John Painter Sr (1782 - 1851)

Born 3 Nov 1782 in Douglass Township, Berks, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Maria (Unknown) Painter — married about 1802 in Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 31 May 1851 at age 68 in Union Township, Berks, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Painter [send private message]

Biography

John was born 3 November 1782 in Douglass Township, Berks, Pennsylvania. He was the son of George Bender and Elizabeth Unknown. He was baptized on 8 June 1783 by the pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Pottstown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania as Johannes Bender.

His father died when he was about six years old, which must have been devastating for him and his family and led to years of struggle. The 1790 census shows him and his younger brother George in a household headed by their mother, Elizabeth, in Douglass Township.

About 1802, he married a woman named Maria/Mary. In 1804, the couple had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was baptized on 11 August 1805 by the pastor of Robeson "Plow" Lutheran Church, Robeson Township, Berks, Pennsylvania. John's mother Elizabeth was a witness.

By this time, John was working at Hopewell Furnace. The Furnace Source Materials (which are not complete) record him as a furnace employee from at least 1804 to 1848. Probably the Furnace offered a valuable employment opportunity for an orphan with a mother to support.

John has not been located in the 1800 or 1810 censuses, but the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses show him living in Union Township, Berks, Pennsylvania, which is where the Furnace is located. There is no record of his owning real estate, so it seems likely he was a tenant in the Hopewell Village all his adult life.

No birth or baptism records for the other children have been discovered, and it is possible the existing list of children is incomplete. Elizabeth, Rebecca, and John Jr. are listed in the Union Township register of "Poor Children" in 1818, suggesting the family was at that time just getting by.

John Painter was a prominent figure among the workers at Hopewell, but one must be careful not to confuse him with another John Painter (no relation) who was also a prominent figure there. That John Painter was often referred to in the Furnace records as "John Painter, founder." This John Painter was referred to as "John Painter, filler."

Founder was the most important job at the Furnace. Filler was the second most important. The filler worked in the ore shed at the top of the furnace stack, and it was his responsibility to shovel charcoal, iron ore, and limestone down into the furnace in the correct proportions to produce iron. Today, at the Furnace site, one can go to the ore shed and listen to a recording of an actor portraying John and describing the process.

Fillers needed assistants, and from 1827-30, Furnace records record "John and sons" working as fillers. Note that John Jr. would have been 14-17 during this period, Montgomery 12-15, and Clement 7-10.

John Jr. began working for the Furnace in his own right by 1835. From 1833 on, this John is called John Sr. in the Furnace records, presumably to distinguish them. He is presented here as "John Painter, Sr." because this is how he is best known and most clearly identified in the Furnace records.

John and Mary named their youngest son Clement Brooke Painter, after the owner of the Furnace. This, plus the fact that John lived and worked at the Furnace his entire life, suggests John was satisfied with the Furnace as an employer and liked his boss. Furnace records show he became reasonably successful, earning substantial credit with the Furnace.

John does not appear in the 1850 census. I reasonable conjecture is that he was ill by this time and living in the home of one of his children. (It appears that Mary predeceased him.) Census takers were instructed only to count "permanent" residents of a household and may have regarded the arrangement as not permanent and skipped him.

Furnace records state that John died on 31 May 1851, at the age of 68. He left no will, but his estate was administered by his son-in-law, John Crosby, and the administration records are on file with the Berks County Register of Wills. They indicate that his only asset at the time of his death was a credit with the Furnace in the amount of $347.84, down considerably from his peak, although this was pretty good money for the time.

The location of his grave is unknown.

Sources

• Church records of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Pottstown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania.
• 1790, 1820, 1830, and 1840 US Federal Censuses.
• Hopewell Furnace Source Materials.
• Estate administration papers filed at Berks County Register of Wills, Berks, Pennsylvania.
• Painter, Mark. "The Painter Families of Hopewell Furnace.[1]"