Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-06-16
MILL HISTORY
OF THE COUNTY
The Tunnel Mill-Built by Robert
Watson in the Early Fifties
Tunnel 400 Feet
Long.
WHEN THE PERRYS OPERATED
Destroyed by Fire in 1889.-Much
Grain and Flour Lost-No
Insurance.
WHEN THE PERRYS OPERATED

Fife McKinlay Kantor in the His.
tory of Hamilton County: 1t is i'm.
possible to ascertain the exact date
when Robert Watson began his tun.
mel through which the river was tc
increase the natural current by &
deeper fall at the dam, but the time
was in the early sos. Watson laid
his tunnel out with a pocket com.
pass; the tunnel was four hundred
feet long and was begun from each
end and dug toward the center
Watson's accuracy in such primitive
engineering may be judged from the
fact that the ends of each starting
point were but eighteen inches apart
in the center of the tunnel. By such
methods around the bend of the riv-
er from the dam to the mill site the
fall of the river was six and one
half feet, and Watson had the priv
ilege of four and half foot dam,
making an eleven-foot fall of water
head and fall together. This in
dustry in it's infancy, was first a
sawmill-later a corn grinding mill.
Lyman G. Perry bought this mill
from Watson in 1867 for $4,000. He
ran it as saw and corn mill until
1869 or 1870. At this time, or about
1871, Gilbert Perry went into the
business with him, grinding wheat
with one run of burrs. This was
one of the most prosperous of early
mills on the river, settlers coming
from Story, Boone, Wright, Webster
and Greene counties. In pleasant
weather or weather not too cold,
they usually came prepared to stay
four or five days if necessary. Mr..
Perry remembers that at times the
river bottom below the mill was dot
ted with wagons; twenty teams
sometimes being in waiting for their
grists. The way to mill was often a
dangerous one. There were many
things to be considered before start
ing to mill where one went thirty
and forty miles to have their wheat
ground. There must be some one to
look after the needs of the family
and the stock at home; very often
this devolved upon the wife and
mother and the frontier woman was
a woman who could not quake at
sight of band of Indians who may
only have come to beg, but more
likely to steal or threaten. Pro-
visions must be made ready for the
journey and for those left in the
home.
Lyman Perry continued running
this mill in partnership with his
brother about nine years. The dam
at this place was never taken en-
tirely out by the ice gorges, but each
spring sections were gone and had
to be replaced. The tunnel laid out
by Mr.. Watson was curbed up with
planks three feet long and the exca-
walton was in itself three feet by
two feet nine inches. It needed con-
slant repair as the fater rotted the
boards. They also added improve
ments from time to time and about
1884 changed from burrs to rolls.
At this time and for two years pre-
vious, they were busy all season. In
1882 they ran the mill steadily for
nine months, Sundays and week
days, stopping only long enough to
repair and oil machinery. Mr.. |
Perry's manner of pay was to take |
one-eighth toll of wheat. He weigh
ed every grist just as most millers
did. He never did any exchange
work, as many did, giving flour in
exchange for wheat.
On April IA, 1889, the tunnel cav
ed in. This was repaired and work
at the mill was resumed.
On November 14th of the same
year, he and his son had been
grinding buckwheat all day. In fact
they had been grinding buckwheat
for about three weeks, but this day
a hot box annoyed and hindered the
work and they shut down the mill
at about o'clock in the evening
and repaired to the house complete
ly tired out. At 2 a. m. Solomon
Dick and his sons awakened by
lurid glare in the sky, fastened to
arouse the sleeping miller. They
were too late. All that remained of {
the once flourishing flour mill was a I
pile of smoking embers. The loss ,
was complete; no insurance was car '