Pine Grove Furnace was one
of the old style cold blast furnaces using charcoal for its fuel, situated on
the beautiful stream of water known as Mountain Creek in Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, and it is a pleasure to know that at this late date, one of its
old time managers has consented to give some of the experiences that go to make
up the routine life of the various people who were connected with these old
iron industries.
This article was written
at the request of the Department of Forests and Waters of the State of
Pennsylvania, and was intended for publication by the State, but due to the
necessity for economy in state printing in recent years, it was never
published. The original manuscript gave still more experiences with the old
pioneers and the author's impressions of Jay Cooke and Jackson Fuller, the last
owners, but it is unfortunately not now available. It is to be hoped it may
some day be published, together with the many photographs and plates furnished
by the author. Mr. Keefer has kindly consented to the publication of this
portion of the article and has promised to assist in the near future in
locating some of the old landmarks in the vicinity of Pine Grove Furnace. - J.
S.
I desire to acknowledge
valuable assistance from George H. Witt and S. F. Moore of the Department of
Forests and Waters; Mrs. George S. Comstock, daughter of William Watts, who was
born at Pine Grove Furnace; Miss Nellie King, Finksburg, Md., daughter of
Daniel King and niece of Jackson Fuller, and Charles D. Barney, son-in-law to
Jay Cooke. - H. A. K.
In my early life there
were no vocational schools to direct one's natural abilities, no physiological
genius to jumble our age-old inheritance for good or evil, we just grew up and
took such places as circumstances offered. In my case it was a clerkship in the
office of the Paxton Furnaces at Harrisburg, Pa., and as proved fortunate was
the beginning of a growing love for the manufacture of iron. So, when in 1879 I
was offered the superintendency of The South Mountain Mining and Iron Company's
properties at Pine Grove, I felt (after six years' experience) capable of the
undertaking, responsible as it was and proved to be. In offering these
reminiscences I desire to convey first a short chronology of this old and
historic property, fully aware of some gaps which I am unable to supply.
Pine Grove Furnace was
built on the original land warrant granted to Samuel Pope dated July 23, 1762,
for 137 acres 17 perches of land, and Samuel Pope, by his deed dated October 2,
1762, conveyed his land to George Stevenson, and this land with the surrounding
lands came into the hands of Michael Ege, Joseph Thornburg and Thomas
Thornburg, the deed reciting, "Being the same lands whereon a Furnace is
now erected known by the name of Pine Grove Furnace, and mine holes sunk to
supply with ore."
This would indicate that
the original furnace was built prior to 1770, certainly not later. In fact
Thomas Hyle, an old life-time employee, now in his 85th year, still having a
good memory, says he has always understood that the furnace was built prior to
the ownership of Michael Ege, but the second furnace was undoubtedly built by
Peter Ege at a later date, although Swank, in his "Iron Making in
Pennsylvania" says that the furnace was built by Michael Ege. The records
show that on August 11, 1810, the Court appointed referees who reported an
agreement by which the Pine Grove Furnace and all the lands should be sold at
public sale, and they were so sold November 7, 1810, to Michael Ege for 15.565
pounds sterling. At the time of his death, August 31, 1815, he seemed to be the
sole owner of the plant at Pine Grove, and the Mt. Holly Estate Furnace and
Forge and the Cumberland Furnace Estate, as an order for an appraisal of his
estate soon after his death, was issued by the Court, and the following lands
were taken at the appraisement:
Peter Ege (his eldest son)
took the Pine Grove Furnace Estate.
George Ege (his second
son) took the Mt. Holly Iron Works.
Mary Ege accepted the
Cumberland Furnace lands.
The patents for the
various warrants that became the property of Peter Ege were all granted to him
in 1821, and the furnace continued in operation under his management for
several years. According to Mrs. Laura E. Flower, of Carlisle, Pa., Peter built
the mansion house, without which no old cold blast charcoal furnace property
was complete, and when he died we do not know, but the fact remains that his
burial place was in the small cemetery on the hill back of the old brick plant,
and there an iron slab with the name barely legible still remains.
