Thomas Jefferson Papers

Enclosure: James Walker’s Timber List for Thomas Jefferson’s Sawmill Wheels, 20 July 1811

Enclosure

James Walker’s Timber List for Thomas Jefferson’s Sawmill Wheels

Timber Length in feet & parts— Breadth in Inches Thickness in Inches—  
6   10  16  4.½ Back Cants for Cogwheels white oak or heart pine Coggwheel, &c. To be seasond
6   10  15  3.¼ Face Cants for ditto.
6   9  12  3.¼ Arms for ditto.
150   1–2  4  3.¼ Coggs for ditto good Locust
8   10  14  2 Plank for wallowers &c white oak.
3   10  12  4.¼ For Ragwheel of heart pine
For water wheel
6   14  21  3.¼ Shrouding of good white oak or heart pine Not seasoned
6   10.½  8.½  3.½ Arms.
60   6  8  1. Soling. of pine—
24   5  18  1 Buckets ditto
24   6  2.½  1.¾ Elboes—ditto
6   12  16  5 back cants } Cogwheel for 15 feet water wheel
6   10  15  3.¼ Face ditto
6   13  14  3.¾ arms
8   14½  18  3.¼ Shrouding } Water wheel 15 feet diamr
8   15.½  9  3.½ arms
60   6  9  1. Soling
40   4.½  18  1— buckets
40   4.½  2.½  1.½ Elboes

J Walker

MS (DLC); in Walker’s hand; endorsed by Walker: “Bill of wheel Timbers for Mr. Jeffersons Saw mill.”

A ragwheel has projections that allow it to catch the links of a chain passing overhead. shrouding: the annular rims on the buckets of a waterwheel (OED description begins James A. H. Murray, J. A. Simpson, E. S. C. Weiner, and others, eds., The Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed., 1989, 20 vols. description ends ).

Index Entries

  • building materials; oak search
  • building materials; pine search
  • building materials; timber search
  • Monticello (TJ’s estate); sawmill at search
  • sawmill; at Monticello search
  • Shadwell mills; improvements to search
  • Shadwell mills; mill wheels at search
  • Walker, James; and mill construction search