Oriental Powder Company
Encyclopedia
Oriental Powder Company was a gunpowder
manufacturer with mills located on the Presumpscot River
in Gorham
and Windham, Maine
. The company was one of the four largest suppliers to Union forces through the American Civil War
.
formed a large natural reservoir upstream of Gambo giving the falls an unusually reliable water supply with comparatively minor flow peaking from storm runoff. Early European settlers built a sawmill
powered by the falls. In 1817 the sawmill was converted to gunpowder manufacture by Edmund Fowler and Lester Laflin. Lester Laflin was a grandson of American Revolutionary War
gunpowder manufacturer Matthew Laflin. The Laflin family manufactured gunpowder in Massachusetts
for several generations. When Lester came east to Maine, his first cousins traveled west to build gunpowder mills in New York
and Chicago
. Lester, his partner, and their mill foreman drowned on Sebago Lake on 22 June 1827.
Following an explosion killing seven employees on 19 July 1828, the Gambo Falls mill was enlarged by Oliver Whipple concurrently with construction of locks for the Cumberland and Oxford Canal
. The canal provided reliable transportation from Portland harbor
for sulfur
from Sicily
and saltpeter
from India
and from Sebago Lake for charcoal
and lumber from forests to the north. Whipple's mill used the lumber to manufacture keg
s holding as much as 25 pounds of powder. Kegs of gunpowder were shipped to Portland in canal boats when possible, but moved in horse
-drawn sleighs when the canal was frozen. Canal boats carried about 25 tons, and sometimes sailed all the way to Boston
when weather was favorable.
After plant explosions killed one employee each in 1835, 1847, 1849, 1850, and 1851, a major explosion on 12 October 1855 killed seven employees, including Whipple's brother and son, injured five more and destroyed a canal boat and parts of the mill. Manufacture of gunpowder in response to orders avoided the hazard of storing powder inventories until orders were received, but required water power on demand. The canal lock system controlled outflow from Sebago Lake; and, as a shipper interested in the well-being of its customer, canal management was receptive to regulating water releases to meet needs of the powder mill.
belligerents, and organized Oriental Powder Company to repair the damage and construct new facilities. A charcoal house, saltpeter refinery, wheel mills, press mills, kernelling mills, glazing mills, and storehouses were dispersed along both banks of the river and canal for a mile upstream of Gambo to minimize damage during infrequent explosions. Newhall gave his name to a small company town
of employee residences built near Gambo Falls. By 1860, Oriental was one of four companies making 69% of United States gunpowder sales. The larger DuPont
and Hazard Powder Company mills each provided approximately one-third of the Union gunpowder supply for the civil war. The fourth major supplier was Lester Laflin's cousins' mill which later evolved into the early smokeless powder
manufacturer Laflin & Rand. The DuPont mill was uncomfortably close to the battle line and considered potentially vulnerable to sabotage from southern sympathizers in the slave state of Delaware
. The federal government purchased as much powder as Oriental Powder Company could produce through the war years as accidental explosions killed one employee on 8 July 1861, three on 7 July 1862, and another on 14 November 1863. Demand for gunpowder declined when the civil war ended, but picked up briefly during the Franco-Prussian War
. Oriental Powder Company was ranked 4th (after DuPont, Laflin & Rand, and Hazard) among the six companies of the United States Gunpowder Trade Association popularly known as the powder trust.
reached Gambo Falls (by then called Newhall) in 1871. Oriental Powder Company employees assumed control of the former canal dam at Sebago Lake when the canal locks ceased operations; but water users in Westbrook, Maine
, were unsatisfied with timing of water releases. Court action was initiated in January 1877, following a drought. Legal maneuvering continued for several months between Oriental Powder Company and Westbrook water users while water releases were controlled by whichever side mustered a larger number of employees at the dam. Legislation enacted in February 1878 effectively passed control of water releases from Sebago Lake to water users in Westbrook. As telegraph became available for sales communications, the powder company reduced the risk to manufacturing facilities by building magazines for powder inventories near distant rail distribution centers like Chicago
and Salt Lake City.
Local supplies of charcoal and keg staves became more expensive as forest resources were exhausted. The rock blasting
powder market for mining
and railroad construction fluctuated with financial panics. The mill ceased operation on 1 June 1893 as smokeless powder and dynamite
became preferred for traditional uses of gunpowder. Gunpowder production resumed in 1895 and continued until the company was purchased by DuPont in 1905. Four employees died in three fatal explosions through the final decade of gunpowder manufacture. March 19, 1904, was the last of 32 recorded gunpowder blasts claiming 46 lives along the river. DuPont operated the mill a few more years manufacturing wood flour shipped elsewhere for mixing with nitroglycerine to form dynamite.
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
manufacturer with mills located on the Presumpscot River
Presumpscot River
The Presumpscot River is a river located in Cumberland County, Maine. It is the main outlet of Sebago Lake.-Course:The river flows through the communities of Standish, Windham, Gorham, Westbrook, Portland, and Falmouth before emptying into Casco Bay at Falmouth...
in Gorham
Gorham, Maine
Gorham is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 16,381 at the 2010 census. In addition to an urban village center known as Gorham Village or simply "the Village," the town also encompasses a number of smaller, unincorporated villages and hamlets with distinct...
and Windham, Maine
Windham, Maine
Windham is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 17,001 at the 2010 census. It includes the villages of South Windham and North Windham...
