Samuel Nutt, an English Quaker weaver, immigrated to PA in 1714 and by 1720 was producing iron at the forks of the French Creek. His bloomery iron forge was the second in PA and the first in Chester Co. Over the next 20 years he was instrumental in building a refinery forge, a cold-blast charcoal iron furnace, and a blister steel furnace. At his death, he was one of Pennsylvania’s major iron producers. Nutt’s iron empire and lands were eventually acquired by the Potts family after his death. (138pp. color illus. index. Friends of Hopewell, 2018.)