Robert L. Villines

Robert Lee Villines

Paulette Jech

Quick Facts

Significance:

Owner of Villines Grist Mill

Date of Birth:

April 21, 1837

Place of Death:

Newton County, AR

Date of Death:

March 31, 1881

Place of Burial:

Boxley, AR

Cemetery Name:

Walnut Grove Cemetery

Robert Lee Villines was the original owner and operator of the Villines Grist Mill, located in today's Boxley Valley Historic District.

Robert was born to Hezekiah and Elizabeth Penn Villines in 1837, before they had settled in the Upper Buffalo River Valley. In 1856, Robert married Matilda Catherine Whiteley, daughter of local miller Samuel Whiteley. Upon Samuel Whiteley's death in 1864 at the hands of Civil War bushwhackers, Robert began the arduous process of gaining title to his land to build a new, larger mill and fill his late father-in-law's role in the community. The Villines Grist Mill opened in 1870 and remained in operation for more than 80 years, serving the needs of the people of Boxley Valley.

Robert and Matilda and their four kids lived along Whiteley Creek in a log home that Robert built just upstream from the grist mill. Their only son, James Larkin Villines, was fated to become the valley's next miller upon his father's death in 1881.