THOMAS
,
DAVID
(
1794
-
1882
),
pioneer of the iron industry in U.S.A.
;
b.
3 Nov. 1794
, the son of
David
and
Jane
Thomas
,
Ty-llwyd
farm, parish of
Cadoxton-juxta-Neath, Glam.
He attended schools at
Allt-wen
(
Pontardawe
) and
Neath
,
worked on his father's farm
for a while, and then (
1812
) started in the
Neath Abbey Iron Works
. In
1817
he was working in the
Ynyscedwyn Anthracite Iron Works
, where he was
in charge of blast furnaces
, etc. During his stay of about twenty-two years there he
experimented with the use of anthracite coal as a smelting fuel
; he has the honour of having made, at
Ynyscedwyn
,
the first ‘anthracite’ iron ever cast in the world
. This success caused him to be invited by the
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
,
Pennsylvania
,
U.S.A.
Emigrating to that continent in
June 1839
he had, by next year, effected almost
revolutionary changes in the iron industry
. Thereafter his career was most successful and he became one of the great
ironmasters
of the world. In
1840
he
organised the first Presbyterian church
at
Casanqua
. He d.
20 June 1882
.
Bibliography:
-
The Cambrian
(Cincinnati),
1885
, 104-8, 133-6;
-
Y Drych newyddiadur cenedlaethol Cymry
America
(Utica),
2 March 1909
;
-
Hanes Cymry America
, 1872
, 163;
-
Edwards
,
Welshmen as Factors in the Formation and
Development of the United States Republic
, 1899
;
-
The Red Dragon
,
1883
, 289.
Author:
Robert (Bob) Owen, O.B.E., M.A., (1885-1962), Croesor
