Silas C. Read Sawmill, Outlet of Maxwell Lake near North Range Road, Fort Gordon

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA-91. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Silas C. Read Sawmill (previously referred to as the Maxwell Mill) is one of the oldest sawmills in Georgia. The sawmill may have been established by Silas C. and Lucy J. Read during the Civil War to meet the lumber needs of the Confederate war industry. The presence of a masomy and concrete dam at the sawmill site is unique among the nearly seventy-five historic mills that operated in Richmond County from It is significant for its potential to yield information regarding the engineering and construction of private sawmills and dams in mid- nineteenth century Georgia. The mill is not currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Report prepared by: Daniel R. Pratt Staff Archaeologist Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 924 Avenue East Tuscaloosa, Alabama Date: July SILAS C.

READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page2 INTRODUCTION The Silas C. Read Sawmill is located at UTM Coordinates N and E, Zone 17, Richmond County, Georgia. The previously buried sawmill structure was located during a cultural resources survey of the Fort Gordon military base by New South Associates, Inc. of Stone Mountain, Georgia, after torrential rains on October 10 and 11, lead to the catastrophic failure of the earthen dam at Maxwell Lake (among many others) and the subsequent draining of the Maxwell Lake reservoir. The Fort Gordon Directorate of Public Works need to reestablish wetland resources on the military base has prompted the United States Department of the Army to investigate possible concomitant effects of demolition and new construction on the base's cultural resources.

In the Savannah District Corps of Engineers will bury or demolish the remnants of the Silas C. Read Sawmill in order to construct a replacement dam for Maxwell Lake. Because the mill has been considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under criteria C and D,1 the Savannah District Corps of Engineers has contracted Panamerican Consultants, Inc. of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to perform a Level I Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation of the structure prior to burial or demolition. PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS A previous cultural resource survey of the Fort Gordon environs by New South Associates, Inc. of Stone Mountain, Georgia,2 revealed submerged remnants of a wooden structure at the outlet of former Maxwell Lake (the Marcum Branch of Spirit Creek).

On the basis of the structure's location and its broad association with nearly seventy-five similar structures in the region, it was presumed to be the remains of a mill. Although New South's investigation was limited by the broad scope of their investigation, a preliminary archival investigation suggested that the mill had been constructed by James D. Haynie in the late or and that Silas C. and Lucy J. Read (for whom the mill was named on the Hudgins Map of the area) purchased a fully developed mill in An archaeological survey of the area surrounding the mill failed to reveal any intact subsurface deposits. Survey of the creek channel, however, revealed a great amount of wooden mill debris, including articulated timbers, that had been washed 1Reed, Mary Beth, J. W. Joseph and Rita F.

Elliott, Historic Milling on Sandy Run and Spirit Creeks, Fort Gordon, Richmond County, Georgia, Submitted to Gulf Engineers and Consultants, Baton Rouge, p. 83. 2Ibid., pp. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page3 downstream during the flood. The dam and the visible mill remains were mapped and photographed. At the time of the survey, the motive power of the mill could not be determined, although it was presumed to have been a water wheel rather than a turbine, on the basis of the wide sluices in the dam. As stated in the New South Associates, Inc.

report, the remains of the mill were determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under criteria C and D: The stone and cement dam is considered eligible under Criterion C, as an architecturally significant structure representing a relatively unusual building form in the repertoire of mill architecture in the region. The structural remains within the breached portion of the [earthen] dam and further downstream, and the stone dam, are considered eligible under Criterion D for their contribution to the study of mill construction in the region.3 It was recommended that the mill remains, dam structure and downstream debris be recorded to U.S.

National Park Service HABS/HAER standards, including large format photographic recordation and the drafting of measured drawings of all components (including plans, elevations and cross-sections). HISTORY OF MILLING IN RICHMOND AND COLUMBIA COUNTIES, GEORGIA No general regional or county history exists for the milling industry in Richmond County, Georgia. At present, however, Michael White of Augusta College has begun the task of identifying historic mill remains through land records. 4 All the currently known colonial period mills in the Augusta region were established between and the Revolutionary War. The oldest known reference to the establishment of a sawmill is contained in a grant to George Bailie of acres.

5 According to research performed by New South Associates, Inc., the Manufacturing Schedule of did not list any Richmond County mills, but an 3Ibid., p. 83. 4Personal communication, March, 5White, Michael C., The Colonial Era Water Mills of Present Day Richmond, Columbia and McDuffie Counties. Manuscript on file with author, Augusta College, Augusta, Georgia. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page4 unknown number of establishments in Columbia County were producing flour and lumber with a product value of The Manufacturing Schedule gives more detail than its predecessor, but does not indicate locations of mills (except by district) or sizes of mills. In the District of Richmond County, there was one flour mill, four grist mills and eight sawmills.

Twenty-one individuals were employed in the district, which possessed a capital investment of The District, which included Thomas Lake, Leitner Mill, Lower Leitner Mill and Union Mill, had three sawmills and three grist mills, and employed eleven workers. Capital investment was The District had invested in four grist mills and three sawmills employing nine individuals. The District contained an unknown number of mills with capital investments of 6 In total, Richmond County contained fifteen grist mills and twenty-eight sawmills, while Columbia County recorded seventeen grist mills and eight sawmills.

These totals do not include mills within the city of Augusta, which according to the census, possessed no mills in This situation was remedied in with the construction of the Augusta Canal by Henry H. Cumming. By Augusta had two large mills, a sawmill, a grist mill and two substantial cotton mills. The milling industries in Richmond and Columbia counties were booming as well: the census returns for the entire counties showed a total of thirty-eight individuals associated with the milling trade. By census returns for only the District and the District included thirty milling operations. The returns for the Berzalia postal region alone listed fifteen mill workers and owners.

The Manufacturing Census of was the first attempt to record detailed information regarding the industrial status of the United States. It included breakdowns of technological and social data for mills, by type of mill. Mills referenced in Richmond County included those on Big and Little Spirit Creeks, Rae 1s Creek, Butler 1s Creek, Rocky Creek and Sandy Run Creek. Columbia County had mills on Uchee, Kiokee, Whiteoak and Horn 1s creeks. The sawmills, as a group, produced lumber rather than lathes or shingles, while the products of the flour and grist mills included ground wheat, corn meal and feed. Four Richmond County establishments combined production of flour with lumber, a situation not uncommon in rural mill settings. These businesses appeared to be seasonally operated, and Reed et al.

suggest that this was the general rule among Richmond County mills. Average daily wages for unskilled workers at the sawmills in Richmond County averaged 50 to per day, 6 Reed et al., p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page5 while skilled employees made between and per day. Records show that the use of child labor appears to have been scant.7 In Columbia County possessed only five grist mills and two sawmills, and Richmond County eleven grist mills and eight sawmills. Reed et al. contribute this decline to the growth of the general milling industry in Augusta and changes in the local transportation and distribution infrastructures.

The relative decrease in the number of small sawmills in Richmond County to the number of grist mills may also be indicative of a business shift towards the larger establishments in the city. The Hudgin's Map of Richmond County shows a small number of mills located in a primarily agricultural setting. Reed et al. attribute the somewhat static rural character of western Richmond County and eastern Columbia County to the circumventing routes of the Georgia Railroad, which ran from Augusta to Berzalia to Grovetown and points west. The Southern railroad, which ran from the southern portion of the region directly to Augusta, helped to further isolate the study area from the urban and business growth associated with the city of Augusta.

Fourteen years later, the USGS topographic map of the area recorded the same rural character of the region, with fewer milling establishments depicted. By just prior to the acquisition of the territory for Camp Gordon, the map of the area refers to previous mill establishments in terms of their reservoir names, e.g., Union Mill Pond, Haynie's Pond, etc. Most of the reservoir areas appear to have been converted to recreation areas, a status which continued after the building of Camp Gordon in When the United States Government acquired the Richmond County's and districts for the construction of Camp Gordon, an inventory was completed of buildings and structures within the camp's boundaries.

