Welsh Iron-Master Giles Edwards at Shelby Iron

Giles Edwards, originally uploaded by JB @ Shelby Iron.

In March of 1862, noted Welsh iron-master Giles Edwards came to Shelby Iron.
Born in Glamorganshire, South Wales, September 26, 1824, Edwards had, by about 1842, made his way to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, near the head of the Lackawanna River. There, he superintended pattern making at the first iron mill in that town.
Edwards later worked with mills at Scranton, and superintended the Thomas works at Tamaqua, Pa.
From Pennsylvania, Edwards moved south to Tennessee, where he supervised the rebuilding of the Bluff furnace at Chattanooga.
Following this reconstruction, Judge John Lapsley of Selma, a new shareholder at Shelby, requested Edwards to superintend the reconstruction and expansion of the Shelby works.