Gunpowder Casks for Fort Loudoun by Marshall Scheetz

These gunpowder casks were coopered for Fort Loudoun State Historic Area in Vonore Tennessee.  Fort Loudoun was a British Fort during the French and Indian War dating 1756-1760 before it was captured the Cherokee.  

 Cooperage, or wooden-staved containers, were all purpose vessels in urban, rural, domestic and industrial environments.  Gunpowder was shipped and stored in several different sizes of cask.  The volatile and fragile nature of gunpowder required a special container.  A coopered cask was ideal because it created a virtually air tight environment to protect the powder from surrounding humidity and elements.  Casks are extremely durable, easy to move by rolling,  and, when bound in copper, brass, or saplings, created an ideal environment protected from the potential of premature combustion.

Copy and photos supplied by Marshall Scheetz of Jamestown Cooperage. More photos and copy can be found on this project here.

Cypress Tankard by Marshall Scheetz

Wooden tankards like this were naturally used for drinking but also for storing honey, milk, cream, butter, molasses and other goods in domestic settings.  They were some time referred to as cans, cannikins, and tigs among other names.  They were prevalent aboard ships during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.  I've seen them in cooper's account books from New England to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

I just finished this cypress tankard for a coworker.

Copy and photos supplied by Marshall Scheetz. More of Marshall's work and ordering information can be found at Jamestown Cooperage.

Coopering by Marshall Scheetz

Marshall Scheetz has been coopering since 2002 and has completed a six-year apprenticeship under a traditionally-trained master cooper. Scheetz practices tight, dry, and white coopering and creates accurate reproductions of period cooperage including hogsheads, barrels, firkins, butter churns, tubs, piggins, and other coopered containers.

Scheetz is also an historian and has researched and documented known coopers from the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the culture surrounding the economy and life of the cooper’s trade. Scheetz has collaborated with researchers, archaeologists, curators, and tradesmen to further their understanding about the art and science of coopering and coopered containers throughout the years.

Buckets were traditionally used for hauling water from the well, collecting milk from the cow, or carrying feed for the livestock.  Sailors used them for water to swab the deck and to hold tar for the ropes.  Miners used them to haul ore.  Full of liquid, buckets can weigh close to 25 pounds.


I'm currently working on a parcel of gunpowder casks (barrels, half-barrels, quarter-barrels) for Fort Loundoun State Park.  The British often used these sizes of powder cask for the defence of the colonies and for gifting powder to the Cherokee and Catawba indians. 


Copy and photos supplied by Marshall Scheetz. More of Marshall's work and ordering information can be found at Jamestown Cooperage.