, it is probable that new salt manufacturing localities will be developed.

The principal points at which salt has been manufactured in the state, are Charleston on the Great Kanawha river; from West Colum- bia to Hartford City on the Ohio river: at Bull-town on the Little Kanawha; at Louisa on the Big Sandy ; in Mercer county on New river; near Birch of Elk river; (at the mouth of Otter creek on Elk), and at a few other less important points, on a very small scale for local use. At present, owing to the greater facility of reaching the markets of the great West by cheap water transportation, and the advantages of cheap fuel, salt is only manu- factured, on a commercial scale near Charles- ton on the Great Kanawha, and in Mason county on the Ohio.

The Kanawha salt works were situated in

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Kanawha county, on the Kanawha river, com- mencing about three miles above Charleston and extending up the river for several miles, on both sides.

These "licks" as they are called, have not only been known and extensively worked from the first settlement of the valley by the whites, but have been known and used, from time immemorial, by the Indian tribes, and frequented by swarms of buffalo, elk, deer, and other wild animals, before the advent of the white man.

In 1753, when all this region was an un- broken wilderness, which had never been penetrated by the most adventurous white man, a party of Shawnees who dwelt upon the Scioto, in what is now Ohio, made a raid upon the frontier settlements of Virginia, in what is now Montgomery county. Having taken the settlers unawares, and after killing, burning, and capturing prisoners, as was their custom, they retreated, with their captives, down the New, Kanawha, and Ohio rivers to their homes. One of these captives, Mrs. Mary Ingles, who afterwards made her escape, and was returned to her friends, related that the party stopped several days at the salt spring on the Kanawha river, rested there from their weary march, killed plenty of game and feasted themselves on the fat of the land; in the meantime, boiling salt water and making a supply of salt, which was carefully packed and taken with them to their western homes. This is not only the first account we have of salt making on Kanawha, but anywhere else west of the Alleghanies. In fact, if there is any earlier record of salt-making from brine springs, anywhere in the United States, I am not aware of it.

The earliest settlement made by whites, in the Kanawha valley, was by Walter Kely and family, at the mouth of the creek, which bears his name, in the spring of 1774, several months before the battle of Point Pleasant, where the combined Indian tribes, under the celebrated Sachem, Cornstalk, were defeated and driven back by the Virginians, under Gen. Lewis.

Kelley and his family paid the forfeit of their lives to their temerity; they were all killed by the Indians; but after the battle of

the Point, whein there was greater security for life, the valley was rapidly settled, mostly by Virginians, and in great part by the hardy soldiers who had followed Lewis to Point Pleasant.

The early pioneer settlers, in a wilderness, without communication with other settlements, except by foot or bridle paths, depended upon the Kanawha licks for their scanty supply of salt. In those days of simple economy and provident thrift, when everything useful was made the most of, the women's wash-kettles were put under requisition for a fourfold duty ; they boiled the daily hog and hominy, and other wholesome, frugal fare; once a week they boiled their clothes, on wash day; semi-occas- ionally they boiled the salt water for a little of the precious salt, and every spring they went to the sugar camp, to boil the annual supply of maple sugar and molasses.

It is related that at one time, when there was on apprehended attack from the Indians, the few early settlers were posted at the mouth of Coal river, for protection. Being out of salt and suffering for the want of it, they sent some of their hardy and daring young men in canoes up to the salt spring, where they dipped the canoes full of salt water; and, getting safely back, the water was boiled, and the precious salt made under cover of the fort.

