THE KNOWLEDGE OF COAL AND IRON IN
OHIO BEFORE 1835.
BY PAUL WAKELEE STODDARD*
Today Ohio is one of the great
coal-producing cen-
ters of the world, a position which it
has maintained
for close on to a century. The real starting-point of the
development of the mineral resources of
the state was
the First Geological Survey, which took
place in the third
decade of the nineteenth century, and
which has been
considered in a previous article. But
what knowledge
of the vast deposits of coal, and the
lesser deposits of
iron, did the early settlers of Ohio
possess? When did
these resources first become known?
What use was
made of them? These are a few of the
questions to
which an answer is sought here.
Turning first to modern accounts of
Ohio's coal and
iron, and to those written by authors
at the time of the
Geological Survey, one finds that,
although there may
be a difference with regard to dates,
there is unanimity
when it comes to quantity. All are agreed
that the Ohio
coal fields are among the foremost in
the world. One
of the standard geologies,1 published
in 1839, for ex-
ample, stated that
* B. A., Yale University, 1924. Graduate
School, Yale University,
December 15, 1927. Mr. Stoddard is also
the author of the "Story of the
First Geological Survey of Ohio,
1835-1842." See Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Society Publications, v. XXXVII, No. 1, January, 1928, pp.
107-135.
1 Bakewell, Robert, An Introduction
to Geology, ed. J. Silliman, 451.
(219)
220 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the valley of the Mississippi contains
the largest coal field, or
rather collection of coal field, in the
known world. * * * Iron
ore abounds generally.
Another writer, S. P. Hildreth,
reported in 1835 that
coal occurs in an inexhaustible
quantity, and is in general of an
excellent quality.2
In standard works of reference, too,
there appear assur-
ances of the large amount of coal, with
somewhat con-
flicting references as to dates. The International
Ency-
clopedia reports, in dealing with coal, that
The deposits, among which were those of
Ohio, were discovered
about 1701 and mining was begun by 1750. But extended
coal
mining in America did not begin until
about 18203
while the Encyclopedia Brittanica gives
more definite
amounts:
Whereas coal was discovered as early as
1770 mining was begun
not later than 1828; * * * the first
accurate output was re-
corded in 1872; namely, 5,315,294 short tons. Iron,
which is in
the east and southeast sections of the
State, began to be mined in
the early nineteenth century, but this
production was reduced from
254,294 long tons, in 1889, to 26,585
long tons in 1904, all of
which was carbonate.4
To reconcile these dates, the records
left by early set-
tlers, the gazetteers, and the early
geographies, are
greatly reinforced by the accounts of
travelers who
journeyed to Ohio in the early years.
The history of Ohio before the
Revolution was not
2 American Journal of Science and Arts, October, 1835.
3 International
Encyclopaedia, V, 500.
4 Encyclopedia Brittanica, XX, 26.
Coal and Iron in Ohio Before
1835 221
of great consequence. Beginning with
the journeys of
Hennepin and La Salle, the white
settlers first came in
numbers about 1730, when the first
English traders from
Pennsylvania and Virginia visited the
southern part of
the territory. In 1749, the first Ohio
Company was
formed, and a year later, Christopher
Gist wended his
way down the Ohio to the Scioto. Other
travelers
visited the region occasionally, but
little official notice of
Ohio was taken until, in 1774,
Parliament passed the
Quebec Act, by which the territory was
annexed to
Quebec. After the War, of course, it
became a part of
the new United States so rapidly
spreading westward.
Coal was first mentioned in connection
with the
journey of Father Hennepin, in 1679,
who reported it
appearing on the surface, apparently in
some quantity.
So also La Salle, but their
investigations were not con-
fined primarily to the Ohio country;
rather to that now
known as Illinois. In fact it was not
until the time of
Christopher Gist (1751) that any
definite report was
made. Writing in his Journal for
Wednesday, March
27, 1751,5 he reported:
Our horses and selves were so tired that
we were obliged to
stay this Day to rest, for we were
unable to travel. On all
branches of the Cuttaway River was
Plenty of Stone Coal, some
of which I brought in to the Ohio
Company.
