|
A Confederate Army Capt. Forney set out to build
the mill but died before completion. His wife let
the contractor complete it. The contractor was a
German from South Carolina by the name of G.E.
Morris. He was an inventor and had a foundry where
he made all of the gears and parts used in the
mill. He had a man building a water wheel for him
and the man slipped in and patented it 2 hours
before Morris got to Washington. Morris went home
and changed the design on his wheel and it did
better than the first one. He made money on it,
while the man who stole his invention went broke.
Morris also had a shingle mill down below the mill
(the foundation still stands). Split shingles,
about three feet long, were put on the mill
originally. Morris was building three other mills
at the same time. Union Soldiers burned them, but
missed the Kymulga Mill.
Mrs. Forney eventually sold the mill to James
Baker who owned it for many years. He later sold it
to a dentist, Dr. Hurd. John L. Carter bought it in
1949 and operated it as an active mill until it was
sold in October 1973 to Ed Donahoo.
In 1988 the Childersburg Heritage Society
obtained the mill from Ed. Donahoo, made
renovations, and now operates the mill as a tourist
attraction in conjunction with the Covered Bridge
and adjacent park.
|
