Airdrie and its furnace were built in 1855 by R. S. C. A. Alexander, and since that time it has been one of the most interesting spots along Green River. General Don Carlos Buell made it his home in 1866, and continued to live there until his death in 1898. In the course of years Airdrie's twenty-five or more frame houses have all been abandoned. The Deserted Village became a demolished village, and to-day little is left to mark the site of this once-flourishing town. No trace of the buildings that stood on Airdrie Hill can now be found. Some of the houses were carried off in the shape of lumber, others tumbled down years ago and rotted away. The Buell residence, erected by William McLean many years before Airdrie was started, was not only the largest and oldest residence in the place but was also the last to pass away. It burned in 1907. This historic mansion stood in a beautiful park near the top of Airdrie Hill, on which the town was built. The landscape viewed from this spot, up and down Green River and across the stream and overlooking the farms and forests in Ohio County, is an unusually beautiful one. This riverside park, so well kept by General Buell during his lifetime, is now almost a jungle. The winding paths are rampant with ivy and honeysuckle, the foot-bridges are tottering, and what was once a shaded lawn is now overgrown with wild weeds and run-wild shrubbery.

On the narrow strip of land between the water's edge and the top of the hill, and running parallel with the river, are now found the only evidences of the old iron works and old mines. Among the cedars and sycamores are the ruins of a large brick chimney, and near it lie two rusty boilers. Here and there, protruding from the ground, can be seen traces of old stone walls that remind one more of the work of prehistoric mound-builders than of a foundation laid by mill-builders. Two of the old shafts look like long-abandoned wells, and another like a mere hole in the ground. The opening on the hillside leading into the abandoned drift mine, known as the "McLean Old Bank," looks like the entrance to a cave that has never been explored.

The stack of the furnace still stands, a majestic old pile, fifty-five feet or more in height. But the days of this picturesque landmark are evidently numbered. Near the stack is the Stone House, whose massive walls seem able to defy storm and sunshine for many years to come. This house, used in former times for machinery, is a sandstone structure three stories high, fifty by twenty feet. The wooden floors and window frames have long ago fallen away. This fortlike building was at one time covered with a slate roof, which was ruined by visitors throwing rocks on it from the top of the bluff at the foot of which the house stands. The shingle roof placed on it by General Buell has since met with the same fate. About half-way up the wall of the Stone House, between two windows, the thoughtful architect placed a large stone bearing the inscription, "Airdrie, 1855."

The hillside stone steps leading from a point just beyond the Stone House to the top of Airdrie Hill, where the town stood, are most picturesque. Virginia creeper has found its way up the solid stone foundation, and the drooping branches of the nearby trees shade the beds of heavy moss and clusters of clinging ferns. The sixty stone steps, although without railing, can still be climbed in safety.Paradise and the Highway Thereto

The stack of the old furnace, together with the Stone House and the stone steps, as they stand to-day (about fifty yards from the river), suggest a bygone time with which one's imagination could associate any longpast age in the world's history, if the "1855" chiseled deep into its ancient walls did not keep the mind from wandering back further.

Such, as I have tried to describe it, is the Airdrie of to-day. Although Airdrie's history does not begin until 1855, the traditions of that neighborhood go back to the end of the Eighteenth Century. Airdrie Hill is about one mile below Paradise. Paradise is one of the oldest places in the county, and is built on land first settled by pioneer Leonard Stum (or Stom), who opened up a farm and with his sons Jacob and Henry conducted the first store where the town now stands. Their boat landing was for many years known as Stum's Landing, and it is very probable that before their death, along in the '40s, the name of the settlement was changed to Paradise.

Jacob Stum, it is said, was "long, lean and lank," weighed only seventy pounds, and measured about six feet in height. He was never known to be ill but once. On that occasion, while confined to his room with "the slow fever." a new doctor, who was unacquainted in the neighborhood, was summoned to his bedside. The physician had never seen his patient "stand on his pegs," so tradition says, nor had he ever heard of his feathery weight. When, therefore, he stepped into Jacob's room he asked to be shown the sick man. At the sight of the "skin and bones" the frightened doctor rushed from the house, saying Jacob was even less mortal than a living skeleton. He informed the family that the patient, although "able to sit up and eat a snack," must have died some months ago, but owing to the absence of flesh the worms made no attack on him, and that the voice they heard was the voice of Jacob's spirit "talking through his hide." Nevertheless, the sick man recovered from the attack of typhoid fever and, says tradition, continued to "play hookey from the graveyard" for many years.

His brother Henry on the other hand, was a man of normal proportions, but never enjoyed the best of health. Both were upright and highly respected men and lived to a ripe old age, and are now represented in the county by many descendants. Pioneer Leonard Stum was the father of Henry, Jacob, and George Stum, Mrs. Judith (Aaron) Smith, and Mrs. Frank Kirtley.