The Ege family were all
iron masters of the old style. George Ege (1st), the father of George (2d) and
Michael Ege, died in 1759 and the two sons were brought up by their uncle Baron
Henry William Steigle at Elizabeth Furnace, Lancaster County. Baron Steigle
will be recalled as one of the great iron masters of his day, and the first
manufacturer of glassware in the United States.
The George Stevenson who
purchased the lands in 1762 from Samuel Pope, was born in Ireland in 1718 and
came to America in 1741. He married Jane Geddes of Mill Creek Hundred in 1744,
Mrs. Stevenson died in 1748, and some years later Mr. Stevenson married the
widow of Colonel Thomas Cookson and removed to Carlisle in 1765 and became part
owner of Pine Grove Furnace.
George Stevenson and Mary
his wife by their deed dated April 21 1772, conveyed their land to Finley
McGrew, and at this time this land was returned as being located in West
Pennsborough Township. Finley McGrew and Dinah his wife by their deed dated
April 15, 1773, conveyed the land to Jacob Simeon, and Jacob Simeon and Anna
his wife conveyed the land to Michael Ege, Joseph and Thomas Thornburg by his
deed dated December 3, 1782. This deed cites, "The same premises on which
a furnace is erected," and seems to indicate that the original furnace was
built prior to the first date of Michael Ege's ownership. Joseph Thornburg and
Rebecca his wife by their deed dated December 22, 1788, conveyed his interest
to Thomas Thornburg and John Arthur, and the firm continued until about 1800
when Ege, Thornburg and Arthur seem to have disagreed and various law suits
were entered against Michael and Peter Ege, which continued until about 1810
when an agreement was arrived at to refer the matters in dispute to Robert
Coleman, another well-known iron master. This agreement was signed by David
Watts for Thornburg and Arthur, and by Michael Ege. November 7, 1810 Pine Grove
Furnace with all its accumulated acreage of wood land was put up at public sale
by order of Court, and Michael Ege purchased it for fifteen thousand dollars,
and he seems to have been the sole owner until his death, August 31, 1815. At
the time of his death, he left to survive him the following children: Peter;
George; Michael (this boy had received special favor from his father and did
not share in the estate when the division was made), Mary (we take it from the
records that she was married to William C. Chambers); Eliza, then about
fourteen years old.
Letters of administration
were granted to Peter Ege, George Ege, Michael Ege, Isaac B. Parker, and James
Duncan, dated September 15, 1815, and as stated before, Peter Ege came into
sole possession of the Pine Grove Furnace Estate, and continued to purchase the
surrounding lands at every opportunity. We find that Peter Ege purchased at
sheriff's sale November 30, 1826, the lands of David Watts and Robert Buchanan
in Dickinson Township, and from which a number of court actions arose as to
title.
During the years 1835 to
1838 Peter Ege became involved financially to such an extent that a foreclosure
was necessary for the payments of his creditors, and February 6, 1838, he
agreed to waive all inquisitions and condemnations. The Pine Grove Furnace
Estate was sold by the Sheriff July 21, 1838, to Frederick Watts and Charles B.
Penrose for $52,500 and a Sheriff's Deed Poll given dated August 20, 1838, for
35,000 acres located in Dickinson and South Middleton Townships, with a
furnace, forge, coal houses, smith and carpenter shops, brick mansion houses,
30 log dwelling houses, grist and saw mill, etc. The property thus came into
the ownership of Watts and Penrose, and Charles B. Penrose and Valeria his wife
by their deed dated November 25, 1843, conveyed all his interest in the estate
to Frederick Watts.
