Colonel Thomas L. Pitcher was one of the original settlers of the area and played a role in the Missouri Morman war. The Pitcher name contines in the area with a modern day elementary school named after the family.

Place name: Pitcher School
Description: Located between Kansas City and Independence. Thomas Pitcher deeded the land for school purposes. (Blackburn)
Source: Atchison, Anne. "Place Names Of Five West Central Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1937.

This book has info specific to the sawmill and its location as well as a reference to its being burned by Lowe and Jennison in 1861. Check page 10. http://www.kc-it.com/backbone/part001.pdf

John R