68. WHMC-Columbia--James, Lucy Wortham, Collection, 1801-1895 (C0001)--INVENTORY
Holland; Felton, Fanny; Felton, J. Felton, John H. Felton, Melissa; Felton, Milly (Millie); Felton, Ruth; Fenley, Mounle; fenton, elijah; Fenwick, Robert W.
http://whmc.umsystem.edu/invent/0001.html |
James, Lucy Wortham, Collection, 1801-1895 (C0001) 23 linear feet, 234 oversize volumes (volumes also available on 58 rolls of microfilm) MICROFILM INTRODUCTION The records of the Maramec Iron Works in St. James, Missouri, and the papers of the James family, who owned the iron works, includes financial records, correspondence, and account books. The correspondence discusses the hiring of slaves, prices, banking and financial conditions, transportation costs and railroads, political conditions, immigration, and the Civil War. DONOR INFORMATION The James Collection was donated to the University of Missouri by the James Foundation on 16 October 1953 (Accession No. 3182). HISTORICAL SKETCH “Nathaniel Cook first discovered hematite, an iron ore, in the Maramec Springs area while surveying for the US General Land Office in 1823. He wrote that it would serve as an excellent iron works in his report. Thomas James, an Ohio banker and merchant, met up with a band of hematite painted Shawnee Indians in 1825. He realized that their paint might be from an economically valuable deposit so he asked to be led there by the Indians. When James visited the area, he also realized it had all the resources needed for an iron works all in one small area. There was an accessible iron deposit, a large spring for waterpower, limestone/dolomite to use as a flux, and good timber to provide firewood. James established the first iron smelter west of the Mississippi in 1826. Thomas James transferred the iron works to his son William in 1843. High demand during the Civil War and modernization kept the iron works in operation until 1876. Two major drawbacks to the Maramec Iron Works, which helped lead to its downfall, were that it was far from large markets and that the transportation network in the area was poorly developed at the time. During the heyday of the iron works, a company town housing 500 people existed nearby. | |
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