Harriet Webb’s interview with Lantry Jennings

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If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. In this recording Lantry Jennings talks about his work as a blacksmith. The recording begins with Lantry Jennings describing blacksmithing tools he uses. He explains at 04:37 that he learned blacksmithing by observing others and bought second-hand tools to start his business. Next he details how to mold horseshoes and wagon parts. At 14:05 Jennings argues that blacksmithing has become a traveling trade in an effort to stay relevant. Then at 19:31, he explains that blacksmithings peak season is spring and summer. To conclude the audio, at 25:35 he tells a story about when he started blacksmithing at 17. Lantry Jennings (1899-1980) was born in Cumming, Georgia, to Phillip (1874- 1959) and Mattie (1877-1952) Jennnings and raised with six other siblings. He served in the United States armed forces during World War I, tended the farm with his father, and worked as a blacksmith for 50 years. In 1928 he married Hester Mae (1907-1982) and they had four children, James (1929-2008), Billy (1931-1951), Joe (1935-1947), and Oliver (1937-2021). AHC Oral History Cataloging Worksheet File Information Catalogue number MSS IOO~), II.0I Source Field* (ContentDM) Release form ~2C~.~or No . Transcript Yes or No scanned: From Yes ot(!:'!~) Default text: Contributed by an OR: Donated by individual: individual through <your org. name> Georgia Folklore Collection through <your org. name> Object Information Enter .Informat'Ion about the pnhysl.caI obll'ect here: Title Lo\y \ L\ \ 1--\ "~I j'. (interviewee 1''\V \ ' "L" ,.~) name and date , .\ \, '.\ :1 . .,:', '((6 il t)'l\)" \ \ t'. ) .~ of interview) '. 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LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA 30245 FOLKLORE 300 - FALL 169 5:15 CLASS LANTRY JENNINGS: BLACKS~ITH Lantry M. Jennings has been a blacksmith for fifty years. He lives around Matt community not far from Sam Hawkins. He is a very friendly man who welcomed me and my mother and Estelle and Kellog McCoy, who are fdends of the Jennings', into their hOlne. The house in 'which he lives is over 100 years old and is brown and sets off from the road almost in back of another house over to the side. ~r. Jennings is proud of an old maple tree outside that he said was over 60 years old. He was born in a house just above where he lives now and is 70 years old now. Mr. Jennings is a tall and lean man now. In his younger years he was stout like you would picture a blacksmith to be. Be is nervous now and not able to do as much but still does a litte \'lOrk here' and there;' he isn I t inactive by any means. He J ooles much younger than 70 and doesn't have many gray hairs andisn't the least bit feeblE). When t asked him to draw some pictures, he kept erasing, for he is very particular that they looked good, and he tri.ed to draw a horse and said that it Jooked like a pig so he marked through it. He wouldn't try to draw anything thiJt he knew he couldn't draw. All of this seems to probably have been character'istic of his vlor]c. He kept saying that he was so nervous now that he couldn't drsvl or write or work like he used to could. Out back of the house is a old crJiclmn hO\lSe in which he keeps his too]s. He has a blower and anVil, tllOngs, and sanders. I noticed that he had been vlOrking on SOme axe handles. He demonstrated for me !lOVI !le !lad to stand and even lit up t!le fire for me to see. On one side of the shed, be had lined up old !lorseshoes -2- that bad r.usted. Many of them still had the nails in tbem. Mr. Jennings I father was a farmer "and he used to farm along with blaclsmithing because most of the people in the community did farm. He has ahrays had plenty of work to do. People still call him and ask him to dOvlOrk for them, but the fire gets a little too much for him now. He has done a lot of blacksmithing in over 50 years and seems very