Cavendish Women You Should Know: Barbara Phillips/Cavendish Mills

Barbara Scott Phillips was from Solon, Ohio, but made her home in Cavendish when she and her husband Harold bought an 1861 gristmill on the Black River and an 1821 home across the river.

Having taught social studies in Ohio, CHS board member Bruce McEnaney said, “Barbara was a good historian” and specifically referenced how Barbara is as an “expert on the American Civil War.”

In addition to helping to document and preserve Cavendish’s history, Barbara raised two daughters Alison and Carolyn. While we hope to do an interview with Barbara this spring, we want to share some of the research and writing that she’s done on Cavendish. This week’s post is on the Cavendish Mills that she and her husband bought and restored.

Phillips home across the river from the Mill.

It was in 1860 Everett Atherton built a gristmill on the Black River, one-half mile down river from the Cavendish Gorge.

There had always been mills at this location since 1784, when Seth and Nathan Dean built the original buildings for the town proprietors.

About the same time, Jonathon Atherton moved his family from Harvard, Massachusetts to Cavendish and built a log homestead not far from the mill property. His son, Jonathon Jr.,  raised five children on the family farm, the youngest being Everett Atherton.

In 1854 Everett, at thirty-two years of age, bought Cavendish Mills from Oliver Sykes. The gristmill building was not large enough for what Everett had in mind. He wanted to have one of the finest and most modern mill operations in the area. In order to accomplish this, Everett tore down the old gristmill building and built the present three-story structure. He would rebuild the adjoining sawmill at a later time.

Of post and beam construction, the gristmill building sat solidly on a dry-laid stone foundation, which on three sides reached fifteen feet in depth. The steep, gabled roof was made of slate. To insure that there would be plenty of light, Everett had thirty windows set in the building and three, massive, sixteen paneled doors hung on the first and second floor facing the river.

A large, overshot water wheel was constructed at the rear of the mil. The stone dam across the Black River was rebuilt and the water diverted back through the raceway under the sawmill building. At the rear of the gristmill, the water was held back by a log dam and ponded for use by the mill.

A sign was made from one, large, pine board some twenty feet in length. Workmen then hoisted it into place high on the front of the building. In bright, gold lettering it boldly state, “E.H. Atherton, Cavendish Mills.”

Finally, Atherton had a business card printed. “Everett H. Atherton, dealer in flour, feed, grain, and manufacturer and dealer in lumber.” Now, he was ready for business.

It did not take Atherton long to build a large custom patronage. The Mil had been known in the area since early days and another advantage was its central location.

Every farmer from the tiny hamlet of Baltimore, Vermont, which was located just over Hawks Mountain from the mill, bought their loaded wagons over the mountain road down to Atherton’s mills. The mill was not only the focus of business activity, but it became a social gathering place as well. While waiting for their grain to be ground or lumber to be sawed, men gathered on the circular bench Atherton had built around the stove at the back of the mill. Neighborhood news was passed from one to the other, and local politics was often a topic of conversation. Checkers sometimes were played on a handmade checkerboard.

At noon, the mill became quiet as the big stones ground to a halt and the sawmill shut down. Atherton would ask those seated around the bench if they had brought their lunch. If the answer was no, he would say, “Well, come on over to the house, we’ve got plenty.”

So, business prospered as Atherton at one time employed four or five men in the gristmill and another four or five in the sawmill to keep both operations running smoothly.

The gristmill did quite a volume of business in flour, as well as feed for cattle, horses, and chickens. At one time the mill ground approximately 1000 bushels of corn a week. Most of this corn was shipped in by railroad car from the West. Atherton’s grain wagons picked up the corn at the local railroad depot and hauled it to the mill. The loaded wagons then backed up to the front door of the mill and dumped the corn into the large, main chute, which was located just inside the door. From there, it was picked by an elevator system and carried to the second-floor bins for storage.

In the adjoining sawmill, Atherton was sawing around 500,000 feet of lumber annually. A picture, taken in the early 1900’s, shows the mill yard and the bridge landing to it, filled with huge logs waiting to be sawed.

Atherton, miller and sawyer, oversaw the entire operation, constantly checking to see that the saws ran smoothly and the millstones did not stop grinding. By this time, Everett’s three sons, Charles, Hugh and Walter, were helping in the mill and it became a family operation.

Then in 1869, a major flood swept through the Black River valley. Mills and dams on 20 Mile Stream, and further down river at “New City,” were swept away in the torrent. Atherton’s own home was carried away by the flood of 20 Mile Stream. Atherton Bemis, Everett’s grandson, tells the following story about the flood. “Laura Atherton, his grandmother, had two pies cooling on the kitchen windowsill at the time. The last anyone saw was the house, all its effects, and the two pies, still on the sill, floating down river.”

