"In two places of the countrey specially, one about fourescore and the other six score miles from the Fort or place where we dwelt: wee founde neere the water side the ground to be rockie, which by the triall of a minerall man, was founde to holde Iron richly. It is founde in manie places of the countrey else. I knowe nothing to the contrarie, but that it maie bee allowed for a good marchantable commoditie, considerring there the small charge for the labour and feeding of men; the infinite store of wood: the want of wood and deerenesse thereof in England: & the necessity of ballasting shippes."
[This book is interesting reading and the 1590 version was reprinted by Dover Publications, Inc. in 1972. It has an extensive description of Virginia and its inhabitants.]
Thus people in England were knowledgeable about Virginia and, in particular, about iron there. After the English settlements, Captain John Smith sent home several barrels of bog ore in 1608 and Captain Newport shipped enough ore to England the next year to make over fifteen tons of iron which proved to be of good quality. [See Rutland, " Men and Iron in the Making of Virginia ", p.3]
A group of investors, the Southhampton Adventurers, raised 4,000 pounds sterling and sent a labor force of 80 skilled ironworkers to build an iron furnace on Falling Creek, a tributary of the James River, about seven miles below the present Richmond. At the time, 1621, this was an extremely exposed position within the natural range of the native Indians. The furnace was built and while it was in its first firing, the Indians attacked, killing all of the workers but allowing two children to escape. The furnance was destroyed and the tools and equipment were tossed into the creek.
Tobacco was a cheaper alternative and economic activity was directed into that line. Farsighted people throughout the sixteen hundreds saw that the dangers in relying on tobacco alone and saw also the need for iron. Pleadings were made to refine the ore in Virginia where wood, water (for power) and the ore were readily available. No Englishman was interested enough to supply the sizeable amount of capital (thousands of pounds) which was needed. A Virginian, the first William Byrd, kept the thought alive and made preparations. He patented land containing ore deposits and enough adjacent land to insure wood for a possible furnace. His son, another William, continued his father's work and invested in books for his library on the subject of minerals. Though the Byrds were considered by their fellow Virginians to be rich, they did not pursue the refining of their iron ore. Apparently, they felt that too much capital was required.
We have seen that the Southhampton Adventurers raised 4,000 pounds sterling for their project. In the seventeen hundreds, a Mr. Chiswell said that his partners in an iron furnace had put 12,000 pounds into the enterprise before they reached the breakeven point. With capital amounts of this magnitude required, no group came forward to sponsor a furnace for refining iron ore.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.