The history of the world would look far different if it weren’t for the blacksmith industry, which historians say began in the Iron Age, about 1200 B.C. In that era, iron began replacing bronze in implements and weapons. Ancient and vintage blacksmith tools that survive to this day tell are windows into the lives and experiences of the people who used them.
Blacksmith skills survive today among those who craft useful, durable items with an artistic flair. And some communities, like southeast South Dakota’s Viborg, are doing what they can to preserve the legacy of their own local blacksmiths.
Viborg’s roots were established in the small Dakota territorial settlement of Daneville, just south of present-day Viborg. Farmsteading there in 1864, Peter Larsen Christiansen was the first Dane to settle in the area. Few white settlers had as yet come to the area.
By 1871, several Danish families had settled near Daneville. Mads Rasmussen began operating a store there in 1872. Soon a post office was established in the store, and the location was officially named Daneville. Before long, a creamery and blacksmith shop opened near the store.
Young Danes (and Ma) strike out for America
Niels Eiestad Petersen, who would be Daneville’s first blacksmith, was born in Denmark in 1833. Greta Jensen was born in Denmark in 1850, and the two were married there in 1868.
In 1872, the Petersons and sons Christian and Lars Peter, along with Greta’s mother (Bendit Marie Jensen), immigrated to America. As soon as they settled in Lake Village, Indiana, Niels established a blacksmith shop. By the time he applied for U.S. citizenship in Indiana, the couple had added two more sons, Knud Peter and Jens Lawrence, and a daughter, Mary, to their family.
Two of Greta’s brothers lived in the Spring Valley area, near what is now Parker, South Dakota. In 1882, Niels and his family traveled by train to be closer to Greta’s brothers. Bringing his tools with him on the train, Niels and his family came directly to the young settlement of Daneville, where Niels set up his blacksmith shop.
“Can you imagine traveling on a train with all those items from the blacksmith shop?” Roberta Rasmussen asks. “Greta was my late husband’s grandmother, so I’ve heard many stories about the family.”
During the 11 years that Niels worked as a blacksmith in Daneville, two more daughters were born to the family: Bendina and Emma.
In June 1889, a diphtheria epidemic swept through the area. Greta, well known for her nursing and midwife skills, helped care for those stricken with the disease. On her return home one day, she found Niels and the couple’s oldest son, Christian, critically ill with diphtheria. Neither Christian nor Niels, who was 56, recovered. At age 39, Greta was a widow with six children and a seventh on the way.
Greta’s baby girl, Nelsia (nicknamed “Sia”) was born in July 1889. Greta would later marry Lars S. Larsen, giving birth to one more daughter, Carrie Elizabeth.
Townspeople unwilling to be left behind
Ultimately, Daneville’s fate rested in the hands of the railroad company. In 1893, the Sioux Falls, Yankton and South Western Railway (later folded into the Great Northern Railway) completed a rail line between the cities of Sioux Falls and Yankton. The line went right through Turner County but missed the little burg of Daneville by a half mile.
“Daneville citizens were quite concerned about having a livestock yard next to the rail line,” Roberta says. “In 1893, they decided to establish a new town closer to the railroad.”
The decision was made to build a new town one mile north of Daneville along the railroad tracks. One of the landowners where the new town was established, Ole Sorensen, recommended naming the town Viborg, after an ancient Denmark city. It wasn’t long before Daneville businesses also moved to Viborg, and Daneville faded into history.
Grandson preserves granddad’s vintage blacksmith tools — twice
After Niels Petersen’s death, his vintage blacksmith tools remained in the family. “Over time, since I was his grandson, many of Niels’ possessions were given to me,” says Viborg area resident Wayne Peterson. “I stored most of the items, including the blacksmith shop pieces, in my garage for many years.”
When Viborg’s Daneville Heritage Museum was established in 2004, Wayne saw an opportunity to share his family’s history and the remnants of the blacksmith shop with the public. All the items in Wayne’s garage were put on display in the museum’s basement.
The display includes Niels’ wooden bench, tools and a toolbox, as well as the doorlatch from his shop. Subsequent shop owner Chris Goodhope used the same latch.
More questions than answers
Sturdy construction helped other relics survive the passage of time. “The bench was probably made out of old railroad planks, since it’s 2 or more inches thick,” Wayne says. “There are also blacksmith tongs, hammers and chisels in the display.”
Vintage kerosene torches in the display were used to heat metal. A manual drill was used to make holes. During the era when Niels operated his shop, the local blacksmith made and repaired horseshoes and items like the iron rims on wagon wheels.
“We’re not sure what Niels used for a forge,” Wayne says. “A blacksmith in that time had to learn many things. Pioneers relied on the blacksmith, and often the blacksmith’s shop was located next to the local mercantile or trading post. My father used to do some blacksmithing at Turkey Ridge (South Dakota), so I had the opportunity to see some of things a blacksmith typically did.” FC
One of the world’s oldest professions
Blacksmiths today use basically the same technology as their forebears did centuries ago
Historians believe the first iron was shaped into a dagger in Egypt in about 1350 B.C. It’s estimated that the earliest dagger found, dating to 1350 B.C., was likely the product of a Hittite tradesman.
The Indo-European Hittites began to settle in what is now Turkey as early as 1900 B.C. By the 16th century, they had grown powerful enough to invade Babylon, becoming a superpower on a level with Egypt and Assyria. (Biblical Archeology Society)
According to a 2017 article in Forbes Magazine, the Hittites likely invented forging and tempering, but they kept their ironworking techniques a secret. When the Hittites were scattered, their ironworking skills spread to Greece and the Balkans. This early Iron Age occurred about 800-500 B.C. The smith can also be found in the classical mythology of the Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians and Aztecs.
The earliest blacksmiths probably used wood fire to heat iron. They found that, when wood was converted to charcoal, it produced an intense fire, which could be made even hotter with a blast of air.
Those who worked with lead were known as whitesmiths and ironworkers were called blacksmiths. Chainsmiths and nailsmiths worked in their own specialty areas. “The number of folks whose last name is Smith demonstrates the prevalence of the vocation, notes the author of the Forbes article. Other surnames, such as Miller and Cooper, have similar origins.
Modern smiths use the same basic process as the early tradesmen. The forge is heated to temperatures of 2,000-3,000 degrees (Fahrenheit) using coke and a blower or bellows to concentrate the air, the Forbes article says. The steel is usually heated to around 2,000 degrees (Fahrenheit).
The key tools used in blacksmithing continue to be the anvil, tongs and hammer. A securely mounted leg vise is also an important tool. And every element of the anvil – the face, horn, square and circular holes – serves a unique purpose.
For more information: Contact the Daneville Heritage Museum at (605) 766-1312.
Loretta Sorensen is a lifelong resident of southeast South Dakota. She and her husband farm with Belgian draft horses and collect vintage farm equipment. Email her at sorensenlms@gmail.com.
Originally published as “Tools of Survival” in the August 2023 issue of Farm Collector magazine.