The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-06-16
THE COLEMAN MILLIONS.

The stories OF millions are always
interesting, and tales of the loss of
great wealth are always read by the
American people. The story of the
Coleman millions is an old story, but
many facts of interest in connection
with the failure of Robert H. Cole
man have never been published.
The Coleman family was one of
the best known in Pennsylvania.
The history of the Cornwall ore
hills, with which the Colemans have
always been associated, is not so we'll
known, and many Pennsylvanians
do not know of the vast quantity of
iron ore which is locked up in them
at Cornwall. For the kind of ore,
the size of the bed, and its quality,
itk equal is unknown. There are
a56t's afl SSalel Ten .yiseSClzJ7
9Sahd another 78. A drill has been
sunk into the ore for 200 feet below
water level, without reaching the
bottom of the deposit. Since I74o
this bed has been mined, and about
5000, 900 tons have been dug from
its sides, equivalent to q 900, 900 tons
of pig iron. But cold statistics, while
they may appeal to the imagination,
do not give an adequate conception
of their vastness. To realize what
is at Cornwall the triple mountain of
ore must be seen, and repeated visits
will increase the wonder and adrnira-
ton of the beholder.
Up to the time when Robert H.
Coleman assigned his estate this
mountain was largely the property Of
the Coleman estate. No one knows
who first discovered the presence of
the ore or who first appreciated its
value. The Indians knew of the
strange earth to be found there, and,
when the first white settlers gave
them the iron, the aborigines quick
ly discovered what to them seemed
miraculous. The mysterious dirt
would cling to their hatchets, and
steel heads would hold fast to the ore.
The savages regarded this magnetic
property with awe and concealed it
from the whites.
TRANSFERS OF THE TRACT.
In 1892 John, Thomas and Will
liam Penn assigned a warrant for
thirty acres, in which territory the
yet virgin hills were included, to
Joseph and James Turner. From
them it passed to William Allen,
who, in turn, sold it, in 1887, to
Peter Grubb, for 6135. 1t was the
biggest bargin Mr.. .Grubb ever struck,
and it is safe to believe that Mr.. AL
len, who did not like the barren hills,
was not aware that they held such a
princely revenue. Peter Grub, hav-
ing had his curiosity aroused by vari-
Gus rumors, dug up some of the earth
and ascertained from an expert in
Philadelphia that it was half iron.
In, ,f74o he built little charcoal fur
mace and smelted the first ore.
Forty-three years swept by, and
Peter Grubb, Jr., added to the estate
by purchasing 1917 acres more. 1t
was about this time that one of the
Grubbs, to satisfy an obligation, gave
away privilege to take from the
hills enough for lone furnace as
long as water runs and grass grows. !"
By this agreement the Robesonia Iron
Company, near Reading, gets all its
ore for nothing.
Just before the Revolution, Robert
Coleman, young Irishman of ener-
gy, discretion, tact and business abil-
ity, came to Cornwall and entered
the employ of the Grubbs. He ad-
vanced step by step until be became
the practical manager of the estate.
During the Revolution he made con-
tracts with the Continental Congress
for casting cannon, shot and shells,
and many of these hard arguments
for liberty came from the Elizabeth
Furnace, in Lancaster county.
MADE THE HESSIANS WORK.
Coleman kept exact accounts with
the Government, and some of his
memoranda revealed the fact that
many of the Hessian troops, hired by
the British invaders and captured by
the American troops, were sold into
bondage for term of years. Under
date of November 10th, 1882, Robert
Coleman credits the Government with
"Cash value Of forty-two German
prisoners of war at h3o each, 1860
pounds" and on June 18th, 1888,
there is another for twenty-eight
German prisoners of war at 80