Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 3
Your Favour from Philadelphia of Octr. 7th1 is before me;2 for delaying, so long, to answer it, I must appologize, having been extreemly hurried in Business.
There is no convenient way of enlarging This Furnace so as to cast Thirty-two lbders., unless she is rebuilt; to do which I judge will never be expedient, while smaller Cannon continue in Demand as at present.
I can give little or no Encouragement as to Guns for the Frigates in the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire; as all the Guns that have been cast here, of the Sizes mentioned in yrs., are already disposed of: and all that are to be made for some time to come, are pre-engaged.
The Produce of the Furnace has been hitherto disposed of by Vote of the Governor & Council of Safety, for this State, and all Applications for Cannon &c. must be to Him, for an Order for the delivery of Them here.
As Our Metal is esteem’d superior to any in America, I immagin Twenty four Lbdrs. might be cast at this Furnace another Blast, if the Hearth was laid larger than it now is, as we can at present run Iron enough for Eighteen lbdrs. in a heavier Mold than in necessary, (as I think,) for Metal of such extraordinary Tufness as Our Salisbury Ore affords. I propose casting a Gun for a trial, in a Mold constructed according to Mullers Directions, which will be lighter, by about 1/5. If it bears the proof, it will encourage us to think that Twenty four lbdrs. may be cast 319here. For proof we charge with 2/3 the Weight of the Shot, in powder; and 2 Balls. I am Sir yr. Hbl. Servt.,
On Public Service Free”; endorsed.
Not located and not mentioned by RTP in his diary among the letters he wrote that day.
Joshua Porter (1730–1825) was a 1754 graduate of Yale and for many years a physician at Salisbury, Conn., where he was also very active in civic and military affairs. He was a long-time selectman and representative to the state legislature, a justice of the peace, chief judge of the county court, and a judge of probate. Porter served from 1774 to 1780 as lieutenant colonel of the state’s 17th Regiment of Militia. He was also “largely interested” in the Salisbury ironworks (Dexter, Yale Biographies, 2:347–348).