The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Bridges, Robert (American iron worker)

BRIDGES, Robert, American iron worker. Extremely little is known of him personally.

He settled at Lynn, Mass., and in 1643 organized a company to work the deposits of “bog iron-ore” in that vicinity. He went to London, and organized a “Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works,” comprised of wealthy Englishmen, who advanced £1,000 for the work. Foundrymen were brought from England and Scotland, a plant was established on the Saugus River, and for several years furnished most of the iron used in this country, though ultimately the undertaking failed, owing to the scarcity of money and difficulty of making collections. In 1645 Bridges was a commissioner to confer with the governors of the French provinces in Canada. The Colonial records show him to have been a member of the General Court, and its speaker in 1646.