Speedwell Forge
Encyclopedia
Speedwell Forge was built in 1760 in Elizabeth Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
. It operated continuously until 1854, when it closed as iron
production moved west. The following are notes collected while researching the associated ironmaster's mansion for a National Historic Register nomination. The major players should be broken into separate wikis.
as well as the Cornwall iron mines
, the richest source of iron ever found in America east of Lake Superior
.
In the 1730s, Grubb, a stonemason, began mining
in what is now known as Cornwall, Pennsylvania
, and literally stumbled upon one of the largest and richest iron mines ever found. (It was mined for over 240 years, until the open pit mine flooded in 1972). In 1742, Grubb built the Cornwall Iron Furnace
which used a charcoal-fired blast furnace
to convert iron ore to pig iron
.
Peter Grubb's sons, Curtis
and Peter Jr.
, operated the ironworks after 1765 and Peter Jr., who ran the Hopewell Forges on Hammer Creek
, hired Robert Coleman.
to the port at Newport, Delaware
. (This tavern is now the Forgotten Seasons B&B.) In 1746 he sold the tavern and purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) of land in what is now Elizabeth County. By 1750 he built Elizabeth Furnace and began casting five-plate stoves, some of which survive today.
, as clerk, and in 1752 Stiegel married Huber's daughter, Elizabeth. In 1757, Stiegel purchased his father-in-law's interest in the furnace. (The township later took its name from the furnace.)
in 1750. Arriving in Lancaster, he was employed at Windsor Forge in Caernarvon Township
. A few years later, he struck out on his own and built Poole Forge, also in Caernarvon Township. In 1760, he and his partner David Caldwell
purchased land from Huber along Hammer Creek
, and built Speedwell Forge.
, and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1764. Arriving penniless, his beautiful penmanship soon earned him a clerk position for the Reading Prothonotary. After two years, he was hired by Peter Grubb Jr. as a clerk at Hopewell Forge, in Lancaster County. However, in 1767, after only six months at Hopewell Forge, Coleman was hired by James Old, who had just leased Quittapahilla Forge in Lancaster County (now Lebanon County). Coleman lived with the Old family, travelling between Speedwell and Quittapahilla.
Because of its distance from town, a forge
had to be self-sustaining, employing farmers, lumbejacks, blacksmiths, horses, livestock, etc. Thus the iron master oversaw not just a forge, but a community.
In 1767, Old took Coleman to Reading Furnace, in Chester County, Pennsylvania
. In 1773, Coleman married Old's daughter, Anne. With the help of his father-in-law, Coleman leased Salford Forge, and began building his iron empire. In 1784, Coleman purchased Speedwell Forge from his father-in-law for 7000 pounds. After selling Speedwell, James Old purchased an interest in Hopewell Furnace in Berks County, Pennsylvania
. There are indicators that he worked as a Justice of the Courts in Lancaster, and was a member of the State Assembly.
Coleman owned several furnaces during the Revolution, receiving many contracts for munitions and chain links, which were stretched across the bays to keep English war ships at bay. Coleman reinvested his profits, buying many forges and furnaces, even the Cornwall iron mine. He became Pennsylvania's first millionaire, and by the time of his death, his legacy was fully established.
Speedwell Forge was used as a training ground for his sons, before being promoted to furnaces.
, which burned hotter than bituminous coal. New furnaces burned hotter and were much more efficient, and the industry was moving west to places like Pittsburgh. As a result, many of the furnaces and forges closed. Speedwell closed in 1854; Cornwall held out until 1883. Some of the furnaces (including Cornwall and Hopewell) survived, simply because the furnaces were too massive to do anything with. Forges, on the other hand, could be completely dismantled and abandoned. As a result, there are no extant forges remaining in America.
racing. The quarter-mile training track is now used as the driveway for Speedwell Forge mansion, and the half-mile racing track is still visible at the top of the hill, in what is now a cornfield.
Elizabeth Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Township is a township in north central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,833 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. It operated continuously until 1854, when it closed as iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
production moved west. The following are notes collected while researching the associated ironmaster's mansion for a National Historic Register nomination. The major players should be broken into separate wikis.
Peter Grubb
Peter Grubb founded the Cornwall Iron FurnaceCornwall Iron Furnace
Cornwall Iron Furnace is a designated National Historic Landmark that is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The furnace was a leading Pennsylvania iron producer from 1742 until it was shut down in 1883...
as well as the Cornwall iron mines
Cornwall, Pennsylvania
Cornwall is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,486 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, the richest source of iron ever found in America east of Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
.
In the 1730s, Grubb, a stonemason, began mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in what is now known as Cornwall, Pennsylvania
Cornwall, Pennsylvania
Cornwall is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,486 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, and literally stumbled upon one of the largest and richest iron mines ever found. (It was mined for over 240 years, until the open pit mine flooded in 1972). In 1742, Grubb built the Cornwall Iron Furnace
Cornwall Iron Furnace
Cornwall Iron Furnace is a designated National Historic Landmark that is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The furnace was a leading Pennsylvania iron producer from 1742 until it was shut down in 1883...
which used a charcoal-fired blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
to convert iron ore to pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
.