Frederick Watts was the
grandfather of William Watts, and came to Pennsylvania in 1760 and bought land
on the Juniata River near Duncannon and called his place
"Wheatfields." David Watts was his only son and was prepared for
college by his mother, Jean Murray. He graduated from the first class sent out
from Dickinson College, studied law in Philadelphia and practiced in all the
Circuit Courts as far as Baltimore. William Watts, son of David Watts, was born
1809, and was the youngest of six children, four boys and two girls. William
was educated both in law and medicine, became the owner of one half interest in
Pine Grove Furnace by virtue of a deed from Charles B. Penrose and wife dated
October 17, 1845 and deeds from the heirs of Frederick Watts. According to
Julia Watts Comstock, her father, William Watts, lived at Pine Grove, her
brother David Watts marrying Marion Cameron, granddaughter of General Simon
Cameron, and she became the wife of George S. Comstock of Mechanicsburg, both
brother and sister having been born at Pine Grove. David Watts in 1794 had
taken up several tracts of vacant land farther down the creek, and there were
gradually purchased and became part of the lands of the Furnace. David Watts
died about 1819, as his will dated July 30, 1819, was probated September 18,
1819.
Rev. Conway P. Wing, D.D.,
in his "History of Cumberland County, 1879," states that the original
furnace was built by Jacob Simons between 1773 and 1782, as Simon became owner
of the property April 15, 1773, and conveyed to Michael Ege and the Thornburgs
in 1782 and his deed calls for "His improvements."
Mr. Edward B. Wiestling in
his splendid article read before the Kittochtinny Historical Society in 1922,
entitled, "Old Iron Works of the Cumberland Valley," states that
Laurel Forge was built in 1850, and had six fires, a run out and a trip hammer.
It used the waters from Laurel Dam for the power and had an output of about two
thousand tons yearly. He also adds "The old Garrison at Carlisle added to
the gayety of the region. In those days there were fewer people in the world
and they were closer together. If they happened in the neighborhood of the
mansions, they were expected to stop as a matter of course. The only fuel was
wood, and the big fires in the huge hearths were not only comfortable but lent
a cheer that nothing else could do. All supplies were brought in large
quantities and brought to the works in big wagons."
By the Act of April 23,
1864, the "South Mountain Iron Company" was incorporated, with George
A. Cooke, George C. Thomas, James T. gingham and others as incorporators (P. L.
1864, p. 582) and they purchased all of the Pine Grove property from William
Watts, and the furnace was greatly improved.
The right to build the
railroad connecting the Pine Grove works to the Cumberland Valley R. R. was
given by the Act of Assembly of February 28, 1865 (P. L. 1865, p. 245) and the
railroad was extended as rapidly as possible. A mortgage was given by the
incorporators, but probably on account of the slump in the charcoal iron
industry, the iron company failed in the payment of the interest and payments,
and at the January term 1877 the Cumberland Valley R. R. Company foreclosed
their mortgage against the South Mountain Iron Company and a sale was held at
the Merchants Exchange in Philadelphia May 15, 1877, but the property as a
whole was not purchased. The property was then divided with the result that
Jackson C. Fuller purchased the entire Pine Grove property excepting the
railroad and its franchise for one hundred dollars subject to the various liens
against it. Thomas B. Kennedy purchased the railroad and its franchise for ten
thousand dollars. These sales were confirmed by the Court June 11, 1877.
This resulted in the
incorporation of the South Mountain Mining and Iron Company with Jay Cooke, Jay
Cooke, Jr., Charles D. Barclay, E. J. Williams, B. J. Woodward, John W. Sexton,
William H. Woodward, and John M. Butler, as incorporators with a capital stock
of $20,000, which was approved by the Governor September 22, 1877, and Jackson
C. Fuller and Caroline M. his wife by their deed dated November 30, 1877,
transferred all their right, title and interest in the Pine Grove property
situated in Cumberland and Adams Counties. Allen Butler was appointed Treasurer
and Manager of the company.
In 1879 the furnace was
thoroughly overhauled and recondition" ed by John Birkenbine, one of the
best known hydraulic engineers of the time, who afterwards became a member of
the State Forestry Reservation Commission, and I was given the task of its
physical operation. At this time, so far as I know, it was the most complete
charcoal furnace in the State and possibly in the United States. lts engine was
one of the "Weimer make that had been in the World Exposition at
Philadelphia in 1876. The stock had been enlarged with a closed bell and hopper
top, iron syphon hot ovens and steam hoist had been added. It was connected by
railroad with the three operating ore mines and limestone quarries, and had a
woodland area of about 25,000 acres embracing all of Cooke Township (which had
been erected out of Penn Township June 18, 1872 and included all of the furnace
proper) with a circumference of about 70 miles.