Among the earliest land locations made in the valley was one of 502 acres, made in 1785, by John Dickinson, from the Valley of Vir- ginia, to include the mouth of Campbell's creek, the bottom above, and the salt spring. Dickin- son did not improve or work the property him- self, but meeting with Joseph Ruffner, an en- terprising farmer from his Shenandoah estates, he sold to Ruffner, and in 1795 removed him- self and family to Kanawha to look after his salt property. Upon arriving here, however, his penchant for rich farming lands overcame him, and he purchased, from George and Wil- liam Clendenen, the large river bottom of 900 acres extending from the mouth of Elk river up Kanawha; and upon 40 acres of which the vil- lage of Charleston had been laid out and started the previous year. This last purchase, and the subsequent attention to clearing and improving the farm diverted Ruffner's attention for a time,

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

from the salt project. The delay was fatal so far as he was concerned; he did not live to ex- ecute his pet scheme or realize his cherished hopes. Dying in 1803, he willed the property to his sons, David and Joseph, enjoining it up- on them to carry out, as speedily as practicable, his plans of building up extensive salt manufac- tories to supply not only the increasing local demand, but a larger and still more rapidly growing demand, which was now coming from the many thrifty settlements through- out the Ohio Valley. During the elder Ruff- ner's life, however, he had leased to one Elisha Brooks, the use of salt water and the right to manufacture salt; and in 1797 this Elisha Brooks erected the first salt furnace in Kana- wha, or in the western country. It consisted of two dozen small kettles, set in a double row, with a flue beneath, a chimney at one end, and a fire bed at the other.

To obtain a supply of salt water he sank two or three "gums" into the mire and quicksand of the salt lick, and dipped the brine with buc- ket and swape, as it oozed and seeped in through the sand below.

In this crude, rough-and-ready way, Brooks managed to make about 150 pounds of salt per day, which he sold at the kettles, at 8 to 10 cents per pound. No means were used to set- tle or purify the brines or salt, as the salt wa- ter came from the gum, so it was boiled down to salt in the kettle, with whatever impurities or coloring matter it contained. As it issues from the earth it holds some carbonate of iron in solution ; when it is boiled, this iron becomes oxidized, and gives a reddish tinge to the brine and salt.

This Kanawha salt soon acquired a reputa- tion for its strong, pungent taste, and its sup- ior qualities for curing meat, butter, etc. A great many who used it and recognized these qualities in connection with its striking red- dish color came to associate the two in their minds in the relation of cause and effect, and orders used to come from far and near for some of "that strong red salt from the Kana- wha Licks."

Almost the only mode of transporting salt beyond the neighborhood, in those early days, was by pack-horses, on the primitive, back-

woods pack-saddle. So much of this was done, and so familiar did the public mind be- come with the term, as used in that sense, that even to this day, among a large class of people, the verb "to pack" is always used in- stead of other synonymous terms, such as carry, transport, fetch, bring, take, etc., and the "tote" of Old Virginia.

It was not until 1806, that the brothers, David and Joseph Ruffner, set to work to as- certain the source of the salt water, to procure, if possible, a larger supply and of better quali- ty, and to prepare to manufacture salt on a scale commensurate with the growing wants of the country.

The Salt Lick, or "The Great Buffalo Lick," as it was called, was just at the river's edge, 12 or 14 rods in extent, on the north side, a few hundred yards above the mouth of Campbell's creek, and just in front of what is now known as the "Thoroughfare Gap," through which from the north as well as up and down the river, the buffalo, elk, and other ruminating animals made their way in vast numbers to the lick. I may mention en passant that so great was the fame of this lick, and the herds of game that frequented it, that the great hunter, explorer, and conqueror of the "bloody ground" of Kentucky, Daniel Boone, was tempted up here, made a log cabin settlement, and lived just on the opposite side of the river, on what is now known as the Donnally farm or splint coal bottom. I have had, from old Mr. Paddy Huddlestone who died a few years ago, at nearly one hundred years of age, many interesting anecdotes of their joint adventures in hunting and trapping. Boone still lived here in 1789-90, when Kanawha county was formed and in 1791 served as one of the dele- gates for the county, in the Legislature at Richmond.

But to return to the Licks, and the operat- ions of the Ruffner brothers. In order to reach, if possible, the bottom of the mire and oozy quicksand through which the salt water flowed, they provided a straight, well-formed, hollow sycamore tree, with 4 feet internal diam- eter, sawed off square at each end. This is technically called a "gum." This gum was set upright on the spot selected for sinking the

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large end down, and held in its perpendicular position by props and braces, on the four sides. A platform, upon which two men could stand, was fixed about the top; then a swape erected, having its fulcrum in a forked post set in the ground close by. A large bucket, made from half of a whiskey barrel, was attached to the end of the swape, by a rope and a rope attached to the end of the pole to pull down on, to raise

the bucket. With one man inside the gum armed with pick, shovel, and crowbar, two men on the platform on top to empty and return the bucket, and three or four to work the swape, the crew and outfit were complete.