The next day, Thursday, March 28, 1751,
his dis-
coveries continued:
Set out S. E. 15 m., crossing creeks of
the little Cuttaway River,
the land being still full of coal and
blank slate.
On the next Tuesday, April 1, he wrote:
5 Johnston, J. Stoddard, Journal of
Christopher Gist, 154-155.
222 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
We went down another Creek to a lick
where blocks of coal about
8 by to inches square lay upon the
surface of the ground.
But Gist, it is to be noted, did not
mention iron.
Iron first gained a notice in the
travelers' accounts in
1770, in a letter of an unnamed English
engineer and
explorer, addressed to the Earl of
Hillsborough, when
the latter was Secretary of State for
North America.6
Lead and iron ore are plenty in the hills.
* * * Hemp, tim-
ber, and iron will be plenty.
But in these chance references, coal
always predomi-
nated.
These few scattered notes complete the
records of
pre-Revolutionary knowledge of the
mineral resources
of the State. Only on one occasion
during the actual
progress of the war was there any
mention whatever
of coal or iron. In 1777, a Captain
Hutchins published,
in London, a map on which coal was
marked at various
places along the Ohio River,7 a
map which had the dis-
tinction of being the first, of Ohio at
least, on which
coal was mentioned at all. Before
passing on to the
later accounts, however, one statement
which may be
of little value, since it cannot be
verified, should be
listed. In a book published in London,
in 1797,8 Gilbert
Imlay, a captain in the American Army
during the war,
and a commissioner for laying out lands
in the back
settlements, said that
a coal mine, opposite Lamenchicola
mouth, took fire in 1748, and
kept burning about a twelvemonth, where
great quantities are still
left.
6 Quoted, Phillips, P. L., The Cutler
Map of Ohio, 1787, 34.
7 Nicolls, W. J., Story of
American Coals, 59.
8 Imlay,
Gilbert, A Topographical Description of the Western Territory
of North America, 117.
Coal and Iron in Ohio Before
1835 223
Apparently this information came either
from Indians
or from traders, as 1748 was a year
before the forma-
tion of the first Ohio Company. If
true, however, the
term "coal mine" probably
referred only to a surface
deposit.
In the years following, many additional
stories of
the great amount of mineral material
began to attract
attention. That keen European observer,
M. St. John
De Crevecoeur, "consul for France
for the Middle
States in America," in 1782 wrote
in his Letters of an
American Farmer:
All the travelers and hunters have
spoken to me with admiration
of the excellent fountains, salt pits
and coal mines (particularly
that of Lamenchicola), of the free
stone, etc., that they find
everywhere.9
Five years later, in 1787, was
published at Salem, Mas-
sachusetts, what today is an
exceedingly rare map of
Ohio. The person who surveyed the
territory, drew the
map, and wrote the description, was
Manasseh Cutler
of Killingly, Connecticut, a clergyman,
doctor, and
scientist, who graduated from Yale in
1765, and was
later elected to the American Academy.
The map, (as
reproduced by P. L. Phillips), had one
township in the
southeast portion, on the Hockhocking
River, which was
marked "Coals." There was no
reference to iron. In
the notes accompanying the map, he
remarked that:
coal mines and salt springs are frequent
in the neighborhood of
this stream (the Hockhocking), as they
are in every part of the
western territory.10
9 de Crevecoeur, St. John, Letters of
an American Farmer, III, 394.
10 Phillips, P. L., The Cutler Map of
Ohio, 1787, 28.
224
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Then, in 1788, efforts were made by
Joel Barlow, one
of "The Hartford Wits," and
others, to induce French
settlers to come to America. To
accomplish this aim,
several kinds of circulars and
pamphlets were sent out,
containing much that was false or at
least of a ques-
tionable nature. In a booklet called Ohio
in 1788, the
land was pictured in so roseate a hue
that many French
settlers were attracted to America and
founded Galli-
polis in 1790. In this tract, reference
was made11 to the
fact that
hemp, iron, and ship timber are abundant
and of good quality
here,
but no mention was made of coal.
