P. N. Dellinger

DELLINGER, HILLER, CLARK

Posted By: Diane (email)
Date: 2/24/2002 at 19:38:26

Dellinger Or Wanatah Flouring Mill . . . . This manufacturing enterprise is one of the most notable and commendable features of Greene; as it is of that class of industries, around which other business interests cluster. It is the largest mill in Butler county. The name “Wanatah” was bestowed upon it by P. N. Dellinger, in honor of the daughter of Big Thunder, a Sioux chief. The mill was completed by E. Hiller, in 1875; the frame being raised on the 3d of November, 1874. Its size is 40x50 feet, with an office 20x20, a stone basement, and two stories and a half, frame, with a dam eight feet high. The liberal citizens offered to raise $2,000 to assist the building; but it was refused.
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The mill was equipped with four run of stone, including one for feed, and had a capacity for grinding one hundred barrels per day; the average work being about four hundred barrels per week, and doing the custom business. At the time of erection the cost of the whole property was said to be $18,000. Mr. Hiller was unfortunate with his management, as the high water came upon him and washed out the dam shortly after its completion. This was barely repaired when another fit of anger came upon the powerful Shell Rock, and again the dam went careering down the stream. After this had been repeated several times Mr. Hiller’s supply of funds began to run out, so the mill was mortgaged, and then re-mortgaged, until finally Mr. Hiller, in 1877, had to succumb, and the property went into the hands of George W. Dellinger, of Ripon, Wisconsin, who has been in the business since 1844. The dam had in the meantime been put in shape, and the machinery was set in motion by the new management under the most favorable auspices.
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The dam, while it has never washed out or been rebuilt since 8177, has been greatly repaired and strengthened, being now of crib timber with stone filling, extending all the way from eight to thirty feet below the bed of the river. No race is required, as the mill building is located directly over the dam on the east side of the river. Mr. Dellinger got the property through mortgage; yet it has cost him fully $22,000 in cash.
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The Mill was continued in its original shape until 1882, when it was almost entirely remodelled (sic), the system of burrs being dispensed with, and the patent corrogated (sic) roller process introduced; putting in three double sets of rollers; the burrs are now used for grinding rye. The capacity is thus rated at seventy-five barrels of flour, and fifty barrels of rye four per day, while about two car loads of feed are ground each week. The brands manufactured are the “Roller King” (patent), and “Gilt edge” (straight), for which markets is mostly found in New York and the eastern States.
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The mill employs six hands, and is ably managed by P. N. Dellinger and his brother, Burt, sons of George W. Dellinger, the owner. P. N. Dellinger, has been a resident of Iowa since 1870, coming here in 1875. His brother, Burt, has charge of the office. Mr. Dellinger was born in Pennsylvania, in 1843; coming to Iowa in 1870, he engaged in milling in Chickasaw county. His wife was formerly Miss Belle Clark, a native of Rhode Island. Previous to the breaking out of the rebellion, she removed with her father’s family to Virginia, and in the early days of the war, the family figured quite conspicuously as Unionists in rebeldom, but finally made their escape to the north. Mrs. Dellinger is a lady of more than ordinary culture and intelligence.
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Source: History of Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa
Union Publishing Co., Springfield, IL, 1883
Page 569-570