UNDER THE SPREADING CHESTNUT TREE

I don't know if they still study Longfellow in school, but in "the good old days" we all knew his poem, "The Village Blacksmith." We could almost see him standing out under that tree performing his work of art.

Our city has had dozens of blacksmith shops in the past, but the last of the old-time blacksmith shops in Morrison has been gone for over thirty years. Many still remember Karl and Proctor Lind and their shop on West Main Street. It stood where we now have Millikan Park. There are a few who thought it should have been named Lind Park, as a tribute to that now-forgotten way of life.

The shop was an old, wooden building, two stories, with a wooden floor and ramp that ran to the upstairs. It was always smokey from the fire in the forge and not the tidiest place, but those who had been there will never forget it.

Karl Lind came to this country from Sweden in 1898. He first worked on a farm for about a year before going to work in a blacksmith shop in Milledgeville. He later came to Morrison and worked for a blacksmith named Pat Close. Lind soon bought out Mr. Close, and it became Karl Lind Blacksmith Shop.

Those who remember Karl know he was a short man who had a knack with horses. He seemed to understand them, and they understood him--important in a business where the biggest job was nailing shoes on their feet.

Why did horses need those iron shoes? Remember, most every kind of local travel was done with horses. Care of their feet was important. In winter they had shoes with cleats, or corks, as they were called, to keep from slipping on the ice. The shoes raised the foot enough to protect the softer and tender part of their feet and could also be made to correct foot problems. Well, you couldn't send them to a podiatrist for goodness sake!

Proctor Lind started helping his dad when he was about six years old. He had a long stick with part of a horse’s tail nailed to it. It was Proctor’s job to shoo the flies away from the horse while his dad nailed on the horseshoes.

Blacksmiths were mechanics, inventors, and welders of their day, making most any kind of tool or utensil. They not only served the farmers of the area, but the town folks as well. Located along Main and Market Streets, there were as many as four livery stables where horses were stabled. Each held from twenty to thirty horses. Many homes had their own barn to house their buggy horse. Can you imagine what the smell and the flies must have been like on a hot summer day?

Where do you find blacksmiths today? There are many traveling “farriers” who work at race tracks and stables putting shoes on horses. I suppose that, while it is a far cry from the local blacksmith shop, Phil Benson at the Morrison Machine Shop takes care of many of the welding, designing, and metal work that used to be the work of the old-time blacksmith shop. I might add, he does this with a lot different kind of tools and equipment.

Morrison’s Heritage Museum will soon have a blacksmith exhibit on display. We will have the kind of tools and equipment that were part of the old-time blacksmith shop. The museum has over sixty different kinds of horseshoes, plus tools and equipment that were once part of the Lind shop. Watch for the announcement, and be sure to visit the museum to view this part of Morrison's past.

The Historical Society has a taped interview at the museum that was made many years ago; Dr. Curt Gronner visits with Frank Norrish, a well-known farmer at that time. The interview, perhaps, best explains the importance of horses and blacksmiths. Frank said, "The Statue of Liberty should have a horse and a blacksmith standing beside it, because for 150 years the growth and liberty of this country depended on the horse and the blacksmith."

Well said, Frank!

(by Orville Goodenough, Guest Columnist)