The Old Bodine Lumber Company was first established in the 1770's. It was then called The Century Flour Mill. It was established by N.J. Deputy Quaker Master Moore Furman, for army purposes. During the Revolutionary War George Washington kept his ammunition in the old mill. This building is the most important historic place to me because my Great-Great-Grandfather Mercer Bodine bought the mill in the early 1900's, almost 100 years ago! He started a business called The Bodine Lumber Company. They sold feed, lumber, and later hardware. This means a lot to me because he worked hard to make a successful business for his family. Mercer's daughter, Marjorie, helped him in the family business with book work, when she was about my age, 10 years old.
My Great- Grandfather Clifford Eichlin worked at the mill as a young man, and later married Marjorie. After Mercer's death they ran the mill. Then in the 1950's my grandfather, Robert Bodine Eichlin helped to run the family mill, until the building was sold in 1982.
I am proud to be a decendant of the Bodine family and have the old mill as part of my family history!
