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THE MECHANICK’S ADVISER
March 11, 2022
Apothecary – The Apothecary Shop will be open Sunday through Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Armoury:
Blacksmith – Greetings! The work continues as ever in the Blacksmith Shop. The Apprentices,
Journeymen, and Master are all forging away on a variety of recent hardware orders. Alex continues work on
the plow parts, hinges, and broad hoes. Owen is working on finishing his rakes. Broadus is hard at work on
hinges, spoons, drawknives, and a bolt for the Wheelwrights. Aislinn is forging replacement parts for the lathe
at the Wheelwrights, as well, while continuing work on sliding bolt locks. Mark's work has included locks for
Cabinetmakers in addition to his pitsaw tiller. Last, but not least, Master Ken is filing away on a roasting fork
and an assortment of chisels. Spring is nearly here; and to put it mildly, our anticipation to leave this cold
weather behind is great, but whatever the season, all's well that falls well at the foot of the anvil.
The Blacksmith Shop will be open Daily.
Tinsmith – This week in the Tin Shop, Steve and Joel have both been working on porringers. The
Wheelwrights brought in a leaky gallon measure, of which Steve is making a replacement. Joel made a new
set of elbows for the pipe on the front forge at the Blacksmith. Jenny is working on chocolate pots, now that
one style of coffeepot is behind her, but she’s also been making tinkling cones of various sizes for the
American Indian Interpreters. Research continues: Joel is researching the enslaved workers of the Armoury
and searching through Joseph Plumb Martin’s narrative for useful references for military life and tinware.
Jenny is continuing research on Merchant records and imports for prices of tinware for her apprenticeship
research project, as well as researching women in business and trades for Women’s History Month
programming.
The Tin Shop will be open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Anthony Hay Shop:
Harpsichord-maker – We have been finishing up the case and interior moulding. Once that was
glued in, we laid out markers prepping for string layout and determined the position for the nut. We have
now glued the nut to the wrest plank. Sara has been making small pins on our grindstone. These will guide
the strings in position across the nut and bridge and anchor them to the hitch pin rail. Melanie is marking the
position of the tuning pins, so we can drill and fit those in the coming days. Master Ed has been busy learning
all the intricacies of Kronos and continuing his harpsichord-maker research. He, Sara, and Melanie have a
Hennage talk this week, so they have been preparing for that. Sara is performing several short selections. She
and Melanie have both been catching up on reading. Gender roles and 18th-century English harpsichord
music and makers being at the front of their study. Melanie continues to study painted soundboards and is
getting ready to lay out the baseboard for the spinet. Sara is also working with our Cabinetmakers (thank you,
guys!) to learn dovetail joinery as she makes a small walnut box. We are looking forward to working on the lid
soon and stringing the spinet. We are going to Collections this coming week to visit a few original
instruments - more on that next time.
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�Gluing the nut with Jeremy helping
Interior moulding
Sara and Jeremy oiling grindstone
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The Cabinetmaker and Harpsichord-maker Shop will be open Daily. On Wednesday, March 16th, 4:30pm in
the Hennage Auditorium, the Harpsichord-makers will present, “Meet a Spinet”. Join Edward Wright,
Melanie Belongia, and Sara Morrow as they introduce the most commonly owned keyboard musical
instrument in the 18th century: a spinet, a small form of harpsichord. Join us for music and pictures, what
goes into making them, and who owned them.
Brickmaker – This week saw the Brickmakers making a fateful return to the old Yard, where we cleared
out any excess odds and ends. Only a couple of loads rendered the Yard officially cleared, so now we can
divert our attentions to greener pastures. Speaking of pastures, the Brickmakers found themselves helping
out our friends at Coach and Livestock. This week, we became acquainted with the horses at Bypass Road,
and even visited our friend Tony (aka Windmill Point)! We didn't just stop by to say hello, while that was fun.
Our purpose was centered on the topic of paving. Just last year, the Brickmakers paved one of their stables,
which helped with drainage. So, we have returned to offer our services while we wait on the new Yard to be
finished. It has been quite an experience thus far, as we have encountered very curious horses as we work!
