Page 12 - SUSQUEHANNA TIMES
Area mills
by Dan Wolgemuth
There were at least 22
flour mills in three Town-
ships surrounding Mount
Joy: 8 in East Donegal
Township, 11 in Rapho
Township and 3 in. Mount
Joy Township. Most were
built from 1721 to 1904,
with a capacity ranging
from 8 to 35 barrels of flour
per day. Some of them also
had a grist mill, distillery,
saw mill, hemp and woolen
mill.
They used water power
to run over shot or turbine
wheels, and were on the
Big Chickies, Little
Chickies, Donegal,
Schock’s Run and Back
Run Creeks. Most of them
were of stone construction.
Sherers Mill on the
Donegal Creek along the
Mount Joy and Marietta
Pike, was built in 1810 by
Henry M. Sherer. In its
time it ground wheat for
flour and later for many
years operated as a grist
mill.
One interesting feature
of Sherer’s Mill is that the
dam is upstream from the
mill at least 1300 feet. The
open mill race flows toward
the pike then turns to the
right and flows through a
tunnel under the hill in
front of the farm house on
the north side of the pike.
Then under the pike and
driveway into the mill.
There is an open area at
the end of the large tunnel
showing a date stone on
which is written ‘‘Invented
by Henry M. Sherer 1803.”
Postal Service history
As we celebrate the bi-
centennial, it is interesting
to know how some of the
services we have today,
had their beginning. The
postal service in pre-
Revoluntionary America
were the domain of private
enterprise or the colonies.
After the United States
achieved its independence,
the U.S. Post Office be-
came a branch of the
federal government in
Washington D.C.
As the country grew,
new demands were placed
on the postal service. The
overland Mail Service,
formed in 1858 helped
speed letters to the
pioneers, and the Pony
Express, operational from
1860-61 carried mail from
East to West in the days
before the Civil War.
After the Civil War, the
rails replaced the horse as
the chief means of moving
mail. During the twentieth
century, however, an even
faster form of transporta-
tion - the airplane - was
invented. The first regular
scheduled air mail service
was inaugurated on May
15, 1918, and by 1924 the
United States had 24-hour
transcontinental air mail
service.
Modernization and in-
creased speed increased
the service. In 1855
registered mail service was
introduced. Free city mail
service followed in 1863,
and ten years later rural
free delivery was establish-
ed. In 188S special delivery
stamps made thier appear-
ance, and in 1913 parcel
post service was begun.
What about postage
stamps? In fact stamp
collecting is the number
one hobby in the United
States. However, postage
stamps were not in use
until 1847. Long before the
postage stamp was invent-
ed, the recipient of a letter,
not the sender, had to pay
for the transportation from
one mail station (post) to
another. The charges that
he paid were referred to as
postage. The letters them-
selves were sealed with a
wax and the stamped with
a seal or ring design to
identify the sender.
The first stamp was
issued in England in 1840
and as a result a new
revolutionized postal ser-
vice came into being, for
now a person could pur-
chase a stamp and send a
letter to any one in Britain.
The first stamp in the
United States was issued in
1847 and was the {ourth
country to use stamps for
the delivery of mail. From
this time on many people
became interested in
stamps and soon stamp
collecting became a very
fasinating hobby, collecting
them for color, historical
interest, character, and
rarity.
In 1921 the Philatelic
Agency in Washington
D.C., was born giving
collectors a central place to
purchase stamps for their
collections. Today there are
better than sixteen million
stamp collectors in the
United States. Of these,
95% are strictly hobbists,
the 5% are buyers looking
for rare stamps and mis-
prints.
Postage stamps are
printed to commemorate
just about everything,
events, persons, flights,
presidents, parks, states,
poets, writers, railroads,
trucking, poultry, space,
and even more. Stamp
dealers can be found
everywhere, and there are
several large dealers that
can supply the collector
with almost. any stamp he.
or she desires. Of course
the novice should begin in
a small way and gradually
build up a larger quantities
or even to specialize in a
particular kind of stamp or
a particular country.
Modernization of the
mail service culminated on
July 1, 1971, when the U.S.
Post Office became the
United States Postal Ser-
vice, a quasi-independent
public utility. On that day
the new U.S.P.S. issued its
first stamp, which shows
the Service’s streamlined
emblem.
This mill now owned by
Ted Shenk.
For many years there
was a creamery on the
basement floor at Sherer’s,
to which the local farmers
delivered their milk. It was
then separated and the
cream and cheese were
hauled to the Mount Joy
Creamery.
Donegal Mill was built in
1830 by either a Mr. Gray-
bill or Mr. Nissly. It was in
the Nissly name for many
years. It is now owned by
Mrs. Joan Zink and is part
of the ‘‘Donegal Mills
Colonial Plantation,”” his-
torical project. It is on the
Donegal Creek about 3
miles west of Mount Joy.
They ground wheat for
flour, and grist grinding for
the farmers. They also had
a cider press and a
blacksmith shop nearby.
