Arizona weekly citizen., 1891-01-24
BILL GERRITY'S WIFE.
She Strikes the Iron and He Blows
 the Bellows
The Woman Blacksmith of Roxbury, Mass. How She Assists Her Aged Husband-An Irish Girls De-
 votion and Muscle.


 
 Who is there in Roxbury, asks tn, Boston Globe, who hasn't heard of olt Bill" Gerrity, the blacksmith, who fo forty years has worked the bellows anC pounded the anvil in his little shop or Fremont street. near the Mission church? a
 If you haven't heard of 'Bill' VOL surely have heard of his wife, whC stands at the anvil all day and, witl sturdy strokes, swings the hammer anC fashions the iron, supple under the heat while her husband assists her.
 ''Bil," as he is familiarly called, i. one of those old settlers whose face anC 1 form have become, as it were, one of tht old landmarks of old Roxbury, so rich il it's coterie of oldest inhabitants, while his little shop stands to-day, as it diC | forty years ago. undismayed by the | presence all around it of modern build ings, which make it's crude outline: stand out more fOrcibly and shows it; age by comparison. 4
 If you ask "Bilr' how old he is he will tell you he is sixty years, but if you ask | one of the old settlers he will tell you that according to his ''reckonin'" Bill must be ''nigh on to ninety years" If Bill" was picturesque character insomuch that his occupation as village blacksmith rendered it proper to sc | characterize man in time gone by, he was rendered more so when two years | ago he startled his friends by taking to the altar buxom lass of thirty-five summers.
 It was only about year previous that death had taken from him his first wife, who had lived to the rare old age of ninety-eight years.
 'Bills" new spouse was a stout girl named Hannah McIvers. She is about six feet tall, with a physique that many strong man would envy. She was born in County Leitrem, Ireland. When "Bills' first wife died there were many stories floating around among the regulation gossips concern ing the wealth that she had left behind her in her little apartments over the blacksmith shop. According to the stories she was one of those people who are said to deny themselves the pleas ures of life and hoard up in mysterious hiding-places bags of yellow gold, and in the still hours of night find consola- tiOn in fondling the shiny pieces.
 Some believed these stories, for it was we'll known that the old blacksmith worked carly and late at his forge and always had lots of work to do. He was known to be of saving disposition, and it was said that his wife, having passed the allotted threescore and ten line, de- termined that, when her somewhat younger husband should find himself alone and bent down with the results of hard work, he would not want for plen- ty to eat or place to lay his head if money could procure them.
 According to the stories that have be- come chapter in the "Old Settlers Biographical History of Events from Personal Knowledge" when she died there was great excitement on the Hill" She had left relatives of vari- ous generations, and 1t is said that, sev- eral thousand dollars having been dis covered, good many people shared it besides the old blacksmith. Since then, owing to the effects of competition, "Bill' has not done the rushing busi- ness he did formerly, and then, too, he is not able to work as hard as before.
 His present wife learned of this change of affairs and without standing on cere- mony she went to him and volunteered to work at the forge and save the ex- pense of his hiring a helper. Bill" only laughed at her, for, besides being a little doubtful of her ability in that line, he had too much chivalry to permit it. But she persisted in her entreaties to be permitted to take her place at his side, and at last he reluctantly consented.
 The blacksmith shop is little story and-a-half structure opposite the big ledge, known as McCarthy's ledge, on the hill near the Mission church on Ire mont street. Until recently the ledge has been worked by large force of men, and Bill depended on them mostly for his "jobs." He had almost the exclusive charge of sharpening the drills used by the "ledgers," and the work was of a heavy character. Since the introduction of steam drills Bill has not had so
 
 the new drills, though it requires much more skill and labor than sharpening ordinary tools.
 The first day that his new wife stood at the anvil and swung the hammer Bill was convinced that she could do what she claimed. From that day out she has stood by his side, never demur- ring, but working cheerfully and we'll Bill blows the bellows and handles the iron, and after it is properly heated he holds it on the anvil while his wife hammers it into shape under his direc- tiOn.
 People used to flock around every day and watch them work, but the novelty soon wore off, and the woman blacksmith became fixture in Roxbury, attracting no unuSual attention