By the Fall of 1776, Long Island was completely under the rule of Great Britain. British soldiers were quartered within villages and towns, including Stony Brook. The grist mill - having been a strong foothold in the community for over 70 years saw British soldiers restocking their supplies.
After the Revolutionary War ended, Stony Brook once again settled into a quiet lull and the mill continued to grind the grain of the community. Like his father, and his father’s father before him, Edmund Smith Jr. would pass on the grist mill to his son - Nathaniel Smith, who would operate the mill for 36 years. In 1826, Nathaniel Smith, having no children of his own, passed the mill down to his nephew, Woodhull Smith.
In the very same year, for the first time since it’s construction (and reconstruction), ownership of the mill would be transferred outside of the Smith family and was fumbled between various owners until the mid-1880s.
The mill was transferred from Woodhull Smtih to Daniel T. Williamson and Thomas Wiggins Jr. Just 25 years later, in 1841, the mill was sold at auction to Gilbert P. Williamson. Only 5 years after that, in 1846 William Davis purchased and owned the mill. Owners did not always operate the mills they owned - instead they would hire millers. By the mid-1800s, two generations of the local Taylor family operated the mill. In 1868, the mill was owned by J. Griffing Terry and operated by Theodore Brush and his son Sanford. He would sell the mill to Louise P. Norton for $6,000 in 1884. Norton would struggle with selling the mill to a number of interested parties. All of the deals fell through…Until Edward Kane.
