Financial History Issue 122 (Summer 2017) | Page 36
This Bank of New York stamped receipt, dated May 4, 1818, is believed to be for one of the original start-up contributions for the foundry from one of the
10 members of the newly-formed West Point Foundry Association. The signature is that of Gouverneur Kemble, the association’s first president.
supervision. The fourth, WPF, was an
entirely private commercial venture.
According to Mark Forlow, historian
for the Village of Cold Spring and the
Town of Philipstown, “there was an asso-
ciation of 10 men, led by Gouverneur
Kemble, a successful businessman. They
raised start-up capital of $100,000, which
was a big chunk of money in those days.
It was an early example of a collaborative
effort to organize and fund a business.
That makes it compelling.”
On a strictly inflationary adjustment,
that capital would be worth close to $2
million today, but liquidity was extremely
rare in those days. Indeed, the lack of seed
capital to start new businesses led to the
rise of the shares system and stock mar-
kets to trade them.
Still, the initial stake was not quite
long-shot venture capital. First there was
the stated federal need for hardware. The
initial partners included munitions expert
Brigadier General Joseph G. Swift. There
was also the location, with ample supplies
in the region of iron ore, coal and wood
for fuel and construction. There was a fast-
running stream for water power and sand
in the lagoon for making molds. River
transport for large, heavy objects made
shipping easy in an era of bad roads. Rail
access came by 1848.
WPF flourished with government con-
tracts, as well as supplying commercial
machinery, engines, consumer goods and
tools. It expanded in volume and com-
plexity to fill most of the ravine. In 1836,
Kemble hired Robert Parker Parrott, the
British and French. Indeed, Parliamen-
tary prohibitions on manufacturing in the
colonies were one of the grievances that
led to the revolution.
The second conflict, notably the invasion
of Washington, DC and the burning of the
Executive Mansion (called the White House
after the smoke damage was painted over)
were painful lessons that the young repub-
lic needed a well-organized and robust
armaments industry. To that point it had
relied upon a scattering of government and
commercial foundries — none very large or
standardized — that had sprung up during
and after the revolution.
Three existing foundries
—
in Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania; Georgetown, near
Washington, DC; and Richmond, Vir-
ginia — were put under War Department
This carte de viste of the largest of the Parrott guns is seen at the foundry during the
Civil War, in May 1864. The gun crew loads the massive shell during the proving of the gun
before shipment. Such trials usually involved firing the weapon over 100 times.
34 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Summer 2017 | www.MoAF.org
One of the historic cast iron buildings
in Manhattan, many of which were made
by the West Point Foundry.