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[[File:Giles Edwards.jpg|right|thumb|Giles Edwards]]
'''Giles Edwards''' (born [[September 26]], [[1824]] in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales; died [[April 26]], [[1892]] in [[Woodstock]]) was the furnace master for the [[Shelby Iron Works]] and the pioneer of coke-fueled blast furnaces in the [[Birmingham District]].
'''Giles Edwards''' (born [[September 26]], [[1824]] in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales; died [[April 26]], [[1892]] in [[Woodstock]]) was the furnace master for the [[Shelby Iron Works]] and the pioneer of coke-fueled blast furnaces in the [[Birmingham District]].


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Edwards worked with James Henderson to convert the East Tennessee Iron Manufacturing Company's Bluff Furnace in downtown Chattanooga from charcoal to coked mineral coal in [[1860]].
Edwards worked with James Henderson to convert the East Tennessee Iron Manufacturing Company's Bluff Furnace in downtown Chattanooga from charcoal to coked mineral coal in [[1860]].


Later that same year, Edwards was hired as assistant superintendent for the [[Shelby Furnace]], which was to be modernized. In [[1863]], with federal troops nearing Chattanooga, the Bluff Furnace was dismantled and its machinery hauled to the vicinity of [[Anniston]]. Edwards helped to build the new [[Oxford Iron Furnace]] with that equipment. He brought some of the un-needed parts back with him to Shelby Furnace. He supervised the production of iron rolled at the [[Shelby Rolling Mill]] and used to clad the ''C.S.S. Tennessee''.
In [[1862]] Edwards was hired by Selma investor John Lapsley to serve as assistant superintendent for the [[Shelby Furnace]], which was to be modernized. In [[1863]], with federal troops nearing Chattanooga, the Bluff Furnace was dismantled and its machinery hauled to the vicinity of [[Anniston]]. Edwards helped to build the new [[Oxford Iron Furnace]] with that equipment. He brought some of the un-needed parts back with him to Shelby Furnace. He supervised the production of iron rolled at the [[Shelby Rolling Mill]] which was used to clad the ''C.S.S. Tennessee''.


In the years following the [[Civil War]], Edwards was employed by [[Josiah Gorgas]] to help rebuild the [[Brierfield Rolling Mill]] and the [[Bibb Furnace]]. He then served as land agent for the Thomas family's [[Pioneer Mining & Manufacturing Co.]] which, with his guidance, acquired more than 2,600 acres of ore mining land in [[1868]]. He resided in the former furnace master's house at [[Tannehill Ironworks]].


<!--After the war, Edwards also helped rebuild the Brierfield Rolling Mill and put the nearby Bibb Furnaces back into operation for Gen. Josiah Gorgas who had purchased the site as war contraband in June of 1866.
At the same time, Edwards acquired some property of his own in the vicity of [[Woodstock]] and began building the [[Edwards Furnace]] in [[1873]], using parts salvaged from [[Irondale Furnace|Irondale]] and Tannehill. It became the first in the state to be blown in with coke, just before the [[Alice Furnace]] was fired in [[Birmingham]]. He mined brown [[iron ore]] for use in his furnace, and also for sale to Oxmoor and other producers, who mixed it with the red ore from [[Red Mountain]].


Shortly after, Edwards moved to the Tannehill Furnace site as land agent for the Thomas family whose Pioneer Mining and Manufacturing Co. had bought 2,615 acres in 1868 for its huge iron ore reserves.
The Edwards Furnace, in which [[Henry DeBardeleben]] was an investor, struggled to prosper in its fast-changing economic climate and was shut down several times for upgrades. It was able to produce as much as 30,000 tons of pig iron per day before it closed in [[1890]]. During one of the furnace's idle periods in [[1883]], Edwards accepted a job from the [[Eureka Company]] to rebuild the Oxmoor Furnace.


En route to Tannehill in 1871, his wife, Salinah, remarked from the train, “On our way to Tannehill we passed through Elyton and saw the site of Birmingham. There were only two section houses for the men starting the railroad—nothing else. But my husband pointed up the long valley. There lies Birmingham, he said…all that’s going to be Birmingham some day and he spread his arms out to take in the entire country.”
Edwards was married to the former Salinah Evans. Their two daughters, [[Lydia McQueen|Lydia]] and [[Gertrude Pickens|Gertrude]], were married to [[James McQueen]] and [[D. W. Pickens]] in a double ceremony at their home in Woodstock in [[1899]]. Their oldest son, [[Thomas Edwards|Thomas]], became general manager of the [[Williamson Iron Co.]] and was burned to death when that furnace blew out on [[November 26]], [[1902]]. They also had two more sons, Joseph and Reuben.


