|
|
|
To an enterprising man
looking for a place to settle, the stream with its great water-power would be
the main attraction. Besides, there was ore in those mountains.
|
|
One of the first to take
advantage of those two assets was a man named Lawrence Scrawley or
Crowley a blacksmith, who, in 1750, owned a plating forge to be worked with a
tilt hammer. It was unlawful to have such an industry in the colonies, and
its existence had to be reported to the King. Governor George Clinton wrote
that the forge had been there about four or five years but was not being used
in 1750; also that it was the only one in the Province of New York. He
described its location as being at a place called Wawayanda, about 26 miles
from Hudson River. At the time, and for some decades after, the stream was
known as the Wawayanda; and that name was also applied to the land bordering
it. We cannot say where Lawrence Scrawley/Crowley came from or what became of
him (Florence Tate)
|
|
|
|
Reference: Text of Clinton’s
letter is from p. 580, Ruttenber & Clark’s History of Orange County
|
|
|
|
The Iron Act,
strictly Importation, etc. Act 1750 (Statute 23 Geo. II c. 23) was one
of the legislative measures introduced by the British Parliament, seeking to
restrict manufacturing activities in British colonies, particularly in north
America, and encourge manufacture to take place in Great Britain.
|
|
The Act contained several
provisions, applying from 24 June 1750:
|
|
Duty on the import of pig
iron from America should cease.
|
|
Duty on bar iron imported to
London should cease.
|
|
Such bar iron might be
carried coastwise or by land from there to Naval dockyards, but otherwise not
beyond 10 miles from London.
|
|
The iron must be marked with
its place of origin.
|
|
No mill or engine for slitting
or rolling iron or any plating forge to work with a tilt hammer or any furnace
for making steel should be erected in America.
|
|
Colonial governors were
required to certify what mills of these types already existed.
|
|
|
|
Other References: Pioneer
Iron Works by Mary Stetson Clarke
|
|
Science and Technology in
Colonial America by William E. Burns.
|