EARLY FORGES IN OHIO
BY WILBER
STOUT
The forge was the forerunner of the
rolling mill and as such
deserves some attention in the history
of the iron industry in Ohio.
Forging was the method used by the
pioneers in the refining and
the shaping of crude iron into wares
usable by the blacksmiths
and mechanics of that day. Although
simple in design and small
in output, the forge was distinctly one
of the early steps that led,
through many changes and advancements,
to the immense steel
mills of the present time the
commodities of which are wide and
intricate and now ably support many
demands of modern civiliza-
tion. The pioneers thus looked to the
forge for bars, rods, and
plates or for refined metal for tools,
implements, machinery, horse
shoes, etc. Later some of the forges
yielded bloom for the rolling
mills, the first Ohio plant of that kind
being built at Portsmouth
in 1834.
In principle the forge was just a large
pattern of the tools
of the blacksmith. Most of the Ohio
forges worked on pig metal
and not from iron smelted in the process
from prepared ores. Pig
iron from the charcoal furnaces was
heated in charcoal on a large
stone or fire-brick hearth with an air
blast from a bellows operated
by water power. In this way the metal
was heated slowly to a
soft malleable condition and was then
placed under the hammer
and pounded into the desired shape of
bars, rods or sheets. The
process also removed impurities and
changed and cemented the
grains into a stronger more tenacious
mass.
The tilt-hammer, the common form of
hammer in use with
the pioneers, consisted of a horizontal
shaft or hammer stock,
pivoted as a lever of the first order
with a hammer head on one
(25)
26
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
end and the power attachment on the
other. The hammer, often
weighing nearly a ton, was raised
vertically through a small arc,
for one or two feet, by a rotary
cam-shaft and then allowed to
drop on the piece of hot iron on the
anvil. As hammered the iron
was turned by the workmen and thus
gradually shaped into bars,
rods or plates of the desired form. The
helve-hammer also in use
to some extent at that period was much
the same in principle as
the tilt-hammer except that it was
pivoted as a lever of the second
order. With the early forges the
operating force was water power
but later both this and steam were used.
The vertical type steam hammer, somewhat
the same as the
modern form in design, and known as
Naysmith from the origi-
nator, was invented in 1851 and soon
came into use in Ohio. In
this State the forges were placed
largely at or near the charcoal
furnaces from which certainly most of
them drew their supply of
metal for refining. For this reason such
works were most nu-
merous in the original iron belt
extending from the Ohio River in
the central part of the State --
from Gallipolis to Ripley -- to
Lake Erie in the eastern part -- from
Lorain to Conneaut. A few
forges may have been operated
exclusively on iron ore gathered
near-by and reduced in the forge fire.
In all operations, however,
some ore was used to remove impurities
and to form the slag bath
for the molten metal. Water was the
common power of the
forges constructed from 1809 to 1830 and
was used in a few
erected after that date. The
requirements for a forge were char-
coal for fuel, pig iron for the metal,
iron ore for the bath, water
or steam for power and a near-by market
for the product.
To whom the honor of building the first
forge in Ohio should
be given is not clear as both James
Heaton and Moses Dillon ap-
pear to have established plants in the
same year, 1809. Both
forges were operated for many years and
had a high reputation in
the markets. Other outstanding forges
were Brush Creek, Rapid,
Granville, Whittlesey, Benner, Lafayette
and Hanging Rock. The
State undoubtedly had many forges now
lost to history. The fol-
lowing list gives some idea of the
period of operation, of the loca-
tion and of the power used in this early
phase of the iron industry.
EARLY
FORGES IN OHIO 27
EARLY
FORGES IN OHIO
Date
of Name of
Erection Forge Location Power
1809 Mosquito Creek Niles, Trumbull County Water
1809 Licking Near
Zanesville, Muskingum County Water
1810?
Hughes Lisbon, Columbiana
County Water
1812 Brush Creek Near
West Union, Adams County Water
1815 Rapid Near
Bainbridge, Ross County Water
1815?
Steam Furnace Near Jacksonville,
Adams County Steam
1817 Granville Granville,
Licking County Water
1817 Whittlesey Middleburg,
Summit County Water
1820?
Benner Bainbridge,
Ross County Water
1822 Parkman Parkman,
Lake County Water
1825 Concord Near
Concord, Lake County Water
1826 Lafayette Near
Sciotoville, Scioto County Water
1830 Sample Near
Braden, Gallia County Steam
1831 Bloom Portsmouth,
Scioto County Steam
1832 Conneaut Conneaut,
Ashtabula County Water?
1832 Elyria Elyria,
Lorain County Water
1832?
