FROM WALES TO PENNSYLVANIA; THE DAVID THOMAS STORY by Dr. Peter N. Williams Glyndŵr Pub 2002

After 20 years working at Ynyscedwyn Iron Works in Ystradgynlais, in the Lower Swansea Valley, the Welsh-speaking David Thomas accepted a five-year contract as iron master at the new Lehigh Crane Iron Company in Pennsylvania. There were no railway connections, so with his wife, three boys and two girls, they took a full week as passengers, sailing from Swansea to Liverpool. Here they boarded a superb new clipper, the Roscius, for the Atlantic crossing in 1839. Docking in New York, David had contracted a fever, and spent a month in a quarantine hospital, after which the family travelled by rail to New Bruswick in New Jersey and then by stagecoach to Pennsylvania. A furnace was being shipped to him, and David had to organize a new factory to house it. There were major difficulties in transporting two blast cylinders from Cardiff Docks, and a shipload of iron rails needed for the factory had to be jettisoned because another ship sprang a leak. David had returned to Wales for 4 months to supervise all the necessary equipment being manufactured for the new foundry. After successful experimentation the use of anthracite coal was shown to be the best method of producing pig iron. By 1842, only three years since seeing the empty site for the new foundry, David Thomas was known as ‘the Father of the American Anthracite Iron Industry’. Because of him, the United States overtook the United Kingdom in iron production. Many writers believe that the importance of the Lehigh Valley in the industrialization of America is comparable to that of the Severn Valley in Britain, a century before.

‘Thomas's wealth and generosity with it endeared him to his neighbors. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were known as "the father and mother of Catasauqua", and frequently addressed as Mother and Father Thomas. A devout Presbyterian, Thomas founded the first church in the borough of Catasauqua, in which residents still worship. He installed its first public water system, founded its first fire company, and served as its first burgess. He provided a number of neat, attractive homes for his employees, many of which are still standing today. Additional accolades were presented to "Father Thomas" for his transformational ideas and vision. He was named the first president of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (then known as the American Society of Metallurgy), and was one of the founders of the American Association of Industrial Engineers.’ - Wikipedia