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Pad lock & key are in relic original condition with deep signs of corrosion & pitting measuring approximately 3” wide and 3 1/2” inches tall. The Mechanism does not operate and key is rusted in place. The lock cover plate is marked with British crown. The last picture was from the actual dig site & original house.
I’ve referenced similar ones in encyclopedia of the American revolution by George C Neumann
Lotk1
History of Philip Benner & Rock foundry
All items were dug or recovered from a well at the site of General Philip Benner in State college Pennsylvania where they uncovered the location of his mansion and millita head quarters. Some of these same dug artifacts wil be on display at Penn State University. He inhabited the site in 1792 too his death in 1832 here’s some information on him
Philip Benner's story begins in Chester County where he was born in 1762. During the American Revolution, Phillip took up arms and fought under General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, who happened to be his relative and neighbor. After the war's conclusion, Philip became involved with iron manufacturing in Chester County. Around 1793, he moved to what would become Centre County as one of its first permanent settlers. With his previous knowledge of iron-making, Benner constructed Rock Iron Works, the first of such in Centre County. The community of Rock soon formed around the furnace it included the mansion a general store, militia head quarters
and a jail. Getting supplies and selling to city’s like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh meant traversing a literal wilderness that much of the region was at the time. Making it very challenging to move through with valuable manufactured iron ingots and finished tools and weapons.
His other accomplishments were numerous. In 1827, he established the Centre Democrat, which would become one of the oldest established newspapers in the country. He also held the rank of major-general in the Pennsylvania militia and was a member of the Electoral College. General Benner died in 1832 at the age of 70, leaving behind an everlasting legacy in this region.
Rock Iron Works continued operation until the early 1850's when the furnaces went cold forever. The community hung on for a few more decades before becoming a ghost town. Almost nothing remains of it today.
