Storied Bell’s Mill

Friends of Bells Mill Park will celebrate the park’s centennial on Aug. 1.

Bell's Mill Park was established by Hamilton County officials on June 1, 1926, pursuant to a land-gift from Sarah "Aunt Jen" Bell (1842-1931). The land had been part of the Bell family home and mill site, owned and operated by the Bell family since 1880.

After the passing of her husband, Jasper Bell, president and promoter of the Old Settler's Association, "Aunt Jen" acted to create a memorial to the early settlers of the area by gifting land for the park. Even before the park's creation, the Bell's "house by the side of the road" and mill site had become a very popular meeting place for people of all ages celebrating pioneer life. According to The Stratford Courier, the Aug. 12, 1923, reunion crowd was estimated to be about 2,000 people.

Although most of those orally transmitted pioneer stories have been lost, we are blessed with insights into pioneer times revealed through surviving stories recorded in texts and images. One local author whose work continues to provide textual insights into the stories of Bell's Mill is Effie McKinlay Kantor, news and literary editor for The Webster City Daily News, a long defunct local newspaper. Many people living today recognize her as the mother of Hamilton County-born and Pulitzer Prize winning author McKinlay Kantor. For this story, we remember her for authoring the chapter on the pioneer mills of Hamilton County published in J. W. Lee's 1912 "History of Hamilton County." We also recognize her as a reliable source for the stories included in that chapter because her grandparents, mother, aunts, and uncles once operated the old mill near the present park location.

Other insights into those long-ago times are the stories preserved in old photographs. The story I am telling here concerns two photographs preserved locally: a real photo undivided-back postcard and a paper-matted tintype. The undivided back postcard records the appearance of "The Old Bell's Mill" and the paper-matted tintype is a portrait of "Joseph M. Bone". What stories do these images have to tell us?

The tintype portrait retains two handwritten inscriptions, one on the front and one on the back. The one on the front reads "Joseph M. Bone". The one on the back reads, in part, "Taken July 26 1876 Webster City". Research reveals Joseph M. Bone (1852-1884) to have been the second son of Joseph V. Bone (1830-1907) and Sarah Bryan Bone (1830-1896). In 1876 Joseph M. Bone was 24 years old.

His father, Joseph V. Bone, was the second owner of the grist mill located near the present location of Bell's Mill Park. Effie McKinlay Kantor tells us in the "History of Hamilton County" that after acquiring the 1853 mill and adjacent property in 1867, her grandfather rebuilt the mill. The Bone family also built a new house "on the brow of the hill above the mill". The old house built by Bone is long gone, but the building site on the higher ground just west of Bell's Mill Park is still occupied by a residence.

The Bones raised 13 children at that location and one of those 13 children, Eveline Victoria Bone (1861-1930) was the sister of Joseph M. Bone and the mother of Effie McKinley Kantor (1879-1931).

Now let's consider the image preserved on the real photo undivided back postcard. The front of the card includes text identifying the image as "The Old Bell's Mill". The front also includes a small inscribed "X" just to the right of the millhouse. The creator of the "X" also created an inscription on the back side of the card: "August 12th 1923, Old settlers picnic held here. Where the X is marked is where Bertha and Lana were baptised".

What we are looking at here is the millhouse rebuilt by Joseph V. Bone in 1867. Kantor tells us in Lee's History that the mill was only rebuilt once and that " A. A. Wicks... and M. E. Pringle were among the carpenters on the mill."

The view appears to be towards the northeast and the county road and bridge over the Boone River are clearly visible in the foreground. A large sand bar is visible on the west bank of the Boone River behind the millhouse and the timbered east bank of the river is also visible.

Kantor tells us that on the night of March 2, 1888, two catastrophes befell the Bell family, operators of the mill at that time. On that night, the Bell family patriarch, Benjamin Bell, Jr. (1812-1888), son of the pioneer Revolutionary War veteran, died at his home near the mill. Also during that evening, ice breaking up on the river destroyed the mill dam and caused severe damage to the millhouse. Effie Kantor recounts:

"Once, while members of the Bone family who were still living at the Bone home on higher ground overlooking the mill, stood in tearful helplessness on the bank at this mill, the entire end of the mill from roof to foundation fell out into the stream, leaving the interior with its stacks of grain bags and machinery exposed to view."

