Village of Knives Celebration
Village of Knives Celebration
Bet You Didn’t Know The U.S. Cutlery Industry Began in Little Valley, NY!
Photos / villageofknives.com
In “Case” you didn’t know, there’s a big shindig about to happen at the Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds in Little Valley which has been in the making for over 150 years. A CASE family knife show and Village tour is taking place July 12-14th. Entrance is free but bring your checkbook, cash, or plastic because you will be entering knife collector’s heaven.
Here’s how it all came about: Two hundred and sixteen years ago, four intrepid pioneers created a small settlement in Little Valley and built a sawmill. Along came the War of 1812 and they were forced to flee, likely because some natives befriended the British and the frightening cannon shot could be heard all the way from the Battle of Buffalo (or Battle of Black Rock) which took place on December 30, 1813. The frontier warfare was a retaliation for American soldiers setting the Canadian Village of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) on fire. (Apologies, Canadian friends. No hard feelings?) By 1818 settlement continued and Little Valley was formed from the greater Perry region, eventually becoming the Cattaraugus county seat in 1868, bumping Ellicottville out of the designation because the railroads stopped in Little Valley, making it also the center of commerce in the county.
Things started happening and along came a cutlery salesman by the name of JBF Champlin, who married Teresa Case of Little Valley. He sold cutlery for a German company but recognized an opportunity to make knives in America, joining forces with one W.W. Wilson. At that time, the only decent cutlery available in the world was made in Germany and England. He became a “Jobber,” and brought a new business to Little Valley, NY refining and selling knives. Things changed when Teresa Case’s four brothers were invited to become involved in knife making, thus launching cutlery-making in earnest in America, not to mention a family dynasty. Brothers W,R., Jean, Andrew and John joined JBF Champlin and created Cattaraugus Cutlery and began selling their wares from the back of their wagons. They became Case Brothers Cutlery in 1898. That launched the greatest era in early American knife making in history. This launch resulted in at least twenty-four other Case family-owned cutlery companies including W.R. Case & Sons, Cutco, Ka-Bar, Kinfolks, etc. Can you just imagine the family reunions with these competing business owners playing touch football? Probably resembled today’s Thanksgiving dinner with clearly drawn political lines.
During the 20th century, if you were within a 50-mile-radius of Little Valley NY, there were nearly seventy-five cutlery companies in operation. W.R. Case continues to operate under the ownership of Zippo in Bradford, PA with a Case family member still making knives there. Today, John Burrell, Mayor of Ellicottville, is the only remaining Case descendant who owns a knife-making business, TopFlight Early American Cutlery based in Ellicottville on Maybee Alley.
Burrell will be in knife-making mode at this event, along with Springville native, business owner of Baranowski Knife and Tool, and December 2020 History Channel Show Forged In Fire Champion Walter Baranowski. Baranowski will be doing the metal work, and Burrell will be creating the handles of three knives, two of which will be auctioned off and the third being donated to the knife museum in the Little Valley American Legion building. Rumor has it that Baranowski will be bringing several (5?) of his Forged in Fire friends to the event. You’ll want to be there. Incidentally, about 30% of the knives at this event will NOT be for sale. They are coveted vintage items on display for show-and-tell. Lockwood says this: “Our event will be the largest gathering of early American knives in decades. Serious dealers and collectors are eager to bring these rare keepsakes back where they were made.”
More history: The Legion property and building, known as Robin’s Roost, were the late nineteenth to early twentieth-century estate of Andrew Jackson Case and his wife, Sarah, and their family. It was converted into the Legion in 1951. For all the greenery we see around us today, the hills of the 1890-1900’s were totally logged off. No forests meant no deer, so Case fenced in 40 of his acres and brought in white-tailed deer to be cared for on his property. In the spring, when they shed their antlers, they were harvested and used for knife handles.
This three-day event is a dream-come-true for Case descendants Brad Lockwood and his cousin, John Burrell, who masterminded and developed the entire affair. It opens to the public on Friday, July 12th from 1:00-6:00pm, Saturday, July 13th from 9:00am-6:00pm, and Sunday July 14th from 9:00am-3:00pm. Please go online to www.VillageofKnives.com for more information.
In speaking to Lockwood, he remarked that this has turned into a huge community effort. He especially wants to acknowledge and thank the Cattaraugus County Agricultural Society, Case, the American Legion, Ellicottville Brewing Company which has developed a Village of Knives lager for this event, Little Valley’s Hughes Hotel (one of the oldest public buildings in the area with the original deed dating back to 1834), and especially the Little Valley Fire Department who are providing security for the event.
This writer wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the long conversations and generous storytelling by both Burrell and Lockwood who provided facts and anecdotes for this article. Learn more about the upcoming celebration at www.villageofknives.com.