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University Micrdfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8009306 Loveday, Amos John, Jr. THE CUT NAIL INDUSTRY 1776-1890: TECHNOLOGY, COST ACCOUNTING AND THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1979 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1979 by Loveday, Amos John, Jr. All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check■/ mark 1. Glossy photographs or pages. 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print_ 3. Photographs with dark background./ 4. Illustrations are poor copy^ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy. 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of page. 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several _____pages 8. Print exceeds margin requirements_____ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in______ spine 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print. 11. Page(s)____________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)____________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered____________. Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages______ 15. Other Page 113 is a defective page. Filmed as received.______________ University Microfilms International THE CUT NAIL INDUSTRY 1776-1890 TECHNOLOGY, COST ACCOUNTING AND THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Amos John Loveday, j r . , B.S., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1979 Reading Committee: Approved By Professor Merritt Roe Smith, Chairman Professor John C. Burnham Professor Mansel Blackford Dedicated to Mary Jean, Amy, and the "Colonel" ii SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT I wish to thank the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation and especially Mr. Roger McLean, Mr. Harry Sykes, and Mr. Joseph Wurtenberg, who located and made available records of the firms in and around Wheeling, provided technical information on nailmaking, and generously allowed me to tour one of the last operating cut nail mills. Without the cooperation of these gentlemen and the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation, this study would not have been possible. PREFACE My interest was attracted to the history of nail manufacturing in 1975 while directing research for a museum on the Ohio Valley ceramic industry. As a part of the background research, the staff of the Ohio Historical Society identified several major industries— ceramics, tex­ tiles, glass, iron, and coal mining— that either existed or had existed in the area between the Ohio-Pennsylvania line and Portsmouth, Ohio. A report on each of these industries, identifying specific products, developmental patterns, and overall importance as measured by the number of people employed, capital investment, and value of product was prepared. Quite by chance I undertook the research report on the iron and steel industry. Since I was familiar with the past of the upper Ohio Valley, at least the local rural traditions and the county histories, I was surprised to find that the steel works in and around Wheeling, West Virginia, and Steubenville, Ohio, had their beginnings as nail mills. Moreover, I discovered that these nail mills, after the mid-nineteenth century, were not only the largest in the country but also were almost two times as efficient as competitors in the East. Having learned this I decided to explore the origin and development of nail manufacturing in more depth. Assuming that the Wheeling mills had obtained some technological advantage, I began my research with the technology of nailmaking. After examining both iv secondary and primary sources, I concluded that this assumption was incorrect. Instead of new technology, business structure and technique applied to the technology appeared to be responsible for the rise of the Wheeling firms to leadership in the industry. What had begun as a technological study was transformed into and completed as a business history with an emphasis on the relationship between management practices and technology. In order to study the Wheeling firms effectively it was necessary to examine the history of the cut nail in general. I have included a chapter on the development of the cut nail before 1833, the date taken as the founding of the first Wheeling nail firm. This period deserves a more comprehensive treatment than is possible in connection with the technology of nail manufacturing in the Wheeling area because it was in the era between 1776 and 1832 that the great technological advances were made. Throughout much of the study nail manufacturers outside of Wheeling are noted for comparison and context. Most conspicuous are those firms located in and around Pittsburgh, but occasional reference is made to Eastern firms. Since there is no comprehensive history of nail manufacturing, the information on both the early history of nail­ making and the firms outside of Wheeling may be of some use to researchers who have an interest in the general history of cut nail manufacturing. v VITA January 8, 1945 ................. B o m - Sevierville, Tennessee 1963-1964 ........................ Carson Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee 1967.............................. B.S., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1967-1972 ........................ Teacher, Columbus Public Schools, Columbus, Ohio 1970.............................. M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972-1979 ........................ Chief Curator, The Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History of Technology History of American Technology. Professor Merritt Roe Smith History of American Science. Professor John C. Burnham History of Geology. Professor Aurele Larocque 19th Century European History. Professor Carole R. Rogel American Social and Economic History. Professor Mary Young TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................ .....................iii PREFACE ................................................................. iv VITA..................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES.........................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................ix INTRODUCTION................................ 1 Chapter I. THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE MARKET ................................... 11 II. FOUNDING THE NAIL INDUSTRY 1834-1860.......................... 65 III. WHEELING: THE NAIL CITY 1860-1880............................ 115 IV. THE STEEL NAIL 1880-1886....................................... 170 V. COMPETITION FROM THE WIRE NAIL.................................. 220 CONCLUSION.............................................................. 242 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................ 254 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. The Expense of Making a Keg of Mails for the Year 1870 Taken From the Minute Book of the LaBelle Nail W o r k s ...................................... 141 2. Cost, Selling Price, and Profits at the Belmont M i l l ............................................. 182 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Nail plate was cut into rods at a slitting mill. 17 2. The nailer worked the heated nail rod to a point. After each blow of the hammer, the nail rod was turned........................................ '............18 3. After the rod was pointed, the nailer, using his hammer and