PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Online Catalog Land Records

 

 

 


Manuscript Group 175
PINE GROVE FURNACE COLLECTION
1785-1914
60 cu. ft.

Consists of records of the Pine Grove Furnace, Cumberland County, and business concerns connected with the operation of the furnace, covering the period 1785 through 1914. Built around 1770 by George Stevenson, Robert Thornburgh, and John Arthur, Pine Grove Furnace was deeded to Michael Ege and Thomas and Joseph Thornburgh, sons of Robert Thornburgh, in 1782. In the early nineteenth century, Michael Ege became sole owner of the furnace, which continued to be operated by members of the Ege family until 1838, when it was sold to C. B. Penrose and Frederick Watts. Operated successfully by William M. Watts, between 1845 and 1864, it was sold to William G. Moorehead in 1864, who in turn deeded the furnace to the newly organized South Mountain Iron Company. In 1877 the iron company folded and the Pine Grove property was purchased by Jackson C. Fuller. That same year Fuller transferred the property to the South Mountain Mining and Iron Company whose major stockholders included John M. Butler, Jay Cooke, Edward J. Williams, Barclay J. Woodward, and William H. Woodward. In 1891 several tracts of Pine Grove land in Adams and Cumberland counties were conveyed to the Fuller Brick and Slate Company, Ltd., which manufactured bricks up to around 1913. In about 1895, the Pine Grove Furnace ceased operations.

Over half of the collection's 60 cubic feet consist of letter press books, general correspondence, and account books, (cash books, ledgers, journals, payroll books, etc.) of the South Mountain Mining and Iron Company, 1877-1914, and the Fuller Brick and Slate Company, Ltd., 1891-1914. Records of the early operation of the Pine Grove Furnace consist entirely of account books (bloom books, cash books, day books, ledgers, journals, provision books, time books, ware books, etc.) starting in the year 1785. These include records of Thornburgh, Arthur and Company; Ege, Thornburgh and Arthur Company; and Peter Ege. The collection also contains account books of the following companies and furnaces: Cumberland Furnace, Laurel Forge, South Mountain Iron Company, Cumberland Valley Railroad, Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad, Hunter's Run and Slate Belt Railroad, and the South Mountain Railroad.

The correspondence files, 10 cubic feet, and letter press books, 45 volumes, of the South Mountain Mining and Iron Company, the Fuller Brick and Slate Company, Ltd., and Hunter's Run and Slate Belt Railroad contain generally routine business letters. Included among the correspondents are George F. Baer, Isaac B. Brown, John M. Butler, Simon Cameron, Robert S. Conklin, Jay Cooke, Aaron K. Dunkel, Jackson C. Fuller, A. C. Givler, John F. Hartranft, William O. Hickok, Joseph Kalbfus, Horace A. Keefer, Thomas B. Kennedy, J. T. Rothrock, Thomas J. Stewart, S. R. Still, Charles D. Walcott, Barclay J. Woodward, and William H. Woodward.

PA State Archives Hours, Directions, & Fees Research Topics Online Catalog Land Records