Milford chronicle., 1949-10-28
Milford Founded In 1857
Through The Efforts
OF Joseph Oliver And
ReU. SydenhaR ThOrne
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AIO4Llnueu lEOM page lfl
expense Of the two counties. AS
enterprising as Mr. Oliver was, it
is possible that his house might
have remained the only one on the
creek bank had it not been for
the advent Of a new man, Vir-
ginian, Mr.. Sydenham ThOrne. Mr..
ThOrne was the rector of Christ
Church, an able business man and
a fine scholar. He bought all that
land at the edge of town now
known as the Draper farm and
built on il the handsome colonial
residence which we know as Sill
yer Hill. He was quick to see
the possibilities Of the location for
a town and he was not slow to fol-
low up his idea. He approached
Mr. Oliver and offered to build a
dam across the creek at his own
expense If Mr.. Oliver would agree
to lay his land in building lots.
The agreement was made and both
projects were carried out. Then a
grist mill was built where the old
Red Mill stood and a saw mill fur
ther up stream. BY 1890 there were
eighty buildings in the town, thus
showing a fairly rapid growth.
When Mr.. Thorne came here the
church stood at Churchill about
half way between here and Hous-
ton, in fact the present highway
passes over the old graveyard that
surrounded the church. Mr.. Thorne
was so sure of the future of the
town that he accepted the gift Of
a town lot from Mr.. Oliver for the
church and began the work Of
building the present edifice al
though some of the congregation
objected to the removal. He him
self paid for the making of the
bricks, but in the midst of his
work he died at the age of As years
and the walls stood unfinished fol
some twenty years. In 1889 Mr.
Oliver also donated the land for {
Methodist Church and graveyard
a part of the foundation yet remain
ing in the old yard on North stree
across from the Milford Elementar!
School. What ever Mr.. ThOrne die
was well done and in the best o
taste. For his house he chose tn,
most commanding elevation VI
have because, it is said. it resembl
ed the situation of Shirley" il
Virginia, the home of General Lee
mothers family, the CarteRs. Al
though the pitch of the roof wa
spoiled about 1880 and the old dor
mers removed, yet in all other re
spects it is today one of the bes
colOnials survivals in the county
if not the very best. Filled wit
handsome paneling and curiou
staircases it is a worthy memOria
to its builder.
Mr.. Thorne also built that ROY
of brick dwellings that stood abou
where Mr.. Wilson Vinyard's HON
now stands and which most of u
remember only in the last stage
of decay, yet, like all his wOr
these were we'll designed and S
long as they stood, gave an 1St
century look to Front street. Fc
e. long time they were known {
the Mitchell Buildings, later 8
Purity Row."
What is now the business SCI
ton of the town was then a cordI
roy road serving only as a passag
to the bridge. The business SCI
tion was out West Front street @
the high ground near Silver Hill
Here was the tan yard store, IL
bark yards for quercitron bar
the vats for tanning hides, COZ
wood and slaves stacked for shil
ment out of the river. and place
for all the lesser trades that wei
with these. AS the town grew IL
building we remember as the o.
National Bank was built by M
Wadhams for a stOrehOuse al