Five of the seven mills listed on the inventory were operating in the at least three described as grist mills. (The only evidence of a sawmill was a planing shed and lumber storage shed on Boggy Cut Creek, identified as belonging to A. L. Burch.) All the mills were housed if frame structures, each roughly 20 feet by 36 feet. The Boardman Mill house was substantially larger, measuring 30 feet by 100 feet, while the Wilkinson Mill measured only 12 feet by 24 feet. In terms of estimated value, Union Mill ranked far above the others at This site was probably refurbished in the early twentieth century and may have included a gin operation. 7Ibid., p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page6 Available capital, access to land suitable for millseats, the technical knowledge needed to conduct milling and social relations all played a role in the historic milling of Richmond and Columbia counties. Families such as the Leitners and the Merrys possessed the capital, expertise, community reputation and kinship connections that enabled several of the viable milling establishments to continue operations into the twentieth century. Reed et al. suggest, however, that the history of the milling industry on Spirit Creek (including that of the Silas C. Read Sawmill) was more intricately intertwined with a social network of planters and industrialists who created mill interests and properties for speculative purposes.

General records of rapid land transactions along Spirit Creek seem to support this suggestion. THE

Development of Water Power Technology and the Sawmill

Introduction General historical information concerning water power development is taken primarily from Terry S. Reynolds' Stronger Than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel. 8 A tabular summary of the introduction of various applications of vertical water wheel technology is presented in Table 1. The development of the water wheel and sawmill can be seen on a continuum from early Near Eastern technological experimentation and development, to the growing industrialization of Europe in the Middle Ages, to what is classically considered the Industrial Revolution: the large-scale, aggregated industrial factories of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Early Mill Development in Europe and Asia East Indian texts from the fourth century BC describe a device called a cakkavattaka, or "turning wheel," described as a machine with wheel-pots attached. 9 It is possible that this is an early form of noria, a vertical wheel used to transport water from a waterway to a raised sluice or trough. The ambiguity of the textual reference, however, suggests that the cakkavattaka may have been a treadle- or hand-powered device. The next point of possible origin for the vertical wheel is in the Near East at about 200 BC. The Greek technician Philo of Byzantium illustrates three small overshot 8Reynolds, T. S., Stronger Than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 9Needham, J.

(with collaboration of Wang Ling), Science and Civilization in China, Volume 4, Part 2, Cambridge University Press, p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page7 and two undershot vertical wheels, but it is not clear that the wheels were used for driving machinery. 10 The first definite reference to power generated from a water wheel is included in the Greek Strabo's Geography, written in the first century BC. While listing the spoils captured by Pompey from the Mithradates, Strabo mentions a palace at Cabeira, where a 'u8po1,,s''t'a~ (water grinder) was located. The specific type of wheel, vertical or horizontal, is unfortunately not specified.

11 A contemporary of Strabo's, the poet Antipater, wrote an ode to a mill, suggesting that grist milling technology, at least, had already achieved the basic form that continued until the nineteenth and early twentieth century: Cease from grinding, ye women who toil at the mill; Sleep late, even if the crowing cocks announce the dawn. For Demeter has ordered the to perform the work of your hands, And they, leaping down on top of the wheel, turn its axle which, With its revolving spokes, turns the heavy concave Nisyrian millstones, Learning to feast on the products of Demeter without labor. 12 Sawmill technology has a significantly shorter documented history.

Sawmills may have been used for stone-cutting as early as the first century AD, as described by Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder, AD in his monumental Natural History AD), but there is little evidence to suggest that Greeks or Romans used mill technology to cut wood. 13 Not until AD is there a clear reference to the use of sawmills in Normandy, France. These hydraulic devices became common in northern France and Germany in the thirteenth century, throughout France and southern Germany in the fourteenth century, and Scandinavia and England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The deforestation caused by sawmill activity in southeastern France was so serious, in fact, that in the Dauphin ordered all mills near the Premol Mountains be removed.

14 The earliest known pictorial representation of a sawmill is included in the Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt (c. (Figure 1). As described by Reynolds, 10Philo of Byzantium, Pneumatica, Chapters 54, 65. 11Strabo, Geography, Translated by Horace Leonard Jones, Volume 5, London, pp. 12Antipater of Thessalonica, "On a Water-Mill," In Greek Anthology, Book 9, number edited and translated by W. R. Paton, London, pp. 13Beckmann, John, A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins, Volume I, translated by William Johnston, Henry G. Bohn Press, London, 4th edition, pp. 14Reynolds, p. 90. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page8 Table 1: Emergence of New Industrial Applications of Vertical Water Wheel to (from Reynolds, T.

S., Stronger Than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Johns Hopkins University Press, London, p. Source: Blaine, Bradford B., "The Application of Water-Power to Industry during the Middle Ages," Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, Type of Mill Date of First Occurrence (AD) Location Beer 861 NW France Hemp 990 SE France Fulling N Italy Switzerland? Iron SGermany SSweden Oil cllOO SE France Ore-Stamping N Italy Tanning NW France Sugar Sicily? Cutlery (grinding and NW France polishing) Saw NW France Mechanical Bellows Styria Mustard SE France Poppy NW France Paper N Italy Mine-pumping (chain type) Moravia Mortar SGermany Turning (lathes) SE France Pigment (paint) NW France Blast furnace Belgium Pipe-boring SGermany Rolling and slitting Cent.

France Wire SGermany SGermany Gem-polishing NW France Coin NW France SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page9 Figure 1: Earliest known representation of a sawmill (from the Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 10 Villard 1s apparatus had an unsupported blade drawn downwards by the action 11 of cams projecting from the axle of a water wheel and returned to its original position by a flexible pole spring.

At the same time the rotation of the axle of the water wheel was used as a feed mechanism [for the timber]." 15 This example of the conversion of the vertical water wheel's main axle rotation to serve both auxiliary rotational drive devices within the mill and reciprocal motion devices, (e.g., saws, trip-hammers, pumps and ventilators) is one of many creative applications of mill power by medieval engineers. Reciprocal motion devices were already at work in water-powered bellows/ forge systems, ore stamping machines and in paper, iron, wire, hemp, beer and fulling mills. The sawmill and the blast furnace would ultimately come to depend on these reciprocal power systems.

16 Although East Asia saw the diversified development of water wheel technology as early as Greece and Persia, sawmills did not appear in China until suggesting a relatively less important role in a high-population society based on manual labor. The lack of a feudal system comparable to those in the West also may have played a part in their secondary emphasis in relation to water conservancy programs. 17 It has been recorded that the introduction and proliferation of the sawmill in Europe was accompanied by civil unrest, instigated in particular by sawyers who believed that the machines would relieve them of their livelihood.

When the advantages of mechanized sawmills were publicly argued in by Houghton, he quite rightly expressed concern over the reactionary character of the English people. 18 Although sawmills had been in operation in Scotland since at least a sawmill erected in London in had been torn down by an angry mob. In or a second attempt was made to bring sawmill technology to England. Dutch engineers erected a wind-powered sawmill at Limehouse, England, but it was immediately destroyed by an angry mob. 19 15Ibid., p. 89. 16Ibid., p. 95. 17Ibid.,p. 18 Houghton, J., Houghton's Husbandry and Trade Improved, London, volume III, p. 47. 19 Beek man, p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 11 The Sawmill in America: Because of the reticence of the English sawyers to embrace the mechanization of their craft, it is from the Continent that early American sawmills traced their roots. Technicians recruited from Hamburg, Germany, "to build Saw mills & Seat them at ye falls," created the economic base for the town of Henrico in the Virginia colony in 20 Other early operations in the American colonies include; a Dutch-built windmill on Nutten Island (modern Governor's Island) in New York Harbor in (twenty saws)21; multiple Dutch sawmills along the upper Hudson River (more than forty by By there were hundreds of sawmills in New England.

23 A later example of the importation of European mill technology can be found in Dutch-built sawmills constructed in for the Louisiana colony. 24 In the first British patent for a mechanical invention in the American colonies was issued to Joseph Jenks of Massachusetts, for improvements to sawmills and scythes. 25 The number of sawmills in North America and their rates of production are poorly known prior to the United States Census of 1s "Report on Sawmills." The Undershot Water Wheel The first specific reference to an undershot water wheel, the type utilized at the Silas C. Read Sawmill, comes from Vitrivius 1 De Architectura, written about 25 BC.

26 Comparisons of the power efficiency between undershot wheels and other types of vertical wheels apparently did not appear until the subject was discussed by Leonardo da Vinci AD), who stated that the undershot wheel was at its peak efficiency when water struck its blades normally. 27 In Edme Mariotte attempted to calculate 20Peterson, C. E., "Sawdust Trail," Association for Preservation Technology Bulletin, volume 5, Number 2, p. 21Ibid., p. 22Fox, William P., A History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York, Washington, pp. 23Hindle, Brooke, America's Wooden Age: Aspects of its Early Technology, Sleepy Hollow Restorations, Tarrytown, New York, p. 42. 24 Colonies, Series C-13-A, 4-P National Archives, Paris.

