Transcript Lawrence County Iron Furnaces www.LawrenceCountyFurnaces.com Blast Furnaces 101 An Inside Look * Wages of two-six dollars a day granted furnace families just.

Lawrence County Iron Furnaces
www.LawrenceCountyFurnaces.com
Blast Furnaces 101
An Inside Look
* Wages of two-six dollars a day granted furnace families just as many
necessities as high-bracket bread winners take home today. With their
house provided for, and a garden plot, it took less to raise a family.
* Furnace work was an all-week job, with the fires going down only from
Saturday midnight to Sunday night. This was the only free time offered to
the men.
* Charles Sheppard went to work at the age of 12, was a blower and
foreman at Big Etna furnace, and held the latter position for 17 years
(http://lawrencecountyohio.com/furnaces/stories/sheppard.htm)
Ohio Iron & Coal Co.
* Ironton founded March 17, 1849…...John Campbell plus 23 others
* Office originally located near the (then) mouth of Storm’s Creek
* As described in the charter: “To develop more fully the mineral resources of
Lawrence and adjoining counties, especially their resources in iron and coal..."
* In 1859, all of the property of the company was sold, except the river wharf……
Ironton Wharf
1905
1. Union Furnace
* First furnace in Lawrence County, built in 1826 by John Means
and others.
* Produced about 2 tons per day at first...increased to 30 tons a
week.
* Located at the far end of the Ironton Country Club/Golf Course
* A general worker here made $6 a month
Union Furnace
Drawing by Henry Howe in 1846
Conway, Sr.
Site in 1976, courtesy Emmett
2. Pine Grove
* Built in 1827 by Robert Hamilton
* First blown on Jan. 13, 1829.
* Daily production: 4 Tons….later increased to 16 Tons after being
rebuilt in 1844
* In 13 years it made over 23,000 tons of pig iron
* This furnace made iron every year for seventy years
* First to be closed on the Sabbath, beginning in 1844
* An explosion on May 9, 1850, resulted in the death of John Willis
Pine Grove
Pine Grove community
3. Little Etna
* Built in 1832 by James Rodgers, John Sparks and Valentine Fear
* Daily production: 16 tons
* “John Henry Hamburg committed suicide a few days ago, near
Etna Fce., shot himself. Leaves a wife.” (I.R. DEC. 29, 1853)
* John Holly died on the 15th at the County Infirmary aged 36.
Last year, near Etna Furnace, had his legs frozen, and they were
both amputated below the knees. (I.R. MAY 20, 1858)
Above: “Scrip” was paid to employees in lieu of
money (vouchers to pay for items in the company
store)
Right: Little Etna furnace in 2012
4. Vesuvius
* Built in 1832/1833
* Damaged by fire in 1874
* Hot blast system was successfully tested here in 1837 by William
Firmstone, which revolutionized the industry.
* Manager J.W. Dempsey died here in 1852…”We understand that
preparations were making for changing the furnace from cold blast
to hot blast and that the men were engaged in raising the poles of
shears on top of the bank, near the stack when he met with an
accident."
1920s and 2012
Pig iron at Vesuvius
Vesuvius Furnace Company ad
5. Buckhorn
* Built in 1833 by Thomas Price
* Located 1 mile west of the Iron Railroad on a branch of Pine
Creek
* In half of 1856 it produced 1,450 tons of iron
* Briefly leased by James O. Willard, pres. of the Iron Railroad
Buckhorn Furnace
6. Mt. Vernon
* Built in 1833 by John Campbell, Robert Hamilton (Pine Grove) and
William Ellison
* Daily output: 16 Tons
* Managed by Robert Scott
* John Campbell’s 2nd daughter, Martha, was born here in 1842
* Hiram Campbell’s daughter, Maria, was born here in 1845
The large barn for Mount Vernon Furnace
where horses, mules, and oxen were
stabled...demolished in 1998. Was
reportedly a stop on the Underground
Railroad.
7. Hecla
* Built in 1833….blew out in 1905.
* Produced 10 tons a day
* Purchased by John Campbell in 1852
* The celebrated gun known as the
Swamp Angel of Charleston Harbor
was cast from Hecla iron.
