It took several volunteers almost a thousand man-hours of labor to restore a 1910 Dowagiac grain drill to its original condition a century ago.
Wednesday evening at The Museum at Southwestern Michigan College, the finished project was ready for unveiling.
Some questions remain about original coloring on some parts, but the wood parts, like the pinstriped wheels, held their paint well and provided original color information.
Some metal parts showed slight traces of color, and that “was very helpful,” according to museum exhibit designer Tom Caskey, since most retained no color after decades in storage.
“In my dreams,” Caskey says, “someone will come up with a color photograph or print of a 1910 Dowagiac grain drill. Otherwise, our decision in the case of parts where the original color is unknown — or, in fact, had been unpainted originally — is to leave them unpainted. It might result in a less colorful, but less misleading, presentation.”
Caskey says as they were finishing final assembly, it became clear they were missing a small attachment, which consisted of a carrier and one gear.
He discovered that this component was detachable and might have been removed from the machine and left in the barn before the last time the drill was used.
“It would be lovely to have it,” Caskey says, “as it shows how several operations of the seeding were managed.”
The gear assembly allowed the connection or disconnection of the vending mechanisms at the bottom of two separate seed hoppers.
Grains such as wheat or oats would be planted and covered in the field, while grass or flax, for example, could also be planted during the same operation.
Additionally, the control handle would fill an otherwise obviously empty slot among other controls.
Rather than being confronted with reproducing the original part, the museum had been in contact with an institution in Wisconsin restoring a similar drill.
“They kindly sent photographs of their drill, which showed the missing part,” according to Caskey.
Milo Harpstead, restorer of the Wisconsin drill, removed the part, determined its dimensions and sent Caskey images and information.
Caskey then searched the original barn and actually found it partially submerged in dirt, straw and “other unspeakable barn remnants. It was entirely below the floor level, up against the wall where the floor didn’t quite extend. I could easily have looked for days and never found it … a very satisfying ‘eureka!’ moment … What is good luck anyway, other than thinking you are happy for getting what you were thinking you wanted?”
Initial cleaning of the drill, including disassembly and careful cleaning of parts, proved painstaking work for volunteers Al Palmer, Chuck Timmons, Doug Fry and Marc Dombrosky.
The drill consists of a wooden seed box with cast-iron attachments and a steel frame.
Wood was painted red with decorative touches, lettering and the company logo.
Cleaning the wood involved a gentle brushing followed by a very gentle washing with Orvus Paste, a mild detergent museums use.
A final rinse with distilled water usually concludes this process.
If the resulting surface is very dull or hazy, a careful, delicate rinse with denatured alcohol has proven to be helpful.
Dombrosky, an SMC art instructor, agreed to repaint the drill box utilizing information gleaned from extant paint.
Removing rust from metal parts called for some research.
Caskey reported the Internet provided a method using water, washing soda and direct current (DC) electrical current.
It proved very effective, as well as safer — both for parts and for people — than methods utilizing chemicals.
Caskey said they immersed parts in a water/washing soda solution in an open 55-gallon drum.
They connect parts to the negative side of the DC power source while the positive side is connected to some “sacrificial” pieces of iron or steel.
Parts may be left in th solution as long as necessary. There seems to be no such thing as leaving them too long, which is not at all the case with some other methods which attack the metal along with the rust.
Usually, Caskey says, an overnight bath in the de-rusting tank is adequate.
A black residue from the converted rust layer is left on the part which usually brushes off easily.
Caskey said the conservator at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn suggested a tannic acid follow-up to blacken de-rusted parts and protect them from further rusting.
This solution works best if it is quite warm.
Blackening goes faster than any of the other processes and is “very satisfying,” according to Caskey.
Gloves must be worn as the tannic acid solution leaves “very tenacious stains” on hands and clothes.
“We have been careful to label all parts to insure accurate re-assembly,” Caskey said.
“Meticulous photographic documentation of the drill during disassembly will certainly help as well. We are also fortunate to have a manufacturer’s catalog showing various assemblies” of the Dowagiac Grain Drill.
