An Early Township Blacksmith

An Early Township Blacksmith. Philo Alanson Pritchard (1803-1853). About 1840, Philo Alanson Pritchard settled on 10 acres of land north of Morgan Road and about 1/4 mile west of this intersection. Here, he constructed a house as well as a blacksmith shop, which he operated for more than 10 years., Good blacksmiths like Philo Alanson Pritchard were essential to the success of a farming community. He shod horses and oxen and made and repaired farm equipment and household items such as hoes and kitchen pots. Philo's blacksmith shop would have been a simple wood structure, with little light except for that provided by a wide doorway at the front of the shop. The blacksmith shop was dark for Philo to better see the color of the heated iron or steel and judge when the metal was hot enough to be worked and formed. The shop contained a forge and bellows as well as a heavy anvil., Philo Alanson Pritchard married Eliza Jane Woodard, the daughter of Charles and Claremond Woodard, in Batavia, NY, in 1829. The Woodards moved to Pittsfield Township in 1834, settling on 40 acres northwest of Textile and Thomas Roads. In 1836, Philo, Eliza, their three children, and his widowed mother, Sabra Johnson, also moved to Pittsfield Township, residing initially at Carpenter's Corner. It was here in Pittsfield Township that Sabra Johnson met Archibald Armstrong, a Revolutionary War veteran, whom she married in 1839. Archibald and Sabra also lived here until his death in 1849, from complications of a rattlesnake bite., Philo served Pittsfield Township in various capacities and was Township Treasurer in 1850. He died in 1853 and was buried in Harwood Cemetery., Forge and anvil in a blacksmith shop. Photo courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum., One quarter mile to the west, Phil Alanson Pritchard operated a blacksmith shop and lived here with his family, mother, and mother's new husband, Revolutionary War veteran Archibald Armstrong.