 Jewell's Mill (White County, Ga.) records
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteDaniel 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 ContentThe 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 InformationPreferred CitationJewell's Mill records, ms3312, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2009 May 7. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject Terms | ||||||||||||||||||