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THE POWDER HOLE A SHORT HISTORY OF THE

DUPONT POWDER WORKS

LOCATED AT WAPWALLOPEN

BY ROGER W. GILBERT

June 22, 2003

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THE POWDER HOLE

EARLY POSTCARD

A view of the trestle above the Lower Falls Courtesy Tom Adams

The Powder Hole, located between Wapwallopen and Hobbie on the Big Wapwallopen Creek,

was a manufacturing facility from the year 1855 (five years before the American Civil War) to

approximately the year 1913. The product of this large facility, as you may know, was black

powder, also known as “blasting powder” or “gun powder”, although the Wapwallopen Mills

were utilized exclusively for the manufacture of blasting powder. Black Powder is credited as

having been invented in China nearly 1,000 years ago. It was used for fireworks by the Chinese

who apparently gave little thought to its use as a weapon or to aid in mining. Marco Polo, an

Italian merchant, was said to have brought black powder to Europe before Columbus discovered

America. The Europeans learned to use black powder to propel projectiles, or bullets, in what we

call “firearms”, or simply, “guns”. These people also used the powder for blasting rocks to make

mining and quarrying much easier. It was to fulfill this last application of Black Powder that the

Wapwallopen Mills were operated.

Northeastern Pennsylvania is the center of approximately 90% of the nation’s Anthracite Coal

deposits that stretch from near Harrisburg to north of Scranton. This coal differed from the more

common bituminous coal in that it burned much cleaner, having a higher percentage of carbon

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and fewer impurities such as Sulfur. This purity made it desirable for home heating as well as the

basis for many industrial chemicals. When first discovered, people found it very difficult to

ignite the hard coal (a high temperature was required), and when it was finally ignited, the people

found it difficult to find the right means of containing it such that its great heat could be best

utilized. In the early Nineteenth Century, Judge Fell from Wilkes-Barre developed cast iron

grates that would work best with the Anthracite. Soon afterwards, mining of Anthracite began in

earnest, and the demand for blasting powder skyrocketed.

The black powder as made in the Wapwallopen Mills was composed of three things. These

things were fairly easy for men to gather and process. They are: Charcoal, Sulfur and Potassium

(later, Sodium) Nitrate. Charcoal is made from wood that is heated up to high temperatures

without actually burning it (rather like baking a cake!), which drives off all the volatile gases and

leaves behind a reasonably pure form of carbon. In addition, byproducts such as creosote and

turpentine were produced. There were two Charcoal Houses at the Wapwallopen Mills, the

largest of which was just down the road from the village of Powder Glen. Sulfur is mined from

the earth. Potassium Nitrate was imported from India, and was the major expenditure in the

manufacture of blasting powder. Lammot du Pont later invented a blasting powder that utilized

Sodium Nitrate in lieu of the much more costly Potassium Nitrate. The new powder was

produced at a much lower cost than had been previously possible. It must be noted that

Potassium Nitrate was still necessary for firearms as it was able to be more highly refined,

permitting greater control over the rate of burning. In firearms, it is important that powder

behaves virtually the same way every time it is used. This is required not only for safety’s sake,

but also for the accuracy of the firearm.

Sodium Nitrate was made from the droppings of birds and bats. The birds, as well as the bats,

live in huge colonies such that, over time, their droppings add up to thousands of tons. The bird

droppings came from near Chile, in South America, and were called “guano” by the natives of

that region. It was hauled to the powder mills after coming by ship from Chile. Sodium Nitrate

was refined by placing the guano in large kettles, then forcing steam through it. The steam

cooked off the impurities (those parts which don’t help the Sodium Nitrate do its job), and left

only the Sodium Nitrate (also called “Soda” or “Saltpeter”). This, and many other of the

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processes to make the powder, was very dangerous! We’ll take a closer look at the dangers and

the making of the black powder later in this article.

In 1855, a man named Silvers, whose relatives still live in Nescopeck and around this area,

started a black powder works in the Powder Hole with his partner, Mr. Parrish. He wanted to

make powder for the mines in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and other mining towns in

Northeast Pennsylvania. Anthracite coal was becoming popular at that time, thanks to the

invention of cast iron grates which could stand up to the great heat provided by the coal. Until

Mr. Silvers opened his factory, much of the powder used in the local mines had to be hauled into

Northeast Pennsylvania, primarily from Delaware, the site of the great Du Pont Company.

Water always flows down hill, and in so doing, creates energy. The Big Wapwallopen Creek

was once greater in terms of flow (gallons of water per hour) and the engineers dammed the

creek and directed the flow into a large conduit (or pipe) from which smaller pipes directed the

water down hill to the individual buildings which used the power thus created. The large conduit

was called a “forebay”.

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The excavation on the hillside which was created for this large pipe still exists today. There was

plenty of water to turn the largest mills. Many of you have seen “water wheels”. It was

precisely this concept that was used to turn the power of falling water into rotary power. One can

see in the next illustration that the wooden “pipe” carried the water directly to the turbine that

then turned the main shaft. An array of pulleys and belts, depending upon the work to be done,

was driven by this main shaft. In the powder mills proper, there was usually only one machine

turned by a turbine.

