Blacksmithing

Scope and Contents This collection includes correspondence, pencil drawings, negatives, 35mm slides, and family photographs from Christian Schrader in Indianapolis, Indiana ranging from circa 1842 to 1987, regarding Schrader’s family, friends, and early Indianapolis. Schrader includes rough dates for the subjects he depicts in the drawings, but many of them were created from his recollections later in life. There are also oversize drawings (OBE017).Negatives are available for most of the drawings. In...

Scope and Contents This collection includes three account books kept by Frederick Freese for his blacksmith business located in Winchester (now known as Gratis), Preble County, Ohio. The entries range from 1841 to 1853 and include names of customers, repair bills, and prices of farm products.

Scope and Contents This collection includes a copy of a biographical sketch from Peter Van Arsdale ranging from 1787-1857. Peter Van Arsdale wrote an autobiography of his life in order to provide for his family. He wrote about his early life with his father's death, working as a blacksmith until he was twenty-one, getting married and having children, as well as trying to find ways to provide a house and money in order to take care of his family.

Scope and Contents The collection is composed of three items, including a ribbon showing membership in the Melroy Local No. 145 of the International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths and Helpers, Indianapolis, Indiana. One side of the ribbon shows an anvil and hammer inside a circular mounting attached to a short ivory ribbon with two American flags across its width; both of these are attached to a clasp over which two hands are joined in a handshake. All of the decorations are displayed against the background of a...