Akron, OH: Cereal Mills, Ferdinand Schumacher (Oatmeal King) and Quaker Oats

Because the Cascade Race was built in 1832 soon after the Cascade Locks were built, several hydropowered businesses were built along the race.

Specifically, the water "turned the water wheels of several flour mills, a woolen mill, a furniture factory, five iron furnaces, a distillery, and other early Akron industries." [uakron via Dennis DeBruler]

In 1851, Ferdinand Schumacher came to Akron from Hanover, Germany, and started a small grocery store near the canal. His store stocked oats because that was common in Germany, but no one in Akron bought oats because oats were for horses in the stable, not for people in the house. "For three years, he worried about people not eating oats; and in 1854, he invented a chopper to make tiny cubes of oats. He packed them in oneounce jars." These sold so well that in 1859 he built the German Mill near Market Street east of the Ohio & Erie Canal. As his sales grew, he built another mill. PressBooks says it was 5 years later "in the triangle formed by Main, Market and Exchange Streets." However, the Empire Mill  documented by BeaconJournal ("Empire Mill (1863) — East Mill and Summit streets. Specialized in barley. Built by Schumacher.") makes more sense because PressBook says he was interested in tapping the railroad as well as the canal. In 1876, Schumacher invented a machine that created rolled oats. Then people across the country wanted to eat oats. So Schumacher and his competitors converted the mills along the Cascade Race to make rolled oats. [PressBooks, BeaconJournal]

The following graphic used information from BeaconJournal. Locks 3-14 from RailsAndTrails was used to locate the street names. The yellow numbers are the last two digits of when the mill was built, and the red numbers are lock numbers on the Ohio & Erie Canal. The lock information is from Locks#5-#9 and Cascade Locks.

See the statements above for sthe ource information.

The following information is from BeaconJournal and the digits correspond to the yellow digits in the above graphic.

• 32: Stone Mill by Dr. Crosby. According to Locks #5-#9, it was bought by Schumacher,
• 38: Aetna Mill that was originally a blast furnace,
• 39: Center Mill was originally a woolen mill built by Beebe and Wright,
• 40: Cascade Mill was built by Mitchell and King and bought by Schumacher in 1866. (He expanded it in 1876. [hmdb via Old Stone]),
• 42: City Mill built by McNeil,
• 56: Allen Mill built by Allen as a woolen mill on the former site of Center Mill,
• 59: German Mill built by Schumacher. "Moved to South Summit Street between Mill and Quarry streets in 1863. Destroyed by fire in 1872. New building on Summit Street in 1872. Burned in 1886."
• 63: Empire Mill was built by Schumacher in 1863 when he moved his German Mill processing from the canal to the railroad. This mill specialized in barley.
• 70: Pearl Mill built by Raymond and Fulton and succeeded by the Hower Oatmeal Mill. (The mill is labeled as Hower on the Locks#5-#9 plat, so that helps date that plat.)
• 84 by Broadway: Jumbo Mill built by Schumacher and destroyed by fire in 1886.
• 84 by Ash Street adjoining Stone Mill: Akron Milling was purchased by Schumacher in 1886.
• 83: Seiberling Milling built by Seiberling. "Famous for Mother’s Oats. Became associated with Great Western Cereal Co. in 1901. Gobbled up by Quaker Oats Co. about 1912." This is not on the above map because it is over by the Little Cuyahoga River near Case Ave.

"Following Ferdinand Schumacher’s success, many others in and beyond Akron went into the rolled oat business and into the flour business. It had been a mill town ever since Dr. Crosby built the Cascade. But by 1880, there were ten large mills along the Cascade and Little Cuyahoga, and 11 smaller ones." The reason why all of the mills in Akron were doing oatmeal in 1884 is that a Canadian noticed that the American mills were in the east, far from their best source of grain. So he built a large flour mill in Cedar Rapids, IA, in the heart of the wheat and corn country. "The instant that happened, nearly every mill along the Little Cuyahoga switched instantly from flour to oatmeal, Schumacher’s special domain." [PressBooks]

I disagree that Schumacher bought Akron Mill. Cumming & Allen, who already owned two mills, built that mill, and he was Schumacher's stiffest competition. Allen agreed to merge with Schumacher after the fire destroyed his mills by the railroad. (Cumming had died the year before.) Schumacher's proposal was to use his railside storage for Allen's mill. Specifically, he proposed that they run buried pipes from his rail dock to the mill and blow the grain down to the mills. "Within the month, Schumacher Milling Company was incorporated for $2,000,000. Work began on a great trench and three large pipes, ten inches, eight, and seven." Schumacher had sold the country on oatmeal so well that a lot of other mills jumped in on the oatmeal action. An Association was formed to set a price. But smaller mills still undercut the price. Until now, oatmeal was sold in bulk. H.P. Crowell observed at an association meeting "How can the public favor the miller who uses the best grain and the best processes when it’s sold in bulk? If we put it in a package with a name on it, the customer could tell the good from the bad." Several of the mills merged to become the American Cereal Co. with Schumacher as president. The company chose the Quaker Oats brand proposed by Crowell to put on its packages.  [PressBooks]

This shows how cereal was marketed before Crowell invented selling it in boxes.

ebay via Dennis DeBruler

Cascade Mills has its own notes because it is documented by eight historical markers on the base of a waterwheel display. Those notes have more information on Schumacher and his selling of oats to America.