Stockham Near
Sciotoville, Scioto County Water
1832 Hanging Rock Hanging Rock, Lawrence County Steam
1833 Walnut Rushtown,
Scioto County Water
1840 Spencer Youngstown,
Mahoning County Steam
Mosquito Creek Forge.1
The
historian of the iron works in the Mahoning Valley,
Joseph
G. Butler, has written:
When
James Heaton became discouraged with the furnace (Hopewell)
on
Yellow Creek, he went to Weathersfield Township, Trumbull County,
where
he bought a tract of land on Mosquito Creek, within the present
city
of Niles, on which he saw the possibilities of developing water power,
the
only form of mechanical energy then useful in the settlements. The
tract
he purchased secured the water rights on both sides of the creek from
its
confluence with the Mahoning River far enough headward to permit the
erection
of a dam, about where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad now
crosses
the stream. At this place was soon built the dam and a saw mill
and
in 1809 a blooming forge in which was manufactured the first bar iron
made
in this part of Ohio.
In
spite of the crude appliances at his command, Heaton produced
excellent
iron, using a process or rather a series of processes of sufficient
interest
to merit a brief description. The crude pig iron, which had been
cast
in the sand at the furnace, was remelted in a charcoal fire and recast
into
plates one inch thick and about two feet square. These plates, were
cooled
and then broken up. The pieces were next reheated until the metal
assumed
a pasty form, a light blast being used to assist in this operation.
Then
the iron was worked to remove impurities, was gathered in balls on
the
end of an iron rod, and, while still hot, was hammered into blooms.
1
Joseph G. Butler, jr., History of Youngstown and the Mahoning, Valley
(Chi-
cago
and New York, 1921), I, 658-66, 670-5; Harriet Taylor Upton, History of
the
Western Reserve (Chicago and
New York, 1910), I, 207-8; "Early Iron Enterprises in
Ohio,"
in Tenth Census of the United States, 1880: Statistics of
Manufactures, 102-5;
Ohio
Geological Survey, Report (Columbus, 1873-1893), V (1884), 448, 450.
28
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The blooms were again heated and again
hammered, the product this time
being a finished bar. The process was somewhat similar
to that of puddling,
which was introduced into this country
from England about 1813. Heaton's
process, however, was much slower than
puddling and much more expensive
because of the repeated operations and
of the inefficiency of the furnace
to secure the proper heat. The product,
however, was bar iron of excellent
quality from which the blacksmiths
hammered many articles useful on the
farms, in the homes, and in the
factories of that day.
At first the crude iron for refining was
hauled by wagon
from Hopewell furnace on Yellow Creek
but after 1812 it came
from his own furnace, Mosquito Creek, at
Niles. This forge
appears to have continued active
operation until 1838 and to have
been finally abandoned in 1845. It thus
gave way to the rolling
mills, a progressive step in the iron and
steel industry. The
Mosquito Creek Forge should be
remembered as an achievement
typical of the energetic pioneers; for
its early production of re-
fined metal; for its influence on the
settlements of the Mahoning
Valley, and as an initial step leading
to the great mills of today.
Licking Forge.2
About 1803 or 1804 Dillon, then nearly
60 years of age, came
to this western region in Ohio as
traveling companion to a
Quaker minister on a visit to the
Wyandotte Indians at the head-
waters of the Coshocton branch of the
Muskingum River. He
was much impressed with the fine water
power at the Falls of the
Licking River and on returning to
Pennsylvania purchased a tract
of land, probably about 3,000 acres
which included the falls.
Here Dillon erected a small blast
furnace in 1808 and a forge
about 1809. The works were located
nearly three and one-half
miles from Zanesville in central Falls
Township, Muskingum
County. More definitely they were placed
at the foot of a terrace
on the south bank of the stream, near
the lower end of the falls,
or series of rapids. Both works were
operated by water power
from a race leading from the head of the
fall. The furnace and
forge went under the firm name of Moses
Dillon and Son, the
latter being his son John who was
endowed with much energy
and business ability.
2 "Early Iron Enterprises,"
loc. cit.; J. Hope Sutor, Past and Present of the
City of Zanesville and Muskingum
County, Ohio (Chicago, 1905), 165.
202; J. F. Ever-
hart, History of Muskingum County,
Ohio (Columbus, 1882), 330; Zanesville (Ohio)
Express and Republican Standard, August 31, December 4, 1814; May 11, 25, 1815.
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 29
The prices for castings and for bar iron
are given in an ad-
vertisement of August 31, 1814.
Licking Furnace
The public are hearby informed that
Licking furnace is now in blast,
where our customers may be supplied with
castings well assorted, at $100
per ton, with usual handage, by sending
their bills a few days before the
wagon. Also on hand bar iron assorted
and good at $180 per ton.
MOSES DILLON AND SON.
The Licking forge of Moses Dillon and
Son on the Licking
River northwest of Zanesville and
Heaton's Mosquito Creek
forge on Mosquito Creek at Niles appear
to have been erected in
the same year, 1809. Which was first is
a question now difficult
to determine. The Licking forge was an
active unit until 1850
when the works fell into disuse. It
produced bar iron in variety
for needs of the blacksmiths of the
adjacent county and after
1825 for shipment over the Ohio Canal to
markets in distant parts
of the country.
