My grandaddy was a blacksmith...

[Don A]

We often joke about how many visitors will make that comment when they are watching a blacksmithing demo. Sometimes, though, it can prove to be true.

I've always know that I had an ancestor who had been a working blacksmith. Not a grandfather, but my great, great grandfather. His name was Daniel Headrick. He was my great grandmother's father (Mawmaw Abbott; I remember her... she died in the early 1970's at 96 years of age).

There were several men named Dan Headrick in the area during that time, so they all had nick-names attached for identification purposes. He was know as "Blind Dan" as an old man, for obvious reasons. I have heard his loss of eye sight blamed on his forge work, but I believe that cataracts may have been the culprit (based on an old picture I've seen). Might be some connection between the two.

Anyhow, my daughter has been on a geneaolgy kick lately, and we have been searching out all of the grave markers as we come to them.

We found ole' Dan's last week, and I was amazed at the detail on his headstone.
I had to take some pics and show 'em off:


(I punched the detail on this one just a hair in Photoshop)


The Headricks were originally from Germany, by the way.
The grave is in Townsend, TN.

Don

[Candidquality]

Nice to find some old ties. congratulations on the find

[ThomasPowers]

My Great Grandfather Cason was the blacksmith in Cedarville Arkansas, he ended up owning 900+ acres of land there of which a few are still in the family, not so neat a headstone though.

Cataracts were quite common in smiths due to IR damage---like glassblowers cataracts. I knew one old smith who got a new lease on smithing when modern cataract surgery came around, Isaac Doss of Berryville AR.

In a Shire book on blacksmithing they show a smith's headstone that was an anvil carved from stone. Back in OH a smith who died a pauper's headstone was his anvil, with his hammer and tongs welded to it. Some of the SOFA members would replace the hammer handle as needed---till someone took the anvil!

[HWooldridge]

The Wooldridge I am related to (John), immigrated from Edinburgh and settled around what it now Midlothian, Virginia in 1697. He was listed as a blacksmith and indentured himself to a woman already in America for two years to pay for the boat ride. He made a good living after his release and sired a bunch of children who eventually built a legacy of mining, logging and tobacco farming in the area. However, the Civil War ruined most of the family's fortunes.

My mother's dad was a traveling smith in Central Texas in the 1920's. He claimed he was one of the first people in this area to mount a forge and anvil on a truck and go to the customer. I have his old invoice books and it's pretty fun to see what things went for back then - shoe a horse for $1, stuff like that.

[imagedude]

See Trade memorials and gravestones for some tradesmen's gravestone info.

[irnsrgn]

My grandfathers and mine.

[KevinD]

Several articles that my sister laminated to a board.
3 generations of blacksmiths, my grandfather, father and 2 brothers.
My grandfather at the anvil and my father at the forge.

[blkbear]

This is such a cool thread. I find it fascinating and very interesting to see this type of family history. It also shows us that we are really not that far removed from the hayday of the everyday working blacksmith.

Brian

[Bentiron1946]

Harry, Sorry to see that your wife has preceded you. Jerry

[Chris Pook]

My great great... 1800's in Selkirk Ontario (if I got my history correct, need to go find my notes) He was an egnineer of some sort aswell. Eventually opened a hardware store along with the blacksmith shop and became the mayor for awhile.

[gerald]

I once heard/read a good response to the comment "My Granddaddy was a blacksmith": "That's great. I would have liked to have met him."

I thought that this was a much better response to the VERY common statement that we all get tired of hearing. Sometimes we tend to get a little too "smart mouthed" with our comments after we have heard/responded to the same old things several times during a demo session.

[Jacob]

Yes, be careful of your response. A blacksmith I worked for was told the same line, and after some discussion found out he was talking to Clare Yellin. That's not the same as having a few metalworking tools on the farm like my family. I bet she gets a kick out of telling other blacksmiths that line.

:)

[Glenn]

I recently spoke with a gentleman that was soft spoken, and did not give more than short answers to comments. Over all he was generally overlooked at the hammer in.

We ended up sitting beside each other to watch a demo and at one point I leaned over and ask how he would have done a certain process. He just shushed me and said we can discuss it later outside where we will not disturb the fellow doing the demo and the folks watching. Yep I got my ears pinned back, politely, but they got pinned back just the same.

Outside during the break, he sought me out, apologized for his remark but said he fellow was doing the best he could and we should give him a chance. I ask my question on how he would have done things, and was not prepared for the detailed explanation that followed. Then he finished I knew exactly how he did that process just the same as in I had worked with him on the project.

He was an old time blacksmith and had been smithing over 50 years. He was well my senior in both age and experience, but he kept the general respect for people and the personal respect for the fellow that he was talking to that are mostly absent in todays world.

Soft spoken and unassuming, he knew his trade. You just had to open the book to read what was inside. We need to find more of these books.

