James Edward Waite

{DEFAULTSORT:Waite, James Edward

James Edward Waite was a nineteenth century blacksmith from East Stoughton (now Avon), whose tools are now on display at the Samuel Robbins 1820 Museum House in Avon, Massachusetts.

Born in 1843 in Bristol, England, he was one of 4 children of a laborer and scullery maid. As a young man of 7 he started learning the trade of blacksmithing. Alone at the age of 17 he took a ship to American landing in Boston, MA. From there he went to Weymouth where he worked in a local blacksmith shop and met his wife. He finally moved to East Stoughton(now Avon, MA) where he opened a blacksmith shop(2)near the center. The shops in this small section of crossroads between Brockton and Boston MA thrived as it was the main travel route betweem all the towns and cities to the south and Boston. The shops located here consisted of two grocers, OB Crane and Lorenzo Wade, two blackmsithing concerns S.W. Haley and Waite and Son*. John Holmes proprietor of the stables and Barlett Collisn carriage shop. When his son was born the shop became "Waite and Son Iron Shop". [1] Mr. Waite as well as other founding fathers of East Stoughton were instrumental in starting the fight to leave the Stoughton Centre township and form their own town of what is now Avon..

His great-grandson donated the blacksmithing tools to the Samuel Robbins 1820 Museum House on Main Street, Avon, MA . The museum houses a hands-on display for children as well as adults to touch and handle the actual tools that were used daily as horses and carriages delivered the goods and travelers made there way to Boston by passing through this small crossroad of a town.

References^ See history of Avon, MA Chapter VIII (2) East Stoughton information complied from "The Massachusetts Register, 1869", Lorch Scrapbooks, Avon Historical SocietyRetrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edward_Waite"