his ironworkers did not have the expertise to properly and consistently utilize these techniques, which were nevertheless working successfully in the British colonies to the south. In November 1733, Francheville died from an illness, leaving most of his property to his wife, including his share in the company. Practical control of the forges went in the hands of the three remaining partners and in those of the intendant Hocquart. Although Francheville’s wife took over his responsibilities in the company, the reality became more obvious as they started proper production and smelting ore. The numbers the company had promised were far beyond what could now be reasonably expected, the yield being consistently uneven and of low quality. In 1735, Hocquart sent bars of iron and a model of the forges to France so that the more experienced ironworkers of the metropole could evaluate the samples and provide advice to make the forges produce more efficiently. The same year, Cugnet, the aforementioned member of the Conseil Supérieur, was left in control of the company with a heavy debt to deal with. He thus decided to hire a French skilled worker to come and inspect the forges. Vézin era Second Company In September 1735, the master ironworker François Vézin arrived in New France to inspect the ironworks and the land surrounding them. He believed that a few changes would be enough to achieve significant production output and to create approximately 120 jobs, an outcome the Colonial authorities desired. For instance, the land for the forges would have to be cleared since it had not been previously cultivated. Vézin and previous investors in Francheville’s company agreed to take over the forges and all their debt, and to begin anew with Vézin’s vision, as long as they received the same monopoly terms as Francheville. The new company was officially formed in 1737. It involved Cugnet and Gamelin, who were previous investors in the forges, along with Tascherueau who was a high-ranking individual within the Marine, Vézin, and another skilled ironworker from France. As local experts claimed that Vézin overestimated the amount of energy the creek could produce for the forges, the master ironworker modified his plans and finally created a smaller forge that would not be sufficient to produce the variety of ironwork initially hoped for. Work began in earnest after the change of plans with the aid of another master ironworker sent by the