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The Elizabeth Furnace Plantation, Manhiem, PA.
Credit: Courtesy of Millersville University Archaeology Program
By the early 1770s, Baron Stiegel had overextended with too much debt, land, and expanded enterprises. Forced by his creditors to sell his assets at sheriff's sales, Stiegel lost everything, served time in jail for debt in 1774, and upon release, lived in poverty until his death in 1785. Today, Baron Stiegel lies in an unmarked grave, while his glassware is on display in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other world-class museums.