One historical spot in Stone County was a mill on Silver Lake Branch.  It was located in the northeastern part of the county.
   Davis Kimberling homesteaded 120 acres on which he built the mill about 1865.  He raised two sons, David, James, and a daughter, Elizabeth, there.  Davis' wife died when the children were young.  Mr. Kimberling married Anna Morris, a Civil War widow with four children.  Their names were William Newton, Sarah, and twins Susan P. and Robert Morris.
   Many years the mill stood grinding cornmeal, chops, and shelling corn.  During earlier days wheat was made into flour.
   People came by horseback carrying corn behind their saddles. Others came by wagon bringing their grain. Some people paid money to have their grain milled. Still others gave part of their grain in payment.
   Ambrose Cloud purchased the mill after Davis Kimberling's death about 1888.  The first dam built was a log damn. Ambrose Cloud built a stone damn in the early 1900's.  This still stands today.  The mill was a two-story building with a metal water wheel and wooden forebay.  The reservoir was 10 feet wide, 15 feet long with walls 10 feet high.  When filled with water, it was so clear the bottom could be seen.
   The mill pond was fed by a spring approximately a mile upstream.  The mill pond was a favorite place for water snakes.
   In the winter it was a favorite spot to ice skate.  When the ice froze thick enough, bonfires were built and neighbors came to skate.
   Ambrose Cloud, in 1906, removed the old wooden forebay replacing it with concrete.
   The mill did a thriving business from the first.  It had a reputation for grinding the best cornmeal.  While cornmeal was the specialty; flour was also ground.
   In 1913 a flood came damaging the old mill.  When the mill was repaired, the roof was lowered and the flour silks removed.
   Ellis L. Cloud, (Ambrose's son), operated the mill from 1915 until 1925.  An addition to the mill was built in 1916.  This addition housed the canning factory.  This was in operation until 1928.  People in the community planted 2 or 3 acres of tomatoes.  The produce was brought to the factory by horse or mule teams and wagons.  This kept the factory going.
   James F. and Etta (Cloud) Wilson took over the mill and factory in 1925.  I remember standing by mother as she labeled the cans of tomatoes to be shipped.  When the mill wasn't in use, Etta Cloud Wilson would drain the reservoir to pick up the rainbow trout that swan in.  After the factory closed, James F. and Etta (Cloud) Wilson operated the mill until 1940.  After that time it was for personal use only.
   James Wilson built a concrete block spring house and laid pipe from the spring to the house.  Visitors stopped for a drink of cool spring water.  The comments were always how clear and cold the water was.  The spring served several generations of Clouds as an icebox.  Milk and butter were kept cold in the hottest weather.
   West of the mill, a hill a quarter of a mile long rises steeply. Spring finds every native wildflower in bloom.  Wild flowering shrubs--dogwood, sarvis, redbud, wild plum, red and black haws--added their fragrance to the spring.
   The old homestead remained in the Cloud family from 1888 until 1945.  A flood on July 3, 1973, completely destroyed the old mill leaving nothing but the dam which still stands.