Jewell's Mill (White County, Ga.) records

Jewell's Mill (White County, Ga.) records

Descriptive Summary

Title: Jewell's Mill (White County, Ga.) records
Creator: Jewell's Mill (Textile factory : Jewell, Ga.)
Inclusive Dates: 1860-1901
Language(s): English
Extent: 12.8 Linear Feet 4 half boxes, 11 oversized volumes
Collection Number: ms3312
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

Daniel Ashley Jewell was born in 1822 in Winchester, New Hampshire. In the 1840s, he went South. In 1857, he bought a partnership in the Rock Factory with Simeon Bodfish. The next year, he acquired the entire cotton mill, located on the fall line of the Ogeechee River.

Jewell married Mary Shea, established his home, and started a cotton mill business. The factory was in Warren County, while the town and company store were in Hancock County.

During the Civil War, he encountered Sherman's troops, who demanded tobacco, horses, and matches from him. When he refused, they took him prisoner and brought him to the factory, where the superintendent handed the supplies over. According to family record, just as the Union troops were about to burn everything down, the captain recognized a Masonic square and compass and spared the area.

Jewell continued the mill after the Civil War without much interruption. In 1869, he renamed the factory Jewell's Mill and the town Jewell's Mill, Georgia. He suffered some setbacks over the next few years, but W.L.L. Bowen put up the money and took over the mill in 1881.

Jewell's daughter, Ida Cason, married Fuller Callaway in the Jewell Baptist Church. W.L.L. Bowen was in the civil war from Florida, met and married a Jewell daughter, and joined the company in 1881. It was then known as Bowen-Jewell & Company.

To note, the Factory Store acted as a purchasing and selling agent for the mill. It served as a bank, giving loand and assisting with bills, then charging their accounts. The Store sold groceries, furniture, clothing, dry goods, schoolbooks, hardware, jewelry, farm implemenets, fertilizer, and coffins. They did not allow the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of Jewell's Mill records, 1860-1901, including ledgers, cash books, account ledgers, and a factory cloth book. Also included are the Jewell Burial Union records (1927-1977), Jewell Baptist Church history, the Rock Mill Methodist Church records (1840-1946), a Jewell National Register nomination, a ledger from Rock Mill Factory (1860-1861) and some loose mill records. "In the sweet by and by" by Mary Coghlan White is a family history of the Jewells.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Jewell's Mill records, ms3312, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: 2009 May 7.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms


Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

1. Business, Church

box
1Recent materials (map) of Jewell's Mill
1Store cash ledger, 1876-1883 (pages 2-78 bound with)
1Jewell's Mill Store cash book pages 150-163, 1876-78
1Checks, order, invoice book, 1881-87
1Factory cloth book, 1869-76
box
2Hand's ledger, 1869
2Hand's ledger, 1875-76
2Hand's ledger, 1894-96
box
3Jewell Burial Union records, 1931-78
3Jewell Burial Union records, 1927-77
3Jewell Burial Union papers
boxfolder
41Jewell Baptist Church history
42Jewell Mill loose original materials
43Jewell National Register nomination
44Jewell Mill photographs
45Rock Mill Methodist Church papers
46Rock Mill Methodist records, 1840-1949
47Rock Mill Methodist Church, women's auxiliary, 1928-32
48Rock Mill Methodist church ledger, 1936-46
 

2. Ledgers

volume
1Rock Mill Factory ledger, 1860-61
volume
2Store ledger, 1865-71
volume
3Cash ledger, 1872-77
volume
4Store accounts, 1881-87
volume
5Cash accounts, 1889-93
volume
6Store ledger, 1889-90
volume
7Day book, 1890-91
volume
8Time book, 1892-1901
volume
9Day book, 1895-1896
volume
10Account ledger, 1889-1893
volume
11In the Sweet By and By, compiled by Mary Coghlan White., 1989
see chapter 1 for Jewell's Mill & families

Special Collections Libraries
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641