The MESDA Research Center has identified more than 3000 turners and joiners at work in the South before 1820.  In ancient chair making traditions “turning” and “joining” were separate and distinct trades.  Turners “turned” wood on a lathe to create furniture with shaped round elements.  Joiners “joined” hewn and sawn boards to create furniture with mortises and tenons.  In the South, craftsmen often combined the two trades, using lathes and saws, chisels, and mallets, to transform Southern trees into Southern seats.  In 1820 one turner and his journeyman working in Maury County, Tennessee were able to convert annually 10 cords of wood in to “chairs, wheels & reels” worth $4,000.