The following information is From Rod Mills the son of Paul Mills author of several Mills geneolgy books. This is to provide some excellent research facts! I apologize for the length, but I did not want remove any of his thoughts or conclusions. Rod, myself and several other researchers have been on this path for many years. For those looking for a William Mills, you may find this also find this letter of interest. The Early Quaker Mills Family From Rodney A. Mills I am writing this report to explain my findings about my early Quaker Mills ancestors. I have been researching this subject, sporadically, since 1970. My deceased father, Paul A. Mills, published several genealogical books on the Mills families; all of these books are now out of print but can be found in many libraries. I have found that much of the information in published Mills genealogies and reference books is erroneous or very questionable. This is unfortunate because the errors continue to be perpetuated each time a new book or genealogy is published. We all tend to rely too much on published information, without doing any confirmation research. Please note: I have used the numerical identification of (l) and (1-1) to differentiate two persons both named John Mills. This identification method was used by my father in his genealogy books. Actually, I do not agree that these particular persons were father and son, as I will explain below. I am attaching a reference list and several figures to help explain my conclusions. Figure 1 is a chart of my direct Mills ancestors as I now believe them to be. I believe the John Mills at the top of the chart was the immigrant from England. You may notice that this information is in disagreement with many published genealogies, including my father's books (Refs. 1-3). My father listed another John Mills (1) as the immigrant and also as the father of the John Mills (I -1), whom I designate as the immigrant. (There are just too many Johns, why could not they have chosen some other first names?) The death of a John Mills (1) in Philadelphia in 1704/5 is listed by Hinshaw (Ref 4, pg 396 ) but there is nothing to connect him to John Mills (1-1). Further, Hinshaw lists on the same page the death in 1759 of a Sarah Mills, but there is nothing to indicate she was the wife of John Mills (1 or had the maiden name of Harrold. In fact, the widely separated death dates make it a little unlikely that John Mills (1) and Sarah Mills were husband and wife. It is also improbable that Sarah was the mother of John Mills (1-1), who seems to have been born ca 1688. If Sarah were the mother of John Mills (1-1), she would have had to be born around 1670 and would have been at least 89 years old at her death. If there are other relevant Quaker records in Philadelphia, I am unaware of them. The Mills Family History (Ref 1, pg 523; Ref. 5, pg 86; Ref 2, pg 129) by Jeremiah Mills (born 1784) has a truthful ring to it. He stated that his great-grandfather, John Mills (1-1), emigrated from England to Philadelphia with another young man named Harrold. The Mills and Harrold families remained together for many years and their children inter-married. This story is well worth reading. It is my belief that my John Mills (1-1) ancestor was born in England about 1688 and emigrated to America around 1704. It is logical that he entered the U.S. at Philadelphia like so many of his fellow Quakers. He was the father of Henry, Thomas, Hurr, John, and Mary by his first wife. He was the father of William, Rebeckah, George, Benjamin, Alice, Tabitha and Jonathan by his second wife, Rebeckah. John Mills (1-1) died 24 Nov 1760 in NC. An early genealogist, Edna Joseph, published a Mills genealogy (Ref. 6) in the 1920s which gave John Mills' wife as Rachel Bates. I have found the probable source of this statement in a book "Early Marriage Records of the Mills Family" (Ref. 7, pg 22) by William Clemens published in 1916. This book shows that a John Mills married a Rachel Bates on 5 Oct. 1743 in Boston MA. This could not have been the marriage of John Mills (1-1) because he had married his second wife, Rebeckah, by that time and they had a son William. There is no evidence John ever traveled to Boston. His travels seem confined to PA, MD, VA, and NC. A genealogy book "Genealogy of the Gordon-Macy Hiddleston-Curtis and Allied Families" (Ref 8) was published in 1967. It included a chapter on the Mills family and showed a John Mills born ca 1660 in England and died 17 Jan 1704 in Philadelphia. Wife unknown. It then goes on to show a son John Mills born 1688 in PA, married 1708 in Chester Co. PA to Rachel Bates. Rachel died ca 1740 in MD. It shows John married second to Rebecca Harrold. This is all very interesting, but I am unable to confirm it. I attempted to contact the authors in the 1970s but was unable to reach anyone except a relative, who could not give me any sources. There are strong reasons to doubt the accuracy of the Rachel Bates and Rebecca Harrold names. As stated before I can find no substantiation of the John/father John/son relationship, although my Mills ancestors did use the name John for many generations. In fact, my brother is named John Mills. As you can see, there is much confusion over the names of the wives of John Mills (1-1). Hinshaw (Ref 9, pg 510) definitely shows that the second wife and mother of William, Rebeckah, George, Benjamin, Alice, Tabitha, and Jonathan, was named Rebeckah. I do in fact have a land grant deed from NC which has Rebeckah's name on it. I have never found any proof of her maiden name. Hinshaw (Ref 9) does not give the first name of John's first wife. I have my suspicions that John's second wife had the surname of Ballenger, but I have no firm evidence. Reference 10 lists many Quaker marriage certificates for Chester County PA. On page 42, it shows this listing for the New Garden Monthly Meeting: "Thomas MILLS son of John MILLS of manoquisy Near ye River Potomack & Elizabeth HARROLD of ye same place Daughter of Mary Harrold widow. 