By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

ROCHESTER, Ind. — Fred Oden has many titles – teacher, blacksmith, forge master, the man who keeps it all running – but he’s hard-pressed to say exactly which he likes best.

A blacksmith for 48 years, he teaches his art the second Saturday of every month at the Fulton County Historical Society (FCHS), where a blacksmith shop built by members of the Indiana Blacksmithing Assoc., Rural Smiths of America and Artist Blacksmiths of North America offers visitors a surprise – a lean-to addition housing three forge stations for students to learn the craft that dates to the founding of iron.

“Back in the 1920s, the blacksmith shop was the hub of every community,” Oden said. “Everyone depended on him to get things repaired and made – wagon wheels, plows, pots and pans. A blacksmith could repair about any item. It wasn’t a throwaway society like we have now.”

With his classes at FCHS, plus the training he’s giving to 51 Kosciusko County 4-H Club members, he hopes to see those numbers continue to swell even though he blames himself and fellow blacksmiths for the decline.

“Blacksmiths kept inventing machines to make work easier,” he said. “We ended up putting ourselves out of business.”
Still, he’s encouraged by its recent revival.

“Back in 1988, I was the 53rd person registered with the Indiana Blacksmiths,” he said. “By 2000, there were over 400.”

Oden learned his trade from Forest Sutton, a longtime resident of nearby Tiosa, Ind., and takes pride in owning an anvil, a hammer and a lathe that belonged to his mentor. The FCHS shop, dedicated in 1997 as the Sutton-Terock Memorial Blacksmith Shop, is a memorial to both Sutton and Howard Terock of Gary, who donated most of the equipment in the shop.

Tim Pearson, a student of Oden’s for the past 10 years, said, “I don’t know many who come here who don’t go home with something. He’s good.”

Pearson installed the lighting (gas lanterns wired for electricity that look authentic without posing a fire hazard) in the blacksmith school and was on hand during the recent Redbud Rendezvous to guide observers through the hot job of smithing.

“I’m like Fred,” he said. “I do it so others can learn.”

Oden remembers when he used to make and grind plowshares for area farmers. “All that has changed a lot,” he said, “but I still can do it.”

While his blacksmithing skills are utilized mostly in the classroom these days, Oden said he’s ready to go wherever people want to talk and learn. And if he can’t do that, he’s content to work on other projects.

For instance, when he was sidelined after a heart attack, he spent his recovery time writing a history of Tiosa, a village in northern Fulton County. One of the objects he cherishes is a chunk of iron ore mined from the county.

“We had the raw materials right here,” he said.

While he takes his blacksmith work seriously, he has a twinkle in his eye when he tells visitors, “They always told me blacksmiths were old and cantankerous - and I’ve been practicing.”