Biography: Abraham Pott

Abraham Pott

Source: Pennsylvania Biographical Encyclopedia

POTT, ABRAHAM, Coal Miner, was born at Oley Forge, Berks county, Pennsylvania, May
20th, 1799. He is a son of John Pott, the founder of Pottsville. The family is of
German origin, and springs from two brothers who came to this county in 1732. John
Pott was one of a large family, all of whom became residents of Schuykill county,
About the year 1804, he purchased the “Physick Tract,” upon which Pottsville is now
built, beside other large parcels of land, including the site of the present town of
Port Carbon, his intention being to engage in the manufacturer of charcoal pig iron.
In 1806, he erected a furnace in that part of Pottsville now know as the “Orchard”,
at the northwest corner of Coal and Mauch Chunk streets.

A forge was built shortly
afterwards near the present location of the Pioneer Furnace. The ores used were bog
ore, procured in the neighborhood, and ball ore gathered from the surface of the
ground, the latter being the richest in quality. These remained in operation until
1827, when John Pott, the elder, died. It was demolished to make room for the canal
basin.

The Pott family moved to the furnace in 1810, at the time the Centre Turnpike
was approaching completion. The present site of Pottsville was in a state of nature,
except a log-house with half acre of cleared ground. The iron, as run from the
furnace, was cast into hollow ware and stoves, and traded to farmers, generally from
the Susquehanna for grain etc.

This was ground in the “Shollenburger Mill” which
John Pott erected, and in digging for the foundation the outcrops of coal veins were
struck, but this was not regarded of as any value. One David Berlin, a blacksmith,
however, conceived the idea that it might be used in a blacksmith’s fire, , and did
so use it for four months during the erection of the mill. He built his fire with
charcoal. Some others followed his example.

It was not until 1816 that the method of
burning it in stoves and grates was understood, and then Abraham Pott, who slept in
the mill, discovered it by accident. On a bitterly cold night during that winter he
built a roaring fire with hickory staves, and on this threw some small pieces of the
anthracite and retired to rest, but was awakened about four A.M. by the intense heat,
and found the stove red hot. He was much alarmed, and ran for his father, who came;
an investigation was made, and the true mode of using the coal in small pieces, and
not in large lumps, was made apparent.

At this time the Sckuylkill Canal was being
built, but it was designed for the use of the lumber trade. Coal was taken to
Philadelphia in 1821 on flats by Abraham Pott, also in 1822 and 1823, two or three
trips being made each year. The first boat built for the canal was by the company
called the “Pioneer”. Abraham Pott shortly after built the “Stephen Decatur”. They
each carried about twenty eight tons. In 1824, they started on the first trip to
Philadelphia, but only proceeded as far as Reading.

In 1821, the speculators in land
began to arrive, and during this year Abraham Pott started mining coal from Salem and
Tunnel veins, continued it for four years, and then operated and worked coal from
Guinea Hill. In 1826, he took a contract from the North American Coal Company to
deliver coal for $1.70 per ton into boats at the mouth of Mill Creek. The canal at
this time was just being completed from Mount Carbon to Port Carbon. He had been a
diligent reader of Strickland’s Reports on English Railways, and appreciated the
fact that coal could be moved cheaper by this mode than by wagons to the canal.

Though he never seen a railway, yet from these reports he undertook to construct
one, devising even the car to run on the road, and the style has never been altered.
This was the first railway laid down in Schuylkill county, and was of forty inch
gauge. The building of the railway necessitated the erection of a schute or bin to
hold the coal, and this he also constructed. When the canal was finished the
director of the company visited the work, and were amazed to see a single horse
drawing a train of eight or ten loaded cars with ease, and the ingenious devise for
dumping the coal into bin.

The projector was proud of his work, and advised the
directors to enlarge their canal, and at the next session of the Legislature to have
railroad privileges added to their charter but they treated the matter as chimerical.
In 1829, he went into partnership with Burd Patterson in the mining of coal on the
Mayfield tract, and was also connected with him in his early experiments in the
manufacture of pig-iron with anthracite coal.

Rev. Dr. Geisenheimer and his
coadjutor is due the credit of having made the first anthracite pig-metal. The
latter is still living, a hale, hearty old man, universally loved and esteemed. He
is almost the last of the old pioneers, and a memory singularly accurate, many a
pleasant hour is passed in his company by young men of the present generation, in
learning the history of the past from one who part of that history was.

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