Stories and Pictures of Galway, Saratoga County, New York By: W. Bronson Taylor [Author of Stories and Pictures of Charlton, Chronicles of John Hemstreet Taylor Family, Shanghaied Through Space and other Stories] Submitted by: Irena Wooton
The Wright mill was on the south side of Route 29, a few hundred feet east of Sacandaga Road.
A brook coming from the north together with the water from a large spring furnished power for
it.
It had one run of stone, a shingle mill, and a turning lathe. The water-wheel was wood,
about 19 feet in diameter and not over five feet wide. A thirty-inch diameter axle nearly decayed
is still visible in the ruins. The wooden trunk that conveyed water to the wheel was approximately
16 inches in diameter.
Lyman Wright ran it during his life. He was quite deaf. He had to depend on his eyes to tell
when the mill ran. His son Charles was a mason but he ran the mill also. The mill is now only a
foundation. Allan Wright has a summer home on the old mill yard.
There is a rumor that this mill was built quite early. By whom built is not stated.
The 1855 census lists John G. Pettit as operator of a mill with three runs of stones. This may
have been the mill later owned by Mortimer Lansing. The mill had been destroyed when Lansing
rebuilt it. No other mill in town was a three run mill except the one ran by Hiram C. Foster at that
time. Lansing once stated that he had built on a previous mill foundation, etc.
From Footprints Records - Lyman Wright (son of Peter Wright
and Hannah Tinkham), b. 8 Feb 1806, d. 23 Jun 1898, Mosherville, Saratoga Co, NY at age 92.
He married: Hannah Brockett (no further information on her. Lyman and Hannah had three
children that we have recorded (there may be more).
Peter Wright, (father of Lyman above) b. 13 May 1780, d. 23 Aug 1855, Lafayette, IL, (son of Peter Wright below) who married 11 Mar 1804, Hannah Tinkham (daughter of Daniel Tinkham and Martha Lebaron). Peter Wright Esq, b. 9 Jul 1740, Hempstead, LI, d. 7 Jun 1821, Shaftsbury, VT, m. 9 Jan 1761, St George Church, Hempstead, LI, Elizabeth Baker, b. 28 Mar 1743, North Kingston, RI, d. 16 Aug 1819, Shaftsbury, Bennington Co, VT. For the descendants of Peter Wright see Peter Wright History.
A short distance east of Mosherville, the Bills Road leads off from the south side of Route 29.
Today this is a dead-end road. Formerly it ran to Jockey Street. J. Pettit's turning mill was
located on a lane leading south from the Bills Road near where Kaplanowski now lives.
There is no creek there, nor even a brook. There is a small rill that would normally flow
through a drain tile almost. However a dam about six feet high was built. This impounded
several acres of pond. It would take a long time to fill the pond. However the turning mill
needed about quarter horsepower to operate.
A large grindstone, the same diameter as the water wheel was mounted on the same shaft as
the wheel. The grindstone was thus always wet and also acted as a balance wheel to maintain a
steady speed to the lathe.
Today one can better appreciate electric motors, when he realizes the high cost of power in
days gone by. What would it cost in today's prices, to build a dam, and overshot wood wheel
about six feet wide and six feet high with gearing, shafting, belting, and a six foot grindstone? All
this, plus the use of several acres of land and a small building to house the lathe. This total
expense to produce what today could be done by a one-half horse power motor.
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