Although this may
very likely be false evidence, other
reports were being
brought in at the same time. Colonel
John May, for ex-
ample, kept a diary, entitled Two
Journeys to the Ohio
Country in 1788-1789, in which, on Thursday, May 8,
1788, he described his wanderings throughout
the coun-
try:
I took a ramble this afternoon, up a
solitary high mountain (the
west-end of Coal Hill).
The name was at least suggestive.
Ten years later, in 1797, in London,
was published
Imlay's book, to which reference has
already been made.
In many places, he described the
mineral wealth of the
state, but a few examples will suffice:
On the east side of the mountains, next
to the European set-
tlements, there are some, but very few,
and those thin, beds of
coal.
11 Cutler, Manasseh, Ohio in 1788,
49.
Coal and Iron in Ohio Before
1835 225
Muskingum, though so wide extended in
its branches, spreads
all in most excellent land, abounding in
good springs and conveni-
ences, particularly adapted for
settlement remote from marine
communication, as coal, clay, and
freestone. * * * The
Hockhocking * * * has coals about
fifteen miles up, and
some knowls of freestone.
I have already mentioned the coal mines
in the upper part of
the Ohio country; besides which there
are great quantities of coal
upon the upper banches of the
Mississippi .......... It is cer-
tain that the great body of it, which
the Ohio country alone con-
tains, is equal to answer all the
purposes for which it may be
wanted, throughout this extensive
empire.
We have various other minerals, such as
iron (which is the
most useful), copper, lead, sulphur,
nitre, etc. Iron ore is found
in great plenty upon the northern
branches of Licking Creek, and
likewise upon the waters of Green
River.l2
Apparently, though the knowledge of the
deposits of
iron and coal was rather widespread,
there was but little
attempt to turn them to practical
account, even to the
extent of burning the coal. Such, at
least, was the state-
ment of one historian of recent years.
Although the early settlers were fully
aware of these deposits of
coal, they, from force of circumstances,
did not for some years
give much attention to them. The
clearing of the land furnished
an abundance of fuel, and hence they did
not need the coal. But
as the forests disappeared, its
importance was realized more, and
its extent more fully developed.
Wherever coal is found, iron is
associated with it.13
The year 1810 seems to have been the
approximate date
of the beginning of commercial mining. Said
that pro-
lific historian of Ohio, Charles
Whittlesey, in his His-
tory of the Coal and Iron Business:
Clendening, Montgomery, and Mackay, of
Youngstown, built the
first furnace in Ohio, at the mouth of
Yellow Creek, at the Ma-
honing, in 1808 within ten years of the
settlement of that region.14
12 Imlay, 87, 117, 135, 136.
13 Hill, N. N., Jr., History of
Licking County, 179.
14 Whittlesey,
C., History of the Coal and Iron Business, 5.
Vol. XXXVIII--15
226 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Randall and Ryan, in their History
of Ohio, also
mention this same furnace, and say
further:
Coal was also mined for the first time
in 1810 in Summit County.
Thus two of the greatest factors in the
growth and importance
of the State were contemporaneous in
their development.15
One of the most interesting accounts of
this region
in this period was that of Mills Day,
whose diary in two
small volumes, entitled Travels in
Virginia and Ohio in
1810, is in manuscript in the
Yale University Library.
The second volume contained an
unusually complete and
graphic description of Ohio, with one
reference to the
minerals:
Iron ore and coal ore are found in any
requisite quantity
near the town [Zanesville]. A furnace
and forge are already
erected on Licking Creek near the mouth.
Coal is so easily ob-
tained that the inhabitants of the town
use it altogether for fuel,
notwithstanding the supply of timber in
the neighborhood.16
It is at this period that separate
books concerning the
geography of Ohio began to appear. Two
such books,
one by Manasseh Cutler, which came out
in 1812, and
the other by Kilbourn, which appeared
in 1821, con-
tained many minute references to the
mineral resources
of the State. None brought out new
information, but
simply verified the knowledge hitherto
disclosed. The
books, however, do prove that
development was starting.
The statements in Cutler were as
follows:
The hills on this river [Muskingum]
abound with coal, and
much of it of an excellent quality. It
is said a vein of coal has
been found crossing the bed of the river, remarkable
for its purity.
The pieces of the coal have the appearance of varnish,
somewhat
15 Randall, E. O. and Ryan, D. J., History
of Ohio, III, 168.
