|
The Mill sits on the banks of the Whitewater Creek and Crystal lake. It was built in 1837 by William Bennett. The Bridge and road in the photo at left, taken in 1910, is what we now know as Highway 54.
The following is an excerpt from "Georgia Bennetts, their History and Their Heritage" by William Thomas Waters and Carlotte Stewart Tait.
William Bennett III, born in Virginia came to Jackson County, Ga. met Lavinia Brumbelow in 1814 and they were married February 1, 1816 and January 6, 1817 their son Chamealous Evans Bennett was born. When "Cam", as he would later be called, was four, the family moved to Fayette County near where the Ramah Church would later be located. The family acquired large holding of land and donated sizeable amounts for churches and cemeteries.
In 1837, William Bennett bought land on Whitewater Creek, west of Fayetteville and built a new water mill for corn and wheat. It was called "Bennett's Mill". The area was used for picnics and socials and the pond was used for baptismal services, it was truly a "Community Center".
The following is an excerpt from the Bennett family history noted as "Civil War Times".
Grandmother Emily Bennett in Civil War Times as told by her daughter Lavinia Jane (Viney) who at that time was eleven years old.
Her father Chamealous (Cam) Bennett and her brother Rober Bennett were in Virginia fighting the war. This left the responsibility for everything on her mother. The oldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married. There were six daughters at home and an eight year old son.
When Sherman was attacking Atlanta, they could hear the sounds of the guns twenty miles away. A supposedly trusted servant, Old Bull, told a company of scouting Yankees who had set up camp in the grove across from the Bennett home, that the family had silver and valuables buried back of the house. They had moved the bales of cotton, mules, and stock back into the middle of the swamp back of the house. They were living at that time in the Cam Bennett home, now occupied by the Graham sisters. The house had three front doors and there were paths leading from them to the gate. Flowers were growing from the paths.
The soldiers came in the yard and house by all three entrances, trampling the flowers. Grandfather William Bennett, seventy-five years old was there with the family. The soldiers put a rope around his neck and told him that they were going to hang him if he didn't show them where everything was hidden. "Viney" said that breakfast had been cooked but not yet eaten. The soldiers laughed at the poor fare, and poured it out. They took feather beds, ripped them open and poured syrup into them. They were all over the house upstairs and down.
Grandmother went to the gate -- "Viney", here shadow, going with her. Her father belonged to the Masonic Order. He had told her mother that if she ever needed help to make the Masonic sign indicating the call for assistance. She raised her hand three times making the sign. An officer came across the road and said, "Madame, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Bennett replied, "My son and my husband are in Virginia fighting the war. I am here with six daughters and a young son. I want my home cleared and protected."
The officer walked to the center door and said, "Out of the house." Some heard, others did not seem to hear, then he said, "Out or your life." She said they rolled our of doors and windows. He then put a guard at the gate.
Later in the day, the troops had news that Wheeler's Cavalry was coming from Newnan across the bridge at Bennett's Mill. She said you could hear them thundering across the bridge. The Yankees did not take time to hitch up their teams to the supply wagons, but set fire to them. As Wheeler's Cavalry raced into Fayetteville from the west, Yankees raced east, toward Lovejoy. She said that the bacon and coffee from the burning wagons smelled so good, they smoldered for days. |