Hecla...built by Robert B. Hamilton
Hecla Furnace in 1860s
Hecla Furnace
8. Lawrence
* The original charcoal furnace was built in 1834
* From John Campbell’s autobiography: “Superintendent under
Andrew Ellison from August 1833 to January 1, 1835”
* He stated his most trying experience was his first night in the
woods at this furnace….had “a stove pipe buried in the earth:
for a pillow. (Source)
* A 65 foot coke-fueled furnace was constructed in 1889 across
from the original
Lawrence Furnace
Lawrence Furnace School
9. LaGrange
* Built in 1836 by the Hurd and Gould Company
* Daily output was only 7 tons
LaGrange Furnace and
Cemetery
10. Center
* Built in 1836 by William Carpenter and others
* Annual capacity of 4,500 tons (16 tons per day)
* When Robert B. Hamilton owned it, managed by Samuel McGugin
* Leased by WD Kelly in 1862, purchased in 1867
* Purchased by Nannie Kelly in 1898 for $19,700….she sold it to
the Superior Cement Co. in 1906 for $100,000 and remained
active on the board of directors with D.G. Wright.
* Thornton Sampson fatally stabbed Jonathan Mays in a coaling near
Center Furnace in Feb 1868.
11. Mt. Olive
* Built in 1846 by John Campbell, John Peters, Madison Cole,
William Clements and J.L. Thompson
* Daily output: 16 tons
* Stop on the Underground Railroad
* Blew out in 1910….sold for scrap in 1915
Olive Furnace
Olive Furnace and the UGRR
Members of a secret African American organization called the "Order of Twelve"
that worked in tandem with wealthy white furnace operator John Campbell, Gabe
Johnson and James Ditcher established Ironton as an active center of the frontline
struggle.
Ditcher found himself in a desperate situation when he received a woman and her
baby rowed across the river in a skiff [small boat] by some free African Americans
from Virginia. He recalled, "The slave catchers were close onto them when they got
here." Ditcher rushed to Campbell's stable and got a horse, obtaining another from a
local minister. Riding hard, they reached Olive Furnace, where they stayed with an
African American named Harris. The pursuers might have caught them had the slave
catchers not stopped at a whiskey shop and gotten drunk. Ditcher got his charges
safely to another African American settlement, Poke Patch, where they were
conducted north.
(Source: “Front Line of Freedom” by Keith P. Griffler, 2004)
Olive Furnace, before
clean-up began in Spring
2012
Inside Olive Furnace
Fire brick lining
inside furnace stack
12. Washington
* Built in 1852-3 by John Campbell, John Peters Samuel McConnel,
W.H. Bowles and Thomas McGovney
* 34 feet tall
* Made 1,967 during 37-week run in 1857
* Ironton Register, February 28, 1878 - At Washington Furnace, last
Monday, occurred a fearful boiler explosion. The boiler parted near the
middle, the two ends flying out in opposite directions. The principal damage
was to the hot blast. Mr. John Campbell went out there last Monday
evening, to consider the question of whether they will repair the furnace
to just as it was, or make some important additions and improvements.
Washington Furnace and community in 1887
Washington Furnace workers
13. Oak Ridge
*Built in 1856 and only operated for a couple years
* 44 feet tall
* Situated on Elkin’s Creek six miles east of the Iron Railroad
* In 1857 it produced 450 tons of iron
Ironton Register, Thursday, July
9, 1857
DISASTROUS RAILROAD
ACCIDENT
The Cincinnati night train on the
Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, met
with a terrible accident on the 1st
inst., at 5 o'clock in the morning, 12
miles west of Marietta, killing three
persons and wounding twenty…..Mr.
Connelly, founder of Pioneer Furnace,
Lawrence county, was killed instantly
14. Pioneer
* Ironton Register, February 19, 1857 - Pioneer Furnace - New furnace in Washington
Tp., midway between Olive and Washington Furnace, began on February 6th. Stone Coal
Furnace, FIRST to manufacture Pig Iron with Stone Coal in Lawrence County.
* Pioneer Furnace built by Wm. Colvin, F. J. Oakes,
Uri Tracy, and Thomas Pugh, under the style of Wm. Colvin
and Co., Benjamin Perry
directed the construction.
* Ironton Register, February 18, 1858
Proprietors of Pioneer
Furnace have sold out their entire interest to
Mr. John L. Reed, of Jackson County.
* Acquired by the U.S. Forest Service in 2007.
In 1858 pig iron sold for $8 per ton
Pioneer Furnace
15. Monitor
* Monitor Furnace Company organized in 1868
* In 1875 the company sold the furnace to Lawrence
Furnace Company for $45,000
16. Belfont
* Built in 1868 by Norton Brothers
* Located between Madison/Jefferson streets and Front St. (now
an empty lot...stairs leading down to river)
* Still operating in the 1920s
* Two officers, SB Steece and SG Gilfillan, went on to start the
Ironton Cement Company
Belfont
Furnace
17. Grant
Ironton Register, March 4, 1869 - Today Messrs.