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�Beginning this week, the Brickyard will once again be an advertised Trade site. The Brickyard will be open
Sunday through Thursday, weather permitting, at their new location beside the Carpenter’s Yard.
Carpenter – The Carpenters have a few projects in the Yard right now. We have started to assemble a frame that
was cut by the Virginia Military Institute. It is a copy of the North Store House at the Public Armoury. That frame is for
the new Farm site. There are some alterations that will be made to the frame before we complete it.
We continue to hew a large pine to create some more framing for the Brickyard drying house, which should be the next
large frame that we focus on in the coming weeks and months.
We are also processing clapboards out of an oak tree that was cut down by the Capitol. The oak doesn’t seem to be
yielding what we had hoped, but a few dozen more clapboards on the done pile is never a bad thing.
As far as research, the crew is researching enslaved trades people, inventories of woodworking trades people of the
area, and timber framing processes and terminology.
The Carpenter’s Yard will be open Tuesday through Saturday, weather permitting.
Colonial Garden – This past week brought the first glimpses of much warmer weather to the Historic
Garden site, and the Gardeners have been in a frenzy to prune as many plants as possible before the budding
leaves and flowers open. The pile of horse manure we collected last week is heating considerably faster than
the first one. It went from 62 degrees on the day we brought it to the Garden to a steamy 140 degrees
Fahrenheit in just four days! Many of the seeds we sowed into the first hot bed last week are germinating;
and soon, we will be turning soil and readying beds to plant potatoes, onions, and radishes. With warmer
weather and longer hours of daylight, vegetables such as cabbage that overwintered in the Garden are
beginning to mature. New flowers in bloom in the Historic Garden this week include greengage plum (Prunus
domestica), Iris reticulata, snake's-head iris (Iris tuberosa), Roman blue hyacinth (Hyacinthis orientalis),
candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), and grand primo daffodil (Narcissus tazetta).
Newly germinated seedlings in the hot bed
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
A head of green cabbage, almost ready
to harvest
Volume 8, Issue 9
�Espaliered greengage plum flowering at the Historic Garden
Grand primo daffodils blooming
in the Historic Garden
The Colonial Garden will be open Daily, weather permitting.
Cooper – We have spent most of the winter months making smaller domestic items like buckets and piggins. In
addition to that work, we now find ourselves in the process of hiring a new Apprentice, so that is occupying a good bit of
our time off the Shop floor. I have been researching property values in Williamsburg in the 1780s in an attempt to make
better sense of the relative value of the lot owned by Adam Waterford, who was the Cooper here in town. Harry has
been working through A Treatise on Cooperage, that was originally published in 1910, to learn about changes in the
trade from the 18th century through to the early 20th century.
The Cooper Shop is open Tuesday, Wednesday (will close at 3:15pm), Friday, and Saturday.
Engraver – William has completed an order for letter charms from our Silversmiths, and this week will be
working on several large trade silver otters, crosses, and snakes. He has also been working on a plate for
lettering practice and preparing copper for a printing plate. On our Research Days, he has been continuing our
timeline for the Geddy family and property. He has been working on photoshopping several drawings of the
Geddy site together to try and gain a better picture of the property and the archeology that has been done
here in the past.
Erica has been dedicated to her internship with us. I am impressed with her questions and inquiries
into technique. This week, she is beginning her basic cutting skills in copper and pewter sheet metal, working
with a square graver and flat bottom tools for beginning wriggling skills. Her monograms are coming along,
and she will continue in her practice in this when she returns Friday.
The Shop was asked to complete gifts for the dedication of the Benjamin Spraggins carriage
presentation. I was pleased to engrave ten Geddy Foundry pewter plates made by Drew and Leanne. They
did a wonderful job on casting and hand-finishing them. I engraved Mr. Spraggins’s cypher on each one with
the presentation date. I also had the opportunity to engrave a presentation bronze plaque prepared by Mike
in the Foundry. This was given in dedication to the family. It is a sincere pleasure when we are asked to take
part in the important milestones of the Foundation.
