36 A Bridge To The Past 
     
    
   
   
    
     A story entitled, “This was Marble Mountain” in a recent issue of 
     
     Cape Breton’s Magazine, tells about the rather exacting work of splitting 
     
     and removing the slabs of marble from the mountainside and cutting and 
     
     polishing them in the marble mill. 
     
    
   
   
    
     About this time lime was being shipped from this area of Nova Scotia 
     
     to Prince Edward Island so it is quite likely that each boatload would in- 
     
     clude a few marble slabs for Mr. Hale. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mr. Hale died when only thirty-five years of age and after his death 
     
     the marble works of Wilmot Valley closed. 
     
    
   
   
    
     BLACKSMITH 
     
    
   
   
    
     The days of early settlement in the Valley were times of 
     
     resourcefulness and ingenuity and nearly every farm had a small workshop. 
     
     The family member who showed the greater skill in turning his hand to 
     
     repair anything from a worn work boot to a broken plow handle was en- 
     
     couraged to practice his trade. A few of these tradesmen, such as the 
     
     blacksmith, shoemaker, tailor and tinsmith, set up shops to work for the 
     
     public but the greater majority used their skills at home or shared them with 
     
     their neighbors. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The early farm machinery was made mostly of wood and any broken 
     
     parts could be replaced. With the coming of the iron and steel machines the 
     
     local blacksmith with a shop and good equipment was the “man of the 
     
     hour” when serious breakdowns occurred. 
     
    
   
   
    
     One such man who served the people of Wilmot Valley and surroun- 
     
     ding areas in the mid 1800’s was Mr. Joseph Rogers, whose shop was near 
     
     the western end of the Taylor Road. A brief look at his Day Book shows 
     
     that the changing seasons brought variety in the requirements of his 
     
     customers. On October 4, 1860 he made a “new shear for Charles Clark” 
     
     (probably to speed up the completion of the fall plowing); On December 10, 
     
     1862 he “mounted a woodsleigh for Stephen Huestis” (a new strong sleigh 
     
     was needed for hauling loads of mussel mud in winter time); In May, 1863 
     
     he “sharpened harrow teeth for Thomas Murray”. (The wooden frame 
     
     could be made at home and the newly sharpened teeth hammered into 
     
     place), and in midsummer in 1862 he was busy “hooping wheels for Richard 
     
     Clark and James Waugh” (the wagon wheels would dry out in summer and 
     
     the wooden spokes become loose. The hoops or rims would have to be 
     
     repaired or replaced). 
     
    
   
   
    
     Other blacksmiths who kept an open door throughout the years to all 
     
     who needed their services, were: Jabez Pridham, Joseph Barwise, Peter 
     
     Allan Connors, Thomas and Hartwell Condon. These skilled workmen