Document - Historical information/data - Shields Sorghum Mill - 3/1/20101VXVi1111VLQ QJ Lll%� 11%�VV LV VVll U1�1VJJ Lll� 11Vv1. 1L 51%. VV
rapidly into a city of paved streets, wide lawns,
factories and jobbing houses.
Fourteen months after Thellesphore's arrival
(January 1854) he was married to Vitaline LeMay,
who had the same last name, but was not related to
him. For their wedding they came to St. Paul in a
stoneboat drawn on the river ice by horses.
Their residence was taken up at the present farm
owned by Reuben LeMay, a son, who is still living
at the farm. It was west of this farm, on the shore of
LeMay lake that the late Mike Shields went into the
sorghum business.
His first mill was a temporary, crude affair,
using the power of one horse to make his sugar cane
press work. The first mill was located on the west
side of present day Co. Rd. 19 [Pilot Knob Road] .
After a couple of years Mike removed his
equipment across the road and began construction of
a "modern" sorghum mill. He and his brother, a
priest, worked all summer on the mill, which was
quite an accomplishment in the early days.
The basement was made of rocks and mortar,
and the top was constructed of boards. The two
The 1896 plat of Eagan Township shows the
Shields property.
tanks were installed to boil the sugar cane into
sorghum syrup; water for the steam came from the
lake, via a long pipe, and later a cistern.
Farmers hauled their loads of sugar cane,
causing a problem of storage. To cope with this
situation, Mr. Shields constructed a storage shed.
The shed seemed to work fine for a while, but
soon the sugar cane stalks started to sprout, and they
had to be hauled out into the sunlight.
During the busy season, Mr. Shields and his
occasional helpers worked day and night. They fed
the big sugar cane press with bundled sugar cane
stalks, boiled the juice, and hauled the sorghum to
the market in barrels.
Business continued good for about seven or
eight years. But the sorghum boom was short lived.
It seems Mr. Shields could pay only $3 or $4 per ton
for the cane. Farmers then began growing other
crops.
MARCH 2010 1 PAGE 13
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