Manor Mill History

A brief history …

Two mills in Monkton have existed at two different locations. Both mills stood on the same large tract of Bull family property and took different descents after the American Revolution. The last owner of both tracts was the widow of Adam Hoopes, ca. 1771.

Research by Dr. Robert M. N. Crosby at the time of forming a My lady's Manor National Register Historic District demonstrated that the mill now called Manor Mill was the location of the first mill operation in this area and it stood on the Fruitful Valley land grant. In 1742, Thomas Brerewood, owner of the entire manor, had leased Lot 70 to Jacob Bull and required him to build a mill (Deeds TB No. C, folio 121). The second Bull Mill was on present Matthews Road and had a long life as Gwynn's Mill or Baker's Mill, and although shown on the 1915 Bromley atlas, it had been disassembled and its stones reused for road metal by that time.

In 1756, Bull, identified as "Old Jacob", left a water mill and 188 acres to his son Isaac. Isaac Bull in 1769 sold this tract along with his interest in another mill seat to Thomas Harris. Harris deeded in 1770 to Adam Hoopes. Hoopes died the next year, bequeathing the property to his wife Elizabeth Hoopes. Mrs. Hoopes sold to her husband's nephew, Robert Cummins, whose name is often spelled Cummings.

Robert Cummings apparently gave a name to the vicinity and in fact he used the name "Monckton Mills" in a letter written July 19, 1773, recording that he had purchased part of his uncle's estate for 1400 Pounds, Maryland Historical Magazine, 52 (September 1957): 250.

According to one account, the village originally called Charlotte Town, took its present name from the Monkton Mills of William Wynn [sic], who named it for Monkton Priory in Wales. See, "Youth Finds Charlotte Town Plan," Sun, December 4, 1947. A more supportable theory given in MHM, 52:248, was proposed by Esther Clark Wright, in "The Naming of Monkton Mills," wherein she stated that the settlement was named by Robert Cummings for Monckton in Nova Scotia. Cummings actually used the name "Monckton" in his 1776 letter to the Council of Safety (Arch. Md., 12:501). Cummins intended to honor Colonel Robert Monckton, son of Viscount John Galloway, the colonel having been involved in dispossessing the French from Nova Scotia. Monkton Mills, without a "c" was a post office name from 1848 to 1883.

Robert Cummins advertised that Thomas Welsh, probably an indentured servant, had run away from his mills on the Great Falls of Gunpowder, Maryland Journal, July 9, 1774. Cummins died at an early age and his mother, Margaret Cummins, served as executrix. In an advertisement about settling the estate, Mrs. Cummins gave her address as "Monkton Mills, Baltimore County," and urged her son's creditors to come forward, including, "Likewise, those who have any demands against the said Cummins, as contractor for victualing the Maryland or Continental troops," Dunlap's Maryland Gazette, Baltimore, December 2, 1777.

Margaret Cummings sold some of the estate lands to John Montgomery in 1778, including 122 acres of The Manor, 45 acres of Isaac's Lot, Isaac's Second Lot (23-1/2 acres), and an unnamed parcel of 20 acres (Deeds WG No. B, folio 415).

William Gwynn had a survey made, but never patented, for 131 acres called "Monkton Mills," Unpatented Certificates No. 1039, Maryland State Archives. Dennis Griffith's 1794-1795 State map showed a mill symbol on the west bank of the Gunpowder, which would equate with the Monkton Mill near the "Bridge House." However, Griffith did not show the first mill on the Charles Run. The 1794 mill symbol marked the site where Isaac Bull had built a mill about 1762 after taking out a writ of ad quod damnum to create a 20-acre mill seat within his own property. He was literally condemning his own land by this process but also creating a salable mill property--a sort of minor subdivision.

In his will, Edward Murray mentioned a mill in his bequest to son Francis Murray (1794). This had to be the predecessor of the present Manor Mill. In rapid order this property passed to Robert Gorsuch (1797), Robert Smith (1797), Gorsuch and Merryman (1799), and finally in 1804 to John Merryman of Benjamin. No Merryman mill appears in the 1798 tax list but in the assessments of Old District No. 5, the mill appeared in 1818, 1823, 1824, and 1833, taking a jump in value from $500 in 1823 to $1000 in the volume for 1833. John Merryman of Benjamin left the mill to son John J. Merryman in 1848. J. C. Sidney & P. J. Browne's county map of 1850 showed the J. Merryman Grist Mill just south of the present Sheppard Road, west side of Monkton Manor Road, powered by the stream now called Charles Run. "Grist Mill, J. Merryman" also appeared on Robert Taylor's 1857 county map.

