History of Ohio Blacksmithing

The Need For Blacksmiths

• The daily need for tools to be forged, repairs to wagons to be made and the endless shoeing of horses always required some assistance from a blacksmith. With the advent of the railroads, oil and gas drilling, and coal mining, Ohio's blacksmiths began to refine and specialize their skills. The Rose Iron Works of Cincinnati has been forging iron for over 100 years. Their vaults are filled with examples of forged iron objects and indicate the role they played in keeping blacksmithing alive in Ohio during the depression of the 1930s.

Appalachian Blacksmiths

• The Appalachia mountain range includes the eastern and southern areas of Ohio. The farmers of Appalachia Ohio area were and still are extremely independent. They developed their own blacksmithing skills and did not rely on a local smithy to create their tools or repair their wagons. With their own knowledge of blacksmithing, the farmers created whatever they needed since the terrain and population could not support a specialized craftsman full time.

Training Ohio Blacksmiths

• Training to be a blacksmith in Ohio happened just the way it did for centuries--through apprenticeship. In 1857, something occurred that would add an alternative to the training of blacksmiths--the Ohio Reform School was established. Beginning in 1901, training to be a blacksmith was added to the list of professions juvenile inmates could apprentice in while being housed at the reform institution. This created a new generation of blacksmiths for Ohio.

Antebellum Blacksmiths In Ohio

• The ranks of the blacksmith population grew during the antebellum period to include many freed slaves. From an historical perspective, the most famous of these would have to have been Thomas Jefferson's former blacksmith slave, Joseph Fossett. Fossett and his wife, Edith (Jefferson's former head cook), were working and living in Ross County, Ohio after working for Jefferson.

Historic Blacksmithing

• The older ways of the blacksmithing trade can still be seen in Ohio. There are several living museums and villages where re-enactment of many traditional trades happen daily. Two of the more popular ones are Hale Farm And Village and the Ohio Village. Both are recreations of Ohio villages and set in the mid-nineteenth century around the time of the U.S. Civil War.