I am working on a 2nd set of silver reproduction dog buttons. (They are on the blue hunting coat the Tailors
have.) Also, I am trying to complete a project I started a long time ago. It is a sterling silver tea box. Sterling
silver wedding rings have been completed for the Silversmiths, and I am working on a few more ornate Shop
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�examples to show our Guests. In the way of research, I am still looking into the Geddy family and women
watchmakers.
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The Engraving Shop will be open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Foodways – The Foodways Staff will be at the Palace Kitchen Sunday, Monday, and Thursday through
Saturday.
Foundry – The Foundry will be open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Gunsmith – This week at the Gunsmith Shop has been busy, both with a high volume of Guests, which is
great, and projects. Richard forged a number of parts for the patchbox mechanism on the rifle, a push rod, a
catch spring, and a lid kick spring forged and filed. Below are the photos of the patchbox release mechanism
from Richard Frazier's rifle that sits on our bench for people to handle.
Darrin is putting the finishing touches on the steel springs; then, they will be hardened and tempered, and the
lock components case hardened. Brad is pre-shaping iron bars, which we do a lot of for lock components. He
is forging cocks and steels of "frizzens" (in modern terms). Study material has been the Journals of Historical
Arms Making Technology series, Gunsmiths in Colonial Virginia, and Moravian Gunmakers.
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The Gunsmith Shop will be open Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Historic Farming – Farmer Ed has been preparing for the forthcoming Apprentice by refining the
apprenticeship skills program and the knowledge component. Historic Farming requires the skills to farm the
18th-century way, and staff need to understand the social and economic factors that affect this. Inevitably,
though, we are people (Tradesmen) talking with people (Guests) about people (18th-century folk). Farmers,
both free and enslaved, were about 90% of the population. Historic Farmers must fully understand the people
that did (or watched) this work from the very bottom to the very top to fully interpret agriculture to our
Guests. I’ve been reviewing the readings and compiling a list for the five levels. After the apprenticeship, a
Journeyman will be ready to talk about a wide variety of related subjects with confidence.
Prentis Field will be open Tuesday through Saturday, weather permitting.
Joinery – The Joinery will be open Tuesday through Saturday.
Milliner and Mantua-maker – It's been a busy couple of weeks at the Millinery as we put together the
finishing touches on the wardrobes for three Hennage programs that premiered last Friday, Saturday, and
Monday. Janea and Kate diligently and determinedly worked their fingers to a frenzy to finish up the new
1792 jacket, petticoat, and turban ensemble for Zakiyyah to wear as "Charlotte" in "A Determined Spirit,"
which premiered on Friday afternoon. She looked beautiful in the finished product and quite out-fashioned
Mrs. Washington - just as the real Charlotte seems to have done! Zakiyyah, Hope, and Rebecca also reprised
"She Had On When She Went Away" the following afternoon. The two stories shared will alternate each week
throughout the month, so if you've seen the program once, be sure to go again so you don't miss anything!
With all our clothes for Monday's fashion show/lecture finally out of the freezer, Rebecca took on the
task of restoring them all to their pre-crushed and chilled glory (aka hours and endless hours of ironing and
steaming!). She also finished up Edith's green linen gown and the trim on a 1774 pink silk short cloak. Rachel,
our Intern, trimmed Edith's hat and assisted Janea with the assembly of a new cap. Everything was finished by
closing time on Sunday, which left Monday for rehearsal time before the fashion show premiered that
afternoon. We'd like to say thank you again to all our models for so generously offering their time and
enthusiasm, and to their supervisors for letting us borrow them!
Tuesday's Trades livestream featured our Shop in conversation with the Apothecaries about the
intersections between dress, health, and
medicine. Janea and Robin discussed everything
from stays to pudding caps to strait jackets to
riding habits, accompanied by models
demonstrating the use of these utilitarian
items. And speaking of livestreams...we're also in
the process of working on outfits to costume a
couple of young "apprentices" who will be
appearing in an upcoming program on women in
trades.
Now it's on to preparations for our
upcoming Family and Beginner Workshops, as
well as getting the Shop ready for its
maintenance closure in a couple of weeks.
