In the mid 1890's, while the Ideal Steel remained a major product of the Stover Manufacturing Company, the firm's engineering staff was at work on the mill which would take its place.  About 1898 a preliminary 6' model of this mill which came to be known as the Samson, was constructed and was placed on a tower at the factory, where it ran "day and night for more than a year, doing heavy pumping" in order for the engineers to evaluate its operation.  Then in 1899, a larger 20' mill was developed, and several prototypes were erected in Texas over 400 and 700 foot wells operating 4" cylinders as a further test. The first commercially marketed mills were made available in 1900, after which time a large advertising campaign made the general public aware of their availability.

The Samson was marketed at the peak of foreign trade activity by the Stover Manufacturing Company, which became one of the most important American windmill exporters. The export enterprise did require a price, but the efforts of the firm resulted in  considerable profits as well as in spreading the name of Freeport, Illinois to the four corners of the earth.

Samson mills were manufactured in 4 3/4',  6', 8', 9', 10', 12' , 14', 16', 18', and 20' sizes.  All these mills were available with babbitt bearings from the outset, but by about 1920 optional Hyatt roller bearings had become available in the 6', 8', 9', 10', and 12' sizes.  The wheel of the mill consists of curved sheet steel blades attached with sheet steel clips on both sides of the blades to curved bar steel rims.  The vane sheet of the mill also is made from galvanized sheet steel reinforced with heavy beaded wire around the outer edge as well as by riveted vertical steel girts.  It is then attached to a substantial angle steel vane stem with an additional diagonal angle steel support member.  Governing on the Samson is quite simple.  A slightly off center wheel turns away from increasing winds.  This is a counterbalance by a torsion spring which forces the wheel back to face the wind as the velocity decreases.  A band friction brake around the hub prevents the wheel from turning, either when the mill is turned off or when the wind governs it out of the wind.

Manufactured for a quarter of a century and sold in all parts of the US and around the world, the Samson remains one of the most common of the open geared steel windmills.  They are remarkably durable, and even may be observed today in operation after many years of use.

Introduced in the late 1920's, the Samson Oil Rite today is the most frequently seen of all the windmills produced by the Stover Manufacturing Company.  The mill was made in two patterns, the Model S and the Model M, the former having been introduced about 1930.  These mills were not the first self oiling mills from the Stover firm, as a short lived Stover Oil Rite mill was produced for a short time between about 1925 and 1930, but it never achieved the popularity of the later Samson Oil Rite.  For about a decade from the early 1930's to the early 1940's, the Model M Samson Oil Rite sold as the Champion windmills by Sears, Roebuck, and Company.  Although the outward appearance of the Model S and the Model M mills differ, mechanically they are quite similar.  An important difference between the Model S and the Model M mills is their bearings.  The former employs Timken tapered roller bearings, while the latter uses plain babbitt bearings.

Lubrication on the two models of Samson Oil Rite is on the same principal.  The mills are among the few to use an oil pump that in practice proved to be as effective as it was in theory.  One of the two guide rods for the crosshead serves the additional role as this pump.  It is hollow and conceals within it a plunger pump which is actuated by movement of the crosshead. It elevates lubricant from the oil reservoir formed by the main casting to a trough on the top of the crosshead.  There the oil lubricates the upper moving parts of the mill before flowing down the guide rods to a second trough at their base.  From that point it flows to the lower bearings before returning to the oil reservoir to be used again.  The 20' mill, unlike the others, has a double oil pump, with both guide rods enclosing plunger pumps.

Wheels on the Samson Oil Rite Model S and Model M mills are similar but not the same.  The sections, composed of blades and rims, however, are the same and are interchangeable with those on the open geared Samson.

Vanes on the two mills are different as well.  On the Model S the vane is like on the open geared Samson, and the two are interchangeable on the same size mills. On the Model M only the vane sheet is the same, the vane stem being made from bar and angle steel with vertical braces.  In either case, the vane sheet bears the sole ornamentation on the mill, the black stenciled inscription of model and maker.

The Samson Oil Rite Model S was made in a greater variety of sizes.  It was available in 6', 8', 9', 10', 12', 14', 16', and 20' sizes.  In contrast, the Model M was made only in 6', 8', 9', and 12' diameters.  Governing on the two mills is on the same principal, although different governor springs were used.  On the Model S, a torsion governor spring is mounted on the vane hinge, whereas on the Model M a coiled spring connects the head with the vane stem.

Both the Model S and the Model M of the Samson Oil Rite windmills remained in production until the Stover Manufacturing and Engine Company went out of business in 1942.  After that time they disappeared from the market.  Today they may be seen in most parts of the US.  They may often be seen in service providing water to livestock or domestic users.

Produced only four years from 1939 to 1940, the Samson Air Flow is one of the more easily identified of all the American windmills because of its distinctively shaped vane sheet.  The mill has numerous mechanical elements in common with the Samson Oil Rite mills, but it is a more refined machine which attempted to cope with some of the problems presented in the older mills.

The Samson Air Flow mill employs a number of design elements borrowed from the automotive and aircraft industries in the years before WWII.  The blades were changed in shape from a trapezoid to a rectangle, reducing the width of their outer ends as well as rounding their tips.  All the moving parts of the mill are protected from dust and the elements under a galvanized hood unlike that used on any other widely used mills.  This hood is attached to the head by a heavy flange around its base with a gasket and bolts, as the maker noted, "in much the same way the crankcase pan is bolted to an automotive block."

The arms are bolted to a wheel hub of unusual design.  Instead of being mounted on the main shaft, as is ordinary procedure, the wheel turns on Timken tapered roller bearing that roll on a reinforced extension of the main frame.  This design removes the weight of the wheel from the main shaft to the iron work of the main frame.  If for any reason the shaft should break,  nothing happens except the mill stops pumping water and the wheel spins on the main casting.  The two Timken bearings inside the wheel hub are packed with grease, requiring further lubrication only every few years, and this is accomplished by forcing grease through a special plug in the wheel hub.  Lubrication on the Samson Air Flow differs from that on the oil pump equipped Samson Oil Rite.  Instead of using the pump to elevate the lubricant, a splash and lift system is used. Oil is lifted by the large crank gears to a trough,  from there it flows to the upper moving parts.  The rear main and crankshaft bearings are lubricated by splashing and lifting action of the crank gears.

Governing on the mills used the most visible identifying elements of the mill, its striking chevron shaped vane sheet.  The vane bears the stenciled name "Samson" and is mounted on a trussed and welded steel vane stem that pivots in a vane hinge at the main casting.  As the wind increases, the slightly off center wheel turns away from the wind.  As this happens the tension increases on a coiled spring connecting the head with the vane stem.  When wind decreases this spring pulls the wheel back into the wind.  The air flow employs a completely new brake.  Engaging either when the mill is shut off from the ground or when it governs away from the wind.  It is an internal expanding brake with replaceable automotive brake shoe linings.
 

Even though the Samson Air Flow was made for only about four years, today they remain a visible part of the American landscape.  Perhaps because they are so easily identified by their distinctive vanes.  The mills definitely may be found in most areas where other Samson mills were used in substantial numbers.