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SCHEME OF WATER POWERED SHAFT AS USED IN EARLY INDUSTRY

The mills were of various types. One of the largest was called the Elephant. It had two huge

(some 12 tons in weight) cast iron wheels connected with an axle and which would rotate about a

central shaft, looking not unlike the narrowly-spaced front tires of some farm tractors. Beneath

the cast iron wheels was a large plate of iron, or “bed plate”. The three ingredients of black

powder were placed upon the iron plate and moistened with a little water (to prevent sparking).

Then, the large wheels were placed in motion and the ingredients were ground together into a

homogenous mixture . . . similar to mixing sugar and flour in order to make cake and cookies.

None of the men were in the building when the wheels were started. There was always danger of

an explosion. Remember, black powder is intended to explode...that is how it does its useful

work. You may wonder how the mills were started if none of the men were inside. The answer

is that they were started from another building some distance from the mill. There, by the means

of gears and levers, an operator would engage the water power to turn the mills at some safe

distance. One such building still stands today. It is very small and has very thick concrete walls,

offering protection from the man or men who started the mill. I give no photo because of the

garbage that has been thrown in the building . . . literally to where the roof once rested!

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After a thorough grinding, the big wheels were stopped and the powder was taken out using wooden shovels. Shovels made of wood would not spark and, therefore, would not start an

explosion. After some intermediate processing, the powder was moved to a “Corning” mill,

where it was formed into small pellets of different sizes. Depending on the application for the

black powder, the size is important as it controls the rate of burning. Powder for firearms, like

the muzzle-loaders still in use today, is fairly fine in texture. Powder used for blasting rock in

the mines and in quarries is somewhat coarse and burns slower. Modern gunpowders, made of

nitrocellulose, still maintain control over the size of the grains for the same reasons.

After the powder was formed into grains, it was moved to the “Can House” where it was packed

into metal cans or wooden kegs. Note that the powder inside the can would not be exposed to

sparks, so the metal container was very safe. Then the powder was moved to a building called

the “Magazine”, which was far away from any other buildings. There it was stored until time for

shipment to the mines or other destination. A small railroad ran the length of the mill property

and on down to the Susquehanna River.

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In earlier times, the rail cars were drawn by horses wearing shoes of gutta-percha (a rubber-like

substance), again to avoid the deadly sparks.

At Wapwallopen, the powder was ferried across the river where it was picked up by the

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The powder was dangerous to carry, being placed

on a car that was isolated from the rest of the train by one or more empty cars. Once on the

railroad, the powder was carried off to its destination. Some nearby (one day’s round trip)

deliveries were actually made by horse and wagon.

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The engineers, principally Lammot du Pont, designed the buildings and machinery with the

expectation that there would be explosions. Then, as now, buildings were expensive. The

engineers wanted to save as much of the building as possible, so they designed each building that

might be host to an explosion with three masonry walls; the remaining wall and the roof were

made of corrugated iron. The iron roof and wall acted as a “safety-relief valve” when an

explosion occurred. They would blow off in time for all the blast to be directed away from the

other buildings and into the hillside or toward the creek, where little harm would be done.

Afterwards, the workers would gather up the iron panels, hammer them straight again and then

re-install them in their former location. So, the mills were ready to run in the shortest possible

time and with the lowest repair cost. It is interesting that E. I. du Pont brought this concept for

mill construction with him from France, where it was incorporated in gunpowder manufacture

even before the American Revolution! The concept of rupture panels is still applied today in

many forms of technology. It should also be noted that the large Press Mills (most likely of all to

explode) were actually built into a hillside to reduce the amount of damage that could occur.

Another safety feature was the utilization of many separate buildings (there were nearly 100 at

the Wapwallopen works) rather than one large, central structure. If one building exploded, the

others were usually spared thanks to the distance that separated them. In addition, the trees and

other growth were kept to provide additional barriers to the shock wave and flying debris.

Did the mills ever explode and was anyone ever injured . . . or even killed? The answer to all is,

“Yes!” Everyone who worked in these powder mills knew of the danger. Some of the buildings

had sliding boards to the outside such that the men could get out in a hurry. Unfortunately,

injurious or fatal explosions often took place in spite of precautions. On February 10, 1888, four

men were killed in an explosion that shattered windows in Powder Glen and around the

countryside. There is a monument to those four at the Mt. Zion Church in Briggsville, where the

remains of the four are buried. My Grandfather, E. E. Grover, told an event that took place some

years later. He was driving a team of white horses and saw a flash of flame, whereupon he

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jumped into a ditch just before the shock wave of the explosion and the flames reached him. The

poor horses, however, were not so fortunate and they were badly burned. One man was killed.

My Grandfather was unhurt, although terribly frightened.

