The Grist Mill Stone
The Texas Story Project.
I was born in 1932, and ever since I can remember, this grist mill stone was lying against a pine tree in the front yard. My father had the stone for many years, and I inherited it. It came from the Yarborough Grist Mill in the Flo community.
George Washington Yarborough settled near Oakwood, Texas in about 1825 and raised a family. Two of his sons were William Burns and Wade Hampton. They both fought in the Civil War. When the war was over, they both came home to Oakwood. William and Wade purchased a half section of land in the Brushy community. Wade was a Baptist preacher who built a church that was used as a school, and he also donated the land for the Brushy Cemetery. William Burns Yarborough owned and operated a cotton gin and a grist mill in the Flo community for more than thirty years. He farmed two farms most of the time and raised some cattle. He loved to raise fine watermelons for his family and friends.
William Burns Yarborough died in 1925, and I suspect my father got the stone soon after his death, when the grist mill shut down. William Burns's daughter, Pearl, had married my great-grandfather, so we were related. When my parents died, I took the stone and moved it to my camp house.
Earl Hill Moore grew up in Leon County and is president of Leon County Genealogical Society and the Leon County Heritage Society.
Posted October 10, 2014
