Millwright

The mill only earns while the wheel turns, and the millwright is why it turns. You own the machinery and the water: wheel, gears, race, and pond, through flood and drought.

The work

• Replace gear-teeth and true the shaft before they fail, not after.
• Mend the flume and keep the race sound.
• Manage the pond through flood and drought.
• Own the maintenance calendar and the timber and iron stores.

Context

• Reports to the master miller.
• Three-man crew; the machinery is yours alone.
• Pay is £30–42 New York currency per annum (~$75–105 in silver dollars).
• In-person, and occasionally in the water at short notice, in whatever season it happens.

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

• Skilled with both timber and iron.
• Has kept working machinery alive — mill, forge, or shipyard all count.
• Comfortable in cold water at short notice.

Not a fit if you want to be called only after something breaks.

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.