EARLY DAYS. Recollections of James Alexander, an Ironton Moulder. Stove-Making at Mt. Vernon Furnace and Ironton. Reminiscences and Personal Mention.
Ironton Register, Thursday, January 12, 1888.
James Alexander is one of the substantial men whose muscle and genius have long been felt in the growing Industries of Ironton. He is the present able Superintendent of the Foster Stove Works and was called upon by the REGISTER reporter a few days ago for some recollections of the early days of the molding in this region and the reminiscences which the thought of old associations might recall.
Mr. Alexander kindly complied with the request and, retreating with his question to a secluded corner, engaged in __ an animated review from which were gleaned the following facts:
James Alexander is one of the substantial men whose muscle and genius have long been felt in the growing Industries of Ironton. He is the present able Superintendent of the Foster Stove Works.
Mr. James Alexander worked at the first and the last heat in the first foundry built in Ironton. He learned his trade in the molding room operated in connection with the Mt. Vernon furnace before 1850, where they used to make stove castings and haul them to the river for shipment to Cincinnati, to be mounted.
They made only a few kinds of stoves, the old “Premium” cook and a plain box-heating being among the number, and the castings were clumsy and heavy, with twice as much iron in them as is now used. Among the molders who worked there were Thos. O’Neal, Wm. Levering, Dan’l McDaniels, John Alexander, Charles McCormick, Jefferson Gustin, William, John and Alexander Wilson, Matthew Bradley, Phillip Moyer, John, and Wm. Hayes, James Hooper, W. C. Frailey, and John and Isaac Peters.
Many of these are familiar names in Ironton now. Thos. O’Neal died many years ago, an honored and upright citizen. Mr. Levering lives with his son-in-law, George B. Davies. He is aged and feeble now. Dan’l McDaniels still lives here. John Alexander, the father of the speaker, went to Nebraska in ’62 and died. Chas. McCormick, J. Gustin, John Wilson, and James Hooper are dead. Mat. Bradley is a resident of Adams county, Phillip Moyer lives in California, and the rest, except the Wilsons, are well-known residents of Ironton.
Mr. James Alexander entered the Mt. Vernon shop when he was seven years old and was a young man when the foundry was moved to Ironton in 1850. He began at the tender age of 7 on the ware-cleaning job, and during the ten years which followed, John and Hiram Campbell and George Steece (uncle of Brady’s) managed the furnace and the furnace and the foundry. Campbell, Ellison & Co. were the owners.
The Ellison was William Ellison, an uncle of John and Cyrus. Said the speaker: “I well remember ‘Old Billy,’ as he was called. He used to wear the finest clothes, I thought, that a mortal could put on, and yet he would come among us boys and engage in our dirtiest work to help us.
One day, when I was cleaning ware, Mr. Steece stopped and asked if I wouldn’t rather mold than do that, and when, with a fluttering heart, I said I would, he showed me where to begin work on odd plates. I was mightily tickled, and my first efforts were attended with so much success that a rather poor molder nearby became jealous and essayed to instruct me to slight the job, which the foreman happened to observe, and the next morning his place was vacant.
When Ironton was laid out, the Mt. Vernon company built the Ironton Foundry on the well-known site opposite Lambert’s machine shop. It was then an apple orchard. The foundry started with but 32 molders, but the enterprise was of vast importance to the young town. The old patterns and flasks were brought from Mt. Vernon and were added to and improved as the foundry grew.
W. C. Frailey was the manager at the start and remained in charge under its different ownerships the whole time till the foundry burned 25 years later. He had been an active and efficient molder at Mt. Vernon, where Mr. Alexander said he chanced to be his partner in the sand, and it used to make his back ache to keep up with him.
All the old molders mentioned above, except John Peters, went to work in the new concern, and in addition to these, W. T. McQuigg, who came from Hanging Rock, John Reeves, Wm. Sowers, Messrs. Grimshaw, Harvey and Westlake, Thos. Lanigan, Henry Woods, and Henry and Isaac Beals were molders there at the start or soon after. The mention of these names brought flood reminiscences of the scenes and actions of those early days, for associated with the names are the companions and events of a quarter of a century of toil.
Mr. James Alexander told of the exemplary everyday life of Thos. O’Neal, whom he thought was the best man he ever knew–just as religious in the foundry as he was at church and never failing to give Christian counsel or reproof when opportunity offered. His righteous conduct commanded the respect of all his fellow workmen.
He related the thrilling incident of a terrible storm that once terrorized the whole town, during which the lightning struck the foundry and threw many workmen to the ground. The wind was furious, and all in the building fled pell-mell to the street except himself and John Holliday, who was “catching” at the cupola and could not go till the flow of metal was stopped, and then they fairly flew.
He and several others unconsciously ran up the incline of a dray in their flight, so blinding was the dust. Nobody was hurt, however, and the chief outcome of the scare was the finding of the bravest man in the shop hiding under a bench when the storm had passed by. The discovery put an end to his greatness.
Wm. Sowers was the remarkable character in the foundry in those days, who would work hard all day and fish hard about all night. 10 or 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. would find him regularly at the river, and he seemed never to be affected by exposure or fatigue in his constant fishing and hunting. He abounded in good humor and shared with Isaac Peters the blame for all the pranks that were played in the foundry. An atmosphere of fun always surrounded these two men.
There were sadder days in the history of that old shop when the progress of events brought dissension between the men and their employers, and strikes came on. There were some fearful strikes. One, in particular, was spoken of. The war prices brought the molders a bonus of various per cents on the piece price previously in vogue until the bonus reached 100 percent, and then it declined.
The bonus was 70, and the company proposed to reduce it to 30. The result was a long and ugly lock-out, broken at last by the molders returning to work at the company’s figures. It was the conflict during which the tragic death of young Charley Levering at the hands of a fellow molder who had gone back to work and was jeered at by his companions occurred. Many persons in Ironton will remember that deplorable affair. When the young molder pulled his revolver and commanded the others not to come any nearer, young Levering stepped to one side and playfully shouted, “Shoot me,” and was indeed shot through the heart.
Mr. Alexander now makes the statement that soon after the beginning of that strike, the company sent for him and two or three other molders, among whom are prominent citizens of Ironton today, and offered them $10,000 apiece if they would simply instruct apprentices in the foundry for three years.
The men thought they would remain loyal to the Union and so declined the rich offer. In time, the situation became serious, and after staying out five months, the molders, one by one, accepted the reduction until about all had returned to work. Those were some of the sad days.
During the 25 years in which the Ironton Foundry grew and flourished, the following were among the young men who learned their trade there:
- John, Cris
- James Holliday,
- Chas. O’Neal,
- James McDaniel,
- Wm. Levering, Jr.,
- James and John McCarthy,
- James, and Wm. Hayes,
- Thomas, and Al. Hibler,
- Mart Hall,
- Wm. Stern,
- Wm. Chambers,
- Wm. Westlake,
- James Hogan,
- Gillen Alexander,
- John Grimshaw,
- Mike McCarthy,
- S. H. Driscoll,
- Wm. Reeves.
As to the improvements in the manufacture of stoves since the early days, Mr. James Alexander says all the change has been made in the patterns to secure a much lighter casting, which is harder to make, so the molder today is more skillful than ever, but he uses tools that are identical with those in use at the old Mt. Vernon foundry when as a boy he made his first cast. Molders now make one-fourth more work in a day than was customary 20 years ago and receive that much more pay.
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