by Robert a. Carter (Author), Michael C. Cullen (Author), Theresa Mari Flaherty (Editor)
This fascinating book is based on the work of Ohio historian D. W. Garber, author of Waterwheels and Millstones (1970). Garber's lifelong passion was documenting the age of water-powered mills along the forks of the Mohican River in Richland County, Ohio, often accompanied on research trips by author Robert Carter. Garber's grandson, author Michael Cullen, was often regaled with stories from those trips. Between the two authors, they have culled out the stories and pertinent details from Garber's notebooks - filled with research notes, contemporary newspaper articles, and numerous interviews conducted from 1920 through 1970 with old timers who remembered and were a part of that bygone era - adding to the tapestry of local history begun by early historians H. S. Knapp, A. A. Graham, and A. J. Baughman. The stories are an inspirational account of the importance of mills and touches on the lives and families who operated them in an area that was at one time considered the West. It is not necessary to be an historian or from Ohio to find this book, with its many period photos and illustrations, an interesting read.