Wheelock and Miner's Tannery |
Remnants of the Tannery at the old Bobbin Mill (1) |
During the year of 1825, William Miner and Amasa Wheelock commenced the business
of tanning, on the site of the present [1858] tannery. They built a dwelling house and
currier's shop, still standing in a dilapidated condition. The apparatus for grinding
bark was efficient though simple. A round flat stone, somewhat like a millstone,
about eight feet in diameter and as many inches thick, was set on edge. Through
the center passed a spindle, one end of which was inserted into an upright shaft,
and to the other end a horse was attached. The stone was thus made to describe a
circle around the shaft, about fifty feet in circumference, at the same time
revolving on its own axis, and crushing the bark between itself and the plank floor
beneath.
In the summer of 1828 Messrs. Wheelock and Miner sold to Sylvester and Philander S. Rand, who carried on the business till the spring of 1831, when Sylvester Rand sold his interest to Joseph N. Savage. In January 1834, Rand and Savage sold to Lewis Nye, and in May 1836, Jacob Hurd bought the premises and carried on the business till the spring of 1838, when Benjamin F. Herbert became proprietor and has continued until how. The tannery, with almost all its contents was destroyed by fire January 7th, 1852, but it was promptly rebuilt. Pliny White - History of Coventry |
By the 1880's when Isreal Trudo operated the tannery, it employed four men and tanned 2,500 hides and 12,000 calfskins annually. It was later run as a Bobbin Mill until the time when the River was changed and the cement bridge was built around 1960, at which time it was torn down.(1)(2) |
References: 1. Bits And Pieces Of Coventry's History, Coventry Bicentenial Committee, Coventry, VT 1977 2. Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887, Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers, 1887 |