Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-10-23
FURNACES IN THE LOWER END.
wHkRE TBkY WERE LOCATED AND
WHU HUILr ASD OPERATED THEM.
An interesting Accoun, OF several Forges That
nav. Long Ago HAD Their fires Killed.
The Conowingo. Black Rock and
Mount Edsn-w where the
ore Was Mined.

an. uh.r, uonl A, q, mill now stands, In tho
.,,o -, ,,nowi,,o furnace which was built
- go, -, , -. . g., a, a., hui,t MI Eden
IN iso' py ,he same n'n ,s,n aud Georoe
the year before Michaei, 'o," -, =. !,
Withers, who operated II uht'i I'D WIZ
was 4, ,se,l to ll,od * jenkins Tor three yeatA
pnr,,g this lesse IL was bought by James
-, I. leading lawy or OF that time
n'PA'ns' oaf' 80, AZ. s,u, NJ UopKins q
he Anu 'fficN' W" W, -, :, ..,,,,, ,t,,o ,,ay
Ofrick, ran u until io''t Nv ,,.o >
dissolved partnership ana MI hoPhinH oPo'-
at,d Il himself until his death, which oc-
CURED 10 1885, when James Nj. Hopkins, MS
son, leased 1t, and he, with Charles BROOKS,
ran It until 1887 whom they dissolve ana Mr..
Hopkins leased 1t from their heirs unuer
which lease he ran ON until lsiZ, when ne
bought the entiro property. Alter ne bought
II he ran right along until 1850, and IL was
the last furnace to go down In the lower enn
OF the county.
Until lsi3 The casting OF stoves was largely
carried on alter that time IT Was discontin-
ued, all the iron being run Into pig.
The iron was all made fromConowingo ore,
and the wei known quality OF tonowinBoi iron
made il good property. The ore being
strictly neutral the iron was very tough
We have heard Mr. Hopkins say that from
shipment OF 5000 stove plates to Baltimore
not a single one waseven cracked.
In later years this iron WAS largely used for
car wheels and ior making riile cannon.
We saw letter written to Mr.. Hopkins by
Admiral paigrshn, who was an inventor uf
AN improved gun, In which he said that OF all
the hons he had tested none stood the test
with Cono~ lingo iron, There was such de-
mand for tho products OF this furnace that II
va. impossible to NIL all the orders. Al the
'llH >, ~ h.ns ms .'uS aa .taye and
Guile a Ittle town around II. They KEEP,
some slN teams ON the road all the time, and
ConoNiugo WAS brisk place up 10 isfo. ~
had rather rough crowd ABOUT VINO Mei'
great drinkers ana We're zorro, 70 .ho SUI SUI
rounding community, Dnt Mt. ,ioPkrs, WY u
was a good manager, conciudod 10 anu uiu
put Il stop TO u, ana " so' 70 pe
very much improved III hS h,VrMs ~
In 1896 tho furnace was nhally pl"Mn
out ana Wncre ho "Iu S 80,
was erected one ti mo nueSt IhlLis III nv, rne
county ana "hl,h uoT'r u 'h bo pu',". -, iIo ,i
remains "i the chAfcpal mouse hnu tno pls
piles OF clhdef sH'l Piah'S uhh ~ IoI ~. a.,
sila lne "atc. IoNeI 20 ~ it, a. a. . 80 s,a,, ,,
thatsecuoii, anu mere you wiz hho so'io,h.ns ,s
nnnsuAl-t"o large uainN, ono on .no W 80 ~ ~ha ~
one on tEo "ee' S'uo VI M, ~ Ia -, ha
iaiIs 70 run the machinery 'hes 'ah '''" ''
used ...o.,.,.,,,
Mr.. HOPKINS, VINO Is sun , W. tI A., 49,
oih gentleman "i nbe euuoauon snu iu,,
tsIehusi sun IlNes W IIe hisnu oiu nst.h
house ana supeIlh'e@nuS enc his iai lhs VI VIZ, "n'ou
ne sun mas soue -,voV Htos as p.or y, u.ti' -.,
l.nn ~ can oe iounu. ms oouipuy a., - ~ -
southt siseI nnu no'uans s're. -. i .rS
p'essure man 70 thIk oNef oIu unies' @ 'u ,. slu
a. a. a
were part OF 'oho"ibsos pIoau ac'cs, @ ahu
HAhy OF the thoS' PiusPoiVus I' Pe"t,,o , ", s.'
secton owe tneI s'aft IN iiie 70 Is pleSon.
owner. Mr. hopklhs hau lne ieP"'a'ioh VI
pelns sioeiA'heai'eo'" '"f''SV
BLACK ROCK FURNACE.
