LaSalle County
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1932 Stories

THE OLD STONE MILL

By Lola Mae Kirsteatter, Dist. 227.

 In 1838 James Newton Reeder had a sawmill built. It was built a little south of Troy Grove, along the Little Vermillion. This sawmill was situated about fifty feet off the banks of the stream and made the lumber for the majority of the houses in Troy Grove.

Some of the houses were the "Green Mountain Tavern," "The Wild Bill House" (they are both gone), "The Carey House" and "Adair House" (which are still standing). The lumber for these four houses was hauled from Chicago. The mill ran until 1857, then it stopped and lay idle till Michael Meinhardt bought it, in 1860. He tore down the sawmill and built a stone flour mill. He was very wise, because to build a firm foundation he dug about two feet down in the earth and struck solid rock. He then built the mill on it. This mill was finished and went into operation in 1861. Downstairs the wagons drove in and dumped their wheat; then it went to the bins, up through the elevator and then down into the burrs.

The burrs were two great, tight-fitting stone wheels; one turns one way and one the other. This mashed the wheat into fine powder. Then it passed through a fine screen made of silk, and before this powder, called flour, was considered fine enough to use, it had to be sifted through this silk sifter.

Michael Meinhardt ran the mill until 1897. Then P. J. Paxton bought it and ran it till 1898 by water power; then he ran it by steam.

The mill was on a little upward slope from the creek. So to get water to run down into the mill pond he had to go up stream about a mile to build a dam and dig the ditch or race to bring the water to the water-wheel.

The mill stopped in 1904 or 1905. Mr. Burris owns it now. He does not run it any more. But he keeps pigs downstairs and hay upstairs. There is none of the machinery left inside, only the elevators. The burrs are lying outside now. They are all rusty, and you couldn't tell now what they were.

The dam is all gone and you couldn't tell where it stood. Right near there is an old ash tree grown up since the mill stopped. There is a rock a little ways up stream that sticks about a foot above the water, but when the dam was there Albert and Will Foster could just stick their heads above the water.

Michael Meinhardt lived about one-half mile east of Troy Grove. The house is not standing now, but if you go there you can still see kitchen utensils lying around.

CONTINUE to NEXT 1932 story

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 90.


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