coal -haits, one near t) 1 present woolen factory, the other near the de

HI.STOitY O f
CLAV
COUNTY.
coal -haits, one near t) 1 present woolen factory, the other near the depot. both imnu liately on the lino of the Torre Haute & Richmond Railroad. In the .spring of ISol, he began operations and sunk the one near
the fact :ry, but never completed it HO as to hoist any coal. In the latter
part of the f-.u nun or of the same year, John Andrew, William Campbell,
James Kennedy and David Thomas put down the excavation for the one
near the 'hipot, hoisting all the dirt by hand power. From the lack of
means, or from some other cause, the work was abandoned. Several
years later, about lSoS, David C. Stunkard resumed operations by the application of hoi e-power machinery, and began hoisting and shipping
coal. But at an earlier period than this, John Weaver opened and operated a slopo a short distance northeast of Brazil, and shipped the first
coal sent over the TVrro Haut.o & Richmond Railroad to Indianapolis.
The deposit of canuel coal is but limited, as at present known. The
only point at which it has developod and is now operated is on the
Phipps or Cooprid'T place, within a mile of Clay City. The first carload of this coal was shipped by Eli Cooprider to tho Terro Haute gas
works in tho latter part of tho year 1SS1.
Of the building stones there is an abundanco of sandstone, variable
in quality in different localities. So general is tho distribution through-,
out tho county, that ono or more quarries are accessible to almost every
section. • Somo of these wore opened and worked at a very early day.
As early as 1S34-35, perhaps, quarries were worked in tho locality of
-Judge Wools's, near the present site of Nowburg, to supply stone for the
building oE bridges and culverts on the National road. A. species of
limestone was also quarried in tho same neighborhood and used for the
same purpose, but did not prove to bo durable. At tho Bollaire and the
Rhodes bluff, a massive rock of good qualities crops out into tho river.
Hero was quarried all tho stone used in tho construction of tho Feeder
Dam as early as 1S37. Hero, too, were obtained the supplies for the
building of tho basements and walls of tho warehouses put up at Bollaire
from 1S52 to 1857. And here, too, tho contractors on the river bridge
at tho dam, in 187S, quarried and boated down tho stone for tho abutments of that structure, Thoro are various outcroppings around tho
margin of the Middlebury Hill. Three quarries have boon in operation
for some years—on tho John Cooprider place, on the north side of town,
on the Eliqs Cooprider place, a little to tho west, and on tho Brandenburg place, on the southwest. From the first of these, now known as the
Chamberlain quarry, the stone was hauled for tho building of tho original aqueduct across Birch Creek in 1837. It now supplies, in tho main,
the building stone used at Clay City. Tho qualities of the product of
tries > quarries are similar, excepting a difference in favor of that taken
from the Elias Cooprider place, which admits of a polish. On the
Sammy Risley place, west side of Eol River, a fow miles above the
HIBTOB.Y
OF C L A Y
COUNTY.
" 2 5 "
Thomas Ferry, is an excellent white Bandstono, which lias been much
used. At this placo woro obtained the supplies for the Poland River
bridge in 1872. Near this point is, also,the generally well-known quarry
on the former John Rocky place.
This is a seamless rock.
Years
ago, though but little worked now, the Cornwell quarry, on Otter Creel;,
two miles north of Brazil, was the most noted ono in the north part of
the county. This stone is a very fine grit, and was manufactured into
grindstones at an early day. On the Simonson place, a mile and a half
south of Brazil, a very durable sandstono has been worked, which for
many years supplied Brazil foundation stones, lintels, steps, etc. This
stone is, also, a good grit. In the building of the Hooker's Point bridge,
in 187(5, the stone were quarried on the Rodgers place, near the west
border of the county, which aro pronounced a very good quality. A
quantity was first quarried for this purpose at the outcropping in the
bluff of the old canal, just below the bridge, but was rejected. A superior quality of sandstone for building and for the base of marble monuments, apparently inexhaustible in quantity, is now quarried on the M.
H. Konnedy or Pierce place, one mile northwest of Newburg. Prom
this point Brazil has cjrawn its supplies mostly for the past few years.
Considerable quantities have been quarried, at different times, covering
a period of many years, on the site and immediately to the east of the town
of Bowling Greon. Here were obtained, in 1861, the stone used in the
building of the present jail at that place.
If there is any limestone in the county which will serve to make a
good quality of quick-lime, its locality has not yet been fixed by actual
experiment. If any exists, it is to be found on Jordan.
Of the valuable clays, there are two kinds—fireclay and potter's
clay. The former, becauso of its refractory property, is used in the manufacture of fire-brick, employed when a high degree of resistance to heat
is required, and in tho construction of proof buildings. This clay has
been minod, mostly on Otter Creek, two miles north of Brazil, where Dr.
Mansur Wright, of Indianapolis, established works for the manufacture
of such brick and terra cotta work in 3873, which were operated but for
a few years. The ordinary clay brick liavo been made extensively in all
parts of tho county for many years. Tho first kiln was burned near tho
present town of Harmony just fifty years ago.
Potter's clay is abundant, and stoneware, as it is called, has been
manufactured in various parts of the county. Early in the '40's, perhaps,
a shop and kiln were located at Cloverland, and another, on a smaller
scale, on tho Perry place, northeast of Brazil. Some years later, shops
were put in operation on Otter Creek and in tho vicinity by Ivolsey,
Bracknoy, Cordray, Sapp and others.
In .1817, Truman Smith & Son
went from Cloverland to Middlobury, and put up the shop and kiln on the
present Evorhart place. Soon after this, another was located on the