In 1868, Our Stonewall Cotton Mill Opened Its Gate,

Their Bright Future Ahead But Unsure Of Its Fate.

Many Have Come And Now Long Since Have Gone

Knowing This Ole Mill Gave These Families Their Homes.

Raising Their Families, They Sacrificed Their Sons,

Guarding Our Country And Many Wars They Have Won.

Their Daughters Then Came To Work In The Ole Mill,

Keeping It Running By Stong Backs And Shear Human Will.

Sending Its Children To School So They Could Learn,

And After Years Of Working, Their Retirement They Had Earned.

Going Through The Depression, They Never Gave Up,

Showing Us All A Lesson In Dedication And Just Plain Hard Work.

But As We Count All The Years, We Know Our Mill Has Been Blest,

For The Grace And Mercy God Has Shown, Equally For The Best.

Along Came Changes And As Always With The Times,

Once In It’s Past, The Old Card Room Was Run By Poppa Grimes.

Spinners And Doffers Scurry Quickly To Get Their Jobs Done,

Starting Up Each Frame And Continuing On To The Next One.

Watching The Action Of The Spinning Frames As They Hummed,

Each Bobbin Would Fill Up, Yet Waiting For Its Replacement To Run.

These Frames Are Gone Now, New Ones In Their Place,

The Times Never Staying The Same, But We All Kept Up With The Pace.

Weavers Through The Years Has Woven Cloth For All The Land,

As The Shuttles Moved Back And Forth, In The Pattern That Was Planned.

Soon The Looms Will Be Silent, The Weaver’s Work Will Be Done,

The Gates Shall Be Closed, And A New Era Will Have Begun.

Thanks To All Who Believed In This Small Clarke County Town,

To All Those Who Came To Work From Many Miles Around.

Only God Knows Each And Everyone’s Eventual Fate,

Because He Is The Master Spinner And Weaver, Who Will Lock The Gate.

Co-Authored by: Polly A. Jackson & Charles David Morgan

March, 2002