SMC’s came from the Butler family in Jones.
Museum Director Steve Arseneau says a “common misperception in Dowagiac history” is that the Dowagiac Manufacturing Co., located across S. Front Street from where Chestnut Towers is today and employing 200 people in 1897, the year the Daily News was established, is that it was associated with Round Oak Stove.
Dowagiac Manufacturing Co. produced grain drills, which Philo D. Beckwith also produced from the 1860s until his death.
Beckwith sold his original foundry to the DMC founders, but otherwise, Round Oak and DMC were separate entities never associated with one another.
The Museum at SMC has other Dowagiac Manufacturing artifacts, including advertising materials and a miniature salesman’s demo drill from 1893.
Arseneau says William Tuttle Jr. and Shepard Wheeler, operating out of Beckwith’s original foundry, modified the Beckwith roller grain drill, for which they were awarded patents in 1867.
Tuttle designed the basic seeding mechanism, Wheeler chain links which dragged along the ground to close furrows opened by the spiky “shoes.”
Over the following 14 years, various concerns made grain drills at the location, with J.P. Warner of Decatur being the only constant investor in the growing concern between 1874 and 1881.
In 1877, Warner, Farr, Moreland and Co. employed 25 to 30 men.
Around 1880, a new product, the spring tooth harrow, rolled out.
By 1881, Warner was sole owner, but he had trouble meeting growing demand.
Arseneau says he started looking for investors in a stock company, which would lead to more capital to boost output.
In November 1881, city interests — and some Decatur residents — purchased $50,000 in stock and incorporated Dowagiac Manufacturing Co.
M.E. Morse served as president, with Warner factory superintendent.
They began construction of three additional buildings immediately.
By early 1882, DMC had the facilities and expanded staff (55 men by March) to turn out 40 drills or harrows a day.
An immediate hit, the company became the leader in the farm equipment industry.
One 1883 article details a contest held in Elmira, N.Y., to test more than a dozen planters.
The Dowagiac drill easily trounced the competition and “the local agent (of the Dowagiac Manufacturing Co.) at Elmira sold all his machines for cash and will need another carload.”
Despite increased capital from the 1881 incorporation, DMC still had trouble meeting high demand for its products.
Decatur stockholders unsuccessfully attempted to move the thriving company to that Van Buren County community in 1889.
In 1890, Arseneau says, Frank and Eugene Lyle bought controlling interest and expanded production.
Besides employing up to 200 men in 1897, it shipped 200 carloads of products valued at $600,000 in 1898.
Known across the nation and world, by 1893 DMC maintained distribution houses in Fargo, N.D.; Madison, Wis.; Kansas City; and Minneapolis.
The firm sold drills in Europe, South America and Asia.
In 1899, it boasted in its advertising that it was the “largest drill factory in existence.”
DMC at the time also sold bicycles, carriages, buggies and wagons.
A growing company as the new century neared, it advertised to boost demand with its logo volunteers wear on T-shirts of a bundle of wheat and the motto, “Sure Will the Harvest Be.”
DMC had a booth at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, spreading the company’s identity to millions of visitors. Plus, in 1899 it formed its own band to promote itself at the Wisconsin State Fair, Michigan State Fair and in Buffalo.
The 1890s and early 1900s represented Dowagiac Manufacturing’s heyday.
Because of personal financial troubles, several longtime executives had to sell their stock holdings in 1909.
When the 30-year charter for the corporation expired in 1911, the company reorganized as Dowagiac Drill Co. and quadrupled its stock from $50,000 to $200,000.
But ultimately, times overtook the company. Farming moved toward motorized tractors. Its market contracted drastically in a short amount of time.
Production continued until 1922, when the Dowagiac Drill Co., already in the hands of creditors, petitioned for dissolution.
In 1924, Arseneau recounts, the company was reorganized under new management and drill production resumed.
In June 1925, the company permanently went under.
The Daily News cited “mismanagement which appeared to be intentional” as the chief cause.
Today, most rusty Dowagiac drills litter the landscape as yard ornaments.
But the one at SMC has seen better days again.