Robert Mills architect (1781-1855)
At 21 Mills moved to Philadelphia from Charleston. After he designed some local buildings, a reform styled prison in
NJ, and a church in Richmond, he moved
to Baltimore where he designed a variety of buildings and the famous
monument. In 1820 he took a position
over seeing public buildings in SC, but in 1836 his
design won for another Washington monument, in DC. Following that win he stayed in
DC and designed many still-admired buildings including the Patent Office, the
Treasury, and the Post Office.
Soapstone heater or furnace
Mills was interested in fireproofing construction when possible, and
his enclosed furnace was heated by a fire stoked from outside, so there was no
open fireplace inside (with the cotton ‘dust’ and cotton). The enclosed masonry heater (some called a Russian
Fireplace) needed less fuel because once the stone and bricks absorbed the heat
from the fire within, it radiated an even heat.
Izba [a Russian peasant home] by John Augustus Atkinson (1803) depicts
a Russian family using the ‘stove’ as a bake oven (note the long handled tools)
and a way to heat the home. In the three volume work based on his trip to
Russia, A picturesque representation of
the manners, customs, and amusements of the Russians in one hundred coloured
plates by
Atkinson and James Walker in three volumes.
Paper mill to cotton mill
Thomas Mendenhall built the paper mill in 1795, and
advertised for "paper makers" but he sold the new mill to John Hagerty in 1798. Scott [A Geographical Description of the States of Maryland and Delaware by
Joseph Scott. Philadelphia: 1807] described Hagerty’s paper mill as “one of the largest paper mills in the United States… 120 feet long, 40
wide, and three stories high, built of stone.”
He sold it to John Conrad, a publisher and in 1800 opened a bookstore at 30
Chestnut St., Philadelphia but the business was dissolved in 1812. At that point Edward Gray
(who lost his money when his ship sunk) and other Philadelphians bought the paper mill in
1813 to convert to a cotton mill. In 1820 he
hired 40 men and 75 boys and girls. The large building burned in 1820, but was rebuilt, as seen below.
From the source: Niles Weekly Register, Baltimore: 1816 (supplement to v9, p183) -
ECONOMY OF FUEL. An experiment
on this subject has lately been made with the most complete success at the
Patapsco Cotton Factory, near Baltimore.
The person [Edward Gray] who has the management of this concern, having last winter
failed in producing the necessary degree of heat in so large a building, even
at an enormous expenditure of fuel, and wishing to avoid the expense of steam
apparatus, applied to
Mr. [Robert] Mills, the architect of the Washington
Monument [Baltimore, 1815], to remove the
difficulty. The plan proposed by Mr. Mill’s appearing to possess the requisites
demanded, viz. a sufficient quantity of heat, perfect safety, and economy ; it was
determined to make the experiment —The house required to be heated is 100 feet
long, 40 feet wide, and 60 feet high, making 240,000 cubic feet.
The furnace is
placed against one side of the building. The fire place opens without [feeds from the outside]—At 3
o’clock in the morning the fire is lighted—at about 6 o’clock in the morning
the wood is nearly carbonated when the register is let down, and during the
whole day an agreeable and wholesome heat is produced, which is perfectly under
the control of the superintendant [sic] who can increase or diminish the
quantity of heat in each room at his pleasure. At 8 o’clock in the evening
small fire is made which keeps up the heat until 3 o’clock, when the same
operation is repeated.
By actual experiment made during the coldest weather
this season, not more than one-eighth of a cord of dry oak wood was consumed in
the 24 hours, and the rooms were at no time under the temperature of 70 degrees
of Far. Last winter one cord per day was consumed with not 1 4th the effect.
The furnace being almost entirely composed
of soap stone and brick, and the flues of the latter material —and pure
atmospheric air being the agent employed in conveying the heat, no unwholesome
or disagreeable smell is produced ; and what is of infinite importance the heat
is equally diffused through each room; the room being as warm 50 feet distant
front the fire as within 10 feet of it—and instead of cold air rushing in through
any crevices which may be in the doors and windows, warm air rushes out. None
of that disagreeable feeling is produced which is usual in open fire-places,
where in cold weather (as is commonly said) your back is freezing while your
face is burning. On the contrary you feel in the factory the mild temperature
of May. To place the matter in a clear point of view, we subjoin the following
statement—
A steam apparatus sufficient to heat the column of
air in the Patapsco factory will cost at least $3000
Cost of the furnace, flues, &c. 700
Difference in favor of the furnaces, 2300
Fuel necessary for the steam apparatus, 6 ½
Cords per week, at 4
dollars, $26 00
Fuel necessary for the air furnace, by actual
Experiment, 1 cord per
week,
4 00
Saved per week by the air furnace $22 00
Mr. Mills states that his plan can with facility be adapted to any sort
of large buildings where heat is required, as also to dwelling houses; and that
the result as to saving and comfort will be the same. A firm impression that the public may be
benefitted, and a desire that the merits of this ost deserving and modest
individual may be more generally known, is the sole object of the writer in
making this communication. – Fed. Gaz.
Niles Weekly Register, Baltimore: 1816 (supplement to v9, p183)
Niles Weekly Register, Baltimore: 1816 (supplement to v9, p183)
©2016 Patricia Bixler Reber
Noteworthy women and historic homes of Ellicott City and Howard County, Md. HOME
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