On one occasion, both mills were mentioned in describing property offered for sale by Josiah Sheppard. The land advertised was "on the manor . . . near . . . a mill formerly owned by a Mr. William Gwynn, and 1 mile from John Merryman, Esq.'s mill," Baltimore American, January 29, 1834. The Merryman line of descent is the one related to the brick mill still standing in 2006. On the other hand, the Gwynn Mill and its dwelling were both described as built of stone in an advertisement placed by Charles F. Mayer, Trustee, Baltimore American, October 28, 1834.

The 1850 Census of Manufactures listed John Merryman's water mill with $1000 capital investment, two run of millstones, and 1 employee. Annual output was 352 bbl flour per annum and other goods, worth a total of $4060. John J. Merryman sold the mill to Samuel Miller in May 1864; in that deed, the stream was called

Merryman's Branch (deeds JWS 40:504). The Merrymans retained the large brick Federal style or late Georgian house called Fruitful Valley at the SE corner of Sheppard and Monkton Roads.

An item in the Maryland Journal of Towson stated on August 5, 1865, that a heavy rain at Monkton on the 25th of July had washed away "Mr. Miller's Mill dam." The 1877 G. M. Hopkins Atlas of Baltimore County, Maryland, showed "G. M.--Sl. Miller" for the Manor Mill in District 10 owned by Samuel Miller.

The County Commissioners' Journal of Proceedings in September, 1880, contained an order "to repair bridge over Charles Run at Miller Mill, 10th District," (Vol. 5:30). Early in 1889, a county newspaper reported that a storm had washed Manor Mill in 1978 with Rodney Field's Antique Business Truck out "one of the flood or waste gates in the millrace belonging to Mr. Samuel Miller," whose loss was $50 (Maryland Journal, April 6, 1889).

John J. Merryman's will included an 1876 plat showing that the mill had left the family. The brick house to the rear of the mill stood at that time--and no doubt had been there some time--assuming that the Merrymans relied on a hired miller for the actual operation of the works; that brick dwelling, while sturdy, is far from high style.

Following the deaths of both Samuel Miller and his executor, the mill passed to Samuel W. Billingsley in 1917 and was immediately deeded to Edna E. Miller. In 1920, Edna E. Miller and husband, S. Elmer Miller, sold to Frank S. Schultz. According to a Jeffersonian story of June 21, 1940, the mill was owned by J. F. Schultz, who was then over 80 years of age and in the hospital:

The old Monkton Mill, which was owned and operated by Mr. J. F. Schultz for a number of years is no longer in operation and has been closed. Mr. Schultz has been in poor health the past two years and is now a patient at the York Hospital with arthritis. Mr. Schultz is an octogenarian and has resided in this community a long time. We wish him a speedy recovery. Schultz's executors sold to Robert F. Fahy and wife in 1941, and they sold to Arthur H. Deute and wife in 1942. Deute published an article entitled, "The Stones Grind Slowly," in Gourmet, March 1943, p. 15, where he spoke of Manor Mill at Monkton in the heart of "Our Lady's Manor . . . near point where Manor Creek dashes into the larger Gunpowder is Manor Mill . . . built of native stones and local brick and great hand-hewn timbers many years ago. It was supposedly built by a family of Dunkards, and they erected it with the idea of a long life. The mill is four stories high and has a huge cellar below."

The overshot wheel was described as 24 feet in diameter. The mill was supposedly used as a hiding place on the Underground Railroad before the final dash for freedom into Pennsylvania [which is unlikely, because the Merrymans were slaveholders]. Mr. Deute was producing buckwheat when he wrote in that food magazine; he was also mentioned in the Evening Sun's article on the aid rendered to the war effort by rural millers: "State's Old Water Mills Get New Lease on Life," June 30, 1944. Deute died in 1946, and the following year his widow conveyed to J. Talbott Kelly (Deeds JWS 1527:572). In January, 1948, Kelley [sic] sold to Charles C. Walts; at that time the stream was described as Manor Creek (Deeds JWB 1635:367).

