Herman Canfield Log Cabin and Reighard Blacksmith Shop

These two buildings are snapshots into the past of everyday life in Fulton County. The Herman Canfield historic log cabin was built in 1838 in Chesterfield Township, located within Fulton County, Ohio. It maintained residents in one form of living or another from that date until 1976. Reighard's Blacksmith Shop was built in 1861 and located in Delta, Ohio. A continuously working forge for over 100 years the smithy remains active to this day, and hosts a number tools and other artifacts. Both were dismantled and moved in 1981 and 1972 respectively, to the Fulton County Fairgrounds in the care of the Fulton County Historical Society.

The Herman Canfield Cabin is linked to the foundation of Chesterfield Township, with Canfield's father, Titus, purchasing the land in 1837 and Chesterfield being formed officially on June 4th of the same year. Canfield's cabin is emblematic of many of the early pioneer buildings in the area, built out of available materials and with self-sufficient yet short-term mindset. The area at this time was still largely populated by Native Americans, many whom ended up being removed by the federal government with assistance from early settlers who had learned the local language. This ultimately allowed for more white migration into the area and for the cabins to begin transforming into more permanent abodes.

The arrival of Canfield's wife, Amanda, led to improvements to the interior including plastered walls, an iron cook stove, and a wooden clapboard addition in the rear of the home. The Canfield's lived in the cabin and engaged in subsistence farming until 1859, when they departed the township and sold the home to John and Lovina Butler, two long term residents of the area and the son-in-law and daughter of the township's namesake: Chesterfield Clemmons. The Butlers expanded the property, opened a wood-products mill, and raised their 8 children within the cabin before their property ended up in the hands of James and Lydia Breese-Deyo in 1893. The Breese-Deyo's farmed and broke horses for a living, maintaining the property until their deaths in 1931. From here, the cabin passed hands once again this time to Clarence E. Root whom made several substantial upgrades to the cabin during the inter-war and World War 2 period (1930's and 1940's) including the installation of several electric lamps and a new roof to aid with dealing with ever inclement Northwestern Ohio weather.

The final owner of the cabin was Emmett LaSalle who lived on the property from 1954 to 1976. The cabin during this time, despite the lamps and upgraded roof, did not have electricity or running water. In 1984, the cabin was acquired by the Fulton County Historical Society and moved, with permission, to the Fulton County fairgrounds where it sits today. Several restorative and corrective additions were made including replacing the roof and the fireplace in order to make the move possible and successful.

The Reighard Blacksmith shop was built in 1865, one of three Blacksmith shops owned and operated in Delta, Ohio. Initially the shop was owned by both Chas C. Crile and Henry H. Reighard. However, after a fire swept the village in 1892, Reighard moved the location of the shop and reopened it without Crile. Eventually, Reighard's became the sole smithery in Delta, with Henry's son Raphael taking over the business after the retirement of his father. Raphael performed a number functions within the community, including sharpening plowshares, lawn mower blades, hay sickles, garden hoes, shovels, tongs, spikes and nippers. His most important service however was shoeing horses; as rural mail carriers, farmers, and most other trades at this time heavily relied upon equine labor.

Raphael passed away in 1965 and his wife, Ethel donated the building in 1970 to the Fulton County Historical Society. The FCHS moved the building to the Fulton County fairgrounds, with support from the Wauseon High School FFA, restoring it in 1971 and opening it to the public in 1972. Also moved along with the building were a number of tools, an iron, and other equipment needed to maintain the shop's status as a working forge. Sandy Bruno and Paul Esterline, both former apprentices under Raphael Reighard at the smith, further restored the building in the 1990's and serve in keeping the forge and its traditions alive.

Reighard, Frank H. . A Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio. Volume 1. Chicago, Illinois . Lewis Publishing Company, 1920.

Swearingen, John. A History of the Reighard Blacksmith Shop, FCHS Archives. June 7th 2010. Accessed July 24th 2021.

Swearingen, John. A History of the Canfield Log Cabin, FCHS Archives. July 20th 2010. Accessed July 24th 2021.