Son of Torence Carter Bates and Martha Whitwell. His first marriage was to Nancy Ann "Nan" Chessor, with whom he had 5 children: Ida Bates McClearen, Emma Bates Campbell, Julia Bates, Rosa Viola Bates Pace, and Samuel Torrence Bates. His second marriage was to Lou Black.
Milton Brown Bates was a miller. Soon after his marriage to Nan Chessor in 1874, Milton Bates moved to his father-in-law's place (Samuel Chessor), where he built a house and his first grist-mill. He ground meal at this mill with much success, and he helped his father-in-law build two other mills just below it. The upper mill was utilized in grinding corn into meal, and the lower mill, for the most part, was kept grinding wheat. Milton constructed a good flour bolt, which sifted the flour and divided it into about three grades, with the bran separated. When not needed to grind wheat, the lower mill was used also to grind corn. Milton later left Sulphur Creek and went to the community of Swan, where he built a mill. He later moved to Cane Creek where he built a well-equipped water-power mill just above Pleasantville.
The following poem was written by James E. Chessor about Milton Brown Bates:
The Miller
My Uncle loved the by-roads
That wandered off to find
The little homes where lived the folks
Of his own honest kind.
He loved the birds that gathered
About his water-mill,
The whispering leaves of friendly trees,
The wood-winds, never still.
His neighbors' windows, glowing
With cheerful candle-flame,
The Old 'Squire's pleasant hearth and home,
From whence his helpmate came;
The sound of running water
To turn his busy wheel -
No wonder that he cast his lot
With Mill-Shoal's woe or weal.
And knowing what contentment
Can come from work well done,
He sought headwaters, here and there,
And built mills, one by one.
And though their wheels are idle,
And hushed their rhythmic lay,
Their song lives on within the heart
Of Valley folks today.
This poem, which was written in 1936, is taken from "My Valley and My People: Poems of Country Life," by James E. Chessor, published by Vaughan Publishing Company, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, Copyright 1948.
Milton Brown Bates was a miller. Soon after his marriage to Nan Chessor in 1874, Milton Bates moved to his father-in-law's place (Samuel Chessor), where he built a house and his first grist-mill. He ground meal at this mill with much success, and he helped his father-in-law build two other mills just below it. The upper mill was utilized in grinding corn into meal, and the lower mill, for the most part, was kept grinding wheat. Milton constructed a good flour bolt, which sifted the flour and divided it into about three grades, with the bran separated. When not needed to grind wheat, the lower mill was used also to grind corn. Milton later left Sulphur Creek and went to the community of Swan, where he built a mill. He later moved to Cane Creek where he built a well-equipped water-power mill just above Pleasantville.
The following poem was written by James E. Chessor about Milton Brown Bates:
The Miller
My Uncle loved the by-roads
That wandered off to find
The little homes where lived the folks
Of his own honest kind.
He loved the birds that gathered
About his water-mill,
The whispering leaves of friendly trees,
The wood-winds, never still.
His neighbors' windows, glowing
With cheerful candle-flame,
The Old 'Squire's pleasant hearth and home,
From whence his helpmate came;
The sound of running water
To turn his busy wheel -
No wonder that he cast his lot
With Mill-Shoal's woe or weal.
And knowing what contentment
Can come from work well done,
He sought headwaters, here and there,
And built mills, one by one.
And though their wheels are idle,
And hushed their rhythmic lay,
Their song lives on within the heart
Of Valley folks today.
This poem, which was written in 1936, is taken from "My Valley and My People: Poems of Country Life," by James E. Chessor, published by Vaughan Publishing Company, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, Copyright 1948.
Son of Torence Carter Bates and Martha Whitwell. His first marriage was to Nancy Ann "Nan" Chessor, with whom he had 5 children: Ida Bates McClearen, Emma Bates Campbell, Julia Bates, Rosa Viola Bates Pace, and Samuel Torrence Bates. His second marriage was to Lou Black.
Milton Brown Bates was a miller. Soon after his marriage to Nan Chessor in 1874, Milton Bates moved to his father-in-law's place (Samuel Chessor), where he built a house and his first grist-mill. He ground meal at this mill with much success, and he helped his father-in-law build two other mills just below it. The upper mill was utilized in grinding corn into meal, and the lower mill, for the most part, was kept grinding wheat. Milton constructed a good flour bolt, which sifted the flour and divided it into about three grades, with the bran separated. When not needed to grind wheat, the lower mill was used also to grind corn. Milton later left Sulphur Creek and went to the community of Swan, where he built a mill. He later moved to Cane Creek where he built a well-equipped water-power mill just above Pleasantville.
The following poem was written by James E. Chessor about Milton Brown Bates:
The Miller
My Uncle loved the by-roads
That wandered off to find
The little homes where lived the folks
Of his own honest kind.
He loved the birds that gathered
About his water-mill,
The whispering leaves of friendly trees,
The wood-winds, never still.
His neighbors' windows, glowing
With cheerful candle-flame,
The Old 'Squire's pleasant hearth and home,
From whence his helpmate came;
The sound of running water
To turn his busy wheel -
No wonder that he cast his lot
With Mill-Shoal's woe or weal.
And knowing what contentment
Can come from work well done,
He sought headwaters, here and there,
And built mills, one by one.
And though their wheels are idle,
And hushed their rhythmic lay,
Their song lives on within the heart
Of Valley folks today.
This poem, which was written in 1936, is taken from "My Valley and My People: Poems of Country Life," by James E. Chessor, published by Vaughan Publishing Company, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, Copyright 1948.
Milton Brown Bates was a miller. Soon after his marriage to Nan Chessor in 1874, Milton Bates moved to his father-in-law's place (Samuel Chessor), where he built a house and his first grist-mill. He ground meal at this mill with much success, and he helped his father-in-law build two other mills just below it. The upper mill was utilized in grinding corn into meal, and the lower mill, for the most part, was kept grinding wheat. Milton constructed a good flour bolt, which sifted the flour and divided it into about three grades, with the bran separated. When not needed to grind wheat, the lower mill was used also to grind corn. Milton later left Sulphur Creek and went to the community of Swan, where he built a mill. He later moved to Cane Creek where he built a well-equipped water-power mill just above Pleasantville.
The following poem was written by James E. Chessor about Milton Brown Bates:
The Miller
My Uncle loved the by-roads
That wandered off to find
The little homes where lived the folks
Of his own honest kind.
He loved the birds that gathered
About his water-mill,
The whispering leaves of friendly trees,
The wood-winds, never still.
His neighbors' windows, glowing
With cheerful candle-flame,
The Old 'Squire's pleasant hearth and home,
From whence his helpmate came;
The sound of running water
To turn his busy wheel -
No wonder that he cast his lot
With Mill-Shoal's woe or weal.
And knowing what contentment
Can come from work well done,
He sought headwaters, here and there,
And built mills, one by one.
And though their wheels are idle,
And hushed their rhythmic lay,
Their song lives on within the heart
Of Valley folks today.
This poem, which was written in 1936, is taken from "My Valley and My People: Poems of Country Life," by James E. Chessor, published by Vaughan Publishing Company, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, Copyright 1948.
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M.B. Bates
1854 - 1936
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