GRISTMILL

LESSON OBJECTIVE: The student will be able to explain the social and economic importance of the Gristmill within the community. The student will be able to identify the major components of the mill. The student will be able to properly weigh meal and grits into the appropriate bags. The students will be able to describe the water wheel/hydro-powered mill operation

Workshop Activities: Tell the history of the mill. Explain the components of the mill. Have the student bag and weigh meal or grits. Explain the "MILLER’S TOLL" {1/8}. Explain the difference between a bushel and a peck. Explain the weights of shelled corn or eared corn. Explain about the water wheel components and how they work. Read stories, play checkers, fish in the pond, sweep out the mill, load corn into bins, fill the hopper.

VOCABULARY FOR THE GRISTMILL AND FACTS ON MILLING

Flume or Sluice Way = carries water from pond to the water wheel.
Flume Gate or Sluice Gate = controls the amount of water that goes to the water wheel.
Dressing the Millstone = resurface the stone.
Runner Stone = top stone that is rotated by a series of shafts and gears attached to the water wheel.
Bed Stone = bottom stone that remains stationary.
Furrow = the groove on the stone that is cut by the miller into the stone. The furrows move the corn meal from the center where the corn enters the grinding process to the outer edge of the stone to the box where it is put into the trough.
Master Furrow = the groove on the stone that is the radius of the stone.
Journeyman Furrow = the furrow that runs from the master furrow to the edge of the stone.
Prentice furrow = the shortest of the furrows.
Hopper = this is where the corn is put and then distributed into the millstones.
Miller’s Toll = the amount of corn that the miller would charge for the service of milling. 1/8
Shelled Corn = corn kernel that has been removed from the cob.
Eared Corn = corn not removed from the cob.
Bushel = a bushel of corn weighs 56 lbs.
The Davis Gristmill was built in 1879 in Worth County.
The fish that are carved into the lids of the corn bins were caught in the millpond. The fish are dated to 1903 and 1905.

BLACKSMITH

LESSON OBJECTIVE: Students will be able to identify the major components within the blacksmith shop and understand the basic vocabulary of the blacksmith shop. The student will be able to measure material for the length and perimeter, and be able to identify geometric shapes and relationships within the shop. The student will be able to explain the importance of the blacksmith within the community. The student will be able to summarize the information given to him.

Workshop Activities: Explain the role of the blacksmith in the Wiregrass region. Explain the major components of the shop, i.e., forge, anvil, coal, etc. Have the students measure bar stock. Explain the different metals.

Other Activities: Explain the inventions of the time period. Turn blower, bring up coal, make a hook or similar item. Have students read a story on blacksmiths. Explain the importance of the blacksmith and the role he played within the community and the services that he provided.

VOCABULARY

Forge = a furnace for heating metal to be shaped.
Anvil = a heavy iron and steel faced block on which hot and cold metal is shaped by bending and hammering.
Anvil Horn = the round pointed end of the anvil used for forming metal.
Swage Block = a heavy piece of metal with various shapes and grooves and holes cut into it for shaping metal.
Tongs = tools for grasping and holding onto hot metal from the forge while shaping the metal on the anvil.
Blower = a tool used to force air into the forge fire.

BLACKSMITH SHOP NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

DOMESTIC SITES

LESSON OBJECTIVE: The student will be able to explain the importance of the home in the rural community and the daily living routine of the person living in the said time period. The student will be able to identify the major components of the house and their appropriate use. The student will be able to properly measure and prepare foodstuff.

Workshop Activities: Explain the type of house and the life style of the people who lived there. Explain the differences and similarities in the different houses. The students will cut vegetables and measure ingredients at all three sites: Progressive, Traditional and Miller houses.

Activities appropriate to the station may include:

Making beds, sweeping yards, dusting furniture, setting the table, ironing, food preserving, carrying water, bringing in firewood, feeding the chickens, working in the gardens, seeding cotton, spinning cotton or wool, carding, quilting/sewing, cross-stitching, slopping hogs.

