[Granville-Hough] 19 June 2009 - BunkerHill part 1
Trustees for Granville W. Hough
gwhough at oakapple.net
Sat Oct 2 05:42:22 PDT 2010
Bunker Hill Part 1
Old Bunker Hill was a notable place in Smith County for over fifty
years. It even had a post office from 1852 through 1903. Sitting at the
intersection of Sullivans Hollow Creek and Mill Creek, it was a natural
site for a water mill. Great, great-uncle Mark Cole, Jr, was a builder
of water mills; and he came from Pike County with that trade. He built a
mill, and he and others established a village on the site to include his
grist mill, Masonic Lodge, old Zion Hill Baptist Church, and some places
of business. He lived there several years, then went back to Pike
County. His son, John F. Cole, Jr, had married by that time and stayed
in the county, settling in the Shady Grove Community. Great, great uncle
(by marriage) Richard Story was the miller of the grain. Mark Cole, Jr's
brother, John F. Cole, Sr, farmed along the county line, and I believe
was across the line in Covington County when he died. I believe he was
buried in the Miller Cemetery and a marker was placed there for him a
few years ago. All are mentioned in early Zion Hill Baptist Church
minutes. When old Zion Hill Church moved to Caddo Springs, its present
location south of Mize, the New Zion Baptist Church was organized in its
place, perhaps taking over whatever was left of the old church and its
close members. (I believe it was this old church site where the
Sullivans and Howells and others took their guns to church and stacked
them in the corner. It was there that (cousin) Thomas Wilson "Wilse"
Sullivan, died 20 Sep 1895 after being caught in the crossfire of a feud
which erupted, some said after church services. The Mill Pond was surely
the site of the May 1899 killing of George N. Sullivan, while he was
fishing in the dusk on the pond. The assailants mistook him for mill
owner Robert Dean, whom they had come to kill. They were able to
obfuscate the evidence to such an extent that no one is sure today who
fired the shot.).. As Bunker Hill was the center of activity for the
Cohay Creek pioneers, it became reknown for what went on. People were
killed there because it was where you saw your neighbors and your
enemies. Some people just fought for the excitement of violence. Some
men fought for the favor of local girls. Some fought over possession of
the mill, which was later used for processing lumber. It was possibly
better known in its beginning than Sullivan's Hollow.
Postal records show that the postmasters of Bunker Hill were: John Swor;
(great, great uncle) Mark Cole; John C. Freeman; D. Anderson; William T.
Biard/Beard; James Kennedy; John Moody; Hulon H. Patrick; Thomas Buntyn;
(great-uncle) Aaron S. Miller; Robert W. Hartman; Erasmus Carter;
Francis Howell; John W. Sullivan; Ezekiel Q. Sullivan; Laura G.
Sullivan; Laura Sullivan; Alice D. Sullivan; and Laura Norris. Most of
these surnames are well known in Smith County.
When the Laurel Branch railroad came through, it bypassed Bunker Hill,
which soon fell apart as a community center, and Mize took over. About
1930, Maxine (Richardson) Watts recalled seeing the old Masonic Lodge
building. Actually, the church met downstairs, and the lodge was
upstairs. Even the Masonic Lodge eventually moved to Oak Grove Baptist
Church and met there for many years. I have not been able to determine
when the New Zion Baptist Church was closed.
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