Mrs. Nelly Diehl told me of when she was a child (during the 1888 explosion). She was playing

on the parlor floor of the Everard home (Will Everard was her father --this home is now owned

and occupied by the Bogart family). During the instant of the large explosion referenced above,

the door of their home was blown right off its hinges! Some of the splinters were blown across

the room with such force that they injured Nelly’s mother who had been sewing while watching

her little girl at play. She also told me that the beautiful stained-glass windows of the Methodist

Church were similarly blown out, as were all the windows in all the homes in Powder Glen and

nearby. I have been told that, following an explosion, pieces of wood and other material would

be falling from the sky for several minutes. The blast was heard at Hazleton, 14 miles away! The

valley of the Big Wapwallopen Creek would hang heavy with smoke for several hours. If

you’ve been to a high school football game or carnival where fireworks are set off as a

display, you know the characteristic odor of black powder. That heavy, smelly smoke you have

experienced is the same stuff that filled the creek valley many years ago. The difference is that,

in the mill explosion, there was enough powder to make hundreds of thousands of fireworks like

the ones at the football field or at the carnival!

How large was the operation at Wapwallopen and how much was it worth? This is difficult to

answer, but the following excerpt (from: Alfred I. du Pont - The Man and His Family -- by

Joseph Frazier Wall; Oxford University Press; 1990) gives a clue.

“The Du Pont (sic) Company owned (circa 1902) and directly controlled five

separate powder plants: the original mills on the Brandywine; the world’s largest

black powder plant at Mooar, Iowa; the somewhat (italics by RWG) smaller black

powder mill at Wapwallopen, near Scranton Pennsylvania; the Sycamore plant

near Nashville, Tennessee; and the smokeless powder works at Carney’s Point,

New Jersey. As Pierre (du Pont) had correctly assumed, the five plants were

greatly undervalued on the company books. They had a collective book value of

only slightly over $2,000,000, although their replacement value would be several

times that amount. The Mooar plant, as the largest, and most modern and

efficient black powder company in the country, alone had a value well over

$2,000,000.”

This implies, of course, that the value of the Wapwallopen Mills at this time was around

$2,000,000. This was the time when the “Three Cousins” (Alfred I., T. Coleman and

Pierre S. du Pont) were in the process of purchasing the company from the partners who

had succeeded Henry du Pont and had lost the drive to keep the Du Pont Company’s

position at the head of the explosives industry. When the elder partners decided to sell

out to their major competitor, Laflin & Rand, Alfred I. rose and stated that he would buy

the company. Initially, the senior partners were incredulous, but soon were convince of

Alfred’s sincerity. At that point, Alfred contacted his two cousins, Coleman and Pierre, to

see if they would join him in the purchase. They agreed and soon were the principal

owners of the Company.

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Many have wondered why the black powder mills of the Powder Hole were closed. The answer

given to me by my cousin, Chauncey Everard (his father, Frank, was Assistant Superintendent at

the works) is that it was one of money. The Pennsylvania Railroad raised the rates to transport

the powder to a high cost—high enough that the du Pont Company, being very rich, decided to

move the machinery to a place nearer the mines. The move was made to the Moosic area. The

plant survived there until 1997 (last known as Goex) when it was again moved to the Southern

U.S. Some of the families from this region moved to the Moosic area when the mills moved

there. Mr. Eaton Grover (also known as “Gruver”), a distant relative of mine, was one of those

people. His family held his farm until recently when it was bought by the Roth family who

subdivided it. My brother, John Gilbert, and I purchased the largest parcel, which he still holds.

It is adjacent to the Powder Hole property.

Subsequent study has led me to consider other possibilities for the firm leaving Wapwallopen.

One of these is the ongoing labor unrest, with possible sabotage continuing. There is evidence

that unionism had come to the powder works, and I’ve seen the charter of the union that was

drawn up in 1904 with my great-grandfather, Hiram Moyer, signing as president. Another

relative, great-uncle Lewis Totten, was also an officer. These men were fired as a result of the

“unionist activities”. Hiram, the once proud powderman, was reduced to selling books on foot

over the countryside to provide for his two youngest children. With today’s laws, it is likely

Hiram, et al, would have held their jobs.

Another contributing factor may have been the anti-trust suit brought against the DuPont

Company by the Federal Government. As the suit was finally settled, the Company had to divest

itself of many of its operations that led to, among other things, the launching of the Atlas Powder

Company and the Hercules Powder Company as separate entities. This, combined with the

diminishing demand for blasting powder (most mining and quarrying had gone over to the “high

explosives”, i.e., TNT, Nitroglycerin and its safer cousin, Dynamite) may have indicated to the

DuPont Management that Wapwallopen was not an asset.

A final possibility is the rift that occurred between Pierre and Coleman du Pont on one side and

Alfred I. du Pont on the other. After these three cousins had taken over the Company in 1902,

Alfred I. became Vice President for Production, hence the top man in the manufacture of Black

Powder. Alfred had spent much of his working life deeply involved with the manufacture of

Black Powder, and he was a traditionalist with respect to the reason for being in business, i.e., he

felt it was a matter of family pride and honor to produce the top quality powder and to continue

the paternalistic relationship with the employees. It is likely when the break happened that, had

Alfred won out, Wapwallopen would have continued . . . perhaps until this very day. The site had

other benefits beyond waterpower (e.g., isolation, rail service from both DL&W and

Pennsylvania RRs), and given the vast resources of the DuPont Company in 1909, might have

been spared the axe.

