Title: McMinn County, Tennessee, Blacksmith Ledger

Date/Date Range :   1849-1851

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection contains the ledger for a blacksmith in McMinn County, Tennessee. The blacksmith listed each job with customer name, job, and cost. Some recurring names include John and Joseph Copeland, John Benton, David Cantrell, and James Chesnutt.

Call number: MS-3088

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection purchased by UT Special Collections Library in February 2007.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], McMinn County, Tennessee, Blacksmith Ledger, MS-3088. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of one ledger.

Someone who forges iron or steel, using hand tools, is a blacksmith. The name derives from the use of metals, which form a black layer of oxides during firing and which the person smites , or hits, to form a shape. To forge metal, the blacksmith softens the metal with heat.

In 1819 the Tennessee General Assembly created McMinn County, Tennessee, named for Governor Joseph McMinn, after gaining Cherokee lands from the Hiwassee Purchase. Calhoun was established in 1820 as the county seat, but three years later the seat moved to Athens. Construction began on the first railroad in 1837, which led to creation of new towns, for example Etowah (1905). Following World War II, corporations established major plants in McMinn County, and educational opportunities increased with the opening of Cleveland State Community College. Mayfield Dairy Farms and Tennessee Wesleyan College also draw recognition to the county today. (Source: Akins, Bill, and Genevieve Wiggins. "McMinn County." Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. 2000. University of Tennessee Press. <http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=M055>)

This collection contains the ledger for a blacksmith in McMinn County, Tennessee. The blacksmith listed each job with customer name, job, and cost. Sample entry: "Strange Pangle Dr / March 31st [1849] To fix false rod make top & screws - ..12 1/2" . Other names include Ganes Gollehor, John and Joseph Copeland, John Benton, David Cantrell, James Chesnutt, and Benjamin Prophet.

• Account books.
• Blacksmiths -- Tennessee.
• McMinn County (Tenn.) -- History.