The Old Mill is not only a picturesque object of interest but is also one of the old land marks of the vicinity, although the present Mill was not the first one started. The earliest Mill known in this vicinity was a grist mill, built, owned, and operated by the late Thomas Dixon, in 1830.
The mill stones were formed of "nigger heads". It was situated on the Mackinaw, a few miles below the highway iron bridge southwest of Kappa. Mr. Dixon ran it for three years and people came for 25 and 30 miles to wait a long time for their turn, during which time they would camp out in the vicinity or shoot deer, which at this time were very plentiful. Up to 1827 the whole country around her formed part of Fayette county. In that year Tazewell county, which included the present site of Kappa, was formed, with the county seat at Mackinaw town. In 1830 McLean county was formed out of part of Tazewell and all the country around Kappa, El Paso, and Metamora was included in McLean county (named after Hon. John McLean, speaker of the house of representatives and U. S. senator. He died in 1830).
The winter of 1830 and '31 was the celebrated winter of deep snow. The weather during the fall had been very dry, and continued mild till late in the winter. But at last the snow came during the latter part of December, and such a snow has never since been known. The settlers were blockaded in their cabins and could do very little except pound their corn, cut their wood and keep their fire blazing. A great deal of stock was frozen to death during this terrible winter. The deer and wild turkeys, which had been very numerous were almost exterminated. The wolves on
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