Until the year 1830 there were no mills in this part of the country. The
nearest mill up until that time was at Hennepin; therefore, in bad weather the
long distance which had to be traveled made is impossible for the farmers to get
their corn ground into meal, which was so necessary in pioneer life. The farmers
were obliged to make the meal by rubbing the ears of corn over a flat piece of
tin punctured by nails. This meal was used every day by the pioneers for making
corn cake and mush, and had to be ground, as flour was not sold at the stores in
those days.
In 1830 a mill was put up in Lowell, Illinois, which was
operated by water power. After this farmers from as far south as Bloomington,
came to get their grain ground at the mill. Wagons drawn by oxen could be seen
going in steady lines to the mill, and for this reason farmers had to wait for
several days sometimes to get their grain ground.
In a few years
railroads began to be built and the farmers thought it would be possible to have
a mill run by steam power as well as the trains; therefore a group of farmers
near Tonica, who were all interested in large wheat crops, formed a kind of
union for men and built a mill in Tonica. The outstanding man in building the
mill was W. I. Wilson. He also was the first manager of the mill. The mill was
completed in 1868. John King was given the honor of being the first operator of
the mill, being chosen by all the other farmers in the union. He was found to be
an expert at this sort of business.
The carpenters hired to construct
the mill were John Snedaker, Rufus Tucker, Parker and Bassett. These same men
also built the addition to the mill after business increased. The mill was built
in the south end of town, on the west side of the railroad tracks, near the
Tonica Implement Company. The stones used for the burr stones were imported from
Norway, as there were none to be found like them in America. These crushers were
constructed of small sections cut diagonally, then joined together with small
iron pins. There were both upper and lower crushers, or burrs. These sections
were cut out diagonally with small grooves. The upper burr revolved on the lower
burr, then when the grain was put in the center it worked from the center to the
outside, delivering it to an elevator which carried the ground grain into a
separator. The separator was made from a very fine silk which was imported from
a foreign country. In this separator the bran was separated from the shorts and
flour. The farmers were not satisfied, so the mill was sold June, 1875. G.
Newton, A. West and C. Kimball were the purchasers, paying the sum of eight
hundred sixty-seven dollars. In 1875 an attempt was made to burn the mill by
people who were jealous, but being unsuccessful in this they stole several parts
of the engine, including the connecting rod. In July the mill was purchased by
John King, who operated it until the year 1897. Then the large iron roller mills
became so popular that the old mill was sold to C. F. Austin, who used it as a
storage house for grain.
Now there is nothing left of this mill except
the crushers, two of which are still in Tonica and are used as stiles in front
of residences. One stands in front of the William Harts' residence and the other
in front of the Mrs. Edwards' residence. There are also two at the Mason Bullock
farm, east of Tonica, which are believed to have belonged to this mill.
The old Lowell mill mentioned before was built by William Seeley and Charles
Elliot on the banks of the Vermillion river. The building was built of huge
rocks taken from the river bed. These rocks were very irregular in both size and
shape and were mortared together.
Benjamin Brown was chosen operator of
the mill, with John Nicholson as his assistant, who had learned this trade in
England. Later the mill was rented, due to the fact that trade became less and
less because more people went to the Ottawa and Tonica mills, so it was used to
grind feed for livestock. There was good trade in this business, and often the
men had to work day and night.
The Vermillion river on which the mill
was located, was also a good place for fishing, so people from miles away often
came here and camped while they were waiting to get their feed ground.
When the dam across the Vermillion river began to show signs of age and decay,
no trouble was taken to repair it as business was slack at that time; therefore
the old mill was idle for many years before the death of its last operator, John
Nicholson, who died July 8, 1906. The land around the old mill was purchased by
C. T. Ward. The ruins of the old mill are still standing at the foot of the
Lowell hill as a landmark of pioneer days.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 27.
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