David Thomas (November 3, 1794 – June 20, 1882) was a native of
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
who was influential in the birth of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
in the United States.
Development of the hot blast
David Thomas was born in
Cadoxton, near
Neath
Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...
.
[ He went to school at nearby ]Alltwen
Alltwen (or Allt-wen; translates to "white wooded slope") is a village in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. Alltwen forms part of the community of Cilybebyll and is administered separately from adjoining Pontardawe on the opposit ...
and at Neath, and worked on his father's farm before going into the iron industry. He married Elizabeth Hopkins in 1817.
As an adult, he was widely regarded as one of the foremost ironmasters in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It was while employed at the Yniscedwyn Works, in Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais (, ) is a town on the River Tawe in southwest Powys, Wales. It is the second-largest town in Powys and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes ...
in the Swansea Valley
The Swansea Valley ( cy, Cwm Tawe) is one of the South Wales Valleys. It is the valley from the Brecon Beacons National Park to the sea at Swansea of the River Tawe in Wales. Administration of the area is divided between the City and County of Sw ...
, that he devised the process which would advance the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. On February 5, 1837, Thomas used a hot blast
Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a blast furnace or other metallurgical process. As this considerably reduced the fuel consumed, hot blast was one of the most important technologies developed during the Industrial Revolution. ...
to smelt iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
and anthracite coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
.[ The result was an easy method to produce ]anthracite iron
Anthracite iron or anthracite pig iron is the substance created by the smelting together of anthracite coal and iron ore, that is using anthracite coal instead of charcoal to smelt iron ores—and was an important historic advance in the late-1 ...
, which revolutionized industry in the Swansea Valley. This type of iron had been patented by Edward Martin of Morriston
Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a Community (Wales), community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston (electoral ward), Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county.
Morriston is sometimes ref ...
, Wales in 1804.
In 1839 he relocated to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, where the owners of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LCAN) (1988–2010) was a modern-day anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It acquired many properties and relaunched the Lehigh Coal Companies brand in 1988. The LCAN r ...
in Lehigh County wanted Thomas to build a furnace for the production of anthracite iron. The Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
region, being rich in both anthracite coal and iron ore, was the perfect setting for Thomas's creation.
Emigration to Pennsylvania
Thomas and his son, Samuel, walked into the infant community of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania
Catasauqua, referred to colloquially as Catty, is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Catasauqua's population was 6,518 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th ...
, on the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's towpath on July 9, 1839. Less than one year later, on July 4, 1840, the first successful anthracite iron furnace in the United States began operation.
Thomas's iron works was extremely successful, even though the iron industry in the rest of the Lehigh Valley had begun to decline. The company was incorporated in 1839 as the Lehigh Crane Iron Company
The Lehigh Crane Iron Company (later simply the Crane Iron Company) was a major ironmaking firm in the Lehigh Valley from its founding in 1839 until its sale in 1899. It was founded under the patronage of Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, and fin ...
, and in 1872 the name was changed to the Crane Iron Company. By that time the community was no longer known as Craneville, but as Catasauqua;[ Thomas had named both his company and the town in which he founded it after his former employer in Wales.
Iron produced at the Crane Iron Company was used in a number of products, many of which were made elsewhere in Catasauqua. The neighbouring company of John Fritz's Iron Foundry used Crane iron to build the first American-made cast-iron construction columns, while the nearby Davies and Thomas Foundry turned Crane iron into pipes and tunnel tubes. Among the still-existing structures which were created using Crane iron are the ]Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
and Lincoln Tunnel
The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned New Y ...
s in New York City.
Thomas's industry helped the small town to become quite prosperous, and he himself became a wealthy landowner.
Philanthropy and honors
Thomas's wealth and generosity with it endeared him to his neighbors. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were known as "the father and mother of Catasauqua", and frequently addressed as Mother and Father Thomas.
A devout Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, Thomas founded the first church in the borough of Catasauqua, in which residents still worship. He installed its first public water system, founded its first fire company, and served as its first burgess. He provided a number of neat, attractive homes for his employees, many of which are still standing today.
Additional accolades were presented to "Father Thomas" for his transformational ideas and vision. He was named the first president of the (then known as the American Society of Metallurgy), and was one of the founders of the American Association of Industrial Engineers.
Death and legacy
Thomas died from pneumonia in Catasauqua on June 20, 1882.[ He, his wife Elizabeth, and generations of their descendants are all buried in the Thomas family vault, a sort of underground mausoleum at Fairview Cemetery in West Catasauqua. The Thomas family mansion, located on Second Street in Catasauqua, is still standing, though its interior has since been divided into apartments.
In 1898, Leonard Peckitt took the reins as president of the Crane Iron Company. He proceeded to purchase a number of other companies in the region, uniting them all under the incorporation of the Empire Steel and Iron Company. Though Peckitt was a shrewd businessman, he could not hide forever the fact that the 20th century brought changes to the iron industry, and that the company was beginning to lose money. The last furnace at the Crane Iron Company ceased operation in 1921; by 1935, most of the plant had been demolished, and little remains of the company's plant today. What does still exist is in the possession of the borough of Catasauqua, which is currently working to transform it into a shopping and dining destination.Catasauqua.org: Our vision for the Iron Works]
/ref>
Sources
*''Images of America: Catasauqua and North Catasauqua'' by Martha Capwell Fox (Arcadia Publishing 2002)
WelshDragon.net: Historical Wales Timeline
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, David
Foundrymen
British ironmasters
Welsh industrialists
American manufacturing businesspeople
People from Swansea
People from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Welsh emigrants to the United States
1794 births
1882 deaths
19th-century Welsh businesspeople
19th-century American businesspeople
American ironmasters