19th Century Iron implements: By G.C. Stevens

  

An awesome example of a 19th century circular gridiron This particular gridiron is in the collection of antiquarian Patrick Meguiar. Photo permission of Patrick Meguiar

G.C. Stevens

During my many years of reenacting and visiting historic sites all over the country. Among of the most prominent things that bring back memories of those days is the smell of a campfire and the singing hammers of the Black Smiths who followed the trail of history to educate people, and to sell their wares. My fond memories of these days ever prompted me to write a poem about it. 

Blacksmith

"Somewhere in the distance on a clear summer evening

I hear the clanging of the hammer, a heartbeat of steel on steel.

Against the anvil it crashes a man with a task, The sweat upon his brow, 

Molding solid iron, to form and function. Without him, the wagon would never roll. 

Without him, the nation would have no soul. From the plow,

to the iron on the stove, the strong arms would hammer the incessant song of the steel hammer,

To pound the mettle that would cross the prairie, on the trail of a great endeavor."

-G.C. Stevens 

Blacksmiths crafted and repaired these wrought and cast iron items, including horseshoes, hinges, and machinery parts, using forges, anvils, and hammers, In the 19th century, blacksmiths were indispensable members of rural and frontier communities. They are often romanticized in works like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Village Blacksmith." And have parts in many western movies and western T.V. Series. Black smiths were and are still, skilled craftsmen who forge essential iron tools, hardware, and implements by hand. They shaped the tools and equipment of the nation, long before widespread industrialization. The blacksmith's day was made up of intense physical labor in a dimly lit, and hot shops filled with the roar of the coal-fired forge. The familiar rhythmic clanging of hammer on anvil, and clouds of smoke were part of the American landscape. They used bellows (later replaced by rotary fans) to heat iron to glowing red-hot, they employed techniques like forging, welding, and tempering on heavy anvils with various hammers, tongs, and vises. They crafted and repaired horseshoes, plowshares, axes, wagon parts, nails, hinges, and household items, serving farmers, travelers, and households. Apprentices learned the trade through years of hands-on work, often starting as boys.

Types of Implements
• Agriculture: Iron plows (like the famous Deere plow), reapers, mowers, hay rakes, and hoes.
• Household: Pots, skillets, stoves, candlesticks, irons (including specialized goffering irons for fabric), and shears.
• Tools: Hammers, chisels, saws, shovels, rakes, files, knives, swages, cutters, and pokers.
• Construction/Industry: Iron for building components, wagon wheels, and parts for early machinery. 

About the gridiron in the photo above

'This gridiron came from a Doctor in Murfreesboro which is Rutherford County. That Doctor bought local items. So it most likely from there or an adjacent County. He had several early iron items from Davidson County or the Nashville area. I have had at least one other rotary gridiron that was like this one that was found under the floor in an early house in Middle Tennessee. This Doctor is a big collector of local early items, but exactly what Middle Tennessee County is not known to me, however around the Nashville, Tennessee area is very likely to be where it was made."

-Patrick Meguiar