25Clark, Victor, History of Manufacturers in the United States, Volume I, New York, p. 48. 26vitruvius Pollio, De Architectura, edited from the Harleian manuscript translated by Frank Granger, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 27See Reti, L., "The Problem of Prime Movers," in Leonardo da Vinci-- Technologist, edited by L. Reti and B. Dibner, Burntly Library Publications No. 25, Norwalk, pp. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 12 the force exerted by a water striking a fixed plate28, an approach that Antoine Parent used in to determine that an undershot wheel was at maximum efficiency when the blade velocity was one-third the water velocity. 29 Later comparisons of undershot wheel to overshot wheel efficiency were subject to wide variation.

Stephen Switzer, in his Hydrostatics and Hydraulics and Bernard Forest de Belidor's Architecture Hydraulique agreed with Parent's analyses,3 and claimed that undershot wheels were six times as efficient as overshot. In a claim was made for ten times greater . eff1c1ency.

31 In an attempt to resolve the differences in undershot wheel efficiency estimates, John Smeaton performed comparative studies on small-scale water wheels in Among his conclusions, he noted that: overshot wheels were twice as efficient as undershot wheels, that the optimum velocity between wheel and stream was at least 2:5 (approaching and that "the impact between the water and the flat wheel plate resulted in a marked loss of energy in the form of spray and turbulence; or as Smeaton observed, "nonelastic bodies, when acting by their impulse or collision, communicate only a part of their original power; the other part being spent in changing their figure in consequence of the stroke.

Smeaton's review of wheel efficiency appears to have resulted in the virtual abandonment of undershot wheel technology in England by the beginning of the nineteenth century. In France, however, further experiments by Antoine Deparcieux revealed that the energy output of the undershot wheel could be doubly improved by displacing the wheel blades at an angle of 30 . 34 Deparcieux interpreted this increase as a result of greater blade area being exposed to the water stream, but he failed to appreciate that the angled entry of the blade into the water significantly decreased the deformation of the blade previously encountered by Smeaton. This phenomenon, 28 Discussed in Smith, Norman A. F., "The Water Turbine and its Name," in History of Technology, Second Annual Volume, edited by A.

Rupert Hall and Norman Smith, Mansell Press, London, p. 29Discussed in Cardwell, L., "Some Factors in the Early Development of the Concepts of Power, Work and Energy," British Journal for the History of Science, volume June pp. 30Discussed in Smith, p. 31 Desaguliers, J. T., A Course in Experimental Philosophy, volume II, 32smeaton, J. "An Experimental Enquiry concerning the natural Powers of Water and Wind to turn Mills, and other Machines, depending on a circular Motion," in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Volume LI, p. 33Smith, p. 34Discussed by Cardwell, pp. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 13 known as "shockless entry, 11 was to later become a requirement for the "perfect hydro- motor.1135 Charles Bossut repeated and confirmed Deparcieux's work in the but examined a greater number of experimental variables for wheel efficiency. 36 Bossut determined that the efficiency of undershot wheels was greatly improved by the doubling of the standard number of wheel blades from twelve to twenty-four, and the enclosure of the wheel base in a flume structure. The ratio of stream velocity was found to be in the range of 1:3 and 1:2 for open and enclosed situations. It was generally agreed, then, that the optimum configuration for an undershot wheel was twenty-four blades at 15 angles, with proper ratios of blade size to wheel diameter and proper wheel immersion depths.

Jean-Charles Borda suggested in the that there was a basic error in the conceptual model of the undershot wheel: the wheel was not, as thought, a single blade propelled by a stream of infinite length, but as a series of blades intercepting the stream in rapid succession. 37 Borda demonstrated that maximum efficiency was obtained in the system when the wheel speed reached half the stream speed. As Norman A. F. Smith notes, 11 Borda 1s analysis leads to an important conclusion. If the blade speed is half the stream speed then water must leave an undershot wheel with the same velocity as the blades. In other words half the energy potentially available runs to waste.

Put in terms of the ideal hydraulic motor, this law was reiterated by Lazare Carnot in 11 In order that a machine should produce all its effects, it would be necessary, first, that the fluid should absolutely lose all its motion by its action upon it; second, that it should lose all this motion by insensible degrees, and without any percussion. In Jean Victor Poncelet designed an undershot water wheel that incorporated the information compiled by Smeaton, Deparcieux, Bossut, Borda and Carnot. Figure 2 shows the basic design of the machine. The water achieved nearly shockless entry, climbing the curved surface of the angled blades (and transferring energy to the wheel).

As the water ran back along each blade (a total of forty on the wheel), its original velocity was restored relative to the blade, but its absolute velocity 35Ibid., p. 36Bossut, Charles, Traite theorique et experimental d' hydrodynamique, Volumes I and II, Paris, 37A review of Borda's work can be found in J. Mascart, La Vie et Les Travaux du Chevalier Jean-Charles de Borda, Lyon, 38Smith, p. 39Carnot, L., Principles Fondamentaux de l' Equilibre et du Mouvement, Paris, p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 14 was very nearly zero. Small-scale models of this design produced efficiencies in the range of percent. 40 The single major drawback to the Poncelet wheel was that water was forced to exit the blade at the point of entry, creating a slight reversal of flow in the system.

Poncelet attacked this problem in by turning his vertical wheel into a horizontal wheel with a vertical axle41 -- the basis for Benoit Fourneyron's hydraulic turbine of Such a horizontal wheel orientation was not by any means revolutionary-- horizontal wheels, termed "Norse" or "Greek" mills, had been in existence perhaps since the naissance of mill technology. Poncelet's careful design of the blade structure and analysis of the water outlet, however, outperformed the ancient forms by percent.43 The decision to use an undershot wheel at the Silas C. Read Sawmill was probably partly based on the nature of the water power source-- in this case, a broad, shallow reservoir fed by land drainage and natural springs.

An overshot wheel required the transmission of water from near the top of a dam through a wooden sluice, or "sluice box". If the water level of the reservoir dropped somewhat due to drought or constant use of the mill, the power source would effectively disappear. By contrast, an undershot wheel could be powered by water channeled through a sluice at the base of the dam (such as the one at the Read Sawmill) (HAER Photograph 9), ensuring a constant water supply that would only be exhausted when the reservoir was emptied. Also, by reserving the gap at the top of a dam for reservoir overflow, there was less likelihood of the reservoir overtopping the dam, a situation that could seriously jeopardize the stability of the masonry. 40 Smith, p. 41Ibid., p. 42 Reynolds, p. 43Ibid., p. 14. SILAS C.

READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 15 Figure 2: Basic design of Jean Victor Poncelet1s undershot wheel (from Norman A. F. Smith, - - - - - - - - SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 16 OWNERSHIP HISTORY OF THE SILAS C. READ SAWMILL WITHIN THE

Context of the Georgia Lumber and Agricultural Industries

Historic Milling on Sandy Run and Spirit Creeks: Fort Gordon, Richmond County, Georgia44 hypothesizes that the original mill on the Marcum Branch of Spirit Creek was constructed by James D. Haynie during or following the year This hypothesis is based on the 12-year length of ownership of the tract by Haynie and his son (or other male relative), Emelius P. Haynie, and the subsequent sale of the tract to Henry D. Leitner, the owner of numerous sawmills in the Augusta area [Richmond County Deed Book The lack of extant plats for the property makes such a hypothesis difficult to test. However, the credit crisis of and the following national depression, which lasted until the late argue against the Haynie's construction of a new sawmill during this period.

It is possible that the purchase of this land by the Bowdres, the Haynies and Henry Leitner was for the purposes of cutting the plentiful timber resources on the tract. Following Leitner's sale to W. P. Bealle in [Richmond County Deed Book the parcel changed hands rapidly. Bealle transferred the land to E. C. Tinsley the same year [Richmond County Deed Book and Tinsley sold it to James Fleming in In transference was made to Charles Denham [Richmond County Deed Book This rapid real estate exchange suggests land speculation by local planters and industrialists (as suggested by Reed et al. 45) connected with the general resiliency of Georgia's banking industry.

