Picturing the Past 96: First corn mill

Some areas of Bedford County which are now more or less empty fields were once thriving areas full of people living and doing business.

Here's an example.

The rocks at right in the above photo, taken near Wartrace, are what remain of one of the county's first settled areas.

A corn mill operated at this site alongside the Garrison Fork of Duck River near Wartrace, according to Garland King of Shelbyville, a descendant of the mill's operator, John King.

John King would have been in his late 30s at the time, according to a short biography prepared by the late Gladys Farris and by Tim and Helen Marsh and brought by the T-G last week by Garland King.

The Kings, originally from North Carolina, came to the Wartace area from Davidson County in 1806 where they built a "rude log hut" to which they moved in 1807.

These stones were dragged from the Cumberland Mountains to where Garrison Mill stood and used to construct the county's first corn mill.

John King persuaded his brother, the Rev. Samuel King, to come to Wartrace. Rev. King co-founded the Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Nashville on Feb. 4, 1810.

One wonders if the primitive living conditions took a toll on John King, who died of typhoid fever on Aug. 18, 1811.

It's interesting to see areas where what look like piles of rocks were actually something much more. I imagine those of us familiar with Bedford County can think of several similar areas.

Picturing the Past is featured each Tuesday in this blog. Reader contributions are welcome.