Despite the misgivings of
the old workers who were unfamiliar with modern conditions, the
"blow-in" was entirely successful, and the continuance of operations
for four years, with only one blow out for repairs and relining, was
maintained. As I recall it we made about twenty tons of pig iron every twenty-
four hours. Most of this pig iron was sent to Laurel Forge and made into ingots
or blooms, although quite a little was sold for car wheels and other purposes
requiring a high grade of pig iron.
Even under these advanced
conditions, it soon became apparent that not for long could we compete with the
cheaper Bessemer products now coming rapidly into the iron market. People
looked to price rather than quality, and at that time there was no basis for
comparisons. Today, we know that charcoal products for ductility tensile
strength and longevity were better than the Bessemer and open hearth steel, but
what could we expect. The forests were gone with their fuel, along with the
furnaces and forges, and we may only see one inevitable phase of the process of
evolution and economical pressure of a vast productive period which demanded
volume that could not be met with the charcoal industry.
With all the trials and
tribulations of a cold blast charcoal furnace, there was generally considerable
comedy, for despite this ducal-feudal colony, there was so little tragedy
(except its decay) as to be negligible. The old Tennessee and Virginia
mountaineers who formed much of the colony were peaceably inclined, so long as
the red liquor was kept in control, and this, we believe, was done then better
than it is today. The forge workers were all negroes and a finer lot of men I
never worked with. The wood chopping was mostly done in the winter by the
surrounding farmers and the charcoal burners who lived in self-constructed
cabins in the woods. It was when the coaling jobs became busy in the spring
that the teamsters with their mule teams got under way, after a winter's
idleness and there was much bucking and confusion at first, but the refractory
mule was soon put in line by hitching him backward to a load coming down hill.
One lesson of this kind was usually enough, I wish I had jotted down some of
the amusing incidents that occurred to me during my stay there, but several
stand out clear after all these years. I had an assistant, Willie Bolton, whose
widowed mother was the head of a fashionable girls' school at New Rochelle, N.
Y., and she induced Mr. Cooke to wish Willie on me. Nothing we did was quite up
to Willie's standard. Mrs. Lynch, our Maryland housekeeper in the old mansion,
just before Easter, wanted to know how many eggs she should have for each one
at breakfast. I thought three or four, but Willie promptly told us he could eat
a dozen and top it off with a goose egg, all hard boiled. I promptly bet him a
five- dollar bill he could not eat them. The boy ate them and collected the
five. To give us all a Christmas dinner diversion, I arranged for a turkey
dinner at Gettysburg. We found our sleigh would be too crowded with five, so
Willie offered to walk by having a half hour's start and beat us into Gettysburg,
but here he lost his bet and I collected mine.
The ore miners were a
shifting and mostly an irresponsible lot. They labored eleven hours each day
and received eight cents an hour, and were expected to supply their wants from
the company store in which Colonel J. D. North kept their accounts balanced for
fear of squandering too much on non-essentials. Pat McGuire was one of these.
He lived in a log cabin not far from the church, and his wife frequently helped
out around the house. One winter night Pat, in a drunken fit, beat up this
little woman and ran her out of the house with nothing on but a pair of boots
and night dress. Fortunately I was out late that night when she came to the
furnace crying and shivering, and I took her to Mrs. Lynch who made her comfortable.
Next night Pat was visited by a committee of six, who thoroughly whipped him
and put a rope around his neck but let him off on his promise to leave the
place and not come back. He went to Carlisle and was locked up, and the foolish
little woman left me no peace until I went to Carlisle and got him out, but
neither of them was permitted to come to Pine Grove. The next issue of the
Police Gazette had a large picture of how the Pine Grove Vigilantes treated
wife beaters.
