Original Long Grove Settler's Tool Discovered?

It doesn’t happen as much as it did 30 years ago, but when an area barn gets demolished… we’re often contacted to see if we want any of the old tools or implements. We have limited space, so we pick through it and try to identify the historically interesting stuff from the simply “old and rusty”. Sometimes we find things that we’re not sure what they are, but they seem worth saving. Our resident tool expert, Bob Borg, is pictured above with such a piece. It’s stamped in French “Goldenberg Acier Fondu”. Translated that means “Goldenberg Steel Foundry”, a tool maker which was founded in 1835 in now what is Dorlisheim, Alsace, France.

You may recall that this region in the border area between France and Germany was where many of Long Grove’s original settlers were from. So it seems likely this tool made the trip over with one of those families. But what is it? The company was known for it’s wood working tools—chisels and planes. It’s pretty heavy to be used as Bob is holding it—the portion he is using as a grip appears to be designed to be affixed to a pole—sort of like a modern-day push broom head. Affixed to an end of a pole it would be very heavy/awkward/scary.

This story was from our June 2012 newsletter - click here if you'd like to see the entire newsletter. Want to get our printed newsletter mailed to you every quarter when it's published? Yeah, we know, it seems kind of old fashioned these days when everything is emailed... but, hey, we are a historical society. Click here to become a member/donor and you'll get each new edition as it's printed.

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