Refining the Old-Time Art of Blacksmithing

Eugene E. Durben, from left, looks on as George Baldwin and Bob Coenen hone their blacksmithing skills at the Manitowoc County Historical Society’s Pinecrest Historical Village, just west of Manitowoc. Photo by Suzanne Weiss

Historical Society volunteers forge friendships as they demonstrate, teach and learn from one another

The clanging of metal and blasts from the hand-cranked forge blower can’t overpower the sounds of camaraderie at Manitowoc County Historical Society’s Pinecrest Village blacksmith shop. Manitowoc County Historical Society volunteer blacksmiths Bob Coenen, Eugene E. Durben and George Baldwin exchanged tips as well as good-natured banter one recent afternoon as they leaned over their metalworking projects.

Durben, 66, of Valders is a retired heavy equipment operator who has been a Pinecrest volunteer for more than 20 years. “It’s important to pass on these skills so they don’t get lost,” he said. “I’m still learning. You never stop learning.” All three of the men belong to the Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association (UMBA), an educational organization of amateur and professional blacksmiths.

The shop where they work, originally a granary on a Francis Creek farm, was moved to Pinecrest in 1976 and converted to a blacksmith and wagon shop thanks to the family of Manitowoc blacksmith Anton Witt Sr. Most of the equipment and tools were donated by Witt family members, who also helped set up the exhibit and made it operational for demonstrations.

A sign on the front of the building, modeled after the original Witt sign, reads: Horseshoeing, Blacksmithing & Wagonwork. Another sign, reading A. Witt, honors Anton.

Anton started the family’s Witt Blacksmith Shop in 1909 at Old Plank Road at Four Corners, now known as the intersection of North Rapids Road and Menasha Avenue in Manitowoc. Anton’s son, Lloyd, joined him in the business after he completed a tour of duty in the South Pacific during World War II and eventually took over the business. Lloyd also enjoyed volunteering at the historical village’s blacksmith shop.

“I came out to Pinecrest and we happened to come in and started talking to Lloyd and the next thing you know I was coming to his shop,” said Durben, who wasn’t happy with the progress he was making while experimenting on his own. “Pretty much every Saturday I was at Lloyd’s shop and spent three years learning from him. How I ended up at Pinecrest is he was ill and asked me if I would take over out here. I couldn’t say no. I was dumbfounded that he thought I was good enough.”

Early Manitowoc County blacksmiths made shoes for horses, oxen and mules; sharpened plow points for farmers; and made buggy and wagon repairs.

“We try to do things at Pinecrest just as they were done 100 years ago. It worked then and it works now,” said Durben. Among other things, he has made chain links for a fishing display at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, a door handle for Pinecrest’s livery stable, door hooks, tent stakes, sign brackets, and a dinner triangle.  

“They wanted a triangle loud enough so they could hear it through the whole village,” he said. “I also started making my own tools. I have the satisfaction of a tool that’s going to last my lifetime.” The Pinecrest blacksmith shop has close to 100 pairs of tongs, each with a different use. There are also hammers, chisels, punches, drifts (used to enlarge and shape a hole) and swages (used for shaping), to name some of the tools of the trade.

The blacksmiths work with primarily recycled steel, often from parts of old cars and machinery. A 3,000-degree fire in the forge softens the metal, allowing the men to shape it. “It’s never the same,” Durben said. “You’re always doing something different.”

Coenen’s fascination with blacksmithing began when he was a child and helped his father, a farmer who could fix anything. “I would crank the fan on the forge for my dad when he sharpened plow points,” he said.

A bit of family history re-ignited his interest in blacksmithing. “We cleaned up our parents’ estate and we found an anvil that my dad always talked about that my great-grandfather had bought from a Sears and Roebuck catalog for $7 in 1920. I figured as long as it’s just sitting there, I might as well learn how to use it,” said Coenen, 69, a retired over-the-road truck driver from De Pere. He attended an UMBA event, met Durben and Baldwin, and ended up at Pinecrest.

“It’s a constant learning experience and it’s just fun,” Coenen said. “It gives me an outlet to get out and be with people and share an interest and learn how to do things. Blacksmithing is challenging because you have to learn how to work different metals and how the alloys react at different heat ranges so you can form them into usable products.”

Baldwin, 68, of Kewaukee, became intrigued at an early age by a professional blacksmith shop around the corner from his elementary school. “I’ve always had, since I was a child, some desire to be a blacksmith,” he said. “It was fascination with the fire and the forge, I think.” When Baldwin retired from his job as a nuclear plant professional nine years ago, he began learning from other blacksmiths and YouTube videos. About five years ago, he decided to start volunteering at Pinecrest.

“One of the things we like to point out, blacksmithing doesn’t require a big person. It’s about 80 to 90 percent finesse and about 10 percent brute force,” said Baldwin, who enjoys watching blacksmiths in old westerns.

“In the early 1800s, a blacksmith was so important to a village that you could have a village without a doctor but not a village without a blacksmith,” he said. “They made everything that was made out of iron in the house. The made nails, they made the hammer you pounded the nails in with, your pots, your pans, they made everything from a sewing needle to a ship’s anchor.”

In the late 1960s the trade almost completely died out but had a resurgence during the 1970s with the help of artisans who practiced as a hobby, Baldwin said.

“There are actually more blacksmiths today than there were 100 years ago. That’s a surprising statistic,” he said.

Written By Suzanne Weiss, Manitowoc County Historical Society volunteer