
Figure 8.—Davip Tuomas. Lithograph by A. Newsam. 
(M.S. Henry, History of the Lehigh Valley, 1860.) 
invented and patented a process of iron making using 
anthracite in Wales in 1837.%° In 1838, Crane pur- 
chased the American rights for a similar process from 
the executors of Dr. F. W. Geissenhainer, who had 
received a patent on December 19, 1833, after suc- 
cessfully using anthracite at Valley Furnace (Potts- 
ville). Crane was later granted an American patent 
for smelting iron with anthracite." 
A blast furnace was built at Craneville (Catasau- 
qua) and on July 4, 1840, the first successful blast using 
Lehigh coal was made.*” 
Anthracite furnaces were built throughout the East 
as a result of this (and later) experiments conducted 
by Thomas. 
*S WALTER R. Jounson, Notes on the Use of Anthracite in 
the Manufacture of Iron (Boston: C. C. Little and J. Brown, 
1841), p. 12. 
“* RICHARDSON, op. cit., p. 102. 
* Mauch Chunk Courier, July 25, 1840. Previously, an 
experimental water-powered furnace built in Mauch Chunk 
used Lehigh coal during !838-39. Mechanical problems 
forced the furnace to close dow: 
10 
LEHIGH CRANE IRON FURNACE 
Furnace Design 
Stack height 40 feet 
Bosh diameter 12 feet 
Number of tuyeres 3 
Water wheel diameter 12 feet 
Temperature 600° F. 
Hearth area 34 feet square 
Capacity (week) 
104 tons of iron ore 
6914 tons of anthracite 
52 tons of limestone 
50 tons of pig metal produced 
Business conditions were satisfactory for several years 
until a flood occurred on January 10, 1841.*° As a 
result, coal could not be sent to market, and all the 
resources of the company had to be called up to restore 
the damage to the canal. A mortgage was negotiated 
on the coal lands in the vicinity of Mauch Chunk to 
obtain the funds required for reconstruction. The 
navigation was again opened to traffic on July 10, 
1841.47 
The managers acted with great speed during this 
reconstruction period and made a request to the legis- 
lature for an increase in capital funds. The managers 
presented their case on the premise that a few years of 
prosperity would bring the company out of debt. An 
amending act which was passd on March 13, 1841, 
stated “that it shall be lawful for the Lehigh Coal and 
Navigation Company to increase their capital stock 
by the sale of shares or otherwise to an amount which 
shall not exceed the actual cost of the navigation and 
railroad . . . provided the capital stock .. . shall 
not exceed six million dollars.” *8 
The period from the reconstruction of the flood 
damage, 1842 to 1845, again showed an increase in 
coal traffic. The navigation was adequate in size, con- 
sistent with the demand, and the company possessed a 
monopoly on the trade from the region. The coal traffic 
increased both from the company’s mines and from 
“LO.N.C., Annual Report for 1840 (Philadelphia: W. S. 
Young, 1841), p. 17. 
"TON.G., Annual Report for 1841 (Philadelphia: Brown, 
Bicking and Guilbert, 1842), p. 7. 
Pennsylvania Legislative Acts, 1841 (Harrisburg: Pea- 
cock and M’Kinley, 1841), pp. 36-37. 
é »ULLETIN 252: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
