Harkness retired from the firm with $4,000 and borrowed anotlier 

 $2,000. With this, in the summer of 1828, he built a new shop 

 on the north side of Front Street, just east of Lawrence Street. 

 This modest plant proved to be the nucleus for the giant Harkness 

 factory which, within a few years, occupied nearly an entire block. 



Not long after the new plant opened, some French sugar planters 

 from Louisiana gave Harkness a large order for sugar mills and 

 engines to drive them. Realizing the risk involved and feeling that 

 his shop was ill equipped to turn out the work, Harkness at first 

 refused to consider the proposition. However, the Bank of the 

 United States agreed to lend him the funds necessary to complete 

 the $30,000 order. This plunge proved to be the founding of 

 Harkness' fortune; from this time forward he was known not only 

 as a mechanic but also as a capitalist involved in many ventures. 



In connection with the foundry business, Harkness became asso- 

 ciated with several partners. While the exact nature and dates 

 of these partnerships are difficult to determine, a brief outline can 

 be reconstructed from various items found in the city directories 

 and the American Railroad Journal. From about 1829 to 1840 the 

 firm was known as the Hamilton Foundry, operated by the pro- 

 prietors Pierce, Harkness, and Voorhees in various combinations, 

 viz. Pierce, Harkness & Company (1832)'^ and Harkness, Voorhees 

 & Company (1837).'^ By the early 1840's Harkness had assumed 

 control of the business. Harkness' ventures with other investments 

 brought him into close association with many prominent capitalists 

 of the city. In 1844 he joined Jacob Strader and Samuel Fosdick 

 in establishing the Franklin Cotton Mill. 



It is quite likely that Harkness' association with Strader prompted 

 him to enter the locomotive business. At the time they established 

 the cotton mill, Strader was the treasurer of the struggling Little 

 Miami Railroad, the first line to enter the city. Beginning at 

 Cincinnati in 1838, construction had been pushed to Milford in 

 late 1 841, but no substantial operation was achieved until the line 

 reached Xenia in 1845. Strader was, naturally, well aware of the 

 financial difficulties and numerous other problems connected with 



^^ American Railroad Journal (1832), vol. 2. p. 585. 



15 Ibid. (1837), vol. 6, p. 54. Robert Moore (see p. 48) spelled the name 

 Voorhese. 



10 



