Powermill in Wisconsin ID help please

[gravel hill]

Well it's January and I didn't get that tower down before winter. In the meantime I have poked around every building on this place including the corners of the house attic....no info or parts found related to my windmill. I have looked through the internet to no avail. I have what i need to lay the tower down so now it's just waiting for spring.... Just thought I'd give an update.
God Bless.

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Gravel Hill thanks for the update, can't wait to find out what the mill is. I believe I have it narrowed down to two Mills but time will tell !!!

[IvanBlock]

Just looking over this thread and thought I'd add a comment or two. Don't get on here as much as I used to. Pestigo is only about 95 mile straight east of me here in Wisconsin. I have a strong suspicion this is a Duplex mill. First of all they were made in Superior, Wisconsin just a little less than 200 miles from Pestigo by rail back in the day. Some of the old literature shows that Duplex was selling a steel wheeled power mill from about 1904 at least up until about 1918. Windy you can confirm that in the Green book. I have a couple of other reasons as well if anyone is interested and can get into those when I have a little more time...

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

I would love to hear your thoughts Ivan. Would it be their Superior model?

[mtblah]

One of you gentlemen from Wisconson jump in and tell us the connection between Pestigo & Chicago ?

[Wayne]

If Ivan has the story it would be worth our time to read it.

[IvanBlock]

First I'll give you the Chicago & Peshtigo connection. Then I'll address Dans' question about the Duplex windmill. Back in 1871 central and northeastern Wisconsin were going through the most severe drought anyone could remember. In early October a large intense low pressure area started moving across Wisconsin fron southwest to northeast. The lower pressure cell dipped into the 29's which in turn caused winds in the 40 mph+ range. Everyone knows what happened that day, it was Oct 8, 1871, the great Chicago Fire which burned over 3 sq miles and 300 people lost their lives. What most people don't know is that on that very same day 250 miles to the north an event was happening that history referes to as the Great Peshtigo fire. As that lower pressure system moved northeast over an area that during the past several years had been logged off and covered with slash from the white pine. This slash covered the ground in places five and six feet deep. Tinder dry, high wind and plenty of fuel a fire was bound to start and it did. As the fire grew, driven by high winds it traveled northeast at speeds of a mile per minute, heading in the direction of Peshtigo. Peshtigo was a lumbering center and had several saw mills and million of board feet of lumber racked for drying. When the fire reach Peshtigo it was imposible to even think of stopping it. Some people survived by jumping into the Peshtigo river and staying submerged as much as possible a couple others were said to have survived by climbing into hand dug wells. That day in Peshtigo alone 800 people lost their lives. Sixteen other small villages in the path of the fire were also destroyed with the loss of another 700-800 people. Possibly as many as 500 more died in outling homesteads that were not offcially recorded, bodies were turned to ash so recovery was not possible. The area burned over that day has been estimated at over a 280,000 acres and possibly as much as a million. Peshtigo itself was leveled in about an hour, temperatures at that point reached 2000 degrees, it melted cast iron fixtures at the sawmills which burned. At the vortex of the main fire oxygen was being burned so fas that it created a draft into the fire estimated at 100 mph. Stacks of lumber 20 feet tall were said to have been sucked into the vortex and consumed. Flames reached a 1000 feet into the sky and smoke and embers 10 miles. Some of surrounding cedar swamps burned for several weeks afterword until the organic soil in those areas was burned down to the bedrock. Hope this was of interest to some of you. Peshtigo was eventually rebuilt and is a great place to visit, if ever in the area stop and check out the fire museum...

[mtblah]

Thank you Ivan , your remdering of the fire was better than Cliff Notes !

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Ivan here are some of the notes I've compiled on this mystery mill. It was put up in 1905. The wheel is believed to be a 13ftr has sail ties that resemble Elgin and spins counter clockwise. The tailvane resembles early Monitor and Monarch windmills. Dan!!!

[IvanBlock]

Dan to answer your question, no I don't think it was a true Superior windmill but rather a transition model somewhere between the Superior and the early Andrew models. Back several years ago I aquired an open gear Andrew mill (head only) and it looked somewhat like the power mill pictures in this thread in as much as it had that shaped casting with the two shafts close together. Now the liturature does not make mention of an open gear Andrew mill but this one had the Andrew style bullet shaped hub rather than the Superior style hub. So my thinking is there was some transition stuff going on. The other thing that leads me toward Duplex is that over the years I've owned, bought, sold, and seen in museum and personal collections hundreds of different brands and models of windmills. Duplex is the only company that I have ever seen that used a pipe for a tail vane pin just like the power mill in the pictures. The tail pin hole casting on the power mill also look very much like the tail pin hole casting on Andrew mills. If Duplex was transitioning into larger power mills I could guess they might have used features that were familiar on the smaller water pumpers. Same goes for the wheel if the one pictured is in fact what was on the power mill, rather than go through making wheel clips like the one one water pumpers they used something easier and more economical, thus the simple angle type clips. To be clear I'm not saying whats pictured is not the wheel that was on the power mill but have learned over the years that just because windmill parts are in the same building or on the same farm does not nessesarily mean they go together. So there you have my thoughts, prove me wrong if you can and I'll learn something new which is always a good thing. Am attaching a picture of a cast iron plaque that I've learned was given to those who purchased Duplex Power Mills. I got this

101_0372.JPG

in South Dakota. Thought you might be interested in seeing it...