Matthew or Mattheis Hamm was among the early settlers who lived near Pond Creek, in the Paradise country. He came to Muhlenberg from North Carolina in 1797, accompanied by his wife and what was then their only child, and also by his mother, Barbara Hamm, who died three years later. He was a well-to-do farmer and at times served his community as a preacher. The German Bible he brought with him is now the property of J. Luther Hamm, son of Reverend Jacob Hamm. Unfortunately, the title page of this old and heavily bound volume is among the few leaves that have disappeared, and the time and place of its publication are unknown.

In 1802, when pioneer Peter Shull (or Scholl) came to Paradise from Pennsylvania, he found no one living in the immediate vicinity but the Stum families. Peter's father served seven years in the Revolutionary War; Peter himself served two years in the War of 1812, and Peter's son, E. E. C. Shull, the well-known hotel-keeper at Paradise, served four years as a Federal soldier in the Civil War, making a total of thirteen years of active military service in three generations of Shulls.

Among other first-comers in this neighborhood were three of the sons of Peter Smith, of North Carolina--Aaron, James, and Elias Smith, who have many descendants in Ohio and Muhlenberg counties. William H. Smith, the old Federal soldier, is a grandson of Aaron and Judith (Stum) Smith. Isaac Hunsacker and Joseph Heck were early settlers there.

Five members of the Yonts (or Yontz) family came to the Paradise country from North Carolina about 1812 and became well known in Muhlenberg County. They were Philip, Rudolph, and Lawrence Yonts, Elizabeth, who married William Heltsley, and Susan, who married Michael Heltsley, All of them settled near the home of Eli Smith, who was a kinsman of the Elias Smith just referred to.

Abraham Roll, although not one of the earliest settlers in the Paradise country, was one of the most influential men in that section. He was born in Virginia May 27, 1798, came to Muhlenberg, from Hardin County in 1826, and died on his farm, near Paradise, January 30, 1838. He was the father of Mrs. Elizabeth (Philip) Heltsley, David B., Michael F., and Thos. J. Roll, Mrs. Sally Ann (A. L.) Depoyster, and Mrs. Tiney (Henry) Moore.

None of the first-comers in the Paradise country were better known than Oliver Cromwell Vanlandingham, sr., who in his day was one of the most polished and liberal self-made men of the county. He was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, in 1784. While still a small boy he, with his parents and his sister Elizabeth, left Virginia for Muhlenberg. The father died on the way. After burying her husband Mrs. Vanlandingham and the other members of the party resumed their trip and finally arrived near Paradise, where she procured some land. There she and her two children worked hard and soon placed themselves in comfortable circumstances. She was a well-educated woman, and up to about the time her children were married devoted practically all her evenings to their education. Her daughter Elizabeth married Samuel Weir, a prominent farmer, brother of pioneer James Weir. Her son, O. C. Vanlandingham, sr., was for a few years associated in the mercantile business with pioneer James Weir. After he and Weir dissolved partnership he made a number of trips to New Orleans, where he sold the hides and produce he bought in the eastern part of the county. In 1823 he married Mary A. Drake, of Louisiana, and shortly after removed to Shawneetown, Illinois. In the meantime he retained the property he owned in Muhlenberg, including the place on which he had erected a large log dwelling. His wife, during one of their many visits to Muhlenberg, died on their farm near Paradise, December 22, 1844. In 1845 he and his five children, including O. C. Vanlandingham, jr., moved to Baton Rouge, where he had bought a large plantation. There he married Amelia Blount, of Louisiana. He died on this plantation October 2, 1856, aged seventy-two. His remains were brought to Kentucky and buried by the side of his first wife, near what he always called his "old Muhlenberg home."O. C. Vanlandingham, Sr.

In 1847 his eldest son, O. C. Vanlandingham, jr., returned to Muhlenberg and married Margaret J. Weir, daughter of Samuel M. Weir. He remained in the county for ten years, looking after his father's property. In 1857, after the death of his father, he moved to Louisiana to take charge of the Vanlandingham plantation. At the breaking out of the Civil War he became a member of a Confederate cavalry regiment and served during the greater part of the war. During the war practically everything on the Louisiana plantation was burned or ruined and the hundred or more slaves owned by the Vanlandinghams were set free, leaving nothing of the great estate but the ground. About the year 1868 he and his family returned to their farm near Paradise, where he died in 1905. He owned a large library, and was regarded as one of the best-read men in the county. O. C. Vanlandingham, jr., and his wife were the parents of two daughters and six sons, all of whom live in the Paradise country, among them being Samuel P. and Oliver C. Vanlandingham, the two well-known farmers.

