St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume], December 17, 1913, Page 3, Image 3

About St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919

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ST. JOHNSBURY CALEDONIAN, DECEMBER 17, 1913
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Timothy, Jacob, and Elmore T. Ide, Three Genera
lions, Have Conducted Milling Business For
100 Years.
Timothy Ide Purchased Small Mill at Passumpsic, Dec. 22,1813. Business
Taken up by son ana Develop ea irom amau custom rum 10 a Large
Grinding and Distributing Industry Three Mills Destroyed by Fire
Business Removed to St. Johnsbury where Large Tract ol Land
was Developed for Manufacturing and Building Purposes After
53 Years Connection with the Business E. T. Ide Still Actively
Connected with Conduct of the Business.
One hundred years ago next Mon
day Timothy Ide purchased the
grist mill at Passumpsic, conducted
the business until his death when it
was purchased by his eon,' Jacob
Ide, and later purchased by his son,
Elmore T. Ide. who for 53 years has
been the manager of the business.
The close of a century's ownership
finds Elmore T. Jde 74 years old but
still at his desk daily giving the bus
iness the benefit of his long and suc
cessful experience. The thoroaghly
There were no "elevators" In that
mill so the grain was lifted Into
the hoppers on the upper floor and
the flour and meal discharged into
a trough in the basement where It
was shoveled into bags and brought
up on the miller's back and reload
ed on the back of the customer's
horse behind the saddle. The mil
ler's compensation was regulated by
law: one sixteenth of the grist went
to the miller, and the miller meas
ured his own "toll" hence the dif-
Under the Ide Brothers
Meantime the younger brother,
Horace K. Ide had returned from the
war with a very honorable record
as an officer In the First Vermont
Cavalry with the rank of Brevet
Major; but with no business train
ing. It was decided to try develop
ing the mill business in up-to-date
methods and push things. E. T. Ide
spent several months in the west,
working as millwright and miller
thus taking his "degree" as expert
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old Mill Pond (three acres) across
the railroad near the station and
filled the pond, baildlng Bay street
and on the railroad, had erected the
building now used as elevator, also
coal pockets. The office and bus
iness was soon moved to Bay street,
the present location.
In December 1904 the pulp mill
at Passumpsic again took 3re and
again in the morning the water pow-
bor from the time it is unloaded
from the cars until It is reloaded in
to the cars as meal. The side track
will hold six cars and platforms are
so arranged that any or all .can be
unloaded at the same time. The
cars are moved on the siding by
means of a power car puller. The
bulk grain is unloaded with a pow
er shovel, elevated into the storage
bins, from which - it is drawn into
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The Passumpsic Mill In 1865
er was idle. As a mill was impera
tive to the business the mill at Lyn
don was purchased, overhauled, and
In May was ready for business, when
a pulp mill, still adjoining, took fire
from an old building that was fired
by sparks from a locomotive and
again there was no mill and only
small insurance. After a hard
fought law suit, the Railroad Com
pany was obliged to settle for the
the mill, where it is ground, bolted,
and sacked.
The principal business nowadays
is keeping a complete line of all
kinds of grain, . feeds and flour on
hand, which is received in straight
car-loads, and is here loaded out in
mixed cars of any assortment, also
a large retail business is done.
The Coal Business .
The coal branch of the business
9
The Late H. K. Ide
Elmore T. Ide, for 53 Years at Head of the Ide
Business and Still In The Harness
modern mill of E. T. & H. K. Ide is
a creditable monument for a cen
tury's effort but Mr. Ide has still
wider success to his credit. He has
built up a large coal business, has
developed a tract of three acres of
apparently worthless land into an
important manufacturing and build
ing center. He Is also president of
the Merchants National Bank, one of
the village's strong financial insti
tutions. Not only can Mr. Ide look
back upon the accomplishments of
over half a century but he has as
sociated with him a son and son-in-law,
which assures a much longer
term of successful business in the
name of the Ide family.
