The Old Mill Pond   9-2-06

“One of my earliest childhood memories was an experience at the ‘Two Mile Branch’ that flowed into the ‘Old Mill Pond.’”

The branch crossed the road to Quitman and spread from hill to hill. It was about knee deep, crystal clear with a white sandy bottom. Water bugs scooted around over the water’s surface.

It was a paradise for children wading.

On the southwest approach to the branch was a boardwalk out into the water Adults in our party used the walk to help them do their clothes washing in the clear water.

Wagons, too, stopped in the branch to soak their wheels.

I was too small to have a clear mental picture of the Old Mill Pond. Low bushes probably prevented my seeing it as I knew it in later years.

I always kept a respectful distance from the shoreline because children were told it was very, very deep – bottomless – so ‘stay away.’

But I did view it from a safe distance even into the 1920s.

Mildred Moody Cowan Speigler. Born August 31st, 1908.

What I Know About the Old Mill Pond

By James O. Dear, 1988

I was born on May 15th, 1916 on the John Milton Carroll Farm. This farm is the east 76 acres of the W.M. Hurt Survey, and is bounded on the west by property purchased by Ben Long. The Ben Long property contained the two mill sites as will be explained in the following writings.

I personally was familiar with the Old Mill Pond. I fished in it many times, and learned to swim in it. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was six years old. My daddy shot a greenhead mallard duck on it. All deed transactions can be found in the Wood County Courthouse, Quitman, Texas. Other information was told to me by my mother.

The chain of ownership is as follows: J.F. Wingo to G.W. Greer; G.W. Greer to R.A. Newsom, F.M. Dumas et al; to S. Amos et al; S.J. Greer et al to Ben Long; Ben Long et ux to A. Patten et al. Other transactions follow with explanations.

It is not known who built the dam on the two mile branch impounding the water and making a lake known as the mill pond. This branch became known as the Two Mile Branch since it was approximately two miles north of Mineola. However, in earlier records, the property that this branch flowed through was referred to as being eight miles south of Quitman, since Mineola did not come into being until 1873.

The Old Mill Pond was located approximately two miles north of Mineola and east of Highway 37 in the Daniel Fuller Survey. This property was conveyed to Ben Long by warranty deed on September 22nd, 1885. On this property, a cotton gin and grist mill for grinding corn was built by Ben Long.

Ben Long was a cousin to my father, Sam Houston Dear and was also my uncle by marriage. He was married to my aunt Mary Elizabeth Carroll, my mother’s eldest sister. My mother was Nancy Jane Carroll, born May 8th, 1874.

My mother told me that her brother, Thomas Henderson Carroll, born October 22nd, 1872, worked for Ben Long at the grist mill and cotton gin. One of his jobs was to “tromp” or pack the cotton down as it was emptied into the press.

Then it was pressed down by a huge weight and a large pressure screw. All of the machinery was operated by water power.

Ben Long and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, conveyed the mill pond property to A. Patten and A.L. Patten by warranty deed on January 4th, 1890. In describing the property, the deed mentions the mill race, the mill pond, and, keeping westerly ten feet from the water’s edge, the Quitman-Mineola public road. The Longs reserved water privileges of the pond for the use and benefit of the improvements and machinery.

The first mill burned, so Ben Long, having reserved water rights to the mill pond, built another mill about one-quarter mile down stream on a 110-acre tract of land that he owned in the Hurt Survey.

After Ben Long died, his widow, Mary Elizabeth Long, deeded to Dr. Patten 35 acres out of the northwest corner of the 110 acre tract. This contained the second mill which was dismantled and disposed of.

The mill pond property, including the 35 acres in the Hurt Survey, came into the possession of Col. Adolphus A. McDaniel, a retired army medical doctor. Col. McDaniel was a descendent of Dr. Patten and he heired this property.

T.F. Castloo bought his property along with 53 acres owned by Mrs. A.H. Terry with the intention of building a lake. He was advised by the contractor that he would need an additional strip of land 90 feet wide and 600 feet long. This land was owned by me, as I had bought it from the Ben Long heirs. I did not sell any land to T.F. Castloo, but I did give him an easement so he could construct and maintain the dam. An easement was also given to construct and maintain a road across the corner of my property

After the dame was completed in 1956, the lake filled the first year inundating the old mill pond and both mill locations. This lake was named Lake Brenda after T.F. Castloo’s daughter, Brenda.

T.F. Castloo sold Lake Brenda to Joe Bulowski on August 25th, 1971. As a result of hard work and good management, Mr. Bulowski developed Lake Brenda into one of East Texas’ most beautiful estates.

An addendum by Mr. Dear with further reminiscences about life around the Old Mill Pond will appear in the next issue of The Gazette. His memories are a treasure trove of Wood County history.

The material for this article was provided by Lou Mallory, chairman of the Wood County Historical Commission and edited by Sheilah R. Pepper, The Gazette Staff.