Guide to the Records of the Brady's Bend Iron Company, 1845-1984(bulk 1845-1875)
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Guide to the Records of the Brady's Bend Iron Company
- Creator
- Brady's Bend Iron Company (Brady's Bend, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS#10
- Extent
- 2.0 cubic feet (3 boxes)
- Date
- 1845-1984
- Date
- 1845-1875
- Abstract
- Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania is located along the Allegheny River, seventy miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Brady's Bend's close proximity to Pittsburgh, and the ease by which materials could be transported along the Allegheny River made the site an attractive one for Philander C. Raymond, a New York ironmaster, who did the preliminary site survey of Brady's Bend. In February 1839, Mr. Raymond purchased the land that became the site of the Great Western Iron Company. The Company initially manufactured strip rails and quickly expanded their operations through 1842. In 1844, some of the previous owners of the Great Western secured financing and purchased the bankrupt company. The company was re-named the Brady's Bend Iron Company and immediately took advantage of the boom in the rail industry during the late 1840s. These records primarily include daily correspondence, financial records, ledgers, newspaper clippings, and stock certificates.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
Historical Sketch of the Brady's Bend Iron Company
Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania is located along the Allegheny River, seventy miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Brady's Bend's close proximity to Pittsburgh and the ease by which materials could be transported along the Allegheny River, made the site an attractive one for Philander C. Raymond, a New York ironmaster, who did the preliminary site survey of Brady's Bend. In February 1839, Mr. Raymond purchased the land that became the site of the Great Western Iron Company. The Company initially manufactured strip rails and quickly expanded their operations through 1842. However, by 1843, their fortunes had turned and they ceased operations while they sought more operating funds. One of the factors that affected the initial decline was the competition from other iron companies. The Company was continually plagued with financial problems except for a short time during the 1860s.
In 1844, some of the previous owners of the Great Western secured financing and purchased the bankrupt company. The company was re-named the Brady's Bend Iron Company and immediately took advantage of the boom in the rail industry during the late 1840s. However, competition from British iron companies drove numerous American companies into bankruptcy and forced most of the remaining companies to reexamine their operations. Such a reexamination took place at Brady's Bend in the late 1840s. At that time, Philander Raymond left the company and Richard Jennings served as its head, with J. B. Curtis serving as superintendent of the works. Under their guidance, the Company's furnaces and rolling mills were started and running at full capacity, requiring almost 500 employees. This reorganization allowed the Company to enjoy a great deal of success in the mid to late 1850s. However, the Panic of 1857 and the subsequent depression brought railroad construction and the inherent need for iron to a halt. Unable to find a market for their iron and losing the leadership of Sawyer to death in 1858, the Company shut down.
In early 1861, William B. Ogden took control of the Company. Ogden was the first mayor of Chicago and a noted capitalist who saw a great deal of potential by mixing his rail interests, including the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, with the Iron Company. His new management team consisted of Superintendent H. A. S. D. Dudley, Engineer Richard Jennings, John H. Haines, W. D. Slack, and Joseph Winslow. Ogden also brought to the Company a significant number of financial backers, including Henry R. Payson, Edwin H. Sheldon, and Samuel J. Tilden, lawyer and Democratic politician from New York. Even though there was an increased need for iron during the early years of the Civil War, the works only became operational in December 1862. Despite being under-capitalized with an initial stock offering of $45,000, the Company was able to meet the demands for iron rails and realize profits by mid 1863. The Company also established a larger role in their employees' lives by building houses for workers. The Board authorized Superintendent Dudley to build seventy houses for the workers' families (expanding to 150 by 1865), two churches (Presbyterian and Episcopal) and a grocery store. The rapid growth during the Civil War placed numerous economic constraints on the Company. Because of a manpower shortage, Dudley and Jennings received authorization to engage all the coal and iron miners they could find, even those directly from Europe, and bring them to Brady's Bend. Also, the Company's mines could not produce enough ore to meet the demands of the Company, forcing them to purchase more expensive ore and bring it to Brady's Bend by train at a higher cost.
