The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-02-05
WHEElING INDUSTRIES.
The Virginia MIL and Its Successor,
the Benw0od Iron Works.

In entering upon the history Of the Vir'
glnia Mil, Il may DO well 10 remark Of
the iron. business In oil lie departments,
that In no portion Of the United States
had II attained anything like the periec.
ton Of method In the process Of manu-
taCtuFe which characterize the operations
oil tho present day. Much OF the machin.
cry was Of crude construction, and the
nail machints, although upon the same
pElHclple "a those now in use, were very
much inferior Wheeling, therefore, had
NO advantage over other points, either in
machinery or process oil manipulating
iron, 10 which could be attributed tho
unprecedented popularity Of what was
known 10 the market as the
STEVENS NAIL
Il was simply The greater care and
attention given 10 that branch Of the
business that caused the Wheeling nail
TO rise a. once 10 highest favor in the
market. Stimulated then by the immense
popularity Of the Stevens null, E. d.,
Norton conceived the idea OF erecting o
mill with view OF manufacturing nails
as q distinct specially. In 1S47 heorgan.
lied company consisting Of himself, Il
W. Stevens, John Hunter, William Elem.
mug and the late Robert Morrison, under
the utleOt Hunter, MUrrison& Co The
mill was built ON the The grounds now DC,
cupied by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Dtpoi, aud was tue first mill ever built
In the West for the exclusive manuiac.
ture OF nails. Forty machines were put
imposition, and the works were considered
rs Of extraordinary capacity Tor that day.
Success attended, lis operations from the
start, and so long as Its affairs were well
managed II did large aud profitable bus.
iness Unfortunately there came TO be
too much oil the native Virginia element IN
the construction Of The company to secure
that harmony essential to continued sue,
cess The rough handed, out spoken,
practical element, from the great free State
and the gloved, imperlous, impracticable
element Of the Virginia school, like oil
and water could at best but form q me-
chsnical mixture Alter tive years, E. II.
Nortch, with some Of the beat workmen
withdrew from tho Virginia and with
others from abroad organized the
company which built the Belmont
Mill. After the withdrawal OF those
parties the Virginia Mill was re-
organized under the title OF Elem,
ing, Hunter T. Co, and under that
management continued with but tolera
BILE suCcess until the year 1852, when the
grounds belonging to the Company were
sold to the Baltimore Il Ohio Railroad
Co., whose road was then approaching
completion About that time the late John
Gill, who had, like Mr.. Agnew, beer
largely Interested In the various schemes
designed to inaugurate new order oil
things in Wheeling and had thus wasted
the major part Of a handsome fortune,
became identified with the Virginia Com.
pspy and 1t was recognized under the
title Of Gill, Flemming & Co. Some
time was spent in endeavoriug to procure
asuitable location on which to set up
the building and machinery constituting
the Virginia Mill.
The Company received and entertain.
ed proposition from the late ]. M. Bush.
field, Of the firm Of Robinson s. Co.,
rendering twelve acres Of land from the
McMechen farm, -four miles south ofWheel
ing, gu the river bank, and the coal under
lying one hundred acres more, taking All
equivalent therefor in the stock OF the
Company. The Central Ohio Railroad
was then in process Of construction, but
It's river terminus had not yet been posi-.
lively determined, but in the faith Of It's
final location at the point, now the city Of
Bellaire, the Company accepted Mr.. Bush.
fields proposition. For both river and
railroad communication 1t proved 10 be q
well chosen location. The Company pro.
ceeded at once 10 The reconstruction OF
their Mil, commencing the work in
the latter part. Of 1859, and were
ready for operation In the early part,
of 1858, building also number Of tena.
meIt houses, thus constituting the nucleus
Of the town Of Benwood. 1t will be re.
membered that for some time previous to
the sale OF the Wheeling mill site to the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as well as
after the reconstruction Of tho works on
the new location, the management Of the
company's affairs was not under tho con.
troll oil practical men. Misunderstanding
= and consequent dissatisfaction prevailed,
resulting in frequent changes Of admins
, tratlon, under none Of which much sue
cess wasaehieved. Through the success.
i've titles Of Gill, Kelley s Co, Kelley,
Holloway s. Co., it finally, in the year
1857, became the property of A. Wilson
Kelley.
Mr., Kelley having clear field 10 him.
. sell, with several years experience in the
business, brought to bear excellent exc
cutive abilities, and up to the year 1854
managed his business with great success.
,Atthat time, there being some difficulty,
originating in tho claims Of the former
owners the mill was advertised Tor sale
under decree oil court.
While the sale Of the Virginia Mil
property "a ordered under decree Of Court
was still pending, E, Nj. Morton, who had
sometime before withdrawn from all con.
nection with the nail business, Sc. about
the organization OF prospective COM
pany with view OF purchasing the mill
property. Having secured stock sub
scription sufficient to cover the estimated
value Of the property, an agent was EN-.
ployed who, on the day Of sale In June,
1884, at public auction, bought the mill
at one hundred and sixty.four thousand,