Patents of Pine Village, Rainsville, and Independence, Indiana 3

Job X. Mills (1847 or 1848–1918), the subject of the previous blog, was the most prolific patent holder in Pine Village, Indiana. A farmer, Mills invented several improvements of devices used in farming. On the 6th of May in 1890, he received a patent for an enhanced feeder for livestock (described in the third paragraph below).

Patent for Livestock Feeder

With Enclosure for Piglets

By Job X. Mills of Pine Village, Indiana (1890)

From last week’s blog, readers may remember that Mills recommended a V-shaped feeder that could hold such loose material as hay for taller animals (cows) while having a box lower down that could hold liquid or semi-liquid feed for shorter animals (sheep). Mills’ feeder was mounted on skids and could be pulled by horses to any pasture where both tall and short animals could feed simultaneously.

In 1890, he patented another feeder—this one equipped with a large box at the bottom. Doors in the box could be swung open or closed, making the box useful as an enclosure for small animals (piglets). “By closing all of the doors a tight pen is formed, in which small animals of any kind may be kept,” Mills wrote. “By means of the construction here shown and described, a very cheap, simple, and durable combined rack and pig-pen is formed,” Mills continued.

I admire Mills’ ingenuity: his invention was as simple as he claimed it was.

S. C. Fenton and Jacob Short witnessed Mill’s feeder patent. As I mentioned last week, the former was Dr. Samuel C. Fenton (1844–1918), a highly respected medical doctor who succumbed to the flu during the epidemic.

Patent for Harrow

By Job X. Mills of Pine Village, Indiana (1909)

On the 20th of April in 1909, Mills received a third patent—this one for a harrow. Mills wrote, “This invention relates to an improved construction of harrow designed for general harrowing and also adapted for use in breaking and cutting corn-stalks, cutting sod, clod crushing, ground leveling and other similar operations.”

The operator, who drove one or two horses to pull the implement, sat toward the harrow’s back, which was a board or plate “for crushing and smoothing purposes.” Toward the front, Mills’ harrow featured ten blades shaped like a solid letter D with the curved portion pointing downward. The curved edge was not consistent, as in a D, but had a concave section at the midpoint. By inclining his body backward, the operator tilted the front board or plate in such a way that the blades were similarly tilted so as to cut through large clods. A clod coming into contact with the front of a blade might be shunted to one side, but the concave portion at the center of the blade might grab the clod and hold it long enough to cut through it. To understand this function at a glance, compare Figure 2 (no tilt) to Figure 4 (tilted) in the patent drawings.

Again, the genius of Mills was in the simplicity of his design.

John L. Ogborn, who ran a grocery business in Pine Village, and John A. Bryant witnessed Mills’ harrow patent.    

Patents of Pine Village, Rainsville, and Independence, Indiana 2

Job X. Mills, who was born in 1847, farmed in Pine Township just west of my hometown of Pine Village, Indiana, in Adams Township. His wife was named Sarah Matilda Metsker, and she was related to the Metskers that were one of the founding families of the town. Many of Mills’ siblings are buried in Quaker Cemetery, but Job, who died on the 5th of October in 1918, is buried in Pine Village Cemetery. Job and Sarah Matilda had a daughter with the charming name of Leafy Dell and a son named John W. The census in 1900 lists the family in Adams Township. Job was fortunate enough to hold three patents, the first of which is featured in this blog.

Patent for Portable Feed Racks

By Job X. Mills

Pine Village, Indiana (1874)

On the 15th of December in 1874, Job X. Mills received a patent for portable feed racks. William C. Mills (one of Job’s brothers) and John W. Freeman served as witnesses to Job’s patent.

Essentially, Mills’ 1874 patent addresses the desire to feed short animals, such as sheep, and tall animals, such as cows (or horses), from the same feeder. Mills places his device on runners, making it portable, as horses can pull it from pasture to pasture. At a low level is a sturdy flat box that can hold “liquid or semi-liquid food,” presumably for the sheep. Above are two facing racks that can be pinned in a V shape convenient for holding dry or relatively dry food, such as hay. While cattle are eating, any bits that happen to fall from the racks will land in the box and can be consumed by the sheep. When the farmer wants to empty the racks, he can release the pins and swing the racks outward, so as to dump whatever might still be jammed in between.

I admire the simplicity of Mills’ portable feeder. Any enterprising farmer could easily build one. As with all such early patents, I wonder if Mills sold such feeders to his fellow farmers. Although my father had no sheep, I think he would have appreciated Mills’ feeders for the cows my father raised.

As I am on the topic of feeders, I can hardly resist sharing an anecdote from my father’s past. When my father was a lad, his agriculture teacher called on my father to answer this question in class: “Joe, how would you introduce a pig to a feeder?” With a straight face, my father answered, “Mr. Pig, this is Mr. Feeder. Mr. Feeder, this is Mr. Pig.”

Was Mills aware of his future fellow patent holder in Pine Township, Anson L. Massey? On the 12th of July in 1887, Massey, who gave his residence as Rainsville, received a patent for a hame-tug loop, useful with bridles of horses. Massey wrote, “The object of my invention is to provide a hame-tug loop which is strong and durable, easily and readily made, secured and inseparable when finished, and cheaply manufactured.” The uppermost patent drawing offers a deconstructed view of the strap and loop. A hame is a metal rod encircling a horse collar. It ends in a ball at the top. There are two hames, one on either side of the collar. Tugs, or traces, attach to the hames and are the principal straps that pull whatever the horse is pulling, such as one of Mills’ feeders. Massey’s loop made a firm connection for each tug.

Patent for Hame-Tug Loop

By Anson L. Massey

Rainsville, Indiana (1887)

S. C. Fenton and J. W. McMullen served as witnesses to Massey’s patent. The former was Dr. Samuel C. Fenton (1844–1918), an esteemed medical doctor who became a victim of the flu epidemic.