The Miller in Eighteenth-Century Virginia / An Account of Mills & the Craft of Milling, as Well as a Description of the Windmill near the Palace in Williamsburg

A compact historical and technical account of milling in eighteenth-century Virginia, combining the craft’s origins and machinery with social and legal context. It traces grinding methods from hand tools to water- and wind-driven mills, describes structural types such as post mills, and explains key components and gearing used to transmit power. The narrative examines popular suspicions and statutory controls aimed at millers, catalogs common fraudulent practices and countermeasures, and offers a close description of a reconstructed windmill near the colonial capital to illustrate construction, operation, and everyday responsibilities of the milling trade.