The Legacy of the Drumore Sickle

Nestled along the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River, the area known as Drumore has roots that stretch back to the early 18th century. Named after Dromore in Ireland, from which many Scotch-Irish families, including the prominent Long and Neel families, emigrated, Drumore holds a unique place in American agricultural history.

As early as 1715, these industrious settlers began making their mark, not just in farming but in crafting tools essential for agriculture. Drumore became synonymous with the production of sickles and scythes, tools vital for grain harvesting. The “Drumore Sickle,” as it came to be known, was famed for its exceptional quality and affordability. Its excellence was so renowned that it successfully drove pricier English-made competitors out of the market.

The craftsmanship of these tools was mostly concentrated in small blacksmith shops and larger sickle mills scattered throughout the township. The Long family, in particular, emerged as notable figures in this craft. With a legacy spanning four generations, from the early 1700s through to the 1860s, they were central to the sickle and scythe manufacturing scene in Drumore.

By the 1860s, despite the scythe becoming the standard tool for reaping, the advent of mechanized farming was on the horizon. It wasn’t until the late 1880s that machines, such as McCormick’s Reaper, began to replace the traditional sickle and scythe on American farms.

Among the last of the sickle makers was James Buchanan Long, a descendant of the initial Long family settlers. James not only continued the family tradition of sickle making but also served as the executor for the estates of his grandfather and father, marking the end of an era in Drumore’s rich history of agricultural tool manufacturing.

The story of Drumore and its sickles is a poignant reminder of the evolution of farming tools from handcrafted implements to the rise of agricultural machinery, echoing the broader shifts in American agricultural practices over the centuries.

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