Among the influential men who began an active career in the Paradise country during the second quarter of the last century was George W. Haden, who was born in Maryland December 6, 1813. He was a son of Joseph Haden, a pioneer of Kentucky, who at the time of the birth of his son was temporarily located in Hagerstown, Maryland. His parents made the return trip west over the mountains and through Kentucky on horseback, carrying their little son George with them. George W. Haden's mill was the first saw mill erected in the vicinity of Paradise. After running a horse-power "upright saw" or "sash saw" for a number of years he put in a circular saw run by steam, the second of its kind in the county. His mill business was well established when Alexander began building Airdrie. He sawed all the lumber used in the erection of its houses. He also built the first flat-boats used by the various coal operators who mined at Airdrie before the arrival of Alexander. Mr. Haden lived on his large farm east of Drakesboro, and for almost a half century was connected with various saw mills in Muhlenberg. He was a Southern sympathizer, and made many sacrifices for the Lost Cause. Mr. and Mrs. Haden were the parents of Joseph C. Haden, Mrs. Amanad (Doctor J. G.) Bohannon, and Roy Haden, Mr. Haden died in Greenville November 10, 1904.George W. Haden, 1895

The land on which the town of Airdrie was later built was for a short time the property of Judge Alney McLean. His son, William McLean, in the latter part of the '30s, began, near the building once occupied by his father, the house afterward known as the Alexander house and which later became the Buell house. William McLean was the eldest son of Judge Alney McLean and was the first, so it is said, to work the coal around Airdrie. After the death of his father in 1841 he moved his mother and her children from Greenville to his new residence. While the McLean family was living here William McLean married. A few years later he and his wife moved South, but frequently returned to visit their old home. In the meantime the coal mine opened by him was worked by William Duncan, of Bedford, Indiana, and J. W. Newlan, who were succeeded by Thomas Carson, of Bowling Green, who was probably the last to work the McLean coal bank before the arrival of Alexander.

In those days steamboats plied on Green River between Bowling Green and Louisville. None ever passed the McLean house without a salute. It was from the McLean landing that many Greenville and other Muhlenberg people took passage. What was, in 1846, the newest and finest boat on Green River was named "Lucy Wing," in honor of the daughter of Charles Fox Wing. Captain Culiver was always in charge of this boat. It is said he was a great admirer of "Poems by Amelia," and that he presented many of his passengers with copies of that work. This was a book published in 1845 by Amelia Welby, a popular Ohio poetess of that time, whose writings were exploited by George D. Prentice.

Airdrie derives its name from a small city of the same name in Scotland, situated between Edinburg and Glasgow. It is the old home of the titled Alexanders, Robert Sproul Crawford Aitcheson Alexander, the founder of Airdrie in Muhlenberg, was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1819. He was a son of Honorable Robert Alexander and a grandson of Sir William Alexander and his wife, who was a Miss Aitcheson, of the House of Airdrie, Scotland. The Honorable Robert's eldest brother was a bachelor and was named, like their father, William, he succeeded to the title. This Sir William, the bachelor, promised his brother Robert, then living in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, to educate his oldest son Robert and let him succeed to the title and estate if he would send him over to Scotland for that purpose. This was done, and after Sir William's death young Robert fell heir to the estate. Some years after the death of his uncle he decided to return to America in order to be near his brother and sisters (Alexander John Alexander, Mrs. J. B. Waller, and Mrs. H. C. Deeds). Besides, his supply of Black Band iron ore in Scotland was about exhausted. He made a search for similar ore in America through his geologists, Charles Hendrie, sr., and his son Alexander Hendrie, who discovered the existence of a desirable ore, in 1851, first near the abandoned Buckner Furnace and The Airdrie Furnace then near Paradise. Alexander bought about seventeen thousand acres of land in Muhlenberg, all of which with the exception of the Buckner Furnace lay along Green River.

Alexander believed the Scotch were the most competent iron-workers in the world, and so, during the latter part of 1854, he brought many of his former employes and their families to his new Airdrie. A special ship, it is said, was chartered for the trip. It required six weeks for their sailing-vessel to cross the ocean. Tradition has it that their boat had a collision with a waterlogged boat, which resulted in changing their course to such an extent that they landed at New York instead of Philadelphia. From Pittsburgh they came down the Ohio, and after some delay in Louisville started up Green River. Upon arriving at Airdrie, their "New Scotland," they immediately set to work finishing the houses begun in the new town by Alexander Hendrie and a number of local masons and carpenters, among whom were Alfred Johnson and his son Lonz Johnson, and Thomas Sumner and his son Alney McLean Sumner.The Stone House, Airdrie

Alexander spared no expense in his work. The capital at his disposal for this undertaking was practically unlimited. It is said he invested over $350,000. He enlarged the McLean house, in which he retained a few rooms for his personal use. Besides the furnace, Stone House, and mill he erected a two-story frame hotel, a few two-story frame dwellings, and about twenty frame cottages of three rooms each. These houses were lathed and plastered and supplied with massive chimneys and large open fire-places. Everybody around the works, regardless of position, was comfortably housed.

