Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1873-04-19
b ERKS COUNTY IRON.
The Past and Present Of the Trade
Capacity Of the oounty's Furnaces.

The Past and freeent OF the Irad6-
Capacity Of the oounty's Furnaces.
Looking upon the resources ofthe vast
entrepots Of iron manufactures In and
about the city of Reading, and consider
ing the fact that this section Of the State
Is one Of the greatest iron producing re-
gions In the world, the following Items Of
the early history of the trade will he Of |
great interest. The schuylklll valley Is
not only among the most noted iron pro-
duelng sections, but ID is the oldest, as |
the following, taken from Jonathan Dick |
inson's letters 10 the Logan manuscripts,
written as early as 1S17, will show;
In that year, state the letters In the old
style, "one Thomas Rutter, who lived not
far from &c. mauto IN, has moved further
up In the country, and of his own strength
has set upon making iron. Such II proves
to be, as is highly set by all the smiths
here, who say that the best of Swedee
Iron doth not exceed It," The place
where Thomas Rutter manufactured this
iron lie believed to have been Rutter's
Forge, or POOLS Forge, on the Manataw-
ny creek, near Manatawny station, this
county, three or four miles from Potts.
town. This old forge has long since been
| disinantled, but the site Ia still plainly to
to be seen. The kind of iron at first
made there was blacksmlth's bars, and
''anconies," species Of half-wrought
iron, unwrought at the ends.
In the Pennsy lvania Historical Col
lectlons il Is stated that ga settler by the
name of Mutt, Samuel Nutt,) early
built a forge called Coventry, within
the limits OF this township, Coventry,
Chester County,) and made other extern
sive improvements. It went into opera
ton about the year ITO, aud made the
first iron manufactured In America"
This account, although II may seem
no conflict with that given by Jonathan
Dickinson to Logan, that the first iron
was made by Thomas Rutter, may be rec.
onclled by the fact that Mutt married
Rutter's widowed daughter and proba
bly, carried out on larger scale what
was first begun by his father-ln-law.
From the Pennsylvania Gazette, published
in philadelphia, we learn by paragraph
dated March 18th, lYss-30, that" On
Sunday night last died here, Thomas
Rutter, SEN, of a short illness. lie was
the iirst that erected an iron works IN
Pennsylvania"
4 Another furnace was built down al
/ Colebrookdale, this county, as early al
3 1920, BY James Lewis and Anthony Nor
=. ris, of Philadelphia. The Coventry Forgi
n was built soon after, by Samuel Mutt
The Reading Furnace, Chester county
was built In 1880, and the Warwick Fur
mace, also In Chester county, was hull
in 1886, Thomas Rutter and Thoma
!, Potts, and his son John Potts, wer
= among the earliest lronmasters In TIT
I, State, and these gentlemen and their de
u | ,.tnad nd al tho fnr
!, naces and FORCES in the schuJ lkil Valley
Warwick, Reading aud other furnaces
and Colebrookdale, Poole, Pine, Glasgow
y and Valley Forges,) for long period o
years. The Cornwall furnace In Lebanon
county, was built in 1641-42, by Pete
Grub. and greatly enriched all Its own
ers. In 1897 ii 6scame the property o
n Robert Coleman, who acquired grea
rs estate thereby. The price of pig iron Il
y this place in 1850, was $500 Continents
y money, and in iT7h, was fHll Pennsyl
,, vania currency, or SlT26, The Moun
IL Vernon furnace, erected In 1900 By Herr
s, B. Grub, produced 80 tons per week
y The Mount Hope Furnace, built by Pete
Grub In 1896, yielded about 800 tons c
re pig metal per annum.
A friend tells of stove plate, In IN
possession of the Messrs. Potts Bros, {
POttetown, which wac manufactured b
q, John Potts, (the founder of Pottstown,
q, at Colebrookdale Works, this county
]. that bears the date of 17Sl.
as A piece of pig iron manufactured thei
es In 1740 is still preserved at the Pine Iro
n, Works, Berks county. An old stove plat
IS cast at Warwick Furnace, Chester county
a In 1863, by Potts g. Rutter, is In posse
lie sion Of Charles Rutter, Esq, of Pott
es town,
8, The present trade of the oourty
b reported TO be In fourishing condition
there being some sixteen or seveutee
anthracite and charcoal furnaces In operi
tion, and several I'm process of erection
The furnace of the Messre. BushOnl
cs near the Lebanon Valley bridge, has
70 present capacity Of 100 tons. The Henr
L. Clay furnaces, OF Messrs. Eckert s Bro
R. this city, two 10 number, have capacit
of 800 tons Messrs. Seyfert, McManu
lie Il Co., have furnace with capacity {
ne l75 tons and are building another who's
he capacity will be about 200 tons. Messri
E. X G. Brooke, at Birdsboro, have tw
,e furnaces in operation with a capacity
Il. 100 tons each, and are building anoth,
or with capacity Of $50 tons. This fir
= has also a charcoal furnace with cnpa
Of ity of 80 tons. The Messrs. Smith, aior
the line of the Wilmington q Readii
tn Railroad, have two charcoal furnac
We producing about 80 tons. The Robson
,ts furnace turns out about 100 tons.
n The Temple Iron Company's one III
ef mace, at present in operation, has a C
a pacliy Of 1870 tons and a new one nc
building will turn out 100 tons. One II
of mace Of the Leesport Iron Company tur
he out 200 tons, Skaters MI Laurel fl
TO mace has capacity Of 25 fons, the Mo-
he lem fSrnace 100 tons, and the Merl
[ a works about 40 tons.
The above approximate statement sho
ed that the present capacity of the fuinaC
m now In operation in tho county is abe
Dr.. LOO tons per week, the same being I
M product of the work of seven days a
nd nights and when the furnaces that q
now ip process Of erection are eomplei
cir and in operation the average capacity
en-. the whole will be about 1880 tons.
est A look back to the above earlier da
the Of the industry Of the country, and co
pairing its product with the millions
an tons Of iron at present made In the U
am ted States, over one half Of which is p
he duced In Pennsylvania, will give
on reader an approximate idea of the grow
ors of this branch of American industry,
for only of the country, but of the county
which xya Iva - Real.s,0 EIgoIs