Peter Grubb's sons, Curtis
Curtis Grubb
Curtis Grubb , Patriot and oldest son of Peter and Martha Bates Grubb, was a second-generation member of the Grubb Family Iron Dynasty along with his younger brother Peter Jr...
and Peter Jr.
Peter Grubb, Jr.
Peter Grubb, Jr. , Patriot and second son of Peter and Martha Bates Grubb, was a second-generation member of the Grubb Family Iron Dynasty along with his older brother Curtis Grubb...
, operated the ironworks after 1765 and Peter Jr., who ran the Hopewell Forges on Hammer Creek
Hopewell (on Hammer Creek)
Hopewell is where Peter Grubb, who founded Cornwall, Pennsylvania in 1737, first began his iron making activities about 1739. It is an area about six miles southeast of Cornwall, in Lancaster County...
, hired Robert Coleman.
John Jacob Huber
Around 1735, John Jacob Huber, a German immigrant, set up a tavern on Newport Road, which ran from Lancaster, PennsylvaniaLancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
to the port at Newport, Delaware
Newport, Delaware
Newport is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located on the Christina River. It is best known for being the home of colonial inventor Oliver Evans. The population was 1,055 at the 2010 census...
. (This tavern is now the Forgotten Seasons B&B.) In 1746 he sold the tavern and purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) of land in what is now Elizabeth County. By 1750 he built Elizabeth Furnace and began casting five-plate stoves, some of which survive today.
Henry William Stiegel
Huber hired another German immigrant, Henry William StiegelHenry William Stiegel
Henry William Stiegel was a German-American glassmaker and ironmaster. After arriving in Philadelphia in 1750 on a ship known as the Nancy, Stiegel moved to what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania...
, as clerk, and in 1752 Stiegel married Huber's daughter, Elizabeth. In 1757, Stiegel purchased his father-in-law's interest in the furnace. (The township later took its name from the furnace.)
James Old
James Old (1730-1809) emigrated from WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 1750. Arriving in Lancaster, he was employed at Windsor Forge in Caernarvon Township
Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Caernarvon Township is a township in northeastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,278 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , all of it land....
. A few years later, he struck out on his own and built Poole Forge, also in Caernarvon Township. In 1760, he and his partner David Caldwell
David Caldwell
David Wilson Caldwell is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a forward.-Career:Caldwell began his career with Highland League side Inverness Caledonian...
purchased land from Huber along Hammer Creek
Hammer Creek
Hammer Creek is a tributary of Cocalico Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The Erb's Covered Bridge spans Hammer Creek....
, and built Speedwell Forge.
Robert Coleman
Robert Coleman (1748–1825) was born in Caste Finn, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1764. Arriving penniless, his beautiful penmanship soon earned him a clerk position for the Reading Prothonotary. After two years, he was hired by Peter Grubb Jr. as a clerk at Hopewell Forge, in Lancaster County. However, in 1767, after only six months at Hopewell Forge, Coleman was hired by James Old, who had just leased Quittapahilla Forge in Lancaster County (now Lebanon County). Coleman lived with the Old family, travelling between Speedwell and Quittapahilla.
Because of its distance from town, a forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
had to be self-sustaining, employing farmers, lumbejacks, blacksmiths, horses, livestock, etc. Thus the iron master oversaw not just a forge, but a community.
In 1767, Old took Coleman to Reading Furnace, in Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County, Pennsylvania
-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
. In 1773, Coleman married Old's daughter, Anne. With the help of his father-in-law, Coleman leased Salford Forge, and began building his iron empire. In 1784, Coleman purchased Speedwell Forge from his father-in-law for 7000 pounds. After selling Speedwell, James Old purchased an interest in Hopewell Furnace in Berks County, Pennsylvania
Berks County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 373,638 people, 141,570 households, and 98,532 families residing in the county. The population density was 435 people per square mile . There were 150,222 housing units at an average density of 175 per square mile...
. There are indicators that he worked as a Justice of the Courts in Lancaster, and was a member of the State Assembly.
Coleman owned several furnaces during the Revolution, receiving many contracts for munitions and chain links, which were stretched across the bays to keep English war ships at bay. Coleman reinvested his profits, buying many forges and furnaces, even the Cornwall iron mine. He became Pennsylvania's first millionaire, and by the time of his death, his legacy was fully established.
Speedwell Forge was used as a training ground for his sons, before being promoted to furnaces.
Use of anthracite coal
By the 1850s, improvements in coal technology had produced anthracite coalAnthracite coal
Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster...
, which burned hotter than bituminous coal. New furnaces burned hotter and were much more efficient, and the industry was moving west to places like Pittsburgh. As a result, many of the furnaces and forges closed. Speedwell closed in 1854; Cornwall held out until 1883. Some of the furnaces (including Cornwall and Hopewell) survived, simply because the furnaces were too massive to do anything with. Forges, on the other hand, could be completely dismantled and abandoned. As a result, there are no extant forges remaining in America.
Horse breeding
The Speedwell property remained in the Coleman family, and they began breeding standardbred horses for sulkySulky
A sulky is a lightweight cart having two wheels and a seat for the driver only but usually without a body, generally pulled by horses or dogs, and is used for harness races...
racing. The quarter-mile training track is now used as the driveway for Speedwell Forge mansion, and the half-mile racing track is still visible at the top of the hill, in what is now a cornfield.