Pugh's Grist Mill

    Now I would like to help those that do not have the time to search every square inch of the 1398 acres in Tomlinson Run State Park. If you can follow my directions, finding the old mill sites will be easy. Along the way, if you keep your eyes open. there are other foundations nearby.

    Neither man or mother nature has been gentle to the old mill sites. Mother nature has sent floods down Tomlinson Run destroying parts of the dams, races, and in one case washing the entire mill away. Man has tried very hard to erase all traces of the past. Remember all of the cut stone around the park? Most of it came from some of these mills. During World War I and World War II the scrap metal drives could have claimed the cast iron gears, the old natural gas engines, and maybe the worn out boilers. If that is not bad enough, the mills had a bad habit of their own. In the process of grinding wheat or corn, sometimes a spark from the mill stones would ignite the flour or meal, causing a small explosion and then burning the wood structure of the mill to the ground.

    I guess what I am trying to say is, if you expect to walk around a bend in the creek and discover a quaint old miller operating his mill, Tomlinson Run does not have one. At least not yet. The only things remaining are the sandstone blocks and in some cases a few bricks. 

    The two thumbnails to the right are views of the dam and foundation of Pugh's Grist Mill.    

     Pick a nice spring or fall day when the foliage is down and things will be easier to find. We will start upstream on the South Branch of Tomlinson Run. No need for the car, it is only a short walk. There are two mill sites within a twenty minute walk. Let's start at the front entrance of the park, by the swimming pool. Walk south on Route 8 for about one hundred feet, this is towards New Manchester, by now you should be on the bridge which goes over Tomlinson Run. Caution, there is no trail here so take it easy. Find a nice spot on the left side and make your way down to the stream. You should be on the upstream side of the bridge which crosses Route 8. Start heading upstream. The stream makes a slow left turn for about two hundred feet. Now, just before it starts a right turn, on the right side of the stream there are the remains of a stone dam. By the way, you are now on private property. The park boundary is about fifty feet downstream. Another hundred feet upstream is an old bridge which was built in the late 1800's. This bridge was on the road that ran between New Manchester and East Liverpool.  

    The thumbnail to the right is a picture of the bridge on the road from New Manchester to East Liverpool.

    This piece of property can be traced back to Benjamin Johnston. He gave this section to John Ray. Ray lost the ground on December 29, 1807. The ground was sold by the United States for non payment of direct tax.

     Alexander Caldwell purchased this tract of three hundred acres for the price of $200. Caldwell and his wife, Eliza, then sold two hundred and six acres of this tract to Henry Silverthorn on May 30, 1815 for $500.

    Another piece of information needs to be entered at this point and I'm not sure how it fits. In deed book #1, page 193, in the Hancock Co. Clerks Office, the following is recorded. April 17, 1850; United States of America Western District of Virginia, held in Clarksburg 6th of September 1831, in Chancery Court value upwards of $2000.00 a suit was filed. Henry Silverthorn vs. Benjamin Johnston (dec.), William Chambers, John Gibson, (the preceding residing out of the Commonwealth) and William Peterson. Henry Silverthorn was awarded three hundred acres, the land was patented to John Ray by the Commonwealth of Virginia on the 10th day of October 1785. The bill was dismissed against William Peterson. If I have read correctly, the reason Henry Silverthorn was awarded the ground, the defendants never resided on this property! 

     Henry Silverthorn built the first grist mill at this site in the year 1828. Henry attempted to sell the mill to Samuel Silverthorn, but Samuel died before full payment on the mill and land was made. The Chancery Courts of that time ordered that the infant daughter of Samuel, Hannah Jane Silverthorn, was to be the new owner. On November 10, 1843  a deed was made on her name. Henry received $622 from the estate of Samuel and the amount of land included with the mill was set at eighteen acres, one rod, and twenty perches.

    The blue italics are from an e-mail by Jeff Pugh, whom I met on Roots Web.  This  is a result of his research on the Pugh surname.

     On December 27, 1847  George Swearengin, then High Sheriff of Brooke County, acting in behalf of Hanna, sold the mill to Thomas Moore for the price of $890. Thomas Moore and his wife, Jane, sold the mill to David Gordon (b. November 16 1777) on February 19, 1848  for $2500. David Gordon’s wife was Ada Hayes (b. Abt. 1780) and their daughter was Nancy Agnes Gordon (b. Abt. 1800).  Nancy married Hugh Pugh (b. Abt. 1795).  Nancy and Hugh’s first child was James Hayes Pugh (b. January 1, 1822).  James married Margaret “Mary” Ann Stewart (b. Abt. 1825) on August 31, 1843 in Brooke County

     The records get a little hazy at this time in history. James H. Pugh became part owner.  The next thing that is known is on August 25, 1853 an agreement was made between Robert Keenan and the owners of the mill, David Gordon and James H. Pugh. Keenan received $40 so Gordon and Pugh could raise the dam any height not to exceed three feet, plus they were to build new fences because of the flooding on Keenan's property.

    The next mention of this mill is on August 27, 1857 when Hugh PughPugh (b. Abt. 1795) and his wife, Nancy, sold the mill to another James H. Pugh for $5500.

Actually this must have been the same James Hayes Pugh and this transfer might have been James Hayes Pugh’s parents selling him his grandfather’s and/or parents’ interest in the mill.  David Gordon died on October 6, 1855 and Nancy Agnes Gordon was an only child.  David Gordon’s wife, Ada (Hayes) Gordon died on June 5, 1858.  

