HAM'S MILLS

 TAGHKANIC

COLUMBIA COUNTY,

NEW YORK

By Capt. Franklin Ellis ²²⁵

¹⁸⁷⁸

     ^{Ham' Mills are located on Copake creek, in the western part of the town of Taghkanic, on the Hudson and Salisbury turnpike, and about midway between West Taghkanic and Glenco mills.}

     ^{About 1825, William Gardner came to this location and built a carding-mill, which was subsequently used as a fulling-mill and grist-mill, and was known as "Gardner's Mills."}

     ^{In 1850, Peter P. Ham, a practical mechanic and mill-wright, purchased the premises, and two years later built the present grist and flouring-mill, which is a two-story building, thirty-two by forty-two feet, and has a capacity of twenty-five barrels of flour per day.  This mill is now used chiefly for general custom work.}

     ^{In 1868, Mr. Ham erected a three-story building, thirty-two by thirty-six feet, for a flouring-mill, and used it as such for some time, but in 1872 this building was converted into a hub-factory and general wood-working shop, furnished with a full complement of the most approved and appropriate machinery.  In this mill are made annually from three thousand to four thousand sets of carriage and wagon-hubs, of all styles and sizes.  These hubs are made of the best red-elm timber, large quantities of which are purchased yearly from farmers in this vicinity, and the annual product amounts to about $10,000.}

     ^{In 1877, Mr. Ham erected another building, twenty-two by eighty feet, for a saw-mill, and immediately put in an improved mill, with a forty-eight-inch circular saw.  This mill has a capacity of four thousand feet per day, and does a large amount of sawing of every description.}

     ^{Mr. Ham also has a cider-mill on the premises, which makes from eight hundred to one thousand barrels of cider per year.}

     ^{The power to run this extensive machinery is furnished by three iron turbine water-wheels, having an aggregate of eighty-five horse-power.}

     ^{Mr. Ham is an ingenious mechanic, and an industrious and skillful workman, and richly deserves the extensive patronage with which his business enterprise is favored far and near.}