Since colonial times, the blacksmith was an important part of the community. In 1607 the first colony at Jamestown brought over a blacksmith. The Mayflower had Isaac Allerton who had apprenticed with a London blacksmith. The Portsmouth/Exeter area had Charles Glidden in 1668.
The tools produced by early farmers/blacksmiths were rough and unrefined copies of the superior English implements originally brought over. Improvements or changes in style were rare. American forges and the men who ran them (often while working other jobs) mainly focused on repair work.
In “Tools and American Life in the Pilgrim Era,” Erica Lome wrote: A 1639 “Provision Suggestion” used by colonists noted, “Though all these be made in the country (there being diverse blacksmiths) yet being a heavy commodity, and taking but a little storage, it is cheaper to carry such commodities out of England.” (2016, Journal of Antiquities and Collectibles)
After returning to England from the Jamestown settlement, John Smith had a list of tools including: broad and narrow hoes; broad axes, pickaxes and felling axes; handsaws and whipsaws; hammers, shovels, and spades; tools for boring, drilling, and chiseling wood; hatchets and grindstones; and of course, every type of nail imaginable. Iron implements for cooking and homemaking were also important additions to his list.
The forge was usually built by a wall, and the anvil would be at the center of the workshop. The shop was intentionally poorly lit so that while the smith worked, he could judge the temperature of hot metal by its color/glow. It was also necessary to keep the workshop neat and tidy, clearing all waste metal, small burrs, and slivers. The scrap metal was usually melted, purified, and used again. The upkeep of the workshop was usually done by the apprentice, as the master smith would concentrate on the metalworking.
The blacksmith was one of the most important tradesmen in the 17th and 18th centuries. Machining and automation were unknown; and colonists relied on blacksmiths for providing the tools they needed.
Since nothing was standardized, tools of that era were not known for their durability. As new tools were expensive, and repairing them was cheap – most of a blacksmith’s job was the retooling of old pieces:
Household tools: utensils, needles, cutlery, hammers, nails, chisels etc.
Farming: axeheads, plows, hoes, shovels, horseshoes, etc.
Hunting & Fishing:, knives, arrowheads, spears, eel forks, fish hooks & harpoons;
Warfare: large knives, tomahawks, gun parts;
Industrial: Whatever tools were needed.
The typical blacksmith would wear a shirt, breeches, an apron, and protective headgear. The shirt would be made of linen, which would help the smith stay cool in hot temperatures; also, linen absorbed sweat efficiently. The breeches as well would be made of coarsely woven linen to help keep the smith cool(er) in the furnace-like temperatures.
The apron was the only thing that would protect the smith from any rogue hot metal sliver. It was usually made with tough, full-grain, thick leather. The protective headgear would be metal or heavy leather with a slit to see through.
In a horse-drawn society he was the mainstay of transportation. He welded and fitted wagon tires and hub rings and made and fitted all metal parts of wagons, carriages, and sleighs until the wheelwright appeared on scene. Working out of a carpentry or blacksmith shop, wheelwrights were skilled craftsman who worked with wood and iron in order to make a round and durable wheel that could withstand colonial roads and the back pathways through the woods.
When industrialization finally hit America, the blacksmith’s job became obsolete. The new technology could churn out products that were mass-produced, cheaper, and oftentimes of a better quality. The skills required of a blacksmith became more identified as artisanal; and their works were many times referred to as antiques. Artistic works were usually only bought by the wealthy and not by common folk.
In the latter part of the twentieth century, blacksmiths had all but disappeared from the American scene. A few dressed picks and mattocks, air drills, stone chisels, and various knives used in industry. Others, known as farriers, worked in rural areas caring for racing and riding horses, though these were more in demand for their veterinary practices than for their knowledge of ironworking.
The smithing skills were often passed along from father to son or from smith to apprentice. In the old country young boys were apprenticed to a blacksmith and later joined the Blacksmith Guild; but there were no such guilds allowed in the new world.
“Apprenticeships started at age 14 or 15 and could last up to seven years. At first, an apprentice would simply observe and help with easy tasks. Eventually, the apprentice would learn more complicated tasks like heating and bending iron. Finally, the apprentice would be tasked with fashioning some kind of metal “masterpiece” that would be judged by his master. If the piece was adequate, the apprentice would pass his apprenticeship and became a journeyman - a traveling blacksmith who would repair metal goods in nearby villages. If all went well, the journeyman would have earned enough money through his work to open his own shop.” https://mrnussbaum.com/13-colonies-blacksmith
Archibald MacPaedris & his Iron Works
In 1717 the wealthy Scots-Irish merchant Archibald MacPaedris sent a ship from the Portsmouth to Boston loaded with wine, earthenware and iron, the latter from his iron works on the Lamprey River above Newmarket. (He later moved his family to Portsmouth; the house he built there is now known as the Warner House.)
That same year he sent ships to his home country of Ireland to bring back servants and good farmers to settle in his new plantations about 40 miles from Portsmouth. For every good farmer he proposed to sell 100 acres of land “forever” at 12 pence per acre. He boasted of the fishing and lumbering opportunities which were calling out for new settlers. He also lauded the “great ironworks upon ye river but wants men that understand ye making of Iron which might be brought to grait [sic] fashion.”
Before the Revolution, local iron works had been producing rolling iron bars called slitted iron and from these bars blacksmiths and mechanics cut out bolts and nails. Most skilled of all blacksmiths were those who shaped iron to the precise and intricate needs of ships like Newmarket blacksmiths/shipwrights Joshua Mitchel and Nathaniel Garland. Warships and whaling vessels usually carried their own blacksmiths to repair fittings and guns at sea and to make grappling hooks and harpoons.
In 1750 the British Parliament passed an act forbidding colonists to make iron bars. This ended our iron industry, closing shops in New Hampshire and forcing local blacksmiths to purchase more expensive iron bars from Britain. This affected the shipbuilding industry and—not surprisingly—was another of the many complaints about British rule leading to the Revolution.
After the Revolution local Iron works reappeared in the area, albeit a little later. An ironworks opened in 1830 , a foundry in 1834 on Packers Falls Road at the Piscassic River falls, and the Swamscott Machine Company in 1846.