Looking closely at the postcard image, if you follow the line of the eaves on the right side of the gable, you'll see that the eave droops downward near the gable end closest to the river. This detail supports Kantor's account and suggests the millhouse was not repaired after the damage of March, 1888. By 1912, Kantor reported that:

"The mill has long since been torn down and now nothing remains at the mill site of thirty-five or forty years ago, except the empty house on the hill, and the Bell home under the hill. Even the bridge has been rebuilt and the road changed."

Is it possible to date this image? During the 1890s, members of the Joseph V. Bone family departed Iowa to settle in Yakima Valley, Washington. Rachael Bryan Bone, wife of Joseph V. Bone and grandmother of Effie McKinlay Kantor, died in Clark County, Washington in 1896. Thus, it is likely that the original photograph of the mill was taken after the 1888 mill and dam destruction and prior to 1896, assuming that by the death of Rachael Bone, the family had already departed Hamilton County.

Walking the current county road separating the Bell homesite to the north and the Bone homesite to the south helps establish the place where the photographer set up the camera: the photograph we see printed on this postcard was surely taken from the front yard of the old Bone family residence overlooking Bell's Mill. The original negative was then used to create an undivided back postcard (1901-1907). By the time the postcard was inscribed as a memento of the "Old Settlers Picnic" and two riverside baptisms in August 1923, the postcard was most likely old stock.

Effie McKinlay Kantor's observations published in 1912 are still true of the old mill site today:

"Nothing remains -- and yet much remains, for the beautiful hills under whose lofty brows this industry flourished, are unchanged only when colored by the seasons’ paint brushes."

Centennial celebration for Bells Mill Park is August 1

By KOLLEEN TAYLOR

It's been 100 years since the Bells-Mann park was given to Hamilton County as a county park. On Saturday, August 1, a date born in tradition for the Old Settler's Reunions, there will be a celebration of this gift from Sarah Jane Bell ("Aunt Jen"), the wife of Jasper Newton Bell, which was gifted upon her death in 1926.

The second oldest park in the county, the century celebration combines with Bells Bash, starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday with a Cornhole tournament. Live music will be held throughout the day featuring Rural Route and The Country Cousins. The history and tours of the park will be told between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. At 4 p.m. raffle drawings will be held, with additional drawings held between band performances.

The name Bells-Mann park, was intended by Sarah Jane Bell, as described in the June 10 issue of The Stratford Courier. Although Sarah Jane was living when the gift was given, it appears the name was never changed on its signage.

In the article it reads, "The Mann-Bell park consists of some 10 or 12 acres of very pretty wooded ground south of the road and east of the river at Bell's Mill. Ever since old settler's annual picnics have been held in Hamilton county, they have been held in this park. It is a favorite picnic spot with Hamilton County and is picturesquely located in a bed of the Boon river with high wooded hills all around. It will make a fine memorial to Aunt Jen and Uncle Jas. Aunt Jen is not 84 years of age, while Uncle Jas has been dead for several years. Aunt Jen's maiden name was Mann, hence the name Mann-Bell.

Uncle Jas. and Aunt Jen came to Hamilton county in 1853 and settled at the old Bell's Mill, which was their home until the death of Uncle Jas, since which time Aunt Jen has lived in Webster City."

Ownership of Bells Mill

The second mill to be built in Hamilton County was constructed by David Eckerson, a Methodist preacher about 1853, near the site of what was later called Bell's Mill. It was a grist mill and had corn burrs which were used to grind buckwheat.

Owner Name Year

David Eckerson Eckerson's Mill 1853

Joseph Bone Bone's Mill 1867

Alanson Bryan Bone's Mill 1869 (half interest)

John Atherton Bone's Mill 1873 (half interest)

Benjamin Bell Bell's Mill 1875 and 1878

Jasper Bell Bell's Mill various years

The mill was destroyed when a flood washed out the dam on March 2, 1888, the same night that Benjamin Bell died. That flood stopped the mill wheel forever, and the dam was never rebuilt. The mill was torn down for the lumber.