Lehigh Valley Iron Company: Difference between revisions
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== History == | == History == | ||
In 1853, [[Stephen Balliet (1781-1854)]], his sons Stephen Balliet Jr. and [[Aaron Balliet (1813-1895)]], and Benjamin | In 1853, [[Stephen Balliet (1781-1854)]], his sons Stephen Balliet Jr. and [[Aaron Balliet (1813-1895)]], and [[Benjamin Levan (1806-1886)]] joined together to create Balliet & Co., with the goal of creating and running an iron furnace<ref>Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504 </ref>. The land for the furnace was purchased on the west bank of Coplay Creek and totaled twelve acres<ref>Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504 </ref>. The foundation for the first furnace was constructed in the fall of 1853, and, in 1854, the 14-foot bosh and 45-foot tall furnace stack was erected<ref>Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504 </ref>. | ||
== Advancement == | == Advancement == | ||
Revision as of 18:37, 7 February 2020
History
In 1853, Stephen Balliet (1781-1854), his sons Stephen Balliet Jr. and Aaron Balliet (1813-1895), and Benjamin Levan (1806-1886) joined together to create Balliet & Co., with the goal of creating and running an iron furnace[1]. The land for the furnace was purchased on the west bank of Coplay Creek and totaled twelve acres[2]. The foundation for the first furnace was constructed in the fall of 1853, and, in 1854, the 14-foot bosh and 45-foot tall furnace stack was erected[3].
Advancement
Following Stephen Balliet's death in 1854, Balliet & Co. underwent internal reconstruction. Joseph Laubach and Lewis A. Buckley were added to the firm as partners[4] and the company was incorporated as the Lehigh Valley Iron Company[5]. Laubach was made president and Levan was elected to become the secretary, treasurer, and superintendent of the company[6]. The company company continued to advance their work with the iron furnaces, building a superintendent's house on the property in 1855 and expanding its resources by purchasing hematite ore-beds in Whitehall Township, PA; Bucks County, PA; and the Ogden Magnetic Ore-Mines in Sussex, NJ[7].
Additional furnaces were constructed on the property in the years that followed. The second furnace had a 16-foot bosh and 55-foot high stack and was built in 1862, around the same time that a group of eleven brick and frame houses was established[8]. To meet the increasing production demands on the company, a third furnace was built five years later, its dimensions including a 16-foot bosh and a stack height of 55-feet[9]. The company also erected an additional ten brick houses for its increased workforce of close to one-hundred men[10].
Financial Hardship
The company continued its operation with no other other significant additions until, in 1878, financial difficulties forced the company to cease working[11]. The furnaces were blown out at the end of the year and remained cold until later the following year, when the Coplay Iron Company (Limited), which had been incorporated earlier that year, resumed production[12]. The new company had forty corporators, including E. P. Wilbur as the president; William H. Ainey as the treasurer and secretary; Valentine W. Weaver as the superintendent; and Wilbur, Ainey, Weaver, W. Dodson, Aaron Balliet, Joseph Laubach, R. M. Gummere, and Dr. John S. Wentz as directors of the company[13]. The company began outputting around thirty thousand tons of foundry pig iron annually[14].
Notes
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 504
References
- Mathews, Alfred, and Austin N Hungerford. 1884. History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Everts & Richards.