Hughes Forge.3
The local historian, Horace Mack, has
recorded that after
Rebecca furnace, built in 1806, had been
in operation for a few
years Gideon Hughes built (about 1810)
near it a tilt-hammer
and a forge and was thus able to turn
out wrought iron for the
local needs. The forge was placed just
above the furnace, on the
west bank of the Middle Fork of Little
Beaver Creek in the north-
eastern part of Section 15, Center
township, Columbiana County.
The works were operated by water power
from the race that led
to the furnace, refined the crude metal
from Rebecca furnace, and
produced a good grade of bar iron,
useful for many purposes.
As the demand for this sort of iron
increased Hughes, in 1821 or
1822, erected a rolling mill, near
Coleman, about three miles above
his furnace. The works also included
forges and nail-making
machines of a kind which had not then
been many years in this
country.
3 Horace Mack, History of
Columbiana County, Ohio (Philadelphia, 1879), 108;
"Early Iron Enterprises," loc.
cit.
30 OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Brush Creek Forge.4
The first forge in southern Ohio for the
refining of crude
iron into bloom and bars was located on
Brush Creek in southern
Tiffin township, Adams County. Such
products were greatly in
demand after the War of 1812 in the
rapidly growing settlements
along the Ohio Valley. The forge stood
on the west bank of
Brush Creek nearly one-half mile south
of the West Union-
Portsmouth Road and by stream close to
eight and three-fourths
miles from the Ohio River. The dam for
driving the machinery
was placed above the forge near the
mouth of Soldiers Run and
was connected to the works by a
millrace. The bridge over Brush
Creek, not far above the dam, was known
as the Forge Dam
bridge and the small cluster of houses
that grew up near-by as
Satterfield's. The forge was built on
the Wilson farm where
Brush Creek bears close against the
hills on the east side and by
so doing leaves a wide bottom on the
west side. At present, the
forge property is owned in part by
Margaret E. Davis and in
part by Floyd Satterfield.
The Brush Creek forge was built by John
Fisher and others.
The Sinton family, later of Cincinnati,
John Means, James
Rogers, Valentine Fear, and John Sparks
of the Brush Creek and
Steam
furnaces and a certain Voorhies were also interested.
During part of the active period of the
forge the firm name was
John Means and Company. At one time the
direct management
of the works appears to have been in the
hands of Kendrick of
Chillicothe. Robert Hamilton, later
identified with Pine Grove
furnace in Lawrence County, and Maxwell
P. Gaddis, who be-
came a minister of the Methodist Church,
served as bookkeepers
at the old Brush Creek forge.
The works consisted mainly of a forge
for heating the iron,
using charcoal for fuel and air from a
large bellows as blast, and
of an immense hammer weighing nearly a
ton, operated on a lever
by a cam geared to the water wheel. Thus
power was neccessary
4 Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers,
History of Adams County, Ohio
(West Union, Ohio, 1900), 401, 403-4;
"Early Iron Enterprises." loc. cit.; Ohio Geo-
logical Survey, Second Annual Report (Columbus,
1838), 250; Ohio Geological Survey,
Report, V (1884), 448; Cleveland Press, June 6, 1933;
Maxwell Pierson Gaddis, Foot-
prints of an Itinerant (Cincinnati, 1859), 42, 98-99, 106, 115, 120, 122;
Columbus (Ohio)
Sunday Journal Dispatch, October 29, 1933; John Peter Lesley, Iron
Manufacturer's
Guide (1859), 213.
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 31
for the operation both of the hammer and
the bellows. The pig
iron was heated until it became soft and
malleable, then it was
hammered into bloom or bars of the
desired shape. The methods
gave some purification in removing sand
and slag from the iron
and some change in the shape of the
grains. Wrought iron made
in the charcoal furnace and refined in
the forge was of excellent
quality for blacksmith's work for
wagons, horse shoes, farm
tools, mill iron, etc. The products of
Brush Creek forge consisted
of both bar iron and bloom. Some of it
was used locally, but most
of the output was sent down Brush Creek
and the Ohio River by
flat boats to outside markets.
Brush Creek was also known as "Bull"
forge for, during low
water, after the supply from the dam was
exhausted, power for
operating both the bellows and the
hammer was provided by a
40 foot tread wheel propelled by oxen or
"bulls." Brush Creek
forge was an active institution until
after 1835 and appears to
have been abandoned in the early '40's.
Rapid Forge.5
The Rapid Forge on Paint Creek was
located at the lower
end of the rapid caused by the stream
cutting a deep gorge in the
Cedarville dolomite of the Niagara
formation. It stood close to
one-half mile below the junction of
Paint Creek and Rocky Fork
and thus in the southwestern part of
Paint township, Ross County.
The forge and mill were placed north of
the main stream, but near
the mouth of a small run where a wheel
was conveniently placed
to receive the water from the mill race.
