Joan, I don't know the relationship of your John Lesher to the ironmaster, but this is the information I have: Oley Forge, built 1744 on the Manatawny Creek in Berks County, was co-owned by John Ross (half-brother of George Ross, signer of the Declaration of Independence), John Yoder and John Lesher of Oley. This particular John Lesher (1711-1794) was born in Germany and came to Pennsylvania in 1734. For 50 years he was involved in iron interests. He served the county in the Constitutional Convention in 1776, and served in the General Assembly from 1776-1782. As a member of the Convention, he was a member of the committee that prepared and reported the "Declaration of Rights." In the settlement of John Ross' estate, litigation arose with Lesher, and Lesher sold out his 2/3 interest (having purchased Yoder's 1/3 interest in 1750) to his son, Jacob Lesher and sons-in-law, John Potts and Jacob Morgan. If this is an ancestor, I have a little more detailed info. I have a major correction to make concerning Elizabeth Furnace, Brickersville, Lancaster County, which did indeed involve "Baron" Henry William Henry Stiegel. On 7 Nov. 1752, JOHN JACOB HUBER'S DAUGHTER, ELISABETH, MARRIED HENRY WILLIAM STIEGEL. William Henry did not give himself the title of baron; the name was not on the nobility lists of Europe. Instead his very impressed Pennsylvania neighbors might have conferred that title upon him. Huber's Furnace was built in 1750 by John Jacob, and in 1757 Stiegel bought the furnace, building a much larger one on the site and naming it for his wife, Elizabeth. Unfortunately, Elizabeth died in February, 1758, leaving two daughters, Barbara and Elizabeth. I would like to locate a furnace that would have been accessible and closer to the colonial Germantown area. Maura