William Firmstone
William Firmstone (1810-1877)
1810 Born at Wellington, Shropshire, on 19 October.
As a young man he was manager at the Lays Works (near Dudley) of his uncles W. and G. Firmstone.
1835 Emigrated to the USA, and was one of the first to introduce the hot blast there, at the Vesuvius Furnace, Lawrence County, Ohio (in 1836).
Experiments in the use of coke in blast furnaces in the USA were all unsuccessful until 1835 when William Firmstone was successful in substituting coke for charcoal at Mary Ann Furnace, Huntingdon county, Pa.
In 1839 he added hot blast to a furnace at Karthaus, Pa.
In 1840 he blew in a blast furnace, built for charcoal, using anthracite.
1877 Died at home at Easton, Pa., on 11 October.
The above information is from the 'History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages'[1]