The generator was one purchased from the Town of Summerside and hauled to Mill Valley by horses. On the evening of 16 January, 1916, the lights were turned on and it was from this plant that the Town of Kensington received its first electrical lights. Andrew Murphy was appointed the first plant manager and he operated it until his tragic accident in 1919.

The management ofthe plant was then taken over by Christopher Cairns of Freetown. He carried on for about two years, but his end proved as tragic as his predecessor’s. On the 15 September, 1921, Mr. Cairns was in Kensington reading meters during the afternoon and was late returning to the plant to start the generators. To make up for being late he started the machines before oiling them. A pulley which he had to step over had somejagged edges protruding. It is presumed he forgot about these, and caught his clothes on them. He was found wound lifeless around the shaft by a mill worker, Nathan Bynon.

John William Thompson took over the operation of the plant following Cairns’ death and continued there until 1923 when the machinery was moved to the Dunk River generating station.

During the height of mill activities at Mill Valley many people came to and left Mill Valley. Thomas Condon operated a blacksmith shop on a plot of land near the stream, then owned by Mr. Harold Laird. He lived in a house previously owned by John Chisholm and William Green. An early census also names Nelson Woodside as a blacksmith at Mill Valley in 1881. After Thomas Condon moved to the Red Bridge Corner in Wilmot, the place was owned by George Easter, Daniel Boundy and James Henry McCarville. The land is now owned by Cavendish Farms. There may be other people who resided in the vicinity of Mill Valley Mills about whom we have no information.

BURNS’ MILLS The land for Burns’ Mill was first purchased by James Burns from John Clark. Mr. Burns bought one thousand acres from Clark in 1810. He paid 567.10 pounds for his purchase, the vast majority of which was located in Lot 25. Fifteen years later James Burns sold four hundred acres to his eldest son Andrew for 70 pounds. The four hundred acres involved was the southern section of the original plot, and included the future mill site.

It has not been established when the mills were built, but it was probably around the mid nineteenth century. In 1838 the population of Lot 26 was only 454. Already two grist mills were operating with one at William Taylor’s and the other at Jesse Wright’s. Such a small number of people could hardly have supported a third mill before this time. The census of 1841 does not mention any Burns as mill owner.

The first evidence ofthe mill is provided by George Wright, who lists a grist mill at that site in his 1851 map. So the mill was constructed sometime between 1841 and 1851. CE. Lake’s map illustrates a shingle mill in place of the grist mill in 1863, while a few hundred yards upstream, on the same property, there is a saw mill. This is a strange occurrence and seems to indicate that the grist mill was turned into a shingle mill, while a separate saw mill was built a piece away. This seems strange for two reasons: shingle and saw mills are usually close together if not under the same roof and later maps still show a grist mill at the site.

Maps in 1874 and 1879 both mention the grist and saw mills but Meacham’s Atlas of 1880 does not mention the mills or even a mill pond. This is another interesting occurrence, as it is doubtful that the mills were removed within the three year period. However the mills may very well have been down by 1880 if we regard the 1874 and 1877 maps as being less reliable than the two standard ones. These were essentially the

maps by George Wright updated by William Cundall. Meacham’s and Lake’s are definitely superior works, and have correlated with research to date. On this evidence one can conclude the mills were down by 1880, as no one living in the area remembers the structures.

Both mills were probably of ordinary dimensions, that is to say twenty-five by fifty feet, and functioned well during the settlement and building boom. James S. Burns would not have run the mills himself and probably would have had either a hired man or a son run it for him. In 1880, Mr. Burns was a member of the Legislative Council and a Justice of the Peace. As a patron of Meacham’s Atlas, Burns lists these accomplishments as well as farming as occupations. If the mill was still operable, he doubtlessly would have

mentioned it.

WALL’S MILLS This millsite was situated approximately five miles southeast of Freetown, Lot 26, on the main branch of the Dunk River. The site originally belonged to the Thomson estate, proprietors who resided in Ireland.

On August 30, 1860, John and F.G. Thomson leased a considerable acreage of land in Lot 26 to David Cook for the extended period of 999 years. This land included the future millsite. although C.E. Lake’s map

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