VOCABULARY

Progressive House

 Dogtrot House = originally a "double pen"
Feather Bed = a mattress or sack filled with feathers that was used to sleep on.
Churn Dasher = a wooden device used in a butter churn to shake and stir the cream until butter churns.
Preserve Food = to prepare produce by canning, pickling, salting, and drying for future use.
Smokehouse = a structure in which the meats are preserved by salt curing and smoking.

Traditional House

 Well Sweep = a long wooden pole supported by a brace, with a permanent bucket attached to one end and a weight at the other end, to draw water from the well.
Crane = a hook mounted in the fireplace to hang pots for cooking.
Hearth Cooking = use of a fireplace and hearth to cook the food. The central figure in the fireplace is the crane.
Cards = a pair of brushes faced with small wire teeth used to straighten the fibers of wool and cotton.
Spinning Wheel = a hand or foot powered machine, fitted with a spindle, driven by rotation of the wheel which is used to make thread or Yarn.
Loom = a frame or machine for weaving thread or yarn into cloth.

Miller’s House

 Lamp = a vessel with a wick for burning oil, fitted with a glass chimney to protect the flame.
Washboard = a fluted or ribbed board on which cloths are rubbed while washing, used in a bucket with water and soap.
Washpot = a large cast iron kettle on legs used for boiling clothes, making soap, rendering lard, and other boiling needs.
Lye Soap = homemade soap produced by cooking lye, water, and grease to a proper consistency.
Flat Iron = a tool made of iron which, when heated in the fireplace or on the stove, is used to press clothes.

FOREST INDUSTRIES

SAWMILL/TURPENTINE COOPER

LESSON OBJECTIVE: The student will be able to explain the importance of the forest industries in the Wiregrass region. The student will be able to explain the basic operation of the sawmill, and will understand the steam engine and boiler operation. The student will be able to explain or calculate board feet and linear feet. The student will be able to explain the basic facts on turpentine from sap collection through processing. The student will be able to assemble a barrel.

Workshop Activities: Explain about the sawmill, and the timber industry in the south. Explain the vocabulary of the mill. Explain tree production for the forest industry. Explain board and linear foot calculation. What was the price of lumber? Figure the two to one ratio on the flywheel. Explain turpentine process from tree to barrel. Build a barrel at the cooper shed. Stack lumber, crosscut saw, clean and oil belts, read a story on forestry. Have the students use the croze on the barrel for the head, explain all the tools in the cooper shed.

FORMULAS/VOCABULARY

 LENGTH (feet) x WIDTH (inches) x DEPTH (inches) = BOARD FEET
Clean and oil the belts = this chore was to preserve the belts for longer life, often this chore fell upon the sawyer or the steam engineer.
FACT: Men worked and produced 10,000 board feet per day in a ten-hour day.

VOCABULARY SAWMILL

 Boiler = the steel tank and furnace used to generate and contain steam under pressure.
Steam Engine = an engine consisting of piston, cylinder, rod, crank, and pulleys using steam as its power.
Carriage = a flat bed truck operating on rails used to convey the log back and forth through the saw.
Slab = a crude cut from the outside of the log, resulting in one barked face and one sawed face.
Dog = a sharp, pointed locking device used to clamp the log to the headsets of carriage.
Linear Feet = the length of the board.
Cant Hook = a tool that has a handle and a hook on the end in order to hand move logs.
Pevies = same as cant hook but a longer handle.
Doodle = moving the sawdust that collects under the saw.
Crosscut saw = saw that is used by two men.

VOCABULARY TURPENTINE

 Box Axe = 10 to 11 inches long, 3 to 4 inches wide, with a three foot handle. This type of axe has a more rounded head than a felling axe. A Good chopper could cut between 100 to 125 boxes per day, and was paid 1 ½ to 2 cents per box.
Gum = resinous liquid sap from pine trees used to produce turpentine.
Box = trough cut into the pine trees for collecting gum.
Hack = used to score the tree to allow the sap to run into the box. This was a weekly chore.
Puller = used the same way as a hack, but the puller has a longer handle to use when the streaks are too high to reach with the hack.
Dip Spoon = a flat metal spoon approximately six inches wide and eight to twelve inches long used to scoop out the gum from the box.
Rosin = a by-product of the turpentine distillation process used in paints and other commercial products.
Turpentine = a clear liquid, distilled from pine gum used primarily as a paint solvent.

