How grateful are we when we can find first hand accounts of
events/life written by our ancestors!
Recently, while visiting a third cousin, she shared with me a handwritten
account written by her great grandmother of the Old Mill in Peconic, Long
Island, New York. Unfortunately, I
don’t have the date that Ella Terry Billard, the daughter of the Miller,
Gilbert T. Terry wrote this account. Gilbert,
my paternal great great grandfather, held the position of the Miller from about
1864-1898. Ella, born in 1873 and
married in 1894, had a firsthand view of the happenings at the Old Mill. I am thinking
Ella perhaps wrote this for someone who was going to be writing an article on
the Old Mill. Over the years much has
been written about the Old Mill.
As I transcribed this to post I debated with the best way to
tell Ella’s story. As a genealogist, I
always want to know more about the subject.
I wondered, would I be able to find newspaper accounts about the events
Ella told us about? Are there pictures
that would make the story more interesting?
If I can find articles, can I learn anything new from these additional
accounts?
There were many interesting articles and pictures to be
found. I opted to supplement Ella’s
account with the additional information I have found. While this will make for a longer story, I
believe the value of the additional information helps give a much clearer
account of the story of the Old Mill over the years.
Here is Ella’s account in her own words:
Transcription:
“The old mill at Goldsmith inlet in Peconic was built sorely
as a tide-mill in 1839 with money raised in five dollar shares among the
neighbors who felt the necessity for a grist mill in the vicinity. The heavy round stones to grind the grain was
brought to Greenport in sailing vessel and moved from there in two farm wagons
in September that year to where the mill was under construction. The power of the outgoing tide to the [Long
Island] sound from the [Goldsmith] Inlet had been tested by a temporary bridge
and gates and found satisfactory to run an under-shot or wheel. The farmers also carted the rock for the
water wall which confined the channel to keep it open for a free run of the
rising and falling tides.
The following information from an article entitled He Knew
Peconic Mill published in the Long Island Forum September 1954 helped me
understand the workings of this type of mill:
“In these tide-water-mills the rising tide swept into the
rock-walled channel through the open gates.
As the tide-water retreated the gates would close, storing the water in
the creek for use when it flowed out, turning the big water wheel.”
The heavy winds in winter would blow sand into the mouth of
the channel completely closing it for so long sometimes that the men of the
village would gather there with spade and shovel to dig an opening for the
tides so the mill could operate. The
first miller was John [Ellsworth] Appleby who only ground when sufficient grist
had accumulated to make it worthwhile for in those days there was not enough to
keep the miller busy all the time. After
Mr. A[ppleby]-came Mr. [Richard]Cox, [Gabriel] Bennett and Smith, the last an
Englishman who bought in all the shares and owned it himself. He afterwards sold it to Mr. Walter Terry and
his several sons from Middle Island and Mattituck who were all practical millers. After running it a number of years he turned
it over to his son Gilbert [Terry]
The Corrector, 5 January 1867, page 2
The wind mill weathered the 1888 Blizzard but collapsed under the weight of heavy wet snow and a terrific wind storm of Nov. 28, 1898.
This article helped me understand the severity of
the 1888 storm in the area:
16 March 1888 The Long Island Traveler, page 2
2 Dec 1898 The Long Island Traveler page 3
Numerous other wrecks have occurred in the vicinity-notably the coal barges that came ashore during the great storm that wrecked the famous wind mill of Mr. Terry on Nov. 26, 1898. The McCauley directly back of the old mill near the mouth of the Inlet,
photo found in A Rose of the
Nineties by Rosalind Case Newell
the Neversink and Escort
on the other parts of the Sound Shore. The McCauley was eventually worked off the beach costing more than it was worth to accomplish it. Mr. Terry retired from milling and moved to Orient to become a gardener for a sister of his who owned a large farm there. A Mr. Horsfall from ? owned the mill later but owing to its wrecked condition
photo found in A Rose of the Nineties by Rosalind Case Newell
and lack of business, farmers were raising less and less
grain and every store keeper was buying and selling grain flour and feed
shipped all over the country from the big steam mills. Mr. H. soon retired too and the old mill was
left to the souvenir hunters and other tackers until the owners decided take
down remains and the timbers, great beams, wheels and irons was converted into
other uses.”
Final thoughts:
- Luckily, Ella’s great granddaughter is very familiar with her handwriting and was able to verify this was written by Ella. I believe the writing on the last page were thoughts Ella intended to add in to her writing. Dear Great Aunt Ella, I tried to insert them where I thought appropriate and hope you’d approve.
- Always search for newspaper accounts of important events that your ancestors may have been involved in. When transcribing handwritten accounts, written by our ancestors, there are frequently unreadable words/phrases. Having additional accounts such as a newspaper account may help you figure out those unreadable sections.
- Interesting and unexpected to find information about the wreck of the Macauley on a Civil War site.
- Using census records can be helpful in verifying information and can help you understand the spelling of a name. I found a Mr. Isaac Horsfall from England listed on the 1900 census as a Miller living in the area with his wife Fannie.
- Getting started and asking questions can bring about amazing finds when one thing leads to another and then another. In my experience a lot of people have things (handwritten accounts, photos, books, postcards, etc.) they may not realize they have or how important they are until you start asking questions.
- By adding the newspaper articles, photos/postcards, and a poem the story Ella wrote becomes so much more meaningful. Now it’s more than just the written words on a page.
- My cousin also had a small book entitled The Old Tide-Mill On The Sound by Daniel H. Overton. Daniel wrote a poem about the Old Mill. I thought it appropriate to end with one of the stanzas from his poem:
Time’s tides flow on resistlessly
And bear old forms away;
New tides, new methods, and new truths
Grind greater grists to-day.
I am so very thankful to Ella for being the keeper of so much family history and accounts such as this one!
If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share, I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby
Reviewing my post entitled Labor
Day-They Were Millers published 5 September 2016 I see how much additional knowledge
I now have.
