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In 1791, George Washington upgraded his milling operation using the improvements of Oliver Evans.
Oliver Evans, a native of Delaware, had been actively working on developing and refining his milling system since the early 1780s. George Washington learned of Evans's improvements in 1790, when he reviewed and signed the patent application submitted to the newly-established United States Patent Office.
In addition to the patent review, Washington was aware of two mills already operating on the Evans system during the years of his first term as president. One was located near Mount Vernon in the village of Occoquan, and the other was located along the Brandywine Valley near Wilmington, Delaware, owned by Joseph Tatnall, a wealthy miller and businessman. In 1777, Tatnall, a Quaker, ground flour for Washington's troops as they suffered through the winter at Valley Forge. Reportedly Tatnall told Washington, "I cannot fight for thee, but I can feed thy men."
Years later on a presidential trip, Washington visited Tatnall to again express his thanks for services rendered during the Revolution. Tatnall had recently equipped one of his two mills with the Evans components. The practical experience of viewing this mill in operation solidified Washington's decision to install the patented system at Mount Vernon.
Washington's original gristmill was by no means an inferior performer. As he stated in 1785:
At present my Mill has the reputation of turning out superfine flour of the first quality; it commands a higher price in this country & the West Indies than any other...
Washington simply realized that the Evans improvements would enhance his production of flour and increase his mill's profitability. Washington purchased a license under the patent Oliver Evans had received, and Mount Vernon records indicate that by late summer of 1791, installation of the Evans system was well underway.
Washington's millwright, William Ball, inspected the merchant mill at Occoquan to review the Evans machinery in detail. This provided a template for his work at Washington's mill. In addition, two of Oliver Evans's brothers traveled to Mount Vernon to oversee the installation. At the time, Washington's gristmill was one of only a handful of mills in the United States running the new automated system. For the remaining years of George Washington's life, his mill did indeed become more profitable than ever because of the Evans automated system.
Treat yourself to grains that have been stone-ground by water power at George Washington's Gristmill.
Learn more about the important role these buildings had on the Mount Vernon estate.
Join Steve Bashore, director of Historic Trades at Mount Vernon, as he explains how the Oliver Evans system, an early automated milling system, works at George Washington's Gristmill.
Photos and videos of Mount Vernon's Gristmill
1795's "The Young Mill-Wright & Millers Guide," published by Oliver Evans.
Greville and Dorothy Bathe, Oliver Evans: A Chronicle of Early American Engineering. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1935; Henry Seidel Canby, The Brandywine. Farrar and Rinehart, Inc., New York, 1941; Theodore J. Crackel, editor. The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2007; Eugene S. Ferguson, Oliver Evans: Inventive Genius of the American Industrial Revolution. Hagley Museum and Library, 1980; Dennis J. Pogue and Esther C. White, George Washington's Gristmill at Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Ladies Association, Mount Vernon, Virginia, 2005.
