History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917; - citizen hylbom blog

BUSINESS
Swansea, first of all is an Agricultural Town—and as such
has held a high rank
Forges and Iron-Works
4 S early as 1645, works were set up at Lynn, but the people
/\ objected to them through fear that the use of so much
charcoal would deplete the supply of wood. In 1646,
one Dr. Child, at Braintree, produced some tons of castiron
untensils, such as pots, stoves, mortars, and skillets. But the
works were soon abandoned, perhaps because of the absence of
iron-mines to supply material, and the lack of coal, or other
suitable fuel. In 1652, there came from Pontipool, Wales,
James and Henry Leonard, with Ralph Russell, and at
Raynham, they begun the use of "bog-iron." This was the beginning
of the Taunton-Raynham iron-works, which was continued
by the Leonards during seven generations.
Other works of this kind were set up, in Kingston, and in
Middleborough, where considerable deposits of bog-iron were
discovered; and worked with success and profit; such manufactures
being, of course, very important to the colonies.
"For generations new deposits of bog-iron were found.
In 1751, a century from the building of the first works, Joseph
Holmes, fishing in Jones' River Pond, Kingston, caught a
fragment of ore on his hook; the bed so revealed was worked
until it had produced three thousand tons, some of which
formed balls for Washington's artillery."
Note. The bog-ore was usually loose on the bottom of
the ponds. A man with a sort of oyster-tongs could get a half
a ton in a day; this made some two hundred and fifty pounds
of good iron, and was worth in the rough state about three
dollars—a large return for a day's work in Colonial times.
Pilgrim Republic,
In the eastern part of Swansea, on a farm now owned by
John Tattersall is a spot that has long been known as *'the
iron mine, " probably because traces of iron rust are to be seen
there; and possibly because deposits of ore may have been
worked there in the early history of the town.
That there were forges and iron-works in Swansea, as
indicated by the deed which follows is not surprising.