Teresa I live in the area & not aware of any schools around here. The majority of time trades such as this where done on the job. Example: A father passed away and the mother didn't have means to care for her children. The courts ordered the children to be placed into different homes, this helped another family out who needed workers. In other cases families where large & families where poor, other families would take children in to work the farms and etc. In these homes they learned a variety of skills. The boys may learn blacksmithing, coopering, farming & etc. Girls learned housekeeping skills & etc. My neighbor passed away about 10 yrs. ago in her 90's. Granny was a wonderful woman and told me how mountain life was throughout her lifetime. Granny's husband was an only child and they had 1 daughter and a very large farm [over 300 acres] with a mill. Granny would take in a couple of girls at a time. They lived in her home, she fed & clothed them, in return they worked around the farm & in the home. She's teach them to cook, sew, preserve food, raise a garden, feed animals & etc. They would hire men &! boys to bring in the hay & work the mill, the girls helped cook the meals [the hired help where always fed a very good hot meal, sometimes 2 or 3 meals] to feed the hired men. Some families took in boys & they worked the farms and learn the skills needed to care for a family. Most likely your John learned his trade in VA and brought his skills to TN when he migrated here & he taught his son. Hope this helps. Patti > My ancestor, John Oliphant (b 1750) was an early blacksmith in Greene Co., TN. He has also been mentioned as having been a gunsmith, I suppose he could have been easily involved with both occupations. He appears on the 1783 tax list and we know his son Thomas was also a blacksmith. I am interested in any and all material that might have information about TN blacksmiths. Is there a bladesmith's school anywhere near Greeneville? > > As an aside, it appears his son Thomas was also a distiller... > > > Thanks, > Teresa