proud of it, which he ought to be. He and his wife were very kind and asked us to come back to see them. I think they enjoyed baYing company and somebody new to talk to who took interest in what they're interested in. Mr. Jennings did all he could to help me. . ," Since I am a terrible photographer, and I had a bad camera and the lighting was bad, I did not get but a few bad pictures. Mr. Jennings said that he would be glad to help in any way if anyone "ranted to come and talk to him and take pictures and that they world be we1- come. His address ist Mr. Lantry M. Jennings Route 3 Cumming ,. Georgia; I,ANTRY 1-'. JE:NN INGS: BLACKS1-'ITH H. Webb I I'm at the horne of Mr. Lantry ,Tennings who has been a' blacksmith for 50 years. Tell me about it Mr. Jennings. L. Jenningsl Well, I don't know hardly how to set it. (laughs) You gotta have the anvil an' blo\'lers an' hammers an' tJjongs ani then the shoe in ' tools business the all of the tools to shoe with llke pinchers an kn1!ives and nail clips an so on. An' fer sharpnin' plows, well you have to put them in nar and heat 'em and git 'em good an hot to wher you can beat on 'em and I've done wagon vlork an all kinds a little 01' work in shops. I've shod horses and mules more than anythang nearly but, I just wruldn' t" I don't know hardly (wait to see if he says anything else, but doesn I tI) H. Webbl You've done a lot of it hadn't you? About 50 years (he interrupts) L. Jennings: Yea, I've done a sig;btof it ..... (pause) H. Webbl Well, your blacksmith shop, where is it , outside behind the house? 1. Jennings I Yea, it's down hyear now, but I've not blad:smithed so much since I been over hyear. I blacksmithed in around Matt" around over thaI' fer the biggest part of the time. But I I ve worked a good deal over hyear, but T've got nOvl to vlher that I'm not able to do too mlich and I've not shod none much ner worked nothing much in a good while,I . H. Webb: How old are you'( L.Jenningsl 71 years old, I mean 70 gain' on 71. H. Webb: That is great. ~. Jennings: I sharpen' saws an' I fixed some wagon wheels all along, buggy wheels an . H. Webb: Well, ho\'l did people pay you, long time ago, how did people used to pay you? -2- L. Jennings I Well, I used to, "ihen I set in and got 50 for shoein(' a mule or horse all the way aroun', an I had to go then, I had to set the shoes and put lem in the furnace and get lem hot and set the shoes. An I set in shoein l 'em an shoddin l lem for years for 50 a1'l the wa,y it' /(e.pt aroun' an set the shoes, and ~ ~goin' up a little and got up to 60,f; an 75 and up to a dollar and then hit kep on climb in I and noVi its up to anY1~herJ cost from arotm' ~p]O up to ~i;50 now on)you IrnO\~, these hyear walkin' houses an so on like that, but I never did git in on that walldn ' horse shoein l much . H. Webb: Well, 1 1m not being nosey, but did you ma.!,e a pretty good living blacksmithing? I .. Jennin~: You make jJurty good money at it in a tofay, but you see" uh ~ ..hit ~Vladnlt just a regular job everyday. Hit just"shoe maybe like today and maybe then a weel, they wudn It be so much to do. When hit'd come in,.hit'd come in. lid shod a many lun. And it's purt~ood money now, but back then hit's just like sorta wages. H. Webb: Well, did anybody ever pay yotl like wHh crop or food or anything? Did you always get money for it? L. Jennings: Most all the time. I never, I don I t know, I might've took ... a little \'lOrk or s"mpped work er somethin' lil,e that, but I .. I mos tly just shod fer what little money I got out of it. So I s that it got up to "Iher you could make purty good money at it, why I don 1 t do much ... "........ H. Webb: Well, hoVi did you learn hOyl to blacksmith'( L. Jennings: I just tool, it up myself, just startea an ...... I]. Webb: 50 years ago you decided to . (interrupts) L. Jennings: yea; -3- H. Webb: Well, how did you teach yourself? I mean, didn't you have somebody to teach you or . (interrupts) L. Jennings: HUh, no I watched , you know, go to shops and watched people work that used to carry plows and mules to the shopf and daddy. An I never, I went to shoein, I just learned it on my own, an the plow sharpnin ,; and everthang else H., Webb I Well, \,here did you get your tools when you started? I" Jennings: Well, I'd jest bUy em hyear and yonder. They's lots of tools over the country ~ then and I just bought second, handed tools, I never did buy no many new tools) except just like hammers and thangs li]m that, Thlowers an vices an all of the tjongs an everthang like tha.t. I generally always find somebody'd have 'em em I'd bUy used I uns, get um cheaper you ]mow. H. Webb: Yea.h, do just as good, don't the~as new ones? L. Jennings: yea H. Webb: If you know what you're doing, that's r:Lpht. WeD, you been, 50 years is a long t:Lme doing SOJ11ething. You thlnd you been, you've l:Lked your work haven't you? t,. Jenn:Lngs: 0, yea, I enj oyed :It, I , if I ~'~ had I wouldn't have l1ever ~ ~ started it, but it was hard work. You take take that, ub, shoein~, it's hard strain:Ln' work it ,it's dangerous a.n you've got to bea.t it down i.n under '~"thata wayan it'll. ... (pause) ..... kill you after I guess nearly. (laugh) Well, just tell me exactly, see I don't kno\, anything a.bout I , cI. it, tell me exactly ho", you,,',]I'l'l8-' maIm something. I mean the steps you would go through, I mean could you, because I don't Im0y'anything a ",h ile , +-H. \'lebb: about it? L. Jennings: gi.t thp sr00S Well, I never did just ,ot the store just wher -make too many thangs. ' they'd come,and then I You take, had to set i; -4- 'em, cork 'em, an punch the nail holLes an set 'em to fit the foot .... H. WebE.!. Well, \'lhat did you do to cork then? How did you do that? 1.. Jennings: Well, you just, you put 'em in your far an heat 'em an turn your cork on an heat 'em an pWlch your nail holeS an then set your shoes to fit the foot. Then you hadJ{ to level the foot up an talm a knife and 'rasp and so on) git your foot level an then nail "em on thar. Al then all the rest of it's just pure aI' 'lork Hit .... H. ivebb: I guess so, you had to Imow hO\'1 to handle horses too didn't you? 1. Jennings I Well, yea, you've got to learn that. There's a whole 10tsJin thatp'hile they's some that wadn't any trouble, strilm a lot of 'em you"d have to rope up, tvlist her nose, blindfold 'er, an run 'em over thangs an H. Webb: Goodness, that \'lould be something. Well, vlhat did you make besides shoes? What else did you make'? What else did you do? -JJ. 1. ,Jenningsl'Well, 1 1 worked on vlagons, buggies an 01' .... 1 .... H. Webbl What did you do on wagons? I" Jennings: Well, I. ..uh .... you'd, IH:e whenever they'd tear 'em up, put spokes in 'em an the rimtin 1 an titre on 'em. 1 built one wagon straight o~t. I've almost built some more. H. Webb I There 1 s not manv: wagons around anymore, you don't L. Jennings I No, the wagon busJness is gone , o~ourse you ta];:e buggies too, an they, \'lhene17er machinedcome, aroun' they vlould just roll it out. you ]m01'l. a~ they rotted down, but now buggies _, an ol~ buggg_ now would brang 3 t!JlIfes as much as a nevi un used to brang. H. Webb I Yea, because now they I re antj ques 1. Jennings I One horse wagons they sell purty good but one two -5- horse wagons, they ain't no demand for them much. H., Webb: So you said, now how long now has it been since you 1ve done much blacksmithing? 1. "Jennings: Oh, about a year ago I guess. H. Webb: Well that IS not long ago. " 'I'hat's great. 1. Jennings: Well, 1 ... 