Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-04-02
EARLY ORE MINING IS
ENDED BY MASSACRE,
Handful of Men, Pioneer Prospectors From First Eng
lsh settlement at Jamestown, Meet Tragic Fate
Short Distance From Richmond

! the company were an effective force
| in securing support, both of n moral
. nature and that of a more tangible
variety. Colonel Berkeley nnd his
I corps must have found their toll in
/ the NirE mia forest agreeabIy light
. cned. In Il letter Of August 10. the
. company writes: we pray your as
sisiance in the prefecture of those
! TWO works; the profit Will rebound
10 the whole COLONY, and, therefore.
. II is necessary that you extend your
! author'tic TO the utmost lymitts to
enforce such as shall refuse the helm
TO business so much tending to the
general good"
MIKE Ready for Mining.
Nothing very definite is known of
the activities at Falling Creek that
idIt ana winter. 1t is only recorded
that those months were spent i'm
making ready for mining and smclt-
ing on large scale. 10 be begun
with the coming of spring. We have
u" eN"c' knowledge of these prepare
tohS; there are no evidences of "a
blast furnace or a refinery having
been erected. hut references to h,,ild-
ing stone and the length of time
and the number Of workmen lead 70
the deduction that there was such
equipment Berkeley wrote, "a more
NJ place for iron wOrkes than i'm
Nirrinia. both for woods. water.
'nEncs and stone" WAS not to be
found. and the poet. George Sandvs
IN March, 1922, not many DAYS he
fore the fatal ed. declares that
Failing Creek was fitted for iron
making AS II nature had applied
hcrSclfc 10 the wish and dictation
OF the workman; where also were
great stones hardly seen elsewhere
in Virginia. lying on the place as
though they had been. brought
thithcr To advance the erection Of
these workcS."
by this time, the folks back home
were expecting some proof of tho
success OF the new industry, some
return upon their investment. on
June 10 the company wrote of the
good cntcrance which We have under
stood YOU have made in the iron
works and other staple commodities -
and continued. ''lct us have at least
by the next returns some good uuau-
tue of iron and wync." Long he
tore this letter reached it's dcstina-
non. however. the little settlement
AT Failing Creek had meet a tragic
tate. At midday OF March -. with
hidc"us whoop, out OF Che sombcr
forest down to the how1dcr- strewn
rivulet. The Indians came upon them
i-twcnty-threc white men, i,npotent
in the face Of the wcil-planned at
tack of the red men. The massa-
ere fell so hard upon the place that
no soul was saved but a boy and a
girl who. with great diniculty. hid
themselves" The works was destroy
eel ana the tools thrown into the
river.
Site Remains Deserted
/ The site OF the once promising
industry remained deserted until
1896, when Colonel Byrd tried TO re-
store the old works III. also had
"A less substantial scheme in mind
| concerning lead mine The his
torian. beverly. writing In l705, SAYS:
The superintendent Of the iron
work mad also discovered a vein of
lead oar which h.. kept private, and
made use OF IL 10 furnish all the
neighbours with bullets and shot
/ But, h" being cut off with III. rest
ana ne secret not having been COM
/ inunicat"d. This lead mine could
never after hc found. till Colonel
BYRD. some few years ago, prcvall'd
with an Indian. under prctcnc. of
. hunting, I" give him "A sign. by
dropping his tumahawk at the ulac.
/ 'hc not daring publickly TO discover
| ~. Tor fear "f being murdered, TIN.
/ sign was accordingly given and the
( company at that time found several
/ pieces OF good lcad-oar upon HE sur
lace oi the ground, anu mark'd the
trees ihcrcab bouts; Notwithstanding
( which know not by what wien
. craft II happens, hu; no mortal could
+ ever ma that place again. tho IL
e T." upon part OF the coloncl's own
+ possessions. And :" II rests iii time
ana thicker settlements discover it"
rms eHortS Ia restore the iron mine
/ 'hIlcd. because Virginia by that time.
/ mad definitely taken up tobacco
growing I" the exclusion OF all 9TH
tr interests and there was no en-
/ thusiasm for the colonciS proposal
/ RUFUS Mark Spot.
Before the Revolution. the site
. chrisien"d "Ampthill." came into the
. possession OF Colonel Archibald cary.
4 wAo erected thereon "a new iron
works. n"wledEc of the location
/ OF the old iron beds had hy that
/ time died out: the raw material. the
pig iron. for the Cary works being
shipped from Rappahannock. roto-
mae ana Maryland. This undertake
ing proved unprotitablc. however
and. about 1860. the site WAS given
over to Grist mill. which operated
FOR number "f years
II is the ruins OF this crist mill
/ mat mark the spot which once was
/ the scene of busting. hopeful in
duStry' The mineral riches buried
mere. which had stimulated mems
ambitious dreams, will never he OK
plotted for. according To recent in
NeS'irdtionS. the ore is not present
IA profitable quantity. And So. hay
ms initiated in the new world a new
"nd great industry. tho picturesque
'o'h"h'ic spot settles back TO
dreamy quiet. broken only by tho
sounds % happy campers. and hides
IT'S secret wealth, while Rcthlohnm
SIN Jokes and hustlcs