Joseph Green Butler
This letter is a window into the early development of the iron industry in northwestern Pennsylvania. Butler operated a blast furnace with the name of ‘Temperance Furnace’ located near Hadley, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. At the time New Castle was a borough in Mercer County, near Hadley. He had many contacts and conducted business in eastern Ohio area and eventually settled his family in 1842 in Ohio. He is considered a pioneer in the iron business in the Lake Superior ore region. The Butler Family and the Green Family each had a long history of iron making since the Revolutionary War. General Samuel Miles Green, Joseph Green Butler’s uncle, also operated blast furnaces and resided at one named Barre Forge (also known as Barree Iron Works). General Samuel Miles Green was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1821, but left the law in 1834 to manage iron works. This letter reflects the struggles encountered in establishing a profitable iron works.
