Page 14

Muddy ('reek Mill Built Of Rock, Brick, Slate WithDoubleDonners,Ghosts and BlackSnakes

IJ> Mrs. Charlotte Turner Blanton Kditor's note: This story was Written as a portion of Cumberland! «M»unt>’s contribution to the spirit of the Jamestown Festival, celebrating U '• ' h anniversa’-v of tit'* first pe—m : t F.nffl’sb settlement on the North American continent.

.lust time years after the signing of the Hc-lv-ation °f Independence' at Ph‘!-;delplda. Mud<!v (>■ k M !i w- ■ lr .r A nest as old as Am •••lea Itself Amei 'f g as a frei and sov ereign nation, that is this old mill has sti ■ -cl. adamant to wind and Heather - Although r : construction is fgiudy. it is nonetheless quaint and pic'uresque. S'tnated in the northeastern t o of Curnbci land countv a few hundre 1 V"ds off State Rente 68: it at tracts many visitors each year. - The desmn of the mill is very unusual. The first floor walls are made of rock, the second story of brick, and a slate roof cover the two top floors. Oviginally the full basement was floored with brick -eit contains a large brick fireplace too so the basement must have b.. used in the early days of the mill's history. However, floods that fiave washed through it over '■ years have left thrir debris, and the bricks are b a r e 1 y discernible. Threats of future floods make the US' of it now unwise b R J. Moral, an immigrant from Scotland, built the- mill. He carv -d his name, preceded by a D prinvd backwards and the yar 1785 on a rock that went into the wall of flu mill

1H: IS Will hi. " r: LIN K." lack Blanton says as he points io a p tutv of Iii' home. Mrs. Blanton holds a painting that in due! s their home which is located near the Muddy (’reek Mill t he painting ~ dated September 1895.

With tin* exception of the slate,

THIS IS V PIC'TI'K: «*! Mml » s i ? ‘ vr,:r» ago. It lias changetl but lit ! is - I i-t 1- '

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which was imported from Scotland, all the materials that went into he building of the mill were native products.

The rock of which the ground floor walls were built was quarried [from the surrounding hills, the brick was fired on a kiln on the farm. The huge rafters, thirty feet long and eight inches thick, were hewn with a broad-axe. and it took one tree to make each rafter. The twelve inch th'ck floor joists for the third floor extend the width of the mill; thus each joist meas ures over forty feet. The floor joists ifor the first two floors are made of heavier timber, composed of two sections, jointed at the center line. All the timber used was heart pine, which is not obtainable now. In the original construction, wood en pegs and hand-made nails were used. All the original timber is still in the mill. Dnuhl Dormers There are dormer windows at both third and fourth floor levels. It has been said that tins is the only mill in the South which has two tiers of dormer windows. R J. Moren sold the mill in 1802

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ot Frederick J James, who owned it until 1813. when it was purchased by William Bondurant. It remained in the Bondurant family until 1847. when John Bondurant sold it to Francis B. Dean. He, in turn, sold it to W H Rhodes and Benjamin H. Powell Later the Abrams fanvly acquired it. and still later the Hughes family came into possession of it. Andrew Floyd Moon purchased the mill in 1888 and sold it to his son-in-law. Marion E. Blanton, in 1930. Mr. Blanton is the present owner. The original dam—a wooden struc ture, a portion of which still re mains—was some 300 yards up the creek from the present dam. which was built by A. F. Moon shortly after he acquired the mill. Early History In the early days of the mill's history, sacks of wheat were “toted'’ up the long flights of stairs by slave boys, ft was ground on stone burrs then, just as corn is ground into meal now. These old burrs are still in the mill. In those days, flour was packed into barrels by hand with a large wooden plunger, mounted on a lever. This antique apparatus can also be seen by visitors to the mill. Even the barrels were made in a . cooper shop on the place ! Packet boats were towed up the Kanawha canal from Richmond, and flat boats or barges made their way up Muddy Creek and loaded ffour at the mill. The sill of the door where the barges tied up to receive their cargo is almost worn through from barrels being dragged across

