Connecticut Water Trails Association
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Connecticut Water Trails Association |
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Connecticut Water Trails Program History Of Connecticut's Water Trails History of Mills In Connecticut
Vernon Mills
Mills On The Tankerhoosen River
Peter Dobson & Company
Known as Ackerly's Mill in the early 1900's, is one of two mills built by Peter Dobson, a pioneer in the manufacture of cotton. Opened in 1811, it was located on the Tankerhoosen River in Vernon, along side the present day Dobson Road Bridge. The mill had several owners during its history, and underwent several evolutions over the years.
The
site had been owned by Chester King, whom operated a saw mill there.
Previous to King, the saw mill was owned by Roger Wolcott, Governor of
Connecticut. On December 25, 1809, Chester King was sold one third of
the privilege to Peter Dobson and one third jointly to James Chapman,
Aaron Chapman under the style "Peter Dobson & Company". Peter Dobson
began construction immediately and the mill was in operation in early
spring of 1811. Machinery consisted of two mules of one hundred and
ninety two spindles each, a throstle-frame of forty eight spindles, and
a twisting machine of thirty six spindles. The product produced was
stocking yarn and yarn for weaving cloth, which was given to locals whom
owned hand-looms, to be woven by them. The fabrics were sheetings,
shirtings, stripes, checks and ginghams.
In 1813, Aaron Chapman sold his one-sixth interest
to his brother, James Chapman. Several months later, James Chapman sold
his entire one-third interest to Walter Mitchell whom, two days later,
sold one half of his interest to Ward Woodbridge.
After three years of successful operation, the
business applied to the Legislature to incorporate, and in an 1814
Connecticut Legislative Act, Peter Dobson, Chester King, Ward
Woodbridge, and Walter Mitchell were incorporated as the "Tankerhoosen
Cotton Factory".
At this time, we need to mention the second mill,
the west mill, of which its ruins lay in the woods a few hundred yards
downstream of present day Dobson Road Bridge. The Tankerhoosen Cotton
Factory purchased land along the river, about a quarter of a mile west
of the first mill, from Irad Fuller in 1822, and Peter Dobson began
erecting a second mill. It is believed that during the construction of
this mill, Peter Dobson developed his "Glacial Theory", which is
described here. It appears that this mill wasn't brought into operation
until approximately 1826, and was destroyed by a fire on March 6, 1827.
The mill was immediately rebuilt
The two mills of the Tankerhoosen Cotton Factory operated successfully under the management of Peter Dobson until 1837, when parties indebted to the company failed, and the business was compelled to make an assignment. A settlement was made with its creditors and a new organization was formed under the style "Centerville Company", with its shareholders being mostly subscribers of the former company. Oliver King was elected president of the company, with Peter Dobson assuming the duties of secretary, agent and treasurer. Three years later, in 1841, Peter Dobson was elected president, agent and treasurer, and his son, John S. Dobson was elected secretary.
At the close of the war, the cost of cotton had
reduced and the resumption of operations was warranted. Because of his
age, the elder Dobson did not return to manage the company and it was
decided to close up the company and sell its property.
On March 27, 1866, the west mill was sold to John S.
Dobson, Alfred R. Goodrich, J. Woodbridge White, and William H. White,
whom organized under the style "Dobson, White & Company". Alfred
Goodrich was John Dobsons brother-in-law, as he was married to
Charlotte, John's sister. Messrs White were brothers-in-law of John
Dobson, their sister, Julia being John's wife. On November 20, 1866, J.
Woodbridge White retired from the company, at which time he conveyed his
interest to his brother, William H. White. Dobson, White & Company
operated the mill until the fall of 1879, at which time John Dobson was
burdened with poor health which caused him to retire from the management
of the business. Since his partners had only a pecuniary interest
without a personal devotion of time and labor, it was decided to close
the business. On October 21, 1879, the business was sold to Elisha E.
Hilliard. The west mill burned down in 1909, never to be rebuilt.
Approximately 1909, the east mill was sold to Paul
Ackerly, and he produced cheesecloth, twine and tobacco netting there.
He often hosted community Christmas and children’s birthday parties in
the mill. Mr. Ackerly moved his business to Georgia in the late 1920's.
The mill fell into the hands of the Talcott Brothers and sat idle. It
was torn down in the late 1930's.
The above picture is of the east mill. There is no
indication as to when this picture was taken, but I believe it was
sometime after the mill had been rebuilt, as the previous structure was
damaged during the 1869 flood. This image is from a postcard viewing the
mill from the Dobson Road near or on the bridge looking west. The mill
was located on the west side of Dobson Road on the south bank of the
Tankerhoosen River. The north foundation wall, which runs along the bank
of the river, had an stone arch opening for the tail-race of the water
wheel. Ruins of that wall, stone arch, and wheel pit remain today.
