DUANE
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Duane's take
The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the one with the campfire and the story to tell. Now settle in, because this one's got land speculators, a New England Quaker, and a fortune built one grind at a time deep in Cherokee County, Texas. In November of 1847, a man named James Ferguson, described on the record as a land speculator, bought up 1,600 acres including this very site and got to work building a mill.
He ran it well enough. By 1852 he was employing five workers, which in those days meant the operation had some real life to it. But here's where the story takes a turn.
Ferguson lost the property in a legal judgment, and after that the mill changed hands several times over the next seventeen years. Now, seventeen years is a long time for a piece of land to wander. But eventually the right man found it.
Charles E. Ford came down from New England, a Quaker, and he brought his family to Cherokee County in 1869. He purchased the mill along with 335 acres of creek bottom land, and what he paid was exactly $442.50.
Not $442. Not $443. Four hundred forty-two dollars and fifty cents.
The marker calls Ford an entrepreneur and an inventor, and you can tell by what came next. He modernized the mill, and he reopened it in 1872 to grind corn, saw lumber, and repair machinery. By 1880, the mill's value had grown to $1,250.
And that was just the beginning. They called him Miller Ford, and his fortune eventually spread to include 14 cotton gins and grist mills across the county. Fourteen.
After Ford, his son carried on the operation, keeping the mill turning all the way until 1917. Today, all that remains out here is the mill pond and the vestiges of the mill race. The machinery is gone, the workers are long gone, and Miller Ford himself is a name on a marker.
But that pond is still here, quiet and deep, holding the memory of everything that once turned beside it.
What the marker says
In November 1847, James Ferguson, a land speculator, bought 1,600 acres including this site and built a mill. He successfully operated it for several years, employing five workers by 1852. He lost the property in a legal judgement, and it changed ownership several times in the next seventeen years. Charles E. Ford, a New England Quaker, brought his family to Cherokee County in 1869 and purchased the mill with 335 acres of creek bottom land for $442.50. An entrepreneur and inventor, Ford modernized the mill and reopened it in 1872 to grind corn, saw lumber and repair machinery. The mill's value by 1880 was $1,250. "Miller" Ford's fortune expanded to include 14 cotton gins and grist mills in the county. His son continued the mill's operation until 1917. All that remains is the mill pond and vestiges of the mill race. (1999)