Roving Blacksmiths; Historical Fact of Fiction

[David Einhorn]

One local tour guide is now telling people that blacksmiths during the War Between the States (in the U.S.A) would regularly travel from farm to farm. The story goes that some of these blacksmiths would, as part of the underground railroad, tap out secret messages while working to let escaped slaves know where to go safely for assistance, in case any escaped slaves happened to be listening.

In my life I have never read about blacksmiths making rounds of farms. My understanding has been that blacksmith shops were plentiful and that people usually took their business to those shops.

Giving the tour guide the benefit of the doubt, perhaps she can not distinguish tinkers from smiths. Even then, the idea of a secret code that escaped slaves and smiths could have memorized in case an escaped slave comes across a roving smith who is one of those that knows the tap tap code sounds silly. Years ago I passed a Morse Code exam for a Technician Class FCC license, and I had to study hard for months for that. Personally I can not imagine memorizing something that difficult on the unlikely coincidence of coming across someone who also knows the code.

Has anyone come across documentation of smiths taking traveling forges from farm to farm, making regular rounds, during the Civil War? I am not asking for word of mouth references, but documents that have some authority to them.

[HWooldridge]

Can't speak to the Civil War but my grandfather did that in the 1920's using a model T truck for transportation. He mainly did wagon work and shod horses - and he DID NOT consider himself a "tinker" (he held them in some contempt). I still have his ledger books with the entries for who the job was for, a description and how much he charged.

[dablacksmith]

ive seen documentation for tinsmiths prior to the civil war ... i think it was at sturbridge vilage that i first heard about it ..but cant emagine a true smiths shop traveling much tho there were journeyman smiths that did and they would have had some tools... an interesting thing to research! i cant emagine a smith hauling forge anvil and all from farm to farm without a lot of compensation...

[Frosty]

I'm sure there were traveling smiths in the day, probably practicing a specialty or operating in a more remote part of the country. Whether or not it was a common thing is another matter altogether.

Secret code? Really unlikely, really REALLY unlikely in my opinion. Logic says a few things about any possible codes of the day and I'm sure there were a number:

First it'd have to be something simple with a simple meaning. For instance a single chalk slash mark meaning, "This farm is unfriendly to run away slaves." Crossed slash marks, usually a long just off horizontal line crossed by a short just off vertical line. (I forget just what this symbol means but it represented good luck) might mean, "This farm is friendly to run away slaves."

The first is something that the meaning of would have to be passed by word of mouth and would certainly come to the wrong ears. The second however came across the ocean with the slaves and would be recognized without having to learn it's meaning.

The idea that a traveling blacksmith would be able to work a code no matter how simple into the rhythm of the hammer on the off chance there were runaways within ear shot is so unlikely as to be absurd.

Then again, there are a lot of absurd things taken as "known fact." (that's a red flag phrase to me, guaranteed to lose a person any credibility they may have enjoyed to that point. Just so you understand why I used it in this case)

The story is more probably a romantic fiction based on the well meaning but silly notion that history isn't interesting enough.

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Frosty

[David Einhorn]

Thank you guys, I appreciate all input about 1860s era smiths on the topic as described above.

Yes, I realize that with the invention of the automobile, the decreased need for smiths forced farriers to travel from farm to farm. However, the question is about the *1860s*, which was before that happened.

By presenting the question to the knowledge base represented by this forum, I feel that if any valid documents exist someone here would have come across them. I just hope that enough people read and ponder the question so that if any document does exist, that that document would be brought to our attention.

[Finnr]

Well before that time, in the early Medieval period traveling smiths were fairly common in the Nordic countries. A farm was expected to have a forge, anvil and charcoal on hand.
A helper was often required as well. From what I have been able to find smiths didn't tend to bring apprentices along with them for farm work in that area.
Finnr

[son_of_bluegrass]

Some time back I run across an article (don't remember where or if I could find it again) that showed a picture of a horse-drawn forge set-up and it claimed it was from the civil war era. But it also discussed that this was likely for a cavalry unit in the military. It is possible this tour guide has confused a military blacksmith who would travel with his unit as a general blacksmith who traveled.

ron

[David Einhorn]

My Avatar next to my forum name is a Civil War era military Traveling Forge that I am currently working on the wheels for. I appreciate the input, but military forges of military units did not make the rounds to help farmers.

