In October 2014 the front yard of Morrison’s Heritage Museum, 202 E. Lincolnway, Morrison, IL, became a crime scene. Someone or a group stole the last anvil used in the Karl and Proctor Lind Blacksmith Shop.
In 2013, Morrison Historical Society received a treasured item from the estate of Margaret “Margy” Haines, who died January 19, 2012. Haines was a well-known breeder and exhibitor of American Quarter Horses, but she continued to live in Morrison, IL, after college. It is likely she cherished–and may have actually used–the steel anvil that Karl and Proctor Lind had used for decades.
The site of the former Lind Blacksmith Shop, 223 W. Main Street, is now Dr. Robert A. Millikan pocket park, beside the Morrison Chamber of Commerce Office.
Father, Karl, left, and son, Proctor, Lind are shown in their two-generation blacksmith shop. This was the last such enterprise in Morrison.
Years ago, Haines obtained the well-used anvil from Proctor. A few tools of his trade were included, as seen at above on the original, hand-crafted, pedestal outside the museum. One of the MHS Trustees had since painstakingly cleaned and painted the anvil black–resembling what it looked like when brand new–enabling it to withstand the elements for many years.
The late Proctor Lind is shown at work using the iconic tool of the blacksmith. At the time his shop was due to be razed, he stated, “The one thing I won’t sell is my anvil.” A small, but weighty, piece of Morrison’s past has been stolen. No one values its “story” more than the Morrison Historical Society Board of Trustees.
- If you stole the Lind anvil, please return it to its rightful place.
- If you know who should return it, please advise them to do so.
- Make this right.
