Thomas Jefferson Papers
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Alexander Hepburn’s List of Materials for Work at Poplar Forest [ca. 8 October 1819]

Alexander Hepburn’s List of Materials for Work at Poplar Forest

[ca. 8 Oct. 1819]

Bill of Huing for Gris Mill

to 2 Sills 18 feet long 12 by 14

to 2 D1 11 feet long 12 by 14

to 2 D 11 feet long 10 by 10

to 2 Mealbeems 18 feet long 11 by 18

to 3 Posts 8 feet long 11 by 14

to 3 D 8 feet long 11 by 12

to 2 D 9 feet long 10 by 10

to 2 D 14 feet long 10 by 10

to 1 Spursill 8 feet long 10 by 15

to 2 D 8 feet long 10 by 10

to 2 Headbloks 4 feet long 12 by 17

to 6 Braces 7 feet long 7 by 8

to 1 Bridg tree 11 feet long 10 by 12

to 1 Shaft 18 feet long 27 Inchs in Diameter 16 Squre

to 1 D  9 feet long 20 I in Diam 12 Squre

Machein

to 1 Shaft 12 feet long 20 Inchs in Diam 16 Squre

to 1 D 16 feet long 18 Inchs in Diamete 12 Squre

Huing for Penstock

to 5 Sills 18 feet long 13 by 15 White Oak–
to 2 Sills 24 feet long 13 by 15
to 3 Caps 18 feet long 12 by 12
to 4 Posts 8 feet long 15 by 15
to 10 Posts 8 feet long 10 by 12
to 6 Braces 8 feet long 7 by 9

Bill for Gris Mill

to 9 Cants 12 feet long 5 by 17 } to be Sesod
to 9 Facing 10 feet long 4 by 16
to 5 Armes2 11 feet long 4 by 14
to 4 Armes3 10 feet long 4 by 12
to 12 Planks 12 feet long 2 by 14

to4 9 Shrouds5 13 feet long 4 by 17

to 9 Armes6 15 feet long 4 by 10

to 18 Buckitplank 16 feet long 1⅛ by 17

to 18 Soling plank 16 feet long 1¼ by 14

to 18 Elbopeices 16 feet long 3 by 2½

to 400 of Plank 14 feet long 1½ by 12

Bill for Wheet Machein

to 5 Cants 14 feet long 4½ by 17

to 5 Facing 11 feet long 3½ by 17

to 3 Cants 11 feet long 3½ by 15

to 3 Facing 8 feet long 3 by 12

to 5 Armes 12 feet long 3½ by 127

to 3 Armes 6 feet long 3½ by 10

to 1 Drumshaft 10 feet long 13 by 13 Black Gum

to 2 Feeders 7 feet long 9 by 9 Post Oak

for Saw Mill

to 6 Way peces 14 feet long 5 by 6

to 3 Cants 12 feet long 4½ by 12 Oak

to 15 Buckets 8 feet long 1½ by 5 Oak

for Gris Mill

to 190 Cogs 16 Inchs long 4½ by 3½

to 70 Rounds 19 Inchs long 3 by 3.8

for Machene

to 220 Cogs 14 Inchs long 4 by 3

to 60 Cogs 12 Inchs long 3 by 2½

MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 235:42192–3); in Hepburn’s hand, with notations in TJ’s hand as indicated below; undated; endorsed by TJ as “Mr Hepburn’s bill of scantling,” with his additional note beneath endorsement:

“for  gristmill breast wheel ( 14.f diam.
5 f. wide
Sawmill. flutter wheel ( 27.I. diam.
8.f. wide
threshing machine for 1. horse.
   mr Clay’s”.

This list of materials may be the one mentioned in Joel Yancey to TJ, 8 Oct. 1819.

Meal-beams (mealbeems) are horizontal timbers in the wooden frames encasing the gearing mechanism of millstones. A bridge-tree (bridg tree) is an adjustable beam that supports the spindle of a movable millstone, and caps are the horizontal beams joining the tops of vertical timber posts. Waterwheels are covered with wooden shrouds and lined (soled) with thin wood from soling planks. Wale pieces (way peces) are horizontal wooden bars used to brace those placed vertically (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 ; Oliver Evans, The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide [5th ed., Philadelphia, 1826], 99, 158, 228, 327, and plates VI and XXVIII; Charles W. Wade and Gerald L. Jubb, “Operations Manual for the McCormick Grist Mill, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station,” Information Series 99 [1999]: 4–6).

1Here and below, “D” presumably stands for “Ditto.”

2TJ here interlined “may be of oak.”

3TJ here interlined “may be oak.”

4To left of this line and encompassing following four lines, TJ drew a brace and added the notation oriented perpendicularly in margin: “these 5. articles may be left for the last to be sawed by our own saw mill.”

5Manuscript: “Srouds.” TJ here interlined “may be oak.”

6TJ here interlined “may be oak.”

7To right of this line and encompassing line below, TJ drew a brace and added the notation: “may be oak, or pine.”

8To right of this line TJ added the notation: “hiccory. not taking more than 3. cuts from a tree.”

Index Entries

  • agriculture; threshing machines search
  • building materials; black gum search
  • building materials; hickory search
  • building materials; oak search
  • building materials; pine search
  • building materials; plank search
  • Clay, Mr. (of Campbell Co.); mills of search
  • Hepburn, Alexander; as millwright search
  • Hepburn, Alexander; List of Materials for Work at Poplar Forest search
  • Hepburn, Alexander; repairs machines search
  • horses; and threshing machines search
  • machines; threshing search
  • mills; construction of search
  • mills; grist search
  • mills; stones for search
  • mills; waterwheels for search
  • Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); mills at search
  • Poplar Forest (TJ’s Bedford Co. estate); threshing machine at search
  • sawmills; at Poplar Forest search