Near the Tannehill Furnaces, Edwards moved into the old “Mansion House”, probably where the Tannehill furnace master had lived during the war, and explored new ore fields to open for the Thomas company.
Giles Edwards died at home in [[1892]]. He and his wife are buried together in the McQueen plot at [[Oak Hill Cemetery]].


“No man before Giles Edwards,” wrote historian Ethel Armes, “learned or demonstrated the significant value of the mineral deposits in just this particular section.”
DeBardeleben eulogized him, saying: “Giles Edwards was a conceiver of big projects. He was one of the first men in the state to see the big possibilities ahead and to cast his lines and work accordingly. He was well informed on coke, coal and iron. He was a practical geologist and a scholar, had one of the best libraries in the state. He was a good draftsman besides, a first rate one and an excellent citizen, none better.”


He soon acquired in the Tannehill area certain valuable properties of his own where he began building the Edwards Furnace in Woodstock seven miles distant in 1873, it becoming the first Alabama furnace blown in with coke. The Alice Furnace in Birmingham was also blown in on coke later the same year.
==External links==
 
* [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96956933/giles-edwards Giles Edwards] at Findagrave.com
Coke had been used experimentally in charcoal furnaces during the war years and Shelby had used raw coal. In 1864, the first successful coke iron was actually made at the Irondale Furnace during an experiment sanctioned by the C.S. Nitre Bureau. Although successful, the test did not persuade Alabama iron makers to abandon charcoal until after the war was over.
 
Edwards, perhaps more than most, understood the value of coke as a replacement for charcoal as fuel in the southern iron industry. Beginning in Wales and later in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, he knew it made little sense to decimate hundreds of acres of forest when tons of coal were under their feet.
 
At his new Woodstock furnace, Edwards built a water elevator to bring raw materials to the top for charging. The blowing engine was the same one used at the old Irondale plant, the flywheel of which weighed 36 tons and was rated at 150 hp. No doubt, many spare parts were also picked up at the burnt-out Tannehill site, just a few hundred yards from his residence.
 
Brown ore mined near the site also was shipped to the rebuilt Oxmoor plant where it was mixed with Red Mountain iron ore. Edwards built an ore washer and a tramway to the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad (later the Alabama Great Southern), a distance of one-fourth mile to expedite delivery.
 
The Edwards Furnace, hit with economic downturns and expansions, was remodeled several times. Shareholders included Henry F. DeBardeleben, builder of several furnaces in Bessemer. Before closing in 1890, Edwards Furnace could produce 30,000 tons of pig iron per day.
 
Edwards and his family lived a short distance from the furnace and jonquils still bloom each year at the home site behind what may be the largest oak tree in Bibb County. His two daughters were married at the family home in a double ceremony in 1899. Lydia married James W. McQueen, who would later become vice president of Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Co. and Gertrude married D. W. Pickens.
 
Interestingly, during one of the down times, Edwards is engaged at the Oxmoor Furnace in 1883 where a recent fire had closed the plant. Here he rebuilds the facility for the Eureka Company. It was at this site that the famed “Eureka Experiment” in 1876 proved once and for all that coke made from Alabama coal could successfully be used in the manufacture of pig iron.
 
Said DeBardeleben, founder of Bessemer and a former manager of the Oxmoor Furnace, “Giles Edwards was a conceiver of big projects. He was one of the first men in the state to see the big possibilities ahead and to cast his lines and work accordingly. He was well informed on coke, coal and iron. He was a practical geologist and a scholar, had one of the best libraries in the state. He was a good draftsman besides, a first rate one and an excellent citizen, none better.”
 
Edwards died in 1892 while still living at his Woodstock residence at age 68. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham in the McQueen plot next to his wife who helped him build the Edwards Furnace. The transition from charcoal to coke in Alabama was complete.
 
