Thursday, March 12, 2015

Cornwall Iron Furnace

As the legend goes, the night was cold, most of the men in the hunting party would have rather been back inside continuing to drink near a warm fireplace. Unfortunately for them, their host had other ideas. Peter Grubb Jr. was a boastful man, he was a man who loved to hunt, and drink. The night’s claim was that he had the greatest hunting hounds in the area. After drinking well beyond a reasonable level, he took his guest out into the chilly night to show the impressiveness of his hunting hounds.

After a long round of hunting, the dogs did not bring home the game. It was the first time they had ever failed to not prove to their master their worthiness in his eyes. In a fit of his infamous short temper, Grubb ordered the entire pack thrown into the furnace fires. The hunting party, servants, and the dog’s handler all pleaded with him not to do it. After threatening the men with physical violence or, their jobs, the dogs were thrown into the fire; including Flora, the pack leader, and the one dog that seemed to have a bond with their her master (the rumors say one night, she saved his life when he collapsed drunk in the snow).

In the days following the terrible deed, not surprisingly, Grubb’s social circle shrank quickly. He lost the few people whom he could consider “friends”. They say he went mad, muttering to himself and, being chased by a ghostly pack by Flora. Ironically, he died out in the snow after being chased by the invisible hounds, just as he would have a night years before if Flora would not have saved his life.

Years of this account range in the 1790s to 1800. The stories of the ghostly pack began immediately after the event and, it is said that the ghostly pack can be heard chasing after their prey on their last, deadly hunt. Howling into the wind, traveling through the area around the furnace. Every October, the reenactment occurs again and, again and, again.

The furnace was in use eleven months out of the year, with the final month being used to prepare the furnace for the coming season. Inside a working furnace: charcoal, limestone and iron ore were layered in the 30 foot tall furnace. The iron would break apart and drip to the bottom. At the top of the furnace there is a hole, where the stones and ores are cast down into the fire. I would hardly say the hole is big enough to fit a struggling dog.

While a noted drunk, which became quite severe after his wife, Mary’s, death, there is no proof that Peter Grubb Jr. was as much of a villain as the tale suggest. As for the part in the story that says he died in the snow, Grubb did die in the winter. In January of 1786, by committing suicide at the age of forty-six. He is buried at Hopewell Forge.

There is some confusion as to whether the hounds inhabit Cornwall or Colebrook furnace. Both were owned by the Grubb family, which was common with iron furnaces in Pennsylvania; one family would own and, operate several furnaces. While Cornwall furnace does still exist, preserved in pristine beauty; Colebrook furnace, which was built in 1791 along the Conewago Creek in Lancaster County, does not. It was dismantled in 1858. Ghosts do reside at Cornwall; residual footprints from workers years past calling out work orders and responses. There is no angry ironmaster and, as far as the people who live near the furnace say, there are no hounds.

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