Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia
Publication No. 17 - 1984
WHITE'S FORGE ON BIG MOCCASIN CREEK
By Omer C.
Genises, Chapter 4, Verse 22, Tubalcain was an instructor of every
artificer in brass and iron. This is the first record we have of an iron
B. White could well be called the Tubalcain of Scott County. He built
the first successful iron works in Scott County on Big Moccasin Creek.
Dr. White had learned the iron making process at the Bushong Iron Works
on Beaver Creek in Tennessee.
was born April 15, 1791, in Franklin County, Virginia. He moved to Scott
County in the spring of 1849, an don May 15th of the same year, he
petitioned the Court of Scott County to erect iron works on the lands of
Rhuama and Almora Bevins. The order of publication was published in the
Southwest Virginian at Abingdon, Virginia.
granted permission to erect the dam across Big Moccasin Creek, March 14,
1850, provided Rhuama and Almira Bevins were paid the value of one acre
location where the forge was built there is a natural dam of rocks. The
dam was increased in height a few feet by using logs, drilling holes in
them and into the rock and driving wooden or iron pins into the holes.
had a water wheel which ran the bellows to supply the air blast for the
intense heat required to smelt the iron ore. The bellows were large, and
made from cowhides sewn together.
hammer was a trip hammer that weighed 75 to 100 pounds. It had a long
handle called a helve and moved by power from the water wheel. The
hammer was used to beat out the impurities and compact the fibrous mass
of iron into a strong bar.
The iron ore
which was smelted at White's Forge, was mined by digging holes in the
earth to a depth of a few feet, and by picking it up from the surface in
various parts of Moccasin Ridge. The iron ore was hauled to the forge
with wagons drawn by oxen, horses or mules. These wagons were log wagons
built low and strong, with a heavy bed to hold the iron ore.
Forge was in operation before stone coal came into use. Charcoal was
used to smelt the iron.
Frasure and Nat Hicks were employed to furnish the charcoal. The
charcoal pits were located east and west of the forge, on the bottom
land of Big Moccasin Creek. These locations were called Coaland.
the forge as made from hardwood and prepared by billets of wood piled in
a conical heap and covered with earth and sod to prevent the access of
air; several holes being left at the bottom, and one at the top of the
heap in order to produce a draft to commence the combustion. The wood
was kindled from the bottom, after it had begun to burn freely the hole
at the top was closed. After the ignition had been found to prevail the
whole heap, the holes at the bottom were then closed. The combustion
taking place with a smothered flame and limited access of air. The
volatile portions of the wood consisting of hydrogen and oxygen were
dissipated, while the carbon in the form of charcoal was left behind.
that was burned at the two locations was hauled to the forge in sleds
pulled by oxen.
With the use
of charcoal and bellows the early smelting furnaces did not produce
molten iron, but a spongy mass of metallic iron. The spongy mass of
metal which sank to the bottom after the fire burned out was called a
bloom, and the lined hole with its bellows was called a bloomery. The
bloomery was lined with stone which had to be replaced often, because
the intense heat caused the stone to crack and crumble.
were small and were lifted out of the bloomery with tongs. By repeated
heating with charcoal in the forge, and hammering with the trip-hammer
on an anvil, this impure and oddly shaped mass of metal was brought to a
condition of high refinement and great strength.
impurities had been removed from the iron and the desired implement had
been hammered into the shape, the metal was tempered by a process called
quenching. This was done by plunging it into water. The worker judged
this by the color of the metal when it was hot.
If a piece
of iron was left in the bloomery with a charcoal fire for 10 to 12
hours, the solid iron would absorb enough carbon to increase its
hardness and strength. It was then heated red hot and suddenly immersed
that was made at White's Forge was used by blacksmiths to make
horseshoes, oxen shoes, nails, wagon tires, hoes, picks, shovels,
knives, and many other items.
used the best grade of iron to make rifle barrels and gun parts.
It is now
known how long this forge was in operation. The closing date is not
known. We can safely say that with the coming of the railroads, home
manufacturing passed out of use, as the products could be bought cheaper
than they could be made at home.