Year: 1876

ed close above the sickle with the left
hand The sickle was then ierked with
the right hand, aud the straw cut off st
one cut


After the wheat was bound into
sheayes shocked, then hauled and stack
ed, it had to be threshed with a fail or
tramped out with horses The chaf was
separated 10y sitting 1t through coarse
homemade sieve, and tanning il vita a
sheet. Two men would fold a sheet
once, tnen roll the edges in until they
could get good hold, and then both AT
once flap il toward the falling wheat, AS
it came through the sieve. or riddle,
and the current Of air caused by the
movement Of the sheet, blew the chafi
out Cheat was lighter than wheat, and
when put into water, the wheat would
sink; bu I the cheat would hoat, and could
be skinned off.


The next, and greatest drawback, was
the lack of mills. There were no mills
in the county that could make -four, for
many years In all the South and East
par. Of the county, the wheat was taken
/ to the mills on Raccoon creek. which
were from II to 90 miles distant. These
mills made pretty good -four, but they
were in operation a part Of the year,
for grinding.


Corn was the M, dependence for
bread as late as the year 1910 As soon
as the grain began to get hard enough,
which was in the latter part of August,
it was reduced to meal by grating The
CRATER was made by punching holes
through piece of tin, generally ala old
worn out pan or bucket The tin was
laid on board and punched full Of
holes by driving a nail through il. The
under side Was thus made very rough.
1t was turned over, curved, and the
edges securely fastened to a board. As
the ear of corn was rubbed up and down
upon this crater, the meal came through
the holes in the tin and ran down the
board upon a cloth spread upon the
floor, upon which the end OF the board
rested. Bread made of grated meal was
the best that could be made OF corn
meal in any form. 1t was mixed with
cream and eggs, and when baked was de-
licious.


The people were SO short of grain that
they would often take corn before it was
dry enough to be ground, aud spread it
on a cloth to dry in the sunshine. 1t
was often hung up in the chimney to dry
by the heat of the fire. The bread
would taste strongly of the smoke, but
it was neither unpleasant to the taste,
nor unhealthy.


Corn was often pounded in a mortar,
and the meal thus made was coarse and
rough. Hand mills were!.in common
use, and next came horse mills.


The first mill except the hand mill,
was that already referred to, built by
Daniel Faulkner, about sixty-three years
ago, on the Black Fork of Symmes
Creek. near the present residence of Ed
ward Whit. ] cannot ascertain when
the first horse mill was built When l
can first remember, DR.. Gabriel McNeal
had horse mill at his residence, in JEFF
ferson township. That was about fifty
years ago John Stropes had a horse
mill in Franklin township, and James
Stephenson had one some distance
above Cross Roads, on the old jackson
road About the year 1880 Solomon
Mackley built one half a mile west Of
where Portland is now located, and few
years later William Buckley built one at
the forks of the road some miles above
Cross Roads and Madison Furnace.


The first steam mill of which can
get any account, was the one built by
Asa R. Cassidy, in Jackson township, in
the year lS4l. Very soon after this,
William Trago, father of William and
Benjamin Trago, built steam mill on
the corner of Pearl and Broadway
Streets in Jackson, at the place now
known as the Rankin corner In the
year 1874, Peter Hoop built a steam mill
half mile south of Oak Hill Since
that time, steam mills have been erected
in different parts of the county.