James County, Tennessee Historical Society: The Ooltewah Flour Mill

Thomas Carter, Sam Brown and others applied for permission to buy and operate a flour mill in Ooltewah, Tennessee sometime before the summer of 1913. Sam Smith must have been one of the other men who invested in the mill or there was an error transcribing the name into the logbook. It made it into a manuscript called The Iron Age on November 13, 1913.

They obviously purchased their mill and operated it for a short time. The purchase must have been just for investment only, because by August 13, 1913, the mill was being offered for sale. There was an advertisement for the sale of the mill in the Booster Edition for James County. It appears that this was an existing mill before they bought it. If anyone knows who owned and operated it before Smith and Carter, please contact me and let me know.

OOLTEWAH FLOUR MILL

CARTER & SMITH, PROPRIETORS

This mill which was recently purchased by Carter & Smith is located one mile north of Ooltewah on Wolf Teaver Creek. By some repairs on dam this mill could be run 12 months by water power but at present is using steam power for lack of a sufficent dam to hold the water. Has a Chandler & Taylor 40 horse power engine and boiler in fair condition. Mill consists of four stands, built by Richmond City Mill Co. and they are in good condition, just been worked over and among other machinery has jarrator, reel, purifier, bran duster, in other words a complete 60 barrel mill. This is a fine mill stand and in a wheat growing section and not competitors nearer than Cleveland, Tenn, and Chattanooga, Tenn, a distance of 15 miles to each point. The present owners are doing well and the mill has not been on the market but owing to other business the proprietors would consider a proposition to sell same.

Address Lock Drawer C, Athens, Tenn. for further information

They must have sold the mill soon after to W.I. Newton. He is listed as owning the mill in 1914 and again in 1923.

W.I. Newton was born in 1876 in Bradley County, Tennessee near Cleveland, reared on a farm and was well educated through the public school system. In the fall of 1908, he came to Ooltewah and purchased a livery business from W. H. Howard. He also owned some mountain land which had a year-round, flowing spring on it. The water was piped into the livery stable which was used for watering the animals and cleaning the vehicles. This helped to create the first-rate establishment that he was known for.

"When we say that this place is one of the best conducted and best equipped livery barns in a town of this size in the State we are only stating facts and it is run on strictly business principals at that. He has recently added a new Ford five passenger car to his livery service and is doing a splendid business with same."