John Alexander Colwell and Rebecca Pritner

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Husband John Alexander Colwell ¹

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           Born: 1812 - northern Ireland 1
     Christened: 
           Died: Feb 1902 2
         Buried: 

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         Father: William Colwell (      -      ) 1
         Mother: [Unk] Bingham (      -      ) 1

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       Marriage: 

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Wife Rebecca Pritner ²

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 M Wilson Colwell ²

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: in infancy
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

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2 M Henry Alexander Colwell ²

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           Born: 15 Jul 1844 - Kittanning, Armstrong Co, PA 2
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Phebe Bratton Mosgrove (      -      ) 2
           Marr: 16 Jan 1867 2

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3 F Mary J. Colwell ^{2 3}

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           Born: Apr 1853 3
     Christened: 
           Died: Aug 1896 3
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Edward Henry Jennings (1852-      ) 2 3
           Marr: 3 Sep 1879 3

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General Notes: Husband - John Alexander Colwell

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He was one of the leading citizens of his genera­tion in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. A native of the North of Ireland (possibly born in County Derry), he was twelve years old when he came to America, with the rest of the family. He lived in Kittanning, Armstrong County, with his uncle Alexander, who was engaged in business as a merchant, and was associated with him as clerk and partner in the store. In 1844, in partnership with Christian Shunk, they built the Mahoning Furnace on Mahoning creek, in Pine (now Mahoning) township, Mr. Shunk withdrawing from this association in 1845. This was one of the first places where pig metal was made, and though it was not the first establishment of the kind in Arm­strong County, Mr. Colwell may be regarded as one of the pioneer iron manufacturers of the region. He continued with his uncle until the latter died, about 1866-67, leaving his in­terest to his daughters, who sold it to John Alexander Colwell and his son Henry Alex­ander Colwell, the business being still con­ducted under the name of J. A. Colwell & Co. until 1878, when they abandoned the plant. In October, 1879, father and son joined James E. Brown, James Mosgrove and Charles T. Neale, of Kittanning, and several Pittsburgh men associated under the style of Graff, Bennett & Co. (John Graff, James I. Bennett, Robert Marshall and Henry King), in the organization of the Kittanning Iron Company (Limited), with a capital of $150,000. Purchasing the property of James E. Brown, Trustee, they enlarged the facilities and began the manufacture of iron on an extensive scale. Within a few years great improvements had been effected and many additions made to the plant, the latter includ­ing a large blast furnace, part of the product of which was sold and part manufactured by the company into muck bar. New puddling furnaces were constructed and old ones re­paired, and all necessary machinery for the manufacture of iron in all its forms was in­stalled. In its early days the company spent fully $100,000 (then an immense sum) in modernizing the plant, building railroad side tracks, etc. Moreover, about a year after organizing they purchased a gas well three miles west of the works, to which the gas was conveyed in large pipes for use in puddling. The company acquired another important ad­junct to the business in the ownership of several thousand acres of iron land, and leased several thousand more, in the Allegheny val­ley, in Armstrong and Clarion counties, using the ore therefrom in the blast furnace without admixture. The pig iron for the puddling furnace was taken from the blast furnace to the rolling mill and was there converted into muck iron. About five hundred pounds of Lake ore was used in addition to the pig iron to produce one gross ton of muck iron. A part of the coke used was made at the works from coal mined in the vicinity. Thus it will be seen that a great plant was built up by this enterprising concern, and the fact that it af­forded employment to several hundred men, about four hundred in the neighborhood and three hundred elsewhere, chiefly at the ore mines, made it one of the valuable institutions of that part of the state. It had a con­tinuous existence into the early 1900s, and with increased capital and equipment was later con­ducted under the name of the Kittanning Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company. A branch was also established at Pittsburgh. The establishment was the only one of its kind in Armstrong County. John A. Colwell continued to be prominently connected therewith until his death. He was an able business man, one who gained and held the confidence of his associates. He was a mem­ber of the Masonic fraternity and of the Presbyterian Church. [HAC 1914, 560]

1 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 560.

2 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 561.

3 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (SW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 14.