In August, 1948, Anna R. Walts conveyed to F. Kenenth Albrecht (Deeds TBS 1682:539). Towson's legal newspaper reported the sale: The mill on The Manor at Monkton, which was recently acquired by Dr. F. Kenneth Albrecht, editor of a medical magazine in Baltimore, has been reopened under the management of

Herschel Bucksath ("Mill on the Manor Reopened," Jeffersonian, September 13, 1948).

In 1963, Dr. Albrecht's widow conveyed to the next owner, antique dealer, Asbel O. Fields. In the 1960s or so, a cinder-block wing was attached. The stream is again called Charles Run. About 1976, architect James T. Wollon. Jr., AIA, wrote the site descriptions for the National Register nomination of the Manor. He stated of the dwelling, "The Miller's House is a rectangular, two-storey house above a high stone foundation, three bays in length, one room in depth. A one story porch extends across the principal or east front, facing the mill, at the first floor level. An unmoulded four-panel door is centered between 6/6 windows with louvered blinds and exposed wood lintels. In its detailing, the Miller's House is identical to the adjacent mill and was undoubtedly built at the same time."

In 1977, Rodney O. Fields was interviewed by Mitch Betts about the antique business and stated that the mill had stopped running about 1950, "Monkton Mill Stone Stands Silent," Valley Voice, December 8, 1977.

On April 11, 1978, John McGrain, county historic sites planner, and Mrs. Shirley Clemens toured the mill and took large format photographs. The photos were used by Mrs. Clemens in an article entitled, "The Water Mills of Monkton," History Trails, 12 (Winter 1977-1978). After publishing that article, McGrain found in the county transfer books No. 10, 1867, an update line entry where Samuel Miller was charged with "New Mill," assessed at $3500, in District 10, entered in 1870 (folio 4).

Notes made on the 1978 visit include the statement that there was no sign that roller units were ever adopted after they became available in the 1880s. The third floor was apparently the grinding level. Two wooden hoppers, but no millstones or vats remained inside. The mill cornice was formed of corbeled brick. Window lintels were of wood. There were several brick arches in the basement: at least four, two for wheel axles, one an arched doorway, the other of purpose unknown. There had been a grain-drying kiln in the basement in the NE corner. There was some iron gearing: iron vertical drive shafts, some bevel gears with hardwood teeth set into the iron rim. The water wheel looked more like 32 feet in diameter and was in an outside open pit. The stone walls of the first story were extremely thick. One piece of broken millstone with its grooves showing was set in an outside wall (east). There were millstones in the yard, both French burr stone as well as a conglomerate stone. It is believe that that the machinery had been removed in stages prior to it being owned by the Fields. There were all kinds of notches in girts and upright posts. There were no visible pegs in the bolsters but a lot of them were split. In 1978, the hoist was still operable. Its rope had worn a hole in the gable peak under the hood. The pulleys were large, made of composite or laminated wooden pieces. There was also a large iron out-of-doors pulley on an axle emerging through the west end of the mill.

The mill tailrace is clearly visible to the west. There was also a part of the approaching race across the road, up a slope. The question arose of whether the water was brought in on a flume or via level ditch. There was a large iron input pipe which fed into an iron riveted box over the wheel. There were iron rods in the building and also iron tie-plates or anchors.

At that visit, before finding the Transfer Book entry, the dating of the building remained problematic. The bricks seemed to be older than a post-Civil War building, being brittle and dry. Two heads of the elevator system survived. Most of the chutes and elevator conduits were gone--some used for fuel by a former tenant.

The millstones on the ground had irregular dimensions: about 45 inches--not 48 inches as expected. Some stones had "eyes" in the center, in the shape of the Red Cross symbol, obviously runner stones that in actual operation had been supported from below by an iron shaft.

Rodney Fields continued the antique business until 2004. That year, Curtis and Joann Shearer bought the mill property and promptly started restoring the brick dwelling. The mill had suffered serious alterations since 1978, and there was much seepage from the roof. The floors in places were wearing thin. The water wheel buckets had entirely rusted away. The wooden grain hoppers from the old millstone installations were still on hand. The excellent crafting of chamfered posts was still apparent.

Mr. Shearer founded Millstone Cellars, which became a successful artisanal cidery business for approximately 10 years, using apples from local orchards in Maryland and Pennsylvania and produced onsite. The business closed in 2017 and the property began to fall into disarray as it was abandoned. Its current owner has continued the restoration of both the house and mill starting in November, 2019.

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