Kelly & Sons have named their new Furnace, about which
there has been so much talk of late. They have not yet
decided as to the exact location, as the Council will not
act on their petition till this evening.
* Located between Monroe and Quincy streets at
the river
Grant Furnace
Grant Furnace artifacts
18. Big Etna: “Alice”
Big Etna: “Alice”
* First blown in September 13, 1875
* 86 feet tall
* 75 ton daily capacity
* Ironton Register, Apr. 30, 1874 - The foundations for the engine
house and boiler house of the Etna Iron Works is completed and the
Thomas W. Means brought the engines from Pittsburgh on Saturday.
* Ironton Register, October 27, 1887 - Cam Peters fell about 30 feet,
from a scaffold at Alice Furnace, yesterday. No bones broken, but he is
laid up.
* Ironton Register, February 10, 1887 - A “tramp”, aged 22 yrs, 140 lbs
and 5'7", died at Alice Furnace. Inhaled escaping gas while sleeping.
19. Big Etna: Blanche
* Ironton Register, December 6, 1888 - BIG ETNA - BLANCHE STACK
IN BLAST, AND OTHER NOTES. - When the mammoth furnace of the
Etna Iron Works at the upper end of town, was erected in 1872, only one
of the twin stacks was completed. The Alice stacks was finished, but
Blanche was left unlined, and incomplete.
Blanche has now been lined, and workmen are filling the new furnace with
stock preparatory to putting on the blast today or tomorrow. The work of
lining has been going on for months. It has cost about $23,000, including
all necessary changes and additions, and over 400,000 brick have been
used.
Etna Iron Works = Marting Iron & Steel
Big Etna = Marting Iron & Steel
Elmer G. Hopkins died July 16, 1901 drowned in the Ohio River opposite Etna
Furnace. (I.R. JAN. 16, 1902)
20. Maggie
* Built in 1875
* Originally the site of the
Ironton Rolling Mill,
organized by J. Campbell
* Was located across from
Meehan Steel
* Stack was 75 feet tall
* Dismantled in 1923
“Iron & Steel”...”Maggie”...”Union”...”Ironton”
Eagle Mill and Union Furnace
Union Furnace flooded
Ironton Rolling Mill / Union Furnace...what’s left
Ironton Rolling Mill / Union Furnace...what’s left
Remaining abutment from bridge built in 1854
21. Sarah
* Built in 1877
* First blown March 18, 1878
* Operated later by the
Kelly Nail & Iron Co.
“Hiram Campbell's new furnace
is being pushed far toward
completion. About all the brick
work is done, the stack is up and
nearly lined. The smoke stack,
which is to be 107 feet high, is
now at an altitude of 54 feet.”
(IR Oct 18, 1877)”
21. Sarah Furnace
Sarah Furnace location
22. Hamilton
* Also called “Hanging Rock Furnace”
* Owned by Means, Kyle & Co…..later the Hanging Rock Iron
Company
* Built in 1883...first blown in March 1886
* 65 foot stack
* 18,000 ton annual capacity
Hamilton Furnace
IST
Feb. 27, 1927 One of the land marks of this
section of the country, especially
the Hanging Rock neighborhood
is being slowly dismantled and
soon will be but a memory. The
old Hanging Rock blast furnace,
operated until November, 1923
continuously from the time of its
construction in 1883 by Means,
Kyle and Company, has outlived
its usefulness and is being
junked.
Hamilton Furnace...2012
Ironton Furnace
23. Ironton Furnace
End of an Era
John Campbell - Funeral held on Tuesday, September 1, 1891 ... The
newspaper said "for a square, the people congregated in throngs, testifying
to the universal respect in which he was held.”
W.D. Kelly Died Oct. 2, 1891 of pneumonia,
nearly 30 years after starting
“WD Kelly & Co.”
Nannie Kelly Wright - Died in 1946 in the
Marting Hotel
Kelly Nail & Iron Co.
NKW sold her stock
to I.P. Blanton of
Belfont Iron &
Steel...which was
purchased by the
American Rolling Mill
Co. (ARMCO) in 1924.
Ironton Austin Kelly
was replaced by
Blanton as president
of Ashland Steel.
Marting Iron & Steel
After absorbing 3
companies (Etna Iron
Works, Lawrence Iron Co.
and the Ironton Iron Co.),
the company ran
successfully for over 10
years, well after H.A.
Marting’s death…property
sold in 1938.
Belfont Iron Works
Sold to Armco for
$76,000 in 1934.
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