# Dempsters

Dempsters was a privately held American company that over time produced submersible pumps, windmills and wind energy systems, water systems, recycling trailers, fertilizer equipment, and accessories. Originally named the Dempster Company and then the Dempster Wind Mill Company, it was incorporated under the laws of Nebraska in 1886 as Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company. The name was later changed to Dempster Industries and again to Dempsters LLC; the company was headquartered in Beatrice, Nebraska.

## History

Founded in 1878 by Charles B. Dempster in Beatrice, Nebraska, the Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company was established to design and produce windmills, hand pumps, water well products, and agricultural equipment. The anticipated market included families headed west to begin a new life on homestead land offered by the U.S. government.(See Homestead Acts.) The Dempster Co. was originally located at the corner of Fourth and Court Streets. In 1884 brother A. R. Dempster joined the firm and in 1886 it moved to a new location on West Court Street, but frequent flooding from the Blue River necessitated a move in 1889 to a location at 711 South Sixth Street. At its high point in 1918 the company had 500 employees.
In 1950 the company facility was enlarged, remodeled and its exterior updated, and in 1960 Dempsters was purchased by Warren Buffett. It was then sold in 1963 to a group of investors and its name changed to Dempster Industries Incorporated.
In 1985 the company became privately owned with its purchase by Don Clark. In 2008 Wallace and Felicia Davis purchased the company; however, it was closed in 2011. In the summer of 2013, Ryan Mitchell and his company purchased the assets of the company with operations in Beatrice under Dempsters LLC. Long known for its windmills, pumps and associated equipment, the company included the manufacturing and distributing of recycling trailers as well as agricultural spreaders.
See also Homestead National Monument of America.

## Products

Dempsters operations were divided between the Pump Division, the Recycling Division and the Agriculture division. Products offered under this company structure included a wide variety of windmills (windpumps), pumps, pump motors, recycling trailers, and fertilizer spreaders.

### Windmills

Because of their prominence on the farms and ranches in the United States countryside, Dempster windmills may be the company's most recognized product. In 1885 Dempsters produced its first pumping windmill, the Original Dempster Solid Wheel Mill.
This wooden wheel mill was produced in both 10 and 12 foot diameter models. In 1892 the Beatrice company began to produce and market its first all steel mill, the Queen City. Over the next 50 years it produced a number of mill design variations which incorporated a guiding vane to orient the mill wheel with respect to the direction of the prevailing wind. These included the Original Solid Wheel, the Queen City, the Improved Queen City, the Dempster Steel Mill, the Improved Dempster Steel Mill, the Dempster No. 6, the Dempster No. 7, the Arrow Steel, the Dempster No. 8, the Dempster No. 9, the Dempster No. 10, the Dempster No. 11, and the Dempster No. 12. (See reference 2) These mills are summarized in the table below.
| Date | Name | Wheel Diameter, ft. | Material |
| 1885 | Original Solid | 10, 12 | Wood |
| 1892 | Queen City | 8 | Steel |
| 1895 | Improved Queen City | 8, 9, 10 | Steel |
| 1896 | Dempster Steel | 8, 10 | Steel |
| 1899 | Improved Dempster Steel | 8, 10 | Steel |
| 1903 | Dempster No. 6 Steel | 6, 8, 10, 12 | Steel |
| 1903 | Dempster No. 7 Steel | 6, 8, 10, 12 | Steel |
| 1906 | Arrow | 8 | Steel |
| 1907 | Dempster No. 8 Steel | 6, 8, 10, 12 | Steel |
| 1908 | Dempster No. 9 Solid | 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 | Wood |
| 1914 | Dempster No. 10 | 6, 8, 10, 12 | Steel |
| 1922 | Dempster No. 11 Self-Oiling | 10, 12, 14 | Wood or Steel |
| 1925 | Dempster No. 12 Annu-Oiled | 6, 8, 10 | Steel |
| 1922 | Dempster No. 12 Annu-Oiled | 8, 10 | Steel |
| 1929 | Dempster No. 12 Annu-Oiled | 6, 8, 10 | Steel |
In 1981 Dempsters replaced the arrow-shaped vane on the No. 12 mill with a diamond-shaped vane patterned after the company logo which was "Dempsters" superposed on a diamond-shaped background. After two years it was determined in the field that the new vane did not function as effectively as the old one, and the diamond-shaped vane was dropped in 1983.
In addition to these many mill designs that included a vane for direction control, the company designed, produced and marketed five different vaneless windmills between 1892 and 1941, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and No. 14.
Dempster Vaneless