June 7, 2018 - A Family History Excursion

Finding the old mill once owned by Job Pingree

I (Heather) need to interject an entry here, before we get to the end of our story. Clear back on June 7, 2018, Hannah and I had an opportunity to do some exploring without Mark, while he attended a conference in Birmingham. I gave Hannah a thorough course in navigation using "Google Maps" on my phone. We have found that driving in England, for us, was much safer if the driver always had a fully engaged navigator on the job in order to manage the copious roundabouts and other driving hazards of the country. 

We dropped Mark off at The University of Birmingham, and carefully made our way out of the large city of over 1 million people and almost as many roundabouts. I had found that my great, great grandfather had lived maybe one hour from Birmingham, before he had immigrated to America, and I wanted to see if we could find his old mill and farm. I had made a phone call the night before and the owner of the property said that we were welcome to come and visit. The mill is near a tiny settlement called Acton Beauchamp, really just an intersection with a few homes, not far from Worcester. So we put that information into Google Maps, and we headed southwest.

We ended up on some very tight and tiny farm roads. As we have said before, it felt rather treacherous, especially considering the speed limit and the frequency of farm vehicles on the roads, but we amazingly found our destination. The quiet, open farmland was all rolling hills with the standard stone walls and thick hedges crisscrossing it all. Hannah turned out to be a most excellent navigator, getting us safely across many miles that day, on back roads, highways, and busy city streets.

The story that I have always heard was that my great, great, great grandfather (Job Pingree, Senior), had actually drowned in his own mill pond. Among the things the farm produced were large quantities of both cider (from apples) and a drink called perry (from pears), both alcoholic. His wife, Charlotte Tarrant Pingree, married again and that husband died later, as well. She was then left with many children and a mill to run. I believe Job was her oldest son. She and her son Job, met LDS missionaries and were baptized in that same mill pond on Aug. 13, 1856, when Job was 19 years old. They decided at that time, to lease the farm and the mill, and emigrate to America, with all of the other children. A few years later, young Job served an LDS mission back to England. At the end of that mission, he went back to his old home and managed to sell the old family farm and returned to America with the money. 

Now that farm is owned and run as a non-profit home/activity center for adults with disabilities, some of whom live there, and others which come on a daily basis to help work on the farm. They are mostly folks with Down Syndrome and many have been coming here for many years. The woman who runs it is passionate about her program and the stability and happiness of her charges. She said that they all love to come work on the farm. They get to choose what chores they do and how long to do them. They all love having purpose to their lives and they love the animals that they get to work with. 

She kindly gave us a tour of the property and had a full knowledge of the former owners and much of my family history. We found throughout England the people have a genuine love of history and are eager to preserve it. The old house that she owns and lives in is the same old house that my ancestors probably built and lived in. It has the original slate roof. She says that it is very solid and comfy, although they did have to insulate the entire attic since the wind whistles right through the old slate.

The tiny mill house still sits at the base of the mill pond, but is no longer functioning. She said that her grown son and his wife have completely remodeled the inside as a home for themselves. They left the water wheel in place and it sits right in their living room, enclosed in glass! We could not see that because they were out of town and the house was locked. There is a plaque on the outside wall of the mill house with the Pingree family names on it and historical information. The old cider house, next to the big house, is now apartments for the clients who live there. She said that many relatives have come to visit the mill. One group left a commemorative bench outside the cider house with another historical plaque.

Below is the cider house/apartments.

The farm seems like a peaceful and nice place to spend time. It had orchards, a beautiful garden, and many barns and pastures for pigs, sheep, cows, goats, horses, rabbits, chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs. Many people come and volunteer from the surrounding area, because they love the facility and want to support it. The clients who were there seemed very happy to be where they were, working at their own speed.

It was really neat to be able to see this place that I have heard so many stories about! And to see that my ancestors are still remembered and that the work of their hands is still being enjoyed and used for good.

Old mill stone in the driveway.

This house below is a nearby neighbor. That is a huge old mill stone in their front yard.

After our day of exploration, we needed some sustenance.

We still had some time before we had to go pick up Mark. We decided to make a stop in Stratford-upon-Avon, on our way back to Birmingham. We only had a few hours but it was fun to see the birthplace of William Shakespeare and to check out all of the little shops in the quaint old buildings.

Above and below is the house where Shakespeare was born (1564) and raised.

The city is full of some pretty old buildings, many sagging and looking rather frail.

And we got a brief look at Anne Hathaway's cottage, the former home of Shakespeare's wife. It was a fun day exploring. We got back to Birmingham just in time to pick Mark up from his conference and drive the 1 1/2 hours home to our comfy cottage in Derbyshire.