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My Wyland Mills |
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My Wyland Mills |
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| Do not under any circumstances may these photos below be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or publish them in any way without the consent of Lora Koch the owner! |
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Jonathan Wyland's Mill My 5th Great-Granduncle Jonathan Wyland built the first mill in the east part of Shelby County, IA.  Wyland Mill 2 The Wyland Mills The five brothers: Jonathan, Solomon, John, Jacob (my 5th Great-Grandfather) and Christian Jr, came in the fall of 1831. After surveying the land, they came back with their families and arrived on May 8, 1832. Unfortunately, not all of them reached their destination. "John Wyland departs this life April 24, 1832" was recoded in a family document. His children were then placed in the custody of Jonathan who seems to have been the leader of the expedition. Starting out with six two-horse teams and a few head of cattle, the family settled along the banks of the Elkhart River with the intentions of building and operating a mill, as they had done in Ohio. There was much work to be done before the cold winter weather. One of the projects was to dig a millrace and build a sawmill for cutting wood. From this, the county's first mill, Johathan got lumber needed to build the family homestead. Jonathan built a “mansion” on his property to house his wife an children, as well as his brothers and their families. As noted in the records, the two-and-a-half-story house boasted eighteen rooms, with two verandahs extending the entire length of the house, one on the ground level and one at the second story. As the years went on, so did construction. Jonathan began plans for two additional mills. A grist mill was erected in 1835, followed by a mill for woolens in 1840. Products from these mills were shipped north on the Elkhart River and Great Lakes to reach destinations as far away as Buffalo , NY . In it’s heydays they had over 3,000 people working at the mills. While some of those included indentured servants and employees, the majority of them were Wyland family members. The 640 acre plot owned by Jonathan became known as Wyland Mills It continued to prosper until roughly the time of the Civil War when railroads spread and towns along the railroad’s path tended to thrive. The railroad came to Goshen , IL by-passing the Wyland Mills, and it became too costly for the mill to stay competitive. Many of the Wylands, including Jonathan, moved to Iowa . If they had waited about two more years, the railroad would have come within two miles of their mill. Frederick Bainter became the new owner in 1861 and the mill remained in operation until the mid 1900’s. Few references of the Wyland Mills are left. To those who now sit at the picnic tabled scattered across what used to be a front yard, few are aware that hidden amongst a clump of overgrown trees, are the last remnants of the Wyland homestead, which burned after being hit by lightning. All that remains are the stones of the foundation and a patch of Lilies of the Valley guarded by poison ivy. Directly across from where the house stood, are fragmented remains of the grist and woolen mills. Downstream, where a power plant now stands, was once the site of the saw mill. The cemetery down the road has a number of Wyland gravemarkers. |
| Do not under any circumstances may these photos above be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or publish them in any way without the consent of Lora Koch the owner! |