Frequently there were
guests of either Mr. Fuller or Mr. Cooke in the mansion during the summer
months. As a young man of social connections and supposedly of good behavior,
it became my duty to see those guests entertained. Horseback riding was the
chief attraction, and usually by those who never had been mounted. Three young
ladies were given preliminary training and when thought safe, I started with
them one moonlight evening to cross the mountains to Bendersville where a
supper had been ordered. We reached the top of the mountain safely and then our
troubles began. Approaching from the other direction we could clearly hear the
hoof beats of many horses. The girls became panic stricken. I dismounted them
all and took the horses and girls into the underbrush and I went forth to meet
the enemy, which proved to be four men looking for horse thieves. After some
parley and inspection of our mounts, they went on their way, but the girls
refused to proceed and insisted on returning, thus missing a good supper.
Catoctin Iron Works, just
south of us in Maryland, were having trouble with their men who were out on a
strike, and word came to me they were coming in a body to Pine Grove to induce
our workers to strike. That would have been a serious matter which must be
avoided. Silently and unobserved at night I fastened a locomotive head light on
my railroad velocipede (a new vehicle just out) and started to Carlisle. I came
near not reaching that place for near Laurel, a rabbit started ahead of me
between the rails and in my endeavor to overtake it, I upset and lay for some
time unconscious in the ditch. Finally coming into my senses and feeling no
bones broken, I proceeded. I had myself appointed a special policeman and was
back before sun-up and sent a trusted party to intercept the Catoctin people
with the threat that they would all be arrested the moment they came into Cooke
Township. They did not come.
The old ore bank near the
furnace had become a source of constant anxiety. It was about eighty feet deep
and water coming in regularly. Never did we have enough ore to supply the needs
of the furnace beyond a week, often only two days, and a flooding of this ore
hole meant disaster. The water was kept under control by the use of a large
plunger pump about six feet long and 12" in diameter driven by a huge
water wheel 20 feet diameter and 10 foot face. One night the unexpected
happened. Gravel sucked into the cylinder and constantly rocking back and forth
with each suction of the piston had gradually worn through the iron and the
mischief was done. When I was called, the water had raised four feet and in
order to get the name of the maker I stood in water up to my waist and felt for
the letters with my-fingers. I finally made out Reading, Penna. and in
consulting old ledgers we ordered by wire a cylinder to replace. Before it was
out of the sand mould, I was in the shops seeing it bored and through the
influence of personal friends had a special car placed on a passenger train and
met our waiting locomotive at Carlisle Junction. In the meantime a centrifugal
pump had been mounted on a raft in the mine hole to help out, and within a week
we were normal. The ore from this mine was run through washers to remove the
clay and sand, the overflow from the washers was confined to a dam which
frequently broke out, and the Mt. Holly Paper mills soon were to detect.
Just before casting time
one evening, the keeper informed me they could not cast on time because a
drunken workman whom we had discharged had purposely waded through the
"Pig Beds" and destroyed the moulds.I ordered him out, and when he
refused there was a test of skill and endurance, but the third round was
sufficient and I took him out, and Esquire Weiser sent him to Carlisle on the
next train. His big burly brother tried to get me the next day, but did not
like the looks of my hip pocket, and left after trying to beat up another man
after dark, when he mistook the man for me. As an evidence of what might have
been a panic among good but credulous people, and how it was met, Dr.
Longsdorf, our Company physician, startled us one day by announcing that we had
a case of smallpox on the place. Old Jim Dougherty, a wood chopper and collier
out in the Whetstone job four miles away, was down with the disease, and every
last person around him had deserted him. It was necessary for someone to go
there at once. Several of us offered, but Daniel King, the General Manager, who
happened to be at Pine Grove, vetoed it and went himself, daily, until the poor
fellow died. The person who would not be inspired by such noble leadership is
hopeless.