46 Denham may have planned to resell the land immediately, but another financial panic in resulting in restrictions on banking procedures, may have instilled some caution. By the early Georgia's economy was healthy and diversified. In Charles Denham sold his land on the Marcum Branch to Silas C. and Lucy J. Read [Richmond County Deed Book Silas C. Read is listed in the Federal Census as the boss of a machine shop in Augusta with in personal property. 47 As the boss of a machine shop, Read would have presumably possessed the technical knowledge required to construct and operate a small sawmill. As Donald G. Jeane states: 44Reed, pp. 45Ibid., p. 46Coleman, Kenneth (editor), A History of Georgia, 2nd edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens, pp.

47Eighth Federal Census of the United States, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 17 Most millers were farmers who simply had mills as extra 11 facilities on their properties. Despite sophisticated treatises published on mill engineering, more mills were built by farmers with rudimentary carpentering skills than by professional millwrights ... An enterprising farmer could construct a mill building and with the help of an itinerant millwright, hang a wheel, gear the operation, and quickly open for business. If the sawmill at Maxwell Lake was built by the Reads, their motivation for starting such a business might be explained by the state of the U.S. lumber industry in the mid-nineteenth century.

Data from the Manufacturing Censuses of and were entered into an statistical software package to determine the percentage rates of growth for the number of sawmills per state, and the percentage rate of growth for each state's lumber output (in US. dollars). Acceptance of the results of this rather simplistic data analysis (Table 2) should be tempered by the fact that there are a great number of factors influencing any industry, especially the lumber trade (historically involving a high percentage of small business operators), that are not taken into account here.

While the lumber product value generated by the United States had been growing steadily since the early the number of sawmills that were abandoned between and is indicative of the general stagnation in the industry (Tables 3 and 4). In an attempt to provide economic impetus, the U.S. Congress introduced an Act on August 5, that allowed trade reciprocity with Canada: Be it enacted [that] ... the following articles, being the growth and produce of said provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward's Island, to-wit: ... timber and lumber of all kinds, round, hewed and sawed, unmanufactured in whole or in part; firewood; ... --shall be introduced into the United States [free of tariff].

50 48Jeane, Donald G., The Culture History of Grist Milling in Northwest Georgia, Unpublished Dissertation, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, pp. 49Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Federal Manufacturing Censuses of the United States. 50 United States House of Representatives, Act of August 5, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 18 This tariff suspension, which went into effect on March 16, gave the needed boost to the sawn lumber trade.

Sawmills continued to close in eastern states, where timberlands had been systematically exploited since the (Rhode Island, New York, Delaware and New Jersey),51 but statistical analysis shows that by the southern lumber states, as well as new western states, gained in number of mills up to (Table 5). Accompanying reductions of percentage change in state product value, generally under (Table 6) seem to indicate the establishment of smaller sawmills. With the advent of the Civil War in the demand for lumber in the North and South grew dramatically.

52 Tables 7 and 8 illustrate a general rekindling of the Northern lumber industry, with general increases in product value between 50% and The South, on the other hand (partly due to the collapse of the cotton industry and economic destruction brought upon it by the war), showed growth of no more than and a marginal loss in total product value for Alabama, Louisiana and Virginia. As Jeane states, the typical miller was an individual who perceived that the demand for sawed lumber, milled corn and wheat offered him a sure business opportunity. Mill owners were thus primarily investors, and often speculators.

It is possible that Silas and Lucy Read, responding to the increased need for sawn lumber in the new Confederate States and the generally favorable economic conditions created by the Canadian tariff suspension, built the sawmill on the Marcum Branch of Spirit Creek. On March 17, the tariff suspension lapsed, and growth in the lumber industry of the North and South began to slow (Tables 9 and In general, the financial condition of the South during the post-war Reconstruction period was dismal. It was hoped that "King Cotton" would restore Georgia to her antebellum glory, but the census returns for show only one more cotton mill in the state than in By contrast, flour and grist mills increased by three times, and sawmill operations by about 20 percent.

53 In the census, Read was listed as a sawmill operator with in real estate holdings. His neighbors, John Bailey (a 34 year old caucasian South Carolinian native), John Steadman (a 19 year old black Georgian) and Simpson Blair (a 25 year old black Georgian) were all listed as sawmill workers. 54 51 Eighth Federal Manufacturing Census of the United States, 52Defenbaugh, James Elliott,History of the Lumber Industry of America, volume I, Chicago, p. s3 Co Ieman, p. 54Ninth Federal Census of the United States, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL . HAER No.

GA-91 Page 19 Table 2: Data Summary for Analysis STATE VALU1B40 VALU1B50 SMi860 VALU1860 VALU187 AL 524 AR 88 CT 673 i47841.00 DE 123 FL 65 GA 677 IA NA NA IL 785 IN KY 718 LA 139 ME MD 430 MA Ml 491 MS 309 MO 393 NH 959 NJ 597 NY NC OH PA RI 123 SC 746 TE 977 TX NA NA VT VA NA NA WI NA NA SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 19 continued VALU1880 NA NA . - i7.S6 93.es NA NA NA NA NA NA .00 NA NA SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 20 Table 2, continued. Nineteen variables and thirty cases written.

Variable: STATE State Name Type: String Width:16 Variable: # of Sawmills Type: Number Width: 7 Dec: 0 Variable: V ALU1840 L Value ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: # of Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: VALU1850 L Value ($) Type: Number Width: .8 Dec: 2 Variable: # of Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: V ALU1860 L Value ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: # of Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: V ALU1870 L Value Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: # of Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: VALU1880 L Value ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: o# Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: oValue ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: o# Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: oValue ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: o# Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec: 2 Variable: oValue ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec:2 Variable: o# Sawmills Type: Number Width: 8 Dec:2 Variable: oValue ($) Type: Number Width: 8 Dec:2 VARIABLE KEY SM[DATE] :::>Number of sawmills in a state for a given census date.

VALU[DATE] =>Value of product generated by total number of sawmills for given census date. DSM[DATE] :::>Percentage change in the number of sawmills in a state since the previous census. DPV[DATE] :::>Percentage change in the value of product generated by a state since the previous census. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 21 Table 3: Percentage Change in Number of Sawmills by State, ::s D '-0 ~DD -~ I ~D ~e ~D ~D 0 LO ::i::: D D --~ I 0 I co z T"" w ::E ~D D <{ D w E I- Cl) D 3: ca ~D I- D er: D 0 coI - Cl) 0 =!:i: C: <: D Q) O') ~D Cl C: zD ::i= D (U .c (.) I I I I 0 coI g 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 co I.() 'V M N o- Cl) ca 3: E - - - u, - c: T"" co o SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page22 Table 4: Percentage Change in Annual Product Value By State, 0 LO 0 ,..o 0 ~ 0 i-0 0 M ~-ii . 0 o 0 N 0 LO :5 . 0 'V I 5 CX) T'9 ~- 0 (1) ,. ... o 0 Ct'I > ~- 0 z>- "C w ~ ~- e ~- 1-0 C (1) C) C: Ct'I .c (.) 0 0 ~ 0 I I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ~ 0 M 0 N 0 I Cl) ca 3: E - - - O"C 0-" >CtJ-:::SCI) T'9 CX) 'V 0 SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 23 Table 5: Percentage Change in Number of Sawmills by State, . 0 -o N ~- 0 a ;: D - .....I ~ D u. D 0 (0 o. 0 I ~o z D <( ~ lO co T- .!2 5 E ~- ~- D >-0 ~ ca U) ~~- ~- a C: (l) C) C: CtJ .c: u 0 0 0 I 0 I 0 0 I I 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 LO 0 V 0 0 N 0 0 I ~ 0 U) ca ~ E - - - en - C: SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 24 Table 6: Percentage Change in Annual Product Value By State, 0 0 '-0 co 0 '-0 co 0 (9 0 I.O CX) T- Q) ~ 0:, "'C ~- w ::::E 5 e a.. C: Q) C> C: cu () 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 I I 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 N I '*' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 g "If' N 0 0 0 0 0 co 0 0 (0 0 0 "If' 0 0 N (J) cu 3: E - - - Cl. L- O"'C:, > cu - Q) T- CX) I.O 0 SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 25 Table 7: Percentage Change in Number of Sawmills by State, 0 0 '-0 N ~ Cl 0 '-0 t; a 0 I"-- :E a ~ 0 (0 I O~ CX) ~ Za ~ z :C a 0 i ~ . UJ <( a E == ~ z - a -I :s a '-0 cu CJ) <( a ~ u. 0 :it: C Q) C) C co .c (.) 0 ~ 0 0 . 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 "It' 0 ('I) 0 N 0 ..- 0 I :it: en cu 3: E - - - u, - C: ~co<OO SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 26 Table 8: Percentage Change in Annual Product Value By State, 0 V :E 0 0 -o (') s> ~- ::c z 0:: 0 '-0 N z. ~ 8" ~ 0 I 0 o. 0 co co ~ 6" (.) w :?E ' ~DD ii D w. 0 <( i"O::, at (/) D '-0 >' _J~ D <( 0 0 I i I 0 I 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N 0 co <.o V N N ..- I Cl) ro ~ E --- 0..'-0"0:::SO...., >ro-:::sa, ro coo SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 27 Table 9: Percentage Change in Number of Sawmills by State, 0 0 (.) Cl) . ... a CX) 0 (0 ~- ~-z 0 V ii . ~ <t _o ~ ::5 N Cl) z. 0 :a: w. 0 :E$ coI 6. :E . Cl 0 ~- ~a co ~- ~ ~ E ... ~ ~ w :a: t; . - I Cl) 0 =It c:: 0 ,. C: Q) 0) C: m .c: (.) 0 o o o o' 0 0 V 8M 8N =i:i: o ,._ en m ;:: E - - - en - c: ~ co o SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 28 Table 10: Percentage Change in Annual Product Value By State, 0 ~o ~- ~- -g ~- :E ~- 0 tO :5 . ~-- _J 5 <t: C ~- ~- (!)":E" "'o N 0 CX) I 0 r-- ~- 0 CX) .,- Cl) ~ ::s ~-enJE ~ ~- ~- . ~ I 0 ::s "O t; . e ~- ~ w a. C -, 0 Cl) z ,. C> C ca .c (.) 0 0 I I 0 0 I . 0 0 0 (0 I '#. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 'V 0 0 N 0 0 I Cl) m 3: E - - - a. I- 0 "O ::s (.) - > ca - ::s (I) .,- CX) r-- 0 SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 29 In the socially and economically turbulent years following the Civil War, the Georgia state government was the scene of bitter political in-fighting by the Bourbons as they attempted to inaugurate a new industrial order for a "New South." Somewhat coincidentally, Congress passed a routine coinage bill on February 12, that dropped the U.S. silver dollar from the list of mintable coins (in response to Germany's adoption of the gold standard). The "Panic of 11 that ensued, as silver owners and debtors saw their investments eroded, triggered a financial crisis and an economic depression in the United States that lasted until and further stymied growth in Southern industry.

