Cass County, Indiana - Chapter 16, 1913

Old Water Mills

This is an age of progress and development ; yes, the world from time immemorial has been moving forward and upward in all lines of human endeavor and in the scale of civilization. Nothing shows up the progress and the changed conditions in Cass county more than a retrospect of the old lAills of the county.

The artist from the dawn of history has sketched the ''Old Mill;" poets have written and sung of it. The old mills of Holland are picturesque and interesting to the civilized world, so the old mills of Cass county present a subject of intense interest, not only to those who can remember them, but also to the younger generation, to show the contrast between the methods of doing things then and now, and the causes producing these changes.

When the country was first settled in 1825 or '26 there was not a mill or a factory within a hundred miles, and if there had been there were no roads to lead to them and the first thing the pioneer did was to erect a mill on some river or creek to grind his com and saw his lumber to build his houses and other buildings. At some time in the earlier history of the county there have been constructed between fifty and sixty different water power mills within the limits of Cass county, whilst today there are only two flour mills in th^ county being propelled by water, the underwear factory and the city water works. There are several reasons for this change. The rivers and streams that formerly had sufficient water to run mills today are dried up or have only an intermittent flow. The county has been drained by ditches and tiling , until the water from the heaviest rains runs off rapidly and then the stream is dry or only a small flow of water not sufficient to turn a mill. Today there is not sufficient volume of water to make it profitable to run mills on any of th^ streams of the county except Wabash and Eel rivers ; all others are of no avail for power purposes and these two rivers have not the constant volume of former days. The new roller process of making flour has driven out the small mills of the country and concentrated the milling business on the large streams and centers of trade. Again, our roads have been so improved that farmers can travel longer distances to the larger towns, which either have mills or the merchants can eaadly purchase all supplies which can be -readily shipped on our network of railroads and trolley cars to any point desired and the days of going to mill and sitting around waiting your turn, and some times two or three days, to get your "grist," at the old grist mill, have passed Into *' innocuous desuetude." Again, the land has been cleared and. stripped of its forest growth and there are no more logs to haul to the saw mill, hence no demand for saw mills and they have all disappeared before the march of progress.

In pioneer days every neighborhood had its saw and grist mill, located on the banks of a small creek, often so small that there was not suflSeient water to run the mill all the time, so they would exhaust the storage basin of water in the mill pond in a few hours and then would wait for the pond to refill from the small flowing creek and thus they were content to run the little mill intermittently. All this has been brought about by clearing and draining the land, improvement in roads and methods of transportation, inventions of new and improved machinery, and the concentration of power and effort in the great centers of manufacturing, made possible by the railroads and cheap and rapid transportation from point to point. The era of steam and electricity has largely supplanted the old water mill, especially on the small and inconstant streams.

It will be of interest to record and make mention of all the old mills of the county, which we will now do, taking them up by townships, beginning with those in Eel township.

The first mill in Cass county was erected in 1828 by* Gen. John Tipton, on the south bank of Eel river, east of Sixth street. This was a saw mill, but he soon added a com cracker and the following year a flouring mill. This was the predecessor of the old ''Forest Mill,'' which was built later at or near the same place, so that the ** Forest Mill" may be said to be the first flouring mill to be erected in Cass county. It received its name from John Forest, who operated it for many years and whose daughter, Mrs. F. H. Thomas, still lives in Galveston, Indiana.

For a few years this was the only grist mill in all this section of country and was patronized far and wide. In the later thirties Tipton sold out to Hamilton and Taber and several parties rented the mill and operated it until about 1846, when Beach and Cecil bought it and James Wilson was employed by them as a clerk. In 1857 Mr. Beach sold out to Wilson and the mill was operated for many years under the firm name of Cecil and Wilson. Soon after Mr. Cecil took up his residence in New York and made that the market for the disposal of the product of the mill, while Mr. Wilson exercised personal supervision in the management of the mill, and for many years this was the largest flouring mill in the county and made extensive shipments of flour to the eastern market. In 1875 the city purchased the mill and water power, paying therefor $40,000 and utilized the river in running the city water works, but the surplus water was still used in operating the Forest Mill, which was leased to Mr. Wilson and later to Ed Bucher and the mill continued to be operated, although not so extensively as formerly, until 1895, when it was torn down, the mill race filled up as far as Eighth street, Bringhurst street laid out on its bed, the ground platted and sold for building lots. The site of the old Forest Mill is now occupied by the public playground on the east side of Sixth street and south bank of Eel river and the old Forest Mill, for seventy years a familiar landmark in Logansport, has disappeared forever and only exists as a reminiscence in the waning memory of the old pioneers and the recorded pages of history.

About the year 1830 there were large saw mills erected on both banks of Eel river below the Tenth street dam. These mills were operated by John Baker and others for nearly thirty years, when railroads and the age of steam caused them to be abandoned. James Baldwin, about 1856, converted the old saw mill on the north bank of Eel river and east of Michigan avenue, into a paper mill, which he operated for a few years, when he closed the paper mill and in its place constructed a distillery. This he operated until it burned down, August 25, 1873.