After many unexpected difficulties and de- lays, the gum at last reached what seemed to be rock bottom at 13 feet; upon cutting it with picks and crowbars, however, it proved to be but a shale or crust, about 6 inches thick, of conglomerated sand, gravel and iron. Upon breaking through this crust the water flowed up into the gum more freely than ever, but with less salt.

Discouraged at this result, the Ruffner brothers determined to abandon this gum, and sink a well out in the bottom, about 100 yards from the river. This was done, they encount- ering, as before, many difficulties and delays. When they had gotten through 45 feet of al- luvial deposit, they came to the same bed of sand and gravel upon which they had started at the river.

To penetrate this, they made a 31/2 inch tube of a 20 foot oak log, by boring through it with a long-shanked augur. This tube, sharpened, and shod with iron at the bottom, was driven down, pile-driver fashion, through the sand to the solid rock. Through this tube they then let down a glass vial with a string to catch the salt water for testing. They were again doomed to disappointment; the water though slightly brackish, was less salt than that at the river.

They now decided to return to the gum at the river, and, if possible, to put it down to the bed rock. This they finally succeeded in do- ing. finding the rock at 16 to 17 feet from the surface.

As the bottom of the gum was square, and the surface of the rock uneven, the rush of out-

side water into the gum was very troublesome. By dint of cutting and trimming from one side and the other, however, they were, at last, gotten nearly to a joint, after which they resorted to thin wedges, which were driven here and there as they would "do the most good."

By this means the gum was gotten sufficient- ly tight to be so bailed out as to determine whether the salt water came up through the rock. This turned out to be the case. The quantity welling up through the rock was ex- tremely small, but the strength was greater than any yet gotten, and this was encouraging. They were anxious to follow it down, but how? They could not blast a hole down there, under water, but this idea occurred to them; they knew that rock blasters drilled their pow- der holes two or three feet deep, and they con- cluded they could, with a longer and larger drill, bore a correspondingly deeper and larger hole.

They fixed a long iron drill, with a 21/2 inch chisel bit of steel, and attached the upper end to a spring hole, with a rope.

In this way the boring went on slowly and tediously till on the Ist of November, 1807, at 17 feet in the rock a cavity or fissure was struck, which gave an increased flow of strong- er brine. This gave them encouragement to bore still farther, and so, by welding increas- ing length of shaft to the drill, from time to time, the hole was carried down to 28 feet, where a still larger and stronger supply of salt water was gotten.

Having now sufficient salt water to justify it, they decided, and commenced, to build a salt furnace ; but while building, they continued the boring, and on the 15th January, 1808, at 40 feet in the rock and 58 feet from the top of the gum, they were rewarded by an ample flow of strong brine for their furnace and ceased boring.

Now was presented another difficulty; how to get the stronger brine from the bottom of the well, undiluted by the weaker brines and fresh water from above. There was no pre- cedent here; they had to invent, contrive, and construct anew. A metal tube would naturally suggest itself to them; but there were neither

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HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY

metal tubes, nor sheet metal, nor metal work- ers-save a home-made blacksmith-in all this region, and to bore a wooden tube 40 feet long, and small enough in external diameter to go in the 21/2 inch hole, was impracticable. What they did do, was to whittle out of two long strips of wood two long half tubes of the proper size, and fitting the edges carefully to- gether wrap the whole from end to end with small twine; this, with a bag of wrapping near the lower end to fit, as nearly as practicable, water tight, in the 21/2 inch hole, was cau- tiously pressed down into its place, and found to answer the purpose perfectly; the brine flowed up freely through the tube into the gum, which was now provided with a water tight floor or bottom, to hold it; and from which it was raised by the simple swape and bucket.

