Ledyard sawmill history

1838-1868 Albert Brown's farm on Lee's Brook

Albert Brown was born in 1811 in North Groton (which became Ledyard in 1836). By the middle of the 19th century the Brown family had been the area for generations, and various family members owned homes and land about 1 1/2 miles east of present day Ledyard Center. The Baptist church started by the Brown family and others in 1843 was nearby along with a burying ground that even then was the final resting place of several generations of Browns.

Albert's farm was on Lee's Brook, and like other so many other small streams in New England, there were multiple mills on Lee's Brook both up and downstream from Albert's farm. Albert lived in the same house as his father; the house is still standing today east of the Ledyard Sawmill. Albert gradually enlarged his farm, buying adjacent property in a 20 year period in the 1830s - 1850s.

1850 Albert Brown's livelihoods

Like many 19th century farmers, Albert not only ran the farm, but had other sources of income: he was a wheelwright, built houses, and had a shingle mill and gristmill on the farm. And like so many other farmers his fortunes went up and down. Although he was able to expand the size of his farm, he did so by borrowing money and mortgaging his new property to several of his neighbors and relatives. In 1857 his debts became too much for him and he was declared insolvent; his total equity in his land was $5.00.

Just a few years later, things were looking up and he was able to start buying properties again, including "Ayers Mills", a small mill complex with a woolen mill, gristmill, and shingle and saw-mills just a few miles north of Albert's farm on present day Shewville Road in Ledyard.

1869 Israel Brown buys his late father’s farm

When their father Albert died in in 1868, his children sold for $625 "the estate of our father Albert brown" which consisted of the family farm along with the buildings to their 21-year old brother Israel W Brown. Albert's widow Surviah continued to live there. Israel owned the farm, but perhaps it was really run by his mother. In the 1870 census, Surviah was listed as a "farmer", while Israel's occupation was listed as "works on farm". Israel's younger brothers Nathaniel and Charles lived with Israel and their mother on the farm.

1877 Israel reopens his father’s sawmill

Albert's widow and Israel's mother Surviah died in 1876 and the farm became Israel's responsibility. Israel started operating his father’s old mill again in 1877, since Ledyard records show that he owned a sawmill that year with a tax valuation of $200. Israel apparently made big changes in the old mill since by 1880 the mill operated a circular saw, not the old-fashioned up-down sash sawmill. The circular saw was now powered by a cast iron Tyler water turbine.

Israel may have had help from his family to make these modernizations. His brothers Aaron and Seth also had a circular saw powered by a Tyler Turbine at their mill complex at Ayers Mills a few miles north of Israel’s sawmill.

Town of Ledyard buys the mill

In the early 1960s members of the Ledyard Historical Society recognized the importance of the mill and started a campaign to rescue it from the fate of the thousands of sash sawmills that had once existed on streams throughout New England and North America for hundreds of years. The campaign culminated successfully in 1966 when the town of Ledyard purchased the property from Harry C.W. Main for $12,000. The sale to the town closed the last chapter of the sawmill as a privately owned local mill. Harry died in 1970, just a few years before the sawmill reopening in 1975.