Industry
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Constructed by James Madison Sr.'s father in the 1760s, the blacksmith shop helped expand Montpelier's income beyond tobacco. An enslaved blacksmith named Moses supervised the shop and its African American workers as they heated iron bars over roaring furnaces until they glowed red, then hammered and bent the softened metal into nails, horseshoes, hoes, and plows needed by rural Virginians. Sales of these goods brought handsome profits, and Moses' skill was recognized in James Madison Sr.'s 1787 will. Although Madison later dismantled the smithy to create a pastoral setting for his Temple, Moses remained at Montpelier until his death.
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Virginia · United States