1 piddled along some. I fixed .. uh .. some wagon wheels a hyear, not long ag-o. I do little 01 1 jobs all along. Pd sharpen hand saws an :rut me in axe ha,ndles an sich as that, but I don 't, you knOvl ."Iork reglar. H. Webb: Well, like you said, it never has been a regular job. D~~ you ever go out, 111,e some people travel arolmd trying to drum up (Interrupted ) L. Jennings: Oh, I traveled allover this country H. Webb: Well, tell me about that L. Jennings: Dawson CountY,an Cherokee, all of the adjoinin l counties. I'-ve been down to Fulton County, shoein l lem ..... H. vlebb: Well, what, how did you go around'? Did you go around like when you first sta,rted out, did you used to do that, did you go around in a wagon, how did you go around? L. J'ennings: Well, I d idn' t go around bael, younder. People 'd brang 'em to you til it got to \-Ther vlhen they got cars~so many of lem, you knO\v, an people pur ty good ways off , \-Tel1, they'd call you up or sometbin ' or the other, yOll know, an tell you what they wantedJ an' you'd just go to \vher they used to be ... 1 .. used to foller these 01' sawmillS up an shoe their 01' sawmill horses out in the woods.,;. H. Webb I vlell, hOvT did you travel up there, I mean how did you carry all of your tools and everything? 1<. Jennings: Well, I I d carry them in the old car H. Webb: I guess you bad 'a lot of; tlwt was a pretty beavy load wasn't it, all of your tools? L. Jennings: Ah, you don I t have to .-.ar r , too many to shoe horses. H. Webb: You don't L. Jennings I Na;, you fix your shoes an git your shoes fixed up before you go an you just carry your sboes an~ein tools an you don't have to take a load of stuff to go about sboein 'em H. Webb: Well, that's really interesting. Well, is it hard to fit a shoe on a horse; is it hard to L. Jenning~: Well, it's purty hard work, you take that,til I learnt it,the first time, first one I ever shod took me a half a day to put 1+ shoes on. H. Webb: Well, I guess so , lealming how. L. Jennings: 1. and the shoes is hard too, when I started settin' 'em to git 'em fixed jus t right, but after I learn ~it, why, I could jest set 'em all right ...... (pause) .... but ..... the beginning, hit .. hit was awkvlard and slow an H. Webb: To learn it yourself though, that's really quite Well, ho\'! fast did you get to where you could lmock them off'? BOI. fast could you do it? 1. Jennings: Well,]' could, I've shod one all around in 30 minntes. H. Webb: That's quite a long way isn't it'? From a balf a day to 30 minutes. That's fast service. L. Jennings: Where they stand good, I used to, I could put I em on thaI' where they wadn l,t mean, I could put on a set in 30 minutes, but now I can't do it nO"l, but You take...if they had 014 shoes on an their all feet long art you had to take the shoes off and pinch tIIem /II' feet all dO"111 and smooth 'em up vlell, lit would take you right -7- around an hour or so sometimes on them, but wher they didn't have ' any shoes on and their feet "lOre down purty close, you can put 'em on purty fast. H. Webb I Would you ever do any, try to do any fancy things, you kno"" like make some different kinds of things? 1. Jennings: Not so much, I just done 01' blacl, just ivhat you'd say all' blacksmith work. I done a little "roadwork, but not nothing G1 S' fancy. H. Webb: Well, that was a big enough job, I know, just doing that. Well, what do you tbink about blacksmithing today? L. Jennings'; Well, ther' s not too much blacksndth ing of today, except the horseshoein'. Horseshoein's the biggest thing there is to blacksmithing. You take they, farmers all got tractors now, most)an they buy the plows for these tractors an so on , and they don't have them sbarpen, they just plow with 'em til they "lear 'em out an 'en ,uh, lots to thangs to breal, an have to weld it, they car'ry it to these 'ce:C IIJe....... hyear 'lectric welders an setteleen welders an gi t tha.ngs welded to break or anythang And used to wben tbey brol,e anythang that a way, you"d have to come an you'd hav~to ",eld that "Titb the far an put hit in your furnace an git bit bot an "reld bit, but they don't, lJit's much easier now tuh "Ield "lith these welders. H. Webb: Well, now lot of the blacksmiths, don't they just travel around now? L. ,Tenningsl Oh, yea they've got I em trucks an they got furnaces an everthang on "em an they just carry 'em aroun an tbey just drj,ve up to a place the'se e1Lel \ en they aln' t many of t;l;iem where they have to use, only on ~ U.s.! havs '1;8 ivalkj,ng horses, they've go to fix them shoes, b1g heavy shoes, and they gatta, tbey got to., make them H. Webb: Things have really changed haven't they? 1. Jennings: Yea, they have H. Webb: Well, any old, you have any old superstitions, any old things just among blaclcsmiths? L. Jennings: ah, now I don't think so much,eh, they's not nothing to be much superstitious about uh H. Webb I Like did you ever s :lng any songs vlhile you vlere blaclcsmithing or say anything? L. Jennings I ah, yea. H. vlebb: Well, tell me some of them? L. Jennings: (~~ lId be afraid to. H. Webb: No, that's what I want to hear. I,. Jennings: I've said some bad thangs, and I have sung an vlhistled back yonder an go on and then I have got on an OIl aggravatin' jobs that vlould make a feller' cuss. H. Webb: Well, that happens to all of us doesn"t it. Well, any songs you used to sing, I mean while you were blaclcsrDithing, I mean that just make you trlink of it? L. Jennings I Well, I don't lmow notld.n I in particular H. Webb: Well, think about it; see if you can. L. Jennings: I just wouldn't lmovi now, it"s been so long since I sung that I don !.t (laugh) H. Webb: Well you ever, I mean lH:e do you know a lot of other blacE:smiths around i.n here. Do you ever get togehter and tell stories or else ..... L. Jennings I Well, used to; there I s not any nm" much 1. I went ,~ I over hyear last summer an watched them snoe some of these vlallcin I ~ horses over hyear [easg from a feller from over about Canton. 'rhey IS not anybody that blacksn:iths:;around here anywher now; tbey I re all dead nOvl H. Webb: Well, when you used to, "ihen you "Iere younger, were there a lot around here? L. Jennings: Yea, the9/1 \'JaS a good many about then at all little purty good settlemints they was a blacksmiths shop. They wuz lots of 'em in the cotmtry, but they they H. \vebb I Well, you had your own shop, nobody else "JOrked "i:l th you? L. Jennings t Well, not whenever I first [3et in, 'couse I'd shod ,: I worked "iith another feller some in the shop, worlmd for him, you kno"" he just b:lred me to "lark for t~m. H. Webb I Well, ",hat all did he ever teach you',' Did he ever S '.ng anw>songs 01' a.nything . and you picked tbem up? L. Jennings: New, he never d:ld sing songs ... "le ..he ...Clyde Narl, he C!ladn It a tal1dn t feller/til you got started he I:d talk and he was funny Q, if you got him to talk, an I've worked "lith 'hm a half a day at ~ true an him not say a "lord.. I could break a.nythn~an he \:JUdn 't . (hes:ltate, not f:lnish) E. Webb: just not say antying ... L. Jennings: No. not say anythang. H. Webb: Well, do you tbin1, that's true of blac1\:srniths? Did you used to never talk or anything? Just concentrate on your "lor1\:'? L. Jennings: Nm:J,theyls some that'd uh just .. just tall\: right on, but (not finish) H. \vebb: Well, any special lill:e sayings like you do something at a ceruain time or you don't do something at a certain time about blac1\:smi th:lng? -10- Anything like that you learned Vlhen to do something and ",hen not to do .fiomething? Anything like that'? (He seemed to be thinking) b_ Jennings t Ne"" I don't thank so, I ",ould alvn.l.ys) if anybody brought anythang to me 11' I could fix it then I'd fix it, an :tf I couldn' il,. ~ I couldn't course you ,. they ,',adn "t .~ Vleb~ Vlell, you Vlorked lUm, you 'llOrked the year around, I ~ean is business the same year round? .b_Lenn.ll:lEll N8.,,', it uz more in the srJrang and summer an fall months. Through the winter months they's not much blacksmith:tng going on j.n the ........ H. Vlebb' Vlhy Not? roo Jennings: Vlell, they's nobody usin' their stocl< or their, they ''1 t1IM8~ didn't use thei.r 'llagons"so much. Vlell, bacl< yonder they did-haulin' up wood an tbeir crops an so on, but the main season of it is in the sprang an summer an the fall. H. Vlebb: Vlell, Vlhat did you do dUring/the ,vintertime to keep you busy? ~~__ Jennings: Cut Vlood, I'd farm a little along, all the t:lme. H. Viebb: Vlel1, you had to d 1dn 't you to make a 1iv1ng? ~~erminl?s: Yea, I'd farm a IHt1e all along, I'd.... it ain't been but just a fe", years that I just "lOrked straight. H. Webb: Ho", did you ever find t1.me to farm much? L. ,Tennings: Well, you take ",henever everbody else VlUZ 1.n the field', you kno'l', they Vludn't be Wlobody thar an you could git up an 'llOrk tn noon an then go an eat your d1nner, an then git up an sharpen to go back to the fielctfn then go bacl<. 'fhat' s way I got my rest at d:l.nner, sharpnin' plo\'ls. H. Webb: It \'Iorked out pretty good d :l.dn' tit? You could get your farm1ng done, too, plUS your blachsnlith:l.ng. L. Jennings: You take that right after dinner in the summertime in the hot of the day thata imy, I'd rather notta had it. H. Webb: Yea, I kno"r that gets awful hot doing that. I guess you: that I'S a hot job isn't it? r,. Jennings: Yea, it's an awful hot job. He. Webb: Especially in the summertime. Well, anything else you can think about L. Jennings: \lIe11 , I just .....never thought about, you lmoi,r, just tellin' it; I just . H. Vlebb: It's hard to thinl( about 50 years in 15 minutes. L. Jennings: It was just work,work, th*'s all it was to it. H. Webb: Well, you worked all the time. It IS lil(e having 2 jobs; well, you had 2 jobs, farming and blacksmithing. r,. Jemlings; Well, there was a fe"r years that I didn't farlJ1:I just worked at it straight but I don 't guess over ten years qf that time ~just blacksmithed straight. H. Webb: W.ell, "rhere was your blacksr~ith shop. You said this .... L. ..Tennings I Well, I run one in Cummin l ai'lhal and then . H. Viebb: Was it right in to"m or where? I, JemlingSI Yea. H. Webb I Was it very big? L. Jennings: Yea, hit iiuz a purty good sho,. it belonged to R. T. Otwell. flun it an then I worked in shops aroun I at other places'. " H. Webb: But did you ever own a shop of your ovm? L. Jennings: Yea, live I've had a little 011 shop all the time, o.rfeourse. I sold them out twict, an tried to quit H. Webb: Why did you try to quit'? years old an he coui!.d, he 'e~ and ~ out one day an he got L. Jennings: I just got tired of it in a vlay, and tried to quit, you lmovl, ~ they just lwep a comin' on bacl{ after you, you lmoVJ. 'Gll'- l vlould just go ahead an buy me some more , an so I've got an 01' tIIe,e~ set novl) ~ several's \Vanted to bUy "em, but I tol'e 'um no, I'd just lmep"em" that I'd tole James, my boy, he could have 'emlti~fe vlanted I em an he tallmd like he wanted I em ao I'll just let I em stDy hyear, I reclwn, as long as I liVe. H. Webb: Yea, after all this time, I'd keep them, too. Well, does your boy do any of it. Have you taught him? L. Jennings: Well, no, live not got a boy that COUld, that's' ever tried to shoe a mule or nothin I else, only ~ in thaI' an tinker aroun' , 1\ an.,.,., Our boy that got l{illed he could sharpen" plows an he could shoe an then he got ldlled \Vhen he uz 12 /1.1 could shoe a hoI'S had a horse up thaI' '(I\e ~. l-J, ~ om :in ~ lot11shoein I her \Vithout even a br:idle on H. ~Jebb: And he vias younger than tvlelve years old? L. Jenn:ingsl Yea, he vlould have maJm a blacksmith if he had lived, because he l:il{e it. He could sharpenll plo\'lS purty good. H. Webb: Do you thin]{ you have to like to really like something like that to really do it? L. Jennings: Oh, yea!:if you're not :interested in anything) ain't no use to start. H. Webbl Do you think it's more true of blacksmithing than other kinds of jobs? It has really got to be something you like to do. Well, you must have really IUmd it or you wouldn "t have taught yourself how to do :it. L. Jermings I Well, I ~ like it, I ,1 always liked 1. .,1 ahlays ]jilmd to tinker with things thata wayan stoc1{ an then ~I got started ,,-r ~~ ~ it) you can't quit. If you get started an people lil-;:es your work, they'll "keep comin ' on an that's the reason", you can't never qUit. E. Webb I Well, how young were you \'!hen you started? When you first got the i'daa, VlaS it \-lhen you were a little boy, did