Fortunately, Cavendish Mils survived the flood. After 1869, Atherton’s business increased as sawing and milling were concentrated at his place business due to the loos of the other mills in the “freshet” of “69.”

In 1873 Atherton built a beautiful Victorian mansion just across the river road from the mill. A three-story structure with mansard roof, it had fifteen rooms, each with a different kind of  woodwork. The third floor contained a large ballroom.

The name Atherton was well respected in the community, as is seen in an article about the mills in the November 3, 1889 edition of the Vermont Tribune.

Everett’s son Walter was taking a more important part in the business now, since Charles had gone to Portland, Oregon as a timber inspector, and Hugh had gone into farming. Atherton’s only daughter Marion came home from Seward, Nebraska and brought a young son, Atherton Bemis, back to the family home to raise.

Meanwhile, Walter and Everett continued to update the mill operation. They decided to rent space in the U upstairs of the gristmill to Owen Willard and son, cabinetmakers, and Willard rocking chairs became a popular selling item in the area.

In 1891 a new sawmill building was erected and the up and down saw replaced with a circular one. In 1900 the water wheel was removed and Rodney Hunt turbines installed. Atherton also purchased a Eureka magnetic separator for the gristmill. It was considered quite innovative for its day. Bits of metal were separated from the grain and deposited in a box beside the separator. Seven year old Atherton Bemis’s job was to empty the box. The young boy loved to spend his time at the mill with his uncle and grandfather. He especially liked the whine of the saws, the smell of the wood and the look of the clean, white boards as they came off the carriage in the sawmill.

In 1909, Everett, then in his eighty-first year, passed away from a liver ailment. Everett’s dream of having one of the largest and most modern mill operations in the area had been fulfilled. Now he passed the legacy on to his son Walter.

So, Walter took over complete management of the business. A bachelor, he lived in the family home with his mother.

In the late 1920’s the gristmill business started to decline. There was not as much demand for mill ground flour, since housewives could buy it at the local store. Also, when the number of farms decreased, the feed business did too.

So, in 1936, when the main shaft to the turbine under the gristmill broke, it was never repaired and the grist stones were silent for the first time in over one hundred years. The sawmill, however, continued to operate.

When Walter passed away in the late thirties, Everett’s grandson, Atherton Bemis, came home to run the business. It was no longer profitable to run the gristmill, but the turbine continued to supply the power for the sawmill until Atherton converted to electricity in 1946. Atherton operated the old mill until he was eighty years old. In 1972, due to failing eyesight and poor health, it became necessary to sell the mill property.

Cavendish Mills was sold to the Phillips family from Ohio. A complete restoration of the mill buildings and equipment was undertaken in 1973 and completed in 1976. When the renovation was complete, the original sign was hoisted into place once more.

Now, a new whirr of activity fills the air. Phillips [Harold, Barbara’s husband], a master cabinetmaker, has converted the sawmill into his cabinetry shop. He skillfully makes handsome pieces of furniture from old, seasoned wood. Phillips believes he was able to purchase the mills because he intended to restore the buildings and keep the business in woodworking. The gristmill is now used as a retail shop to display Phillip’s finished products.

Since 1784, there has been continuous business activity at Cavendish Mills. Reminders of these activities can still be seen.

Atherton Mill as it appears today.

Ledger books in Everett’s handwriting are on the shelf. Part of the log dam can be seen at the back of the mill. A pattern for a Willard rocking chair hands on an upstairs wall. There are penciled notations about the weather, births, deaths, and orders for grain and lumber, on bins and chutes all over the mill. The heavy grist stone, elevator shafts, and magnetic separator still remain in the floor. A poster, which Everett put up in 1812, announces a fair to be held mid-way between Proctorsville and Ludlow. Old turbines, half buried in sand, rest under the mill and the handmade checkerboard is still there. A beautifully dove tailed tool box, containing Everett’s handmade wood planes, is stored on the second floor; and a tin advertising stencil hangs on a nail near the front door, along with a large, brass skeleton key.

There is much about the old mill, which reminds us of Everett Atherton and his mill operation. It is almost as if he turned the key in the lock and intends to return after the noon meal. One almost expects to hear him say, “Come on over to the house, we’ve got plenty.”

The Phillips sold the gristmill and house separately. The Mill was remodeled to be a private home and is now referred to as the “historic Atherton Mill House.” Ownership has changed hands several times. The Phillips home is now owned by a year round resident who continues to honor the heritage of the home and property, including the first indoor bathroom in Cavendish.