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 Due to the tremendous influx of people moving into the Ohio valley with it's pleasant streams and fertile forests,after the first settlement at Marietta was established, water powered gristmills in the state numbered almost two thousand. These early gristmills contributed a vital chapter to the history of the frontier. Those built in Ohio were a stabilizing influence in the growth of the economy. Very few Ohio mills still stand; most are forgotten, all but for the occasional road
sign carrying a mill's name, or where the name of a mill or miller identifies a town where the gristmill was the important first industry. In Darke County, according to the 8th Census of the United States, there were fourteen gristmills.
According to some sources, there were as many as 100 mills of all kinds in this county, including saw mills, carding mills (for preparing wool for weaving), fulling mills (for scouring, cleaning and softening cloth), sorghum mills for molasses, flax mills (for linseed oil), oat mills (for oatmeal), etc. The only remaining mill in Darke County is the historic Bear's Mill which is situated on 35 acres of land, which is a portion of the land granted by President James Monroe to Major George Adams, the most noted and romantic mill proprietor in early Darke County history. Adams was born in Virginia in 1767 and it was said that he was a drummer boy in the waning days of the revolutionary war. In 1790, four years before the signing of the Greenville Treaty, he was dispatched with messages to General Josiah Harmar, who was warring against hostile Indians of the Maumee Valley. Adams rode with General Harmar and during one of their expeditions against the Indians received what were thought to be fatal bullet wounds. He was carried on a horse-drawn litter to Fort Washington (now Cincinnati), and during the journey his grave was dug on two successive evenings in expectation of his death. Adams, a strong and vigorous red-haired man, survived the ordeal and recovered rapidly.
During his military career, Adams served at Fort Greenville as a scout around 1794, and later during the war of 1812 was put in charge of the new fort at Greenville. It must have been during this time period that he became acquainted with the land around Greenville and decided to settle at some prime location to his liking. He got the opportunity in 1824, when a deed was given to him for 333 acres in what is now known as Adams Township. This land is located on Greenville Creek about five miles east of Greenville and includes the site of Bear's Mill. It was near this site that Major Adams probably built his small corn and cracker mill. It is said that he constructed a cabin nearby and opened a small grocery store where whiskey and tobacco could be obtained. Most likely the settlement became a popular gathering place of pioneers and popular events of the day were held there (shooting matches, horseshoe throwing, wrestling matches, etc.).Adams was a natural leader with a friendly nature who surely attracted men of similar qualities.
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