Blacksmithing was one of the earliest businesses in any new settlement, often being established immediately after the first saw mill. The blacksmith was responsible for making iron products that were used in all of the other businesses to follow and for the early homesteads and farms.

The early blacksmith was, by necessity, able to forge not only the typical homesteaders' needs like fireplace and irons, cranes, pots, pans and nails, but also capable of producing wagon parts, horse shoes, barrel hoops and various farm machinery.

Working with little more than flat iron, a fire, anvil and simple tools, the early blacksmith was able to manufacture all the needs of a community, including the blades at the local saw mill.

Like other professions, an apprentice was trained by a master in the trade. Daniel Shaver was a master blacksmith operating in the Brick Church area along with his brother James, who was a wagon maker. As more and more products were made with iron, specialty businesses came into being. Beside the wagon makers, there were ferriers that specialized in horse shoes and tack. Also, Ira Dudley was a tinsmith and Charles Rockwell was a silversmith, indicating that there was further specialization in the field.

As blacksmithing evolved, even the men who tended the fire, or furnace as they called it, became professionals with their own apprentices. Benjamin Deratt was a furnaceman and Edward Everts was his apprentice.

Others specialized in cast iron, which was poured into molds to make things like grates and railroad equipment. David Sturgis was a furnace molder, as was David Rockwell. Rockwell built a foundry in the village of Meridian in about 1833. This brick building now houses Dean Cummins Real Estate Office. Behind this building were several other buildings that were erected by Addison Everts, who purchased the Rockwell property in about 1860. Everts made farming implements and when times were slow, door hinges and latches, including the rare “laughing frog” thumb latch, according to the Newt Ferris book.

Of course there was Elias Q. Dutton, who patented the Dutton plow and operated out of his shop in the village of Cato. Don Thompson's ancestor, Archibald Thompson, was another Cato blacksmith.

Just as the mill owner became known as “miller” and the saw mill operator known as “sawyer,” the blacksmith trade name is widely associated with the name Smith.

And although the blacksmith became obsolete with the invention of the automobile, there are a few professionals today who perform the trade at restored villages and there are small groups that produce authentic wrought and cast pieces for restoration.

Eva Taylor Sholes is the town of Cato historian and can be reached at 834-6306