COAL MINING.. Se 
the surface, and was pronounced to be 11 feet thick. As the Pittsburgh 
vein was found in the hills surrounding the village, the idea of sinking 
a shaft to such a depth was not conceived for many years afterwards. 
In 1856, however, Mr. James Wallace, proprietor of the Ashland 
Woolen Mills, began agitating the question of sinking a shaft in the 
city of Steubenville, the hill banks, owing to the horrible condition of 
the roads during muddy weather, being unable to furnish the manufac- 
turing establishments a steady supply of coal, and a mining company 
was soon organized, with Mr. Wallace as president. 
Before commencing sinking, it was deemed prudent to drill another 
hole to the coal, to test the accuracy of the former borings; this time 
the coal was pronounced 8 feet thick. The shaft was laid out at the 
upper end of Market street, and the work of sinking began. Coal was 
struck in the fall of 1857, but instead of 8 feet it was was found to be 
less than 4 feet. The projectors were greatly discouraged in conse- 
quence, but decided to go on with the enterprise. In the following 
year, Messrs. Boreland, Reynolds and Manful leased the mine for five 
_ years, and fitted up the shaft with hoisting machinery and other needed 
apparatus, and the work of mining was begun. Fortunately for the 
lessees of the mine who were without former experience in mining, 
they soon afterwards secured as manager of the works Mr. William 
Everick, a first-class practical mining engineer from the Midlothian 
coal fields of Virginia. The enterprise which languished until Mr. 
Everick assumed charge, was now a success. The superior quality of 
the coal for every purpose, but especially for making gas and smelting 
iron, at once established its reputation, and other similar enterprises were 
inaugurated. This shaft is still in operation, and is known as the Market 
Street Shaft; the underground department is under the management of 
Mr. Wm. Smurthwaite, one of the best practical miners in the State. 
There are two seams of coal quite extensively mined in Jackson 
county—the Jackson coal and the Wellston or Coalton coal. The 
Jackson coal, which is the lower bed of the State series, was discovered 
in 1863, by a party of drillers while boring for salt. The coal from 
this seam is mainly used in the blast furnaces of the county. The 
Wellston coal was discovered in 1872 by Hon. H.S. Bundy, while ex- 
ploring for the shaft coal of Jackson, on the lands on which the village of 
Wellston is now built. 
The Milton Furnace and Coal Company sunk the first shaft to the 
