Samuel Nutt
An early ironmaster in Pennsylvania
Samuel Nutt was the son of an English baronet. He became a Quaker and emigrated to Pennsylvania. In 1718 he built a bloomery forge on French Creek, Coventry. Six years later, in partnership with William Branson, he built Rock Run blast furnace, close to his forge. They later built the larger Reading Furnace. In 1732 the first steel made in Pennsylvania was produced at Coventry by skilled workers brought from England. When Samuel died in 1737, his wife Anna built Warwick Furnace.[1]
Coventry, in Chester County, was apparently named after Nutt's birthplace. After Nutt's death the Coventry ironworks passed to his nephew, Samuel Nutt Jr., whose wife, Rebecca Savage inherited the site on his death. On her marriage to Robert Grace, Coventry and Warwick were joined to become Rebecca Nutt and Company. Robert Grace was a close friend of Benjamin Franklin. In 1757, Coventry and Warwick passed to Thomas Potts, Rebecca's son-in-law and father of John, founder of nearby Pottstown.[2]