16 Day, Mills, Travels in
Virginia and Ohio in 1810, 17 (not numbered).
Coal and Iron in Ohio Before
1835 227
resembling Japan, and when laid on the
fire, a kind of fusion is
produced which continues till it is
consumed by evaporation,
without disagreeable smell, and deposits
any cinder or ashes. Coal
has been sold in Marietta for about three cents a
bushel, and
is much preferred by the inhabitants for
fuel, when wood can
be purchased at one dollar per cord.
At Zanesville, near the furnace, is the
appearance of a large
quantity of iron-ore, supposed to be of
a superior quality. Coal
abounds in this vicinity and can be
procured nearly as cheap as
at Marietta.
There are also round lumps * * * which appear to con-
tain sulphur, lead, and copper.
The slate undoubtedly abounds in a very
great variety of the
most useful ores, but it has been very
little explored.17
Kilbourn's Ohio Gazetteer took
up each county sep-
arately:
Coal is obtained in great quantities in
the eastern parts. Iron-
ore is likewise discovered and wrought
pretty extensively in sev-
eral places, particularly at the falls
of the Licking River, 4 miles
westerly from Zanesville; at Granville;
and at Brush Creek in
Adams County.
There are two or three furnaces and
forges erected on Brush
Creek, in this county, which manufacture
large quantities of iron
for the use of the surrounding country.
Athens County: Stone coal, clay and
freestone are found in
abundance.
Columbiana County: The land contains
inexhaustible beds of
iron-ore and stone coal of the easiest
access.
Licking County: Extensive beds of iron
ore have been dis-
covered in this county, and several
furnaces are already erected--
for manufacturing this ore into bar
iron, castings, etc.
Monroe County: Several mines have been
found of stone
coal, iron ore, etc.
Muskingum County: In numerous places
adjacent to the bed
of the Muskingum River, are extensive
and almost inexhaustible
beds of stone coal, which the people in
and about Zanesville use
for the principal part of their fuel.
Zanesville: Coal and iron are likewise
found in this section of
the state, in large quantities.18
17 Cutler, M., Topographical
Description of the State of Ohio, 22, 29,
32, 33, 37, 48.
18 Kilbourn, James, Ohio Gazetteer, 19,
27, 29, 57, 103, 118, 122, 179, 180.
228 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
In 1818-1819, there appeared, too, a
more general
work, entitled New States and
Territories, in which were
ten or twelve mentions made of this
same development.
Two will suffice to be quoted here.
In this county [Scioto] is an abundance
of iron-ore on Isaac's
Creek, on which is a furnace.
A company called the Zanesville Canal
and Manufacturing
Company is opening a canal and intends
to manufacture iron.l9
With these geographies and gazetteers,
the coal and
iron resources were mentioned for the
last time until
1835, when movements throughout the
State began in
favor of an official Geological Survey
to determine ex-
actly the amount of material in the
ground. The survey
itself, as well as the political
influences which brought it
about, form another story. But, in
conclusion, there
might well be added a general statement
as to the knowl-
edge which the people of Ohio
possessed, as it was set
down by Caleb Atwater in his History
of the State of
Ohio, published in 1838:
Iron ores are found in quantities
sufficient for every useful
purpose, forever, in almost every county
of our state, from the
Summit between the waters of the Ohio
and Lake Erie, to the
Ohio River itself. In Tuscarawas County, the canal passes
through the iron ore, where it lies in
inexhaustible beds, within
sight of the canal and very near it.
This ore remelts easily, and
yields a soft malleable iron, suitable
for castings and bars. * * *
Its value and quantity are rapidly
increasing, and will increase
for centuries to come, because the
quantity of ore is inexhaustible.
And concerning coal:
Coal occurs in nearly every county east
of the Scioto River in
our Hilly region, but it is most abundant
in Scioto County. * * *
On the whole, we may safely conclude,
that we have coal enough,
19 Miller,
Andrew, New States and Territories, 33, 40.
