probably a Catalain forge but some sources refer to the Kurtz Iron Works as a bloomery. Little is known about the site or operation of Kurtz's. Other iron-making activities on the Octoraro, according to Lancaster County tax records were: J. Webb's Forge—Pine Grove (1800), John With- ers—Sadsbury (1802

prominent in the iron world and was one of the leaders who petitioned the Assembly of Pennsylvania, for a duty on the importation of iron from England. He later became interested in the Birdsboro Iron works, which in 1800 became his nemesis, as his fortune was wiped out in a sheriff's sale of the property