Power was provided by
damming the stream in the rocky gorge
and then leading the water
to the works by a mill-race, built in
part by a wall of masonry and
in part by excavation in the solid
stone.
The Rapid Forge Company was formed in
1815 by members
of a Cincinnati firm and by John
Woodbridge and others of
Chillicothe.
In Liberty Hall and Cincinnati
Gazette of Friday morning,
March 12, 1819, is the following
account:
5 Liberty Hall and Cincinnati
Gazette, March 12, September 25, 1819;
H. T.
Gould and Company, Illustrated Atlas
of Ross County and Chillicothe, Ohio (Colum-
bus, 1875), 53; Hulitt Hope, Paint,
Ohio, to Wilber Stout, August 3, 1933.
32 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
To All Iron Masters
A forge has been put in operation by the
subscriber, for Messrs
James and Steele, at the Falls of Paint
Creek, the blowing machine at which
is constructed on a new plan: the blast
is forced from one waterwheel
and a pumping cylinder, and is
sufficient to force 8 or 10 fires. Furnaces
can be constructed upon the same
principle, and will not require more
than one third of the water necessary
for those on the common plan, and
a wheel 14 feet in diameter will be
sufficient. This machine will save to the
proprietor of any Forge or Furnace at least $1,000 a
year.
For further information apply of the
subscriber at the Falls of Paint
Creek, Thomas Tindle, of Owen's Iron
Works, Ky., or William Green at
the Cincinnati Foundry,
JAMES POWER
Mar. 12, 1819.
The works were designed to refine crude
pig iron and to forge
it into bars by the process of heating
the iron to redness in a bed
of charcoal and then pounding it with a
large tilt-hammer worked
by water power. The company purchased
3,000 acres of land,
covering the water rights on the creek
and, as they thought, min-
eral lands adjacent which would provide
iron ores for smelting.
As the quantity of ore was inadequate,
no blast furnace was built.
The pig metal for refining was hauled by
ox-teams from the fur-
naces in Adams County, the nearest of
which, Marble, was by
road about 25 miles distant. Wood,
however, was chopped and
coaled on the company land for the
charcoal used at the works.
After the forge had been in operation
twenty years, or by
1835, the proprietors added a flour mill
and a saw mill, the three
plants combined thus making quite an
industry for that time.
These works were successful and ran
quite steadily through the
'40's, employing in all some 150 men. About 1850
a flood washed
out the dam which was not rebuilt. The
works thus without power
were inoperative and soon passed into
decay. A few iron pins
that held the framework of the dam to
the rocks and remnants of
the old millrace are all that now give
evidence of this pioneer
activity.
The products of Rapid Forge were
distributed over a wide
area, as shown by the following notice
appearing in Liberty Hall
and Cincinnati Gazette of Friday morning, December 24, 1819:
Iron
Just received, an for sale, a quantity
of Iron, made at the Rapid
Forge, near Chillicothe, of a quality
equal to that of the Juniatta, Iron.
STEELE, DONNALLY AND STEELE
Cincinnati, Sept. 25, 1819. No. 32 Broadway
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 33
Blacksmiths used the bar, rod and strap
iron for various pur-
poses such as wagon tires, plow irons,
tools, horse shoes, bolts,
etc. Forged iron was employed also for
cut nails, parts of machin-
ery, and many household articles. Rapid
Forge served a purpose
and served it well to the settlers of
the Paint Creek Valley and
of the bordering areas.
Steam Furnace Forge.6
One of the prominent forges of pioneer
days of southern
Ohio was Steam operated in conjunction
with Steam furnace. The
works were located in the west central
part of Meigs township,
Adams County, about one and
three-fourths miles east of the vil-
lage of Jacksonville and on Bundle Run
just west of the West
Union-Peebles Road. The forge was built
at or not long after
the founding of the furnace (1814) by
James Rogers, George
Sample, and Company. Like the furnace
the forge was operated
by steam power, being unique in that it
was the first forge to be
so powered in Ohio, the others having
used water power. The
product was bars and blooms. A part of
the bar iron was used
by the blacksmiths of the area, but most
of the bars and blooms
were hauled to the Ohio River and there
boated to down-river
markets. This forge appears to have
operated until about 1826
or 1827.
Granville Forge.7
A forge was built about 1817 by General
Augustine Munson
on Raccoon Creek, two miles from
Granville, Licking County. He
erected the forge near his saw mill and
used the same power to
operate the trip-hammer. It was operated
for a time with partial
success, making a passable quality of
bar iron and many articles
of convenience. The forge was last
worked, in 1824 and 1825,
by Colonel A. Jewett who was not
successful and soon abandoned
the works.
6 Evans and Stivers, op. cit., 401;
"Early Iron Enterprises," loc. cit.; Lesley,
op. cit., 213.