There are twelve names of rosin:

EX = Excellent
W.W. = Water White
W. G. = Window Glass
N = Nancy
M = Mary
K = Katy
I = Isaiah
H = Harry
G = George
F = Frank
D = Dolly
B = Betty

Name of marked trees. (Called boxes):
1st year = Virgin Box
2nd year = Yerlin Box
3rd year = Chipping Box
4th year = Snatch
5th year and from there on = Pulling Box

FACT: One man did 10,500 boxes in four days. This is called a crop. A tree in the late 1800’s lasted 10 years, 32 weeks or 32 streaks a year. The trees were worked March through October. Trees now last 20 years.
Three hours per run to cook turpentine. Nine 55 gallon barrels of gum produced 2-3 barrels of turpentine, 5-6 barrels of rosin. Trees produced 3 ½ - 4 barrels of turpentine every 2 ½ weeks, 9 cosmetics, 22 of extracts, 3 perfumes, 30 len

COOPER SHED

The cooper assembled barrels for the rosin and the turpentine that was produced at the still. The stave were often mass-produced and shipped into the cooper for assembling. If the grove was not cut into the staves for the top, the cooper would use a croze to cut the grove.

VOCABULARY COOPER SHED

 Cooper = the craftsman who hand crafted wooden barrels.
Croze = a plane-like tool used to cut groves into barrels.
Staves = the wooden slats used to make the barrel.

FARM

LESSON OBJECTIVE: The student will be able to explain about the important role the farm played in the Wiregrass region. The student will be able to identify the major components of the farm. The students will learn why the certain varieties of livestock were kept on the farm. The students will be able to explain the lifestyle of a child of the era and the type of work ayoung person may have done. The student will understand the basic principal of putting mules into their harness and hitching them to a wagon. The student will be able to explain about the different power sources on the farm. The student will be able to explain which crops were grown and their importance; such as corn, cotton, oats, sugar cane, and wheat. The students will be able to properly measure and distribute feed to the appropriate livestock. The students will learn about the various farm implements that offered time and labor saving ideas to the farmer.

Workshop Activities: Explain the importance of the farm and what role it played in the community. Feed the animals, milk the cow, clean stalls, shuck corn, shell corn, clean harness, cross-cut saw, play horseshoes. Work in corn, cane, cotton fields, with plows, planters, distributors when seasonally appropriate. Read story on farming. Explain that humans and animals did the work on the farm. Explain that the animals received their energy from the feeds that they ate, such as corn, hay, and oats.

VOCABULARY

Mule = a hybrid cross; a horse and a donkey.
Ewe = female sheep.
Ram = male sheep.
Boar = male pig.
Sow = female pig.
Plow = to cut, lift, and turn the soil.
Wagon = four wheeled vehicle used to carry loads – usually pulled by horse, mule, or oxen.
Crops = agricultural products which are grown and harvested on the farm .
Livestock = domestic animals kept for use on the farm or raised for sale and profit.
Barn = a building for storing farm produce and stabling livestock.
Harrow = to pulverize the ground for preparation of seed.
Shelled Corn = corn kernel removed from the cob.
A bushel of corn weighs 56 lbs.
Explain parts of harness: hame, reins, trace chains.

COTTON

With cotton being the major cash crop of the region during the 1890 – 1900 time period, it is important that all interpreters incorporate the cotton culture into the workshop program. The section that will proceed has been written so that all interpreters will be able to use the information in their workshop group.

The type of cotton that was mostly grown in this area was of the upland variety. More than one hundred different varieties were around at the time. The upland cotton varieties are shorter fiber cotton than the Sea Island cotton.