Coal and Iron in Ohio Before
1835 229
and more than enough to last forever,
for all the uses to which
we shall put it in all ages to come, to
support human beings so
long as man shall dwell on this earth.20
With such a sweeping statement as this,
Atwater
summed up all the knowledge thus far
discovered con-
cerning the resources of Ohio. It is
safe to say that by
1835, the evidences of coal were so
manifest everywhere
that development, once begun, would
sweep forward at
a rapid rate. These manifestations of
coal have, of
course, been amply supported by the
greater discoveries
of later years. Concerning iron,
however, the situation
is somewhat puzzling. Wherever coal is
mentioned in
these early accounts, there is likely
to be a mention of
iron as well, and in almost as
enthusiastic terms. Yet
today the geological map of Ohio shows
the quantity of
iron to be relatively small. The
conclusion is inevitable
that the early settlers were misled by
the huge amounts
of coal, usually found in the immediate
vicinity of the
iron, and that what quantity of the
latter mineral was
present was not of sufficient value to
be of great com-
mercial importance. That, however, is a
matter which
does not come directly within the scope
of this report.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The very nature of this article
presupposes the use
of a large number of books, most of
them on only one
occasion. In addition to the two
encyclopedias, from
which quotations were made early in the
essay, and one
article by S. P. Hildreth, which
appeared in the Ameri-
can Journal of Science and Art (New Haven, October,
1835), the books utilized, arranged in
alphabetical order,
were as follows:
20 Atwater, Caleb, History of the
State of Ohio, 19, 23.
230 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
1. Atwater, Caleb, History of the
State of Ohio, Cincinnati,
1838.
2. Bakewell, Robert, An Introduction
to Geology, New Haven,
1839.
3. de Crevecoeur, M. St. John, Letters
of an American Farmer,
London, 1782.
4. Cutler, Manasseh, Ohio in 1788, Columbus,
1888.
5. Cutler, Manasseh, A Topographical
Description of the State
of Ohio, Boston, 1812.
6. Day, Mills, Travels in Virginia
and Ohio (Manuscript in
Yale University Library), 1810.
7. Gist, Christopher, Journals (Edited
by J. S. Johnston),
Louisville, 1898.
8. Hill, N. N., Jr., History of
Licking County, Newark, Ohio,
1881.
9. Imlay, Gilbert, Topographical
Description of the West Ter-
ritory of North America, London, 1797.
10. Kilbourn, James, Ohio Gazetteer, Columbus,
1821.
11. May, John, Two Journeys to the
Ohio Country, Cincinnati,
1873.
12. Miller, Andrew, New States
and Territories, (No place
given), 1818.
13. Nicolls, W. J., The Story of American Coals, Philadelphia,
1904.
14. Phillips, P. L., The Cutler Map
of Ohio, 1787, Washington,
1918.
15. Randall, E. 0., and Ryan, D. J., History
of Ohio, New York,
1912.
16. Whittlesey, Charles, History of
the Coal and Iron Business.
Cincinnati, 1872.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF COAL AND IRON IN
OHIO BEFORE 1835.
BY PAUL WAKELEE STODDARD*
Today Ohio is one of the great
coal-producing cen-
ters of the world, a position which it
has maintained
for close on to a century. The real starting-point of the
development of the mineral resources of
the state was
the First Geological Survey, which took
place in the third
decade of the nineteenth century, and
which has been
considered in a previous article. But
what knowledge
of the vast deposits of coal, and the
lesser deposits of
iron, did the early settlers of Ohio
possess? When did
these resources first become known?
What use was
made of them? These are a few of the
questions to
which an answer is sought here.
Turning first to modern accounts of
Ohio's coal and
iron, and to those written by authors
at the time of the
Geological Survey, one finds that,
although there may
be a difference with regard to dates,
there is unanimity
when it comes to quantity. All are agreed
that the Ohio
coal fields are among the foremost in
the world. One
of the standard geologies,1 published
in 1839, for ex-
ample, stated that
* B. A., Yale University, 1924. Graduate
School, Yale University,
December 15, 1927. Mr. Stoddard is also
the author of the "Story of the
First Geological Survey of Ohio,
1835-1842." See Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Society Publications, v. XXXVII, No. 1, January, 1928, pp.
107-135.
1 Bakewell, Robert, An Introduction
to Geology, ed. J. Silliman, 451.
(219)