55 By the secondary position of the South's lumber industry to the North's began to reverse, as the forests of the western Plains played out and the New England states geared down from a war economy. Meanwhile, the city of Augusta was expanding its flour and cotton milling and sawmilling industries, which may have made it difficult for smaller milling operations to compete. In the Federal Census, Read was listed as a farmer, and none of his neighbors were listed as sawyers, millers or mill-workers. 56 (This might indicate that the Reads had abandoned their business, but as Reed et al. point out, other prominent millers in the region, including James Kirkpatrick, Henry Leitner and Daniel McCormick, were listed as planters, not mill operators, by the censuses.

57) It does seem possible that the general threat to small businesses by the Panic of and the burgeoning growth of Augusta as a milling center may have persuaded the Reads to close their sawmill and rely on agriculture. It is also possible that they leased the operation to a second party prior to or during the Southern economic recovery of the In support of this hypothesis, the deed of sale for the Read's land to John D. Walker in refers to the property as the "Baker Mill Tract." 58 Unfortunately, the name Baker has not been found in prior deed records. By the drafting of the Hudgin's Map, the reservoir associated with the Read Mill had disappeared. This suggests that the earth and wood containment dam associated with the structure had given way. William E.

Read sold the property in to John D. Walker [Richmond County for Whether sale of the land 55Ibid., p. 56Tenth Federal Census of the United States, 57 Ree d et al., p. 58Deed Book December 16, Richmond County; Georgia, Records Office. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 30 was related to a recent dam break could not be determined, but it is possible that the reservoir was used exclusively for recreation in the late eighteenth century, and that the draining of the lake reduced the Read families interest in the property. The reservoir was not reinstated until some time following the acquisition of the property by the United States Government in evidenced by the USGS topographic map of the area and the Highway Map, neither of which shows a reservoir.

The earthen dam built by the Department of the Army to reestablish the Read reservoir as Maxwell Lake (named after the last private owner of the land [Richmond County Record Book remained intact until October or when torrential rains caused it to fail. CARPENTRY TECHNOLOGY OF THE SILAS C.

Read Sawmill

Tool Development As described by Rob Tarule, "the most widely used framing tools in late medieval England and colonial America were the broad axe, the framing chisel of the heavy-duty socket type used in conjunction with a heavy wooden mallet, the large paring chisel or slick, various forms of the hand saw, assorted measuring and marking implements including the scratch awl, rules, squares, the chalk line, plumb bobs and levels, gauges, templates, and dividers, and a few miscellaneous tools: the drift pin, the commander, the crow, the broad hatchet, the adz and various augers.

"59 As the tool kits of eighteenth century framers and carpenters were somewhat resistant to change (due primarily to the interrelated functional quality of many of the tools), it is likely that most, if not all, of these tools were used in the construction of the Silas C. Read Sawmill's timber frame. Broadaxe The axe is perhaps the oldest patterned hand tool on record. The first recognizable unhafted axes, created from flint nodules, were made approximately 1.6 million years ago by European and African Homo erectus6 . Hand axes continued to be 59Tarule, Rob, "The Mortise and Tenon Timber Frame: Tradition and Technology," in Tools and Technologies: America's Wooden Age, edited by P. B. Kebabian and W. C. Lipke, University of Vermont, Burlington, p. 30. 60Nelson, H. and R.

Jurmain, Introduction to Physical Anthropology, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 31 used by later Homo genuses (neanderthalensis and sapiens) for butchering and food processing until the advent of hafting technology about BC. 61 Metalworking was developed in Sumeria about and the first copper axes bore the shape of the stone tools they began to replace. By 900 BC, axes were forged with hafting sockets, and by the Roman period, the axe had taken its modern form. The broad axe, a member of the Side Axe family, is designed to square logs and structural timbers by shaving off surficial imperfections with short, chopping strokes. It is typically a short-handled tool with a blade proportionally wide in relation to its total length.

63 The handle of the broad axe is offset ("bent" or "swayed") to protect the knuckles of the user (Figure 3). As R. A. Salaman notes: "The Side Axe was one of the main tools of the medieval builder and is still in occasional use, e.g. on the water front, or for squaring-up round timbers in the woods for the saw pit or saw mill. One advantage of the Side Axe over the Saw is its ability to follow the angles or taper of the timber, thus avoiding waste and retaining full strength. "64 The 8 11 by 10" beams from the Silas C. Read Sawmill exhibit marks typically made by a broad axe (HAER Photographs 21 and As there is no evidence to suggest that the mill was constructed by a professional contractor, it is likely that the broad axe used was part of Silas C.

Read's carpentry tool kit, or belonged to a nearby carpenter. Nails The following history of nail manufacturing is taken primarily from Amos J. Loveday, The Rise and Decline of the American Cut Nail Industry: A Study of the Interrelationships of Technology, Business Organization, and Management . Techn1ques. 65 The first documented use of wrought iron nails in western Europe dates from the Roman period. 66 Nail manufacturing, using anvils and specialized tools, began in England in the third century AD. The first use of iron nails in Eastern North America 61Salaman, R. A., Dictionary of Woodworking Tools, Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut, pp. 62 Garraty, J. A. and P. Gay (editors), The Columbia History of the World, Harper & Rowe Publishers, New York, pp. 63Salaman, p. 64Ibid., p. 63.

65 Loveday, Amos J. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, pp. 66 Mercer, Henry C., Ancient Carpenter's Tools, The Bucks County Historical Sqciety, pp. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 32 Figure 3: The Broad Axe (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 33 was by Norse explorers about 1000AD. 67 Nail manufacturing did not reach the Americas until the but even at this late date, the tool kit bore close resemblance to that of the early English. In the fifteenth century, the slitting mill was invented in England. The slitting mill allowed metal plates to be cut into thin strips, which were in turn cut into nails. The system of standardizing nail sizes by "penny" designations was also developed at this time.