While all the above are plausible, the reasons were probably a combination of these.

When du Pont left the Powder Hole, they did it in a dramatic fashion. The buildings were left

standing, but almost all of the machinery was moved out and on to the new site at Moosic.

When my mother, Virginia Grover Gilbert, who was born in Wapwallopen in 1914, was a little

girl, the buildings were still in good condition. No one would have used them for manufacturing

any more, because electrical power had all but replaced water power, and plants could be located

more conveniently to the markets. As a result, in the 1920s, the property was sold to the

engineer for the Springbrook Water Company from Scranton (there’s a town of Springbrook near

Moosic). Their engineer, a Mr. Lance, had planned to further develop hydroelectric power on the

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site (as had been initiated by Alfred I. du Pont in the late nineteenth century). For some reason,

Mr. Lance didn’t pursue his plans, and left the property as he bought it. He also purchased a

parcel adjacent to the Susquehanna River from the Hellers (the milling family) in Wapwallopen.

The Lance family still owns the property to this day.

The story of the Powder Hole is like that of so many other industrial sites around the country.

The men are gone who worked there and walked the paths to and from the buildings and their

homes. Today there are the remnants of the buildings, which stand like dinosaur fossils in the

middle of the woods. When I was a boy, there was a fire hydrant right in the middle of the

woods in the Powder Hole. Someone broke it up with a sledgehammer and hauled it off to be

sold for scrap. That means that it is one more thing that isn’t there for you to see. The buildings

that were fine when my mother was a girl are now falling down. Many have been knocked down

by people with nothing better to do. Some have no walls standing at all, so you won’t be able to

tell anything about them if you should go to see them. Most of this damage was done by people,

not by the weather. It is now lost to all who might like to have seen it and understood what it

was like to earn a living in a dangerous job. If you are truly interested, you can see a powder

mill very like the one in the Powder Hole. It is at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington,

Delaware. Many of the buildings there are the same as those that stood in the Powder Hole, and

some even have the machinery inside for you to see. The Du Pont Company, as a monument to

their history, funded the Hagley Museum.

Note: The following commentary on making powder was gathered by Dorothy Poltrock upon

interviewing Douglas Everard not long before his death. The notes were given to me to copy by

Anthony Zielinski, a neighbor of Poltrock’s on the southern side of the Powder Hole. Doug and

his twin brother, Chauncey, were born in Powder Glen on January 22, 1900. Their father, Frank

Everard, was an assistant superintendent of the powder mills, and told the boys many stories

about the operations, such that their knowledge was quite thorough for laymen. Much of my

information came from Chauncey, and Doug’s information is in agreement with it.

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PROCEDURE FOR MAKING POWDER (As related by Douglas Everard, 1900-1988)

Step One: The Rolling Mill

The ingredients of Powder were mixed and put into the bed pan of the rolling mill. Then two

rollers of about two tons each rolled over the ingredients a certain number of minutes. Miniature

explosions often happened here but they were only “poofs” – no damage. Then the ground

powder was put into kegs and taken to the press mill. The kegs were made in the cooper house

(a.k.a., keg house). The cooper was a worker who made barrels and kegs. The last cooper at the

works was Wellington Hippensteel who later became an undertaker located in Hobbie.

Step Two: Press Mill

Here the Powder was pressed and dropped out in chunks. Water was possibly added but Doug

wasn’t sure what held the chunks together. (Chauncey Everard, Douglas’ twin brother, told me

that water was added in the rolling mill phase to inhibit explosions, but said nothing of adding it

when pressed into a cake).

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Step Three: The Grinding or Corning Mill (derivation of “corning” unknown to Doug. It may

have derived from “coining” or from the grain itself.)

Here the chunks were ground into powder and here most dangerous explosions occurred. The

corning mill which was located on the east side of the creek (going upstream) and just below the

iron bridge below the Scanlin site was the site of the last big explosion. Note that there was also

a “Corning Mill” farther upstream near Bryfogle’s Run. Four horses were killed and three

buildings blown. Elmer Grover (later postmaster at Wapwallopen) was a teamster of one of the

teams and wagons along with another teamster, who were taking Powder to be dried at the Dry

House. As they approached this corning mill Elmer saw fire and yelled to jump over the bank

which both did. Behind the bank they were protected from the explosion and survived. The

four horses were burned to a crisp. This fire started because Dave Warner, the regular

Pressman, was sick and absent from work. A man was sent to take his place. This man was new

on the job having spent only one previous day before this on the job. He did something wrong in

the operation, the fire began followed by the explosion. Henry Arner was another teamster who

hauled Powder to the Mocanaqua mines.