The Milliner will be open Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday. On Monday, March 14th, at 4:00pm in the
Hennage Auditorium, the Milliners will present “Re-animating 18th-century Fashion.” Through study and
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�making, we bring 18th-century pictures to three-dimensional reality, give replicas of extant garments
movement and sound, and realize clothing from 18th-century descriptions. This illustrated talk (fashion
show) explores how we recapture 18th-century life and work with clothing.
Musket Range – The Musket Range is welcoming its second Supervisor since its creation, Seth
Herbert. Please join us in congratulating him on his new role! Seth is taking over for Justin Chapman, who has
recently taken on increased management duties in the Department of Historic Trades and Skills.
We have also recently welcomed the staff of Ticketing Operations to try out the Range so that they
have a clearer picture of just how everything works and what the experience is like as we head into our
6th year. The Musket Range is currently open 5 days per week, with up to 4 tickets per session. We currently
welcome guests ages 14 and up, as long as those 14-to 17-year-olds joining us are accompanied by a parent or
legal guardian. We will be re-evaluating our ticket inventory and transportation policy as standards change in
the future.
Printer and Bookbinder:
Printing Office – The Printing Office will be open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
Bindery – Good day from the Bookbindery at Colonial Williamsburg.
Assistant Professor Sarah E. McCartney, Ph.D., recently brought NIAHD's Field School in Material Culture, to
the Bookbindery! We are always honored and excited to be included as guest speakers for this program, year
after year. For those of you who do not know what NIAHD stands for, it is William and Mary’s National
Institute of American History and Democracy, with whom Colonial Williamsburg has a working relationship.
Professor McCartney kindly asked us for reading suggestions prior, and we based our suggestions on
pamphlets and books that have a connection to our Shop in some way. If you wish to peruse our suggestions,
the list is as follows:
Richards, Jeffrey H. “Samuel Davies and the Transatlantic Campaign for Slave Literacy in Virginia.” The Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 111, no. 4, Virginia Historical Society, 2003, pp. 333–78,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4250141.
Doolen, Andy. “Reading and Writing Terror: The New York Conspiracy Trials of 1741.” American Literary
History, vol. 16, no. 3, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 377–406, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3568057.
BOND, RICHARD E. “Shaping a Conspiracy: Black Testimony in the 1741 New York Plot.” Early American
Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007, pp. 63–94,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23546545.
"A Virginia Gentleman's Library: As Proposed by Thomas Jefferson to Robert Skipwith in 1771.”
https://s3.amazonaws.com/omekanet/45914/archive/files/6ec47a672f4fdeec9e4bce27b4f09589.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI3ATG3OSQLO5HGK
A&Expires=1646265600&Signature=NZ8RIqkLlsXENsa%2FDMROi0z55x8%3D
Best,
Dale Dippre, Donald Mason, and Barbara Swanson
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The Bookbindery will be open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
Public Leather Works – The Public Leather Works will be open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and
Thursday.
Shoemaker – The Shoemakers will be at the Armoury Monday, and Thursday through Saturday.
Silversmith – The Silversmiths are continuing their work on a wide range of projects. Megan is still
hammering away at her silver and copper ingots. The Blacksmiths have been very welcoming and have been
giving her valuable information on forging as she works on her copper ingot at their forge. She will also be
learning how to make a replacement handle for her hammer, as she apparently got a bit stronger and cracked
hers while working. Preston continues working on his mountain of chased bowls; George continues work on
seamed cups and rings, as well as researching New England silversmiths. He has found a very interesting story
about Colonel John Dixwell, a man wanted for the regicide of King Charles I. He changed his name and
successfully fled to Connecticut, where he started a new life and had a son that became a silversmith. Bobbie
has been filing pewter patterns for tray feet. The Foundry will be given these feet to use as models for casting
silver versions at a future date. Chris has finished the silver meat skewer and has been very busy working on
the teapot, researching enslaved silversmiths, and giving the “Women at Work!” Tour on Thursdays this
month.
Chris’s finished meat skewer
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The Silversmith Shop will be open Tuesday through Saturday.