7 N. N. Hill, jr. (comp.), History of
Licking County, Ohio (Newark, Ohio, 1881),
443; Henry Bushnell, History of
Granville (Columbus, 1889), 276.
34
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Whittlesey Forge.8
On the Little Cuyahoga River near
Middlebury, Summit
County, Asaph Whittlesey, with Laird and
Norton of Middleburg
furnace, built, about 1817, a forge for
refining pig iron from the
nearby furnace into bar iron for the
local trade. The forge was
operated by water power and for years
was quite successful. It
suspended activity about 1850. The location,
still known as the
"Old Forge," is on the east
side of Arlington Street, immediately
north of the intersection with the Erie
Railroad, in Akron.
Benner's Forge.9
The second forge on Paint Creek was
located on the north
bank of the stream just east of the
bridge north of Bainbridge.
The site thus chosen was near the
confluence of Buckskin Run
with Paint Creek in Paxton township,
Ross County. The works
were operated by water power from the
race that led to the grist
mill.
It was called Benner's forge as Judge C.
Benner of Chilli-
cothe was the leading spirit in the
operation of the forge and also
of the grist mill near-by. For years
this enterprise was quite
successful and employed many hands. It
was the center for a
small village, comprising twenty-two
houses, store, school and
blacksmith shop. The works appear to
have been built about 1820,
and to have ceased operation about 1850.
It was last operated by
James and Woodruff.
A good description of the products of
the forge is given in
an advertisement appearing in the Supporter
and Scioto Gazette,
Chillicothe, Thursday, July 28, 1825,
and given below:
Bar Iron
The subscriber Having recently made
great improvements in His
Forge and having in his employment the
best workmen in the United States,
is enabled under his improved plan, to
manufacture Iron inferior to none of
the best Juniatta, and unquestionably
superior to any made in this state.
In order that the public may have an
opportunity of testing its superiority,
his iron will be stamped "C Benner", and will
be kept on hand at his
8 William Henry Perrin (ed.), History
of Summit County, Ohio (Chicago, 1881),
561; Samuel A. Lane, Fifty Years and Over of Akron
and Summit County (Akron,
1892), 1048; "Early Iron Enterprises," loc.
cit.; Ohio Geological Survey, Report, V
(1884), 450. The forge was located by G.
Soderburg, Akron engineer.
9 Evans and Stivers, op. cit., 402; "Early Iron
Enterprises," loc. cit.; Lesley,
op. cit., 8; Chillicothe (Ohio) The Supporter and Scioto
Gazette, July 28, 1825.
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 35
Forge, and at his new Iron Store in
Chillicothe, a few doors north of the
Markethouse on Paint Street, and
opposite the Post Office, where persons
desirous of purchasing will always find
every description of Iron in the
greatest variety. Farmers and country
merchants generally are invited to
give him a call; for as he warrants all
his Iron, there can be no danger in
dealing with him; the cash being always
ready to be returned to those who
may find the article inferior to their
reasonable expectation. He will also
keep constantly on hand a large
assortment of Castings of every descrip-
tion, from the works of Ellison and
Benner; such as Stoves, Sugar Kettles,
Tea kettles, Ovens and Lids, Skillets
and Lids, Andirons, Cart, Wagon and
Dandy Boxes, rolled Iron and Nails, and
many other articles in the iron
line not necessary to mention--all of
which he will dispose of cheap,
for cash.
C. BENNER.
May 12, 1825.
The pig iron for refining was hauled by
ox teams from Mar-
ble furnace, more than 25 miles
away, until this stack went out
of blast in 1835 after which it came
from the Hanging Rock
furnaces by river, canal and ox-teams.
The product of the forge
was bar iron of various sizes for the
blacksmith trade, for machin-
ery and farm implements and for various
other purposes. At
present a small amount of refuse is the
only visible evidence of
the once important Benner's forge.
Parkman Forge.10
The Parkman forge was located at the
village of Parkman in
Parkman township in southeastern Geauga
County. The works
were placed on the headwaters of the
Grand River, here only a
small stream but so fed through a lake
and swamps as to provide
a constant flow of water for power. As
no charcoal furnaces were
present at or near the works for a
supply of pig iron the metal
used at the forge was evidently smelted
directly from bog ore
and charcoal.
The account of the forge as given in the
local history is as
follows:
In 1820, Mr. Augustus Sayles of
Chautauqua County, New York,
came into the town for the purpose of
entering into business as a mill-
wright. In 1822 in company with Judge
Noah Hoyt from Oneida County,
New York, and Ebenezer White, he built a
large forge on the river, south
of the village, at the foot of
"Forge Hill", to which it gave the name.
The works were an important addition to
the business advantages of the
place. Not long after its completion,
Mr. Sayles withdrew from the firm,
and the business was carried on by the
other partners until 1824, when
10 Williams Brothers, History of Geauga and Lake
Counties, Ohio (Philadelphia,
1878, 157; Upton, op. cit., I,
281.