- t. ■ The barges then went back down Muddy Creek and transferred their ! largo to the packet boats at Pem berton Front there it was taken to ; Richmond and points east, or to Lynchburg and points west. Customers taking wheat' to the. mill in earlier years usually took their flour home the same day. However, when H was necessary to leave their wheat, many of those who could not read or write, kept notched sticks in what was then known as the "counting room", and the notches indicated the number of bushels of grain left In the mill. Ghosts? Besides its claim to antiquity, Muddy Creek Mill also boasts a ghost. When Mr. Moon owned the mill, a bachelor uncle. Kitt Harlan, lived with him and his family and, for a time, slept in the "Counting room" at the mill. Ever since his death, a light can be seen at an upper window of the mill on certain nights. Always though, when the front door opens, the light goes out. The present owners have dubbed the ghost "Uncle Kit". Black snakes are excellent in the control of rodents, and one miller used to catch them and put them in the mill. For a long time, the mill's "pet" was a seven-foot black snake, but someone, ignorant of its value, killed it. Sycamore, willow and Pirch trees form a lovely background for this old mill, and behind it a craggy old blue trees, where tall oaks stand and laurel blooms in spring. Whether the trees wear leaves that are fresh and verdant as in Spring, or whether they are many-colored by the f.rst touches of frost, the j scene is truly beautiful. Even when the bare branches of the trees are laden with snow and ice. they seem to stand guard witli solemn splendor over the old mill that now ! seems almost as timeless as the hills and trees themselve.

JIM H. FRADY Frady Completes Rec ruit Training Jim H. Frady. son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis R. Frady. of Farm ville. completed recruit training April 10 at the Marine Corps Re cruit Depot. Parris Island. S. C The 12-week training schedule j included drill, bayonet training, physical conditioning. parades and ceremonies and other mili tary .ubjects. This recruit training prepares young Leathernecks for further specialized infantry training at Camp Lejeune, N. C. Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man ever elected Presi dent. He was 42 when he was in augurated. Of Virginia’s foreign-born whites. 4.493 came from England and Wales, 3,916 from Germany, 2.951 from Canada and 2.014 from Asia.

Ashby j Around 55 persons participated in the sunrise service and breakfast at Thomas Chanel Sunday. Thomas Chapel and Oakwood Youth Fellow ship presented the Easter program and the A'SCS furnished breakfast. M’-s W P Sanderson, and John, accompanied Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Sanderson, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Sanderson to the Zoo in Wash ington Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Hart enter tained Dr. and Mrs. Gray, and 'amil.v, of Maryland, at dinner Sun day Their son. Peter Gray, lives at the game farm. Several people of this community are interested in a leaflet published on Cumberland county around 1910. If anyone has a copy, we would appreciated it being lent to the com mittee now working on a Cumber land leaflet Send it to: Mrs. E. R. Harrison. Cartersville. The beautiful Easter weather brought many family gatherings. Probably the largest group met for dinner in the home of Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Martin 1 at Melrose, where around 40 were present. Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Stonnell are entertaining her sister and brother in-law from Canada. C. N. Smith, of Gainesville. Fla., and Mr., and Mrs. C. M. Duling. and son. of Florida, joined the other members of the R. A. Smith family for Easter. Fork of Willis Mr. and Mrs. Richard Barker. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Floyd, of Fredericks burg. were dinner guests of the Bakers Sunday. Miss Nell Cooke spent a few days

last week with her parents. Mr a"1 Mrs H E. Cookr M”S. Mae D"'scoll was buried t Oakwood Saturday afternoon. Re • Nottingham, cf Scottsville. ciriduo' ed the graveside service. M-s. D' . - coll died in a rwsing home in Richmond She lived for a long time in the home of Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Ball he e Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Glass, of War wick. were week end guests of M s Lucy Duncan Other guests there Sunday were Mr and Mrs John D; can. of Richmond. Mr. and Mrs. W E. Dunkum, and Wesley. Jr., of Dillwvn P. L. Duncan, Jr., visited Roy Hornaday in Burlington, N C.. Sun day. Mr. and Mrs. Lacy Flippen. and fanvly, were supper guests Sunday of Mr. and Mrs Alfred Harris in Buckingham. Mr. and M s D W White, and family, of Richmond, and Mrs. Maye White were suf ••• ■ Sunday cf M . and Mrs. Harold Duncan. Oakwood MYF gave Mrs. Murphy, their counselor, a surprise birthday party Saturday afternoon after choir practice. Mrs. Murphy was pre sented with a lovely navy blue dress. SOIL CONSERVATION An estimated 1.200.000,000 acres | of farm land, about 86 per cent of the total in the continental Unit ; ed States, are in soil-conservation districts now less than 30 years after a nationwide program got underway. Elolding rain watei i where it falls is the purpose of the conservation program and plant ing grass cover, terracing fields and stubble mulching or tilling to keep crop stubbles on top. are means to this end. Farm pond construction is also encouraged to store water in deficient areas.

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