It Happened Here--The Electric State, Part I
For generations, Schenectady, as home of General Electric, was known as the "Electric City", but one could make the argument that New York State, as well, might be a contender for the title of the "Electric State". In addition to being the home of Mr. Edison's company, New York State was the birthplace and home to one of his chief competitors George Westinghouse. Some of the first pioneering work on electricity was done in Albany, right across from the State Capitol, and the first industrial application of that work was employed in the iron mining region of the eastern Adirondacks. On a less positive note, one of New York's prisons was the first to employ the electric chair! This post will look at the earliest contributions of New York in the development of electricity.
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| Academy Park, Albany |
In the first decades of the 19th century the idea that basic primary education for the citizenry was essential in a democracy was just beginning to take hold, while secondary education was seen mostly as an ornament for the upper class who could afford to pay for it themselves. The fact that Joseph Henry, son of a scotch immigrant day laborer, who died when Joseph was a boy, attended Albany Academy was remarkable. In 1819 Henry's talent and drive was recognized and he was enrolled and given free tuition. Though he intended to go into medicine, he was drawn to science, after he read a book Popular Lectures on Experimental Philosophy (1813). By 1823 he was assisting his teachers in teaching science. In 1824 he obtained a position as an assistant engineer working on a new road to be laid out between the Hudson and Lake Erie. Following a period where he worked as a district schoolteacher and tutor, the laborer's son became a professor of mathematics and "natural philosophy" at Albany Academy. Though he often worked seven hours a day teaching and tutoring in mathematics, he was able to pursue his own studies and a course of experimentation. From his survey work he developed an interest in terrestrial magnetism, and from that, magnetism in general. From 1826 to 1832 he taught and did some of his most important work discovering the principle of self induction and producing some of the strongest electo-magnets created to date, preparing the way for the creation of the telegraph and producing the first direct current motor. In 1832, though he had never attended any college, he was hired to the faculty of Princeton University.
Allen Penfield and Timothy Taft came from Vermont in 1807, setting up a successful store and sawmill in the hamlet that became Irondale, now Ironville. When high quality iron ore was discovered in 1826 they used the profits from that store and sawmill to buy land and set up a refining business. (Since colonial times the region had been recognized for its iron ore, but until the advent of the Champlain Canal in 1823 large scale production was not practicable.) By 1828 they had a forge and a mill powered by two water wheels.
At their mill, iron bearing rock was ground and the heavier ore captured by running it through sluices. But this process worked only moderately well as a great amount of iron was washed away. In 1812 a magnetic ore separator had been invented by Samuel Browning but it had never been employed because it would only work with magnetite, a ferrous mineral not commonly found. The ore at the Penfield Pit, however, did contain a high proportion of magnetite. Soon after they began operation, the owners began getting requests for small quantities of magnetite from the young professor of "natural philosophy" at Albany Academy. Thus, they heard about Joseph Henry's work. When they learned that Henry's electro-magnets could be used to make "permanent" magnets, Penfield and Taft decided to build their own magnetic separator, a rotating drum that was studded with points of magnetized iron, to which the magnetite would adhere. In 1831 they sent Henry a set of their iron points to be magnetized. After the separator was in operation Penfield and Taft ordered from Henry a large electomagnet and voltanic cell so they could recharge their magnetic points, whenever they needed, on site--the first industrial use of electricity!
When the large electomagnet was not being used, the operators of the mill would often demonstrate its power to curious visitors by supporting a large anvil from it. News of the marvelous machine spread far and wide and attracted a visit from a Vermont blacksmith, Thomas Davenport. Davenport, fascinated by it, offered Penfield and his partners $75 for the magnet. Taking it home with him, in 1833, he took it apart, redesigned the core and the windings and created the first electric motor that produced rotary motion.
For 70 years the mill at Ironville produced high quality iron. Its superiority was endorsed by the U.S. Navy that specified Ironville iron for use in its anchor chains. When a foundery in Troy began production of iron plates for the U.S.S. Monitor during the Civil War, Ironville iron was used.
Penfield and his partners became wealthy. In 1872 the mill was consolidated with other mining and milling operations around Crown Point and Port Henry and Penfield sold his interest in the operation.
The Penfield family moved from the area, but returned to the homestead, summers. The mining operation continued until around the turn of the century when it closed in the face of competition from mining operations from the Masabi range in Minnesota.
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| At the Penfield Homestead, Essex Co Rte, 2, Ironville |
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| Allen Penfield's Home (the Mill exists as a foundation ruin) |
At their mill, iron bearing rock was ground and the heavier ore captured by running it through sluices. But this process worked only moderately well as a great amount of iron was washed away. In 1812 a magnetic ore separator had been invented by Samuel Browning but it had never been employed because it would only work with magnetite, a ferrous mineral not commonly found. The ore at the Penfield Pit, however, did contain a high proportion of magnetite. Soon after they began operation, the owners began getting requests for small quantities of magnetite from the young professor of "natural philosophy" at Albany Academy. Thus, they heard about Joseph Henry's work. When they learned that Henry's electro-magnets could be used to make "permanent" magnets, Penfield and Taft decided to build their own magnetic separator, a rotating drum that was studded with points of magnetized iron, to which the magnetite would adhere. In 1831 they sent Henry a set of their iron points to be magnetized. After the separator was in operation Penfield and Taft ordered from Henry a large electomagnet and voltanic cell so they could recharge their magnetic points, whenever they needed, on site--the first industrial use of electricity!
When the large electomagnet was not being used, the operators of the mill would often demonstrate its power to curious visitors by supporting a large anvil from it. News of the marvelous machine spread far and wide and attracted a visit from a Vermont blacksmith, Thomas Davenport. Davenport, fascinated by it, offered Penfield and his partners $75 for the magnet. Taking it home with him, in 1833, he took it apart, redesigned the core and the windings and created the first electric motor that produced rotary motion.
For 70 years the mill at Ironville produced high quality iron. Its superiority was endorsed by the U.S. Navy that specified Ironville iron for use in its anchor chains. When a foundery in Troy began production of iron plates for the U.S.S. Monitor during the Civil War, Ironville iron was used.
Penfield and his partners became wealthy. In 1872 the mill was consolidated with other mining and milling operations around Crown Point and Port Henry and Penfield sold his interest in the operation.
The Penfield family moved from the area, but returned to the homestead, summers. The mining operation continued until around the turn of the century when it closed in the face of competition from mining operations from the Masabi range in Minnesota.
Marker of the Week --Wait, Did I Miss Something? 2012? 2020?
History is often about politics, but not so often about political theater. Someone here must certainly have been committed to the campaign to stop hydrofracking as a method of recovering natural gas. At nearly $1000 each, cast iron or aluminum markers are not a cheap form of advertising to make a political statement!
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| NYS 212, Bearsville |
History is often about politics, but not so often about political theater. Someone here must certainly have been committed to the campaign to stop hydrofracking as a method of recovering natural gas. At nearly $1000 each, cast iron or aluminum markers are not a cheap form of advertising to make a political statement!
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