36
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Judge Hoyt removed to Chardon. Then Mr.
White remained sole owner.
He continued the forge in operation till 1833, when it
was carried away by
a freshet, and never rebuilt.
Concord Forge.1l
The site chosen by the pioneers of the
Western Reserve for
Concord furnace and forge was on Big
Creek, a tributary of the
Grand River. In this area the stream
flows in a deep gorge-like
valley and on the shales and sandstones
of the Chagrin formation.
Such conditions offered excellent
opportunities for water power
which was taken advantage of for mills
and factories of various
kinds. More definitely the furnace and
forge were located in Con-
cord township -- hence the name -- Lake
County, about one mile
north of Concord village, on the east
bank of Big Creek near the
mouth of Gordon Creek and just south of
the township road that
crosses the Big Creek Valley heading
eastward toward Hillhouse.
These works were built on the flood
plain of the stream.
As described in the older records the
furnace and forge were
erected, in 1825, near the old woolen
mill on Big Creek. The pro-
prietors were Field and Stickney. From
remnants of a dam still
evident in the bed rock of the stream
the works were operated by
water power. The forge consisted of a
large hearth for heating
the iron by charcoal, a bellows, and a
large tilt-hammer. The
product was wrought iron, especially
bars used by the blacksmiths
for wagon tires, iron wagons, horse
shoes and nails, farm imple-
ments, machinery, etc.
An advertisement of the company
appearing in the Cleveland
Herald, May 4, 1827, is as follows:
Concord Furnace, and Forge.
Two and an half miles South of
Painesville, Ohio. The undersigned,
Proprietors of the Concord Furnace, and
Forge, having entered into co-
partnership, for the purpose of carrying
on the manufacture of Wrought
and Cast Iron and also for conducting an
Mercantile business at the above
place and at Buffalo, under the firm of
Field, Stickney and Co., at the
Furnace and Forge, and of Hickcox,
Colton and Co., at Buffalo, are now
ready to furnish every kind of Castings,
cast to pattern at short notice,
warranted equal in quality to any in the
United States. Their Wrought
Iron will be of the best quality.
Merchants will at all times be furnished
with any quantity of Potash Kettles,
Caldrons, Stoves and Stove Plates,
Bark Mills, Grist, Saw and Fanning-Mill
Irons, and Castings of all kinds,
11 D. J. Lake, Atlas of Lake and Geauga
Counties, Ohio (Philadelphia, 1874), 35;
Cleveland Herald, May 4, 1827.
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 37
at the Forge and Furnace, or at Buffalo,
as low as at any other establish-
ment in the state.
On the opening of navigation, a large
and general assortment of the
above articles, together with a general
assortment of Hard Ware will be
offered at Wholesale and Retail, by
Hickcox, Colton and Co., at the Brick
Store, lately occupied by Hickcox, and
Coit, Buffalo.
Communications addressed to Field,
Stickney and 'Co., Painesville,
Ohio, or to Hickcox, Colton and Co.,
Buffalo, will receive prompt attention.
ELIAKIM FIELD
JONATHAN HICKCOX
Buffalo, March 10, 1827. M. COLTON
After about ten years of successful
operation the cast house
and bridge loft of the furnace burned
and the works were aban-
doned. Today, 1937, little remains to
mark the site of Concord
furnace and forge, an important
enterprise of the early days.
Scioto, or Lafayette Forge.l2
The forge first known as the Scioto and
later as the Lafay-
ette was located on the Little Scioto
River in the north central
part of the northwest quarter of Section
34, Harrison township,
Scioto County. It was built as an
addition to the saw mill and
grist mill, erected a few years
previously and owned by Samuel
B. Burt. James Keyes wrote in his Pioneers
of Scioto County:
"Mr. Burt, being in possession of a
good water power, and Frank
Valodin, Jr., his son-in-law, having
plenty of ready cash, formed
a partnership and built the forge for
the production of bar iron
drawn out and refined under the heavy
blows of a trip hammer."
These forges furnished the blacksmiths
of that time with their
main supply of iron for various
purposes. The dam for power
at the mills and forge was placed on the
stream where the floor
is sandstone and the west bank a cliff
of the same material. The
stone thus provided substantial
foundation for both the dam and
the mills and for a ford on the road
that led past the works.
The forge was built in 1826 and
continued to run success-
fully for several years. The crude pig
metal for refining came
from Franklin and Scioto furnaces, the
former ten, and the latter
seven miles distant. A part of the
product was used locally, a
part hauled eastward to the furnaces in
the Hanging Rock Iron
12 "Early Iron Enterprises," loc.
cit.; James Keyes, Pioneers of Scioto County
(Portsmouth, Ohio, 1880), 37;
George N. Purdy, Sciotoville, Ohio, to Wilber Stout,
September 20, 1933; Lesley, op. cit., 213.
