1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



361 



AOTKS OF A T11KKE-J)AYS EXCURSION INTO 

 GOOCUl.AKD, CHESTEUKIELD, AND rOW- 

 HETAN. 



[Continued fiora page 319.] 



No. II. 



THE m:\v iron bune in chkstekfiei.i) — 



AND THE SlMMlLll SPRING OF POWHATAN. 



The fivllowiiiiT d;iy, Autriisr 17lli, we croesed 

 the river (at the JVlaniiikiii Town teiTy,J» to visit 

 the body of iron ore M Salle's old coal pit, in 

 Chesterlield, of which the inagiiitiide and value 

 have been but recently inaiie known. The very 

 late first notice of, and the present importance ijiv- 

 eu 10 this ore, is another curious and reniarkalile 

 instance of the want of observation of some, and 

 the listlessness of others, connected in Ibriner 

 times v/ilh the diguiniis. The shaft was sunk 

 many years ai:^o for coal, wliich was reached and 

 worked to some extent. The diui^nnir struck solid 

 iron ore within two or three lijet of the surliice 

 ol" the earth, and (-ontinned through it (as has but 

 lately been ascertained) lor the depth of thirty leet 

 — this being the perpendicular thickness here of 

 the ore. The mineral is of a stony hardness, re- 

 quiring much labor to dig, and on that account,' as 

 well as others no less striking, it would be sup- 

 posed that the existence and great amount of this 

 bed could not have escaped being noticed, and its 

 importance being properly estimated. But it was 

 either not known, or not ap|jreciated, by any one 

 who could have ma<le the value available. I'he 

 digging of the shall was carried for the benefit, 

 and at the expense of an intelligent man, Dr. 

 Branch Archer, (then a resident ol Powhatan 

 county, and now of Texas.) who most have at- 

 tended with interest to its progress. Every corve 

 of matter drawn up, was filled with solid ore, and 

 the heap, in this manner Ibrmed by the quantity ol 

 matter thrown out, was necessarily exposed to 

 the view of each of ail the many persons who 

 might be drawn by curiosity or idleness to go to 

 see the opening of a new shaft, and partake ot 

 the excitement which the hope, and delay of 

 success, always keep alive. What seems stran- 

 gest ol all, a highly talented and ingenious gentle- 

 man lived, and still lives, within three miles ol" the 

 pit, who has been during all this lime the conduc- 

 tor of iron works — and especially superintending 

 the casting of cannon for the government ot Vir- 

 ginia at the Armory in Richmond Ibrmerly, and 

 since, liir the United States, at the Bellona Arse- 

 nal, within six miles of this pit — and has been 

 using, tor these purposes, iron brought from a great 

 distance. Of course, it might have been supposed 

 that he, as a man of science, could not have remain- 

 ed ignorant of this ore, and both as a man of sci- 

 ence and of business, would have taken the deep- 

 est interest in a discovery so valuable to ihe 

 country. 



I do not mean to convey the idea that the exist- 

 ence of iron ure in this neighborhood, and even 

 at this pit, was unknown; but merely its great 

 amount, and the value being enough to induce 

 the exploration and working. Proliissor Rogers' 

 geological report of last winter to the legislature 

 of Virginia, speaks of the ore, and even states 

 his analysis of a specimen, (which will be copied 

 below,) which I was told was brought from this 

 very pit (Salle's,). Still the manner in which 

 Vol. V— 46 



the body of ore is meniioned, ot ilsell) is sufficient 

 evidence, that, so late as that time, but little at- 

 tention had been given, or importance attached, 

 10 the body of iron ore. Prolessor Rogers says, 

 in the report of tlie operations and progress (staled 

 generally and concisely,) of the gecjiugical survey, 

 that among the ''regions, each of which was 

 more or less the thealru of research" in 1836, was 

 "the biiuminoiis coal fields of Henrico, Gooch- 

 land, Chesterfield and Powhatan counties;" and 

 ill his remarks under this head, he says, that -'all 

 t!ie important workings for coal, together with a 

 large number of shalis, or diggings, of minor inter- 

 est, were examined." Noiwithstanding, this in- 

 vestigation, which, certainly must have been ex- 

 tended to every thing embraced, then deemed vcnj 

 valuable, or inierestinu, the Ibllowiiig is the whole 

 statement given on the subject ol" the iron ore of 

 the coal region. 



"Whilst referring to the valuable character of these 

 rich deposites oi' bituminous coal, 1 am anxious again 

 to call attention to the iron ores which accompany 

 them in several places. Since the Ibirner report, in 

 which allusion was made to the probable importance 

 of these ores to the manufacturing industry of eastern 

 Virginia, several specimens have been submitted to 

 chemical adalysis, and, trom the results obtained, the 

 really valuable character of the ore may be considered 

 as satisfactorily established. 



A specimen of hematitic ore frOm the neighborhood 

 of Trabue's pits, in Chesterfield, gave, in the 100 grains, 

 the following ingredients. 



Per oxide of iron. 

 Silica, 

 Alumina, 

 Water. 



85.15 

 4.20 

 4.00 

 6.50 



The existence of this mineral in immediate contig- 

 uity with the coal, is a (act of such obvious importance, 

 that no commentary is needed to make it deeply inter- 

 esting to persons of capital and enterprise, who may 

 be concerned in developing the resources of this por- 

 tion of the state." 



The working of this old pit for coal, (its sole ob- 

 ject,) was not long prosecuted ; and the naked sides 

 of the shaft, within a lew feel of the surlace, as 

 well as the contents thrown out, remained iully ex- 

 posed to observation (or many years. Still nobody 

 knew the value of the ore, or attached importance 

 to its existence. One person only, a former agent, 

 or overseer, of the coal-working, was an excep- 

 tion to this general ignorance or neglect. He 

 made sundry [irivate efibris to sell his knowledge 

 to dilfeient persons, who possessed capital, with 

 out disclosing the locality to any one — bui without 

 success: and even he ceased such attempts long 

 ago. At last, some hint of the existence reach- 

 ed John Heth, esq., of Chesterfield, who soon 

 broiitrht the matter to light. 



When we reached the mouth of the shaft, two 

 negroes weredrawini? up the ore by a windlass, 

 and a large heap of the ore lay ready to be trans- 

 ported to the river, to be thence carried to the near- 

 est iron furnace, ( Francis B. Deane's newly 

 erected iron works, in Buckingham,) lor the val- 

 ue of the ore to be fairly tested, by its being con- 

 verted into iron, and then worked up. A blast oi' 

 the ore had been made just belbie our arrival, 

 and the shaft was full of the smoke ot" the gun- 

 powder, and the smell of sulphur was as strong as 

 if the bottom ol the pit had been a vast deal low- 

 er than it is. 



