The Earliest Mills in Caldwell County

Source: http://www.farwesthistory.com/mills.htm

In pioneer days mills held a very important position. The first settlers in Caldwell County were forced to make a trip by ox team to take their grist to the mills of Ray County. There were three types of mills used in early Caldwell County history. There were water, sweep, and tread mills. The favorite location for a pioneer mill was by a creek which provided waterpower, but many early mills were run by horse or ox power. In the sweep (or pull-around) type of mills, a horse or ox was hitched to the end of the sweep. It was customary for the farmer who brought grist to be ground to use his own horses to provide power for the mill, and many old people still recall how they as children rode the horses, or even the sweep, while the grist was being ground. 

The Lyons brothers in the fall of 1833 built the first mill in the county, a horse mill, at Salem in Kingston Township and made good money. In 1834, Robert White built a water mill on Shoal Creek in Fairview Township near what was later known as Mormon town Ford. This mill was washed away in the flood of 1839. In 1834, Jacob Haun, a Mormon settler, started another water mill on Shoal Creek in Fairview Township near the White Mill. It was on the N.W. 1/4 of the N.E. 1/4 of section 17, a site destined to become one of the most famous spots in Caldwell County because of the Mormon troubles. This mill stood until torn down in 1845. The Mormons started a water mill on Shoal Creek a little west of the old bridge on the old Hamilton-Kingston road. At the expulsion of the Mormons, this unfinished mill was sold to Wilhoit and Massingill who ran it until it was washed away in the forties. 

With the coming of more settlers, more mills started up. The Fugitt water mill, north of Far West on Shoal Creek, ran from 1839 until 1859 when it was washed away. The Gardner horse mill [Snodgrass Mill] was north of Mirabile and later was well known as the Sackman Mill. In 1843, Solomon Cox built a water mill on Shoal near Salem which was a noted institution until washed away in the fifties. In 1847 Sam Richey built a "pull around" horse mill near Salem, which after his death was run by his wife. Old people in the south part of the county yet talk about "Mother Richey's" Mill. The Richey millstones may be seen today in the old McClelland graveyard in Kingston Township. 

In 1848, Wm. Marquam built an ox mill at Mirabile for meal and saw logs and he also had a wool carding mill. This in later times was the Dr. Crawford Mill which ran for many years. Dr. Crawford always kept a lantern hanging in front of the mill at night to guide late customers. This mill was torn down in 1933. 

In 1844, Robert White built his second water mill on Shoal which later became the well known Filson Mill. In the fifties, Wm. Hawks ran a water mill on his farm on Cottonwood Creek in New York Township which ground meal and sawed logs. In fact, most of these mills had certain days for grinding and certain days for sawing logs. Later mills were Murphy's Mill near Breckenridge and Marshall's Mill near Catawba. The millstones from Marshall's Mill were recently dug up and sold as relics. Settlers in the extreme north end of Caldwell County often took their grist to the Uncle Jerry Lenhart Mill just over the Daviess County line. [Bertha Booth, Short History of Caldwell County, Missouri, reprint available from Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation: MMFF.net]. 

Joshua Whitney had a ferry at his mill on Shoal creek (where Dawn is now) in 1838. ["History of Livingston County," from The History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, 1886: http://www.livingstoncountylibrary.org/History/County/1886/1886chapt03.htm]

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