The question focuses on civilian smiths during the mid 1800s. Can we find documentation that smiths during the mid-1800s in the U.S. traveled around to farms or did farmers always and/or normally take their business to their local blacksmith shop?

Some time back I run across an article (don't remember where or if I could find it again) that showed a picture of a horse-drawn forge set-up and it claimed it was from the civil war era. But it also discussed that this was likely for a cavalry unit in the military. It is possible this tour guide has confused a military blacksmith who would travel with his unit as a general blacksmith who traveled.

ron

Personally I can not imagine a smith tapping out secret messages, especially a military smith.

Those that forget the lessons of history are destined to repeat it.... or something like that. Edited November 13, 2008 by UnicornForge

[ThomasPowers]

The daybooks from that time I have seen indicated a stationary smith with folks bringing work to *him*.

[David Einhorn]

Thank you again for the input. Sadly one local smith has bought into this myth of civilian traveling smiths. Apparently he has taken a 20th century farm wagon with iron hub wheels, thrown a bellows and fireplace in it and is telling everyone that it is a true representation of mid-1800s civilian blacksmithing. It seems that he has also told a local newspaper as well as various locals, that he is finishing up a book on the construction of this wonderment.

[Frosty]

Well, you run into a lot of this kind of thing. A couple decades ago I was walking around the state fair and there was a smith working so of course I stopped to check him out.

He was telling the crowd how he was doing it exactly how it was done 6,000 years ago. Forging steel, burning coal in a Buffalo rivet forge with a blower, on a London pattern anvil, using ball pein hammers, etc. Lastly, he was just heating a piece of rebar to barely red and banging on it, he wasn't making anything, hardly even dents.

I got a serious glare and no reply when I asked what he was making. Finally someone else asked and he had to admit he was just demonstrating the technique and he only made "real" things at home.

I didn't ask about the 6,000 year old steel, coal, blowers, or any of the other bull he was peddling. I don't think the small crowd watching was at all impressed either, he wasn't there the next year.

Anyway, who knows maybe your local guy's grandfather did indeed have a smithy set up in a wagon. You could ask the local paper if they've checked his documentation. Heck, you could ask him about his sources.

A traveling smith doesn't seem implausible to me at all, they were common enough in Europe and most smiths this side of the big blue were European or descendants. Personally I'd be very surprised if there weren't at least a few traveling smiths. Not even mentioning things like cattle drives, wagon trains, etc. where they'd be pretty darned essential.

Frosty

Edited November 14, 2008 by Frosty
Some sentences just should make sense.

[HWooldridge]

There are a lot of things that cannot be proven one way or the other. Part of the problem is that many common things were taken for granted and not recorded for posterity. Prior to the electronic age, the written word was a lot of work to produce and not spent haphazardly on subjects that the current generation never expected to change. In addition, how many traveling smiths does it take to qualify for provenance; one, a hundred, a thousand - and over what period of time? It is documented that Conestoga wagons carried both anvils and settlers West prior to the Civil War - would a blacksmith traveling on a wagon train count? Average wagons on good roads could carry up to 4,000 lbs or so with maybe half that capacity in rough country - Conestogas could carry up to 16,000 depending on the team.

As we know all too well, the equipment in a blacksmith shop is heavy so it is logical that most people set up a permanent shop and were not itinerant. I've even heard a theory that was a reason why the American Indians never developed an iron trade - because they were primarily semi-nomadic and never built permanent cities where the equipment could have a home. Of course, the Maya and Aztec made all that amazing gold work but never any iron. In any case, I seriously doubt anyone will ever know for sure.

If you are simply trying to discredit the local guy, then I wish you luck as those characters seem to acquire immortality. We had a guy around here for many years that spouted a great deal of foolishness to the public and even though he's long dead, I still hear him quoted from time to time at local events.