An "eight penny" nail, for example, referred to the length of a nail that sold for eight pence. In the early seventeenth century, it was recorded that the settlers of the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies imported large quantities of wrought nails from the London Company. 68 Nonetheless, there was a constant scarcity throughout the colonies which resulted in the frequent burning of structures to retrieve component nails. 69 Parliamentary Acts in England and outlawed the manufacture of nail rod or the construction of slitting mills, but these Acts were often ignored. After a reinforcement of the prohibition against nail manufacturing in the colonies in the English Parliament ordered a survey of all the ironmaking establishments in Massachusetts.

70 They were informed that the bulk of the Massachusetts mill's product was nail rod-- at cheaper prices that the imports. Other slitting mills had been in operation in Connecticut and Pennsylvania since about producing nails from three to thirty penny in size. By there was a sizable American nail industry in the Northeastern states.

The Southern states, however, continued to rely on imports tons in despite the establishment of a nail and nail rod tariff in The position of the nail industry as a critical part of the American economy led to further tariffs in and Ingstad, Anne Stine, The Discovery of Norse Settlement in America: Excavations at L'Anse Meadows, 67 Newfoundland Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, Kingsburg, Susan M., editor, The Records of the Virginia Company of London, 4 volumes, Government 68 Printing Office, Washington, DC, Nelson, Lee H., A Nail Chronology, Technical Leaflet Nashville, 69 70The Parliamentary Act of reads: "from and after the day of June, no mills or other engines for slitting or rolling iron...

shall be erected or hereafter such erection continue in His Majesty's colonies in the Americas." From Bishop, J. Leander, A History of American Manufacturers from to 3 volumes, Edward Young & Company, Philadelphia, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 34 By there were 410 naileries in the nation producing pounds of nai 1 s. 71 Only scattered data exists for the nail industry between and In 87 naileries produced pounds of product. By the time of the building of the Read Sawmill in techniques for manufacturing nails had changed considerably. During the era of wrought nails, nail plates were produced with tilt-hammers, cut into rods of the desired nail girth, and hammered and headed by hand in the blacksmith's shop.

In however, Jeremiah Wilkinson of Cumberland, Rhode Island developed a new technique for cutting textile card tacks. Instead of cutting the tacks from an iron rod, Wilkinson sliced them from the end of a plate. The application of this technology to nail production led to the abandonment of the slitting mills and the accelerated growth of the industry between and (Between and patents for nail-making machines accounted for more than two percent of all U.S. patents. 72 ) The change to sliced plates also produced the characteristic signature of the plate-cut nail: iron grain running the length of the nail (as opposed to crossing the width of the nail). By the technology of the average nail cutter allowed the relatively rapid production of up to small nails per minute or 50 spikes per minute.

An automatic header gripped each nail and flattened the proximal end, eliminating the time- consuming process of hand-heading on the anvil. A rapid price decline followed and the sideline production of wrought nails in the U.S. dropped precipitously (less than 5% of the total nails produced by The types of nails used in the building of the Read Sawmill include 5, 8, 12, 15 and 18 penny sizes. Nails of various sizes were used in the fastening down of floor boards, suggesting either the initial use of nails from another structure or the occasional repair of the flooring. Small railroad-style spikes were also occasionally used to fasten down floor boards. Coxe, Tench, A Statement of the Arts and Manufacturers of the United States of America for the Year 71 A.

Cornman, Philadelphia, 72 Loveday, pp. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 35 Saws The origin of the saw blade is lost in antiquity. Early histories assign its origin within the realm of Greek mythology, 73 but it is clear that serrated edges were being used as cutting and sawing instruments in East Africa as early as 2.6 million years ago. 74 Macroscopic examination of the remains of the Silas C. Read Sawmill found evidence of the use of two types of saw in the mill's construction: the sash saw and some type of crosscut saw. It is likely that other saws were used in the construction of the sill and post mortise and tenons, but no physical evidence of these tools was found at the sawmill site.

(Other tools used to fashion the mortise and tenons are discussed in this document under "Wood Construction Technology: The Mortise and Tenon Frame." The Sash Saw A mechanized sash saw would have been needed to rip down the large 10" by 12 11 beams used to build the Read Sawmill. Evidence of the use of such a saw can be seen on the structure posts, each rip stroke of the saw resulting in a linear cut of about 1/2 inch. Mechanized sash saws typically consisted of a machine-driven reciprocating blade, feet in length and inches in width, held in a wooden frame (Figure 4). 75 It is likely that the Read Sawmill, once constructed, used either a sash saw, a gang saw, or both. The Cross-Cut Saw A cross-cut saw of some type was used to cut the shoulders of the tenons on the Read Sawmill posts.

Evidence of this can be seen at the base of the tenon tongues. The kerf is rather wide inch), and it is possible that the carpenters carefully used a large one-man cross-cut saw or even a two-man cross-cut saw to cut through the resinous pine beams. A one-man cross-cut saw is up to 5 feet long and 6-9 inches wide, with a hand-saw type handle at one end (Figure 5). Two-man saws in early America were up to 16 feet long and 11 inches wide in the middle, tapering to 6-7 inch wide ends (Figure 6). 76 73Beckmann, pp. 74 Leakey, M. D.,Olduvai Gorge, Volume III, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 7sSaIaman, p. 76Salaman, p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 36 The Hand Rip Saw A hand rip saw was probably used to cut the tongue of the tenons at the Read Sawmill.

Rip saws, commonly inches long, are designed to cut with the grain of the wood (Figure 7). The rip saw 1s teeth are sometimes smaller at the toe and increase in size towards the handle. The gullet angle (the tooth angle designed to clear sawdust from the kerf) is 60 and the rake angle (the tooth angle designed to cut the kerf) is 0-5 . 77 Ibid., p. 77 SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 37 Figure 4: The Sash Saw (from Sloane, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 38 Figure 5: The One-Man Cross-Cut Saw (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 39 Figure 6: The Two-Man Cross-Cut Saw (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 40 Figure 7: The Hand Rip Saw (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page41 Wood Construction Technology The Mortise and Tenon Timber Frame The practice of tenoning vertical building posts into mortised sill beams (as opposed to sinking posts into the ground) came into common use in England in the twelfth century AD. 78 Prior to this time, English joinery was haphazard, with posts set at irregular intervals. With the introduction of the sill beam, however, regular post spacing and more complex upper story timber framing appeared. It was this developed timber framing technology that was passed on to colonial American builders.

As Rob Tarule relates, however: There is some irony in the fact that America, with its continual lack of both shelter and skilled workers, did develop new tools and techniques for mortise and tenon work at the same time that American inventiveness was creating the technology which would make the timber-frame building obsolete. Two developments in particular led to the demise of the joined frame: the mass-produced steel nail, late in the eighteenth century, and the circular saw mill in the first half of the nineteenth century.

79 The following description of the method and tools used in the construction of a timber frame is taken primarily from Rob Tarule's "The Mortise and Tenon Timber Frame: Tradition and Technology." The first step in the construction of the timber frame is the "laying out" of the frame on the ground, after which the master framer marks out the locations and types of joints. The tools used during the laying out are the scratch awl, the ten-foot rod, the two-foot four-fold rule, the steel square. Next, the tenons are cut using a crosscut saw and a rip saw (both described earlier), and a slick. The mortises are fashioned using a spiral auger, a corner chisel and a framing chisel. 78Tarule, p. 29. 79Ibid., p. 40. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page42 Scratch Awl Evidence of the use of a scratch awl can be seen on the post beams of the Read Sawmill. The awl is a short length of steet sharpened to a point and fitted in a wooden handle (Figure 8). It is used to scratch lines related to the structural joints on the surfaces of the beams. As Tarule notes, its function has been taken over by the pencil, but the advantages of the awl's ease of manufacture, maintenance of sharpness and lessened likelihood of being lost among wood shavings make it a superior tool. The awl also aids in the cutting of the joints, since it separates the wood fibers to a depth of approximately and facilitates finding the incised line with the edge of the framing chisel.

Ten-Foot Rod The ten-foot rod, no longer used in framing, was usually made by the framer from strip of hard wood, and marked in feet, half-feet and inches (Figure 9). The ten- foot rod was superseded in the late nineteenth century by the zig-zag rule and the twentieth century steel tape (used in balloon framing), but its greater mass and stability made it superior for setting length-wise on a timber beam. Two-Foot Four-Fold Rule This factory-made measuring device was marked in inches and fractions of inches, and was used to measure the dimensions of individual joints (Figure Steel Squares A framing square, with a blade of 24 inches and tongue of 16 inches, was used to scribe lines at right angles to the edge of timbers, and a smaller square was used to inscribe the details of the joint.