After considerable drilling, digging, and delaying, the furnace was finally started. Alexander, as said before, believed the Scotch were the most competent iron-workers in the world, and he therefore gave them full sway. While his men may have been thoroughly familiar with the handling of the Black Band iron ore of Scotland, they evidently did not realize that the ore here required a different treatment. Three or four unsuccessful attempts were made to run the furnace. The trouble lay not in the ore, but in its management. Had they changed some of their methods, the probabilities are that the undertaking would have been a grand success.

Alexander's patience soon gave out. He cared very little about the money involved, for it was only a small part of his fortune. He set a date for the discontinuing of the work, and although the drillers discovered more iron ore on the preannounced last day, Alexander nevertheless clung to his firm resolution and abandoned the work. This was in the fall of 1857. He retired to his stock farm near Lexington, where he did probably more than any other one man toward the improvement of blooded stock in this State. At the time of his death, on his farm December 1, 1867, he was reputed to be the richest man in Kentucky.

Sir Robert S. C. Aitcheson Alexander was a bachelor. After the death of his uncle he became known as Lord Alexander. He was a quiet, modest, unassuming man. His employes called him "the lord." On one occasion a backwoodsman named Williams paid a visit to Airdrie, and upon his arrival immediately asked for "that there Lord." Alexander was pointed out to him. Williams "sashayed around him and sized him up from head to foot," and then expressed his astonishment by saying, "So you are the Lord, are you? By gum, you are nothin' but a human bein' after all, and a plain, ordinary, say-little sort of a feller at that. They said you was a Big Bug, but five foot six will reach you any day in the week, by Washington!" This amused Alexander, for he realized how unconsciously but truthfully the speaker had described him. He gave Williams a hearty handshake, and a few weeks later the backwoodsman presented "Lord Ellick" with "enough venison for all Scotland."The Stone Steps, Airdrie

Notwithstanding the fact that the furnace was a failure from a commercial standpoint, life in the colony was happy. Although the men spent most of their time at work connected with the mines and furnace and the women were occupied with their household affairs, amusements of many sorts were frequent. The women attended afternoon gatherings of various sorts, and did much toward introducing new customs among the native families with whom they came in contact. The men were good fishermen and splendid swimmers. Archie Pollock, one of the jolliest of the Scotlanders, was the "champion fist-fighter." In fact, friendly fist-fights were on the program more than any other sport. Dances were frequently given. Some of the old Scotch airs introduced by them can still be heard at "old fiddlers' contests" occasionally held in the county.

Although the town of Airdrie was short-lived, its establishment resulted in the introduction of many new and desirable families into Muhlenberg. After the withdrawal of Alexander practically all the men and women who came from Scotland remained in the county, and are to-day represented by many descendants.

Andrew Duncan and his brothers Robert and David Duncan left Scotland for America in the early part of 1855, and a few months later Alexander sent for them to come to Airdrie. They were practical miners, and Alexander gave them a contract to sink a shaft. One of the brothers managed the day shift and the other the night crew. William G. Duncan, now the best-known mine operator in Kentucky, is a son of Andrew Duncan, and David John Duncan, the well-known insurance man of Greenville, is a son of David Duncan.

James Gilmour and his brother Matthew Gilmour were among Alexander's trusted employes. James spent most of his life in the Paradise country, and died there in 1895. James G. Gilmour, of Paradise, is his son. Matthew returned to Scotland and there managed a large coal mine.

Robert Kipling, the patternmaker, was an Englishman and came to Airdrie with Frank Toll. After the works were abandoned he located on a farm near Paradise, where he died March 10, 1902. Among his children now living in the county are Miss M. Bettie, Miss Rhoda A., George S., and R. Henry Kipling. Kipling, like every other man in Airdrie, was an admirer of J. Jack Robertson, of the upper Pond Creek country. Kipling designed and cast a number of door-props called "Old Jack Robertson." They were iron figures about ten inches long and five inches high, representing "Old Jack" sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out, a goose between them, and he in the act of carving it. A few of these iron doorweights can still be found in the county.

Alexander Hendrie was Alexander's geologist. His father, Charles Hendrie, sr., was manager of the estates belonging to the House of Airdrie. Alexander Hendrie, or "Scotch Henry," was born in Airdrie, Scotland. June 24, 1820. In 1848 he came to the United States in search of iron ore for Alexander. In 1850 he located in Paducah, where by prearrangement he met his father, with whom he made an exploration of the deposits of iron ore in Western Kentucky. In the course of a few months they began an investigation of the Buckner Furnace tract and there found the ore that they considered was what they were looking for. Their recommendation of the iron ore found on this tract resulted in Alexander's buying the place in 1851.

