Some Notes From Michigan

I thought I would send you some pictures of steam engines in
Michigan. My father, Arthur Dodd, with his brother Henry, threshed
and shredded corn in Cass County, Michigan, from about 1906 until
1922 when the production of wheat slumped and never recovered its
earlier prominence. Area production reached its peak in 1915. The
first job that year threshed 4,000 bushels at one setting, probably
not large by western standards but certainly a good size job for a
county of small farms. The first four jobs that year totaled 12,000
bushels. Now, there are not 12,000 bushels raised in the whole
township.

In 1918 or ’19 I (age 4 or 5) was on the tank wagon with my
Uncle Henry, getting water from a creek about 1-1/2 miles from
where they were threshing for my Uncle Warren. My Dad was low on
water for the engine, so he whistled 2 blasts (the water signal).
The tank team were old-timers, and when they heard the water call
they took off, leaving Uncle in the Creek where he had been dipping
water into the tank. I was on the seat alone. Uncle had to run at
least 15 rods up hill to finally grab the rear of the tank and
swing aboard. If he had not made it I probably would have been the
youngest water tanker in history (if I could have survived the
ride).

In these Dodd Bros, pictures, one man, Fred Frost, survives. Dad
passed away in 1971, age 82. As the old-timers know, before the
days of governors on self-feeders, an ‘eager beaver’ or two
feeding a separator could really work an engine or even plug the
separator. In 1911, Dad designed, built and installed a governor on
the self-feeder on their Case separator. In 1912 he received a
patent of this idea, which enabled a separator to be run more
evenly and efficiently. All manufacturers soon had governors on
their products and since Dad lacked funds to protect his patent in
court, it never brought him anything.

I am also including some steam engine pictures of a cousin of
Dad’s. Frank York. He has threshed and sawmilled in Cass and
St. Joseph Counties all of his life. He is now more than 80 years
old, and retired. He sold his last engine and sawmill a few years
ago. His Advance-Rumely threshing engine and sawmill engine are
still in top-notch shape in the hands of collectors.

One of Dad’s favorite stories of threshing days concerned
the farmer who engaged them to thresh his 60 acres of wheat. By the
time the machine was in the neighborhood the acreage estimate was
reduced to 40. When threshing day arrived it was down to 20 and
when it came time to pay he claimed only 10 acres.

August 3, 1915 at Frank Lamberton’s Farm in Cass County,
Michigan. Left to right: On the tank is Henry Dodd; by the engine,
Arthur Dodd and Dwight Shingle decker; unloading in center, Warren
Dodd; by the car, Frank Lamberton; on the center bundle wagon, Fred
Frost and the one with the white team is Carl Sengreen. Courtesy of
Lee W. Dodd, 1666 Dodd Road, Niles, Michigan 49120