Even in tough economic times people will give if they recognize that the cause is important. The Rotary Club of Dickson and Capt. W.H. McCauley Camp 260, Sons of Confederate Veterans divides the proceeds from the tickets sales and the silent auction. The proceeds from Camp 260 goes toward restoring St. Paul Church building located on St. Paul Road just north of Charlotte, Tennessee. The church building is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year. Camp 260 owns the building and holds its monthly meetings and other special events at this historical site. This summer we will be installing an indoor toilet with running water.

The Evening Rotary Club of Dickson proudly supports the works of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation. The club’s portion of the proceeds will go to the PolioPlus Campaign. After 20 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions. Our efforts will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families. As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.

This year’s Blue and Gray Ball promises to be the best ever. For this year’s ball we are proud to have Ross Moore providing the music and entertainment. When it seems everywhere you go, someone is talking about the “good old days,” it’s a welcome sight to have Ross Moore come along and give us the kind of music and entertainment that we all miss so much. He runs the gambit from singing old time favorites and playing instruments popular during the Civil War to picking some of the hottest bluegrass coming out of Nashville. He plays twelve different instruments. Along with strong vocals, and his brand of down home humor, Ross puts on a show that captures the imagination of old and young alike.

We urge you to attend this special event and support our projects. Send $25 per ticket to Blue and Gray Ball, Post Office Box 1276, Dickson, TN 37056-1276. Remember that children under 16 are admitted at no charge when accomplish with a paid ticket. Civilians’ costumes, uniforms and ball gowns can be rented, purchased or made-to-order from Old Spencer Mill. 615 412-5169 or www.oldspencermill.com.; Performance Studios, 1205 Church St., Nashville, TN 615 256-0070 www.performancestudiosinc.com. For that special ball gown call Mrs. Alberta Millwood for an appointment. 205-384-9811. Located in Jasper, Alabama.

Again, thank you for your support and we hope to see you in September at the Fourth Annual Blue and Gray Civil

Musical entertainment and hayrides are available as well as grounds for camping or scouting activities. Living history programs are also available to show how pioneers accomplished many everyday chores before modern day technology came along. Tours of the old mill are conducted by appointment only.

The mill was originally built by Moses Parker. Moses had received a land grant from James Robertson of Davidson County dated August 27,1808, in payment for six months service in the late regiment. All Moses had at that time were two horses bearing the household goods, a rifle, chopping axe, hand saw, drawing knife, wife and four children. Upon arrival Moses quickly built a cabin, the mill, and “cleared a considerable farm on which he cultivated and raised plenty of provisions for home consumption”. Parker’s Creek was named for Moses after he killed a bear and cut his name in a tree in 1808. A Dickson County land deed dated 1827 refers to “the waters of Parker’s Mill Creek” in its survey. Moses’ daughter, Indiana Territory Parker, and her husband, Daniel Spencer, remained here and raised a family after Moses’ death in 1852.

The earliest documentation establishing the operation as Spencer’s Mill appears just before the Civil War in 1856. The mill was operated by Daniel and Indiana’s son, Samuel Spencer, as a water turbine driven corn and flour mill. The French burr stones which were used to grind corn and wheat for local farmers in this area were bought and shipped for $14.14 from overseas and used as ballasts for weight during the passage across the Atlantic. The mill became the center of the community where everything from rifles to coffins were manufactured. Even the first thresher in the county was constructed here. Spencer’s Mill boasted a wood and blacksmith shop, two stores, a saw mill and a post office. Mail was received semi-weekly in the community from January 18, 1878 until April 14, 1906. By the turn of the century the center of business had shifted to the nearby town of Burns because of railroad access built there during the Civil War.

Some old timers southeast of Burns say that Frank James kept a horse with saddlebags packed for a quick getaway at Spencer’s Mill following the war. Frank and Jesse James lived briefly in this area of Middle Tennessee at Big Bottom Farm on the Tennessee River while running from those that wished to kill them. Jesse went by the name of J.D. Howard but was know by locals as the “Rabbit Man” while Frank went by B.J. Woodson.

By 1919 Samuel’s son, William Spencer, Sr., was forced to sell the mill. Jeff Lampley bought the building and dismantled it. The operation of the mill was restarted ten miles away next to the tracks on Railroad Street in Burns. The mill was rebuilt as a new two-story linear structure, and passed down to his son, Sammy, then to his brother, William, Jr., and finally sold to Jewell J. Richardson. In its new building the mill ran on various power sources, including a steam engine and a diesel generator from the old Burns Electric Department until sometime in 1945. At this time Spencer’s Mill ceased operation sitting dormant and in disrepair for almost 50 years.

Trish and Tim Miller purchased the mill in 1993 and moved it back to the original mill site on Parker’s Creek where a faithful restoration began. In time, the present owners intend to operate the mill once again and preserve this as a local historical area. In the meantime cornmeal is being ground on site by a portable gasoline powered mill and complimentary bags are available – “the best cornmeal in these here parts”.
Donations to help restore Old Spencer Mill are appreciated.

By Jackie Narup

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For more infomation visit www.oldspencermill.com

Thanks to quillus for the use of his photo.