Blacksmiths To Gather Saturday

With hammer in hand, Maria Spranger of Warren, lead historic house interpreter for Mackinac State Historic Parks, stands in front of the historic Benjamin Blacksmith Shop on Market Street, which is the site for this year's 24th annual Blacksmith Convention Saturday, August 2. More than a dozen blacksmiths will converge to take part in forging projects from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The clang of hammer and anvil and the smell of heated metal will evoke memories of earlier times at the old Benjamin Blacksmith Shop, as more than a dozen skilled blacksmiths create wrought iron art during the 24th annual Blacksmith Convention Saturday, August 2, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The tradition of forging and shaping metal continues on Mackinac Island, where horses still dominate the transportation services.

For the last 24 years, blacksmiths have convened here to create wrought-iron pieces like the newly installed fence at the veterans memorial on Market Street, door hinges, and the weathervane at Fort Mackinac.

Projects this summer will include construction of two iron grates for second-floor windows at the city's Stuart House museum, fireplace equipment for the clubhouse at Wawashkamo Golf Club, and an archway and plant stands for Mission Church.

Seen here working in the old Benjamin Blacksmith Shop are father and son Herbert E. Benjamin (left) and Robert H. Benjamin. The blacksmith shop was in operation from 1885 to 1965. It was moved to its present site on Market Street in 1968 as part of the Mackinac State Historic Parks museum complex. (Photograph courtesy of Robert E. Benjamin) The word "blacksmith" describes the color of material used - black metals, typically iron - and the action of manipulating the material, as the term "smith" originates from the word "smite," which means "to hit."

"A hammer and an anvil is all you need as far as tools," said Dennis Bradley. "That's what makes a blacksmith."

Mr. Bradley served as the Mackinac Island State Park blacksmith for 15 years. He now manages the airport, but continues to organize the convention each year.

Blacksmiths have been highly regarded throughout history, Mr. Bradley said. In Europe, they were the weapons masters.

"Any armor maker that can make weapons stronger was considered the right hand of the king," he noted.

Village blacksmiths were also the mechanics and repairmen.

"They'd make and fix armor, carriages, chandeliers," he said. "Whatever anyone needed fixing or made that had metal, they went to a blacksmith."

The craft was broadened when it was introduced in America, said Mr. Bradley, because Europe's apprenticeship system was dismissed here.

"In Europe, the knowledge of the craft was kept almost as a secret, and you had to be apprenticed to get into it," he said. "When those apprentices came to America, they were renegades, sort of, because often times these apprentices, or indentured servants, would run away or go out on their own. If they knew enough, they'd set up a village blacksmith shop and make work. They'd have the same standing as a doctor."

The Island's blacksmith convention has always given craftsmen the chance to display their skills in the Benjamin Blacksmith Shop, established in 1874 when Robert H. Benjamin came to the Island from Cheboygan. He purchased the Star Blacksmith Shop from a former Fort Mackinac soldier in 1885.

The shop was originally on Hoban Street, where the former Windsor Hotel is now. It was adjacent to a log home Mr. Benjamin had built for his family. The blacksmith operation was then moved onto Market Street, on the sloped hill known by residents as Benjamin Hill. The shop included a barn with four stalls for carriage tours.

"The Benjamin Blacksmith Shop is unique because when automobiles and technology came into being throughout the nation, the blacksmith shops closed," said Katie Cederholm, curator of education for Mackinac State Historic Parks. "But here on Mackinac Island, even in the 1880s, when the shop was first introduced, this was a historic place, so there was that need for traditional crafts.

"In addition," she continued, "automobiles never came to the Island, so the aspect of being a farrier who shoes horses stayed important and essential to the Mackinac Island community."

Mr. Benjamin's son followed in his footsteps and operated the shop until 1965. Three years later, the shop was purchased by Mackinac State Historic Parks and moved to its present location, next to the historic Biddle House. The shop still contains original equipment and items today. Even the anvil that resident blacksmith Dave Schmidt uses is the same one used by the Benjamins.

The Benjamin family is still present on the Island. Bob Benjamin, grandson of Robert H. Benjamin, operates two gift shops on Main Street.