John Bailey's Mill

I had been looking for a stone burr grist mill for some time.  Though
I had run across several over the years, they were either too expensive
or not for sale.  Several engine collector friends of mine knew I was
looking for a mill.  One night the phone rang.  It was Nicholas
Bettevy.  He told me that he had recently acquired a mill and it was
mine if I wanted it.  He lives about two and a half hours from me.
A couple weekends later was a three day one so on that Saturday,
January 15, 2000, I was on my way to his house.  He had acquired the
mill from the estate of a friend of his who had recently died.  It was
a 12" Williams mill.  I ended up trading him a 6 HP Fairbanks-Morse
engine plus some cash for the mill and a 3 HP Fairbanks-Morse engine.
I think we both came out pretty good on the deal.  We loaded the engine
into the back of my truck and I was on my way back home.

Since Nicholas would have to come to my house to pick up his engine,
he agreed to haul the mill.  This happened the following Monday,
January 17, 2000.

Though the mill had been recently rebuilt by the previous owner, I
wasn't satisfied with the way it turned out.  There were lots of
rough cuts, shims, and various inconsistencies that made it far
from original.  I decided that I would go ahead and rebuild it
myself.  The mill was complete except for the bolster/sifter.  The
shoe vibrator was broken and had been rigged to work.  I began
disassembling the mill.  As I began collecting documents about the
mill and talking with other people about it, I discovered that the
12" mill was extremely rare and desirable.  I talked to one of the
owners of Meadows Mills and even he asked if I wanted to sell it.
He told me that Williams didn't make any mills past 1924 and that
only 100 of the 12" models were manufactured.

I'd like to thank Ken Christison for providing the Owner's/Parts
manual for the mill as well as numerous pictures of his mill for
me to use as a guide in rebuilding mine.  Updates will follow as
restoration progresses.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures
of the mill in it's original condition.  In my haste, I began
tearing it down before taking any pictures.