In the last note, I suggested that iron was the fourth and last element in Alexander Spotswood's attempt to secure his personal financial security. I will attempt to approach this in another way by showing that Virginia iron was not as early as some writers have said. I begin with a question, namely, “When was the first iron imported from a British North American colony into England?”
In 1717, one ton of bar iron was imported from Nevis and two tons of bar iron was imported from St. Christopher. In 1718, one ton was imported from Barbados, one ton from Nevis, and four tons from either Maryland or Virginia (all of these quantities are bar iron). These latter two Colonies were lumped together, so it is impossible to tell from which one it came. In 1719, three tons of bar iron from St. Christopher, and one ton of bar iron from either Maryland or Virginia were imported. In 1721, fifteen tons of bar iron were imported from Maryland or Virginia, while nine tons of bar from Jamaica and one ton from St. Christopher were imported. [The references above to Nevis, St. Christopher, Barbados, and Jamaica refer to the British Colonies on those islands in the Caribbean.]
The difficult thing to say about all of this is how the bar iron came into existence. Normally, bar iron is made from cast iron but there has been no mention of cast iron so far. A discussion I had with a student of iron works indicates that the bar iron may have been made in a forge (as opposed to a furnace). The forge cannot achieve sufficient high temperatures to melt the iron ore but it can get the iron hot enough that it can be worked. At this stage though it contains many impurities, but with repeated hammering the iron can be worked into a solid mass while driving out or melting the impurities. This is a very labor intensive effort.
Another possibility is that all of this early bar iron originated outside of the Colony from where it was imported. Perhaps it came from Europe and was being sent to England.
The table of imports combines Maryland and Virginia exports into one number. Since Maryland had a very early iron works (Principio was the name of the works, I believe), the credit might go to Maryland rather than Virginia.
Spotswood has been quoted for being aware that bar iron was a prohibited trade item, while he seemed to think that cast iron might be considered as a raw material. If he was politically astute, it would appear that he would not have tempted the fates by sending bar iron to England. The first clear evidence of iron from Spotswood's furnace was fifteen tons of cast iron in 1723. This will be confirmed in another way.
The document from which the data here is taken comes from the House of Lords Archives. It has been reprinted in
Beyond Germanna
on page 723.
(09 Sep 04)
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