Water, pestilence and
famine are dreadful scourges, but nothing at Pine Grove filled us with such
terror as an alarm of fire in the mountains. The year before I came there over
2,000 cords of wood had been burned and many acres of growing timber. This was
all new to me, but after the first fire I saw that the failure lay in having
too many bosses with cross purposes. There should be one director whom all must
obey. Dan Leeper the wood boss mapped out the various wood and coal jobs. The
bosses of the different jobs were instructed that at the given signal from the
furnace whistle all hands were to report to me. The six carpenters were
furnished with brush hooks, who, under Leeper, were to cut away brush for a
fire line following them with torches and forks, backfiring was begun and
patrols folio-wed for keeping the fire line clear. I never lost a cord of wood,
though we had many stubborn fires. Meals were conveyed to the fire fighters who
were kept on the line until all danger was past. I had some narrow escapes. One
hot July day during a very stubborn fire, in back tracking I found the line
uncovered for several miles, and was at a loss to know the meaning until I
heard some one talking in a secluded spot, and on investigation found six men
playing seven up. I ordered them to the office, but they threatened to beat me
up. Putting my hand to my hip pocket, I declared it was death to the first man
who came towards me. Of course it was sheer nerve, but I got them down the hill
and at once replaced them.
The railroad was the
weakest part of our system. Not enough business could be supplied locally to
balance the expenditures. We laid out a park half mile south of the furnace.
Dammed up Mountain Creek for a lake. Put in a number of attractions and erected
rustic buildings. With these diversions we had through the summer season daily,
four to ten coach loads of Sunday School and other organizations with picnics.
One of the Market Street, Philadelphia, Baldwin steam cars, that operated during
the 1876 Centennial, was purchased and carried parties between the park and the
furnace at ten cents the round trip, and it soon paid for itself. On one of
these days a drunken rowdy held the car by himself and refused to get off. We
ran the little machine to Laurel out of sight, and dumped him in the shallow
water of the lake. This park was the gathering place for some of the most
notable meetings of distinguished persons in the State of that period, for once
in each year Mr. Cooke and Mr. Fuller royally entertained their friends.
Special cars from Philadelphia carried notables from that city, while on the
Cumberland Valley another car gathered them up. United States Senators,
Congressmen, bankers, railroad officials and state officers were highly entertained,
and the topics of the day thoroughly discussed. Bart Woodward of Philadelphia,
with his famous "Fish House Punch," soon had them all going full
steam ahead.
The Fuller Brick and Slate
Company. - March 14th, 1891. the South Mountain Mining and Iron Company
conveyed to the Fuller Brick and Slate Company four tracts of land in Adams and
Cumberland counties consisting of 439 acres for the purpose of operating as a
brick-making plant, as a fine body of shale and clay had been found on the
land, and a stock company was organized with a capital of $600,000. A fine
quality of buff-colored brick was made, but for some reason the market did not
seem to be open for their product, and the brick company was forced to suspend
operations, and by a deed dated August 11, 1913, reconveyed back to the South
Mountain Mining and Iron Company the four tracts of land. The large building
used for the brick making was lowered four feet, and is now used for the
storage of machinery and stables for the teams of the Forestry Department. The
stone grist mill has been refitted into a delightful building now used for
entertainment and eating rooms, and during the summer months is well
patronized. The park with its many original pine trees, is used during the
summer season by the girl scouts organizations, as well as other pleasure
seekers. One of the curiosities in the older days was a pine tree fountain.
Pipes were laid from a spring of fine mountain water across the creek, and were
run under one of the big pine trees, and brought out about three feet above the
ground. No one could see the pipes, and of course the query was where did the
water come from flowing so freely out of that pine tree?
By deed dated November 22,
1912, and other deeds later, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased from
the South Mountain Mining and Iron Company over fourteen thousand acres in
Cumberland County and nearly three thousand acres in Adams County for forestry
purposes at four dollars per acre. The Department rebuilt the roadway running
from Pine Grove to Caledonia, and it is now one of the attractive automobile
drives that could be taken for mountain scenery, and a great number of pleasure
cabins are built on the land, especially along Mountain Creek.
