Extract from Monitor Builders: A History of the Principal Firms and Individuals Involved in the Construction of USS Monitor, William N. Still, Jr. Ph.D.

F. H. Abbott & Sons, Baltimore, Maryland received a contract from the War Department shortly after completing Monitor's plate to fabricate 30 Mortar beds for use on Western rivers.Abbott also manufactured mortar beds for David Dixon Porter's flotilla that bombarded the forts guarding New Orleans.

Thomas Fitch Rowland was awarded contracts for his Continental Ironworks, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York by the Naval Department soon after the Civil War began. One contract included work as sub-contractor to manufacture wrought iron beds for the 13 inch Seacoast Mortars for installation on Schooners of the flotilla of David Dixon Porter.