Miller's Apprentice

The mill takes one apprentice at a time and teaches the trade from the stones up. You start at the sacks and the hopper and finish knowing how to run a mill.

The work

• Hoist the grain-sacks; keep the hopper fed all day.
• Keep the millrace clear of leaves and the autumn's drift.
• Sweep the floor at close and set the mill right for the morning.
• Learn the stones, the gearing, and the water from the master miller.

Context

• Reports to the master miller.
• Bound for a term of years, boarded and lodged at the mill.
• Apprentice's keep plus £4–8 New York currency per annum (~$10–20 in silver dollars) — you are paid in trade first and coin second.
• In-person and resident at the mill.

Recorded in the parish register of Sleepy Hollow, autumn of 1799.

• Strong enough for the grain-sacks, all day.
• Wants the trade, not merely the wage.

Not a fit if you need full wages now — this post pays in a trade you keep for life.

Water-driven mill on the millpond, grinding the valley's wheat and Indian corn since time out of mind.

Who we are

A three-man crew: master miller, millwright, apprentice. Every farmer in the glen is a repeat customer, which is the only marketing we have ever needed.

How we work

We take our toll honestly and dress our own stones. Work is seasonal-heavy — autumn is the crush, and the crush is relentless — but the wheel turns, and pays, all year. The mill's name is its whole business, so the toll must be honest and be seen to be honest.

Who thrives here

Tradespeople who want the craft and not merely the wage: stone-dressing, gearing, and water are all learned here from someone who knows them, and the apprenticeship is a real one.

Recorded in the parish register of Sleepy Hollow, autumn of 1799.