Tailor – The Tailor Shop will be open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing – The bustle of activity continues! A small sample of the elastic
cord fabric was cut from the loom, with the hope that the different weave structures that give it a striped
appearance on the loom would shrink differently to resemble corduroy once washed. When it looked the
same before and after, we dove into research and decided that another sample was in order, this time using a
smaller linen, then wool, then cotton. In bed rug news, Joe was more than halfway into the first 45-inch-long
bed rug by the end of our last work week, which is no mean feat given every half to quarter inch contains 45
knots! By the time you read this, Annie will have likely started on their first bed rug; the two will alternate
projects until both have made four rugs in various patterns. Even though it will be the same type of project on
the loom for a while, the changing patterns will guarantee that there is still something new to see with every
visit!
The Weaving Shop will be open on Sunday through Wednesday, and Saturday.
Wheelwright – The weather held out for a few days, allowing the
Deane Shop to make significant headway on production this week. The
tires have been reinstalled on the wheels for the Randolph Carriage as of
Sunday morning, marking Apprentice Murphy’s first foray into the
practice, and the first tire installation of 2022. Master Paul dressed the
singed portions of paint off the wheels with drawknife and smoothing
plane, and then hammered the bushings into their respective hubs. Under
the watchful eye of Paul, Murphy and Apprentice Joel mixed linseed oil
and pigment to make paint. This paint was made using a French yellow
ochre pigment. It is going to be used on two of Joel’s projects: his nearly
completed Garden wheelbarrow repair and his already finished hay cart
body. Not to be outdone on Joel’s nearly completed repair, Murphy
finished his mallets for Masonry Trades. He is currently repairing the foot
treadle to the Shop’s lathe, which had to be taken off to move it to the
upper half of the Deane.
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The picture above is of the tire heating in the fire, along with one of the pair of Randolph Wheels.
Murphy preparing to mix Linseed oil and Yellow Ochre pigment together on a marble slab
The completed mallets for the Brickmakers!
The Randolph Carriage wheels, tires on, boxes in the hub, and ready for Coach and Livestock
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�The Wheelwright Shop will be open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Wigmaker – On Thursday, the Wigmakers will begin a new program in which Edith will dress the hair of one
or two of the Military Programs staff while interpreting on the floor. This will be a 45-minute to 1-hour
program, conducted every Thursday morning 9:00-10:00am. This will be unadvertised. If the program is
successful, then the plan is to advertise it in the Fall.
The Wig Shop will be open on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The Mechanick’s Adviser is a publication of the Colonial Williamsburg Department of Historic Trades & Skills.
Editor: Shari Monaco
Contributors: Armoury – Owen Kelsey (Blacksmith) and Jenny Lynn (Tinsmith), Brickmaker – Madeleine
Bolton, Anthony Hay Shop – Melanie Belongia (Harpsichord-maker), Carpenter – Matt Sanbury, Colonial
Garden – Teal Brooks, Cooper – Jon Hallman, Engraver – Lynn Zelesnikar, Gunsmith – Darrin McDonal, Historic
Farming – Ed Schultz, Milliner and Mantua-maker – Rebecca Godzik, Musket Range – Justin Chapman, Printer
and Bookbinder – Barbara Swanson (Bindery), Silversmith – Megan Cantwell, Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing –
Cassandra Buss, Wheelwright – Joel Morris
Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Volume 8, Issue 9
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Mechanick's Adviser
Description
An account of the resource
The Mechanick’s Adviser is a weekly newsletter produced by the Colonial Williamsburg Department of Historic Trades and Skills beginning in September 2015 and continuing to the present. The word “mechanick” is an alternative spelling of “mechanic” and is used here in the more archaic sense meaning a skilled tradesperson or artisan. Some weeks the newsletter was not produced and there is a significant months-long gap in the 2020 newsletters reflecting the pandemic-related limitations and closures of the department. The newsletter relates employee news and the current work projects and research of the various trades’ shops belonging to the department as well as other groups described as “skills” including military, music, and dance programs.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Mechanick's Adviser. Volume 8, number 9, March 11, 2022
Creator
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Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Department of Historic Trades and Skills
Publisher
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Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Date
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2022-03-11