The date when this old furnace was blown in is generally given as Nov. 1, 1790. But in Ellis' History of Fayette County, a book prepared with care, the author states that the Alliance Furnace was blown in in Nov. 1789. From certain documents, we know that the furnace was at least in course of erection before the land on which it stood was patented. In 1789, in the minutes of the June term of the court of quarter sessions of Fayette County, reference is made to a "view of a road, from the furnace on Jacobs Creek, to Thomas Kyle's mill”; and in 1791 in the minutes of the March sessions mention is made that "the petition for a road from Jacobs Creek Ironworks, to intersect the road leading to Kyle's Mill - granted." Thomas Kyle's mill probably stood near the falls two miles farther up the creek. This is the wildest and most desolate spot in the lower Jacobs Creek valley. Here one can see where a mill race was dug and an old millstone lies near the creek. A wagon road led from the furnace to this old mill site by the falls. The tract of land on which the furnace was erected was patented under the name of Rockbury. It contained three hundred acres and one was patented to William Turnbull of Pittsburgh, Pa., July 13, 1789. The fuel used in smelting the ore was charcoal. In order to get enough fuel, many acres of woodland in the neighborhood of the furnace were secured by the company. They patented 9 tracts of land containing 2435 acres in all, the greater number being in Westmoreland County. These tracts were patented under the poetic names as Bannockburn, Abington, and Rural Felicity. The Alliance Furnace was owned by Turnbull, Marmie & Co., merchants of Philadelphia who became interested in iron ore west of the mountains.
The firm had already erected a distillery, built a sawmill and owned the salt works on the Beaver River. Having great success in these enterprises, they decided to build a furnace west of the mountains. William Turnbull had been a cimmissary and purchasing agent for the Pa. troops during the Revolutionary War. He became associated with Peter Marmie and Col. John Holker. They came wJest and started a merchantile business at Pittsburgh. It is said that Turnbull managed the business in Philadelphia and Marmie managed the business in the west. That is the statement generally given in the County Histories. However, the land was patented to William Turnbull of Pittsburgh, and when he sold his interest in the furnace in 1797, the same address is given. After examining some of the original deeds and much correspondence concerning their affairs, the writer would infer that Marmie managed their business at the furnace and Turnbull looked after their affairs at Pittsburgh.
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