A PARTING POEM ABOUT THE STONE MILL Morning Star, December 24, 2017, pg. 9 A very Merry Christmas to my readers of this column. Thank you for your support and for getting to me old photographs, directories, yearbooks, and other Albion history items which I use in my research. With all of the building construction going on in downtown Albion this past year and continuing, I'd like to present an article I prepared a year ago but couldn't "fit it in"at the time. Occasionally in my research I'll come across something out-of-the-ordinary. This week I'd like to present a poem I came across. In 1916, the 1845-built 3 ˝ story landmark Jesse Crowell Stone (flour) Mill in downtown Albion was extensively reconstructed into the Commercial & Savings Bank, 207 S. Superior St. The latter opened on January 1, 1917. [Note: Today it is the Huntington Bank]. Local newspaper Albion Leader editor William B. Gildart (1848-1918) composed and published a poem as part of an "obituary"for the Mill. We are republishing it here. From our Historical Notebook this week we present an 1857 drawing of the Mill, shown on the left. The original Mill office (present-day site of Fedco) is on the right. Enjoy, and again, Merry Christmas! THE OLD STONE MILL. We have no strange or mystic shrines, No temples here moss-grown with age. The new is old ere yet it lines Are fairly traced on history's page Man rears a solid work of rock He quarries from the native soil A structure that should bear the shock Of grinding Time's relentless toil. Within those gray, protecting walls Man's cunning craft is deftly plied. His labor done; the master calls Down the long race the pent-up tide. That tide was but the living blood Poured into artery and vein Of iron, and stone and steel and wood, Conceptions of master brain. The purring wheels begin to turn; The throb and hum of life begin; A Fancy's child has thus been born To live and thrive within that din. That din was heard through three score years; Attractive was its whirring sound. T'was music to the pioneers Who settled in the country ‘round. A city from a hamlet grew The Stone Mill made the daily flour Of toiling hundreds—they who do And dare to be a city's power. But Time no temp'ring mercy knows; His withering hand is over all; All are but midgets ‘neath his blows, And men and things before him fall. ‘Twas so with him whose fertile brain Conceived the thought, the structure reared; ‘Twill be the same—O, sad refrain! Now that his work has disappeared. The Stone Mill, first a Fancy thought, The mind of man containing. Will be once more an airy naught Fond Memory retaining. Albion's Stone Mill in 1858 Next: ALBION 100 YEARS AGO JANUARY 1918 Back to the Top of this Page All text copyright, 2024 © all rights reserved Frank Passic Did you enjoy this page? If you've enjoyed learning about Albion history from this site, please write us a note in the Albion Guestbook. We hope you will take the time to share your interest and stories related to Albion history, especially if you have any ancestors from Albion, please let us know. Learn more about Albion Michigan! Visit the Albion home page. Search the AlbionMich.com website Albion History Articles Historical Notebook  |  From the Archives  |  Subject List  |  100 Years Ago Alphabetical index Frank Passic home page Contact Frank using the Albion Michigan History Blog Albion History Books and Numismatic items Kept current by: Robin James Indices Unlimited Indexing Services And now a word from our sponsors See prints of Albion Michigan, by Maggie LaNoue, the owner of the Albion Home Page. AlbionDesign.com Communications Specialists Since 1981 NEW ALBION WEBSITE! AlbionMich.net Arts, Outdoors and Education