Colliers

Collier Life

Historically, the collier profession was not one for the faint of heart, as great skill was required in order to successfully maintain multiple charcoal hearths at one time for months on end. Living alone, or occasionally with a son or apprentice, colliers could not afford to lose concentration for even one moment, as the slightest wayward breeze or hole in the charcoal hearth could cause irreparable damage to the charcoal. There were exceptions, however, as a collier, John Bachman, forty years of age, was listed in the 1860 Census as living with his wife and eleven children, ages four months through nineteen years. More information on John Bachman can be found on the Lives of Workers page. Another notable collier in the area was Joseph Johns (1794-1906). The quality of charcoal was important to colliers' livelihood as high quality charcoal rated higher prices. The collier profession required almost constant twenty-four-hour surveillance of the hearths [1]. A dangerous role a collier may have needed to perform was called "jumping the pit." This crucial job required a collier to climb onto the hearth and place more wood into any "soft spots" in the pile. If anything went awry, the collier risked falling into the smoldering charcoal fire. While making charcoal, colliers lived in the woods in roughly constructed collier huts. During the winter months, colliers became woodcutters in order to get a full-years wage, as the ideal season for charcoal production was during the warmer months of the year. Wood cut in April would typically contain 10 to 20 percent more water than wood that was cut in January. Woodcutters were paid by the cord; some would try to deceive the system and loosely pile their billets or stack them over stumps to falsely increase the volume.

Collier Pay

Colliers were paid for their charring approximately $1.12-$1.25 per one hundred bushels of charcoal. According to Walker, colliers at Hopewell Furnace (Birdsboro, PA) made a monthly pay between $8.62-$20.62 in 1805-1807, $16.00-$23.00 in 1818-1820, $13.50-$18.00 in 1825-1827 and 1835-1837 and $17.50-$24.00 in 1851-1853. In order to better understand how much this is worth, we can convert this to modern amounts using Measuring Worth. For example, if we just adjust for inflation, $8.62 in 1805 is equivalent to $194.00 today (2019). That is an incomplete picture, however, because it does not take into account economic growth. "Relative labor earnings" is a better measure because it compares the wage to the average wage from the two time periods. Using this measure, $8.62 in 1805 would be more like getting paid between $3,110.00 (unskilled labor) to $5,940.00 (skilled labor) today (2019). Similarly, $17.50 in 1835 would have a "relative labor earnings" value of $5,170.00 (unskilled) and $10,500.00 (skilled). This suggests that, relative to today, colliers were relatively well paid. Indeed, at the Dale Furnace in 1799, only the Manager of the Furnace was paid more per month (9 pounds, 7 shillings and 6 pence or approximately $300.00/ year)than the "coaler" or collier (8 pounds). Even the furnace keeper, the individual responsible for the operation of the furnace, earned less than the colliers. This is not quite as true between 1836-40 at the Hampton Furnace (Hereford Township, PA), when the colliers earned $17.50 compared to $25.00 for the keeper.