Hendrie, wishing to be near his work, moved into the abandoned Buckner house, which he had restored for that purpose. While living near The Stack he occupied some of his leisure time farming. In the meantime he explored various parts of the county, and among other places diseovered iron ore near Paradise. Alexander visited Hendrie on the Buckner place and discussed with him the questions of quality, quantity, and location of the iron ores on the various tracts that had been bought. Hendrie advised Alexander not to repair The Stack, where transportation facilities were an obstacle, but to build a new furnace on Green River. In 1853 they selected a site below Paradise and named it Airdrie. Hendrie, assisted by Matthew Gilmour, immediately began the new town. Alexander Hendrie's brother, John Hendrie, while still in Scotland, drew the plans for the new furnace and Stone House.Alexander Hendrie, 1852

About 1853 Alexander Hendrie moved to Airdrie. In the meantime he superintended the farming on the Buckner place. He continued to look after that tract until he resigned as manager of the Airdrie furnace. He made many trips between the two places on his celebrated mare "Susie." This animal was burned to death while hitched in one of the Buckner stables; however, shortly after, George W. Haden presented him with a mare, "Dolly," that for many years was considered one of the most beautiful and intelligent animals in the county. Alexander Hendrie had a good education, and notwithstanding one report to the contrary, was a sober and industrious man. Tradition says his only fault lay in the fact that he was "too good for his own good." After his resignation as manager of Airdrie he continued his visits to Lexington, where he was invariably the guest of his friend Alexander. Shortly after he left Airdrie he became connected with the Riverside mine, where he remained until about 1864, when he moved to his farm in Ohio County, where he died in May, 1874. One of his sons is Charles Hendrie, the well-known mining engineer of Central City.

John Macdougal, the father of William Macdougal, was also among those who held responsible positions at Airdrie. Gilbert Muir, the father-in-law of James Gilmour, was the "driver" or engineer, and retained charge of the machinery long after the furnace was abandoned. Robert Patterson was the bookkeeper and also one of the civil engineers. It was he who surveyed a line from Airdrie, while the furnace was in operation, to the old Buckner Furnace, from which place Alexander was planning to get ore. Henry Southerland was a shoemaker in Scotland, and continued in that line of work at Airdrie and Paradise.

William Torrence was the engine-builder, in which capacity he had also worked in Scotland. Shortly before the works were abandoned he became one of the overseers. After the place was shut down he farmed across Green River from Airdrie. At the breaking out of the war Torrence became a member of Company I, Eleventh Kentucky Infantry, and later settled in Rockport, where he died. Frank Toll held various positions at the furnace.Mill Chimneys, Airdrie, 1900

Much has been written about Airdrie. As far as I am aware, the sketches that have been published are all, with one exception, nothing more than absurd murder and ghost stories, that evidently originated in the minds of those who wrote them. The exception I refer to is "A Report upon the Airdrie Furnace and Property," republished by the Kentucky State Geological Survey from an original record made in 1874 by P. N. Moore to Professor N. S. Shaler, then in charge of the Survey. It is a report of twenty-eight pages on the character of the coal and iron resources on the Airdrie property. One page is devoted to a description of the furnace and about three pages to its history. These I quote:

The furnace was built in 1855-56. It has an iron shell stack, resting upon a masonry base, twenty-six and a half feet square by twenty-one feet high. The outside diameter of the shell is twenty-three feet. The internal dimensions of the furnace are as follows: height fifty feet, diameter of bosh seventeen feet, height to bosh twenty-four feet (bosh cylindrical for six feet), diameter of throat eleven feet. The hearth is four feet high (elliptical in shape), seven feet four inches by (about) five feet.

The furnace is entirely open-topped, having no facilities for saving the gases, and requiring separate firing for both boilers and hot-blast.

There are two hot-blast ovens of the old-fashioned pistol-pipe pattern, with thirty-four pipes in each oven, ten curved pipes on each side, with seven straight at each end. The pipes are eight feet long, elliptical in cross-section, nine by eighteen inches, with diaphragm through the center of each.

There are four boilers, each forty inches in diameter by twenty-eight feet in length, each boiler having two flues. The engine is vertical, with direct connection between the steam and blast cylinders, and also connected with a heavy walking-beam and fly-wheel, the walking-beam working with a counterpoise at one end.

The steam cylinder is twenty inches in diameter and nine feet stroke; the blast cylinder six feet ten inches in diameter, stroke same as steam cylinder.

The engine-house is a splendid stone structure, built of a fine freestone, which occurs at the furnace. Everything about the furnace is constructed in the most thorough and durable manner.

