|
|
Like a scent of rye in the air, or puffs of buckwheat flour, artifacts of Americana from St. Francois County's old flour and grist mills have all but vanished on the harvest winds of yesteryear.
Little remains of the thriving 1823 community that grew around Thomas George's grist mill along the Big River. Smoke wisps no longer spin curlicues above the grindstone Jonathan Dosley spun to life in 1801 at Murphy's Settlement.
Today, 192 years later, haystack shadows deep inside the family barn offer a timeless--yet somehow fitting--home for the tattered 100-pound flour sacks tossed there...amid the red-rusting farm plows and harvest scythe.
Curious wanderers through the pages of our past need not seek such obscure treasures between the knick-knacks of the corner antique store: Empty sacks hold no history.
Although St. Francois County Historical Society members Leora Giessing, and Edwin and Dorothy Mount, have stressed that much work still needs to be done--much has already been completed to preserve the memory of the old flour and grist mills.
Quite simply--in the milling vernacular--they have "kept their noses to the grindstone" for the past several months.
According to a cornucopia of reference materials, at least 42 flour and grist mills operated in and around St. Francois County.
PICKLE MILLS: Of the local mills, a large portion were built along what was then spelled the "St. Francois" River, near Farmington. Besides Dosley, William Pickle also played a major role in the early development of this frontier industry. He is said to have run three separate mills.
Pickle first operated a steam-run saw mill and flour mill. He sold this land, however, around 1860 and constructed a mill for grinding grain ("grist") at Valley Forge. This property, in turn, was sold to Peter Hoehn and Charles Giessing, Sr.
GIESSING MILLS: By June 14, 1894, the four-story Giessing Milling Company turned out
125 barrels of high grade flour each day.
When the firm moved to Farmington two years later, it took the name Giessing and Sons. It
was these two siblings, John and Charles, Jr., who purchased in 1882 what was then called
the Farmington Roller Mill.
Founded in 1853 by Milton P. Cayce, the Farmington Roller Mill was substantially remodeled after Cayce bought out Stephen Ellis Douthit's interest around 1855.
After the mill was destroyed by fire in 1874, Samuel S. Boyce and Isaac H. Rodehaver unveiled the 20,000 bushel elevator and the steam-operated Farmington Flour Mill.
Built in 1897, this new mill faced the Old Plank Road and stood atop the ashes of the Farmington Roller Mill--on land that would, nearly a century later, become home to the Farmington Police Department.
Alexander and Turley, on the other hand, were the proprietors of the Rival Mills in Farmington when they placed an ad in the May 11, 1882 issue of the Farmington paper.
"Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are set apart for custom grinding," the ad read. "Flour delivery to any part of the city."
Pointing out that the Giessing and Brothers Mill was a separate entity entirely, Mrs. Giessing added that the intertwining genealogy of the Farmington flour and grist mills is, at times, somewhat confusing.
BIG RIVER MILLS: By contrast, the date and ownership lines are a bit more well defined along the county's northern waterways. First, there was Thomas George's Mill, built in 1825.
When George sold the mill after his wife died in 1840, the business accepted the name of its new owners, Steven and John Tyler. Historically, Tylers Mill stands as one of the primary focal points for Big River Mills.
Nearby, the Montgomery Mill--St. Francois County's first milling operation--was located a half-mile above the mouth of the Flat River and consisted of a small hoecake trap. It was swept away by ice.
Snyder's Mill, Dr. Abraham W. Keith's grist mill, Henry C. McGahan and Willis E. Fite's Mill at Bonne Terre (later, the Moran Milling Company), Andrew Baker's grist mill, and Francis Marion Hughes' mill at Sprott all found their roots deep at Big River Mills.
KOESTER MILL: Rudolph Haverstick owned the water-powered Koester Mill in 1850, when--amateur historians have learned--he is believed to have been pushed to death in his own mill in the name of greed.
"Closed" signs blocked passage to the property until 1880. It was at this time that John Charles Edward Koester purchased the flour mill and expanded it to include a store, post office, blacksmith shop, cording mill and sawing mill. Frederick Reuter converted the flour mill to steam in 1902.
REUTER MILLS: A nephew of the miller Giessings, Reuter bought Farmington's Rodler Mill
in the early 1890's. By 1907, however, he was packaging the firm's "Wonderful
Flour" brand name at Flat River in order to take advantage of the better railroad
connections.
|
The grindstones spun until May 7, 1935, when the Flat River mill--like others of its kind--caught on fire.
LIBERTYVILLE MILL: Built by Mike DeGere out of hand-hewn hickory on property located directly behind the Christian Cemetery, the Libertyville Mill was closed down shortly afterward when the railroad completely by-passed the settlement.
Subsequent owners came and went. Having bought the mill around 1858, William Carroll Williams tore out all the old machinery and had the structure completely refurbished with all-new works.
During the Civil War, the mill operated under the insignia of its new owner, "Momom" Blanton, before it was passed along to David and Marion Moran in the late 19th century.
When the Morans moved the center of their operations to Bonne Terre, ownership of the mill passed on to Zeno Kinkead and John Mitchell. The last owner, Chris Heitman, made and sold flour, bran and shorts at the mill until after 1915.
BISMARCK MILLS: The first non-railroad industry in the 125-year-old City of Bismarck was a flour mill.
After the original mill and its adjoining shop burned in 1890, A. D. and Firmin Boss built a new mill and elevator on the town's west side. Their "White Lily" brand flour and corn meal sold at 50 cents a bushel.
In addition, a steam-powered mill stood at nearby Dent's Station, while another was located on property later owned by Ozark Flooring. Besides Myer's Mill, Walter C. Beard also ran a mill in Bismarck.
FORGOTTEN MILLS: Somewhere in the woods northwest of Valles Mines, on a road that no longer stands, water turned a mill that now derives its name from a latter-day landowner, Rube Cole.
Locally, the following mills are also known to have existed: the St. Francois County Roller Mills, operated by Morris Rosenthal in July 1889; the Irondale Mill, owned by Ben DeForest and Glen Forinash; the Lumpkin-Norwine Mill, at the Big River's Mineral Fork in Washington County.
The Old Hazel Run Mill, DeSoto's first, built in 1865 by Peter Mahn and destroyed by fire in 1883; the DeGuire Milling Company in Fredericktown, owned by Paul DeGuire, the first mill to grind corn in Madison County.
The Fredericktown Milling Company, burned down in July 1952; the J. Colman Flouring Mill at DeSoto; Whitener and Sons Flour Mills at Marquand; and the water-powered Robinson Mill at Annapolis.
Perhaps the best place to learn first-hand about the old flour and grist
mills in southeast Missouri is at the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site, located just
east of Jackson on Highway 34. A Midwest rarity, the site is enhanced by an authentic
covered bridge and a small waterfall.
|