Thus was bored and tubed, rigged and worked, the first rock-bored salt well west of the Alleghanies, if not in the United States. The wonder is not that it required eighteen months or more to prepare, bore and complete this well for use, but, rather, that it was ac- complished at all under the circumstances. In these times, when such a work can be accom- plished in as many days as it then required months, it is difficult to appreciate the difficul- ties, doubts, delays, and general troubles that beset them. Without preliminary study, prev- ious experience or training ; without precedents in what they undertook in a newly settled country ; without steam power, machine shops, skilled mechanics, suitable tools or materials- failure rather than success might reasonably have been predicted.

The new furnace, which for some time had been under construction, was now complete. It was simply a reproduction of the Elisha Brooks kettle furnace, on a larger scale. There were more kettles, of larger size and better arranged.

On the 8th of February, 1808, the Ruffner brothers made their first lifting of salt from this furnace, and simultaneously reduced the price to the (then) unprecedentedly low figure of 4 cents per pound.

From this time forward, salt making, as one of the leading industries of Kanawha, was

an established fact, and Kanawha salt one of the leading commercial articles of the West; and wherever it has gone, from the Alle- ghanies to the Rocky mountains, from the Lakes to the Gulf, its superior qualities have been recognized and appreciated.

The neighboring property owners, who had watched the progress and result of the Ruff- ner well with such deep interest, now institut- ed borings on their own lands, above and be- low, and on both sides of the river. Among these earlier, enterprising experimenters were William Whittaker, Tobias Ruffner, Andrew Donally, and others. All were more or less successful in getting a supply of brine, at depths varying from 50 to 100 feet, and by 1817 there were some 30 furnaces and 15 or 20 wells in operation, making in the aggregate 600,000 to 700,000 bushels of salt.

In this year an important revolution in the manufacture of salt was effected by the dis- covery of coal. Although in one of the finest coal fields of the world, coal had not, hitherto, been found here in workable seams, nor been used at all, except for blacksmith's purposes. Wood had been the only fuel used in salt mak- ing, and for other purposes, and all the bot- toms and convenient hill slopes for several miles up and down the river had been stripped of their timber to supply this demand.

David Ruffner, true to the spirit of enter- prise and pluck which animated him when he bored the first well, was the first here to use coal as a fuel. This would appear to be a very simple matter now ; but was not so then. It was only after many months of discourag- ing efforts, and failing experiments, that he finally succeeded in getting it to work to his satisfaction. Its value established, however, its use was at once adopted by the other fur- naces, and wood ceased to be used as a fuel for salt making in Kanawha.

Other important improvements were grad- ually going on in the manner of boring and tubing, after Ruffner's compound wood-and- wrapping-twine tube, being made by a tinner who had located in Charleston to make tin cups and coffee pots for the multitude. He made tin tubes in convenient lengths, and soldered them together as they were put down the well.

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The refinement of screw joints had not yet come, but followed shortly after, in connection with copper pipes, which soon took the place of tin, and these are recently giving place to iron.

In the manner of bagging the wells, that is, in forming a water-tight joint around the tube to shut off the weaker waters above from the stronger below, a simple arrangement, called a "seed-bag" was fallen upon, which proved very effective, which has survived to this day, and has been adopted wherever deep boring is done, as one of the standard appliances for the pur- pose for which it is used. This seed-bag is made of buckskin, or soft calf-skin sewed up like the sleeve of a coat or leg of a stocking, made 12 to 15 inches long, about the size of the well- hole and open at both ends; this is slipped over the tube and one end securely wrapped over knots placed on the tube to prevent slipping. Some six or eight inches of the bag is then filled with flaxseed,either alone or mixed with powdered gum tragacanth; the other end of the bag is then wrapped, like the first, and the tube is ready for the well. When to their place- and they are put down any depth-to hun- dreds of feet-the seed and gum soon swell from the water they absorb, till a close fit and water-tight joint are made.

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History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens, Part 16

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Laidley, William Sydney, 1839-1917. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., Richmond-Arnold publishing co
Number of Pages: 1066