 
In March of 1862, noted Welsh iron-master Giles Edwards came to Shelby Iron. Born in Glamorganshire, South Wales, September 26, 1824, Edwards had, by about 1842, made his way to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, near the head of the Lackawanna River. There, he superintended pattern making at the first iron mill in that town. Edwards later worked with mills at Scranton, and superintended the Thomas works at Tamaqua, Pa. From Pennsylvania, Edwards moved south to Tennessee, where he supervised the rebui lding of the Bluff Furnace at Chattanooga.
 
 
Following this reconstruction, Judge John Lapsley of Selma, a new shareholder at Shelby, requested Edwards to superintend the reconstruction and expansion of the Shelby works.-->


{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Giles}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Giles}}
[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1892 deaths]]
[[Category:1892 deaths]]
[[Category:Engineers]]
[[Category:Furnace masters]]
[[Category:Furnace masters]]
[[Category:Oak Hill burials]]
[[Category:Oak Hill burials]]

Revision as of 10:34, 27 August 2023

Giles Edwards

Giles Edwards (born September 26, 1824 in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales; died April 26, 1892 in Woodstock) was the furnace master for the Shelby Iron Works and the pioneer of coke-fueled blast furnaces in the Birmingham District.

Edwards immigrated to the United States in 1842 and worked as a draftsman for iron manufactories at Carobondale and Scranton, Pennsylvania. He rose to the position of superintendent at the furnaces in Tamaqua and Catasauqua, where he gained the notice of its designer, fellow Welshman David Thomas. After a brief posting at the Novelty Ironworks in New York, Thomas sent him to Chattanooga, Tennessee, partly in hopes that the change of climate might benefit his failing health.

Edwards worked with James Henderson to convert the East Tennessee Iron Manufacturing Company's Bluff Furnace in downtown Chattanooga from charcoal to coked mineral coal in 1860.

In 1862 Edwards was hired by Selma investor John Lapsley to serve as assistant superintendent for the Shelby Furnace, which was to be modernized. In 1863, with federal troops nearing Chattanooga, the Bluff Furnace was dismantled and its machinery hauled to the vicinity of Anniston. Edwards helped to build the new Oxford Iron Furnace with that equipment. He brought some of the un-needed parts back with him to Shelby Furnace. He supervised the production of iron rolled at the Shelby Rolling Mill which was used to clad the C.S.S. Tennessee.

In the years following the Civil War, Edwards was employed by Josiah Gorgas to help rebuild the Brierfield Rolling Mill and the Bibb Furnace. He then served as land agent for the Thomas family's Pioneer Mining & Manufacturing Co. which, with his guidance, acquired more than 2,600 acres of ore mining land in 1868. He resided in the former furnace master's house at Tannehill Ironworks.

At the same time, Edwards acquired some property of his own in the vicity of Woodstock and began building the Edwards Furnace in 1873, using parts salvaged from Irondale and Tannehill. It became the first in the state to be blown in with coke, just before the Alice Furnace was fired in Birmingham. He mined brown iron ore for use in his furnace, and also for sale to Oxmoor and other producers, who mixed it with the red ore from Red Mountain.

The Edwards Furnace, in which Henry DeBardeleben was an investor, struggled to prosper in its fast-changing economic climate and was shut down several times for upgrades. It was able to produce as much as 30,000 tons of pig iron per day before it closed in 1890. During one of the furnace's idle periods in 1883, Edwards accepted a job from the Eureka Company to rebuild the Oxmoor Furnace.

Edwards was married to the former Salinah Evans. Their two daughters, Lydia and Gertrude, were married to James McQueen and D. W. Pickens in a double ceremony at their home in Woodstock in 1899. Their oldest son, Thomas, became general manager of the Williamson Iron Co. and was burned to death when that furnace blew out on November 26, 1902. They also had two more sons, Joseph and Reuben.

Giles Edwards died at home in 1892. He and his wife are buried together in the McQueen plot at Oak Hill Cemetery.

DeBardeleben eulogized him, saying: “Giles Edwards was a conceiver of big projects. He was one of the first men in the state to see the big possibilities ahead and to cast his lines and work accordingly. He was well informed on coke, coal and iron. He was a practical geologist and a scholar, had one of the best libraries in the state. He was a good draftsman besides, a first rate one and an excellent citizen, none better.”

External links

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