Blacksmithing in Herndon
By Barbara Glakas
Blacksmiths were once important members of communities around America. In Herndon they provided a vital trade that continued up to the mid-20th century.
A blacksmith is a metal worker whocreates objects fromiron or steel by heating the metal and using tools to hammer, bend, and cut it. Civil war armies used blacksmiths to shoe horses and repair things such as wagons, horse tack, and artillery equipment.
Many small towns had at least one blacksmith. It is believed there were at least four blacksmith shops or businesses that existed in Herndon since the time the Town was incorporated in 1879. They were run by Enos Garrett, Henry Simms, Thomas Sauls and William Henry Moffett.
Enos Garrett, born 1841, was a prominent resident who came to Herndon from Pennsylvania. He served a short stint in the Civil War in 1863, married Louisa Caywood in 1866, and had several children. He served as Herndon’s postmaster in 1867, and later served on the Town Council.
In 1868 Garrett purchased one acre of land for $350 on the southeast corner of Elden and Center Streets, the current location of the Horn Motor parking lot. Looking at an 1878 map of Herndon, drawn by cartographer G.M. Hopkins, Garrett’s lot can be seen, marked with the words, “Enos L. Garrett,” “Res.” (residence) and “B.S.S. & W.W.Sh.” (Blacksmith shop and Wheel wright Shop).
Most documents found about Garrett – from his Army registration in 1863, to a Herndon census in 1910 – listed his occupation as wheelwright and wagon maker. A 1900 census lists him as both a blacksmith and a wheelwright. A wheelwright is someone who makes and repairs wheels. Early wagon and cart wheels were made of solid wood, but increasingly had iron parts, such as hubs and rims. It would not be unusual for one man to be both a blacksmith and a wheelwright, for wheelwrights were sometimes described as a cross between a carpenter and a blacksmith. It seems Enos Garrett may not have considered his primary occupation as a blacksmith, but we do know that he had a blacksmith shop on his land near his wheelwright shop and he worked with both skills.
Henry Simms was the only blacksmith listed in the Town of Herndon’s first official census in 1880. He also happened to be the only African American in the Town of Herndon to own a business.
Simms was born in South Carolina but his birthdate is not clear, possibly anywhere between 1832 and 1845. In 1867, Simms married Ann “Annie” Morton in Herndon. Annie would ultimately bear 15 children.
Henry Simms may have been operating a blacksmith business elsewhere in the Dranesville District before he bought the land in what is now the Town of Herndon. In 1878, he bought a parcel of land in Herndon for $75. The lot of land was located in the vicinity of the northeast corner of Elden and Jackson Streets, now the present day location of Jiffy Lube. This parcel can be seen on the 1878 map of Herndon. The lot is marked on the map, “Hy. Simms.”
In 1891 Simms recorded a declaration which said,
“By and between Henry Sims of County of Fairfax, in the State of Virginia, who doth hereby declare his intention as a householder and head of a family, to claim the full benefit of a “Homestead” under Article XI, of the Constitution of Virginia, and of the act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed June 27th, 1890, relating thereto; the same to be exempt from Levy, Seizure, Gameskeeping, or Sale, in the following property, viz.”
The property he listed was: a house and one acre of land in the Village of Herndon ($500); a set of blacksmith tools ($20); one horse ($25); household furniture ($25); and two hogs ($20).
Henry Simms and his family can be found on Herndon census documents up through the year 1900. At least three of his sons also practiced blacksmithing.
In the early 1900s, Frances Darlington Simpson frequently spent summers in Herndon at her grandfather’s summer home, located near the intersection of Monroe and Van Buren Streets. In her book, Virginia Country Life and Cooking, she recalled,
“Just across the road lived Belle’s Aunt Irene and Uncle Pete Simms. Uncle Pete, the village blacksmith, was known for miles around and enjoyed the respect of all who knew him. People came, bringing their horse to be shod and it was fascinating to sit by the hour in Uncle Pete’s shop ad watch him hammering and shaping the red hot horse shoes on his anvil and then nailing them to the horse hooves. My sister and I never tired of watching him and were always thrilled and delighted when he made rings for us out of horse shoe nails.”
There are no Herndon census documents that list the name “Pete Simms,” although many long-time Herndon residents remember a town blacksmith by that name. It is assumed that the name “Pete” was a nickname for Henry or his son, James, who carried on the family business.
