Catoctin Furnace: Portrait of an Iron Making Village

By Elizabeth Yourtee Anderson

On the eve of the American Revolution, the Johnson brothers founded Catoctin Furnace near present-day Thurmont. Catoctin iron was turned into bombshells used against the British at the Battle of Yorktown. After the colonies won their independence, business boomed for the ironworks. The labor of African slaves and European immigrants produced household goods, tools and stoves for the young country. A small iron-making village evolved around the industry, and though the furnace closed in 1903, its legacy is still remembered and celebrated today. It was rescued from imminent destruction in the 1960s and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This proud history was chronicled in full by beloved local historian Elizabeth Yourtee Anderson. Discover the story of Catoctin Furnace, which for more than 130 years helped define the industry, history and culture of western Maryland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Feb 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781625840714

Elizabeth Yourtee Anderson

Elizabeth Yourtee Anderson was awarded a BA in history with honors from Hood College. She was a local historian specializing in the history of Catoctin Furnace. She was also a founding member of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc. and served as an officer until her death in 2011. She was a member of the Thurmont Historical Society.

Book preview

Mid- to late nineteenth-century appearance of the Catoctin Furnace village, with detail of Auburn Farm. Created by Tanya Catignania.

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright © 2013 by Elizabeth Y. Anderson

All rights reserved

Front cover, top: Deborah Furnace in Blast by Claudette Pridemore, 1975, oil on canvas.

Bottom: Photograph of Isabella stack and casting shed, Catoctin Furnace, by Cam Miller, 2012.

First published 2013

e-book edition 2013

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.62584.071.4

Library of Congress CIP data applied for.

print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.001.6

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

Preface

1. The Early Years

2. The Middle Years

3. Summit and Decline

4. A Technical History of Catoctin Furnace, by Joel T. Anderson

5. The Black Population

6. The Worker and Family Life

7. Education

8. Religion

9. Threatened Destruction and Preservation

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

PREFACE

EDITOR’S NOTE: Researching and writing Catoctin Furnace: Portrait of an Iron-Making Village was a true labor of love for my mother. As a social historian, her goal was to produce a collective biography of the furnace workers and to give them a voice so their lifework and contribution to the success of industry in the United States would not be overlooked. Her painstaking research continued until her death in 2011, and it was her dream to see this book in print. In the original manuscript, she ended the story when the furnace shut down for the final time. She and I talked about adding a chapter that covered the preservation movement in the twentieth century, and this has been done. I have had the help of family and friends: I am indebted to Margaret and Jacob Comer for reading and editing the manuscript, to Anne Comer for helping interpret village life, to Joel Anderson for contributing the chapter on the mechanics of the furnace, to Robert Wanner and Tery Harris for help with the manuscript and to Chris Gardiner and Laura Gardiner for help with images. Finally, a thank you goes to the members of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc., who keep the spirit and heritage of Catoctin Furnace alive. What follows is my mother’s original preface to this work.

My fascination with Catoctin Furnace reaches back to a memory of well-proportioned, neatly whitewashed houses clustered along the road between Frederick and Thurmont, Maryland. I had heard stories of the involvement of Maryland’s first governor, Thomas Johnson, with the old iron furnace. An air of romance surrounded the place. The frantic hustle and din of the past were quiet, and the ironmaster’s mansion seemed to sleep in the serenity. Years later, when I returned to the Thurmont area and began to attend Harriet Chapel, my curiosity about the history of Catoctin Furnace was reawakened. I was delighted to be able to buy one of the workers’ cottages and, along with my family, plan and execute its restoration.

When the opportunity arose to work on an honors paper, I was encouraged to choose Catoctin Furnace as the subject. My first reaction was that most of the information had already been uncovered. The furnace was mentioned in historical accounts such as Scharf’s History of Western Maryland and Williams’s History of Frederick County. Also, a number of archaeological investigations had taken place in the area, each of which had included historical research. My fears about a lack of information were completely unfounded. There was a wealth of undiscovered material on Catoctin Furnace. I have spent eight months in research and realize that there are records and stories I have not uncovered. The search will go on.

The people who have helped me in my research are too numerous to mention. I particularly want to thank Marie Burns, who gently helped me find my way through a tangle of land transfers; Clement and Harriet Gardiner, who put up with my presence for days as I read hundreds of pages of letters and ledgers; Joanne Miller, who made copies; members of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society Eugene Anderson, Mary Rae Cantwell and William Renner; members of the Anders, Carbaugh, Fraley, Hoke, Martin, Miller, Penwell, Reed, Stitely and Sweeney families of the Catoctin Furnace area; the priest and people of Catoctin Episcopal Parish, whose interest and encouragement meant so much; the staff of C. Burr Artz Library; the Washington County library staff; Moravian Archives personnel, including my translator, Robert Steelman; the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland’s Garner Ranney, archivist; Kay Harbaugh and Judith Ricketts of the Board of Education of Frederick County; and Tanya Catignani, for producing the site map. John McGrain provided valuable editing and additional Catoctin Furnace references from his extensive files.

