Part in. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



167 



STRAFFORD. 



STRAFFORD; 



chincry. In the northeasterly part is a 

 pond covering about 100 acres, called Po- 

 dunk pond, which is a place of consider- 

 able resort for amusement and angling. 

 In the southeast corner of this township 

 is an extensive bed of the sulphuret of 

 iron, from which immense quantities of 

 copperas arc manufactured. For the fol- 

 lowing account of the Strafford Copperas 

 Works, I am indebted to the kindness of 

 Justin S. Morrill, Esq. 



Strafford Copperas Works. This estab- 

 lishment was formerly styled the Vermont 

 Mineral Factory Company, but is now 

 called the Vermont Copperas Company ; 

 the owners, residing chiefly in Boston, 

 having united this with a mine they own 

 in Shrewsbury. It is situated in the ex- 

 treme southeastern corner of the town, on 

 the east side of a hill which contains an 

 inexhaustible rid<re of the ore, or techni- 

 cally sulphuret of iron. This mass of solid 

 rock, in appearance, is usually covered, 

 with what miners call the c«/;, a petri- 

 factive soil of various depths, in which 

 roots, leaves, and limbs of trees, beech- 

 nuts, hazle-nuts and acorns are often 

 found turned into stone or iron. There 

 are 2 factorics,each about 2G7 ft. in length 

 bv 94 in widlli. These contain 8 vats made 

 of lead, 10 ft. by 12 ft., 21 inches in depth 

 and three fourths of an inch in thickness, 

 used for boilers. Lead is the only metal 

 that will endure the operation of the cop- 

 peras liquor, and this requires constant re- 

 pair. An unlimited quantity can be made ; 

 the facilities for manufacturing being per- 

 haps unsur])assed in the world. The cop- 

 ])eras made here is used by most of the 

 manufactories in New England, and is 

 pent to all parts of the United States. It 

 is supposed to excel for dyeing purposes 

 any copperas offered in market. The 

 process of making is as follows. The ore 

 is blasted from the bed by means of pow- 

 der. It is then broken into pieces with 

 sledges, and afterwards the miners assort 

 and break it up still finer with hammers. 

 It is then thrown into large heaps, where 

 it ignites spontancou.9ly, or tire is some- 

 times set to it to hasten the process In 

 this condition it generally burns for the 

 space of two months; in that time the 

 sulphur is converted into sulphuric aeid., 

 and unites itself with the iron, forming 

 sulphate of iron, or copperas. The smoke 

 gives to vegetation, and to all surround- 

 ing objects, a sterile and sickly appear- 

 ance, but the health of tl.e workmen is not 

 affected. These heaps of pyrite.^, being 

 now thoroughly pulverized l)y fire, are 

 carried to jjlaces where water, from a foun- 

 tain on the summit of the hill, is made to 

 run upon and leach this mas? of crude 



sulphate of iron. The lye is now drawn 

 off into large wooden reservoirs, and 

 thence into the leaden vats as fast as 

 wanted. In these vats the lye or liquor 

 is boiled to a certain strength, tested by 

 acidimetors, and then drained off into 

 wooden vats, where it remains to crysta- 

 lize. Branches of trees were formerly 

 thrown in for the crystals to adhere to; 

 but Mr. Reynolds, the present agent, has 

 made an improvement. Pieces of joist 

 3 inches square, G ft. long, laid across the 

 top of the vats, with holes bored, and 

 round sticks Irf inches long by :} of an 

 inch in diameter, inserted at intervals of 

 about 6 inches, are now used with great 

 advantage. This makes a great saving of 

 labor, although it has in some measure 

 destroyed the fanciful shapes which the 

 crystals formerly assumed upon some fa- 

 vorite branch — and the poet, had he been 

 born on copperas-hill, would have writ- 

 ten, " as the twig is bent the copperas is 

 inclined." The crystals are multangular, 

 and of a beautiful transparent green col- 

 or. These twigs, with specimens var- 

 nished, may be seen in the cabinets of 

 many scientific gentlemen in various 

 parts of the country. After crystalization 

 takes place the liquor is drained off, and 

 the copperas is shoveled into the packing 

 rooms. When dry it is usually put into 

 casks holding about half a ton each, but 

 frequently into casks of every size. 



The mine was discovered in 1793, by 

 two men who were tapping sap-trees. 

 Tradition says they discovered a sponta- 

 neous combustion among the leaves, but 

 it is more probable that they found cop- 

 peras in some wet spot spontaneously 

 formed. The works were first commen- 

 ced by Mr. Eastman, but were not suc- 

 cessfully prosecuted until within about 

 30 years, when the stock was taken up in 

 Boston, by the Messrs. Reynolds and the 

 late energetic Col. Binney. President 

 Monroe visited the works in bis tour in 

 the summer of 1817. In 1827 the compa- 

 ny employed from 30 to 40 hands to make 

 about the same quantity of copperas tiiey 

 now make with ttn hands. The present 

 year they have made one thousand tons. 

 This, at the present market price, i<t2,00 

 per cwt., amounts to $40,000. Of this 

 sum they pay out about $10,000 for 

 freight. They use 1.500 cords of wood 

 annually, though they formerly used 

 more. For many years the business was 

 continued under great discouragements, 

 and at a loss. The stock is now valuable. 

 In lt'24 the duty on copperas was fixed 

 at two cents per pound. TJie price was 

 then .f3,()0 jier cwt. The British estab- 

 lishments sent over large quantities iu 



