Top questions about Threshing Stones
1. Why 7 ribs?
Actually we really don’t know. The possibilities include; that it creates the right amount of pressure per square inch to thresh the wheat, or it makes the stone less likely to crack in half, or that number of ribs on the 24" diameter creates the ideal thumping rhythm when in use, or it’s just the pattern that happened to be used, or it may have religious symbolism, or I suspect that through experimentation that it just worked the best.
2. Where were they used and were they brought to Kansas from Russia?
No evidence has been found that any were shipped here from Russia, all evidence, including geological analysis, indicates they were made in Kansas. After completing the research, evidence indicates that most have Kansas origins, and most have Mennonote connections. This map shows the locations in which I found them located now.
3. How much do they weigh?
The stones weigh in at about 600-800 pounds. The density of Kansas limestone is about 0.073 pounds per cubic inch and the volume of a typical threshing stone is about 9765 cubic inches. Our stone weighs 712 pounds.
4. When did it become the symbol for Bethel College?
On November 16, 1934, the threshing stone was adopted as the official symbol of Bethel College. According to John Thiesen's research; “C. H. Wedel dragging a 900 pound memento into his front yard in 1903. But it wasn’t until a generation later that threshing stones appear in the record again. This was sort of a mysterious decision, like many others. It’s not mentioned in faculty or board minutes; there were no news releases. Presumably it was the decision of Edmund G. Kaufman.”
5. How many years were they used?
They were used for only few years in the central united states. Mennonites arrived in central Kansas in the fall of 1874, the threshing stone was the preferred method of threshing at that time, but shortly thereafter the mechanical threshing machine made the stones relegated to just lawn ornaments. Many were never used, some never even finished. However the threshing stone was used for about 40-60 years by Russian Mennonites and other cultures used similar tools dating back possibly 2000 years.
6. Who made them?
Stories have it that threshing stones had been made in Florence Kansas by a stone mason as directed by Dietrich Gaeddert and Peter Balzer, taking with them a wooden pattern to have the stones made. I have not yet determined the stone masons that may have actually made them and some may have been by Mennonite farmers themselves.
7. How were they pulled?
They were pulled by one or two horses. They would pull the stone around in a circle over the circular pile of wheat, barley or rye.
8. Is it used in other cultures?
There is much evidence of it being used around the world in cereal grain growing climates. Well known evidence from Roman times show the use of two threshing implements-the tribulum a threshing board and the plostellum punicum a threshing wheel-appear to be documented in ceremonial contexts in the ancient Near East. I have evidence of it being used in all of Europe, Northern Africa, throughout the Middle East and Asia and just briefly in North America.
9. Does it crush the grain?
No it does not crush the grain. The whole goal of threshing is to get whole grains separated from the straw and chaff. The forces of the stone are enough to agitate the head and release the seed from the hull but not enough to crush it on the threshing floor, (usually a dirt threshing floor in Kansas).
10. Are some threshing stones fakes?
Some you see out and about are reproductions. I am aware of several fabricators that have made them actual size, and there are many smaller versions that have been reproduced, ranging from desktop models to foam "Thresher Heads".
11. How much is a threshing stone worth?
There is no accurate market value, the prices varies greatly. Threshing stones are rarely sold so it is hard to establish a true market value. If you are lucky enough to have one, cherish it.
12. Is a threshing stone the same as a mill stone?
No, they have completely different functions. The threshing stone is used to thresh the grain from the chaff without crushing the kernel of grain, whereas the mill stone is used to crush the grain into flour.
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