According to Lawrence W. Adam (information submitted in 1964) this stool was built to sit on while milking cows in the dairy of the Brook Valley farm, near Delphos, in 1920. Milk stools had to be low and sturdy and this one certainly meets that requirement. What makes this particular stool unique is that the wood used is from the Delphos Mills grist mill. White pine planks 2” x 10” or 2” by 12” were used for making grain and flour troughs. They had to be very smooth and there could not be any knots in the wood. Material from one of these planks was used to make this milking stool.
Delphos Mills, built prior to the Civil War, was located on the west bank of the canal between 3rd and 4th Streets and its large water wheel was powered by water which came from the Miami-Erie Canal via a mill race dug for that purpose. Much grain was hauled from this old mill, by canal boats going to Toledo and Cincinnati, giving farmers an outlet for their surplus crops. Unfortunately, the end of the canal also meant the end of its convenient transportation, and the mill was razed in 1919-1920.
The Museum is teeming with old equipment and pictures of what farming was like in the “Good Old Days”. We are now open every Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. and will be open Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon during Canal Days. Stop in and share a little bit of history with us.
Printed in the Delphos Herald September 11, 2010 by the Delphos Canal Commission.
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