Step Four: The Dry House

The Powder was dried at 100 to 110 degrees for two or three days, then poured into sausage-

shaped containers about three inches in diameter and about four feet long. Then these sausages

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were folded and set into cans about four feet high and covered. These cans were assembled by

the “can house brats” paid 75 cents a day. These “brats” were teenaged boys and worked in the

Cooper House, sometimes called the cooper and can house (or just “can house”). Jack Stout,

father of Forest Stout of Nescopeck was the boss of the Can House.

Step Five: The Pack House

Fred Hess (of Nescopeck township) was one of the last to work in the Pack House along with

two Shadle boys. Fred Hess lived in his homestead and walked down over the hill into the

Powder Hole daily and back. Every day at noon, the Powder Car came and took the cans to the

Magazine. There the cans were loaded on the railroad car under the watchful eye of the railroad

inspector (who was there all the time). Cans were never set on top of one another and a one-inch

wooden board was placed between each can and the one next to it.

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LAMMOT DU PONT AND WAPWALLOPEN

The following is based upon excerpts from Lammot du Pont and the American Explosives

Industry, 1850-1884 by Norman B. Wilkinson; University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville;

1984. This book is highly recommended for anyone seeking to learn and understand more about

the Wapwallopen Mills, the “Powder Hole”. I have made some minor changes and added my

own commentary (in italics). – Roger Gilbert

Lammot du Pont is thought by many scholars to have been the most brilliant and creative of the

illustrious Delaware family. I concur with this view! In addition to his great skill as a chemist

and engineer, Lammot had many gifts for organization, management and even teaching. Much of

the wonder of the Wapwallopen works at the Powder Hole is due to the genius of this man. I

have seen some of the sketches he made at the concept stage, and today have photos to attest to

his creations. Many are still to be found today as ruins of an industrial age gone by. The story in

my family is that Lammot preferred to stay at the humble home of my Great, great grandfather,

Westbrook Totten, rather than at the much more impressive home of the superintendent, Charles

Belin. Something of a local hero, Lammot’s name was taken (in its French form, La Motte) for

the young of several generations, including the well-known Dr. Charles La Motte Santee and the

eminent welding engineer, La Motte Grover. An imposing figure for the time at six feet, two

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inches, Lammot was known to his many nieces and nephews as “Uncle Big Man”. It is

noteworthy that, among his eight children were Pierre Samuel du Pont, Irenee du Pont and

Lammot du Pont, Jr. – all of whom were at one time President of the du Pont company. Pierre is

especially well-known as one of the architects of the modern corporation, also serving as

President of General Motors until he named his successor, Alfred P. Sloan. Pierre’s legacy lives

on today in more tangible form in Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania), perhaps

the most beautiful gardens in the Western Hemisphere.

The marvelous book by Professor Wilkinson contains much more history than that of

Wapwallopen, so I’ve done my best to distill from that work all that pertains to our local history.

If you find interest in this remarkable man, Lammot du Pont, from the paragraphs that follow

please read the entire Wilkinson volume.

The anthracite coalmines in Carbon and Luzerne counties of eastern Pennsylvania were a major

market for black powder. With the invention in 1808 by Judge Jesse Fell of a furnace grate in

which hard coal would burn satisfactorily, the coal deposits began to be developed. A second

stimulus occurred in the 1830s when Frederick W. Geissenhainer successfully burned anthracite

in a hot blast furnace for smelting iron, thus ushering in the first stage of America’s age of iron

and steel. Coal began supplanting charcoal and wood as an industrial fuel and for heating homes.

By the 1850s surface deposits were being depleted, making deep mining necessary to reach the

seams buried in the earth, and at this time the most economical and efficient way to mine the

coal was to blast it loose with black powder. This lucrative coal mining explosives business was

sought after by the major competitors in the industry of the time. The du Pont Company of

Delaware, the Hazard Powder Company and the Schaghticoke Powder Company, both of

Connecticut, and the Laflin Powder Company and the Smith and Rand Powder Mills of New

York State were the major explosive vendors in the Anthracite region. The prospects of good

profits also lured a number of smaller companies to erect powder mills close to the mines.

Du Pont’s customers in the anthracite region had been served by its agents in Philadelphia and

Reading, shipments of powder going up-country first by wagon and canal boat, later by rail. As

business increased, agencies were opened in the mining towns of Mauch Chunk, Pittston,

Catawissa, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Here the powder sent from the Brandywine mills was

stored in magazines from which the agents made deliveries as orders were received from the

mines. But shipping costs, delays, and damage to powder in transit, and shortages when powder

was needed lost customers to the local mills not handicapped by these disadvantages.

By 1858, it was thought time to put the du Pont Company in a stronger competitive position by

establishing its own mill to make blasting powder in the mining region. After 56 years at one

location, with no previous experience in operating branch plants, this contemplated initial

departure from the Brandywine was cause for serious consideration by Henry du Pont (then CEO

of the Company) and his nephews. The move, however, proved to be a most favorable one.

Coal production between 1860 and 1870 was rose from 14-1/2 million tons to 33 million tons,

and increase of 126 percent, which brought about demand for larger amounts of blasting powder.

