Samuel Wetherill

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Samuel Wetherill

November 1, 2017 | Written by

A wealthy Quaker, chemist, and inventor, Samuel Wetherill discovered the first process for refining zinc ore to create zinc oxide, thus bringing the zinc industry to the eastern United States in the late 1840’s.  Before Wetherill, the zinc ore that could be mined in the mineral-rich regions of the Northeast United States were essentially useless.  Wetherill, coming from a family who made their fortune selling lead-based paint, sought an alternative to the dangerous chemical.   He found it in the zinc deposits of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Wetherill built on his new procedure by also pioneering a new type of furnace to create white oxide directly from zinc ore, another first of its kind.  Before Wetherill, Bethlehem lacked any large degree of industry beyond what the town needed to sustain itself.  With his new advances for the zinc trade, Wetherill primed the charge that would eventually lead to Bethlehem becoming one of the most powerful industrial centers in the world.