There is evidence that the original water wheel,
most likely a breast shot wheel, had been replaced by a Francis turbine
at some point. The mill had also been converted to steam power when this
picture was taken. The tall brick structure to the rear was a boiler
house. Adjacent to it on the right was a structure housing a steam
engine, which replaced or supplemented power produced by water. The
foundation for this power system is more recent than those of the oldest
parts of the mill. The plume of steam in the picture would indicate the
steam engine was running at the time. The mill's smokestack seen in the
background was actually located up the hill near the railroad tracks.
The railroad grade is visible above the roofline of
the mill. If you look closely at the shadows on the railroad grade, you
can make out the steam domes of a locomotive with the sun reflecting off
of them. There is also what appears to be a plume of smoke and steam
from its smokestack.
Here is Ackerly's Mill as it appeared 1939 on a
postcard. It is quite different than it looked in the previous picture.
This picture, like the first, was also taken from Dobson Road looking
west, but turned just slightly more to the north. This picture is dated
1939, and sources indicate the mill was torn down in the late 1930's, so
it probably wasn't standing for long after this picture was taken. This
mill building measured about 125' by 46' based on measurements of its
foundation.
The
Tankerhoosen River and the waterfall can't be
seen here because of the line of site, but they are there to the right
of the building. The embankment to the right is the north shore of the
river. The building on that embankment was in the vicinity of the old
well that is still there. There is a date monument in the corner of the
mill, which, unfortunately, is partially obstructed by the railing on
the loading dock. I have done high resolution scans in this portion of
the picture and the date appears to be 1896 or 1898.
Peter Dobsons original east mill was rebuilt in 1852, to be rebuilt again after a flood in 1869 and I believe that is as it is appears in the first photograph. I believe in the 1890's, it was rebuilt or enlarged again, as it is shown in the above 1939 photograph. If you knew the area before the 1980's, you may remember seeing those posts sticking out of the ground that you can see here near the loading dock. Somehow, they managed to stay in place until they disappeared from the ruins when the new bridge was built on Dobson Road around 1986. Dobson Road was realigned as well, so much of area near the loading dock is now under the embankment of the road. The footings that supported the bridge between the loading dock and the building are still in place. Although mother nature has reclaimed the site, there are lots of remains of the mill at the surface.
This image is from a postcard, postmarked 1911, of
the falls near Ackerly's Mill. The dam, waterfall and mill pond remain
today, but much else has changed. This view is looking east, toward
Vernon Center. The bridge and roadway is Dobson Road. The bridge has
been replaced at least twice since the photo was taken, most recently in
1986. The building on the left is long gone, but some of its footings
are still along river bank. Ackerly’s Mill was to the right, just out of
the picture. Notice the roadway to the right of the bridge splits, one
road going up, and the other down. Dobson Road went up the hill, while
the access to the mill was the lower road. Access to the rear of the
mill was over a bridge spanning the stream which runs through the stone
arch culvert under the railroad to the river at the top of the dam.
Here is an interesting sketch of southwestern
Vernon. It is from an 1895 map. The railroad was under the ownership of
the New York & New England Railroad at that time. The view is looking
north with the main line train tracks running west to east, passing
through Vernon Depot and the Rockville branch line turning to the north.
The mills built by Peter Dobson are at the lower
left. Both east and west mills are shown. Two dams were built here on
Tankerhoosen River, creating the Dobsonville Pond to supply water to
power these mills. Some foundations of both mills remain today, and at
the west mill site, dam remains and canal can be found in the woods on
the north side of the
Tankerhoosen River several hundred yards from of
the east mill site.
The Phoenix Mill was upstream of the Dobson Mills,
north of Vernon Depot. Its ruins are located at the present day
intersection of Phoenix Street and Maple Street on the west side of
Phoenix Street. The dam that created the
Tankerhoosen Lake is on the
east side of Phoenix Street.
Began the manufacture of fine woolens in 1841. Wool fabric woven in Rockville became world-famous for its fine quality during the period of 1892 through 1904
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Also on March
27, 1866, The Centerville Company had sold the east mill to Rienzi B.
Parker, who was the son-in-law of John Dobson, being married to Emma,
his daughter. Rienzi Parker operated the mill on his own account until
July 1, 1873. The mill had been badly damaged during a great flood on
October 4, 1869, and had been rebuilt. On July 1, 1873, Mr. Parker sold
the mill to the "Ravine Mills Company", a corporation formed on that
date of which Rienzi B. Parker, his father Lucius Parker, and James
Campbell became stockholders. Management of the company was solely in
the hands of Rienzi Parker, whom owned one-half of the company stock.
Rienzi Parker continued to operate that business until 1890.