Everywhere I went I was treated most courteously. The staffs of the Library of Congress, National Archives, Maryland Hall of Records, Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, Maryland Historical Society and Frederick County Courthouse were very helpful. I feel that the material I have gathered has been the result of a joint effort. I could not have done it alone. I especially want to thank Dr. Leonard Latkovski and Dr. Gerald McKnight, advisors, whose guidance and patience are deeply appreciated.

This research could never have been accomplished if it had not been for the support of my family—especially Elizabeth Anderson Comer, for her companionship, help and advice, and Joel Anderson, for his help and interest as official photographer and for his patience. I have been researching and writing of the past, but I want to dedicate my work to the future, so that the story may live for the younger generation as it has come to life for me. In that spirit, I dedicate this book to Margaret, Jacob, Anne, Kate, Kelby, Chaslyn, Caleb, Jeffrey, Derek, Adrienne and Lilienne.

Chapter 1

THE EARLY YEARS

Thomas Johnson and his brother James located their iron furnace in an area that had shown earlier promise as an industrial site. The builders found all the necessary elements for a successful operation on the eastern slope of Catoctin Mountain in northern Frederick County, Maryland. Their choice proved to be a wise one, for Catoctin Furnace would operate for over a century. Not only were they establishing a business, but the Johnsons were also deeply involved in the American Revolution.

Pioneers came to the central lands of provincial Maryland for a number of reasons. Some hoped to settle and operate small businesses. Others were speculators, like the Johnsons, bent on development and industrialization. Some followed trails leading from Pennsylvania settlements to new lands farther south. Others pushed west from Maryland’s Tidewater.

Early arrivals to the area were attracted not only by the rich land but also by clear rushing streams and a plentiful supply of timber. Abundant water, needed by the settlers for crops and livestock, was also a source of power. Logs, used for building and shaped into tools and furniture, were also a vital source of fuel.

Under the provisions of the Charter of Maryland, the Lord Proprietary owned all the land in the province, with power to grant any part of it to someone willing to pay an annual rent. In March 1732, Lord Baltimore, hoping to attract German settlers from Pennsylvania, offered a tract to any person who would settle on the back land of the province. One of the earliest settlers to take advantage of this offer was John Vertrees (Verdies), who received a patent on December 13, 1738, for 128 acres, which he named John’s Mountain.¹ Vertrees’s land was well situated on the eastern slope of Catockton (Catoctin) Mountain, beginning at a bounded Black Oak standing at the head of a spring on the west side of Hunting Creek about fifty or sixty perches above a mirey lique.²

Thomas Johnson (1732–1819) at the age of thirty-six, first governor of Maryland, developer of the Catoctin Furnace. Painting by John Hesselius, now in the U.S. Supreme Court Building.

Joining Vertrees in this region known in early days as Monoquice (Monocacy) or The Turckey were other families, most of German origin.³ Among them was Hans Martin Wetzel and his family, who had arrived on September 21, 1731.⁴ The Wetzels became squatters in the area for several years before receiving a patent on October 1, 1741, for one hundred acres of land. This tract, known as Mill Place, began at a bounded white oak standing on the east side of Little Hunting Creek near the lower end of a small island in the said creek.⁵

Mills were an integral part of life in the Monocacy area. In addition to the mill on Little Hunting Creek at Mill Place, Vertrees had a sawmill on John’s Mountain, selling poplar lumber.⁶ Construction and maintenance of these mills required a certain amount of forge and blacksmith work. At a very early date, a forge was operating near Vertrees’s sawmill.⁷ It is reasonable to assume that concentrated activity and growing industrialization in the area made the settlers aware of the presence of iron ore on the slopes of the John’s Mountain tract and influenced others to purchase and speculate.

As settlement spread, the provincial government encouraged responses to the pressing need for iron. In order to make industrial development more attractive, an act was passed in the Maryland legislature in 1719 offering one hundred acres of land to anyone who would establish an iron furnace or forge in the province.⁸ In 1722, laborers in the iron industry were exempted from mending public roads and later were exempted from militia duties.⁹

Another major factor in the growth of the colonial iron industry was England’s inability to produce enough pig iron to meet the demands of its industry. English forests, necessary for the burning of charcoal, were becoming scarce. Manufacturing interests pressed