Information about the Thomas E. Sauls blacksmith shop is very lacking. Sauls, who was born in 1874 and died in 1954, appeared to move around a lot. One 1901 article in the Fairfax Herald newspaper indicated that Sauls, who had run a blacksmith shop in Fairfax City for several years, was moving to Herndon and would set up a blacksmith shop there. It is unknown where that blacksmith shop was located. Census documents for both 1900 and 1910 did not have Suals living in Herndon, so if his intention to set up a blacksmith shop in the Town of Herndon was successful, the shop must have lasted less than ten years.
William Henry Moffett, born in 1897, was a fifth-generation blacksmith. His father and grandfather were blacksmiths in the Town of Leesburg. In 1906, Moffett’s father, Joseph Moffett, bought a 3,000 square foot piece of land in downtown Herndon and operated a blacksmith shop there. This piece of land was on the west side of Station Street, located at the end of an alley next to a concrete block gas house. It was situated behind the town’s livery on Station Street. The Moffett blacksmith shop burned down in Herndon’s Big Fire of 1917. As an example of how important blacksmiths were to the community, the shop was the first building to be rebuilt after the fire.
In his young adulthood Moffett worked for Bethlehem Steel in Maryland. In 1918 he registered for the Army and went off to training at Camp Lee, Virginia, in September of that year. However, the war soon ended and Moffett was discharged in December of 1918. Afterwards, his father urged him to go into the blacksmith business. By 1920, Joseph was back in Loudoun County running a blacksmith shop, while his son William, now married, ran the blacksmith shop in Herndon.
The location of Moffett’s blacksmith shop near the town livery was perhaps a convenience to him, as Moffett was also known to have farrier skills, trimming and shoeing horses' hooves. Virgie Wynkoop, who wrote her memories of Herndon in a manuscript called “Herndon – Etcetera,” recalled,
“Mr. Moffett was a farrier by trade….he not only shod horses but [did] numerous repair jobs repairing broken down farm equipment for the many farmer of that time. Back in the 20’s he had the distinction of being second in the world championship for shoeing horses. He said he did not know he was being considered for a contest the day he shod twelve horses in twelve hours.”
A 1933 article in the Fairfax Herald spoke about how Moffett was active in two different fields. He had been a blacksmith for about 30 years and “his services have always been well-directed and his clientele developed to extensive proportions as a result.” In 1930 Moffett entered the coal and wood business as a sideline, winning high acclaim in that business as well.
By the 1950s the need for blacksmiths diminished as there were few horses to shoe or wagons to repair. Moffett, who also liked farming, decided to raise beef cattle after he closed the blacksmith shop in 1955 at the age of 68. The old Moffett blacksmith shop was later bought by Fairfax County and moved to Frying Pan Park in 1975. Moffett’s daughter and Herndon resident, Elma Mankin, said,
“When Fairfax County bought the blacksmith shop, my father said he wanted to be there when they took it apart and he supervised the disassembly and reassembly. He marked every board.”
The remnants of the foundation of the old blacksmith shop can still be seen in Herndon, next to the old gas house, now across the street from the Herndon Municipal Center. The Moffett blacksmith shop still stands in Frying Pan Park on West Ox Road, boasting many of Moffett’s blacksmith tools. It is the last known original blacksmith building left in Fairfax County.
The Fairfax County Park Authority noted that Moffett, like many blacksmiths before him, “served the needs of his rural community during a period of changing technology, from a time of horse-drawn wagons to automobiles and from hand-operated machines and tools to devices powered by electricity.”
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About this column: “Remembering Herndon’s History” is a regular Herndon Patch feature offering stories and anecdotes about Herndon’s past. The articles are written by members of the Herndon Historical Society. Barbara Glakas is a member. A complete list of “Remembering Herndon’s History” columns is available on the Historical Society website at www.herndonhistoricalsociety.org.
The Herndon Historical Society operates a small museum that focuses on local history. It is housed in the Herndon Depot in downtown Herndon on Lynn Street and is open every Sunday from noon until 3:00. Visit the Society’s website at www.herndonhistoricalsociety.org, and the Historical Society’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HerndonHistory for more information.
Note: The Historical Society is seeking volunteers to help keep the museum open each Sunday. If you have an interest in local history and would like to help, contact .