The Cecil Whig., 1885-07-11
Fran the rhiIodrlplia. u ,,kIy Press

Fran the Hlodri!ptia. H,,kIy Press.
Principle Furnace, in Cecil county
Nd, visible from the car windows O.
the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Bal
timorc Railroad, a few miles Northeast
Of the Slsquchanna is the oldest iron
furnace in the United States. 1t was
built in I7i5. The account books, still
in a good state Of preservation, show
that a ton Of pig iron sold there in
I7e7 for fIo. In 1871 John Copson
of Philadelphia, took up tract of 5743
acres OF land there. The founders o
Principle were English iron masters
merchants and capitalists. Benjamin
Franklin 5 memoirs says that Mcssrs.
Onion and Russell, two of the founders
occupied the great cabin of the ship in
which he made his first voyage from
Philadelphia to England. The first pig
iron ever exported from America tc
EnSland-in 17IS, a small lot of three
and onc-half tons-was made at Prin-
ciplo. In 1851 Maryland and Virginia
sent 1850 tons of pig iron to England
against 100 tons from Pennsylvania. In
1901 the eight furnaces of Maryland
made $500 tons of pig non, while the
annual product of England herself was
only 1900 tons. Some of the ore
banks Of the Principle Company, on
the Patapsco, were discovered by Cap
tain John Smith in 1000. In 1927 ii
cost & IS cd to make ton of pig a,
Principle. Blooms were valued at Is
and blr-ron at A55 per ton. A forge.
man got & per ton for making blooms
Slaves and, at least, one Indian, named
'Jack," were employed at the furnace.
The white forgeman got twenty shillings
| per ton and the slave a bonus of one
shilling for the same work. On holidays
the slaves were served with rum, and
were tied to joist and whipped when
they ran away.
| Augustine and Lawrence, the father
| and brother of George Washington had
an interest n Principle, which was re-
tained by the family until after the
Revolution. George Washington in
herited the share of Lawrence and sold
it to Augustine When the property was
confiscated by Maryland in 1880 the
| Washingtons saved their share. Imme-
diately after the Revolution a thirty
two-pound cannon was made at Prin-
cipio and hauled by horses to Pittsburg
In the war of 1872 Cockburn's fleet
sailed up the Chesapeake, and his men
spiked the cannon at Principle, saying
"Ihc Americans knew better how to
make guns than to use them They
burned the boring mill, furnace, coal
house, grist mill and bridge over the
| creek.
The present owner of Princlpio is
George p. Whitaker, now more than
so years old, but SO vigorous that he
still goes over his 10000 acres of land,
looks after the details of large bust
ness and recently made important addi-
tons to his iron works, which before
had made only charcoal pig iron. He
is one of the pioneer iron masters of
the country. Many years ago, after
he, with his brother Joseph Whitaker,
and Thomas Garrett, had bought Prn-
cipio and were making excavations,
they unearthed the completely covered
walls of the original furnace and brought
to light "pis' bearing date 1722.
George ?. Whitaker was born in Ches-
ter county, Pa. He is one Of the few
remaining types of the old time iron
masters, whose word was law, whose
influence extends into homes and over
habits and stops not on holidays, who
was the ruler of his realm, its banker
and magistrate, and who had to be wise,
strong, ingenious, quick and able to
control rough men. When the Phila-
delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad was built through their prop
erty, the Whitakers reserved the right to
stop all trains at Principle. Some years
ago limited express, laden with con-
gressmen, going at full speed, was sig
nailed to stop at the little station. 1t
ran some distance beyond before COM
ing to a pause. Mr.. Whitaker stood
on the platform at the station. The
conductor motioned to him to come
| to the train. Mr.. Whitaker motioned
to the conductor to back the train to
him. The pantomime was kept up by
the conductor for some time, but finally
the train backed to the station. The
incident illustrates a character which
the development of organization and
the subordination of the individual are
making rare. He is the largest land
owner and one of the wealthiest men
in the state. Mr.. Whitaker is one OF
three Pennsylvania brothers who, at
different times in period subsequent
to 1916, owned either solely or in part
nership with others a rolling mill at
Falls of Schuykill, the Gibraltar Forge
near Reading, rolling mill near VIII,
mington, Del, the Cumberland Iron
and Nail Works at Bridgeton, N. J.,
the Phoenix Iron Works at PhGniXville,
the Durham Furnaces in Bucks county,
the Saucon Furnaces at Hellertown,
iron works at Elkton, the Principle
Furnace and furnace at Havre de
Grace, in Maryland, and the Crescent
Rolling Mill at Wheeling w. Va.
JOHN wANAAIAKER.
John Wanamaker is, perhaps years