In the 1850 Census, James H.’s occupation is listed as “Miller” and the value of his real estate is listed as “$2250.” He is living next door to his parents Hugh and Nancy.  David Gordon and his wife Agnes are living in Hugh and Nancy’s home.  The value of Hugh and Nancy’s real estate is listed as “$7000” and Hugh’s occupation is listed as “Farmer.”  Even though David Gordon is living with Hugh and Nancy, he has a value of “$1030” listed for real estate.  David is 72 years old and Ada is 73.  Another interesting fact is that Mary Ann Stewart’s brother, William, is living with James Hayes and Mary Ann and William Stewart’s occupation is listed as “Miller.”  William Stewart lists the value of his real estate as “$2250”, the same value as James Hayes Pugh gives, even though William Stewart is living in the same home as the James Pugh family. 

It would appear that, as of the 1850 census, James H. Pugh and William Stewart were each equal owners of the mill and that David Gordon had already transferred his interest in the mill to Hugh and Nancy.  The “$1030” value that David Gordon gives for real estate could actually have been “$1130.”  It is difficult to tell from the handwritten record.  If it were $1130, that may be a round up from $1125.  My thinking is that James and William could have been 1/3 owners and Hugh and David 1/6 owners of the mill.  This would put the value of the mill at $6750 at the time of the 1850 census.  Obviously this is all wild speculation on my part. 

By the time of the 1860 census, Hugh and Nancy had moved to McDonough County, IL.  In the 1860 census James is still a miller and the value of his real estate is listed as “$6000.”  David Pugh (b. Abt. 1833) lives nearby and lists his occupation as “Miller.”  David does not list a property value but appears to live on his father’s complex with other family groups in separate dwellings.  David’s father, also named David, lists a real estate value of $11,400.  The elder David (b. June 6, 1806) was the son of Peter Pugh (b. Abt. 1770).  Peter married Anne Duncan (b. Abt. 1774) and was heavily into land speculation.  Peter, who died in 1850, was Hugh Pugh’s father and James Hayes Pugh’s grandfather.  The elder David was Hugh Pugh’s younger brother and James Hayes Pugh’s uncle.  There is also a William U. Achey living nearby who lists his occupation as “Miller” but he does not list a real estate value. 

On April 1, 1864, James and his wife, Mary Ann, sold one half interest of the mill to Hugh Pugh (son of John) for $2150 and the other half to Joseph W. Scott for $250.

Hugh Pugh (b. Abt. 1825) was the youngest son of John Pugh, Esq. who lived in Carroll County, OH.  Hugh’s father, John, died in 1857 and Hugh moved across the river to Hancock County, VA before the 1860 census.  Hugh’s occupation was listed as “Miller” in the 1870 census.  This Hugh and James Hayes Pugh’s father, Hugh, were cousins.  The elder Hugh’s father, Peter Pugh was John Pugh, Esq.’s older brother.  Both were brothers of David Pugh, Esq. who laid out New Manchester (Pughtown).  The father of all three brothers was Hugh Pugh (b. August, 1746).

I have not yet figured out the relationship of Joseph W. Scott to the story but in the 1860 census he was living with his wife and two brothers along with his mother in the same household.  The home is six pages away from the mill in the census book and Joseph’s occupation id listed as “Farmer.”  I am not sure who his wife, Rebecca, is but I suppose there could be a relationship to James and his father, Hugh.  By the 1870 census, Joseph and Rebecca had moved to McDonough County, IL.  That is where Hugh and Nancy went and both had died there before the 1870 census.  Joseph lists no real estate value in the 1860 census but his older brother, John R. Scott, is listed as the head of household with a real estate value of $5145.  In the 1870 census in McDonough County, IL, Joseph again has no real estate and his personal estate is only $600.

In these two deeds it is mentioned that the grist mill is water and steam powered.

    December 24, 1864 Joseph W. Scott and his wife, Rebecca, sold their half interest to George Pugh for $2300. October 18, 1873 Hugh Pugh and his wife, Nancy A., sold their half interest to John H. Brobeck for $2500.  John Brobeck (b. Abt. 1837 married Rebecca Pugh (b. Abt 1837).  Rebecca’s father was Alexander Duncan Pugh (b. Abt. 1801).  Alexander Duncan Pugh was Hugh Pugh’s younger brother and James Hayes Pugh’s uncle.  Alexander was another son of the Peter Pugh mentioned above.  There are at least two strong possibilities for the George mentioned here.  He could have been Peter Pugh’s son, George Pugh (b. Abt. 1804) or John Pugh, Esq.’s son George Pugh (b. Abt. 1810).  There is no mention of what became of George Pugh's half interest in the deeds.

    Because of a suit of chancery, which was filed on April 2, 1881 in which John Childs was plaintiff and John Brobeck was defendant, the land was deeded to Burgess Allison on August 15, 1881. Upon the death of Burgess, the mill was deeded to Elsworth Allison who sold it to Enoch Allison on the same date of June 29, 1885.

    For all practical purposes, when Brobeck lost the mill, I believe that was the end of this grist mill. By the late 1800's the agricultural base, which the early settlers started, had eroded away. Industry, in the form of brickyards and clay works, from nearby areas was part of the cause. Store bought goods were replacing products from the grist mills. The loss of Brobeck's Eureke Mill was just one step to the end of this era.

Back to the Entrance or  Mineral Spring