The Civil War was soon to put unprecedented demand for military powder on the Brandywine

Mills, leaving the commercial trade to be supplied in large part from the new Pennsylvania mill.

Note that, in spite of popular belief among local people, the Wapwallopen Mills did not produce

gunpowder for the Civil War, although it is evident that it played a mighty role in that it relieved

the Brandywine Mills to tend to the military production. This expansion into the coal fields

proved to be a turning point in du Pont Company history, for it was the first step in the

acquisition, absorption and consolidation of a number of powder mills under its control, resulting

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in its near monopoly of powder production in the anthracite region with the next quarter century.

Lammot du Pont was the key fixture in this growth. Though final policy and investment

decisions were made by Henry du Pont as the senior partner, his closest advisor and man in the

field carrying out these decisions was Lammot. Henry usually referred to Lammot as “our

Chemist” when dealing with customers and competitors.

The du Pont Company’s move into the mining regions began with the purchase of the powder

mills of Parrish, Silver & Company on the Wapwallopen Creek in Luzerne County,

Pennsylvania. The site lies on the east side of the Susquehanna River twenty miles south of

Wilkes-Barre (just across the river from today’s Susquehanna Steam Electric Station Nuclear

Power Plant). An explosion followed by a damaging flood had resulted in bankruptcy for

Parrish, Silver & Co. Assets were seized by creditors, and at a sheriff’s sale in April 1859, the

du Pont Company purchased the property for $ 35,000. Du Pont’s negotiator for the purchase

was William Breck, a relative and company agent in Scranton, but the task of rebuilding the

mills and getting them into production fell to Lammot du Pont. The man named as plant

manager (superintendent) to work with Lammot was Charles A. Belin, who had most recently

been the company’s agent in Davenport, Iowa. Belin had grown up near the Brandywine mills

where his father, Augustus M. Belin, and then his older brother, Henry H. Belin, had

successively been the company’s head bookkeepers since the 1820s. Belin, forty-three years of

age, had no powdermaking experience and possessed few mechanical skills. He was to acquire

the first and improve the second with Lammot as his mentor.

Lammot spent the summer months of 1859 at Wapwallopen, with occasional help from his

brother Irenee, rebuilding the mills and installing machinery. Workmen’s dwellings were put in

better condition (these were located at present day Powder Glen, erroneously called “Beef Hill”

by many local folks), and a house for the Belin family was acquired and refurbished (this home

was located near the current Strausser home, and burned in the 1920s—the burning building

was witnessed by my mother). An adjoining property possessing additional waterpower was

soon purchased. Workmen, some of the former employees of Parrish, Silver & Company, were

hired at $1.00 a day, the majority being of Pennsylvania-German stock with such names as

Hummel, Miller, Fine, Gruver (Grover) and Bucher (sic – probably Baucher). Many of the

workers were of English descent, notably the Everards and Tottens. The German and English

powdermen were in contrast to the Irish and French who made up the main workforce at the

Brandywine Mills. In this isolated location, where the labor supply was scant, Lammot was

forced to depart from the long-standing company policy of not hiring men who had worked for

other powder manufacturers; du Pont preferred to train its workmen in its own methods.

Saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal were sent up from the Brandywine by way of the Pennsylvania

Canal, which paralleled the Susquehanna River, the average time in transit being two to three

weeks. The canal boats unloaded near Beach Haven (Hick’s Ferry) on the west bank of the river

and the cargoes were then taken by ferry across to Wapwallopen on the eastern side (in later

years, charcoal would be made at the site, and saltpeter would be refined in the “Soda House”

directly from the raw material). Mail and some materials came via the Lackawanna and

Bloomsburg Railroad to Beach Haven and then ferried across; letters between Wilmington and

Wapwallopen were usually delivered within three days.

Lammot and Belin purchased teams of horses and delivery wagons and hired teamsters. Among

the first of these was my great, great-grandfather, C. Westbrook Totten, who was also a

stonemason. Contracts were made with coopers in Wilkes-Barre and Bloomsburg for kegs and

barrels; roads on the plant property were repaired, and the poor condition of the public roads

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around the mills called to the attention of the township road supervisors. When these gentlemen

moved too slowly to satisfy Belin he offered the services of some of his workmen to speed up

road and bridge repairs in return for the lowering of township taxes levied on the mills.

