To all: This ain't spam; it's a request for information. I'm prepaing a paper to be presented to the Wayne County Historical Society in March on the history of the old Mt. Jasper or Wayne furnace which was located four miles east of Waynesboro on the old Columbia Central Turnpike. The old furnace was originally built by a Mr. Sutton for Royal Ferguson of Maury Co., TN. After Ferguson died in 1838, James Walker, a brother-in-law of Pres. Polk? became the owner of the property and improved it by building a second furnace stack. Ferguson and later Walker, also owned the Forge on 48 Mile Creek (known as 48 Forge). Following the Civil War, Gaylord Iron and Pipe Company of Cincinnati became owners of the property and sent Col. George W. Boyd south to superintend the furnace. Under Col. Boyd's direction, a new furnace stack was built and improvements made to the whole property. Then in 1872/3 the whole thing shut down and has remained dormant since. Only the timber lands were utilized in later years with a very small amount of mining in the ore beds. I'm trying to find information on Royal Ferguson and also see if anyone has any photographs of the old furnace. The ruins were still present in the 1960's but were destroyed when US Highway 64 was rebuilt through the area. Also would like to know if anyone has any information on the activities of James Walker and his associates during the period prior to the Civil War. It would appear that Walker was very involved in the development of this area: he was president of the Columbia Central Turnpike; was involved in the extension of the telegraph lines from Columbia to Waynesboro in 1848; and also owned the Marion and Indian Furnaces near Clifton, TN. Would also like to contact anyone who had ancestors who lived in the Town of Wayne Furnace which was incorporated in 1868. And lastly, does anyone have or know of someone who does have, any of the products made at the old 48 Forge? I would like to get photographs of these products if possible. Please contact me via email or regular mail at Edgar D. Byler, III 201 First Ave N. Collinwood, TN 38450 edby3@netease.net Thank you. Edgar Edgar D. Byler, III edby3@netease.net Editor, Wayne County Historian Wayne County, Tennessee, USA Co-Coordinator Wayne County Web Page: http://www.netease.net./wayne