. The company was one of the four largest suppliers to Union forces through the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
History
The Presumpscot River dropped 16 feet at Gambo Falls where the river formed the border between the towns of Windham and Gorham. Sebago LakeSebago Lake
Sebago Lake is the deepest and second largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine. The lake is deep at its deepest point, with a mean depth of , covers about in surface area, has a length of and a shoreline length of . The surface is around above sea level, so the deep bottom is below the present...
formed a large natural reservoir upstream of Gambo giving the falls an unusually reliable water supply with comparatively minor flow peaking from storm runoff. Early European settlers built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
powered by the falls. In 1817 the sawmill was converted to gunpowder manufacture by Edmund Fowler and Lester Laflin. Lester Laflin was a grandson of American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
gunpowder manufacturer Matthew Laflin. The Laflin family manufactured gunpowder in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
for several generations. When Lester came east to Maine, his first cousins traveled west to build gunpowder mills in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Chicago
Matthew Laflin
Matthew Laflin was an American manufacturer of gunpowder, businessman, philanthropist, and an early pioneer of Chicago, Illinois.-Early life and ancestors:...
. Lester, his partner, and their mill foreman drowned on Sebago Lake on 22 June 1827.
Following an explosion killing seven employees on 19 July 1828, the Gambo Falls mill was enlarged by Oliver Whipple concurrently with construction of locks for the Cumberland and Oxford Canal
Cumberland and Oxford Canal
The Cumberland and Oxford Canal was opened in 1832 to connect the largest lakes of southern Maine with the seaport of Portland, Maine. The canal followed the Presumpscot River from Sebago Lake through the towns of Standish, Windham, Gorham, and Westbrook. The Canal diverged from the river at...
. The canal provided reliable transportation from Portland harbor
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
for sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and saltpeter
Potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula KNO3. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−.It occurs as a mineral niter and is a natural solid source of nitrogen. Its common names include saltpetre , from medieval Latin sal petræ: "stone salt" or possibly "Salt...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and from Sebago Lake for charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
and lumber from forests to the north. Whipple's mill used the lumber to manufacture keg
Keg
A keg is a small barrel.Traditionally, a wooden keg is made by a cooper used to transport items such as nails, gunpowder., and a variety of liquids....
s holding as much as 25 pounds of powder. Kegs of gunpowder were shipped to Portland in canal boats when possible, but moved in horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
-drawn sleighs when the canal was frozen. Canal boats carried about 25 tons, and sometimes sailed all the way to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
when weather was favorable.
After plant explosions killed one employee each in 1835, 1847, 1849, 1850, and 1851, a major explosion on 12 October 1855 killed seven employees, including Whipple's brother and son, injured five more and destroyed a canal boat and parts of the mill. Manufacture of gunpowder in response to orders avoided the hazard of storing powder inventories until orders were received, but required water power on demand. The canal lock system controlled outflow from Sebago Lake; and, as a shipper interested in the well-being of its customer, canal management was receptive to regulating water releases to meet needs of the powder mill.
Oriental Powder Company organized
G.G. Newhall purchased the property in early 1855 to manufacture powder for Crimean WarCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
belligerents, and organized Oriental Powder Company to repair the damage and construct new facilities. A charcoal house, saltpeter refinery, wheel mills, press mills, kernelling mills, glazing mills, and storehouses were dispersed along both banks of the river and canal for a mile upstream of Gambo to minimize damage during infrequent explosions. Newhall gave his name to a small company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
of employee residences built near Gambo Falls. By 1860, Oriental was one of four companies making 69% of United States gunpowder sales. The larger DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
and Hazard Powder Company mills each provided approximately one-third of the Union gunpowder supply for the civil war. The fourth major supplier was Lester Laflin's cousins' mill which later evolved into the early smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
manufacturer Laflin & Rand. The DuPont mill was uncomfortably close to the battle line and considered potentially vulnerable to sabotage from southern sympathizers in the slave state of Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
. The federal government purchased as much powder as Oriental Powder Company could produce through the war years as accidental explosions killed one employee on 8 July 1861, three on 7 July 1862, and another on 14 November 1863. Demand for gunpowder declined when the civil war ended, but picked up briefly during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
. Oriental Powder Company was ranked 4th (after DuPont, Laflin & Rand, and Hazard) among the six companies of the United States Gunpowder Trade Association popularly known as the powder trust.
Decline
Canal boats were unable to compete with rail service and the canal was unused after the Portland and Ogdensburg RailwayPortland and Ogdensburg Railway
The Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad planned to connect Portland, Maine to Ogdensburg, New York. The plan failed, and in 1880 the Vermont section was reorganized and leased by the Boston & Lowell Railroad. In 1886, the Maine and New Hampshire section was reorganized as the Portland &...
reached Gambo Falls (by then called Newhall) in 1871. Oriental Powder Company employees assumed control of the former canal dam at Sebago Lake when the canal locks ceased operations; but water users in Westbrook, Maine
Westbrook, Maine
Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 17,494 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.-History:...
, were unsatisfied with timing of water releases. Court action was initiated in January 1877, following a drought. Legal maneuvering continued for several months between Oriental Powder Company and Westbrook water users while water releases were controlled by whichever side mustered a larger number of employees at the dam. Legislation enacted in February 1878 effectively passed control of water releases from Sebago Lake to water users in Westbrook. As telegraph became available for sales communications, the powder company reduced the risk to manufacturing facilities by building magazines for powder inventories near distant rail distribution centers like Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Salt Lake City.
Local supplies of charcoal and keg staves became more expensive as forest resources were exhausted. The rock blasting
Rock blasting
Rock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...
powder market for mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and railroad construction fluctuated with financial panics. The mill ceased operation on 1 June 1893 as smokeless powder and dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
became preferred for traditional uses of gunpowder. Gunpowder production resumed in 1895 and continued until the company was purchased by DuPont in 1905. Four employees died in three fatal explosions through the final decade of gunpowder manufacture. March 19, 1904, was the last of 32 recorded gunpowder blasts claiming 46 lives along the river. DuPont operated the mill a few more years manufacturing wood flour shipped elsewhere for mixing with nitroglycerine to form dynamite.