The top of the furnace is about the level of the No. 11 Coal, to be hereafter described, and the ore and coal from the No. 12 seam were brought to the furnace mouth through a tunnel cut in the No. 11 Coal. The engine is in good order and well preserved.

The furnace proper stands perfectly sound (1874) and could, in a very brief time, be put in condition to go into blast; but among the buildings attached thereto the lapse of many years since they were in use has not been without its effect, so that repairs to both buildings and hot-blast apparatus will need to be made before they can be used again.

The Airdrie Furnace property consists of about 17,000 acres of land in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. This land is not all in one body, but lies in various sized lots, ranging from 500 to 5,000 acres. The greater portion of the estate lies within a short distance of the furnace; but one tract of about 5,000 acres--the old Buckner Furnace property--is about five miles from Greenville, the county seat of Muhlenberg County, and fifteen miles from Airdrie. . . .

Having thus considered in detail the resources of this property, and seen the remarkable advantages it possesses for obtaining fuel and cheap and varied supplies of ores, the question naturally presents itself: why, then, with all these advantages, was the furnace no more successful on its former trial? This is a serious and important question, for the reproach of failure laid against an enterprise of this kind outweighs many advantages.

Into the answer a number of reasons enter, and to render them properly understood it will be necessary to go into the history of the former campaign of the furnace in some detail, and to refer to the management of the enterprise in language which is unmistakable, although it may seriously reflect upon the business sagacity of some persons once connected with it who are no longer living. It should be premised that the information upon which the following account is based was obtained partly from the books of the furnace and partly from men who were on the ground, connected with the furnace in various capacities.

The enterprise seems to have been conceived by its proprietor in a spirit in which benevolence, national pride, and the desire for a profitable investment were strangely mingled. Being a Scotchman, and having some knowledge of iron manufacture as practiced in Scotland, he not unnaturally believed men of that nationality to be the most competent and desirable persons to conduct establishments for iron-making.

He, therefore, committed from the beginning the serious mistake of employing almost exclusively newly arrived foreigners, men who, however competent at home, were without any knowledge of American prices and metallurgical practice, or experience with American ores and fuel.

Having found what was firmly believed to be the equivalent of the celebrated Scotch Black Band iron ore, and an associate coal which it was thought could be used raw in the furnace, he proceeded to erect a furnace modeled after the Scotch pattern. He brought over large numbers of Scotch miners and furnace men, and employed them almost exclusively; giving them to understand, it is reported, that it was to improve their condition, rather than in hopes of great returns, that he had made the investment. He employed as superintendent and manager an uneducated, dissipated Scotchman, a man wholly unfit to fill so important and responsible a position, and to him he gave almost entire charge of the whole enterprise, often not visiting the property for months at a time.

Under such conditions, it is no wonder that there was mismanagement, and that ill-advised expenditures were made.

For three years, while the slow process of development was going on, the furnace and machinery erected, entries driven, and the great shaft, five and a half by eighteen feet, sunk to a depth of four hundred and thirty feet in search of a mythical ore (known to exist fifteen miles distant and nowhere between), the proprietor continued uncomplainingly to increase his investment.Some of the Abandoned Houses at Airdrie

At last the furnace was started. It ran a few days very unsuccessfully, producing iron of a poor quality and in small amount, when an accident to the boiler compelled it to be blown out.

Repairs were made in due time and the furnace again started. The working was no better than before, and the iron not improved in quality or quantity. In twenty-two days from the time of starting the saddleplate of the walking-beam broke, disabling the engine and compelling the furnace to be shoveled out. Again it started and again, after a short run, no more successful than the last, an accident happened to the engine, the cast-iron shaft of the fly-wheel broke, and once more the furnace was shoveled out.

In all three of these unfortunate campaigns the furnace was not in blast altogether more than six weeks or two months.

After the last blast the manager concluded that the coal did not work well raw, and so made a large amount of coke from it to be tried at the next blast, but the next blast never came; the proprietor's patience was exhausted; he stopped operations entirely, discharged his men, and shut up the mines and furnace.

Since that time (November, 1857) the furnace has never been in operation. The No. 11 Coal has been worked largely for shipment to the Southern market, but beyond that the property has been lying idle and unproductive.

The closing of the furnace at that time was a mistake no less serious than some committed in starting it. The manager was beginning to learn, by the only method by which a so-called practical, uneducated man can learn--his own dear-bought experience--that American ores and fuel are not exactly like the Scotch, and that different practice is required for their treatment. Had he been allowed to go on, using coke for fuel, it is not unlikely that his next campaign would have proved much more successful.

It can be truly said that the furnace has never been subjected to a fair trial. A total campaign of six weeks or two months, divided into three short blasts, affords no fair basis for judgment as to the merits of furnace, fuel or ore.