[primtechsmith]

Glenn....sometimes in silence you can find the most answers. I find myself pushing even harder to do even better all the time to get the silent nod or an approving look.

These old school guys are awesome to be around.

Peyton

[DocJohnson]

I have found that when demonstrating and someone tells about their grandfather being a blacksmith, they are trying to relate to you. Asking what kind of work he did can be really interesting. He may have been a farmer that got equipment from Sears because there were no smiths in the area and he needed to be able to do repairs, or he may have done industrial work.

I have two great grandfathers who were blacksmiths working the big steam hammers for the Great Northern RR. I have a work record for one of them. He made as much as $32 in a month.

[Don A]

I hope my original post was not perceived as advocating "smart mouthing" of visitors and observers. I am in full agreement that everyone should be treated with respect, regardless of our own predisposition.

I was simply pointing to the fact that it is something we hear a lot, so much so that it can be humerous when you keep a running tally over a busy weekend.

Don

[Finnr]

Woodsmith and I did a demo in a small local town not long ago. I was very pleased when an older lady came up and told me her Grandfather once had his shop just across the creek from where we were set up. Not only can a person learn about smithing, you can also pick up great bits of local history.
Finnr

[HWooldridge]

In 2004, I restored a smithy for the local historical preservation society and then demo'ed there one day with several other smiths. Most of the equipment we put in came from an old shop that was founded in 1910 and closed in the 1970's. At the end of the first day, a lady who looked to be in her 50's came up and watched for a very long time. I finally looked up and saw she was misty-eyed but not wanting to put her on the spot, I ignored the tears and struck up a conversation. Turns out the founding smith was her grandfather and since he had lived well into his 90's, she had often been able to sit in his shop as a child and watch him work. We were forging on his anvil, and using his forge and vise. Makes you a little more careful how you treat things. I made a poker and gave it to her - she gave me a hug and a heartfelt 'thank you'.

[gerald]

I hope my original post was not perceived as advocating "smart mouthing" of visitors and observers. I am in full agreement that everyone should be treated with respect, regardless of our own predisposition.

I was simply pointing to the fact that it is something we hear a lot, so much so that it can be humerous when you keep a running tally over a busy weekend.

Don

Don,

I didn't think that your original post was done in a "put down" style. You are right, those of us who demonstrate regularly for the public hear the same old stuff, over and over, and it does get old. The tendency for some smiths (certainly not you or me) is to fire back with a comment that can be perceived by some as being impolite. Some other all-too-regularly heard comments are: "Boy, my Grand Daddy had one of those blower things, and I had to turn it for him. It sure was hard!", or "This blacksmithing stuff is a dying art", and of course, everybody's favorite - The well-worn joke about "not taking all day to look at a hot horse shoe". When we hear this stuff over and over, it is sometimes hard not to come back with a zinger (you're hot, tired, thirsty, got a million other things to do, etc). Just remember, you may be responding to your next customer, or your next customer may be within ear shot, besides, it's good manners.

Thanks for starting this thread, and I just realized that I kind of hi-jacked it from the original intent, that is, blacksmiths in the family heritage.

[ThomasPowers]

The "Dying Art" comment I usually say, yes it was; but now smithing as a hobby is booming with smithing groups all over the country now! (Or if really tired---"all my friends do it!")

[irnsrgn]

that is my response Gerald, saying I would like to have met him.

I remember the story of the Half-fast smith who was demoing and gave smart elec replies to people who told him their father or grandfather was a smith. He smarted off big time to this lady, who stepped back opened her purse and then handed him her Card.
It was Claire Yellen, but I don't think he ever heard of him before. Needless to say several smiths I think stepped up and informed him of what an xxx he was.

[jj2k]

I guess the rudest comment I ever got was, " My grandfather was better than you!".
At the first moment I realized what had been said, I got mad. But looking at the young man I realised how young he was and he was obviously trying to impress the girl he was with. So I calmed down and took a breath and said," Well when get to be as old as he was when you saw him in his greatness, I hope I can be half as good." He walked away, I and couldn't help thinking how small he must have felt. I politely pinned his ears back without being rude or a smartXXX. others standing nearby commented how well I handled the situation after he had left. And a few even bought a couple items.
Ya never know.

[gerald]

Good move, jj. Yer Mama alway told you to count to ten before you flew off the handle.

[skunkriv]

When someone tells me "grandpa etc was a blacksmith" I always ask them whereabouts?
They most often don't know any more than that and it gets the conversation going.

And then their is that old favorite: My grandad was a REAL blacksmith :D

[irnsrgn]

UUUhhh, "Would you please explain what a REAL Blacksmith is, I would like to find out if my Grandfather and my Father were really REAL Blacksmiths or whether they were just doing MAGIC in Iron."

And then the statement, "If I couldn't do better than that, I would Quit!" STOP working, step over to person and offer them the hammer, "Show Me! We are never too old to LEARN!"