Horst’s Mill, still stand-
ing, was built in 1816 by
Peter Horst Risser. It is a
34 story stone building. It
is on the Little Chickies
Creek about 2 miles up-
stream from Mount Joy. It
is reported that it was
closed in 1940.
A Mill south of New-
town, built on the Big
Chickies Creek in a 3%:
story stone building, was
built by John Houts in
1804. Later owned by John
M. Erb, it was closed in
1922 and was razed some-
time later.
The Marietta Roller Mill
was built in 1814 by Henry
Sheuer along the Big
Chickies on the Marietta,
Lancaster Pike in East
Donegal Township. It was a
10 barrel per day mill. It
was owned later by a Mr.
Kaegel and then sold about
1918. Later it was razed.
One day Mr. Kaegel
walked in his bank with a
package under his arm
wrapped in newspaper. He
came to the window of the
counter, the grill door was
opened, he hand the pack-
age in to the clerk and said
‘““give me credit for this’
and walked out. The pack-
age was opened, it con-
tained $20,000—in musty
5, 10, and 20 dollar bills.
Spangler’s Flour Mill is
on North Market Street,
Mount -Joy. We have no
date of its construction. It
was run by steam power
many years, now by
electricity. It has been ex-
panded and is in full
operation today. In our
time it was owned by J. M.
Brandt and J. D. Stehman.
Stauffer’s Mill at the
Iron Bridge on the Little
Chickies Creek was built in
1750 of stone and frame. In
the course of time it was
owned by Peter Stauffer,
then by his son, Amos
Stauffer, who quit milling
about 1908 and used some
of the buildings for storing
his crops. Later it was sold
to Paul Z. Hess who then
razed the buildings.
The mill on the Little
Chickies Creek at the last
end of Mount Joy was
known for many years as
Snyder’s Mill. It was built
June 23, 1976
in 1818 by a Mr. Hackman.
It was a 10 barrel flour
mill, built of stone 3%
stories high. It was in the
Snyder family for many
years. After they stopped
milling it was rented for
other purposes. Mr.
Michael Nollman, one of
the original organizers of
The New Standard Co., had
leased it for several years.
It is said that Mr. K. T.
Keller worked for him. In
1944, Reist Seed Co., rent-
ed it. Later it was pur-
chased by the Schock Com-
pany and razed.
There are at least two
more mills on the Big
Chickies Creek. One of
them was called Centerville
Mill. It was in Rapho
Township, south east of
Mount Joy. In our time,
one was owned by I. S.
Siegrist and the other by
John H. Moore. They were
both built in 1804—the
Siegrist Mill by Martin
Greider, the Moore Mill by
Christian Hertzler. Both
were a 25 barrel capacity.
It is possible that there
are more mills in this area.
Besides grist grinding and
handling some feed by the
above mentioned mills,
there are a number of feed
mills in our area. Wenger's
Feed Mill, Inc., at Rheems.
Hiestands at Milton Grove,
Agway at Salunga, Wolge-
muth Bros., Inc., in Mount
Joy, and others. There are
alos portable units in this
area which play a part in
preparing food for man and
livestock.
A flag on which we can brag
The Declaration of Inde-
pendence is very important
because it is the symbol of
our freedom. Without it we
could be ruled by kings
from other lands.
Mitchell Drager
Our Loyal Flag
Our flag is truly a flag on
which we can brag.
With red stripes of blood
and blue oceans of tears,
No one knows all of our
ancestors’ fears.
When the battle began, the
British ran.
But we stood tall—though
our army was small.
And we won it all.
Patty Meszaros
I, the Flag
No one knows how 1 felt,
No one really cares,
They never ask me of my
fears
Or of my deathly scares.
I have my marks of pain
and war
Because no one ever let me
down,
I will live forever more,
of this I am very proud.
I stand for strength and
freedom,
I will live to never die,
I stand for liberty,
I will stand forever on high
by Carol Saylor
‘Know what a hard life is
This is My Life
This is my story
I’m bold and I’m true
My name is ‘‘Old Glory”
With my stripes red, white,
~ and blue.
My country, my land
Had danger on hand
You could tell ‘“The British
are coming!’’
It rang like a bell.
I lived through it.
And here I sit
In a glass case
In a museum base.
Amy Biesecker
A Great Moment
When all of the colonies
were brought together, it
gave everyone a new feel-
ing of trust, understanding,
and love. Everybody a-
greed to become friends,
and they did.
Kristina Swisher
We think we have it hard.
Look back, look back in the
past.
Then the present.
Really we have it easy
If we lived during then
Bad battles, the wars
So we are thankful to the
past.
Tom B. White
The Star Spangled Banner
It was twilight when the
Americans quieted down.
And the British were sure
they wouldn’t see the
American flag in the morn-
ing. But in the morning
Francis Scott Key who was
on one of the British ships
woke up at sun rise and
saw the American flag.
Key had faith in the
Americans. After seeing
the flag he started a poem
and decided to finish it
when he got back to the
fort. Key died in 1843. And
in 1904 the poem was
converted to a song and it
was given the name the
Star Spangled Banner.
Randy Roaten
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