Clifton Mill
Christmas Connecting with History By Marcia Hartman
THE HISTORY
In 1802, Owen Davis, a Revolutionary War soldier, frontiersman and miller, and his son-in-law General Benjamin Whiteman, built the first of seven mills that were erected along the Little Miami River. Whiteman and Davis had found a great place to build a mill – right where the river funneled into a gorge increasing its power. The six other mills were all within a mile: a woolen mill, saw mills, a paper mill, a barrel mill and another grist mill. (The only other mill still standing today is the Grinnell Grist Mill – now a bed and breakfast.) The village of Davis Mills sprang up around Davis’s mill. Associated businesses started nearby. For example, behind Davis’s mill, John Funk built a distillery.
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Dec. Crossroads
(John was the father of Isaac Funk – of Funk and Wagnall’s Dictionary fame.) Around 1810, Davis sold the mill to Robert Patterson, who is an ancestor of one of the founders of National Cash Register – a company with a rather checkered connection to our area. Patterson renamed the village Cliff Town, which was later shortened to Clifton. He platted it and sold lots, creating a bustling little community that at its peak had three times the population of 152 counted in Clifton during the 2010 census. Patterson was a Quartermaster in the Army during the War of 1812 and gave himself contracts to supply corn meal and flour to the troops. The nearby woolen mill provided the material for uniforms. Clifton was an active