From Elmore T. Ide The Caledon
ian has secured the following modest
but interesting account of the cen
tury's struggles and development in
the milling business.
The Beginning In 1813
On Dec. 22, 1813, Timothy Ide
sold his farm in Lyndon and pur
chased the grist mill at Passumpsic
and became, if not the original
"Honest Miller," a good representa
tive of that ancient and honorable
calling, and was thus esteemed to the
end of his life in 1839.
The mill at that time was a primi
tive affair,, built about 1789. The
Acuity of retaining the full title of
Honest .Miller.
Practically no cash was used in
the business in those days -grain
was legal tender for "store bills"
for the year If settled before New
Year's. The only way to turn the
toll into cash was to grind the wheat
into flour and feed the coarser grain
to hogs. Then in the winter the old
double sleigts were loaded with
flour and frozsn pork and "hauled to
Portland through the Crawford
Notch in the White Mountains.
Timothy Ide reared 12 children
and left to them a good name, and
very little of wordly goods, except
ing the mill, so at his death his son,
Jacob, became the miller.
Beginning Improvements
He soon developed the "progres
sive" idea and made many improve
ments, putting in the first elevator
and the first burr stones used in
this section and many other im
provements. But not being strong
he hired millers and devoted most
of his time to other pursuits, being
tho railroad station agent, post
master, etc.
His eldest son, Elmore Timothy,
was always told that he was to In
herit his grandfather's occupatiqn
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w" -ill..- I i .
The Present St. Johnsbury Plant of E. T. & H K. Ide
water wheels and nearly all the ma
chinery except the granite mill
stones were made of wood by mill
wrights, all the work being done by
hand on the spot, in this connection
tradition says: "Ike Chamberlin
went up into Squire Harvey's pas
ture, split up a granite boulder and
made a pair of four and a half feet
mill stones in the month of Novem
ber." The stones have long done duty
as door Btonee one at E. T. Ide's old
residence at Passumpsic. the other
at the home of the life-long miller,
Frank Mason.
The mill, mill house and splendid
water power cost him $1,200.
as well as his name, so in 1861, he
donned his "Canada Gray" suit and
took charge of the mill. In the sum
mer of '61 the building and machin
ery were rebuilt and made fully up
to date.
At the close of the war it was
evident that times and methods
had changed. Farmers no longer
depended on their own wheat for
flour. Farmers wives had tried
"York Flour" found It whiter and the
miller eventually got tired of saying
that the native darker flour was
sweeter and more nutritious than the
white western stuff; so the supply of
native grist wheal dwindled and
nearly ceased.
miller. In January, 1866 the part
nership of E. T. and H. K. Ide
was formed and the old mill was
remodeled for the making of flour
from western wheat with up-to-date
equipment. The business prospered
from the start and the brands "Sea
Foam" "Pearl Drop," "Golden
Sheaf," were well known for many
miles.
Mr. Ide recalls that the wheat
crop of the country was a partial
failure and of very poor quality one
year in the late '60's. Before the
next crop came into the market there
was almost a famine of flour in
this section. The dealers dared not
buy more of the old crop because
it was so poor quality.. The only
wheat available to make good flour
was California white wheat freight
ed by sailing vessel in sacks to New
York.
Quite a quantity of this .jwas
ground at the Passumpsic mill mak
ing the best flour ever made in
that mill. It found quick sale at
$19 to $20 per barrel. Perhaps no
other mill,' in northern New England
tried that experiment.
Beginning in St. Johnsbury
In 1869 a branch in St. Johnsbury
was established, first in Ward's block
and then in 20 and 22 Eastern
avenue in their own building. H
K. Ide moved to St. Johnsbury and
managed the branch for several
years, when failing health compell
ed him to spend his winters in Flori
da. In 1879 E. T.( Ide moved to St.
Johnsbury and since then this has
been headquarters. The old mill
at Passumpsic was left in charge of
Frank W. Mason as head miljer. He
had worked in the mill after he was
16 years old and continued there
some 40 years until his death. He
was a faithful employe and a very
popular citizen.
