January 27, 2021
I was on my way to see some grave markers at East Putney Cemetery when this old red building caught my attention. It is located on the corner of E. Putney Falls Road and Cemetery Road. I parked my car by the small dam on Minott’s Brook, now named East Putney Brook, and got out to explore.
I had read that Deacon Samuel Minott ( whose grave marker is in the E. Putney cemetery) had built the first grist mill in Putney in 1765 on Minott’s brook.
Could this be an old grist mill? What is the story here?
My main resource became a paperback spiral-bound book
entitled Putney 1753-1953 published by The Fortnightly Club of Putney
and copied with permission of the Putney Historical Society 1983.
This map is from the Putney 1753-1953 book. It suggests that in 1876 the building (or a building located there) was Bennett’s clover hulling mill.
Clover hulling??
Map from Putney 1753-1953 book (P. 52)
From the book: Clover hulling was done by the early settlers who needed and used clover for their animals. The first crop of clover was cut and used for hay. When the second crop blossomed, the heads were removed and the seeds were extracted. A finger-like device made of wood and drawn by a horse passed over the field plucking the heads into a receptacle in the rear. The heads were then taken to the mill where the seeds were extracted.
A Mr. Ward built one of two hulling mills for William Bennett on E. Putney Falls. It was also a fulling mill and a tannery. Buckets and barrels were produced, and at one time the mill was a wheelwright shop. Later it was used for storing wagons. William Bennett was a cooper, one who made barrels.
Could this building be 145 years old? Is there more to the story?
I visited the dam three times during the next week. As the temperature
dropped, more ice formed creating this late January beauty.
Beyond the mill, the brook continues on its journey to the Connecticut River.
More on the cemetery in another blog..
Nature’s heart
