About Grist Mill Wheels

I wrote an earlier blog about McDonalds Mill. Ensuing discussions focused on the actual grinding stone wheels because I wondered where and how they were cut. My sources of information were my Dad, Bill Absher, Clinton Smith, and Buford Long. Each had a reason to be somewhat knowledgeable on the subject; Dad because he grew up next to the mill and worked with a lot of craftsmen, Clinton because he is a long term resident of Brush Mountain, and Buford because his Dad and cousin had a hand in mill wheel production.

As I understand it, there are only two seams of stone that make top quality grist wheels; one runs along the ridge of Brush Mountain and the other might be in Africa.  Brush Mountain Mill wheels are supposedly the best in the U.S. and have been sent all over the country and may have been exported.

Buford's father, Gilbert Long, helped remove the overburden with a team of horses to allow the stones to be quarried. The stone is like a sand stone of sharp and hard quartz pebbles.  There were several families that knew the trade of hammering out mill wheels; Shealor, Surface, Saville, and Hurt were names I heard. Dad worked with the Surface brothers; one was Fred ( I had a class mate that may have been his son, Freddie , that was killed in a car accident soon after we graduated).

Billie Hurt is Buford"s cousin and as of last week was still alive in a rest home near Rocky Mount. Supposedly he is the last remaining gist stone cutter.

I had a class mate. Roger Saville.  I need to remember to ask him about Doug Saville who was supposed to have been one of the better known craftsmen.

Many used up or flawed grist wheels can be seen in the Brush Mountain area like the one Clinton Smith embeded in his stone wall to greet visitors to his home.

I asked Dad where the quarries were. His response: "I did know but it wasn't important to me at the time." That's one reason I'm writing this blog; to record information that didn't seem important enough when it was happening but helps us understand our history. Help by adding to this blog.