About 1862 a Mr. Baker erected a chair factory beside the Baldwin distillery on the north bank of Eel river. This factory was operated by George Baker, Bums Bros, and Flynn, until 1873. It was abandoned when the adjoining distillery was destroyed by fire and the race was washed out.

John W. Wright erected what was known as the Lock Mill in 1849, and ran the same by water from the canal at Seventh street and the old canal. It ceased to run about 1875, when the canal was abandoned. In 1881 the ** Logan Milling Company,** composed of S. B. Boyer, J. N. Booth and J. F. Obenchain, remodeled the mill and put in steam power.

Mr. Booth soon after withdrew from the firm and Obenchain and Boyer ran the mill successfully, making a high grade of flour until the mill was completely destroyed by fire in 1901 and it was never rebuilt.

In the year 1859 Jos. Uhl and James Cheney built the Empire Mills at the mouth of Eel river, on the west side. A few years later Mr. Uhl bought out Cheney's interest and continued the business until his death, since which time his son, Dennis Uhl, has successfully run the mill under the firm name of Dennis Uhl & Sons. This is a large mill, with all modern milling machinery and located as it is, on the Panhandle Railroad, has splendid shipping facilities and sends the products of the mill all over the United States and to foreign countries. This is the only water power mill in the county at this time, except a small mill on Pipe creek in Tipton township.

this mill alone and did quite an extensive business. The oil trust, however, forced him to sell out and in 1895 closed the mill, which a few years later was dismantled.

Wm; Aldrich erected a woolen mill on Hamilton race on the south bank of the Wabash, just east of Burlington avenue, in 1862. Later Willard G. Nash, Marcellus H. Nash and John La Rose were interested in the mill and finally Marcellus Nash alone ran the woolen mill until his untimely death in 1897, when the mill was abandoned and later was destroyed by fire.

About 1868 Raper R. Crooks built a large flouring mill on the race south of the Wabash. Later Geo. Walker, then Sol Jones and Robt Ray successfully ran the mill until it was totally destroyed by fire, December 4, 1878, and was never rebuilt and thus another old mill was lost to the present generation.

A paper mill was erected on the south side race about 1864 and operated by different owners: Sam'l B. Richardson, Sam'l Bard, and in 1880 the Logansport Paper Company organized under the management of Chas. A. Clark. This company improved and enlarged the plant and did a large business until about 1895, when it fell into the hands of the paper trust and was closed. It was later torn down.

A flax mill was erected near the above paper mill about 1873, by John La Rose, to work flax and hemp, but it did not operate long, and thus all the mills operated on the south side race by water from the Wabash dam have passed out of existence and are no more.

A saw mill on the point at the mouth of Eel river was built about 1840-4 by T. H. Bringhurst and Richard Cormely, with a veneering saw to saw walnut knots and stumps into veneering. The machinery was shipped from Philadelphia by sea to New Orleans, up the river to Cincinnati, then by canal to Toledo and Logansport. Later Bringhurst sold out to Mr. Green, who, with others, ran the mill for years.

In 1858-9 James Cheney and Jos. tjhl bought the water power and a few years later Mr. Cheney became the sole owner of this power, which was furnished by a mill race running from the dam just west of Third street, along Eel River avenue to the point at the mouth of Eel river. In 1863 J. B. Messenger rented the Point Mill of James Cheney and put in a planing mill and other machinery, then sold out to Stevens Brothers (R. D. and L. B. Stevens), who operated it until it was destroyed by fire May 18, 1873, and it was never rebuilt. Wm. Uhl, a brother of Dennis Uhl, was killed in this mill in 1866 by a log rolling over him.

During the year 1845 Wm. Aldrich and G. W. Warrick built a carding machine and woolen mill north of the Point Saw Mill near the Market street bridge on the mill race and operated it for many years. In 1853 J. M. Burrows, father of Jack Burrows, occupied the old Aldrich woolen mill for a chair and furniture factory until about 1865, when Mr. Simons rented the building and started a plow handle factory, in which J. H. Tucker was employed, who later was interested with S. E. Howe in the plow handle factory which they operated for many years at Fifth and High streets. About 1874 all these old mills on the east bank of Eel river were abandoned, the race filled up and the ground is now occupied by Eel River avenue and the residents on the west side of that street.

About 1848-9 De Hart Booth erected a building on the south bank of Eel river west of Sixth street, where Geo. Beach operated a *' Linseed Oil Mill," but only for a short time, as flax seed could not be procured in sufficient quantity and the venture was not a success. At the same time Beach and Cecil were running the Forest Mill across the street and after they ceased to make oil they converted the building into a cooper shop and storage room for barrels. About 1865-6 N. B. Booth and Jos. Atkinson built a small distillery at the mouth of ''Prairie Branch,'' on the south bank of the Wabash river, above Heppe's soap factory in Shultztown. It was not a financial success and was operated only a few years. The still was moved to 228 Market street by Mr. Booth and there operated in a small way for a few years longer.

W. T. S. Manly, about 1857-8, built a furniture factory on the north bank of Eel river, east of the old canal, and used water power from the canal to run the factory. Later A. L. Smith ran the factory by steam power after the canal was abandoned and after the death of Manly and Smith, Ash and Hadley bought and greatly enlarged the plant. Since Mr. Hadley 's death in 1907, Geo. Ash is operating the factory by steam power.

