Wilson & Saunders were the flies in John Wood's ointment, according to Solon Robinson, who, as we know, said: "The accommodation of the people of the county was greatly increased this year [1847], in getting grain made into bread stuff, by the mill of Wilson & Saunders on Deep River below Wood's (and as he thinks not quite far enough below)." This only tells us that Wilson & Saunders' mill was downstream from Wood's mill, and annoyingly close.
Turning to Early Land Sales, Lake County, we find relevant entries that show "Wilson & Sanders"[1] purchasing Lots 8, 11, and 12, and Robert Wilson purchasing Lot 9, of Section 16, Twp. 35 N., Range 7 W., in December 1844.
I'm sure we all remember Section 16 from our encounter with the Wilkinsons. And as you can see, Wood's mill, in Section 21, lay just below Section 16's southern border:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from the 1874 Plat Map.
The enumerator of the 1850 Census visited the Wilson-Saunders household right after visiting the Wood household:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
It would be astonishing if they had actually been neighbors, operating two mills next to each other. (You will notice that Benajah Wilkinson's widow, Prudence, and children are further down on the same page.)
The 1840 Census also records a Robert Wilson near John Wood …
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image from Ancestry.com.
… which was probably our Robert, but the census gives so little information that we can't know for sure.
I have not been able to trace either Wilson or Saunders before or after the 1840-1850 timeframe.
Where was the Wilson & Saunders mill? Short answer: I don't know.
Thanks to the trails in Deep River County Park, these days you can walk the whole length of the Deep River as it flows through Section 16, from Wood's mill all the way up to the north side of Ainsworth Road.
You can look around for a spot that might have accommodated a water-powered mill. Such a mill needs not only flowing water but also some high ground on which to perch the mill itself, so it isn't flooded or washed away every time the river overflows its banks.
The topography has to allow for damming the river so that the flow of water on the mill's wheel can be controlled. Wood's mill diverted some of the river's water into a millpond; the Cascade/Huffman mill did likewise. George Earle made a millpond of the river itself.
But a mill also needs a road for customers to use when bringing in raw materials and taking out finished products. Even today the river through Section 16 runs a pretty remote course. In 1847, we know Ainsworth Road and 73rd Ave./Joliet Road were in use. Was County Line Road then usable enough that Wilson & Saunders might have built their mill just below Wood's where the river runs past County Line Road's high ground? That would be very close indeed. There is high ground near Ainsworth Road, too, but we thought that area was reserved for the Wilkinsons, didn't we?
Even if I were able to find a source that showed exactly what land was included in the 1844 purchases — lots 8, 9, 11, and 12 of Section 16 — I might not be very far along, since each of those lots contained 40 acres.
Here are a few of the entries from the early daybooks at the Hobart Historical Society museum that mention Wilson & Saunders.
The earliest I have found dates to September 7, 1846. It shows (if I understand the entry correctly) a customer at this Hobart store paying here for 100 pounds of flour to be gotten from Wilson & Saunders' mill.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.
Remember that in 1846 George Earle was operating only a sawmill, so Wilson & Saunders' was probably the closest grist mill.[2] (To judge by all the pills and quinine being bought on these pages, there was a lot of sickness going around in this later summer; also notice that Jesse Albee paid 25 cents to have teeth extracted, and there is no accompanying charge for pain medication.)
Ten days later, some complicated business:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.
I chose that one mostly because on the opposite page we find E. Saunders doing various things that include providing shelter and clothing for two orphaned Hodson boys, and it occurs to me to wonder if John Saunders, the miller, was related to E. (Edward?) Saunders. Of course, I don't have a clue.
On this page, dating to July 1847, we find Wilson & Saunders doing business with Saunders & Scales, and I wonder which Saunders that was.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.
The latest entries I can find date to September-October 1847, and show Wilson & Saunders making a few lumber purchases from George Earle's sawmill.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.
So, the next time you're walking along the river in Deep River County Park, you can ask yourself where you would put a mill if you were Robert Wilson or John Saunders in 1844. And I suppose you have to remember that weather and erosion have been working on the river and its banks for nearly two centuries since then, so all you can do is imagine.
[To be continued …]
_______________
[1] "Sanders" shows up now and then as an alternate spelling of "Saunders." Maybe "Saunders" is the phonetic spelling of "Sanders."
[2] "There are two grist mills, Wood's and Wilson & Saunders, (three run of stone). Mr. Earle is also engaged at the present time in building another, which will have from 2 to 4 run." Solon Robinson, "History of Lake County, 1833 – 1847," Lake County 1929, p. 59. In a notice dated December 1, 1847 (on display at the Hobart Historical Society museum), George Earle announced that both his mills (saw and grist) were in operation.
No comments:
Post a Comment