Jane Olcott McCord holds the distinction of being the first woman in New Jersey to run a grist mill, a position which she held for 20 years and which won her the title of “Miller McCord.” She moved to Stillwater in 1926 with her husband Joseph McCord and daughter Lacy, leaving behind a very different lifestyle in New York.

Born in Virginia as “Jennie” Jane Olcott, she graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1909 and moved to New York to join the all-consuming women’s suffrage movement. She became a nationally-known campaigner as the lieutenant of Carrie Chapman Catt who founded the League of Women Voters in 1920. After the ratification of the 19th amendment, she married chemist Joseph McCord and in 1923 gave birth to daughter Lacy.

The McCords stumbled across Stillwater while looking for a weekend retreat. The grist mill and two adjoining houses were for sale and they were excited by the challenge of entering a new field. The family moved into the house on Main Street across from the site of the old Stillwater Inn and began to learn a new business. Their son Alexander was born in 1931.

Jane took over the reins as business manager in 1935 following a horrific accident in the gristmill which took her husband’s life. Despite growing competition from the modernizing flour industry, she ran the operation with enough success to make a living. She was forced to halt operations in 1954 when the miller passed away, but “Miller McCord” had become an icon in the town who earned the admiration of local farmers as well as the entire Stillwater community.