Who taught them?

more Craft Genealogy stuff

what passes for a snowstorm these days

I’m doing some desk work today - a full two inches of snow fell overnight, what passes for a snowstorm here these days. It’s a perfectly fine day to be in the shop, but there was stuff to do here anyway. I’ve been poking some more at my Craft Genealogy project. Here’s some things I’ve been following up with in the past few days.

I first learned genealogical research when studying furniture history - tracing ownership and descent of furniture through generations. Similarly, we used genealogies to study woodworkers - identifying them through probate records, town records, etc - and following familial relationships. It’s engrossing research - one thing leads to another. I used to haunt state archives and the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. These days you can do a lot of it from home. Today I spent some time tracing a couple of names of people who taught my teachers.

My book traces some simple threads - Jennie Alexander, Daniel O’Hagan, Dave Sawyer, Curtis Buchanan - all of them having been through Drew & Louise Langsner’s Country Workshops. Drew Langsner told his story many times and wrote it down as well. His introduction to riven wood, drawknives, shaving horses, etc was through an apprenticeship with Ruedi Kohler, a Swiss cooper that he & Louise stumbled onto during their year-long trip through Europe in the early 1970s. Drew later returned to work a second stint with Ruedi, then one more trip with Rick Mastelli to film him at work -

https://youtu.be/v4kB7JOVkqw?si=4Chjg-vN51dsYhV3

Dave Sawyer’s initial introduction to similar woodworking methods is also recorded in interviews and articles. He spent time in 1965 working with Daniel O’Hagan - and took off into the stratosphere of green woodworking from there. In an earlier post I wrote about Daniel learning how to split, shave and bend hayforks from Milton Young, a Mennonite woodworker who lived not too far away...

But what about Daniel’s chairmaking?

Daniel O’Hagan fanback, 1963

That I know less about, but some breadcrumb trails here & there. One influence on Daniel’s chairmaking was a man he often referred to as “my German cabinetmaker friend...” - Walter Liebich. I haven’t found too much information about Walter beyond Daniel’s notes and an obituary. Born in Nuemittelwalde, Germany, (maybe part of Poland when he was born), self-employed cabinetmaker for 60 years. For some reason, he doesn’t appear in searches of the US census. I’ve written before about Walter, including this post which has a video/interview with him and shows him at work. (you only need the first 4 minutes, but they’re worth it)

https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/p/german-bench-dogs