38
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Region, and a part wagoned to the Ohio
River at Sciotoville, a
distance of three miles, and shipped to
down-river points by flat
boats. It was managed by Mr. Wurtz and
had three refinery or
knobbling fires, one puddling furnace,
and one hammer.
Through misfortune of some cause or
other the proprietors
eventually ran into debt and broke up.
The mills and forge then
passed to the control of Duncan McArthur
and others, under the
name of Lafayette instead of Scioto.
About this time the Purdy
family came from the East to operate the
forge. The refining of
iron continued here until after 1853
when this method gave way
to the more progressive steps of the
rolling mill. The flour mill
and saw mill passed successively to
Joseph Smith, Silas Dixon
in 1850, and then to George and Noah
Dixon in 1866. The mills
continued to operate until 1912, the
last few years under the care
of Noah Dixon's sons.
Sample's Forge.13
Sample's forge was located near the bank
of the Ohio River
about one mile below Braden and fifteen
miles below Gallipolis in
eastern Ohio township, Gallia County.
Here the river crowds
close to the hills leaving only a narrow
valley plain with a road
at the base of the escarpment. The works
stood on the level land
between the road and the river and near
Sample's Landing at
which its products were loaded for
shipment.
As thus located the works had good
shipping facilities by
the river, an abundant supply of charcoal
at hand and was close
to the furnaces in the Hanging Rock Iron
District which furnished
the supply of pig metal for refining.
Little is found in the records
regarding the details of the operation.
James P. Averill in his
"History of Gallia County,"
made only this meager note: "At one
time considerable iron ore was
manufactured, but no attention
has been given to this for many
years."
This forge was built about 1830, to make
bloom for Mc-
Nichol's rolling mill at Covington,
Kentucky. It was of the tilt-
hammer type, operated by steam. The
works were abandoned
13 "Early Iron Enterprises," loc.
cit.; Lesley, op. cit., 213; Ida L. Neal, Bladen,
Ohio to Wilber Stout (1933); James P. Averill,
"History of Gallia County" in H. H.
Hardesty and Company, Historical
Hand-Atlas . . . Accompanied by Histories of
Lawrence and Gallia Counties,
Ohio (Chicago and Toledo, 1882), p.
XIX.
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 39
about 1842, some of the old buildings
remaining until after 1856.
Sample's forge was the center of a
cluster of houses occupied
by workmen, a brick building used as a
church and school, and a
store furnishing necessities for the
community and the steamboat
trade.
Bloom Forge.14
The Bloom forge, built at Portsmouth at
the corner of Front
and Washington Streets, in 1831, by John
Glover and Jacob P.
Noel, under the firm name of Glover,
Noel and Company, was
soon afterwards (1834) changed to the
first rolling mill estab-
lished west of Wheeling, Virginia. They
leased for the site of the
plant a small plot of land lying between
Front Street and the
Ohio River and east of the lower
landing. This early establish-
ment was induced by the convenience of
transportation by river,
by the near location for charcoal as
fuel, and by an abundance of
crude pig iron from the furnaces in the
Hanging Rock Iron Re-
gion. This forge was operated by steam
and produced bar iron,
sheet iron and nails. It was run by
Glover, Noel and Company
until 1834 when they sold to Thomas P.
Gaylord who changed it
to a rolling mill. In 1856 it was
rebuilt by Gaylord and Company,
then having twelve puddling and seven
heating furnaces, with five
trains of rolls and two hammers driven
by steam. It made in
thirty-three weeks of 1856, 3,565 tons
of plate and bar iron.
Conneaut Forge.15
Conneaut furnace and forge were built at
Conneaut, in Ash-
tabula County, in 1832, on the flats of
Conneaut Creek, a short
distance above the site of the old paper
mill. Through the forge
a part of the pig iron produced by the
Conneaut furnace was
turned into wrought iron for bars,
straps and rods. Henry Lake,
Solomon Spaulding and Elias Keyes were
at different times either
proprietors or in some way interested in
the works.
14 Inter-state Publishing Company, History
of the Lower Scioto Valley, Ohio
(Chicago, 1884), 236-7; "Early
Iron Enterprises," loc.
cit.; Henry T. Bannon, Stories
Old and Often Told (Baltimore, Maryland, 1927), 178-9;
Caleb Atwater, History of the
State of Ohio (Cincinnati, 1838), 345; E. B. Willard (ed.), Standard
History of the
Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio (Chicago, 1916), I, 216; N. W. Evans, History of
Scioto County, Ohio (Portsmouth, Ohio, 1908), 701; Lesley, op. cit., 267.
15 W. W. Williams, History
of Ashtabula County, Ohio (Philadelphia, 1878), 169;
Ohio Geological Survey, Report, V
(1884), 450; Lesley, op. cit., 111.
40
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Elyria Forge.16
The Elyria forge was built at Elyria,
Lorain County, in 1832,
by Norton and Barnum.
