John Means
In 1819 there went from Spartanburg, S. C., to Hanging Rock, on the Ohio side of the river, a certain man named John Means, carrying his slaves with him. He was an abolitionist, but not being able to manumit his slaves in his native State, he sold his possessions there, and with his family and negroes emigrated to the nearest point where he could set them free. In 1826 John Means, built a charcoal furnace near his home, and began the manufacture of pig-iron. The Union, as he named it, was the first iron furnace north of the Ohio in this district. In Ashland your correspondent met Mr. Thomas W. Means, a son of the pioneer furnace-builder. This gentleman, now 83 years old, has a vivid recollection of those early times, and of the hardships which all who made iron had to endure because of free-trade tendencies and laws. In 1837 he leased the Union Furnace of his father, and ever since he has been connected with it as lessee or owner. At first they made from three to four tons a day, and when they increased the output to thirty tons a week, it was considered a wonderful performance.
Speaking of those days, Mr. Means said: "When I leased Union Furnace corn sold for twelve and a half cents a bushel, and wheat for from twenty-four to twenty-six cents. Wages for competent laborers were only ten dollars a month. I made a trip to New Orleans and saw wheat sold there for a quarter of a dollar a bushel, and corn on the cob at the same price per barrel.
"We used only maple sugar in those days, and paid for the commonest molasses thirty-two cents a gallon. Our woollen goods were woven on hand-looms. It took six yards of calico to make a dress, and the material cost, half a dollar a yard. There are more people in Ironton now than there were then in the county. We saw no gold, and little silver coin except in small pieces. Our circulation was chiefly bills of State banks, and those were continually breaking. From 1854 to 1861 I kept my furnaces going, but sold very little iron-only enough to keep me in ready money.
"Charcoal iron was then worth from $10 to $14 a ton. In 1863 I had an accumulated stock of 16,000 tons. Next year it advanced to $40, which I thought a fine lift, but in 1864 it netted me $80 a ton. For eight years before the war, nearly all the furnace-owners were in debt, but creditors did not distress them, for they were afraid of iron, the only asset they could get, and so they carried their customers the best they could, hoping all round for better times.
We are all right and so is the country, if the fools will quit tariff-meddling."
From Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol 2, by Henry Howe. (pub 1888)