A terrific forest fire
occurred April 20, 1915, on these lands, and destroyed many acres of fine young
timber, and burned the Forge Farm house, barn and all out buildings, burned the
Forge Mansion then occupied by Joseph Fuller, and several summer cabins, and
also burned the immense ice house that stood at the edge of Laurel Lake filled
with hundreds of tons of pure ice that had been harvested from Laurel Lake for
use in Carlisle and Harrisburg by the United Ice and Coal Company of
Harrisburg. It was a wonderfully destructive sight to watch the glistening ice
while the wooden house around it burned fiercely.
It is almost impossible to
record a history or even a sketch of history of such works as the old charcoal
furnaces, without giving the names of those faithful helpers, who in all
troubles stood shoulder to shoulder with the owners, feeling that the end of
their work must soon come. While I was manager of the works, the following were
my dependable helpers ready for call at any time:
John Christman, master
mechanic, could do more and better work with a chisel and file than many can
now with lathe and planer.
Daniel Leeper, wood boss,
knew every foot of the property, and all the deceptive tricks of wood choppers,
putting stumps and crooked sticks in their cord ranks.
William Foreman,
Superintendent of No. 1 ore bank, a splendid man who had to deal with all sorts
and conditions of men and knew how to do it.
Ezra Root, general
repairman at banks, expert wire rope splicer, blacksmith and wood worker, very
ingenious, loyal and intelligent.
Joseph D. Barber, millwright.
Splendid mechanic. Built the large overhead water wheels at forge and the ore
hole. Was a man of intelligence. He was an ardent member of the
"Greenback" political party. Died January 1st, 1892.
Jerry Barber, his son, for
years in charge of the stables and later the personal coachman for Mr. Fuller,
and with his wife, Kate Bailey Barber, conducted the boarding house. It was
always said that when Jerry looked at a horse, he knew every fault and favor in
every bone in the body. It was thought that nothing but death could pry Jerry
away from Pine Grove Furnace, but he did move with his family a few years ago
to Mount Holly Springs, and died there January 29, 1927. Jerry was born October
21, 1849.
Charles Sheaffer, the
miller at the stone grist mill, was a good miller and quite a wag. His tales
would make a good volume rich in humor if they had been kept.
Samuel Dysart, boss
carpenter and coal and iron policeman, Sam had wonderful skill with his tools.
William Mounts had charge
of mine banks No. 2 and 3 in the vicinity of Laurel, and was always known as
"Old Man Mounts" by everybody, loved by everybody, and had the
character to go with it.
To make a success in the
charcoal iron manufacture, no set of men are more important than the Charcoal
burners, and we were fortunate in having a set of very dependable men. Mr.
Thomas Hyle still living at Pine Grove in his 85th year, was one of them. There
were four men in each coal job, and they were expected to turn out into
charcoal from 200 to 400 cords of wood each coaling season. These colliers were
William Showers, William and George Stainer Emery Cline, Daniel, Calvin, John
and William Cline Eli, Andrew and Fred Heller, John, Hiram and John Warner, Jr.
Thomas and Henry McElwee, William, John, Jesse and William Waine, Jr. George
Murtiff and George Boane.
On the furnace work the
following were employed:
Keepers: Daniel Stout and
Davie Weiley.
Keepers' helpers: George
Shockley and John Martin Filler: John Bohn.
At the forge the following
were employed: Joseph Fuller, Superintendent. Clerk, Mr. McClure, who later
became a noted divine in the Episcopal Church. The company store was managed by
J. D. North, assisted by W. A. Davis and Albert Warner. The upper or Bunker
Hill farm was tenanted by Frank Arnold, the Forge Farm by Edward Grimes and the
Furnace Farm by Mr. Lynch. The teacher in the little school house was Miss Ella
Cormoran. Mrs. Lynch took splendid care of us in the old mansion house until we
moved into the new mansion house (now used for a hotel) where Mrs. Mary Mullen
and her daughter were persuaded to come from the Mount Holly Inn to take charge
of the new place.