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William & Mary Special Collections Research CenterFinding Aid Authors: Special Collections Staff.
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Joseph Arthur Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Purchase 2006
Joseph Arthur was the owner of an iron forge in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki:
Letters mostly to Joseph Arthur, owner of an iron forge in Shenandoah County, Virginia, about his business and family life, from 1801-1814. Includes letters written by John Arthur, his brother. In 1820, there were 5 furnaces in operation in Shenandoah County, being Isabella Furnace, owned by Benjamin Blackford, Speedwell Forge, owned by James Sterret, Union Forge, owned by Joseph Arthur, Columbia Furnace, owned by John Arthur, and Pine Forge, owned by Benjamin Pennybacker. William Leeper, an employee of Joseph Arthur, is married to Benjamin Blackford's daughter.
Chronological
Mss. MsV Ad132 Benjamin Pennybacker Daybook
Other Information:
Additional information may be found at http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/wm/viw00115.frame
Writes that Lyon Miller has written to him, allowing Joseph Arthur to have his house, for he will "take good care" of it. Gossip about someone who died, and someone else who is ill from "a dangerous complaint"; he has no new business for Joseph.
Callipleele for sugar and 15 e.(ingots?) of pig iron being sent to Arthur, carried by a man named Egbert. The bill is being sent from the Catoctin Furnace in Frederick County, Maryland.
Alex I., telling Joseph Arthur, that he has Joseph's hat in his possession, but he is unwilling to risk sending it through the mail. He tells Arthur to contact someone he knows in Baltimore so that person can carry the hat back to him.
Autograph Letter Signed. 1 item. Moore tells Arthur that he is pleased that Arthur told him, in his last letter, that some missing iron had been found, and Moore believes that this is the very iron that was missing from his load, through the report of Stephen Henry. Moore hopes that legal issue of the missing iron can be handled quickly and quietly, without involving William Leeper. He also tells Arthur that he does not know when he will purchase more iron, seeing as he has not sold the current amount that he has, due to the effects of "Embargo" by David Janney. Also, Moore notes that he has paid a $70 bill to Adams and Wagner.
John is building a house for a Mr. Wierman at Stoney Creek and writes Joseph telling him of his progress inviting him to bring himself and his wife to John's house sometime that week to see John and his wife; he asks Joseph for a bar of blistered steel, steel with bumps on the outside from the heating process, to steel a pick bought in Pennsylvania. In the postscript, John tells Joseph that he expects to send up to 40 tons of pig iron to his furnace per week.
James Allen to Mr. Arthur. James wants to sell some steers to Arthur for beef, as he has bought some in the past. He says that he will accept pig iron as a payment.
John Arthur to Joseph Arthur. John writes telling Joseph how he won a court case against the Ege family, and was awarded damages of $1291.67; he thinks he may have more money coming, because these damages only cover the time up until August 12, 1805; John goes into the details of the trial, saying that the reason of his complaint is that the Ege Family refused him the same sale when he wanted to sell his land and saw mills as they gave the Smith family; however, much testimony was brought about how a dam for the Cumberland Furnace on a creek may or may not have prevented John from using his saw mills, perhaps trying to insinuate that John has another reason for this suit. At the end of the trial, John talked to his lawyer, asking him if he would help in the building of an iron forge with the Arthurs, but he raised a great many objections and said that William Lusk would be better for the task.
Graham asks Arthur to take his nephew, Charles Harwood into his care, to be a clerk at Union Forge. Graham has talked with Mr. [Benjamin?] Blackford about Charles' failings, and Blackford thinks that Charles can save himself and become "useful to society," and if he does not, that will be no one's fault but his own. Graham tells Arthur that he saw Mr. Blackford and Arthur's sister at Springfield this morning. Graham then goes on to a detailed description of the debts and advances various people, including Arthur and Thomas Blackford, owe each other.
It begins by saying that the furnace has been doing so badly that when he returned, it was advisable to just blow out. The hearth is also damaged, and so John has asked Mr. Blackford to make arrangements for the necessary replacements. He says that he is going to tell Mr. [Benjamin?] Pennybacker to get his pig metal from Joseph while his furnace is being repaired. John has made a settlement with a Mr. Kenorick for $100 for money he was supposedly shortchanged while working at the new house and kitchen.
