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From: "Richard H. Brown & Cassie Langley Brown" <>
Subject: Puddler defined
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 09:10:19 -0800


Hi everyone!

Several of my ancestors were puddlers. You are correct in guessing the
occupation has to do with molten metal in a mill.

My cousin thoughtfully stuck this definition of puddler into our LANGLEY
family history (the first part of the message is from him, the second is
a quote from the person so noted). Hope this is helpful:

"I noticed the following in answer to a query on the internet genealogy
conference. I thought it of interest since so many of our family were
puddlers in the 1800s. This was a higher paid craft that was
obliterated by the invention of the Bessemer Convertor, by Sir Henry
Bessemer in England. This process was brought to America by Andrew
Carnegie, and humbled the labor unions of the time. (Bill LANGLEY)"

" From J. G. Knowles; Re: what's a puddler? 2/25/96 ... ' A puddler was
responsible for tending a reverberatory furnace, which converted pig
iron into high-grade wrought iron. In this type of furnace, the pig
iron was placed in a shallow well between the fuel (usually coke) and
the chimney. Consequently, the hot gasses emitted by the burning fuel
had to sweep across the surface of the pig iron on their way out of the
furnace. The oxygen component in these hot gases drew most of the
carbon out of the pig iron, thereby causing it to become soft and
malleable. The oxidizing process could be greatly enhanced and
accelerated by manually stirring and turning the liquid iron with long
metal rods. This distinctly unpleasant, arduous, and hazardous activity
became known as puddling. As the carbon content of the pig iron fell,
its melting temperature gradually rose until it ceased to be a liquied
and turned into a pasty, spongy mass. Using metal rods and tongs, the
puddler worked the pasty mass into 100 lb. balls, and then lifted each
ball out of the furnace. The iron balls were subsequently hammered into
blooms. The next stop for the blooms was the rolling mill where various
shapes were formed--rail, beams, etc. Pig iron was so named because
when the furnace was tapped, the molten iron would run into a central
clay channel on the floor, thence into little side forms/moulds in the
clay looking something like a lot of pigs suckling.' (G. Knowles) "

So there you go...all you ever wanted to know and more about the great
art of puddling!

A descendant of many puddlers, and proud of it!
Cassie : )
--
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Cassie Langley Brown: <mailto:>
Listowner ORCURRY: <mailto:>
Coordinator Curry Co., OR GenWeb: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~orcurry>;
Home Page: <http://hometown.aol.com/cherub214/index.html>;
Genealogy Page: <http://members.aol.com/cherub214/cascubgendex.html>;
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