Stockham's Forge.17
Stockham's forge was built by Colonel
Aaron Stockham,
about 1832, at his grist mill on the
Little Scioto River about three
miles northeast of Sciotoville in the
southwestern part of Section
34, Harrison township, Scioto County.
The dam providing power
for the forge and mill was placed near
the foot of the rapids
where the stream flows on bedrock and
just above a deep hole
known locally as the Whirlpool. Little
is known about the details
of the works. The forge stood just above
the mill. The tilt-ham-
mer was operated by water power from the
millrace. The metal,
used for refining into wrought iron by
heating in charcoal and
hammering, was probably obtained from
Scioto furnace some ten
miles away. This forge appears to have
operated only a few years.
Hanging Rock Forge.18
The Hanging Rock forge, named for the
great cliff of rocks
along the valley wall, was built on the
flood plain of the Ohio
River near the base of the hill and on
the terrace just below the
mouth of Osborn Run in the southeastern
part of Hamilton town-
ship, Lawrence County. It was equipped
originally for the manu-
facture of bar iron of various kinds,
but later for blooms for the
rolling mill. The construction of the
forge began in March, 1833,
under the superintendence of John
Campbell and Joseph Riggs.
The stockholders in the forge were the
same as those interested
in the Lawrence furnace or Crane's Nest,
viz., Rogers, Hamilton,
Andrew Ellison, Dyer Burgess, and Riggs,
under the firm name
of J. Riggs and Company. It was built as
a knobbling or slabbing
forge.
A description of Hanging Rock forge as
seen in 1836 by
Dr. S. P. Hildreth of 'Marietta follows:
Four miles above the mouth of the Little
Sandy, on the Ohio side or
right bank of the Ohio River, and in the
midst of the iron region, is a
26 Ohio Geological Survey, Report, V
(1884), 450.
27 G. L. Stockham, Amory, Mississippi, to Wilber Stout
(1933); Ruth Stockham
Stout, Sciotoville, Ohio, to id. (1933).
28 S. P. Hildreth, in The American Journal
of Science and Art (New Haven,
Connecticut, 1818-), XXIX (1836),
139-40; "Early Iron Enterprises," loc. cit.; Evans,
op. cit., 842; Willard, op. cit., 271-2; Lesley, op.
cit., 256.
EARLY FORGES IN OHIO 41
celebrated cliff of sandstone, called
the "Hanging Rock." The upper portion
of the cliff, which is nearly 400 feet
high, projects over the mural face of
the rock like a cornice of a house. The
Ohio flows close to its base while
beneath, and under its projecting walls,
is erected a forge, for the refining
of iron; the blasts of its immense
bellows and the thundering noise of its
tremendous hammer, weighing more than a
ton, echoing and reverberating
under the walls of the cliff afford no
unapt emblem of the labors of the Cy-
clops under the caverns of Mount Aetna.
An abundance of iron ore is found
in the vicinity and a few miles back in
the hills, a furnace called "The
Aetna" furnishes the pigs for the
anvils of these modern Cyclops. Bar iron
of an excellent quality is manufactured
at this interesting spot.
The proprietors of the Hanging Rock
forge, in 1841, were
D. Agnew and Company. This concern
failed in 1842, however,
and the assets were sold to Henry Hanna
who continued operation
of the works. About 1846 the forge was
augmented by the addi-
tion of a rolling mill and thus became
lost as a separate entity.
The mill was rebuilt in 1854 by S. B.
Hempstead and Sherman
Johnson and had ten puddling and six
heating furnaces, and six
trains of rolls, driven by steam. The
output in 1855 was 2,850
tons of merchant bar.
Walnut Forge.19
Through water power provided by the Ohio
Canal, Walnut
forge was located at the lock on this
waterway about one mile
north of the village of Rushtown in Rush
township, Scioto
County. The records state that after his
third term in Congress
had expired, March 4, 1833, William B.
Russell, removed from
West Union to near Rushtown and engaged
in forging bar iron.
In this enterprise he was unsuccessful
and is said to have lost
$30,000. On March I, 1839, he
advertised Walnut forge, nine
miles from Portsmouth, with 1,400 acres of land
for sale.
Spencer and Company Forge.20
As recorded by Butler:
The second effort to work iron in
Youngstown in a manufacturing
way was made by Spencer and Company in
1840. They installed a small
forge, worked by means of a steam
engine, in a building located in the
western section of Youngstown. They
operated for only a short time. Like
many other pioneers in industry, they
soon got into financial difficulties and
their forge was sold under legal
process. The purchaser was Asahel Tyrrell,
of Tyrrell Hill. He moved the machinery
to that place. When he proceeded
to take down the stack, however, he met
with an injunction. The court
decided that the stack was a part of the
property and thus Youngstown's
first iron working industry passed away
to Tyrrell Hill and oblivion.
19 Evans, op. cit., 176, 631,
633; Inter-state Publishing Company, op. cit., 420.
20 Butler, op. cit., I, 670-5.