Comparison of British and American Mills in the 1780's & 1790's.
A Post Windmill along the Tidewater, a drawing by Edwin Tunis. Some German post windmills installed Oliver Evans elevators and then later roller mills. Post windmills found in the American Tidewater and England remained basically the same without any changes.
The Old Wye Mills, an old photo shows the old Wye Mills, circa 1664-71, with some of its additions attached to be back of the building. To the left of the Wye Mill is the Wye Saw Mill with the common water wheels between the two buildings. This is why the community is called Wye Mills because there were at one time more than one mill. By the standards of the 1780's the Wye Mill may have been one of the largest, and today it is considered one of the smallest! One of my theories that I may never be able to prove or disprove. I think Oliver Evans (1755-1819) may have visited the Wye Mill, the mill that once was in Queen Anne, etc. when he made his famous visit of mills within a 10 mile radius of Tuckahoe (Nine Bridge) on as inspection tour to see the state of the art in technology of the day. Then he went back home to develop changed and make improvements in the flour milling system. He developed five machines or devices (the elevator, conveyor, hopper-boy, descender, and drill) and an automated flour milling system. He installed this new machinery in a mill on Red Clay Creek on the Faulkland Road, outside of Newport, Delaware. He received the first patent in Maryland, and the third United States patent in 1787. Then in 1795 he published "The Young Mill-Wright and Miller's Guide."
The Oliver Evans Mill on Red Clay Creek, as it looked in 1860. The mill stood somewhat on an angle to the Faulkland Road, and an overshot water wheel was suppled with water from a wooden sluice box and mill race. The mill contained a hopper-boy and several sets of millstones, and other of Evans improvements (the conveyor, drill and descender) in 1785. In 1792 Oliver Evans sold his share of the mill to David Nivin, and with this capital he moved to Philadelphia. Jonathan Evans bought out David Nivin in 1794, and operated the mill intermittently until his death in 1806. His son, James Evans, a hatter, sold the mill to his uncle, Thomas Evans who kept the mill for several years until it was sold to William Foulk, in 1814. On May 9, 1820, upon his death, his son John purchased the mill and operated it until May 28, 1828. Then it was sold to Jonathan Fell, of Philadelphia, who established there this famous spice mill. The spice mill operated until 1867, when a fire partially destroyed it. It was immediately rebuilt . It burned again in 1878, and this time it was not rebuilt. This is America's most historic old flour mill, the scene of Oliver Evans' first practical application of his patent automated flour milling machinery. A portion of the mill's foundations is still visible today, and no historical marker marks the spot or tells of the historical even. If any mill in the United States should be restored or rebuilt, it should be the Oliver Evans Mill on Red Clay Creek circa 1785. Water Mills, Grist Mills, Flouring Mills, and Merchant Mills in the United States, Canada, France and Germany installed Oliver Evans improved flour milling machinery, and England remained basically the same without any changes.
The Hook Windmill Interior Showing Elevator. Many of the windmills of Long Island installed Oliver Evans elevators into their crowed interior space. Tower and Smock windmills of England remained basically the same without any changes.
Windmill with Hopper-Boys, the first wind powered mill of the American type built in Germany is the mill by Breslau, constructed by Hoffmann, in 1836. The first American type water powered mill was built in Hanover. The Fiedler Mill plant built in 1832, and the first steam powered (also of the American type) was built by Renden Hartmann in 1836. Drawing from: Kozmin, Peter A. (of The Polytechnic Institute, Petrograd - Editor of The Russian Miller), "Flour Milling, A Theoretical and Practical Handbook of Flour Manufacture for Millers, Millwrights, Flour Milling Engineers, and others engaged in the Flour Milling Trade," translated from the Russian by M. Falkner and Theodor Fjelstrup, London, George Routledge & Sons Ltd., Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane, E.C., 1917.
Water Mill with the American Type of Automated Flour Milling of Oliver Evans. The mill contains one single elevator, one double elevator; two flour screws in the mill's basement; two pairs of millstones on the first floor, along with three flour bolters; the second floor has a grain hopper, a flour chest, a bolter and a grain cleaner; the attic level has a hoist, a flour screw and a hopper-boy. Drawing from: Kick, Friedrich, "Flour Manufacture, A Treatise of Milling Science and Practice," second English edition 1888, first German edition 1871, London, Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1888.
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