Schley County GaArchives Photo person.....Hill's Mill July 1946 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gary Hill garyhillarchibald@yahoo.com February 17, 2004, 11:52 am Source: Gary Hill Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/schley/photos/ph731hillsmil.jpg Image file size: 29.3 Kb I am Gary Alvin Hill, son of Alvin Chasso Hill, grandson of Lewis Napoleon, and great grandson of Lewis Hill who built the gristmill at Concord near Ellaville, Georgia. My 1st cousin, once removed, Keith Hill (my father Chasso and Keith's grand dad Theron were brothers) has posted the history of the two Hill mills, to this page. My cousins have asked me to tell of my experiences at the Concord, Lewis Hill mill. I was born in Forsyth, Georgia but moved to California at age 4, therefore, my experiences span about 50 years and are limited to occasional summer visits, at the annual July 4th, Hill family reunions. As a visitor to the south, many things that I did, saw and ate, were highly memorable to me. In the summer of 1955, I was 6 and we arrived at the mill, in the middle of the night after several days on the road driving from California and I remember being put to bed with my 1st cousin Dyxie Gleaton's son, Butch. In 1955 my uncle George and aunt Ozie (Hill) Standridge owned the mill. Dyxie was their only child. The next morning I awoke to the smell of fried eggs, grits, smokehouse ham, bacon and fresh baked biscuits. Later that day, Butch showed me about the mill house, where uncle George still ground corn into meal for anyone who needed it. Inside the mill was a bunch of large canvas or leather belts that connected the mill's water wheel and main power take off (PTO) to the pulleys on various work stations. The power from the water wheel could be used to perform many tasks but mainly it ground corn into meal using the large stone wheel. Outside over the millhouse door was the head of the largest big mouth bass that I had ever seen. Butch said it had been caught in the lake, out by a large tree snag. I remember uncle George had a small cinder block store that was in front of the mill. There was a Coke machine that said 5 cents on it. It was the kind you opened from the top and all you could see was the bottle caps. You slid your choice along the metal rack and pulled it up, out of the ice cold water. To this day, I remember what I drank that day, 50 years ago. It was a small bottle of 7up, ice cold and it tasted better than any soft drink has ever tasted since. Some things can only be truly experienced once in a lifetime, but you remember it forever...even a simple bottle of 7up. That evening was the 4th of July and people had been arriving at the house on the hill, across the road from the mill, all day long. I didn't recognize anyone, but I was told they were all my relatives. That evening, after a huge meal with fried okra, black-eyed peas, snap beans, potato salad, ham and fried chicken, there was watermelon. After sundown, there were fireworks and sparklers, but I was more impressed with the fire flies I had captured in the mason jar.... I'm sure it was hot and humid and the mosquitoes were out in force...I'm sure there were turnips and collard greens on the table...but who wants to remember those things. I have been to the mill many times since, as an adult and I always come away with the same feeling. To me, that millhouse, lake and spillway with the water wheel and all, was a magic place...did I mention the watermelon? This photo shows the spillway at Lewis Hill's, Concord mill and the smiling faces enjoying summer fun and good times at the 1946 Hill family reunion. The mill is just down the road from the Concord Methodist Church, located near Ellaville, Georgia. The lady in white is my mother Mary Elizabeth (Smith) Hill, wife of Alvin Chasso Hill, (youngest son of Lewis Napoleon) and L-R, are Christine Thurmond (wife of my aunt Lala's oldest son Wayne Thurmond), man in the hat is (we believe) uncle Charlie Otis Hill (son of Lewis Napoleon Hill) and blocking our view of Charlie is Mignon Hill, daughter of Charlie and Kitty (Lawhorn) Hill. In the photo, as you look across the spillway, the path around the lake begins. Countless cane poles and cans of worms have crossed that spillway. As a Hill cousin who wasn't fortunate enough to have grown up in Georgia, I was introduced to the fine art of cane pole, bobber fishing, somewhere down that path. Below the dam spillway was a concrete ledge where the older kids could stand behind the waterfall, which was the only place to cool off in the days before air conditioning. About 30 yards up the road, toward Concord Church was a wooden bridge across the road. Below the bridge, were enough frogs and tadpoles to light up the eyes of any kid, who wasn't afraid of snakes. Out in the lake 30 yards out from the spillway was a wooden diving or fishing dock about 8 ft. square. There were always rowboats tied up at the lake edge for fishing or romantic outings across the lake, away from the ever watchfull eyes of the adults. Since I was not born until three years after the photo of my mom at the spillway, it wasn't until the summer of 1969, that I discovered the purpose of the row boats. That was when I took my 17 year old wife to be, back to "Home Ground" in Georgia to meet the rest of the Hill family. My aunt Odessa and Ozie were constantly on the watch to insure that I behaved as a gentleman. I have a picture of my girl on the lake at the front of the rowboat that day and it is still my favorite picture of her, 34 years later. Note: As to the purpose of the row boats, the writer admits only to the fishing...and what a great day on the lake it was. Additional Comments: Gary Hill may be reached at garyhillarchibald@yahoo.com This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb