Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
2003.019.010 |
Object Name |
Pick, Mill |
Title |
Mill Bill or Millstone Furrow Pick |
Lexicon category |
4: T&E For Materials |
Date |
Late 19th-century |
Year Range from |
1888 |
Artist |
W. & J. G. Greey |
Made |
W. & J. G. Greey |
Place of Origin |
Toronto, Ontario |
Description |
Gristmiller's tool, a "mill bill" for dressing millstones. This tool head is 28.5 cm long, with two symmetrical working ends (4.2 cm wide). It is 4 cm thick at the middle and has an ovoid eye for the handle. Is the handle called a thrift. It no longer exists. The metal is impress-stamped with a couple of maker's logos on one side, while the other side has W. & J.G. GREEY stamped. |
Makers mark |
Impressed "W. & J. G. GREEY" on one side, with a couple of other undistinguishable marks on the other side |
Provenance |
Made by W. & J. G. Greey, a Toronto milling equipment-making company c. 1894 (established 1888, with beginnings in the 1870s). Belonged to John T. Hemstock who owned and operated the Hemstock mill near Chatsworth, Grey County. He was a great-grandson of Adam Scott Elliott, who built the Sullivan Mills in Grey County the 1850s. The mill was J. T. Hemstock's property until c.1960, and then it was owned by his son, John MacKinnon Hemstock. It is unknown where the stick came from, or when it was first obtained. It very likely was used by Adam Scott Elliott. Last owned by Mrs. Lois Challinor Hemstock of Kitchener, Ontario. |
Collection |
Milling Tools & Equipment Collection |
Material |
Metal/Steel |
Dimensions |
W-1.654 L-11.22 D-1.575 inches |
Found |
Ontario |
People |
Hemstock, John Thomas Elliott, Adam Scott |
Subjects |
Gristmills Grey County Industry Grey County Industries Sullivan Township |
Search Terms |
Hemstock's Mill |
Function |
This could be called a millstone furrow pick, or a "mill bill". Millers needed to "dress" their millstones in grist mills in order to keep the grinding surfaces efficient. They used metal and wood hand tools to do this work. R. A. Salaman, DICTIONARY OF WOODWORKING TOOLS, p. 272 includes an illustration of a fellow using his tool to dress a millstone. This example was used at the Hemstock Mill in Sullivan Twp., Grey County. |