After the withdrawal of Alexander his lands in Muhlenberg County were placed in charge of Colonel S. P. Love. He was succeeded by Thomas Bruce, a merchant and one-time county clerk, who looked after Alexander's interests a short time. Along in these years Doctor Shelby A. Jackson was in some way connected with Airdrie. Doctor Jackson was one of the most widely known men of his day. David B. Roll followed Thomas Bruce as agent of the land. "Squire' Roll, as he was familiarly called, was a magistrate for ten years in succession, a well-to-do farmer and stock-raiser, and the owner of considerable property. The overseeing of the Alexander tracts was in "Squire" Roll's hands when General Don Carlos Buell appeared on the scene. 1

Immediately after the close of the war General Buell began a search for an oil field. He came to Airdrie from Marietta, Ohio, in 1866, for the sole purpose of working the oil on the Alexander lands. He took a forty-year mineral and oil lease on Alexander's seventeen thousand acres. Alexander was to receive, among other things, one tenth of all "the petroleum or other oil or oily substance obtained from the land." This company, of which General Buell was president, was known as the Airdrie Petroleum Co.

Buell drilled extensively on the Alexander property along Green River and also on the Buckner Furnace tract. Airdrie being on Green River, and having the best transportation facilities, he decided to establish himself there. Furthermore, after the death of Alexander, the Alexander heirs, wishing to dispose of some of the property which they had inherited, entered into an agreement with Buell whereby the latter received a deed to the Airdrie furnace and about a thousand acres around it for having released the forty-year lease that he then held. He thereafter confined his work to his own property near Airdrie. However, the coal Buell discovered while looking for oil was in such abundance that he changed his plans and directed most of his attention to coal development.Ruins at Airdrie in 1900

In the meantime (1868) The Green and Barren Rivers Navigation Company leased Green River, which stream up to that time had been directly controlled by the State of Kentucky. The increased freight rate demanded by the new corporation was so much that Buell could not meet the prices of his competitors, to whom a lower freight rate was given. He fought the corporation through the Legislature for some fifteen years. His long, hard, and time-sacrificing work resulted in the Federal government purchasing the unexpired lease of the Navigation Company in 1888. The river was then put in good order and the old locks were improved and new ones added. For this work alone he deserves a monument.

After Buell had won his transportation rate fight he felt too far advanced in years to again begin his work of developing the mines. In the meantime much of the machinery had gone to wreck and ruin, and some of it had been sold. On one occasion, it is said, an old-iron peddler agreed to buy all the old pig iron and scrap iron lying around the furnace. The peddler loaded his barge, however, not only with scrap, but with all the machinery on the place except the two boilers standing there to-day. Under the circumstances, and in spite of the available mineral, it is not at all surprising that nothing further was undertaken by General Buell. 2

Of all the extravagant stories told about Airdrie, few are more absurd than those relative to the Stone House, sometimes--but erroneously--called the Old Prison. Some declare Alexander worked prisoners in his mines; others say Buell used them in connection with his work. One young man's idea was that Buell here held the prisoners he had captured in the Civil War. A number of people are under the impression that the Stone House was built by and for some of the State convicts. In fact, one can hear anything and everything in regard to the "prisoners" except that they were free workmen brought over from Scotland by Alexander.The Old Hotel Building at Airdrie in 1895

The truth of the matter, however, is this: About 1884, when Eddyville prison was being enlarged, arrangements were made with General Buell to quarry stone on his place, to be used in the new penitentiary. About fifteen prisoners were sent by the State for the purpose of getting out the rock, who while at Airdrie were quartered in the Stone House. They remained only a few weeks, for in the meantime other stone had been discovered by General Lyon near Eddyville, and the State then transferred the prisoners to the new quarry.

Many ghost stories are connected with the old hotel building at Airdrie. It was the largest frame house erected by Alexander. It remained unoccupied after Alexander abandoned the furnace, and its weatherbeaten walls, broken windows, and generally dilapidated condition gave rise to a report that the place was haunted. Although all traces of the hotel have disappeared, the ghost stories have continued to increase in number and variety. Many of them begin with a murder scene and end with the maneuvers of a headless ghost. No one was ever killed in or near the building, all reports to the contrary notwithstanding.Entrance to the "McLean Old Bank," Airdrie

