Hammer, Horseshoe and Invention, The Story of an Iowa Renaissance Man

MATTHEW EDEL's 

BLACKSMITH SHOP 

                                 

The sign points the way to Edel's Blacksmith Shop in Haverhill Iowa. Photo by the author

The stories of the true west aren't just about lawman and outlaws. The west could have never been tamed without the steel and grit of hard work and innovation.

-G.C. Stevens

                    HAVERHILL IOWA

On a bright and fair summer day, I took an Iowa road less traveled. I exited the black top and hit the gravel road. I heard my wives voice in my head, say "roll up the windows, or dust will get in the truck, this is Iowa," I heeded the voice, hit the button and as the window slid up, I left a dirty contrail behind me, heading into the Kelly-green hills of a summertime Iowa. I was looking for a small town in Central Iowa called Haverhill. I had seen an informational sign on highway 330 multiple times over the years indicating that there was a historic blacksmiths shop somewhere in the area. I had traveled this route many times, but today, I felt compelled to finally take a look at what was out there. As I tracked the GPS on my phone, I suddenly found myself the small, quaint historic town of Haverhill Iowa. Upon entering Haverhill, I was greeted by rolling cornfields, old buildings and a prominent church steeple, which dominated the landscape. The surroundings were serene and beautiful. I pulled up across the street from old blacksmith's shop which was an old period building with faded wooded siding and a wooden shingle roof. I noticed that the door was open, so I walked in and saw that there was a man sitting on a chair. He greeted me and welcomed me to the Matthew Edel's blacksmith shop. I immediately noticed that this place was not a recreation, but the real thing. It glowed with the patina of days gone by. There was no flooring, only a dirt floor, rusty horseshoes hung from the ceiling, tools still laid where they were left back in 1940 when the doors were locked and the smell of metal and must hung in the air. My tour guide Pat Kopsa guided me through every inch of the Mathew Edel's world and showed me the fruits of his labor. During the tour it became apparent that Matthew Edel was a resourceful innovator, who served the farming community well during his life. The things that he created were carefully left in place for all to see, hand made pliers, horseshoes, gardening tools, and self styled tools invented by Matthew for use on local farms were all present.

                            Matthew Edel & Family: Photo courtesy of the Edel historic site

His hands forged steal, the callus and blackened hands that swung the hammer, the man who toils in the forge, purveyor of goods and services, blacksmith, wheelwright, Ferrier, Inventor and jack of all trades, a rural renaissance man. Strong, resourceful, proud. That was Matthew Edel.

-G.C. Stevens

  Edel Blackmith shop, built 1883  Photo by the author

Matthews was an immigrant from Germany, who settled in Haverhill in 1883 where he built this shop and the house behind on a half-city block. Edel was an entrepreneur, operating a successful business and manufacturer operation.  His hands forged steal: The callus and blackened hands that swung the hammer, a man who toiled in the forge, purveyor of goods and services, blacksmith, wheelwright, Ferrier, Inventor and jack of all trades, a rural renaissance man who was strong, resourceful, proud. That was Matthew Edel. During World War I, Edel also added an automobile service garage to the west end of the blacksmith shop. When Edel died in 1940, his family closed the blacksmith shop and left it intact but idle until the Edel family donated it to the state of Iowa in 1986. It remains a rare example of an authentic 19th-century blacksmith shop. A new building to the west is a working blacksmith shop constructed in 1996 with the help of volunteer blacksmiths. The State Historical Society of Iowa owns and manages the site which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

                            

 Tour Guide: Pat Kopsa gave me a highly detailed and informative tour of the Edel Blacksmith shop and property. Photo by the author.

DUSTY TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST BOOKS

Monuments and plaques greet visitors at the front door

Photos by the author

Tools of all kinds and metal parts lay in organized sections

throughout the shop, Photo by the author

The original foot operated bellows which still works hangs from the ceiling

above the forge photo by the author

The original forge which was eventually converted with an electric blower when electricity came to Haverhill Iowa

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