Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Steel
William Martin, blacksmith, purchased seventeen pounds of steel at the Colden Store on this day, 250 years-ago.
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| DayBook entry of May 30, 1768 for William Martin, blacksmith. Image courtesy of New-York Historical Society. |
Colden had sold steel on six other occasions. It was sold at between 10 and 12 pence per pound. In one case he refers to the steel as "Blister Steel" and in another as "1 Bar Steel."
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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
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Other purchasers of steel included my relative, Jonathan Campbell, who bought 44 pounds. He was not known as a blacksmith, but his apprentice and younger brother, Reuben, was later referred to as a blacksmith. Helmus Welder bought 25 #, Robert Boyd (see prior blog) bought 10 1/4 #, Patrick Shay bought 9 1/2 #, and Higans Conkling bought 9 #.
Two blacksmiths identified in the DayBook, but who did not purchase steel at the store, were James Gardner and Thomas Burnet.
It is interesting that no iron was sold by the store. Iron must have been available locally from iron furnaces, bloomeries, and forges in the area.
Blister Steel may have been imported from England, and perhaps that is why Colden had it at the store? It still seems a bit unusual as the common practice of the British was to only export finished items with the purpose of keeping blacksmiths in England employed.
Blister Steel was made by cooking wrought iron with charcoal for a week or more in air-tight 'pots.' During the process the iron incorporated about 1% carbon resulting in steel. The gases emitted during the process left the metal with a blistered appearance.
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