LEHIGH REGION.
The discovery and practical development of coal in the Lehigh region were subsequent to its use in the Wyoming Valley, but the coals of the Lehigh were the first to realize a commercial value in the Eastern markets; consequently, the Lehigh coal-trade heads the statistical column, though it is a matter of conjecture whether the Lehigh or the Schuylkill furnished the first coal for actual consumption,—that is, which would burn. We give the credit to Schuylkill.
When we read of the early attempts to burn anthracite or stone coal, and the repeated failures even under steam-boilers and in furnaces built to burn bituminous, we are tempted to state that the miners of that day did not know coal from bone or slate, and that we suspect they sent all to market as it came from the mines,—coal, dirt, and impurities. Such we believe to be the chief reason why coal "would not burn" in those early days, as it is deemed a good reason now. But let us follow our pioneer miners through their "sea of troubles." The first discovery of coal on the Lehigh was in the Mauch Chunk or Bear Mountain,—a continuation of the Sharp Mountain,—about nine miles west of Mauch Chunk, and where the village of Summit Hill is now located. Though denominated the "Lehigh Region," this portion of the Lehigh coal is in the Schuylkill or southern coal-field, and at its eastern end.
The discovery of coal in this locality was made during 1791 by a poor hunter of the vicinity,—the famous Philip Ginter. We will let him tell his own story, or that which is so frequently told foi him:— "When I first came to these mountains, some years ago, I built a cabin on the east side of the mountain, and managed, by trapping and hunting, to support my family in a rough way. Deer and bears were pretty thick, and during the hunting seasons meat was plentiful; but sometimes we ran short of that, and frequently were hard up for such necessaries as could only be had by purchase with the produce of the hunter.
"One day, after a poor season, we were on short allowance, I had unusually bad luck, and was on my way home, empty-handed and dis heartened, tired, and wet with the rain that commenced falling, when I struck my foot against a stone and drove it on before me. It was nearly
dusk; but light enough remained to show me that it was black and shiny. I had heard of STONE-COAL' over in Wyomink, and had frequently pried into the rocks in hopes of finding it. When I saw the black rock, I knew it must be stone-coal, and on looking around I discovered black dirt and a great many pieces of stone-coal under the roots of a tree that had been blown down. I took pieces of this coal home with me, and the next day carried them to Col. Jacob Weiss, at Fort Allen.
"A few weeks after this, Col. Weiss sent for me, and offered to pay for my discovery if I would tell him where the coal was found. I accordingly offered to show him the place if he would get for me a small tract of land and water-power for a saw-mill that I had in view. This he readily promised, and afterwards performed. The place was found, and a quarry opened in the coal-mountain. In a few years the discovery made hundreds of for tunes; but I may say it ruined me, for my land was taken from me by a man who said he owned it before I did, and now I am still a poor man."* Col. Weiss took the specimen of coal which he had received from Ginter to Philadelphia, and submitted it to the inspection of men of eminence and scientific attainment, who pronounced it, after much study and inves tigation, to be stone-coal,—a fact which Philip had determined in advance.
John Nicholson, Michael Hillegas, and Charles Cist—an intelligent printer—were satisfied of its value and quality, and sent word to Col. Weiss to satisfy Ginter, on condition of his showing the locality of the coal; and this was done, as before related by Ginter himself.
In the following year, 1792, Hillegas, Cist, Weiss, and others formed the "Lehigh Coal-Mine Company," and took up about 6000 acres of coal land, which has since formed the coal territory of the "Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company,"—formed by the subsequent amalgamation of the Lehigh Coal-Mine Company and the Lehigh Navigation Company.