In the early thirties James Horney built a saw mill and corn cracker on Homey creek, north side, and east of Michigan avenue. He and others operated it for many years. About 1860 Thos. H. Wilson purchased the property and erected a flour mill, constructed of stone, with an old-fashioned overshot water wheel, which he and others ran successfully for many years. Mr. Zook being the last party to operate it, which was permanently closed in 1892 and soon after was torn down. This was a typical and picturesque old mill, located on an embankment of the creek and the dam caused the waters of the mill pond to back up to the Michigan avenue crossing of Horney creek.

In 1906 the Logansport Underwear Company erected the present knitting factory, a frame building, to manufacture underwear, at the Point near the mouth of Eel river. This factory is fitted up with the latest and most improved knitting machinery and is doing a prosperous business. The power is furnished by an eflScient turbine water wheel of the latest pattern and certainly shows a great improvement and advancement in the economy and efficiency of water wheels between this, the last and latest power wheel, and the first undershot and overshot water wheels constructed by General Tipton in 1828.

will be noticed elsewhere, Uhl's mill and the Domestic Knitting Factory at the mouth of Eel river and the Pipe Creek Mill are the only places in the county where water power is being utilized today; all the other power sites have been abandoned from causes heretofore stated.

The first dam in Cass county was built across Eel river about one hundred and fifty feet above the present Tenth street dam, by General Tipton, in 1828. It was at first constructed of brush, round logs and stone, as there were no sawmills within a hundred miles of Logansport at that day. It was later made more substantial by sawed timber and continued to do duty until 1857, when Hamilton and Taber, who had in the meantime bought the water power erected the old wooden dam opposite Tenth street. Although this old dam has been repaired since its erection, yet it remained practically the same structure as originally built in 1857 until recently replaced.

boss of the workmen, and Theodore Lincoln was the engineer. The workmen were hired by the day. Forg, Date and Rufus Campbell, Alex Cooper, Matt Schneeberger and Chris Jeannerette were employed on the work, all of whom are now dead except the two latter, who are still residents of our city.

The lumber used in building this old dam was sawed at a mill that then stood on the north bank of Eel river opposite the water works, and a part of it at a mill that then occupied the site of the present electric light plant. J'his wooden dam was replaced in the fall of 1911, by the present cement or concrete dam, the first and only dam of the kind ever built in the county, the total cost being $12,147.25.

The old dam across Eel river below Third street was built in 1835 by John Tipton, William F. Peterson and E. H. Lytic. Abraham Qraffls, father of William M. Graffis, being the contractor, who did the work.

In 1858, Cheney and Uhl bought the water power on the west side of the river and built the Uhl flouring mill at the mouth of Eel river. In 1864 they purchased the power on the east side of the river, and in 1866 divided the power, UTil taking the west side and Cheney the east side power. In 1875 the Uhls bought the power on the east side and since that date have controlled the entire water power of the lower Eel river dam. In 1897-8 the Uhls built the present dam near the mouth of Eel river and tore out the old dam that was constructed just before the Third street bridge in 1835.

The dam in the Wabash river above town was built by Hamilton and Taber in 1856. William Lincoln was the engineer and overseer of the work, which was done by the day. Hamiltons and Tabers still control this water power, but it is not now utilized and has not been for many years, as the mills on the south side race were burned down and never rebuilt. The old dam, however, has weathered the floods of many years, furnishing boating facilities to the summer residents along the river banks until the extraordinary heavy ice in the spring of 1912 carried out a large section of this dam, and it has not been rebuilt, and probably will not be until the power is utilized.

Conrad Martin, about 1832, erected a brush dam across Eel river at Adamsboro, near the present mill. This was washed out in a few years and a new wooden dam was built in the same place. This served for years, but was washed out about 1856-7 and in 1858 the Kendall brothers built the present dam some distance up the river from the old dam, which still stands although badly damaged by the floods and heavy ice in the winter of 1912.

Wasted Power. - Dennis Uhl, who is authority on water power of Cass county, says that there are good water power sites at Broflid Bipple and Spencer Park on Eel river above Logansport; also on the Wabash river near the Country Club above town and at Cedar Palls, this side of Georgetown and near Long-Cliff Asylum; these, with the present Wabash dam, making four good water power sites on the Wabash river, and the two unimproved sites on Eel river making six available power sites near Logansport that are unused and wasted, yet capable of developing hundreds of horse power that could be readily transmitted by electricity to run factories in our city or elsewhere.

Not as a matter of local history, but as of general interest, we will mention the largest dam ever constructed in the world up to this time, this is the ** Assouan Dam'' on the ** Upper Nile.'' It is 130 feet in height, and stores 1,000,000,000 tons of water. Wheij we speak of the storage capacity of dams it has generally been reckoned in gallons, but to do so in this case would tax the mathematician brain to make the enumeration, so the capacity of this, the world's largest dam, is reckoned in tons. It was years in building and was just completed and put into use December 24, 1912, and now the Nile valley can be irrigated the entire year.