The Water Wheel Album: Page Two
This mill was constructed in the 1780's, and on New Years Day of 1786, the mill began to grind corn and graham flour. In 1790 the owners of the mill commenced grinding wheat into flour. Jeremiah Gritt was the first miller and with William Long, ran the mill until 1810. After that Jacob Sailor and Daniel Huffman owned the mill until 1834, when they sold it to William Huffman, who sold it to John Eppelman on April 1, 1839. John Eppelman sold it afterwards to Joseph Cline, who operated it for many years, and finally sold it to Henry Eppelman, on February 3, 1858, according the the date of the deed. On March 29, 1878, Henry Eppelman sold it to F.A. Asper,m whose heirs sold it to N. Guy Snyder and he, in turn, sold it in November, 1914, to H.L. Gulden, its present owner who specializes in water wheels. In Bendersville, Pennsylvania, for many years, in fact it is said, that the first iron overshot water wheel was built there in 1839, this wheel being part iron and part wood. The wheel ran a clover hulling mill, the clover seed being hulled out on stones, and it was the first clover mill in the county, if not in the State. Bendersville claims also the honor of having had the Studebakers wagon built within its borders, the Studebakers having been first located there, after which the Studebaker Brothers moved to South Bend, Indiana. For many years Bendersville has had industries which have made the name of the place will known to the people of the neighboring sections. H.J. Gulden, mill builder, mill furnisher and make of overshot water wheels, has his plant at Bendersville Station, and for very many years Mr. Gulden has been called on by the millers of his part of the State, and parts of Virginia and Maryland, his work taking him into some of the most picturesque and interesting parts of that section of the country. Throughout this territory Mr. Gulden is well known to the milling fraternity, having installed machinery in very many of the mills thereabouts, and with good results to the users of it as well.
One of Mr. Gulden's specialalites is the H.J. Gulden Wooden Water Wheel, with its improved wooden buckets, which hold the water almost to the bottom of the buckets. Mr. Gulden claims that from this he gets from 65 to 75 per cent efficiency, from which he states that this is the reason that the old engineering text books rate the overshot at about 65 to 75 per cent efficiency, which is a good percentage for the wooden wheels today.Mr. Gulden has built wooden overshot water wheels that have been in use more than twenty years, but these wheels, of course, need to be renewed before long. In addition to the wooden overshot wheel, Mr. Gulden is the inventor and make of the Gulden Round Flour Bolt and other milling appliances, and he is the author of a circular on Fibrous Material in Mill Stock, which will interest those millers who like to turn out the finest flour, and who want to get out of the grain all the good flour and feed that can be obtained from it. His water wheels are wooden construction with their arms bolted to an iron hub and metal shaft. He first began making this type of water wheel in 1869. Mr. Gulden's Water Wheels are found in many a grist mill, saw mill and other types of mills in many sections of the country. He water wheels are constructed in different diameters and with different hub configurations to hold the number of arms needed for those diameters. Notice where the water enters the buckets of the water wheel.
The above drawing of the "Economic Fitz Wheel" from the I-X-L Steel Overshoot Water Wheel Catalogs looks very similar to that of the H.J. Gulden's Water Wheel drawing. The H.J. Gulden's Water Wheel drawing is not similar to that of the "Wasteful Wood Wheel" drawing found in the "Comparison With Wood Wheels" section of Fitz Water Wheel Company Catalogs. John Fitz, the inventor of the modern steel overshoot water wheel, realized the great possibilites of this type of water wheel and devoted a greater part of this early life to the study of its principles and the improvement of its efficiency. So because of that he build his first steel wheel in 1870 with an efficiency of 90%. At one time practically every text book on hydraulics recognized the importance of the Fitz Overshoot with its efficiency of 90 to 93 percent, and mentioned the wheel by its name. Often it included a photo from their catalog, sadly to say, mostly forgotten was their I-X-L Upper Runner Portable Buhr Mill.
Mr. H.J. Gulden's appears in milling journals and trade magazines. This add appeared in "Miller's Review," volume number 32, February 13, 1913. The photo shows a Gulden Water Wheel on the left. The Gulden Water Wheel looks much like an I-X-L Steel Overshoot Wheel that was constructed by the Fitz Water Wheel Company of Hanover, Pennsylvania, and of Martinsburg, West Virginia. The water wheel shaft has an iron master wheel on the inboard end of the shaft. In the photo to the right is shown the Gulden's Round Flour Bolt. The ad copy says the following:
Manufacturer of the Gulden Flour Separator, Bolt and Purifiers, Elevator Boots, and Heads; Also Steel Overshot Water Wheels, Shafting, Pulleys, Gearing; and do General Machine and Millwright Work. Full 4 Reduction Roller Mill Outfits, $1050. Full 6 Reduction Roller Mill Outfits, $1250.
1 Leffel Turbine Water Wheel, 14 inches diameter, nearly new. 1 S. Morgan Smith Turbine Water Wheel, 16 inches diameter. 4 Stands Butler Rolls, 6 x 12. 2 Stands McFeely Rolls, 6 x 12, with Scalpers. 1 Allis-Chalmers Complete Sifter. 1-6 Reduction Sifter and 1-4 Reduction Sifter with cloth. 4 Round Flour Bolts, and 4 Scalpers and Cloths. 1 Smith Purifier. 1 Bran Duster. 1 Steam Boiler, 30 H.P., new; Steam Boiler, 20 H.P., second hand. 1 Steam Boiler, 40 H.P., all boilers have stacks. 1 Steam Engine, 25 H.P., all complete, nearly new. 1 Steam Engine, 40 H.P., all Complete, nearly new.
All these machines are new and guaranteed. Will sell at very low prices to make room for a new building.
Just north of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is the town of Aspers adn Bendersville. The H.J. Gulden's Mill at Aspers still standing on January 1986, according to William F. Foshag, Heishman's Mill, 1206 Creek Road, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013. The H.J. Gulden plant at Bendersville, Pennsylvania, was making high quality office furniture like you would find in banks. They had their offices in old railroad train cars. They at the time had no information or knowledge of H.J. Gulden and his water wheels. I think my friend Bill said their name was Gulden. Thank you! Bill. "It is helpful to have friends in mill places!" Does anyone out there have any additional information on the H.J. Gulden's Water Wheel? Information of such things like company records, plans of the water wheel and hubs, any photos, information about how the water wheels were constructed and where the mills were they were installed. Was there any connection between H.J. Gulden and the Fitz Water Wheel Company?
Return to Home Page mailto:trhazen@hotmail.com
