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1826
Land
grant from U.S. Government to John Gilbert.
1832 Emanuel Case and Harry Gilbert contract to build mill. W.S. and Elijah Carr cut and hew the lumber. Richard Fogy is the first millwright. 1833 First bridge, made of planks, is built across the river. 1835 Stephen Fargo buys Mill. Operates as Manchester Mill Company. 1836 Stephen Fargo sells to James Fargo, Shepherd Knapp & Sellick Boughton. 1837 Boughton sells his share back to Fargo. The Original Manchester Village Plat is then acknowledged by Stephen Fargo, James & Eliza Fargo,and Shepherd & Catherine Knapp. 1838 Fargo sells share to Charles Noble & Austin Wing. 1839 Wing & Noble sell their share back to Stephen Fargo. 1840 Stephen Fargo sells shares to Benjamin Ford, Cyress Smith & Luther Field by Land Contract. A 5 year lease of water power is made to Samuel Doty for manufacturing wool on east side river next to the sawmill. Now called the Manchester Flouring Mill. 1841 Fargo sells a share back to Noble & Wing, which is then sold to Philip Brotherson and Arthur Root. 1847 Brotherson sells his share to Arthur Root. 1848 US Bankruptcy Court in Detroit orders shares of Mill held by Farmers and Merchant’s Bank, Brotherson, Wing, Noble and McClelland sold to Arthur Root. 1852 Root dies; estate sells his share to William McClelland. Charles Noble, as attorney for Shepherd Knapp, sells that share to William McClelland as well. 1853 McClelland sells to Vreeland, with 1/3 share going through Marshall Chapin. On May 1, the mill burns down with $20,000 damage to the mill plus $30,000 damage to other buildings. 1854 Vreeland sells to George Sedgwick. (Sedgwick is apparently a local financier because he holds a series of mortgages on the mill through 1878). 1854 John Kief rebuilds the mill, now operating as the Farmer’s Grist Mill. (John’s sister Eliza had been married to Stephen Fargo’s nephew, James, who passed away in 1840). 1855 Sedgwick sells to Jabez Fountain. 1857 Jabez Fountain sells to Cyrus Fountain. 1858 Cyrus & Juliet Fountain sell to Harriet Fountain. 1864 George & Martha Sedgwick sell to James Chamberlin & Edwin Fairchild, Jr. Mortgages held by Sedgwick include James Fountain, William McClelland, Shepherd Knapp, and James Mitchell. 1866 Jabez Fountain sells to James Fountain, including a mortgage foreclosure against Fernando Beaman. 1865 James & Sarah Chamberlain sell to Earstus Vilas. 1867 Edward & Lucy Fairchild Jr. and Erastus & Lucy Vilas sell their shares back to Sedgwick, as does James, Jabez & Harriet Fountain. 1869 Sedgwick sells to James Reynolds. 1870 Sedgwick sells 1/2 interest to George Hewett with mortgage. 1873 Sedgwick sells 1/2 interest to Enoch Cook and William Bartleys with mortgage. 1875 Dam washes out in flood and is rebuilt. 1877 George Sedgwick repossesses mortgages to James Reynolds, William Hewett, George Hewett, William Burtless, Charles Miller & Benjamin Reynolds. Then Sedgwick sells to Francis Reynolds. 1878 Reynolds sells to Amanda Priest. 1879 Priest sells to Garrison Underhill and Mary Rommel. 1886 Noah Holt buys the Mill. Now named Southern Washtenaw Mills. 1896 Sale to People’s Bank in lieu of foreclosure. 1901 People’s Bank sells to Lewis Lonier and William Hoffer 1908 Dam washes out on March 10. A temporary dam is built and it washes out in May. 1912 Rock-filled timber crib dam with concrete weir constructed. (present structure) 1919 Lewis Lonier dies and Helen sells interest to William Hoffer. 1924 Mill burns down shattering windows in bank building across Adrian Street. 1926 Mill rebuilt. (present main building structure) 1930 Sale to William and Oswald Blaess. 1931 Standard Oil leases space for service station; operated by Lawrence Burkhardt. 1939 Young David Wolf, whose father owns a Main Street shoe shop, drowns in the Mill Dam flume. 1940 Sale to Ernest G., Earl, and Willard Mann. 1954 Grain elevator added to main structure of Mill. 1976 Willard & Dorothy Mann buy out E.G. Mann & Sons. Ronald Mann operates the Mill. 1977 Feed store added to rear of main structure. 1979 Mill Listed in the Michigan State Register of Historic Sites. 1981 Sale to Don Limpert. Milling operations stop. 1985 Renovated as store, office & apartment complex. 2001 Mill purchased by Karl and Pat Racenis. 2007 Major restoration of siding, windows & roofing on grain elevator section. 2009 Steel siding installed on the river side to restore historically correct 1950's appearance. Information resources: * Link to Michigan Historic Sites in Washtenaw County * Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. * Donald Limpert documents and photographs. * Manchester Area Historical Society. * Manchester District Library Historical Room. * Manchester’s First Hundred Years. * Ronald Mann documents and photographs. * Washtenaw County Register of Deeds. * Zichi & Brauer P.C.Title Opinion dated May 25, 2001. |