Stiegel, Henry William (stē`gəl), 1729–85, American iron and glass manufacturer, b. Germany. He emigrated to America, arriving in Philadelphia (1750). In 1758 he purchased his father-in-law's ironworks near Brickerville, Pa., where he manufactured iron stoves, developing the template type that served as a standard for many generations. About 1760, Stiegel laid out a town in Lancaster Co., Pa., which he named Manheim. In 1763 he brought glassworkers from England and built a plant at Manheim that was probably the first manufactory of flint glass in America. He is best known for the famous Stiegel glass, which he manufactured in colors ranging from light green to deep emerald, wine, amethyst, and blue, in the form of bottles, decanters, drinking glasses, and other wares.

Bibliography

See F. W. Hunter, Stiegel Glass (1950).

Stiegel, Henry William

orig. Heinrich Wilhelm Stiegel

(born May 13, 1729, near Cologne—died Jan. 10, 1785, Charming Forge, Pa., U.S.) German-born U.S. ironmaster and glassmaker. After arriving in Philadelphia in 1750, he quickly became a prosperous ironmaster. In 1762 he bought a huge tract of land in Lancaster County and built the town of Manheim, where he established American Flint Glassworks; there he imported Venetian, German, and English glassworkers to make utilitarian vessels and high-quality blue, purple, green, and clear tableware. He owned three mansions, where his comings and goings were announced by a cannon salute and band music, but his lavish style and adverse economic conditions eventually bankrupted him.

Stiegel, (Heinrich Wilhelm) Henry William (1729–85) ironmaster, glassmaker; born in Cologne, Germany. In 1750 he emigrated to Philadelphia and by 1758 he was operating an iron manufactory in Lancaster County, Pa., which soon was one of the most successful in the colonies. In 1764 he began the first of his three glass factories; in addition to making standard sheet glass, he employed German, Venetian, and English glassblowers to make some of the most widely marketed glass tableware of the time. Although his glass wares were not signed and there are several varieties of "Stiegel ware"—including those colored wine-red, amethyst, and blue, and some with molded patterns—purists prefer to limit the term to a fine flint or green variety of glassware with engraved or enameled decoration. Legendary for his lavish expenditures, by 1774 he was bankrupt and imprisoned for debt, and his business never truly recovered after that.