Some opinions as to when Alexander Spotswood began to think of iron as a private venture can be formed from the letter he wrote to Col. Nathaniel Harrison, the Deputy Auditor of H. M. Revenue.
". . . In Feb. 1717 [by the new style calendar, this would be 1718] Sir Richard Blackmore writes to Mr. Secretary Cock to engage me to favor a design, which he, with several considerable men at home, had to set up iron works in Virginia, and desires people might be employed to find out the oar, and some thousands of acres taken up for that purpose. Accordingly I set my Germans to work to look for such oar which search cost me upwards of three score pounds. But about two years afterwards I received a letter from Sir Richard telling he had at length considered that he was advanced in years, that his health was of late impaired, and that the undertaking was at too great a distance, and therefore he was determined to drop the project. Whereupon, rather than enter into a contention for my reimbursement, I chose to join in with several Gentlemen here who were willing to carry on the project, and bear their proportion of the charges I had already been at; and so, the mine tract, consisting of 15,000 acres of land, was in 1719 [1719 by the patent book, this was in 1720 on the modern calendar] taken up by nine or ten Adventures. About the same time I fell into another partnership of land [this involved the Second Germanna Colony]."
Spotswood would have Harrison believe that the search for iron ore commenced in 1718, and perhaps it was not until then that it was undertaken seriously. Albrecht and Holtzclaw said they started mining and quarrying in March of 1716 [new style]. From Fontaine's comments, the initial mining was probably at the silver mine, but it would seem that this was abandoned shortly after the expedition over the Blue Ridge Mountains (this was August and September of 1716). For a year after this, up to February of 1718 (NS), I suspect the Germans were engaged in a low level search or survey of the area to see what they could find. Probably, before February of 1718, they had found some iron. After Sir Richard's request, the search was more intensive, though only a little more than sixty pounds was spent on the project. The Germans left about December 1718, since that was the last date claimed by Albrecht and Holtzclaw for the work.
What happened to change Spotswood's mind about the prospect for iron? The request from Sir Richard Blackmore and his partners, who were "considerable men", is the big factor. Spotswood perhaps thought that the political power they could exert in England (and their financing) could influence sentiment in England in favor of an iron works in Virginia. At any rate, there seemed to be little danger in the initial stages. The search in the early stages was not expensive. No furnace was built. Even if the English merchants, working through the Board of Trade, should overthrow the project, the cost was low.
Spotswood timed the start of the search for iron ore as about the time the Second Germanna Colony arrived. This would be very consistent with a February 1718 (NS) date for the start of the search for iron.
(01 Nov 01)
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