Brown’s Blacksmith Shop

Henderson Blacksmith, 60, Running Shop Founded by Grandfather in ‘66

By CHARLES H. DAVIS

A white hot plow point is placed at a precise angle on an anvil in a little blacksmith shop on 1st St.
A massive arm wielding a heavy hammer smashes a strong blow against the metal, sending a pealing ring reverberating through the building.
This description could have been written 1866 when a newly-freed slave named Mike Brown founded Brown’s Blacksmith Shop.
But it still fits the activities of Sneed Brown, whose third generation operation of the shop makes it what he terms “the oldest business still under the same name” in Henderson.
Repair Work Only
There would be a differerce in the ending of the description, however. When Mike Brown finished what was then called a plow shaft, he had produced a new one, shaped by heat and his own hands. Sneed Brown only repairs them. “They’re mass-produced now.” he points out.
Making plow points and shoeing of horses constituted a large part of the shop’s business in his grandfather’s day, Brown says.
Now this type of business is incidental. “I still shoe a few horses,” he relates, “if they’re gentle. I don’t fool with any mean ones!” Brown’s principal business now is sharpening lawn mowers and metal repair work. “In a way, it’s not a blacksmith shop anymore – just a general fix it shop,” he says with a tinge of sadness.
A Wedding Present
A history of the shop, as outlined by its present operator, is interesting. “My grandfather came here from the upper part of the state. He was born a slave. When the daughter of the people who owned him got married, they gave him to her as a wedding present. She was very fond of him of him.
“The daughter and her husband – he was the first mayor of Henderson – moved to Henderson. She let him go out and work on his own, and keep the money he made.
Out of Slavery
“He saved up $1,000 and bought my grandmother out of slavery. In 1866, after he was freed, he bought the blacksmith shop.
“He worked in it until he went blind, and then it went to his son, my father, Edward Hall Brown.
“My father worked in the shop for 68 years, including the time he worked before grandfather went blind. He (Edward Hall Brown) died at 85.
Sneed started working in the shop when he was 13 years old. He’s 60 now.
New Equipment
During the time he has worked in the shop, a considerable amount of new equipment has been added. This includes an electric blower, electric drill, emory wheel and a machine for sharpening lawn mowers.
He recalls that when he first started working in the shop, it was equipped with a manually operated bellows.
“One of my first jobs was turning the wheel,” he recalls, and chuckles:
“I’d just start running around some, and sometimes I’d come to work pretty sleepy. The first thing you’d know. I’d be nodding over the wheel. My father would say, ‘Blow it up, blow it up, blow it up!’”
Lucky Bonus
Sneed married in 1931, during the lean years of the depression. How did he afford it? “I was in the Army in World War I, and we got our bonus that year,” he says.
His wife, the former Ollie Bell Gray, a native of Henderson County is as well known a figure in Henderson as is her husband. She has run the Ohio Valley Bank building elevator for 34 years. The couple has no children.
Brown says he’s planning a state of about half-retirement when he’s 65. “I thought I’d fix me up a little shop at my home (536 S. Green St.) and do a little work now and then, he says.
“But you know how plans are. My father was always going to retire. retire… he ended up right here!”

Evansville Courier and Press – June 19, 1955

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