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Photo Courtesy of Monticello Live
Monticello Arkansas |
THE OLD MOLASSES MILL
By Calvin Christensen,
1934
Sweets
and other necessities in early days could not be purchased in Mt. Pleasant,
therefore they had to be produced.
A molasses mill was imported by Abraham Day in 1863.
This mill was first operated on the Day lot. Later it was moved to what was
known as the old Peel lot, southwest corner, Fourth West and
Third South. Later
Niels Widergren Anderson imported a later,
up-to-date model which
was placed in the old Tannery lot, Sixth South and Third West. For some time it
was run by Weaver Niels Johansen and Andrew Christensen, who later purchased
it.
In
1878 a mill was bought by Jacob Christensen, and was located at Sixth South and
First West.
In
1914, Peter Y. Jensen, Joseph Christensen, my brother, and I raised some
sorghum cane and the old mill was set up on our farm south of Mt. Pleasant, and
we produced some 200 gallons of fine molasses.
The
changes in the seasons, and the early frosts finally closed the molasses mill.
The cookers on the mill were Weaver Niels Johansen, John Knudsen, John Romero,
Ed Dalley, Rasmus Rasmussen, Teacher Niels Johansen, Andrew Christensen Sr.,
Andrew Christensen Jr., and Niels Trogoon Syndergaard. The last years the mill
was operated the cookers were Teacher Niels Johansen and Nephi Christensen, and
possibly others.
The
juice was pressed out of the cane between the rollers and was taken to the
boilers. The new juice was a sea green color. The boilers were about three feet
by fourteen feet and about a foot deep, and divided into four sections. They
had a sheet metal bottom. A good fire was kept under the boilers. The hottest
fire was under the larger or first boiler. Here the juice was cooked down. It
was then transferred to the next boiler, where it received more cooking.
When
the molasses was cooked, it would drop from the ladle in white drops. The mill
owner would receive one-third for his work. The community would raise about
1000 gallons or more each year. The price was then $1.00 a gallon.
Sorghum cane grows like
corn, in bunches of two to six stalks When ripe, the leaves are knocked off
with sticks. Then the top cut off with a knife, and the stalks cut and hauled
to the mill Here it is piled like cord wood.
Most families had their own
cane patch. The cane raised in town, where it was watered every week, had lots
of juice, but required more cooking and did not make as good molasses as the
cane raised on the East Bench, along Twin Creek, where it did not get watered
very often.
The
cane is sweet, and when the boys and girl came to the mill they would take the
cane and twist a joint and suck out the sweet juice. Others would peel the
outside skin off and chew the pulp. The cane, after it had gone through the
press, was called pumy. Cattle liked the pumy and were a nuisance, as they hung
around so much. In the winter they would be there as long as there was any pumy
left.
The
juice was skimmed over and over. The skimmings from the first two boilers was
poured out on one side of the boiler. The boys would make a small trench and
run this skimmings into a pit. When the pit was full they would cover the top
with pumy. Then they would get some new boy or girl and lead them around the
pit till they went in. The pit was then carefully covered again for the next
victim.
The
skimmings from the last boiler was used for candy making. Scores of boys and
girls would be there every night and build a fire to cook skimmings on. Some of
the boys would feed the mill for hours to get skimmings. Others would bring a
little corn for the horse or do some other favor. Many a rick of tanning bark
was used to make candy.
The
boys would lie on the ground around the boilers till the cooker could hardly
feed the fire. Often the boys would stay all night. When they were sleepy they
would burrow into the pumy pile, which was a warm place in which to sleep.
When
John Jorgensen was about twelve years old, he let his hand follow the cane into
the mill. He screamed for help. My great grandfather stopped the horse and
turned the mill backwards till young Jorgensen could get his hand out.
Jorgensen lost three fingers and part of the fourth finger.
When
Niels Christensen was a boy feeding the press, he put too much cane in and the
horse kept on going and pulled the press off the posts. Niels jumped just in
time. The mill fell on his heels. The press weighs over nine hundred pounds.
Grandfather
Christensen told me on cold morning he put a
pan under the spout of
the barrel and went to do his chores while the pan was filling. After the
chores were done he hitched his horses and went to Fairview. He then remembered
his molasses barrel, and went with all speed possible. Imagine his amazement
when he found the pan was just filled up, and none wasted.
......taken from Mt. Pleasant History by Hilda Madsen Longsdorf pp 297-300
See the following link for more information on milling sugar cane.
