Joseph Carey Constructs Grist Mill in Willimantic

Joseph Carey Constructs Grist Mill in Willimantic

Joseph Carey, John Backhus, Joseph Dingley, and John Waldo establish the first Grist Mill at Willimantic Falls, located at the convergence of the Willimantic and Natchaug Rivers. “The privilege of the stream at Willimantic Falls to build a mill or mills at one particular place, as they shall choose, north side of the river, so long as they or their heirs shall keep and maintain a good and sufficient mill — not obstructing said proprietors from granting the like privileges to others at other places on the river; also, liberty of ditching and damming; also, the improvement of forty acres of land near Willimantic Falls — timber free, so long as ye land is left unfenced; land to be laid out by selectinen — to obstruct highways nor damnify lots in y' Crotch; if the mills fail, the above to have ye refusal of y' land. ”

Ellen Douglas Larned, History of Windham County, Connecticut, Volume I: 1600-1760 (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1874), 90.

1706

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