Carding Mill A wool carding mill was added to the grist and saw mill by 1863, probably by Mr. Wright . It was operated by Sophia Schurman , who had the misfortune of losing an arm there. Bessie Rogers also worked in the carding mill before she went to Vermont to visit her Uncle Thomas Rogers in 1895. She later returned to Freetown and married Stewart R. Cairns . The Coming of Electricity After a life time of increasing his property, David Rogers sold his mills and six nearby acres to Albert Oakes of Westmoreland , in February 1906. Mr. Rogers died two years later in 1908 at 77 years of age. Oakes remained the legal owner of the mills for less than one year. In June he sold out to John E. Bernard . During both the Oakes and Bernard tenure, Mr. Weston Francis , also from Westmoreland , actually operated the mills. William Francis , a son of Weston, maintains that his father was an equal partner in the business arrangements. Bernard and Francis operated their partnership until January, 1916, when they established the Dunk River Milling Co. Ltd . Local farmers purchased $25.00 shares in an effort to give operating capital to the major shareholders, Messrs Bernard and Francis. These gentlemen promptly used this generated capital to install a new roller mill to facilitate grain crushing. Also, with the added capital and assistance, the old dam underwent a complete overhaul and was elevated to develop more waterpower. The overshot wheel was replaced by a more powerful model submerged in a newly constructed cylinder tank. This wheel was identical to the one now on display on the Scales Pond Park grounds. The whipsaw was replaced with a circular saw. Several years later, during some dam repairs, the partners decided to construct a new saw mill building and install a second wood cylinder tank to contain a second water wheel, with two wheels and a tail race. These steps failed to save the mill as a timber operation and in 1919, the emphasis began gradually to shift to the generating of electrical energy. Joseph Monaghan was the first proprietor interested in hydro-electrical power. In 1919, he purchased a hydro plant at Mill Valley , on the Wilmot River , but found the water level there inadequate for generating enough power to efficiently supply the required area. Because of this Mr. Monaghan decided to purchase the mills and dam in South Freetown with the intention of eventually using them as a hydro plant base. Mr. Monaghan continued to operate the Dunk River mills until 1922, when he decided there was enough water power to operate an electric generating plant. To facilitate this, he purchased, in 1922, the entire stock of the Kensington Electric Light Co. for $9,000.00. With the assistance of Mr. David Sheehan and John R. McCabe , he continued to operate the Mill Valley plant for a short time, until a transmission tie line was run from the Dunk River site to the existing line at Mill Valley . Some changes were required to the grist or roller mill building so that the mill machinery and generator would be in separate rooms under the same roof. The old saw mill building was torn down, and re-built at a new location approximately seventy five feet from the grist mill building, parallel to the river. The saw mill was then operated by a 25 horse power electric motor. The existing power house building as it stands today is the original building used for the first grist mill. One will note the excellent condition in which it has been kept over the years. One will also note, by close observation, the old style of construction with wood pins and hardwood corner braces used to fasten the beams and rafters together. Also the main door still has the large old locks that require a large key. As well as old wooden latches, there also exist a number of marks and holes in the first floor ceiling for grain and flour chutes, and also a new section of the roof at the rear of the building where the grain elevator was removed. Dam Destroyed It was not long after the generating station began that the dam was washed out. Mr. Monaghan suffered a major disaster as the dam was a mess and the generator was immediately hauled back to Mill Valley to restore electric power until repairs were completed. As soon as the dam was repaired, the generator was hauled back to the Dunk River site and electric power was again restored to this area. Through this setback, Mr. Monaghan discovered he could not meet the balance of payments to the Kensington Electric Light Co. with his limited finances, and was unable to finance the re-building of the dam at the Dunk River . As a result he went into partnership with Mr. Bannerman W. Tanton of Summerside . s 67