Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-02-24

Narrows,. he built forge. which
he leased to his nephews, John L.
and James L. Bell After the dis.
solution of this firm James IL. Bell
continued to run the forge, supply
ing for a time, after the lapse of the
Steel Collier lease, with metal from
Belleview. Tne supply being in
adequate, James l.. Bell, and moi
Montgomery Bell, built Morley
Furnace as Il means of metal supply
to the Narrows of Harpeth' Forge.
Montgomery Bell died about the
year 1866, IN Dickson county, in a
house belonging to his Valley
Forge property. He was native
of Baltimore. AS an iron man M.
Bell was not success, and so far as
Belleview and Valley Forge were
concerned, though well built, they
were failures, as iron property be-
cause of an insufficient supply OF
ore.
CARROLL FURNACE.
Carol Furnace was built by Col.
Richard Napier-"Virginia Dick"-
and sons, on Barton's Creek, three
miles southeast of Cumberland Fur
mace, and three miles northwest OF
Charlotte, twelve miles from Cum
berland river, and forty from Nash
vile. We have not the date when
this furnace was built, but it was
built i'm the early part of the pres
ent century; was at one time run
by Robert Baxter & Co., under a
lease. With this exception the fur
mace was run by some one or other
of the Napier family during its en-
tire existence, which was success
full one, being in blast at the time
of it's destruction by the great fresh
ct of Aug. 8, 1886.
FORG Es.
There were three FORCES built by
different owners of Cumberland
and Carroll Furnaces, all on jones'
Creek. First, Jones' Creek Forge
at the mouth of Town Branch, pre-
sumably by Bell; second, Wayne
Forge by Sam Vanleer, son of Bar
ney and nephew of Anthony Wayne
Vanleer, in 1929; third, Harpeth
Forge, presumably by the Napiers,
as all of these FORCES were built in
the interest of the Cumberland and
Carroll Furnaces. All these FORCES
were destroyed by the August
freshet of 1885, and were never re-
built. Carroll;Furnace was rebuilt
in 1853 by w. H. Napier, son OF
Henry and nephew of DIR. Elias
w. Napier, but from various causes
never paid expenses, and went
down as iron property as early as
1860.
LAUREL AND PINEY FURNACES AND
TURNBULL AND WHITE BLUFF
FORCES.
y Laurel Furnace, at the head OF
Jones' Creek, Piney Furnace, at
the head of Pine river, Turnbull
and White Bluff FORCES, on Turn
bull Creek, were all built by Col.
Richard Claiborne Napier, son of
Col. Richard Napier, of Virginia
Virginia Dick" - and sOn-in-law
of Gen. James Robertson, he hav-
ing married Gen. James Robert
sons daughter, Charlotte, in whose
honor Charlotte, the county seat of
Dickson county was named. As
an iron man Col. Richard c. Napier
was a success, having developed by
his superior ability all this property,
all of which were in a high state of
prosperity at the time of his death
in 1888. The furnaces and one
forge, Turnbull, were built some
where between 1915 and 1925.
Col. Napiers successors were his
brother, DIR. Elias Wills Napier and
his long and efficient manager,
Epps Jackson. The former became
owner of Piney Furnace and White
Bluff Forge; the latter owner of
Laurel furnace and TurnbulI Forge.
Both DIR. Napier and Epps Jackson
proved worthy successors of their
predecessor. Both sue
,eeded in accommodating handsome
fortunes out of their investments in
.hese properties. Jackson died in
1916 and DIR. Napier in 1s48. Since
which time all this iron property
mas been run by w. G. Napier, Ma
pier, Ewing 4 Co., w. ii. Napier,
Holt & Co. All abandoned as iron
since 1860.