The acreage of cotton grown was often determined by the amount of cotton that was needed to offset a debt, and to give the farmer enough money for operating expenses during the year. Cotton was planted in the spring, between March 15 and April 15. The picking of the cotton would begin late July or early August. The plants would be picked when they were " In Lint". (In lint is when the cotton boll has opened ) The farmer and family would pick until there was too much for his small work force to handle. The farmer would hire a picker for the peak season. The pickers were expected to pick a minimum of fifty pounds a day. If the seed was still green, the pickers could pick as much as one hundred pounds per day. Once the peak season was over, the farmer and his help or family members would pick what was left until the " Black Frost" came. The frost would normally come around November or December.

The harvested seed cotton was stored in the seed house until there was enough cotton for a bale. During the late 1860’s and 1870’s, an increase in public gins in the South helped the farmer in the marketing of his cotton.

The weight of the bales differs from one gin to another. In the 1870’s, farmers preferred 500 to 700 pound bales, but often they weighed around 425 pounds. In the 1880’s, the railroad standardized the shape and weight of the bale to 500 pounds. The farmer was paid on the quality of the cotton and the price quoted was price per pound.

The fall of cotton occurred for various reasons. First, cotton production increased with the new technology of the time in cultivation and improvements in seed. With these improvements came increased yield, which created a surplus of cotton on the market. Cotton prices began to fall, and as the price fell, the farmer grew more cotton to make more money and to pay his debts. These situations of higher yield and lower prices pushed the farmer into a worsening economic situation. The farmer of the Wiregrass area entered the cotton market at the beginning of the downward cycle.

FACT: The boll weevil was unknown in the region during the late 1800’s.

COTTON GIN

(Available in October only)

LESSON OBJECTIVE: The student will be able to explain the importance of the cotton gin and the economic role that it played within the community. The student will understand the vocabulary of the gin. The student will be able to explain the basic understanding of the steam engine and the different components that make up the cotton gin. The students will be able to explain the belt drive system and power transfer of the belts along with the reduction of speed. The student will be able to estimate the weight of a bale of cotton.

Workshop Activities: Explain the history of the gin and the importance of the gin in the " King Cotton" region. Load cotton onto wagon. Unload wagon using the cotton suction tube. Give instruction on the operation of the gin and the steam engine. Stack firewood for the boiler, sweep gin, assist in the banding of a bale, read story about ginning, calculate the gear ratio. Explain about the different types of cotton.

VOCABULARY

 Gin = the gin separates the cottonseed from the fiber.
Seed Cotton = cotton that has not had the seed removed.
Pneumatic Elevator = a fan powered suction device which pulls cotton bolls from the wagon through a tube into the gin.
Feeder = picks trash from the cotton and drops it into the gin.
Gin Saws = revolving circular saws that separate lint from the seed by drawing fibers through a narrow slot leaving seeds behind.
Condenser = a screen drum which lays cotton into the mats ridding the lint of air and dust.
Bale Press = compresses lint into bale using a screw type press.

PRINT SHOP

LESSON OBJECTIVE: The student will be able to explain about the operation of the print shop and the role it played in the development of the Wiregrass area. The student will learn about the different enterprises that the print shop might have been involved in. The students will be able to identify the major components of the print shop. The student will be able to explain about the new inventions of the time period. The student will be able to identify the differences in the newspaper of the time period as opposed to today’s newspapers. The student will be able to properly set type for the printing press. The student will be able to explain about the power sources used in the print shop.

Workshop Activities: Explain the print shop and the role it played within the community. Explain print shop presses and the type of work that was produced during the early 1900’s. Have the student read the " GEORGIA RECORDER" and compare the news layout versus today’s newspaper. Instruct the students in the operation of the different presses. Feed papers into the presses. Feed papers into the press and catch papers. Operate the hand press. Make a " Wanted" poster. Design and lay out a project. Explain the powersouce. Explain about other inventions that were in the print shop, such as the phone and telegraph.

VOCABULARY

Brayer = a hand roller used for spreading ink.
Type = a rectangular block usually of metal or wood, having its face so shaped as to produce a letter, figure, or other character.
Composing Stick = a tray usually made of metal, which the person setting the type holds in his left hand while arranging the type into words and lines.
Galley = an oblong tray with upright sides which holds the type that has been set.
Printing Press = any machine for making impressions, especially on paper, from and inked type, wood cut or copper plates.