The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-08-28
GRAND MARAIs. NNNEsoTA TAag ATURDA2 AUGUgT IS 1854

a E IJRD d u GU
3gla nee one would suppose them To- be
sra low open firep places, With very
sbIe d, rounded hearths. "a back plate.
extend UP ward an d forward toward an
.oF9erhan ag9 Ia ging corrice Or curtain at the
front iron and top over the fire. Behind
this this curtain is an aperture " which car
sIaed the sssmoise off and furnished a
arau ght from the chimney through a.
chamber behind the back plate. The
presence of this hot air chamber back
of the ire increased the diation of
heat, heat, making a greater warmth with a
less expense Of fuel.
The furnace property has been held
by the Potts family, descendants CT
q Arm Az a. a. Mutt from 1737 to this day.
.='Ih onlas. #Rutter, a name also famous
among early iron manufacturers in
#Pennsy lVania, pur chased a half inter
est in the FORCES from Samuel Potts in
HI l. The firm was known for many
years as Potts & Rutter, and bought
out the shares Of the heirs of William
=BTanson between 1878 and 1888.
III I I'D Durin 6 the revolution Warwick fur.
MAGE acquired national fame. While
the struggle for liberty was in progress
sthe mills were in constant operation
sffp1 the government, and, large guam
titles >of cannon, balls and shell we're
east there. One Of the old shells, re
Gently found Near the furnace, is still
preserved at the Mansion House The.
shell is. exceedin gly heavy, about a foot
I'M ssg diameter, hollow, and with cast
iron. iron sheath an inch thick. During the
year &1776# sixty cannon Of twelve and
eighteen-pound calibre were cast at
1 Warwick for the Continental forces.
LIT was the next year, however, that
witnessed "a threatened invasion, a
seizure Of the armament and a sudden
termination Of this warlike labor.
After the battle of the Brandywine, in.
September of TIT, when the Amer: ms
we're defeated5and the British occupied
Philadelphia, Washington retired from
the neighborhood of Goshen Friends
Meeting, where an expected battle had
been prevented by rainstorm, and
came to Warwick, obtaining a fresh:
supply Of ammunition for his army.
During the winter that followed, when.
the massacre of Paoli and the hard
ships Of the patriots at Valley Forge
filled the colonists with despair the can
non at. Warwick were in constant dan
ger of being seized by the British,
Guartered within easy marching dis
Sta nee of faPhilad elphia. SO one day the
B B flsrns flsrn scas bell sounded an alarm, and
Its peals across the ills and through
the neighBoring valleys elected All
tie loyal citizens Of the countryside Is
bury the guns They hid them in the
stretch Of meadow below the mill, and
in front of the, Mansion House, and
tradition says that after the interment
the fields were plowed up, SO that all
traces Of the excavations were lost.
The bell which sounded the tocsin is
still in existence and was exhibited at
the Centennial with some of the can
non made at Warwick furnace. It was
cast at the mill by Potts & Rutter in
1857 and was used constantly to call
the men to work from that time until
May, 1874 a period of. III years.
There are still number of cannon
buried in the mud along the banks of
the stream in the meadow, although
these are more probably guns which
did not stand the firing test, than the
sWivels concealed there to escape the
British. The latter would be too valu-
able to remain buried after. danger was
past, and tradition says that the i'm
perfect guns were deposited along the
stream. Be that as it may, the cannon
are still visible there, although they
are fast being submerged. Their
weight is SO great that the washing Of
water around them and falling away
Of the soft earth that supports them
is causing them to sink deeper and
deeper into the ground. Several Of
them have been removed as relics.
About ten years ago, some of the men
and boys Of the neigh borhood who
wanted to celebrate the GLORIOUS
Fourth" in true Revolutionary style,
$exhumed one Of the old cannon and.
drag gged it to the summit of neigh
boring hill. There they loaded it with
charge of powder and fired it as a.
salute. The ancient cannon was burst
into thousand pieces. .z.s
4