Blacksmith

We are the only forge in the hollow, so every horse, hinge, and ploughshare in the valley comes through our doors. You run it: the queue, the fire, and the two at the anvils.

The work

• Shoe the horses and set the wagon-tires.
• Hammer out the hinges, latches, and ploughshares for every farm in the hollow.
• Set the work queue and keep the fire.
• Direct the farrier and any apprentice at the second anvil.

Context

• The anvil answers to you; you answer to nobody nearer than the owner's quarterly visit.
• A two-to-three-man forge with a weeks-long waiting list.
• Pay is £45–60 New York currency per annum (~$110–150 in silver dollars), piece-rate above the day-wage.
• In-person. No shortcuts on wagon-tires — lives ride on them.

Recorded in the parish register of Sleepy Hollow, autumn of 1799.

• A master's competence at the anvil: shoeing, tires, and general smithing.
• Can run a two-to-three-man forge and a weeks-long waiting list.
• No shortcuts on wagon-tires — lives ride on them.

Not a fit if a full book weeks deep would push you into hurrying a job.

Forge and farriery at the bend in the road — the only smithy in the hollow, so every horse, hinge, and ploughshare in the valley comes through our doors.

Who we are

A master smith plus two at the anvils. The book is full weeks ahead and we turn away nothing with four legs or made of iron.

How we work

Piece-rate above the day-wage: good work is visible here, and rewarded. The queue is set at the forge, not by the customers, and no shortcuts are taken on wagon-tires — lives ride on them.

Who thrives here

Anyone who wants their work judged by what comes off the anvil, and who can keep a weeks-long waiting list moving without spoiling a job.

Recorded in the parish register of Sleepy Hollow, autumn of 1799.