The Burning of Kingston is a tragic tale, but it's also a fascinating window into what life for colonists was like in 1777. Devoid of major battles or strategic tipping points, the Burning of Kingston was essentially collateral war damage. But its story is representative of how wanton destruction, burning, loss of property, loss of life, displacement and separation of families without foreknowledge of what may come next can impact average people. Simple things like finding food and clothing, shelter and safety were paramount. Simply put – it was scary, especially since they didn’t know how far the British would go to destroy or kill on that dreadful Oct. 16, 1777 fall day.

Among the many things for many that were destroyed and disrupted due to the Burning of Kingston was the means to make a living. In addition to all the homes being burned down, many small businesses, shops, farms, granaries and trade operations were destroyed as well. Unlike today, most business owners didn’t have insurance or loans from the SBA or help from FEMA to help pick up the pieces – it devastated each business – at least to start.

Being a business owner in colonial America meant blending home and workplace, operating on scarce hard currency and relying heavily on credit and personal networks. There were merchants – importers and shopkeepers (such as general store owners) who managed complex supply chains from Kingston to New York City and London. There were large farm and plantation owners. And there were the artisans and craftsmen, including blacksmiths, cobblers, coopers (barrel makers), printers and housewrights (carpenters). They made up about 10-18 percent of the colonial workforce. From my conversation with re-enactors and additional research, I learned that blacksmiths at the time made a pretty good living. Unlike many other types of trades of the time, the blacksmith’s family plot of land was relatively small since their primary income was from their very in-demand services.

Most blacksmiths worked alone or with a handful of helpers. Blacksmith shops (smithies) were intentionally built with tiny windows and poor lighting. This was by design as the smith needed a dark room to accurately judge the temperature of the hot metal by its glowing color. While modern people often equate blacksmiths with horseshoes (the specialized work of a farrier), colonial smiths made almost everything. They forged house hardware (nails, hinges, locks), kitchenware (pots, pans, ladles), farming implements (plowshares, axes, hoes) and defense items (weapons, gun components). The smithy’s work was invaluable to a community like Kingston in 1777.

A blacksmith doesn’t mine for the ore and melt it – that’s done by smelters and foundries. Those raw, wrought iron bars had to be imported. Those used by Kingston blacksmiths were mostly transported from the Ramapo Mountain furnaces in northern Jersey, carried up by horse and wagon – a trip that usually took from three to six days. The iron could not easily be moved long distances by basic pack horses. Instead, teams depended on specialized routes. Heavy wagons or ox-drawn sleds would travel north through the strategic Ramapo Clove, navigating primitive colonial highways — primarily following what is roughly modern-day Route 17 up to Newburgh, and then utilizing early versions of Route 9W or the Old Kings Highway north to Kingston. Because heavy iron bars were used extensively during the Revolutionary period, metal was exceptionally precious and expensive.

How expensive was it to buy some metal work from a blacksmith in 1777? As an example, to purchase a standard hammer cost an average worker anywhere from half a day to a full day's wages in colonial times. As such, a colonial blacksmith spent roughly 75 percent of their time repairing old, broken tools rather than forging new ones. Scrap metal was never thrown away; it was meticulously saved, melted down and recycled.

Because the blacksmith's forge was always hot and central to the town's survival, the smithy naturally evolved into a social crossroads. While waiting for a tool to be mended, farmers, merchants and travelers would linger in the shop. It became the default gathering place to exchange local gossip, debate politics and share news. I learned that there were likely around 10 or so blacksmiths in the Kingston-Ulster area in 1777.

A typical workday for a blacksmith lasted 12 hours, spent entirely on one's feet next to a roaring charcoal forge that reached temperatures upwards of 2,800 degrees. The shop was an incredibly loud, smoky environment filled with the persistent whoosh of the bellows, the clang of heavy sledges on iron, and the sudden hiss of hot metal being quenched in a water barrel. Blacksmiths often endured severe burns, respiratory illnesses, vision loss and devastating repetitive strain injuries.

Running a forge alone was nearly impossible. Blacksmith masters relied heavily on young apprentices (sometimes starting as young as 8 to 14 years old). An apprentice spent their first few years doing the dirtiest, most menial work: sweeping the razor-sharp scrap metal off the floors, pulling the heavy bellows to feed oxygen to the fire and hauling coal. The trade was physically demanding but racially diverse. Colonial blacksmiths included white citizens, indentured servants, free black men and enslaved laborers. Enslaved blacksmiths were highly valued for their specialized, technical expertise; some were able to work extra hours to eventually earn enough wages to purchase their own freedom. Also, women worked as blacksmiths during the colonial and Revolutionary War era as well. Though rare, there were indeed female blacksmiths, including some of renown like Elizabeth Hager of Boston, known as “Handy Betsy” or “Betsy the Blacksmith.”

Having echoes of today’s trade disputes and tariffs, in the leadup to the American Revolution, the British passed the Iron Act of 1750 – a law designed to limit colonial manufacturing and keep the American colonies dependent on British finished goods. It outlawed the new construction of steel-making furnaces, slitting and rolling mills and tilt-hammer plating forges – with stiff penalties if violated. This British policy did successfully stymie the rise of a major domestic hardware, tool and finished-metal industry in America, but colonists frequently ignored the law. Dozens of illegal slitting mills, forges and steel furnaces were built in open violation of Parliament. The result of these restrictions angered colonial merchants, ironmakers and landowners and fed a growing sense of economic injustice and "taxation/control without representation" – a belief that eventually helped spark the American Revolution.

This weekend, you can learn more about blacksmiths, housewrights, cobblers and other types of trades and businesses, as well as the many facets of life and times of 1777 in Kingston at the Burning of Kingston. For details and schedule, visit www.burningofkingston.com

Disclosure: Raleigh Green is a part of the Burning of Kingston organizing committee.