118 GEOLOGY OF OLD HAMPSHIEE COUNTY, MASS. 



to the " BiogTaphical Sketch" of Dr. HeiTnan S. Lucas, of Chester, mserted 

 at the end of the town history of Chester.^ From the well-known manner 

 in which this book was compiled, and from internal evidence in the sketch 

 itself, one is led to atti-ibute to it somewhat of an autobiographical character. 

 The paragraphs bearing upon the history of the emery beds are as follows : 



But i^erliaps the most remarkable event in his career was the discovery of what 

 was for some time supposed to be a vast deposit of iron ore in the mountains around 

 Chester. This occurred in 1856, and arrangements were at once made for the opening 

 and working of the mine; and in the course of about one year 1,200 tons of mineral 

 were taken out and transported to the furnaces of Stockbridge, Lenox, and Hudson, 



The financial crisis of 1857 compelled a discontinuance of the business, and it 

 was not renewed until 1803. In the last-mentioned year, in company with his brother, 

 John E. Lucas, and Henry D. Wilcox, he resumed the business. A blast furnace and 

 forge were erected in Chester and the manufacture of iron was commenced, but the 

 ore proved somewhat intractable and the results were not satisfactory. In the mean- 

 time the Doctor made a more thorough examination of the mineral, and on the 6th of 

 September, 1864, discovered that it contained a large ijercentage of emery, a mineral 

 hitherto nearly unknown in the United States; in fact, this is believed to have been 

 its first discovery in America. 



Coming at a time when the country was engaged in a terrible war with internal 

 enemies, the discovery was doubly valuable. Heretofore the emery used in this coun- 

 try had been imported from the Turkish dominions, and as the English and French 

 Goverments had a monopoly of the mines near Smyi-na. in Asia Minor, and on the 

 Greek island of Naxos, in the archipelago, the United States Government was 

 debarred from procuring its necessary supply, except under unusual difficulties. In 

 this dilemma the Chester emery was utilized and the Government works were 

 supplied from it for a considerable time. 



This mineral had repeatedly been examined by various scientific gentlemen, and 

 specimens were placed in the collections at Amherst College and in that made by 

 Professor Hitchcock for the State and labeled magnetite. 



In 1868 Dr. Lucas, with Messrs. Charles Aldeu and H. D. Wilcox, formed what 

 was known as the Hampden Emery Company, and erected a mill on the river below 

 Chester village for the manufacture of emery. 



In 1871 questions touching the ownership of the mines involved the Doctor in 

 litigation, which necessitated a change in his business, and from that time he has 

 obtained his mineral mostly from the Turkish mines. 



The Doctor continued in business in his own name until May 1, 1878, when 

 Nathan Harwood became associated with him. 



The importance of this discovery is well illustrated by the remark of a great 

 English statesman, that "The discovery of an emery mine was of more value than 

 that of many gold mines." 



'History of the Connecticut in Massachusetts, vol. 2, p. 1064; Lewis H. Evert, Philadelphia, 1879. 