you ever think about it? L. J'ennings I Oh, about 17 year old I guess. H. Webb I 17 vlhen you L. Jennings I Yeas, I first started thinking about it? f#Jf) guess 17 or 18, I traded fer a little 0] thaI', I don't lmo\'l just how 01_.,.1. retired now are you? plug mule an hit needed shoein' an I shod hit .... I ... ]' I-las somewher beh-Ieen 18 an 19) some\-]her along H. Webbl Well, you're still not ~~E.mingsI Yea, ;just about. H. vlebbl Just about,yea, but I bet you if anybody came to you, you'd be ready wouldn't you? L. Jennings I No. I turned down \'lork, I turned dOVIn, I turned d Ft! a lot of it down the last years, lots of it. People call hyear wantin , shoein I, done, an an git plows sharpen' and firs tone thang an' ~ another. I've Dot sharpen' any ploVis no\-, :i.n 6 or 8 year, 'cause 1.. you stand over that heat and g:Lt you(plows hot enough to sharpen an then set in to beat lem out, I just couldn't stand" the heat at an. I ;just got to IIlher I couldnlt couldn't take_hit an 1. ...had to quit. H. Webb I Don't you think that 50 years is long enough? Thatls qUite' a. lifetime of it. It really is. You"re to be admired for thd1. H. Webb I OJmy, tell me how you learned, tell me again hov] you got started '? L. Jenllings I WeJn, I'd go along the road you kno\-] and I'd see tbe I learnt to ~ reckon"ever "':rtf,"~ I f.if tl1e little aI' carles drawrJ in pulled together ji1:!l'e palled '8rsgl'lt);rsr 11 til tl1ey looked lilm a lIlOman or somethin ,. or anotl1er 1Ilalldn' in high heel shoes, an I thought it 1I1as ba.d on 'em an I 1I1ent to shoein' an I spread 'em out an bx'oaden 'em out 1 ... 1 .just didn't like nar j heeled shoes that blacksmiths puttin' on an 1. ... N. Webb: So you thought you could do much better? L. Jennings: I thought I'd try my luck on that an see \rhat I could do. '1'ha t 's the way I got into it Idnda" Vlell, my daddy had a little (aI' set of tools an when Ids father died) but he got' em after his death an he didn't ever do nothin' \rith 'em an I'd piddle aroun' 1Ilith 'em after he got 'em and that's one reason you lmmr why 1IIork after be got the tools. B1:rtl he neveeI.' did, I don "t try to sharpen a plollr nor nothin l else. H. Vlebb: lJnlat did he do, just a farmer or what? L. J~ings I Farm.,,- straight farm~r H. Webb: Well, have you ahrays lived out here around in here in Matt community? I,. Jenningsl Yoa, I live now, I could nearly throllr a rock to uhere I lIras borned at. It's rirht up thaI'. (points) H. Webb: Oh, so you've always been around in here'l L. Jennings; Yea, this on place here DlY!great, great granddaddy's' oldfrarm hyear. This old house hyear is over a hundred years old. lin then there \'fas one} he lived out thaI' in-hit vruz one of the, they \'1UZ 2 frame hous os that 1IIas built through hyear an tb is is one of 'em. B. Webbl Vlell, you said you've got an old blacksmiths' shop out in back; did you build it yourself? L. Jennings I No, ul1 bit was just an 01. cbicken house where 1 JUS'll put the tools in. It"s not nuch of vh bou ..building used to blacksmith still little 01';,,1 built over at Matt an hit's still over H. Webb; Are any of the placed where you s tandin/now or are th ey any of them still L. Jennings'; 1 don It Immv where there is around? hardly or not Theyt s 'C1\frf ~. H. Webb: What I'S it being used for nOvl, do you Imovl? L.Jennings; Ah, jUs t a junk house I guess. The reason tbe intervievl ended so abruptly vIas tha t be bad run out of tbings to say. We went out to the shed in back, and be vias going to clang his hammer and start up the fire and let me tape that, but he didn I,t have anything to use for he didn It have any nevI shoes1 and it was cold so the tape ended here. Harriet Webb \ , hD P'" 'itl A'n" f e ..~..__ If==U , \ ~, r.ELEASE ~, By letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days--you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your community. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. 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