656 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



chemistry, so fiir us attainable in the French schools, lie 

 returned to Baltimore City. At that time the French wero 

 the only nation that had a practical knowledge of the pro- 

 cess necessarv to manufacture chromate of iron so as to pro- 

 duce bichromate of potassa, chromate of lead (chrome yel- 

 low), and other products of chrome ore. 



Mr. TyiLon, from what knowledge he had acquired of min- 

 erals before leaving home, became quite positive, when in 

 France, that the chromate of iron was abundant in Mary- 

 land, and near the City of Baltimore. In searching for that 

 ore, after his return home, he found his dreams of its abun- 

 dance more than realized, within fifteen miles of his father's 

 residence. By the assistance of his father, lie purchased a 

 tract of land, and the chrome product of that purchase laid 

 the foundation of the large fortune he left to his heirs at his 

 decease, and also provided him with means to explore for 

 minerals in the Eastern, Middle and Southern States, result- 

 ing in a lasting benefit to the mining interest, and giving an 

 incentive to search for minerals that will be felt long after 

 the marble tablet that marks his last resting place has gone 

 to decay. 



In 1828 Mr. Tyson began to take an interest in the min- 

 erals of Vermont, and he soon after became in part owner 

 of a copper mine in the town of Strafford, copper ore hav- 

 ing been discovered there in connection with the sulphuret 

 of iron, from which the sulphate of iron (copperas,) was 

 manufactured, occurring in small veins and pockets. Works 

 for smelting were erected, and copper was produced in a 

 small way until 1839, when it was abandoned, Mr. Tyson 

 having previously sold out his interest in the mine. During 



