Written By Alice Gibb
Although Ichabod Crane slept for decades after venturing into the fictional Sleepy Hollow, hard work was more the order of the day in the West Williams hamlet of Hungry Hollow. This hamlet is one of the oldest communities in the township. Tucked in the southwest corner of West Williams, it was first settled in 1821 by one Asa Townsend, who likely earned his livelihood by keeping a rude tavern. He was given Lots 23 and 24, Con. 7, West Williams, as well as property in Bosanquet Township, for clearing a rough trail through the area – the forerunner of Highway 22. Townsend is believed to have resided there until sometime in the mid-1830s, when his name disappears from the area. His efforts as a road builder, however, are recognized in the name Townsend Line.
By 1840, William Saul had moved to Hungry Hollow and opened one of the township’s first water-powered grist mills on Lot 22 on the Ausable. The hamlet had been called Grove Mills but was soon renamed Saul’s Mills in honor of the major industry. Saul didn’t know it at the time, but his mill site would be used for over a century.
An 1874 article described the as a two-storey, frame building with two grinding stones to turn wheat into flour. The mill, located on less than one acre of land, was operated by an overshot water wheel.
On December 1, 1876, the mill was purchased by William Marsh, an Englishman, and his Welsh wife, Susannah, who had immigrated to Upper Canada in the 1840s. William purchased Hungry Hollow’s mill for two of his sons – Joseph and Thomas – to operate. William had the mill building moved further back on the property and upgraded the operation by changing the water power to a spring-fed creek and pond. The creek was dammed and water was carried through a pipe to drive the waterwheel.
That wheel was replaced by a water turbine some years later.
The Marshes proved to be exactly what Hungry Hollow needed. They were hard workers and noted for being good Christians. Toward the end of the 1880s, brothers Thomas and Joseph had a small frame chapel built in the community. Services were held in that chapel until 1912.
The brothers operated the mill in partnership until 1894 when Joseph and his family moved to Warwick Township, Lambton County. Thomas eventually retired, turning the mill over to his son, Herbert, in 1925. Three generations of Marshes operated the Hungry Hollow grist mill over a 70-year period. In 1946, after deciding to move his family to Arkona, Herbert Eugene Marsh (d.1973) sold the mill to a Detroit resident named Granville. Eventually Mr. Granville sold the site to Ron and Joyce Wallis, who built a beautiful log home on the former mill site. Today Hungry Hollow is popular with fishermen, canoeists or those who enjoy hiking and birding.