The stories about the haunted hotel and of "prisoners" being worked by the owners of Airdrie are as groundless as those circulated over the country regarding the kinship or friendship that is said to have existed between General Buell and General Bragg. These two soldiers were not related by blood or marriage, and did not "sleep in the same bed the night before the battle of Perryville." General Buell on November 19, 1851, married the widow of General Richard Barnes Mason, who was a grandson of General George Mason of Revolutionary fame. General Bragg's wife was Miss Ellis, of Louisiana. General Buell's wife before her second marriage was Mrs Margaret (Turner) Mason, the mother of Miss Nannie Mason Mrs. Buell died in Airdrie on August 10, 1881. After her death Mrs. Course, the General's sister, made the place her home until 1885, when she died. General Buell died at Airdrie on November 19, 1898, and his body was sent to Belfontaine Cemetery, St. Louis. His estate was willed to Miss Nannie Mason, who a few years after his death made Louisville her home and died there November 19, 1912. In 1908 she sold the Airdrie lands to the Five J. Coal Company, of which Shelby J. Gish, of Central City, is general manager.McLean Old Spring, Airdrie, 1900

After the General's death William Shackelton occupied the house for about two years. He was succeeded by Lorenzo D. Griggs. John Hendrie, the then aged architect of the old stone structures at Airdrie, occupied the house from September, 1904, to November, 1906. David Rhoads came next, and was living in the historie mansion when, on the night of October 26, 1907, it was destroyed by fire.Don Carlos Buell, 1866

During its seventy-five years of existence many of Muhlenberg's pioneers loitered under its roof. Alexander entertained a number of renowned American and foreign visitors while living there. Charles Eaves was General Buell's most intimate friend in the county and likewise his most frequent visitor. During Buell's residence in Airdrie many men prominent in military and social circles were his guests. None, however, no matter how distinguished, was received with more open arms than his neighbors and friends of the Green River country.General Buell's Private Park, Residence, and Boathouse, Airdrie, 1900

General Buell lived in this house thirty-two years, including the four years (1885-1889) he made Louisville his headquarters while Pension Agent for Kentucky. In 1880 and during a number of years following he was one of the Commissioners of the State Agricultural College. He was one of the early members of the Kentucky State Historical Society, and was also identified with many conventions that have aided in the development of the resources of the State. In 1890, when the Shiloh Military Park Commission was organized, he was appointed one of its members, and served on that board up to the time of his death. Although never an applicant for office, General Buell's name has been mentioned in connection with many high offices, among them being the presidency of the United States.

When, owing principally to his efforts, the Federal government assumed charge of Green River, General Buell had reached the age of seventy. In his declining years he spent most of his time on his two hobbies--working in his little carpenter shop, and looking after the trees and shrubbery in his park, which he kept always in good condition. He had a mechanical turn, and among other things constructed in his carpenter shop a model of a large dish-washing machine, such as are used in hotels, whereby one man can do the work of four. He never patented it.General Buell's Residence, Airdrie, in 1900

General Buell never engaged in farming, but rented out a small portion of his land to others, from whom he received enough hay and corn for rent to supply his own needs. He was always an admirer of native trees, wild birds, and good saddle-horses. From the time he first came to Muhlenberg until shortly before his death he could be seen almost every day riding in the country near Airdrie with his wife or daughter. When, about 1880, his favorite horse "Shiloh" (presented to him during the war) died, he buried him on Airdrie Hill, putting a small rock at the head of the grave. He treated every animal on his place with the gentleness that a loving father would a small child. In his old age he continued to walk and ride with a military air. Everything he did was done in a most systematic manner. He was well informed on current events and subjects generally, and all who knew him personally speak of him as a most interesting conversationalist. He was an optimist and never found fault with anything. One of his most intimate friends in Muhlenberg says: "Not once did he as much as intimate to me that the Government had given him little or no reward for the services he had rendered in peace and in war."

General Buell, while living at Airdrie, wrote on various subjects. Among his writings are three articles pertaining to the Civil War--"Shiloh Reviewed," "Operations in North Carolina," and "East Tennessee and the Campaign of Perryville," all of which were published in 1887 by The Century Company in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War." General Buell, shortly after the death of his wife, wrote the following poem, heretofore unpublished, for a copy of which I am indebted to his stepdaughter, Miss Nannie Mason.Ruins of General Buell's Residence, Airdrie, 1912.

Thou and I.

Strange, strange for thee and me, Sadly afar, Thou safe, beyond, above, I 'neath the star; Thou, where flowers deathless spring, I, where they fade, Thou, in God's holy light, I, in the shade.

Thou, where each gale brings balm, I, tempest tossed, Thou, where true joy is found, I, where 'tis lost; Thou, counting ages thine, I, not the morrow, Thou, learning more of bliss, I, more of sorrow.

Thou, in eternal peace, I, where 'tis strife, Thou, where care hath no name, I, where 'tis life; Thou, without need of hope, I, where 'tis rain, Thou, with wings dropping light, I, with Time's chain.

Strange, strange, for thee and me, Loved, loving ever, Thou, by life's deathless fount, I, near Death's river; Thou, winning wisdom's love, I, strength to trust, Thou, with the seraphim, I, in the dust.