Begins with John telling Joseph that it is hard for him to spare Mr. Turner for even a day, and so Joseph should impress upon William Leeper the necessity of returning without delay (with Turner). John then talks about combining two types of iron ore, which he thinks will improve both. Also, there is a high quality ore in plentiful amounts, but it is so solid and under layered rocks that it is almost impossible to get. With the ore that he does have, John thinks he can make 30 tons of pig iron. Also, it seems that John's wife has just had a child.
John writes to his brother about a case where a court is giving him the land of Samuel Leeper and he, in turn, is giving it to William Leeper. He also tells Joseph that he is not, at this time, going to go back to trial with Mr. Ege, of the letter of 10 November, 1809.
John opens by telling Joseph that he offered Mr. Low $200 dollars per year to work as a young hand fields that John owns, which is similar to what Joseph pays his young hands. He tells Joseph that he hopes Mr. Low will perform as well as Joseph's young hands, and if he does not, John might send Mr. Low over to Joseph's farm, for his supervisors are known as being harsher than John's. He also tells Joseph that he has some workers that live up in the mountains, and that they do a good job for now, but he is not certain how long that will last.
John tells Joseph that he will be unable to leave for Shippensburg as early as Joseph wants him to, because he has many arraignments to make at home. He tells Joseph that he has reflected about a building that they are getting built for the forge and that if they can get Mr. William Lusk to build it, then they ought to do it immediately, but if they cannot, they ought to wait until such time as they have more money to meet the expenditure. He sent a letter to Mr. Blackford, asking for advice, but he has not responded yet. John talked to William Kendrick about this project, and he said that if they built this one thing, it would lead to them building a new Furnace Billower, and a New Mile. John later brings up how he saw in a newspaper that, on March 15th, a court will come back into session, and Mr. Ege will probably bring him back into court. John has heard that the Hughes Furnace is doing "better than common" because of a new founder, or chief iron worker.
He says that he cannot come with William Leeper at this time to see Joseph, but that he will come as early as possible in June, for he has to be back home by the beginning of July. He has been to Catoctin since Joseph has, but there is nothing to report from there, and he told this to Mr. Blackford as well. He spends the rest of the letter telling Joseph how a certain lady, Miss G., and her family will not be visiting him up in Catoctin.
He begins by telling Joseph that William Leeper's wife was let out for a day, accompanied by a Miss Baily, of the city, and Doctor Reynolds; however, he does not know if she will stay long up there. He then tells Joseph how Miss G., Martha Gachvany, has gotten married, and therefore "our Hero has got rid of one of his intended wives." He spends the rest of the letter sharing gossip about married and unmarried members of the Shippensburg and Catoctin communities.
He tells Joseph that there is a load (of ore?) that is too large to haul in and must be cut up before it can be transported. Mr. Sanford, an employee of Books and Accounts, has been sent over the ridge on pretense of collection money, but John thinks that his true intention is to visit his friends. John wants Joseph to come to Columbia Furnace so that they can both investigate Sanford's business. John concludes the letter by telling Joseph that they started hauling ore from the Three Mile Mountain yesterday, and with a little improvement the load will do very well.
James Allen to Joseph Arthur. He says that he has five wagon loads of hay ready for Joseph. He tells Joseph that he has a dozen hands, and one of them is a woman who has three children, and he takes care of them and her husband in exchange for the work of just the wife and husband. Also, he is sending a load of walnuts and currents to Mrs. Arthur.
John says that he met a man selling rye and wheat, and the man supposedly went to Joseph to try and get a better deal. John says that he wrote Mr. Blackford about taking so many people over the mountains at the risk of falling short of coal when metal can be had on better terms. A Mr. McDaniel sent John a letter saying that he intends to build a furnace nearby, but it will have to be discussed through the winter season.
Blackford says that Leeper owes $500.05, and he has only paid $450, and is therefore reminding him of the remaining balance. Also, Blackford places an order for iron if it can be had for under $120, and expects Leeper to show the order to Mr. Arthur as soon as possible.