THE ORIGINS OF THE IRON WORKS
CHAPTER 1
In the middle 1800s Beloit, Wisconsin, was a center of the frontier foundry industry. As an early manufacturing center with needed water power, Beloit was able to attract a large share of the westward moving paper industry. Three brothers and a Beloit miller used this environment to build up a business that would much later evolve into the largest manufacturer of paper making machines in the world. These men, John B. Merrill, Orson E. Merrill, Sereno T. Merrill, and George Houston, were the original founders of what is now the Beloit Corporation.
On October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal was completed, sending a stream of pioneers into the Great Lakes area. By the mid to late 1830s settlers spread into northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, and small agricultural communities began to spring up along the Rock River Valley.
As the Rock River Valley became populated with farmers, the need for farming equipment gave birth to infant foundries that manufactured plows, reapers, and other types of hardware necessary to the local townsfolk. Industry in the valley grew with difficulty. The lack of banking facilities limited starting capital to personal savings or lines of credit from the East, while the scarcity of currency often forced manufacturers to barter their products. Nevertheless, Rock River industries continued to multiply, locating in towns that could provide the best sources of water power.Page 1