Dear Members of the Greenup County, Kentucky Discussion Group, There were nine men in the 1870 Census of Greenup County, Kentucky who were listed as iron furnace managers. The way their occupation was listed varied: Furn. manager, Furnace Mgr, Iron Furn. Mgr., Mgr. at furnace, Mgr. iron furnace, Mgr. iron furn and Manager Furn. The managers were found in the online 1870 Census of Greenup County, by using the "Find in this Page" feature. Special thanks goes to researcher Bruce Logan, who posted the 1870 Census online. The following words and abbreviations were entered and found: manager, iron, furnace, furn, mgr. Using the "Find" feature, the nine managers of iron furnaces were: 1. Marimus/Marinus King, Precinct One (Greenupsburg Post Office), dwelling 35 of 457 2. John Collins, Precinct Three (Lynn Post Office), dwelling 115 of 277 The next four managers were enumerated in Precinct Four (Oldtown Post Office), which included 356 dwellings: 3. William N. Coffee, dwelling 24 4. William R. Earhart, dwelling 36 5. Washington Partlow, dwelling 43 6. Thomas G. Scott, dwelling 146 Precinct Five (Hunnewell Post Office): 7. James Hoop, dwelling 409 of 428 There were two furnace managers who were living in Greenup County, but whose furnaces were located in an adjacent county: 8. Sebastian Eifort, Precinct Five (Hunnewell Post Office), dwelling 165 of 428, manager of Boone Furnace (in Carter County) 9. John Russell, Precinct Six (Bellefonte Post Office), dwelling 111 of 144, possibly manager of Bellefonte Furnace (Boyd County) Eliminating the last two managers, because their furnaces were located outside of Greenup County, we have seven furnace managers, corresponding to the seven iron furnaces which were in operation in Greenup County in 1870, presuming one manager to a furnace. While I do not have each manager linked to his respective furnace, it can be theorized by process of elimination that John Collins was the manager of Kenton Furnace in 1870. There were no iron furnace managers in the village of Greenupsburg (89 dwellings) or in Precinct Two (Springville Post Office), 416 dwellings, in 1870. John Collins was the only furnace manager who lived in the western part of Greenup County, near Kenton Furnace, in the time period under consideration. John Collins lived 22 dwellings from William Zornes in 1870. William Zornes lived not far from Kenton Furnace, as shown on the 1876 map of Greenup County. There was no other iron furnace operating near Kenton Furnace in 1870. Kenton Furnace was the northernmost iron furnace in Greenup County in 1870, with the possible exception of the furnace managed by Marinus King. The other iron furnaces were in the central to southern and eastern areas of Greenup County. In earlier years, this was not the case. But the focus is on 1870. Therefore, if John Collins was the manager of Kenton Furnace, then the close neighbors of John Collins who worked in furnace-related occupations such as iron ore miner, furnace keeper, furnace filler, etc., were employed by Kenton Furnace. Benjamin F. Spriggs, iron ore miner, lived fifteen dwellings from John Collins in 1870. Benjamin Spriggs was most likely associated with Kenton Furnace in that year. Benjamin's son Lafayette Spriggs, farm laborer, was living next door to Benjamin. The iron furnaces can be useful aids in locating people, because an iron furnace was a specific point on the map. Anyone employed by an iron furnace usually lived near the place of employment, to be able to walk to work. Sincerely, Randal W. Cooper P.S. By 1880, John Collins (listed as John H. Collins) had moved to Cherokee County, Alabama, where he was an assistant superintendant of an iron furnace. P.P.S. The seven iron furnaces in operation in Greenup County, Kentucky in 1870 were (in the order they were built): Caroline, Raccoon, Hunnewell, Laurel, Pennsylvania, Buffalo and Kenton.