Questions regarding early gun powder mills

[Dennis Glazener]

I am not sure that this is the correct place for this discussion so I will probably move it to OTBF later on but for now I want to see if any of our collectors that do a lot of historical research can offer any information on this subject. Plus our "Guests" are able to read this whereas they do not have access to OTBF.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night about early gun powder mills in NC/TN/VA and he mentioned that he knew of a instance where the owner of a powder mill submitted a lot of gun powder to the state of NC to have it tested in order to have 3000 ac of land given to him as a grant. I had not heard of this but its very interesting. I am aware that the state of NC did make grants of large tracts of land to operators of Iron Furnaces. The Iron Furnaces in western NC, at that time were fired with charcoal and they needed huge tracts of timber to make the charcoal necessary to fire the iron furnace.

I first thought that it made sense for a powder mill operator to need large tracts of land to produce the charcoal for making black powder but I don't believe they would have used the hardwoods most commonly found in these southern forests to make charcoal suitable for gunpowder. I would think softwoods similiar to willow, alder etc. So this left me wondering what kinds of wood were used to make gunpowder in the southern mountains? Any other thoughts on why so many ac of land would be granted to a powder mill?

I have an interest in this area since my 3GGF John Gillespie's father-in-law William Harvey supplied gun powder to the Continental Army during the Rev War. Also my 4GGF David Baker's father was reported to have been killed in a powder mill explosion in Culpeper VA also during the Rev War. I am trying to find as much about the early gun powder industry as I can. It been slow going!
Dennis

[Eric Kettenburg]

Bill Knight might have some relevant information on all of that.  I distinctly remember him telling me things about charcoal and wood types back when he was doing work for Elephant, iirc.

[snapper]

Dennis

I have a book called "Gunpowder"  Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics:  The History of the Explosive that changed the World.  By Jack Kelly

Shoot me your mailing address and I will mail it to you. 

It is an interesting read.  Talks about the history around the world in the development of black powder and ends with the history of milling in the USA.

fleener

[Elnathan]

There are a few comments about gunpowder and charcoal species in John Rice Irwin's Guns and Gunmaking Tools of Southern Appalachia. IIRC, he doesn't say where he obtained his information, but it might be worth contacting the Museum of Appalachia to see if the might have his notes somewhere.

[Dennis Glazener]

Thanks, I have that book somewhere around here I will see if I can find it.
Thanks
Dennis

[Dennis Glazener]

Bill Knight might have some relevant information on all of that.  I distinctly remember him telling me things about charcoal and wood types back when he was doing work for Elephant, iirc.

Thanks Eric, will see if I can contact him.
Dennis

[Feltwad]

Bill Knight might have some relevant information on all of that.  I distinctly remember him telling me things about charcoal and wood types back when he was doing work for Elephant, iirc.

I used the Elephant black powder a decade or two ago when it was imported into the UK . I always understood it was manufactured in south America .
Feltwad