Part 3

_John Brush_, 1717-1726. Primarily a gunsmith; may also have engaged in the blacksmith's trade. Thought to have been a protégé of Governor Spotswood because he did "work and reparations about the Governors House," and built his home on the Palace Green nearby. Was keeper of the public arms and those of the governor; in 1723 petitioned the legislature (in vain) for an allowance "for his misfortune in being blown up and hurt in firing the Guns on his Majtys Birthday."

_Thomas Cowles_, 1772-1775. He was a patient of Dr. John M. Galt, bought bar iron from Robert Carter, and repaired the arms of "Capt. Lynes Compy of Minute Men." Nothing else is known of him.

_John Draper_, 1769-1789. Blacksmith, farrier, and veterinary, whose shop was on Duke of Gloucester Street and who lived on the corner of Francis and Waller streets "where the Old Play House lately stood." During the Revolution he made guns, rented out riding chairs, rode express, repaired arms, and supplied nails and shot.

_James, David, and William Geddy_, 1736-about 1780. James Geddy, gunsmith, father of David and William (also of James Geddy, Jr., the silversmith), established his shop in Williamsburg sometime before 1736; he died in 1744. He and two of his sons did cutlery work, brass casting, and iron founding as well as gunsmithing; the sons also purveyed rupture bands and a vermifuge for horses, and offered to cure "the most inveterate Pole-evils and Fistulas ... and all Diseases incident to Horses." During the Revolution William was paid for repairing arms and casting ball; he died in 1784.

_John Moody_, 1776-1779. Smith and farrier, from Philadelphia by way of Norfolk, advertised his shop near the church in 1776. Was paid on several occasions for shoeing horses, but little more is known of him before his death in 1779.

_Hugh Orr_, 1738-1764. Captain Orr called himself both blacksmith and "hammer man," and settled in Williamsburg by 1738. His house and smithy were on Duke of Gloucester Street. He may have acted as farrier, and either he or a slave trained to do so performed phlebotomy--bleeding. He served as armorer for the colony for three years and may have been an officer in the Williamsburg militia. He is buried in Bruton churchyard.

_Thomas Pate_, 1760-1814. Did blacksmith work for John Custis and Lord Botetourt among others, and repaired arms for Virginia troops during the Revolution. The location of his shop is not known, but his purchase of more than 3,000 pounds of bar iron from Robert Carter in 1773 alone indicates a lively trade.

_William Willis_ (or _Willess_), 1768-1770. Came from Birmingham and opened his gunsmith and blacksmith shop "near the playhouse" and "below the Capitol," but soon moved to Norfolk.

_Suggestions for Further Reading_

Alex W. Bealer, _The Art of Blacksmithing_. rev. ed. New York, Funk and Wagnalls, 1976.

Garry Hogg, _Hammer & Tongs: Blacksmithery Down the Ages_. London, Hutchinson Co., 1964.

J. G. Holmstrom, _Modern Blacksmithing and Horseshoeing_. Chicago, F. J. Drake & Co., 1941.

John Jernberg, _Forging: Manual of Practical Instruction in Hand Forging of Wrought Iron_.... Chicago, American Technical Society, 1917.

William Allyn Richards, _Forging of Iron and Steel_. New York, D. Van Nostrand Co., 1915.

F. W. Robins, _The Smith: The Traditions and Lore of an Ancient Craft_. London, Rider and Co., 1953.

H. R. Bradley Smith, _Blacksmiths' and Farriers' Tools at Shelburne Museum: A History of Their Development from Forge to Factory_. Shelburne, Vt., Shelburne Museum, 1966.

Albert H. Sonn, _Early American Wrought Iron_. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1928.

Aldren A. Watson, _The Village Blacksmith_. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1968.

_The Blacksmith in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg_, first published in 1971, is based largely on an unpublished monograph by Harold B. Gill, Jr., of the Colonial Williamsburg research staff. It has been prepared with the assistance of Thomas K. Ford, editor until 1976, Colonial Williamsburg Department of Publications.

Transcriber's Notes

--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.

--Marked a lacuna in the original printed edition with "{...}".