[ThomasPowers]

Now that I think on it a bit I believe the stump anvil at the Camino Real museum here in NM was attributed to a peripatetic smith in Spanish Colonial days. I'll have to ask Frank Turley about this next time I see him.

[bruce wilcock]

in the uk Itinerant trademen went from place to place ,and there was a living of a sorts going from quarry to quarry sharpening tools and shoing farm horses ,there were some well known blacksmiths ,pincer joe ,was at the top of the pile , a blacksmith that could do the job well got work ,most had rounds and reguarly visited so the work was gathered up ready for when they arrived ,these men needed little in the way for tools they were blacksmiths and knew there job they usualy went around blacksmith and striker ,before i married i gave it a try ,and provided you set up a round and turned up at the apointed hour and didnt just wander around the country side hoping work would find you, a living could be made this was in the mid 60s ,tipped tools and diggers and the work men arnt working on there own acount using there own tools on peice work ,i think has seen the job of apart from horseshoing ,then most dont make shoes just put them on .

[BeaverDamForge]

Years ago I passed a Morse Code exam for a Technician Class FCC license, and I had to study hard for months for that. Personally I can not imagine memorizing something that difficult on the unlikely coincidence of coming across someone who also knows the code.

Not to mention you'd have to be literate to begin with, I don't think many slaves were. Maybe a simpler code could have been developed.

I have a hard enough time making anything without trying to incorporate a code in my rhythm, but maybe that's just me...

Good Luck!

[devon blacksmith]

In the UK there is a lot of information on traveling smiths, Thay have allways been around but the acounts are from wide spread sources and not easy to research as a single topic.the sensus information has some refrences for the 19 century.

[ironrosefarms]

I went and spoke with a friend today about a similar story. My friend is 102 years young and relates stories that her mother shared with her of the days she was on the run as a slave. I thought I remembered a story of a carpenter who would hammer code to aid the slaves in choosing where was safe.

I tried to write it down as fast as she spoke today, but it gives insight that the coding smith might be at least possible. Here is what I got wrote down...

"Mama said that as they was coming up they would use conductors who would help them make their way from place to place. One man or lady would take you a ways then they would leave ya, if you found your way to the next stop ya mind find another kind soul. They was always a concern of if the conductors would prove to be unfriendly. Mama used to tell us of how different white folk would put out different signals to let the conductors know if it was safe or not. Lanterns or candles in window or a horse tied out in a certain place." (Here I asked her about the hammering codes) "Yeh, mama used to talk about hiding in the woods and hearing someone hammering. The conductor would listen and determine by the repetition in the hammering if the area was safe or not." (I asked her if she knew what kind of code they used) "Mama always just said it was repetition, I'd say like three strikes to drive a nail was safe, anything else was unsafe." (I asked her if she ever heard of a blacksmith doing this) "Naw, but anything could have been. It was dangerous and Mama said yah just had to trust the Lord's hand that He would deliver yah into safety each day."

From there she started in spoiling my kids and that was the end of getting any more info... kids are easily bought with candy, and older folks are easily bought and distracted with kids...
maybe that answers the idea of a possible code in the hammering?

[philip in china]

Itinerant smiths- yes I think there probably were. The story about the rythm sending out coded messages- I absolutely agree it is nonsense and doesn't stand even the most cursory scrutiny.

What did occut to me, however, was what tune would be appropriate to tap out to pass such a message? Ideas please. I have none.

[Doug C]

There were many old slave songs that may have been used if taught to the right person. 'Follow the drinking gourd' (a.k.a. big dipper) is one I've heard of that pops into mind. There was a group called the Revels that performed old gospel and slave songs geared towards the underground railroad here in Boston 5 years ago or so. Lots of tune I just can't remember.

Still does not sound right to me. I am sure a smith, especially one working with apprentices, could not control the cadence of multiple people to beat out a tune to guide folks. I would guess was more interested in making as much as he could each day not finding ways to hammer out a cadence on the off chance some escaping slave would hear it.