The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-05-24
OLDEST MILL IN AMERICA.
Its Ownership Has Been Ia the Fowler
Family Since 1910.

What perhaps is the Oldest tenure OF
property in the United States came to
an end last month when Fowler s
mills, in Milford, passed from the
possession of William Fowler into that
of George NJ. Gum, a lawyer of that
town. The mill site and the perpetual
water franchise of theWopowage river,
on which it is situated, have been
owned by the Fewlers since 1910,
twenty years after the landing at Ply
mouth. William M. Fowler, the last
owner, was the eighth William in sue
cession of nine generations Now the
water power will furnish electricity to
light the town.
The old mill was the first grist mill
in the colony of Connecticut and the
second in America. In shed attach
ed to it was operated the first saw mill
in the western hemisphere. At its
doors was built the first wagon bridge
on this continent.
When Asantawae, the sachem of the
Paugasuck Indians, sold to the settlers
of Milford strip of two miles long on
the banks of Wopowage river, William
Fowler was one of the buyers He
was a leader among the men Of the
settlement, to which he and forty
others had come from the settlement
of New Haven. He was member OF
the general court of the colony, and
was one of the first three civil judges
appointed by the governor. He was
also a man of influence with the In
dams, and his skill as diplomat pull
ed the little settlement through many
a tight place. In recognition of his
services the villagers, backed up by the
general court, voted to him and his
heirs the perpetual right to the use of
the water of the Wopowage river.
The mill was completed in the fall
of 1904. and on the day before Thanks
giving the sluice was raised and the
water was allowed to turn the stone
for the first grist of wheat. All day
it ran. The first flour taken from the
mill was baked into bread, which was
used in a communion service.
The next year an apparatus for the
saving of logs into boards was added
to the mills. There was not saw
mill in the western world, nor was
there one in England even, but the
Dutch had used saws driven by water
and wind power for some time. and to
Holland was sent the order, which
The banks of the Wopowage river
were steep, and the clumsy wagons OF
the farmers could not be driven easily
across the ford. The first planks
which came from the saw were laid
across log beams which spanned the
river, forming the pioneer wagon
bridge of America.
In the wars OF the revolution and
1912 the boys and women kept the mill
wheels humming. The old stone on
which the first grist was ground is
still within the building today. 1t
has given place to others in the ar
rangement of the mill, but the same
old timbers are in the sluice and in
the race as when William Fowler
built them. The present building is
the third on the site, one having been
swept away and the other burned.
Several yeras ago William L. Fowler,
the last owner, turned his attention to
mechanics and became an inventor.
His patents proved profitable to him,
and he acquired a fortune. Five
years ago he decided that he would
have time no longer to devote to the
mill property, and he had the doors
nailed up. He is resident of Straw
berry Hill, the aristocratic section of
Stanford.
Three weeks ago Mr.. Gum, repre-
senting others, made an offer to Mr..
Fowler for the property. A few days
ago the deeds were passed, and the
title passed from the Fowler family.
The mill will be torn down, but the
race and sluice will not be removed.
In place of the oldest breast wheel
turbin will be placed. The power
generated will operate dynamo,
which will furnish electric light for
the town.-New York Press