Mill Products

Mill Products. Weaponry. The Cook brothers came to Athens to manufacture guns for the Confederate Army. Weapons produced in the water-powered Armory were heralded as some of the finest in the South., Francis and Ferdinand Cook bought William Carr's grist and sawmill in 1862 and expanded it with a brick building to manufacture rifles, carbines, bayonets, and horseshoes. Producing up to 600 weapons per month, the Cooks scoured the area for quality wood and metal. Many Athenians sold them gate knockers, bells, fire irons, and other items to provide brass for gun parts. The Armory also produced cotton gins and sorghum mills, and repaired tools for local farmers. Eventually, the brothers and their reserve division of worker-soldiers closed the Armory to fight, carrying into battle weapons they had crafted., (captions) , Post card of Cook and Brother Confederate Armory, The guns were assembled by hand and then stamped with the name of the armory, date, and assembly member. Cost: $30 each with bayonet., On August 2, 1864, Union Major General George Stoneman's Raiders approached Athens. They found a few old men and boys and a batallion of workers from the Cook and Brother Armory defending the bridge over Barber's Creek. After a brief skirmish, the Yankee column was forced to detour and were captured at King's Tanyard, near present day Winder GA. The 300 prisoners were brought to the University of Georgia campus before being sent to Andersonville Prison., Guns from the Cook and Brother Armory were prized in the battlefield because they were accurate, reliable, and easily repaired.