The Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1896-1898, 1897-09-22
EARLY IRON MAKING.
rlr. and hrs. william Clark, Typical
New EngIanders.
lBy Major VIM. Hoy.l

county, the name Of William CLARK
should not be forgotten. He came to
Spa rtanburg about 1926 and settled on
the Tigers at a place called Nesbit''s
Iron Works. He purchased the works
and adjoining land and paid for 1t,
which was the largest land purchase
that had ever taken place in Spartan
burg county. l don't know the exact
number Of acres, but the eastern part
of it Joined what is now E Wright's
estate, and ran west to near Abner's
Creek Church, more than five miles,
and north and south from Capt. A.
Deans to the Incorporation Of Reid
vile, distance Of five miles. The pur-
chase included at least four thousand
acres. The land was very valuable for
timber and farming purposes and the
water power, the best in the county.
II includes two shoals on the river and
one on a large creek that enters the
river between the shoals. BY building
three concrete dams and saving the
night and Sunday flow of water, five
mills of the size and capacity of Pei
ham could be run. This water power
is now the property of Mr.. @. P. Berry.
Mr.. Clark. when he came South,
brought with him the reputation of
being one of the best business men in
New England. 1 have heard Mr.. La
throp, who cr me South with him, say
that the money he pm chased these
lands with was the result Of success
full contract he made in birding a dam
in the city of Boston. l never heard
Mr.. Lathrop describe this dam or tell
what it was butt for.
My. acquaintance, Mr.. Editor, com
menced when l was in the middle of
my teens, and continue d until his death,
nearly Qnarter of q century later.
But ! can't tell the place of his nativ
ity. One might infer from his predilac
ton for the iron business that he
came from Come cticut. Munroe, who
learned the axe trade with the Col.
linses, came with him, and the Collins
secret of tempering tools was divulged
by him. He promptly, at that early
day, put up an axe, drawiug-knife.
plane bit, chisel and BANNER shop for
Mr.. Clark at his iron works. Mr.. Clark
married the widow lady that he board
ed with in Boston. will speak Of her
further op. 1t is needless, Mr.. Editor,
to say that Mr.. Clark and Mrs Clark,
with their magnificent personal ap-
pearapce and faultless dress. Joined to
Mrl-Glark's business habits, created a
sensation on the Tigers. If a tedious
character called on Mr.. Clark on busi
ness and one or two monosyllables, yes
or no, failed to satisfy the caller, he
would politely till him he would zee
him again, and perhaps attend to
twenty other callers in half that many
minutes.
Mr.. Clark, otwithstanding his extra
ordinary business methods, made mis-
takes that drew largely on his finances.
One mistake was that when he came
South he located too suddenly. Car
sons ore lands, four miles from Able
vile Court House. were said to be the
best in the world aud inexhaustiblp,
and the existence of the Birmingham
mines was known at that early day.
Mr.. Carson, of Abbeville, the owner OF
the mine, got me to carry a specimen
of his ore to Mr.. Clark for examination.
Mr.. Frey, his expert, called it the best
in the world. Excuse me, Mr.. Editor,
for adding little Of the ne'ghhorhood
gossip. The Carson mines cropped out
along Cane river in the shape OF
shoal, and that shoal itself contained
two million wagon loads of the ore,
and the clouds, they SAL, hovered
around there in forty-fve, but mostly
failed to discharge. met with a gen
tleman on the care the Gay Lee surre4-
dered. He said he organized a com
pany with two hur dred thousand dol
lards to locate ut Carson's mines, but l
have heard nothing from him since.
Mr.. Clark opened stor, at his works,
his friend Mr.. Lathrop acting as sales-
man az d keeping hotel. He quickly
found out that ore was too scarce in the
vicinity OF his works and commenc d
hauling it with wagons from what is
l1ow Gsffoey's, giving employment to
AL the Tiger wagons. Hauling tne ore
that dis'acra he quickly found to be
an uphill business. He never failed on
Tiger, but he looked out for other re-
sourcrs. He went to the Limestone
section o. the county, bought what