Tarule states that the 2 inch width of the framing square is related to a movement by early American tool manufacturers to standardize their equipment-- most framing chisels and large auger bits from the nineteenth century are also of this width. The dimensions of the mortises and tenon joints at the Read Sawmill are variable, suggesting either that several framers were responsible for laying out the joints, or that the timbers used to build the sawmill were reused from another building. The use of wedges to stabilize tenons too small for their mortise is also a sign of timber reuse (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photograph SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 43 Figure 8: The Scratch Awl (from Salam.an, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 44 Figure 9: The Ten-Foot Rod (from Tarule, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page45 Figure 10: The Two-Foot Four-Fold Rule (from Tarule, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page46 Slick A slick, or ship's slice, is an 18 to 30 inch long, 2-4 inch wide paring chisel with a slightly curved belly (Figure Often used for clearing ship decks of tar and other waste,8 slicks were never struck with a mallet, but were moved by bodily force. If a cross-cut or rip saw failed to produce a clean right-angled tenon shoulder/tongue corner, this tool could be used to remove very thin shavings of wood from either surface. Spiral Auger A spiral auger removed the bulk of the wood from a mortise before a framing chisel and corner chisel was used to finish the socket.

A spiral auger, or twist auger, has a metal body twisted into a spiral shape, and is commonly inches or more in length and inches wide (Figure The spiral form of the body is designed to push wood shavings up the tool's "throat" or "mouth" upwards, making frequent clearing of the auger hole unnecessary. Spiral augers manufactured after commonly have a screw lead extending from the end of the auger that pulls the cutting edges of the tool into the wood. The spiral auger is rotated by means of a wooden handle mounted at 90 to the shank. The spiral auger was also used as the principle cutting component in the "boring machine" or "angular boring machine" (Figure a mid-nineteenth century invention.

82 Boring machines were designed to speed up the process of making the many auger holes often required for the framing of a structure. As described by Salaman, the boring machine was: A hand-operated Machine Auger for boring holes in wood at any required angle. The Auger is fitted in a vertical spindle mounted on a frame which can be set at an angle with the workpiece by means of thumbscrews acting on quadrants mounted on the base on each side of the frame. The Auger- spindle is driven by two cranks through bevel gears, one of soSaIaman, p. 81Ibid., p. 42. 82Tarule, pp. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page47 which can be made to engage with a rack which lifts the Auger out of the hole, when required. 83 Salaman, pp. 83 SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 48 Figure 11: The Slick (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 49 Figure 12: The Spiral Auger (from Salaman, . ~ -.. .. - ~- . . lltit'ltmW~-~~ ':\ SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page SO Figure 13: The Boring Machine (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 51 Corner Chisel The corner, or 11 bruzz 11 chisel is a heavy-duty socket type tool with a V-shaped blade of varying widths. It is either socketed in a wooden handle, or completely metal (Figure Corner chisels were used to cut the right-angled corners of the mortise. Care had to be taken that the extreme corners of the mortises had been sufficiently bored out by the spiral auger, lest the corner chisel become wedged in the remaining wood.

84 Once the corners had been removed, the framing chisel was used. Framing Chisel The framing chiset commonly inches wide, had a rounded or canted back and sufficient length to cut deep mortises (Figure This tool was used to finish clearing the mortise hole of waste wood. If the mortise was not plumb following the use of the framing chisel, the slick could be used to even out irregularities. 85 Description of the Wooden Remains of the Silas C. Read Sawmill Foundation Sill and Flooring The lowest tier of pine beams in the structure lie parallel with the flow of the Marcum Branch creek (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3). These beams measure 9 inches by 9 inches, and are partially buried in the sand and silt of the creek bottom.

An end beam, 10 inches by 16 inches, abuts the upstream ends of the 9 inch by 9 inch beams.

Five inch by 10 inch mortises for vertical wall post beams (several posts still present in situ) were cut into the 10 inch by 16 inch beam (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photograph Flooring planks, each measuring 12 feet long and averaging 6 inches wide, were nailed at right angles to these beams, using square nails and spikes (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photographs 13 and A second set of 7 inch by 9 inch, 8 inch by 8 inch and 8 inch by 9 inch pine beams were laid perpendicular to these floor boards (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photograph and a second set of double (lapping) floor boards nailed down to cover them (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photograph The lapping of this second floor may have been designed to keep water out of the mill.

84 Tarule, p. 39. 85 Ibid., p. 39. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 52 Figure 14: The Corner Chisel (from Salaman, ~ - -- SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page53 Figure 15: The Framing Chisel (from Salaman, SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 54 The area labeled 11 Detail at A" on HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 depicts a third layer of beams used in the sawmill flooring. It is likely that the mortises seen in the cross-beam (HAER Photograph 15) were used to support wall post beams. The raised beam lying parallel to the double flooring planks has stepped notching that interlocks with the cross beam. This raised beam may have acted as a brace for the sawmill's saw equipment or other woodworking devices.

Likewise, the wood brace fastened to the center of the flooring (HAER Photographs 18 and 19) may have served the same purpose. Neither brace is distinctive enough, however, to suggest a particular type of woodworking machine. The area labeled "Detail at B'' on HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 depicts another beam that may have been used as a machinery brace (HAER Photographs 12 and This 7 inch by 8.5 inch beam is fastened to an 8 inch by 8 inch cross beam under the single plank flooring by means of a 1.5 inch diameter wooden dowel. This dimensions and orientation of this brace do not, however, suggest a particular type of woodworking machine. Walls The remaining walls of the Silas C. Read Sawmill are of three types.

The first wall type, located at the upstream boundary of the structure, is comprised of a double layer of overlapping pine planks driven into the stream bed (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photograph The planks are of various widths, between 1 inch by 6 inches and 1 inch by 12 inches. Their length could not be determined in the submerged conditions at the site. The second wall type, located in the center of the structure, is comprised of tongue-in-groove pine planks driven into the stream bed (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photograph The planks appear to all have been cut to 2 inch by 6 inch dimensions. Their length could not be determined in the submerged conditions at the site.

The position of the wall in the center of the structure, and the fact that several of the floorboards and the beam at 11 Detail at B" appear to have been cut off in situ, suggests that the consh uction of this wall post-dates the original construction of the sawmill. It is not known why this central wall was constructed, but the space created between it and the mortised beam at "Detail at Ct" oriented toward the waterwheel area, suggest that this may have been an entry point for the wheel's main axle. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page55 The third wall type lies at the west side of the excavated area, perpendicular to the walls described above (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photographs 12, 13 and This double wall is comprised of 1 inch by 11 inch pine planks, each approximately 20 feet long. The planks are nailed onto both faces of the wall post beams on the west side of the structure. A similar wall exists at the northwest, upstream face of the structure. Evidence for this wall on the northeast, upstream face of the structure exists in the form of nails that still remain in the mortise-and-tenon wall post beams (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3).

The vertical wall post beams remaining at the Read Sawmill are excellent examples of the early American craftsmanship discussed above (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3 and HAER Photographs 16 and Each is attached to the foundation sill beam by means of a mortise-and-tenon joint, a style of joinery that existed since the twelfth century AD and was only replaced around with balloon frame construction. The mortises at the Read Sawmill are of variable size, suggesting either the direction of the construction by multiple master builders or the re-use of elements from other structures. When the exposure of the sawmill remains commenced, many of the wall post beams were in situ (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3) or slightly removed from their tenon.

As the project progressed, the loose beams were removed, revealing the mortise sockets (HAER Photograph The loose beams were then reassembled on dry land in their original configuration (HAER Photographs 16 and One wall post beam and one floor brace beam were sectioned for tree ring analysis by Dr. Malcolme Cleaveland at the Tree Ring Laboratory, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The results of this analysis, which may help support the construction date of the sawmill, are dependent on future dendrochronological studies in the Southeast. Current dendrochronologies are not sufficiently well-developed to confidently determine the context of the Read Sawmill tree ring cores.