,,.,o .oor n, rds, and Con.
IN i0',' wv y.,' y'"I' "'to. ." ,r' -
o"ihRo furnaces "eio o"i',' ,HO"ls' ,'"I -
esq, oi Cnester county, ana VINO hter"HuS
was one OF the associate Judges OF this county,
selected site on the octorsfo, IN Ioieian
township, sbout thfee anu ne-naii uiitos
southeast OF QuafrSNile, ~here Do Duilt
iorge sna calico II h.aSk hoch, mno" ne ,,,, ra,,
Tor several years win iittie success. IL 'neh
passed INTO the hahus OF MS pfotheL' auyan
olark, VINO We heiieve isiieo. IL men wen,
INTO the hsnns ol Jhthes p,oule py Nho'h !,
WAS sold TO MAJOR dohn Cald"elI' VINO hau
been huccess'ul thtFcnah' anu nau ulauo
good deal oi money he was smpitious ahu
put up the saLe Jorge ana iiisue anoho.eSs
when were rolleh Into naf IRON aNer rwhrus
be bnilt furnace but usings poor quality OF
ore he lost his money ana hnai!y isiieu. Inc
quality OF the IRON mahe WAS so poor 'nst II
could only De used ior sash anu clock
weights. After Caldwell,s failure inc inr,
mace Was bought by Presoytsrisn minister
named bsnplt VINO slso IsiIeu. ~ wa
py one oi NO NO VtIie,s a, @ m'u p"' &c psnSs y,
Clam RrooksE RrrkIev. and was managed
hv Ct,,Ies Rrooka ir son OF Glenn. and
,.bo HrsIIy necaue a rartrer tho tirm being
Cb,,Ies Rronks Ir. q Ia -They fore down
a. "a ,,rnaca 80, tho vas, sids ot inc stream
ana buiIt nn the east side
This hrm onened the Mohler ore bank In
providence townsbip also IN, shank mine
and made good quality OF iron. They also
made stoves They carried IT on A YEAR
when VIM, r. White was taken Into part
nefsntn and Robert H. Cabeen was also TAX en-
in in 1899, when the firm was changed to
Rrooks, Cabeen & Co, but Cabeen only s,aid
in for two wear, when the remaining part
ners carried it on, max ing money. until lsJ8,
when the business vas closed and the con.
Germ wound M The land was sold to differ
ent parties and all that now remains OF Black
Rock Ia a small portion OF the stack and the
mansion house on the hill which IL now
owned by John NJ Wilmer, ESQ who also
owns one OF the farms
Black Rock empIoysd large force OF men
under Brooks, and did much TO improve that
section, Chas. Brooks WAS genial and
ioyisl man very pnpular with his en-.
ployes
They had quite a little town around the
FURNACE. had their own store. KENT A large
numeer of teams, and made money for q good
many outside people. A good deal of their
iron was haul Ell to Baltimore, but the greater
portion 10 Philadel phis aud Wilmington.
Tur MT pnrS p,,Sr
, ,,,,,ohi, -, ,h. -, to-, ,yt,,o
III hoen W" on .no i'"u 'i''li " ~ nv,
OAK hotei 10 may pos,oinco you WIN hhu
large plies oil clhner anu Pait VI the SsIS Staok
OF what was oncs @ UT r.uon ,u,naco, ens noIe
also reinaihs traces VI tne oiu uaii atu i".o ,'
"hicn Iutn,sher si 'no Ponoi III, ,' 49, ,hs s.s
furnace. lhis iuInaoe was Sar ou1a ,i Wt,SSsra
lsos by Nlchae,, John anu repiso ua,,a,
1he Iorhsr was ,te unoao p,', y, .no W. .".so an