The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad (later, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, or

“DL&W”) was asked to transport finished powder from the plant. Reluctantly it agreed only

after the du Pont Company supplied a specially constructed freight car designed to minimize the

danger of an explosion in case of an accident. Similar caution was shown by canal boat captains

who preferred to carry coal and other less hazardous cargoes than powder. Lammot and Belin

handled many details like this, the former making numerous trips upstate; between the visits he

was kept fully informed of the developments by frequent letters and telegrams from Belin. I have

read many of these letters at the Hagley Museum, and find them filled with details about

business and people, even to reporting about the condition of my Great, great grandfather Totten,

who had apparently had a confrontation with one of the animals and was injured. Samples of the

first powder made at Wapwallopen were sent to Lammot for analysis, and at the beginning of

October 1859 Belin reported that “the mills are running full time and we are turning out on an

average about 100 kegs (these kegs were probably 25 pounds each) every twenty-four hours.” At

mid-1860 he informed the home office, “I am happy to say the Wapwallopen Powder is getting a

great reputation. I am only sorry I have not the means to turn out twice as much as I do.”34

The boom in anthracite coal production coupled with wartime demand for both military and

blasting powder resulted in Wapwallopen’s annual output reaching 78,000 kegs, nearly two

million pounds, by 1868. This was accomplished despite floods, droughts, explosions,

epidemics, and labor problems that plagued the plant during the first decade of its existence.

There were times when frustration and disappointments drove Belin to long to get out of

“Powder Hollow” (this derisive name probably gave rise to today’s “Powder Hole”), but his

confidence was renewed and his spirits buoyed up by Lammot’s determined optimism, his

understanding, and his skilled leadership in getting operations back to normal. This direct,

personal involvement with Wapwallopen was to be diminished by the coming of the Civil War.

Supervision of the mills at Wapwallopen continued to be Lammot’s responsibility during the

Civil War. Within a short time after returning from business in England, he had gone there to

confer with manager Charles Belin. The mills had been damage by an explosion a month before,

so rebuilding was the first priority. But the Brandywine plant required most of his time; his trips

upcountry had to be reduced, but Belin after three years experience as manager was displaying

more confidence in handling some aspects of operations. His weekly letters, sometimes more

frequent, reflect a conscientious man determined to please his employers by keeping them well-

informed and by seeking their guidance on myriad matters on which he needed advice.

Lammot’s Uncle Henry was, of course, kept informed of all activity at Wapwallopen, and he and

his brother Irenee visited it on rare occasions, but it fell to Lammot to see that its operations were

efficient, that it ran at minimum expense, and produced a profit. Wapwallopen was the first of a

number of powder mills acquired by the du Pont Company in the anthracite region by the latter

1870s, all of which came under Lammot’s supervision.

During Lammot’s recovery from typhoid fever, Charles Belin at Wapwallopen had been advised

him of all the recent happenings at the Pennsylvania mill, Belin hoping their enumeration would

not prove tedious to the sick man. He wrote at length because, “ . . . as I look upon

Wapwallopen as your adopted child, and suppose you take an interest in her welfare, these

details will probably be read with satisfaction.”

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Lammot spent the fall months of 1864 catching up with matters he should know about. Charles

Belin at Wapwallopen had a dossier on his operations for Lammot to review. There was danger

of losing some workmen attracted to military service by bounties ranging from $300 to $500.

Others, grumbling at the higher prices they had to pay for everything, were apt to leave and hunt

for better-paying jobs elsewhere. It looked as if wages would have to go up to keep them.

Poorly-made kegs that leaked powder were a chronic problem, and he was getting complaints

about short weight and the quality of powder. Competitors were cutting prices – should he do

the same? Belin had experimented in making powder by adding small quantities of cement to the

formula, with varying reactions from customers . . . some good, some bad. If Lammot were up

to it he would like to see him soon to go over these and numerous other matters. In November,

Lammot went up to Wapwallopen and spent a number of weeks with Belin, one consequence of

which was his instruction to eliminate cement from the powder mixture.

A typical agenda for Lammot for Wapwallopen: Several things needed to be done: (1) Get

barrels for storing naphtha ready to send up. (2) Assemble lumber for constructing glazing

barrels. (3) Assemble materials for building new graining. (4) Pack and ship a box containing

bolt cutters, covers, hydraulic piping, etc. (5) And, indicative of a new interest in coal mining, his

last reminder to himself was to go to Scranton for a meeting of “the coal company”. The coal

company is not named, but du Pont’s first investments were in the Mocanaqua Coal Company

and the Mineral Spring Coal Company.

Not long after Lammot’s marriage to Mary Belin, he took her with him to Wapwallopen to visit

her uncle and aunt, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Belin. She remained with them after he returned to

Wilmington, a doleful separation for Lammot, according to his cousin Lina: “Lammot took his

beloved to Wapwallopen and has returned without her looking very sad, which had caused much

amusement.”

From Wapwallopen Mary wrote him a warm, loving letter, but one that also

reflected the latent worry of all women who had loved ones working in the powder business. A

recent explosion at Wapwallopen had badly injured a number of workmen, some of whom it was

feared would die. This tragedy preoccupied everyone in the Belin household: “Uncle has talked

so much about the danger of powdermaking, and the risk that you run that he has made me quite

nervous about you, and I shall be afraid to let you come up here anymore. My only hope is that

even if you do not care for yourself, for my sake you will not expose yourself needlessly.”

