William Holland's Job as Blacksmith for the Indians

You've heard it before: "William Holland was a blacksmith for the government."  Let's dig a little deeper and find out exactly what that means.  

Conflicts with the Native Americans were inevitable as the white man moved west.  To make these encounters go as smoothly as possible, in 1806, the Federal Government created "Indian Agencies" in larger settlements.  Most agencies would have an agent in charge, an interpreter, and a blacksmith.

The legal intent of the branch was to act in the mutual interest of the Natives and the settlers, monitoring trade, resolving disputes, and remunerating Native Americans for the lands being taken from them as per treaty agreements.  

Informally, another job of the Indian Agency was to assimilate the Natives into the European American culture, stripping away their customs and traditions and weakening their native identity.  Beyond the role of being used as a "repairman" for the Native American people, the agency blacksmith, in the government's eyes, was seen as an opportunity to "domesticate" the tribes.

Agency blacksmith repairs included work on Native American guns and traps but most likely included crafting kettles and other iron items.  In addition, it has been speculated that some creative smiths may have fabricated entirely new items for Native customers during repair downtimes.  The Natives were known to watch the blacksmith closely, and it wasn't out of the question to find them working with the smith's equipment while he was away. 

The 1902 publication of David McCulloch's "History of Peoria County" states:  "James Latham, formerly Probate Judge of Sangamon County, arrived with his family in 1821 as Indian Agent in the company of John Hamlin and William Holland as government blacksmith."

Evidence to the contrary, however, confirmed that the Peoria sub-agency had no blacksmith as late as 1822.  The only two people paid by the government from the Peoria office in 1822 were the head agent and an interpreter, neither of them being William Holland.  William Holland was first seen in government ledgers (below) in the first quarter of 1824, which means he was hired in the last quarter of 1823.

In the fall of 1824, there was a dispute between Holland and the Natives to the point where they attacked his home.  A letter was sent to Superintendent of Indian Affairs William Clark (of Lewis & Clark fame) from James Latham asking for a new blacksmith because of the hostility.  Holland then relocated to present-day Washington the following spring.

Danger did exist with William Holland's job as the blacksmith to Native Americans, but dealing with the Natives could probably be characterized like any other sociological construct. There are good people and bad people.  In his 1868 book, "Pages from the Early History of the West and Northwest," Rev. S. R. Beggs states that the Native Americans "were at that time very troublesome, and his (Holland's) family was at times in great peril, and yet he remained at his post of duty for several years."  In another account, son Lawson Holland recounts:  "He was regarded as a friend (by the Natives), and his counsel was at all times sought."

From 1825 to 1827, there were no records of Holland working as a government blacksmith. Still, during this time, many records listed him as a main player in the organization of the city of Peoria and the creation of Tazewell County.

Interestingly, documented evidence shows that Holland was back working as a blacksmith for the Potawatomi under Indian Agent Peter (Pierre) Menard Jr. from at least 1828 to 1831, earning a salary of roughly $1200 per year.  Adjusted for inflation, his salary would earn him roughly $35,000 today.  

With most of the Native American population moving northward toward the Rock River, on January 28, 1831, Superintendent William Clark approved a recommendation from Menard to move the Peoria agency to that area.

With William Holland concluding his duties as a government blacksmith in 1831, he went back to municipality organization.  He was appointed both the Tazewell County Commissioner and Coroner in that year.  Holland laid out the town of Washington in 1834.