In 1883 the pulp mill adjoining
tho Ide mill took fire and in the
morning all the mills on the water
power were totally destroyed. The in
surance was small and the loss heavy.
The business was at a stand still
with H. K. Ide in Florida, so the bal
ance of the winter was spent in mak
ing plans for the future. As a
make-shift, the coal business was
taken up and has since been a
branch.
In the spring it was deciedd to
build a better mill than the old
one; but meantime new methods of
making flour were coming into use
and it was evident that a new pro
cess flour mill could not be made
profitable here. So an up-to-date
corn mill was built with a ra'-lroad
track to the door. A good business
In grinding car loada of corn "In
transit" was developed.
In 1897 H. K. Ide whose health
had been failing was prostrated in
New York on his way home from
Florida and died before he arrived
here.
The Business Incorporated
Soon afterwards the property of
the firm including the name was
taken over by a Vermont Corpora
tion, "E. T. and H. K. Ide," with a
capital of $50,000. The stock is all
owned by E. T. Ide and his Immedi
ate family, each grandchild being
made a stockholder when named.
Old Mill Pond Developed
Meantime EL T. Ide purchased the
win Tuesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Cochran received
word Saturday of the death of
their aged aunt Mrs. Dickey, in Rye
gate last Friday afternoon. The
house where she was stopping was
burned and she perished in the
flames.
WALDEN
David Corson, who had a shock
last Wednesday is slowly improving
and hopes are entertained of his
complete recovery.
Mr. and Mrs. G. IL Kingsbury and
son Lyle visited friends in Danville
Saturday.
Madam Rock is very poorly again.
Dr. Warren of Cabot is attending
her.
Ed. Buck of Greensboro Bend was
in town last week calling on friends.
Mrs. Orrln Kittredge has returned
after spending some weeks at her
old home in Maine.
The Ladies' Mite society will be
enlert alned by MriTTaylor atTThe
parsonage this week on Thursday
afternoon.
Christmas exercises will be held
in the church here Wednesday eve
ning, Dec. 24. Come and bring the
children.
Orvis Shaw of Cabot and Mr.
Greenwood of Warren were visitors
at F. M. Shaw's last week.
The 25 cent piece was made fa
ous by the American Liver Tablets,
the perfect laxative.
Guarding Against Croup
The best safeguard against croup
is a bottle of Foley's Honey and
Tar Compound In the house. P. II.
Ginn, MIddleton. Ga., writes: "My
children are very susceptible to
croup, easily catch cold. I give
them .Foley's Honey and Tar Com
pound and in every Instance they
get prompt relief and are soon cur
ed. We keep it at home and pre
vent coup." C. C. Bingham. Adv.
H We ate showing our usual sensible
and dependable
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The Fassumpsic Mill In 1884
property destroyed, but again there
was no mill.
Now appeared a new feature In the
situation. Where should the new
mill be located? Of two good water
powers, which would best suit the
needs of the company? It soon ap
peared that the problem was larger
than anticipated. The St. Johns-
is handled at the same plant, the
coal pockets, with a storage capa
city of 1200 ions being situated on
the side track so that the cars are
unloaded from the trestle into the
bins below by simply opening the
doors and allowing the '-oal to run
out.
E. T. & H. K. Ide are also oper
"V
r.
The Bradford Mill
bury Electric Company showed an
interest in the Passumpsic' power
and the village of Lyndonville jn
the other. Family pride insisted on
rebuilding on the old site at Pas
sumpsic so a prohibitive price of
$15,000 was named for the mill site
and was promptly accepted. Times
had surely changed. In 1813 this
site with the "mill and mill house"
were bought for $1200.
Included in the deed with the
Electric Company was a contract to
furnish the Ides 100 horse power
delivered by electricity to the new
mill to be located in St. Johnsbury.
The Lyndon site was sold to the vil
lage of Lyndonville on favorable
terms.