After beginning Repauno (the first nitroglycerin plant in the USA), the scope of Lammot’s

workload was made clear in a letter to Uncle Charles Belin at Wapwallopen early in May 1880 at

an extremely busy time when Repauno was just about to go into production. Lammot’s letter

was in response to one from his uncle seeking clarification of his status as head of the

Wapwallopen plant. A Thomas Scott has recently been appointed manager of the mills there,

and Belin felt the new man would usurp his authority. Lammot chided him for being too

sensitive about the matter – Scott had been sent to assist him, not replace him – Belin should rest

confident that he was still in charge.

Then in a mood of mild reproach at his uncle’s concern over a seemingly petty problem, and to

contrast it with the tasks presently confronting him, Lammot invited Belin to “forget yourself for

a few minutes and put yourself behind my spectacles and see what you would do in my place."

There followed this enumeration of the more important tasks on his agenda:

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1. Looking after 59 pairs of rolling mills at many locations outside of Delaware and

attending to their machinery. Of all these Uncle Henry had only seen the four at

Wapwallopen.

2. “Contrary to the wishes of my senior I have gone into the high explosives

business which has been sapping the foundations of the black powder trade.”

3. With no previous experience in this line of manufacture have begun building a

chemical plant to produce nitric and sulphuric acids, nitroglycerine and dynamite.

4. Has two “heavy lawsuits” on hand, and is commencing a struggle with the Giant

Powder Company.

5. Continues to attend to the relations between the powder companies in the

Gunpowder Trade Association at the insistence of its members, though he ho

longer heads that organization.

6. Gives support to Thomas C. Brainerd, head of the Canadian Hamilton Powder

Company, because “no one else will except my friend Solomon Turck, “ president

of Laflin and Rand.

7. Is winding up a struggle with the Reading Railroad Company for control of the

Berks County Railroad, a feeder railroad to the Wilmington and Northern

Railroad.

8. Helps Col. Henry A. du Pont in running the Wilmington and Northern Railroad,

and is now electing “a new board that he can work with smoothly.”

And, as a gentle parting reprimand, Lammot chided his uncle, “Now uncle, if you had

these matters on hand I think they would keep even you busy.”

Lammot was never to be

totally free from parent company involvement; and for the next four years he found it

obligatory, and advisable, to share his time and energy between this “unfinished

business” of the du Pont Company and the enterprise he was launching at Repauno.

While Lammot pursued development at Repauno, and, by coincidence, on the very day

Lammot finally cut his ties with the du Pont Company, his uncle Charles Belin at

Wapwallopen wrote telling of a new firm that was about to start making black powder in

his neighborhood (probably at Tamaqua). The new competition should liven up the

business, but he concluded, “as you are no longer interested in black powder – you can

laugh!”

Thus, for Lammot, the requiem for black powder had sounded. From now on his career

would be spent supervising the production of high explosives made from chemicals in a

plant he optimistically anticipated would some day be the largest in the world.

LAMMOT DU PONT’S END AT THE REPAUNO WORKS

Many months were spent experimenting in the laboratory, but it was late March 1884

before they felt ready to test their method of recovery in the nitroglycerine house. At the

end of the day, Friday, March 28, 1884, workmen had drawn off the last charge of

nitroglycerine and placed it in a lead-lined tank for storage overnight. The following

Saturday morning Lammot had a 10 a.m. appointment with A. S. Ackerson, a Laflin and

Rand official, and was talking with him and Hill (manager at Repauno) in the laboratory

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when a workman rushed in excitedly exclaiming that something was wrong in the

nitroglycerine house. Lammot and Hill ran to the building where an ominous sight met

them. The tank of nitroglycerine was decomposing and fuming – 2,000 pounds of lethal

explosive! Frantically they tried to “drown” it by tapping it off into an adjoining tank of

cold water, but aware that it could explode at any moment, Lammot ordered Harry

Norcross and his men out of the mill, and he and Hill followed a few seconds later. They

had gone about ten feet when it blew apart, hurling timbers and machinery and ripping up

the earth embankment that surrounded it. Lammot and Hill were killed instantly by the

tremendous concussion and buried beneath the avalanche of earth and debris. Norcross

and his men, about thirty feet away, were struck and killed by flying timbers and metal

shards. Lammot’s visitor, Ackerson, had left the laboratory and was approaching the

nitroglycerine house when it exploded, the shock breaking his neck. One of the workmen,

Louis Ley, was alive when taken from the wreckage but lived only a few minutes.

Norcross’s body was mutilated but the others showed few marks of injury. Doctors had

been summoned but there was little need for their services by the time they arrived on the

scene.

I hope everything in this article is accurate. I know that the previous articles I had written had a number of errors in them. I have corrected those errors for this edition, but as you may have guessed, many of the things related above are things I learned from other people and they may have made mistakes. I may have made other mistakes in what I remember. In some instances, I have drawn “educated guesses” as to what took place, and these are subject to be questioned. In spite of these shortcomings, I am sure, however, that I have given you a short look into something that is long on details and things to see. If you want further information, feel free to call on me...I’ll help you all I can.

Roger W. Gilbert

RR 2 Box 8

Powder Glen

Wapwallopen PA 18660

E-mail: rgilbert@bwkip.com

Phone: (570) 379-3564