Custom Windmills
Tannehill Windmill
(unknown location)
Belleville, IL
Status
Destroyed
Millwright
James Tannehill
History
“James Tannehill experimented with a wind-mill in the high prairie,
on the farm later occupied by John Tate, but the elements were
unfavorable, as there was no way provided for regulating the speed of
his wind-mill or checking the force of the wind. A storm of wind
suddenly struck the wings of the wheel [sails], and increased its
velocity to such a degree that the runner flew off its bearing, and came
very near taking Tannehill’s head with it, as he was getting down the
steps to find a place of safety.
“The storm increased and blew the fragments all over the field.
The runner had acquired such a rotary velocity that it was buried in the
earth near where Tannehill was standing, and remained long a reminder of
the experiment.
Sources
-Selby, Paul. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Munsell Publishing Company, 1907.
