Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-07-13


THE OHIO CITY IRON ANDNAIL WORKS.
Organized under the general manu-
| featuring law of the Stale OF Ohio, Sep
tenber, 1873. Capital stock, $4,000;
shares, 500 each.
The following named persons consti-
tuted the first board of officers and Di-
rectOrs:
William Clark, President.
G. A. Burrows, Secretary.
VIM. Barnett, Superintendent.
James Kerr.
T. j. Culbertson, Vice President.
HI. w. Smith, Treasurer.
j. N. Willard.
s. B. West, NJ. d.
The projectors OF this company, con-
sisting of leading citizens of Martins
Ferry, encouraged by the liberal dOna-
ton of valuable lands by VIM. Clark,
Esq, on which to erect rolling and
nail mills, organized the company un-
der the above title early in the present
year. The tract so donated consists of
about q acres of high bottom land, ex-
tending in:sanple width from wharf
age on the Ohio river beyond and
across the track of the Cleveland &
Pittsburgh Railroad and the located
and surveyed route of the Wheeling
& Lake Erie Railroad.
Adjoining these q acres are two acres
of hill lands. The stratum of bitumi-
nous coal, known as the Pittsburgh
vein by geolOgists, is fopnd to be 81
feet thick and of excellent quality.
On or about the first of March, 1874,
in the midst of the panic. the company
commenced to manufacture nails, and
the mill was steadily in operation up
till about the first of May, 1876, when
| in consequence of the low price of the
manufactured articles, and the strin.
gency of the money msrket, the COM
pany was compelled to shut down, and
lease the works to the BenwoOd Com
pany who are now running them to
their full capscity.
IRON ORE.
For many years prior to 1857 much
was said about the existance of iron ore
in the hills, back of Martins Ferry.
Some tests had been made, and it was
claimed that the quality was superior,
and in that year company was form
ed, consisting of Cyrus Mendenhall and
G. K. jenkins, of Mt. Pleasant, Ohio,
and Moses Mendenhall, of COlumbiana
county, who purchased small tract of
land containing fifty acres, known to
be underlsid with iron ore, three miles
from Martins Ferry, and at the same
time obtained from EbeneZer Martin a
lot adjoining town containing one and
one-half acres, and proceeded to erect
thereon the Pioneer Blast Furnace, of
Belmont, or any of the adjoining
counties indeed we believe this was
the first furnace erected south of the
iron region of Pennsylvania, or north
east of Lawrence county, Ohio, from
whence our foundries and rolling mills
were ut that time in great measure
supplied.
COAL DEPOSITS.
About this time the abundance of
bituminous coal underlying our hills,
its superior qualities and its accessible
ty began to attract attention and the
Mendenhall's and Jenkins purchased
coal privileges amounting to from 125
and $50 acres, about the time they
erected their blast furnace. After the
furnace was erected it was discovered
that the location selected was unfsvOr-
able, as on one or more occasions dur
ing tie dry seasons their supply of
water failed, and it was found necessary
to haul water from the river, while all
the products of the furnace had to be
hauled by wagon, to the railroad or
river, and after running for or s years
in the face of obstacles which would
have conquered any men possessing
less energy than the Mendenhalls, il
was determined to pull the whole con-
Germ down, and remove to the present
cite east of the railroad, and sufficiently
near the river to secure at all times q |
full supply of water, and avail them
selves of the advantage of cheap trans |
pOrtation by river either for raw ma |
terial or manufactured products. The
furnace is now in possession of the Ben
wood Rolling Mill Company.
CULBERTsON, WILEY & CO.'S FOUNDRY
AND MACHINE SHOP.
This establishment, under the pre-
sent owners, has been in existance
about four years. Previous to the for
nation of the present firm the foundry,
which was started between the years
1915 80 by David and Thomas Wiley,
produced almost exclusively castings
for agricultural implements, but the
preseut firm finding that the demand
for heavy castings for rolling mills,
blast furnaces, &C., could only be sup
piled in limited quantities added lar
gely to their buildings and prepared
to fill orders for all kinds of
heavy work and by the addition of
large cupOla they are now prepared to
melt from 10 to 25 tons OF metal daily.
They also added an engine shop to their
already extensive business which is un-
der the supervision of Mr.. George Nc
Kim, mechanic of superior skill, and
much experience.
HOYLE & BRO.-AGRICULTURA M J
PIGMENTS.
This firm have new buildings which
have only been finished and occupied 4
about Is months or two years they
are the sons and successors of b. !
Aoyle, who from age and in6rmity, =
mas retired from active life; but the d
new firm understand their business, as
, walk through their establishment and
IN inspection of their machines will Z
how.
UNION SCHOOL.
places in Eastern Ohio to adopt what a
vas then known rs the "Akron School il
law" which was 10 substance the >,
present law of Ohio for the orpaniza- =
ion and regulation of schools in towns U
md villages, and is under the superin- Il
endency of G. r. Shreve. u
CHURCHES. n
Previous to the year 1886, the people Al
# this neighborhood seemed to have =
njoyed no stated preaching. The first y
rganized church was the Methodist, In "
S36; in December, 1886, the Baptist a
,hurch was organized. March 3lst, O,
SAL, the Presbyterian Church was or =,
anized. There are also the United
German Lutheran and u