The wealth of the illustrious Astor family is well known. After the American Revolution, German immigrant John Jacob Astor created a fur trading monopoly and soon began buying properties all over New York. He was the first American multi-millionaire and the first American to introduce family trusts. Although the Astor family had an unbelievable amount of wealth, they were not unfamiliar with tragedy - Many still remember the untimely death of millionaire John Jacob Astor, IV in the infamous sinking of the Titanic.
As young children, Alida (Astor’s great great granddaughter) and her 10 siblings would be orphaned. Their parent’s estates and fortunes would be split between the siblings - Alida and her sisters would receive an additional $50,000 to put into investments. Even though Alida married well - C. Temple Emmett, an attorney - the money she inherited from her parents and the Astors was hers and her alone.
During the ownership of the Emmet Family, Alois Kopriva Jr. took over the operations of the mill from his father. He, like his father, loved playing the violin in Romani fashion and found joy in the constant company of people coming to get their grains grounded. Kopriva Jr. operated the mill until 1922
After being stationed in France during World War I, Frank Schaeffer returned to his home in Stony Brook. His father was the Emmet’s estate manager and he had grown up on their properties. He knew that Alois Jr. was looking to retire, so he began studying under him, and within a year, he was the Stony Brook Grist Mill’s official miller.
For almost 30 years Frank would be responsible for milling at the Stony Brook Grist Mill – not just for the community of Stony Brook, but for much of the United States. Schaeffer ground grains for 42 states – creating such an abundant business that it necessitated the building of a new and larger post office. It was the reason that the Stony Brook Post Office became and “A” rated post office.
Schaeffer operated the mill from 1922 until the last day the mill grounded grains for human consumption in 1947.