Earthen Dam Cribs HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 1 depicts the remains of two wooden plank cribs, probably constructed to stabilize an earthen dam adjacent to the upstream wall of the sawmill. The earthen dam is no longer in existence. The northern crib is connected to the west end of the masonry dam's wing structure and is comprised of vertical pine planks driven into the stream bed. A pine plank brace is fastened to the top of the planks. The southern crib is comprised of two layers of overlapping vertical pine planks driven into the stream bed. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 56 Downstream Debris Field The debris deposited over 350 linear feet downstream by the dam burst was mostly fragmentary pine planks, and could not be clearly related to the upstream in situ remains.

Each debris fragment was plotted with a laser transit and assigned a specific number (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 4: each mark representing a wooden fragment). The data collected were downloaded to an AutoCAD software program, allowing extremely precise mapping (Figure Several debris elements were still articulated, showing notched and wooden peg construction (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 4: Points #7, #50 and and HAER Photographs 21 and These may have been part of the sawmill's foundation sill. Other articulated fragments (Point #4, and HAER Photograph 20) may have been portions of the sawmill's walls, although nail-marks on the structure's timber posts do not support the existence of wall boards more substantial than 1 inch by 11 inch planking (HAER Measured Drawing Sheet 3). SILAS C.

READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page57 Figure 16: Example of AutoCAD Data Generated by Geodimeter Survey. Silas C, Reo_ci S0.wr1ill Outlet of Moxwell Lo..ke Fort Gordon} Georgia.. SCALE 1 tn oh 40 de t e u n l ts SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 58 DAM TECHNOLOGY OF THE SILAS C. READ SAWMILL All the known dams associated with small milling operations southwest of Augusta were built of wood timbers and earth. 86 The concrete gravity dam constructed at the Read Sawmill site (HAER Measured Drawing Sheets 1 and 2) is unique to the Richmond and Columbia counties region, making the structure eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C. Structure of the Read Sawmill Masonry Gravity Dam The gravity dam at the Silas C.

Read Sawmill site is composed of rough, unfinished limestone rubble within a mortar matrix (HAER Drawing Sheets 1 and 2, and HAER Photographs 1 - 9). Surface impressions of wood planks suggest that portions of the dam may have been surrounded with a frame during construction. Because of the unique nature of the Read Sawmill dam within the context of the Richmond and Columbia county mills, it is impossible to compare the structure with other local analogs. The outside surface of the dam was given a smooth texture by the application of mortar to the limestone rubble. Most of this mortar has been substantially eroded and a large percentage of the rubble interior has been exposed.

The sluice gate of the dam, designed to admit water through the base of the dam and power the undershot wheel, is comprised of a sliding steel plate in a wooden frame (HAER Photograph 9). The gate is raised by means of a steel post attached to the plate, but the mechanism for lifting the steel post is unknown. In December, the U.S. Army added an electric pump to the top of the dam, designed to provide an alternate source of water for fire control on the west end of the cantonment area (HAER Photographs 1 and 8). Engineering of the Read Sawmill Masonry Gravity Dam Taking into account the dimensions of the dam, it is possible to determine whether the masonry structure was built to adequately resist the overturning force of the Maxwell Lake reservoir.

87 The weight of the masonry below the surface of the lower concrete apron is estimated to be pounds (assuming 140 pounds per cubic 86 Michael C. White, personal communication, 87Muller, Richard, Hydroelectrical Engineering, G. E. Stechert & Co., New York, p. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 59 foot). The weight of the masonry below the upper apron and above the lower apron is estimated to be pounds. The weight of the remaining upper portion of the dam is estimated to be pounds, giving a total of pounds or 313 tons. This is equated to a "resisting moment 11 of foot-pounds.

When the force of the water behind each section of the 121 high structure is calculated pounds for the upper section, pounds for the upper and middle section, and pounds over the entire face), an "overturning moment" of foot-pounds is obtained. If the overturning moment of the water behind a dam approaches the resisting moment of the masonry, the dam will slide or burst.

The "factor of safety against overturning" for the Read Sawmill Dam, derived by the division of the resisting moment by the overturning moment, is equal to (A factor of safety of overturning of zero would result in a dam burst-- For comparison, a 30 1-high, 20 1-thick, sloping masonry dam illustrated in Richard Muller's Hydrological Engineering was calculated to have a factor of safety of overturning of Thus, the masonry dam at the Silas C. Read Sawmill was designed with a more- than-adequate safety margin. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 60 REFERENCES CITED AND RELATED TEXTS Antipater of Thessalonica "On a Water-Mill. 11 In Greek Anthology, Book 9, number edited and translated by W. R. Paton, London.

Beckmann, John A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origi,ns, volume I, 4th edition, translated by William Johnston, Henry G. Bohn Press, London. Bossut, Charles Traite theorique et experimental d'hydrodynamique, Volumes I and II, Paris. Cardwell, L. Some Factors in the Early Development of the Concepts of Power, Work and Energy. British Journal for the History of Science, volume June. Carnot, L. Principles Fondamentaux de l' Equilibre et du Mouvement, Paris. Clark, Victor History of Manufacturers in the United States, volume I, New York. Coleman, Kenneth (editor) A History of Georgi.a, 2nd edition, University of Georgia Press, Athens. Defenbaugh, James Elliott History of the Lumber Industry of America, volume I, Chicago. Desaguliers, J. T.

A Course in Experimental Philosophy, volume II, London. Fox, William P. A History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York, Washington, DC. Garraty, J. A. and P. Gay (editors) The Columbia History of the World. Harper & Rowe Publishers, New York. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 61 Hindle, Brooke America's Wooden Age: Aspects of its Early Technology, Sleepy Hollow Restorations, Tarrytown, New York. Houghton,? Houghton's Husbandry and Trade Improved, volume Ill, London. Jeane, Donald G. nd The Culture History of Grist Milling in Northwest Georgia, Unpublished Dissertation, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Leakey, M. D. Olduvai Gorge, Volume III. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Mascart, J.

La Vie et Les Travaux du Chevalier Jean-Charles de Borda. Unknown press, Lyon, Muller, Richard Hydroelectrical Engineering, G. E. Stechert & Co., New York. National Park Service Historic American Engineering Record, Field Instructions. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. Historic American Buildings Survey Guidelines for Preparing Written Historical and Descriptive Data. National Park Service, Southeast Region, Atlanta. Historic American Engineering Record Guidelines for Preparing Written Historical and Descriptive Data. National Park Service, Southeast Region, Atlanta. Photographic Specifications: Historic American Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering Record. National Park Service, Southeast Region, Atlanta. HABS/HAER Standards.

National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No. GA-91 Page 62 Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Records: Preparing Documentation for Transmittal to the Library of Congress. National Park Service, Southeast Region, Atlanta. Needham, J. (with collaboration of Wang Ling) Science and Civilization in China, volume 4, Part 2, Cambridge University Press, London. Nelson, H. and R. Jurmain Introduction to Physical Anthropology, 4th edition. West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Peterson, C. E. "Sawdust Trail." Association for Preservation Technology Bulletin, volume 5, Number 2, Association for Preservation Technology, New York. Reed, Mary Beth, J. W. Joseph and Rita F.

Elliott Historic Milling on Sandy Run and Spirit Creeks, Fort Gordon, Richmond County, Georgia. Submitted to Gulf Engineers and Consultants, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Reti, L. "The Problem of Prime Movers." In Leonardo da Vinci-- Technologist, edited by L. Reti and B. Dibner, Burntly Library Publications No. 25, Norwalk. Reynolds, T. S. Stronger Than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Salaman, R. A. Dictionary of Woodworking Tools. Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut. Smeaton,J. An Experimental Enquiry concerning the natural Powers of Water and Wind to turn Mills, and other Machines, depending on a circular Motion. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Volume LI, London. SILAS C. READ SAWMILL HAER No.

GA-91 Page 63 Smith, Norman A. F. "The Water Turbine and its Name." In History of Technology, Second Annual Volume, edited by A. Rupert Hall and Norman Smith, Mansell Press, London. Strabo Geography. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones, volume 5, London, Tarule, Rob "The Mortise and Tenon Timber Frame: Tradition and Technology." In Tools and Technologies: America's Wooden Age, edited by P. B. Kebabian and W. C. Lipke, University of Vermont, Burlington. Vitruvius Pollio De Architectura. Edited from the Harleian manuscript translated by Frank Granger, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. ADDENDUM TO: HAER GA-91 SILAS C.

READ SAWMILL GA-91 Outlet of Maxwell Lake near North Range Road Fort Gordon H Richmond County Georgia REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 100 Alabama St. NW Atlanta, GA