In 1833 John Heth incorporated the Black Heath Company of Colliers with his brother, Beverley Heth, and brother-in-law, Beverley Randolph. This company was the first incorporated coal mining company in the state of Virginia. By 1840 John owned most of the three thousand shares of stock and went to England to advertise for a new company to English investors. This new company was formed in 1841 and was called the Chesterfield Coal and Iron Mining Company. Unfortunately, after returning from England in 1842, John Heth died at Norwood Plantation on April 30. He left his wife and 10 young children with ages varying between 19 years and one month. Major General Henry Heth, John Heth's third child and eldest son, wrote later in his life that the period after his father's death was "the most severe calamity I had ever felt." When 17-year-old Henry reported to the military academy at West Point in 1842, he described his family as "badly off" and in "reduced circumstances." John Heth's widow Margaret continued living at Black Heath until she died in 1850, at which point the house was sold to A. F. D. Gifford.