E.. The Ennis Place

Neil Vanderburg: mills were run with steam. And we could always hear three whistles, for 8:00, noon, and 5:00, because there was the Bennett Mill, the Coote's Mill and Cooper's Mill, and my dad always used to tell me, that's one thing about being a farmer, you don't have to quit when the whistle blows!

Bob Zybach: Now, on the mills here, did they have wigwam burners?

Neil Vanderburg: No.

Bob Zybach: Did they keep slab fires going?

Neil Vanderburg: They had some fires going, but at that time there was a lot of wood burned, and slab wood was good wood. And I think I told you that I had a contract with Bennett's Mill to haul their slab wood out. And they sawed their slab wood, cut it in four foot lengths, I hauled it out to the road, and a guy by the name of Jack Green had a buzz saw. And he cut it up in 16" lengths and hauled it in to Monmouth, Independence and Salem, out that way. He lived over in the next draw from Suver Road here. But he bought the wood from me, I bought the wood for 75 cents a cord and sold it for $1.25, and I earned enough money that year we had a 1923 Dodge Graham truck. And I earned enough money that year to buy a 1933 Chevrolet truck that was only 4 or 5 years old, but it had been a logging truck and it was well used. And actually, I went into the . . I would haul anything for anybody. I moved a lot of the people out of the Cooper's Mill area to Independence when they moved the mill to Independence.

Bob Zybach: So, Cooper's Mill was like Coote's Mill in that they had a lot of people that worked there living right there at the mill site?

Neil Vanderburg: Yeah, and there was a lot of people in Airlie worked there, and Kenneth Dodson lived right over, just up this draw here, he worked there. There was quite a number.

Bob Zybach: Now, when you say Dodson lived up this draw, will we hit that on this road, or is that between.

Neil Vanderburg: We'll hit them, well I can show you where they lived from this road.

Bob Zybach: Okay. Why don't we just go on to the next site then?

E. The Ennis Place

Bob Zybach: Let's see, we're at the first house on the right coming off of Berry Creek Road there.

Neil Vanderburg: Yeah. And this is where Gilbert Ennis lived, he and his son lived here. He was a pretty good farmer and he was very industrious, he cut wood and he did a lot of things to make a living. However, this hill here was mostly all covered with scrub oak, and he cut a good share of them out of here and sold them for wood. But he was always working.

Bob Zybach: Do you know anything about that house back there?

Neil Vanderburg: That house was not there.

Bob Zybach: Even that older one wasn't?

Neil Vanderburg: No. This is where Gilbert lived and there was a couple of barns out here and that was all.

Bob Zybach: So this house that's up here right now was the actual house he lived in?

Neil Vanderburg: That was the house he lived in, yeah.

Bob Zybach: Was his boy about your age?

Neil Vanderburg: Oh no, his boy was probably 8 years younger than I am, or ten.