The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama

CHAPTER XX

CHAPTER XX THE NORTHEASTERN COUNTIES 1870-1890 Iron-making ventures after the war. Summary of Calhoun County operations . Iron men and United States Army officers in the lead. Beginning of Anniston. R~um~ of Samuel Noble's career. View from Oxford Furnace ruins. "If ever I am able to build a town this is the spot I will choose." Handicaps ahead. Acquisition of Lloyd and Maddox proJ?erties. Raising capItal. General Daniel Tyler visits region. OrganIzation of Woodstock Iron Company. Description of first two furnaces. Successful operation under Noble and Tyler regime. Incorporation of town of Anniston. Transfer of Noble manufacturing interests from Georgia to Alabama. Assistance rendered by General Tyler. Formation of Clifton Iron Company. Purchase of Alabama Furnace Comyany. Erection of first coke furnaces of Calhoun County. Diversified mdustries inaugurated. Biography of John E. Ware. Liberal policy of Woodstock Company. Iron making in Cherokee County. Organization of Tecumseh Iron Company. Biographical sketches of General Williard Warner and N. W. Trimble. Work of General Burke. Stonewall Iron Company formed. Career of John S. Moragne. Events in Etowah County. Colonel Robert Kyle plants diversified industries in this section. Entrance of J. M. Elliott, Sr. Reorganization of Round Mountain Iron Works. Achievements of J. M. Elliott, Jr. Upbuilding of Gadsden and Attalla. Tributes to Samuel Noble. Death of the great iron-master. Infiuence of his personality. Reconstruction work in Bibb County. Four United States senators assume control of old Bibb Furnace. Entrance of Thomas Jefferson Peters. Organization of Brierfield Coal and Iron Company. Sketch of Frank Fitch. Cahaba Coal Field a wilderness in early eighties. John R. McLean of Cincinnati interested in mineral region. Discovery of coal seams of Hargrove , Piper, and Cane Creek Mines. Major Peters' plan of reconstruction . A million dollars invested in improvements. Causes of failure of company. Formation of Alabama Iron and Steel Company. Death of Major Peters. Sketch of George Frederick Peter. Outlook in Shelby County. ~um~ of Horace Ware's achievements. Pioneer work in Texas. T HE making of the Birmingham District opened the way into new regions of achievement throughout the mineral belt. In the northeastern section, as well as in the other quarters, whose records have just been presented, fresh iron making enterprises gradually revived the country completely ravaged by the dogs of war. Although none of the antebellum furnaces of any marked State influence in the counties of Calhoun, Cherokee, Etowah, and Talladega were reconstructed, yet each, in turn, was a road-breaking work. Out of the ruins of 310 THE STORY OF COAL AND IRON IN ALABAMA the Oxford plant, in Calhoun County, for instance, sprang a new growth, the city of Anniston. An account of the pioneer iron making in this section was detailed in an earlier chapter. "Calhoun County can produce the written record of making pig iron back to August 12, 1843, and continuously to this date, 1909," says G. B. Randolph. "Seven furnaces have been built within the county borders. It is shown conclusively that this county furnished the iron that went into the building of our State capitol; that she sent iron to Mobile during our war with Mexico to make munitions of war to whip the Mexicans; that she furnished iron to make all kinds of utensils and tools for the household; implements for the farm and mines; salt kettle castings for mills as far east as the State of South Catalina; iron for the armor plating of the first ironclad gunboat ever built in the South, and also for the last boat to lower her colors to Admiral Farragut in Mobile Bay." As the history of the Birmingham District, early and late, revolves around the activities of a few coal and iron men, so later, the history of the Anniston district, and that of the close neighboring towns of Gadsden, Attalla, Ironaton, and Talladega circles about a small group of far-sighted, practical iron men and United States Army officers. Chief among them are Samuel Noble, General Daniel Tyler, General Williard Warner, A. L. Tyler, E. L. Tyler, Robert Kyle, John S. Moragne, J. M. Elliott, General J. W. Burke, Eugene Zimmerman, and James, John, Stephen, George, and William Noble. The history of Anniston dates from the day of the formation of the Woodstock Iron Company by the Nobles and Tylers in ~872, shortly after the founding of Birmingham. The man at the front of affairs, the eager, leading spirit of this particular quarter of Alabama was the iron-master, Samuel Noble. It will...