The St. Johnsbury Mill
The new mill was erected on Bay
street beside the elevator, at the
junction of the Boston and Maine,
St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain
and Maine Central railroads. It is
four stories high, built of cement
blocks, on pil8 foundation, a so-called
fire proof structure. The power is
obtained from the old water power
three miles distant through seven
electric motors of 132 horse. power.
The machinery and equipment are all
of modern construction, and consist
in part of three roller mills, each
three pair high, three attrition
mills and corn cracker, eight grain
elevators, bolting chests, magnetic
separator, dust collectors, automatic
power shovel for unloading grain
from cars, Fairbanks automatic re
ceiving scale, etc.
The plant has a capacity for stor
age of 30,000 bushels of bulk grain
and 1000- tons of sacked feed and
flour. The mill has the capacity for
grinding 3000 bushels of grain per
day. (Capacity of mill in 1813,
100 bushels).
With the up-to-date machinery
and convenient arrangement of the
different buildings the grain is hand
led with the minimum amount of Ia-
ating a smart electric mill at Brad
ford, doing a good business, both
wholesale and retail, a email water
power mill at South Newbury and a
branch store at Passumpsic.
The officers are, Elmore T. Ide,
president; William A. Ide, vice
president; George M. Gray, secre
tary.
The president has been at the
head of the business over 53 years
and is still at his desk every day.
Mr. Gray, the secretary, is a son-in-law
of Mr. Ide and has been with
the concern some 25 years. The
vice president, William A. Ide, has
been on duty 13 years.
Naturally the more active details
of the business have to be assumed
by these younger men.
The two millers, George Hall and
Frank O. Lapoint, learned the trade
in the old mill at Passumpsic and
have been with the Idea practically
all their working lives.
WELLS RIVEJR
Miss Tilly John is home from
North Ryegate for the holiday vaca
tion. Mrs. Grace Davis, who has been
ill at Cottage hospital, has recovered
sufficiently to be at home.
Mrs. Clifford of Nortn Haverhill
was the guest of Mrs. J. A. George
over night Wednesday and attended
W. R. C. meeting.
The Infant daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. D. R. Farwell, who has been ill
over a week, has typhoid fever.
Walter Martel and family have
moved to Lowell, Mass.
Mrs. Goodwin was at Horse Mea
dow Thursday to attend the D. A. R,
meeting which was held with. Miss
Martha Clougn.
Mrs. Deming has closed her mil
linery rooms and returned to her
home in Lisbon.
Mrs. Samuel Philbrook of North
Haverhill was the guest of Mrs. Good
We are specializing on Irish Linen Handkerchiefs
bought direct from Belfast.
All linen hemstitched, 5, 10, 124, 17, 25c
Fine hand embroidered hdkfs, 25 and 50C ca,
Nice lot Children's hdkfs. in boxes, 15c box
A splendid job in Fancy Ribbons, 12j4 19, 25cyd
Hundreds of Fancy Aprons,
10, 25, 50, 75c and $1.00 ca.
Silk Scarfs, 50c, 75c, $1.00, 1.75, 2.00, 3.00 ca.
Gloves make a splendid gift for a lady or miss
$1.00, 1.25, 1.50 up to a fur lined at $4L50 pr.
A wonderful stock of Hand Bags, leather and mesh
50c to $10 ca.
Capps genuine Indian blankets, fast colors, all wool,
$7.50 ca.
Linen Table Cloths, round and square, Doilies,
Tray Cloths, etc.
Ladies Muslin Corset Covers and Gowns in Christ
mas Boxes
Silks for Fancy Work, Waists and Dresses
Thousands of Neckties, Jabots and Scarfs
Umbrellas, 98c to $4.00 ca.
Cotton and Silk Shirt Waists
Beautiful shades in Messaline and Taffeta Silk
Petticoats
Ladies' Fur Caps. Kimonas Underwear
Ladies' Suit cases and Bags
Flannelette Robes. Bath Robes with Slippers
Best of all Fur Coats, Muffs and Scarfs
Big stock of Children's Fur Sets,
$1.50 to $120 set
Lougee & Smythe
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