With the end of the Civil War came a decline for Brady's Bend Iron Company. The inflated prices for their products were slashed while their operating costs remained the same. This disparity caused the Company to accrue an enormous debt and jeopardized its operations. On January 30, 1866, William Ogden resigned as president of the Company and chose Samuel G. Wheeler to replace him. In late 1867, Mr. Ogden resigned his seat on the Board of Directors. Mr. Wheeler immediately offered convertible bonds for the Company to raise the much-needed revenue, but could only raise 75% of the $200,000 worth of bonds. The extra money needed for operations came from the sale of real estate shortly after the bonds went to market.
Despite these financial problems, Brady's Bend continued producing iron. This allowed them to participate in the improved American economy of the late 1860s. One important link to this resurgence in the Company came when the railroads linked Brady's Bend to Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1868. The rapidly growing oil industry was now accessible to the Company and its products. As important as it was for sending finished products out of the Bend, it was also vitally important for bringing in raw materials.
In 1869, W.D. Slack assumed responsibility for managing the iron works. Brady's Bend grew tremendously under Mr. Slack's leadership. Despite assessed total value of holdings at over seven million dollars and employment of nearly 1400 in 1872, the Company still faced financial problems. Slack went to the traditional resources for funding and was unable to raise sufficient operating funds.
In March 1873, Brady's Bend faced their first major labor dispute as workers grew restless after not being paid for months. Miners and pudlers went out on a brief strike until reassurances were made that their pay was forthcoming. However, in June, the antiquated machinery broke down at the mill and the Company needed to cease operations for one week. In July 1873, the miners once again went out on strike, citing no real resolution to the salary disputes with the Company. The financial problems the company faced were overwhelming. In September 1873, the last shipment of rails were delivered and in October, they blew out all the furnaces. The demise of the Company was in many ways the demise of the Brady's Bend community; by the turn of the century, the population at the Bend shrunk to 400. In 1894, another attempt was made to open an iron company at the site of the Brady's Bend Iron Co., but this quickly failed. The new Brady's Bend Coal and Iron Company did not last until the turn of the century. The bank foreclosed and sold the land at Brady's Bend to Colonel Edward W. Dewey for $40,000 in 1901 and his son, Edward R. Dewey, managed the property throughout the later part of the 1900s. Sections of the land were leased for real estate, oil and gas development, and 1000 acres were donated for State Game Preserves.
Scope and Content Notes
These records primarily include daily correspondence, financial records, ledgers, newspaper clippings, and stock certificates. While these records are not comprehensive, they provide a number of significant groups of records. These include: correspondence, 1845-1849; financial and business records, 1851-1875; and extensive financial correspondence of Superintendent W.D. Slack, 1873-1875. The greatest concentration of these records provide information on the formation of the original Brady's Bend Iron Company, their production costs and iron output.
Arrangement
The Brady's Bend Iron Company records are arranged in three series. Series have been designated for correspondence, financial and business records, and publications.
The Brady's Bend Iron Company records are housed in three archival boxes, with folders and volumes arranged chronologically in the first series and alphabetically in the second and third series.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in one accession in 1975.
Acc# 1975.103 Gift of Edward R. Dewey (Records. Mr. Dewey owned the property that was the site of the Brady's Bend Iron Company. His father purchased the land in 1901).
Preferred Citation
Records of the Brady's Bend Iron Company, 1845-1984 (1845-1875), MSS# 10, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Ruth Salisbury Reid in 1975. Papers rearranged and inventory rewritten by Julia A. Prettion January 22, 1993.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on May 11, 2001.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Cambria Iron Works (Johnstown, Pa.)
- Clinton Iron and Nail Works (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Exchange Bank of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Great Western Iron Works (Brady's Bend, Pa.)
- Slack, W.D
- Raymond, Philander C
- Ogden, William B. (1805-1877)
- Curtis, J.B.
- Allegheny County (Pa.) -- Businesses
- Armstrong County (Pa.) -- Businesses
- Brady's Bend (Pa.) -- Businesses
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Businesses
- Blast Furnaces -- Pennsylvania
- Coal Mines and Mining -- Pennsylvania
- Coal Trade -- Pennsylvania
- Company Towns -- Pennsylvania -- Brady's Bend
- Immigrants -- Pennsylvania
- Iron Industry and Trade -- Pennsylvania
- Railroads -- Pennsylvania
- Transportation -- Pennsylvania