18, 4m Called June, 1730 . at ye house of Josiah BALLENGARS at Monoquisy afsd..... The author of this reference states in her preface, "The last name in a column of witnesses is underlined. Generally the bride and groom signed in the right hand column and the parents and immediate relatives signed underneath their names." The names in the right hand column of this particular marriage certificate are: Thomas MILLS and Elizabeth MILLS, followed by the names John MILLS, Rebeckah MILLS, Mary HARROLD, John MILLS Junr., Hur MILLS, Willm. BEALS, Liddie BEALS, Sarah BEALS Senr, Sarah BEALS Junr, Martha Wright. These facts would seem to indicate that John Mills' wife at that time was named Rebeckah The earliest civil record I have found of John Mills (1-1) is a West Nottingham PA land tax assessment of 1722, shown on page 198 of Reference 11. John's surname is listed as Miles, but this sort of misspelling was not unusual. John's name is not listed on a similar list of 1753. The John Mills family apparently left West Nottingham ca 1730 and moved to the Monocacy area of MD, which at that time was part of Prince Georges County. This area is near Frederick County VA, where the Mills family apparently lived part of the time. Reference 12 has many references to John Mills and his children's families. Because of the Indian troubles, John and many of his friends moved from Virginia to North Carolina during the period of 1750 to 1753. Both John and his wife Rebeckah received land grant deeds for property in Guilford/Rowan County NC where they settled near friends. The births, marriages, and deaths of many of the Mills clan members are detailed in Reference 9. In trying to understand the wives of John Mills, I have constructed a special table shown in Figure 2. If you will follow thru the logic in making this table, I hope you will conclude with I that both of John's wives must have been named Rebeckah. The Quaker records give much information concerning the marriages and descendants of John children by his first wife. Very little information is known by me about the marriages and descendant of John's children by his second wife. Apparently, many in this latter group left the Quaker church. A particularly perplexing problem is the correct identification of William Mills There were many men in the 1750-1850 period in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Georgia with the name of William Mills. None seem to fit exactly, although some are included as descendants in genealogies of John Mills (1-1). Unresolved issues concerning John Mills (1-1): 1. John's parents, siblings, and ancestors. 2. John's place of origin in England. 3. Name of ship taken to America and arrival date.. 4. Surname of his first wife. 5. Surname of his second wife. 6. Positive identification of his son William and William's descendants. 7. More information on the marriages and descendants of John's children Rebeckah, George, Benjamin, Alice, Tabitha, and Jonathan. I welcome any suggestions and help with my genealogy mysteries of the early Quaker Mills families. I do have much additional related information if anyone is further interested in this family line. Rod A Mills Date: 07 Mar 1999 CHRONOLOGY OF THE JOHN MILLS FAMILY Possible YEAR JOHN'S EVENT WIVES' AGES AGE #1 #2 #3 1688 0 Probable birth date, based on marriage 1708 20 Probable marriage date for first wife 18 1709 21 Son Thomas born 19 1712 23 Son John II born 21 1714 26 Son Hurr born 24 1720 32 Son Henry born 30 1724 36 Daughter Mary born 34 1730 42 Marriage of Thomas to Elizabeth Harrold in MD. Witnesses: John and Rebeckah Mills 40 18 1732 44 Marriage of John II to Sarah Beals in PA 20 1738 50 Marriage of Hurr to Rachel Harrold 26 1740 52 Marriage of Henry to Hannah Thornburg 28 1740 52 Marriage of Mary to William Beeson 28 1742 54 Son William born to #2 wife, Rebeckah 30 18 1743 55 John deeded land in VA to his 4 sons, no wife joins in these deeds, she, no doubt being deceased 31 19 1744 56 Daughter Rebeckah born to #2 wife, 32 20 1747 59 Sons George & Benjamin born to #2 wife 35 23 1750 62 Daughter Alice born to #2 wife 38 26 1752 64 John and John II to NC from VA 40 28 1753 65 Thomas, Hurr, & Henry to NC from VA 1753 65 Daughter Tabitha born to #2 wife 42 30 1757 69 Son Jonathan born to #2 wife 45 33 1760 72 John died in NC 48 36 1761 -- John's will probated in NC 49 37 Problems: 1. Is the witness in 1730, Rebeckah, John's first or second wife? 2. If we assume that Rebeckah #2 had her last child no later than age 45, then she must have been married by age 18 to John, age 42, 24 years older than she. Unusual. 3. John had his last child at age 69. Unusual. 4. If John and Rebeckah #2 were married in, or before, 1930, why did they not have any children until 12 years later? Unusual for the times. 5. If Rebeckah #2 had her last child at any age less then 45, it would indicate that the witness Rebeckah in 1930 was probably John's first wife, also with the name Rebeckah. This could also mean that John married his second wife, Rebeckah #2, around 1741-42, and that she was only 34 when her last child was born. This would eliminate the 12 year gap in not having children. She would have been about 36 years younger than John. Unusual. Note: I have found no records concerning the wives' ages. Rod A. Mills MILLS FAMILY REFERENCES 1. MILLS And Related Lines, Paul A. Mills, Woodburn OR, 1984, 712 pgs. 2. MILLS FAMILY HISTORY, Quaker and Other Early Arrivals, Paul A. Mills, Woodbum OR, 1979, 168 pgs. 3. The Ancestors and Descendants of THE HENRY MILLS FAMILY, Paul A. Mills, Woodbum OR, 1964, 138 pgs. 4. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN QUAKER GENEALOGY, Volume II, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, William W. Hinshaw, GPC, Baltimore MD, 1936. 5. A GENEALOGY OF CLAYTON, REYNOLDS, BEALS, BROWN AND DESCENDED AND RELATED LINES, "THE QUAKER YEOMEN," James E. Bellarts, Portland OR, 1973, 148 pgs. 6. THE MILLS FAMILY, an unpublished manuscript, Edna Harvey Joseph, Jasper IN, ca 1920s. 7. EARLY MARRIAGE RECORDS of the MILLS FAMILY in the UNITED STATES, William M. Clemens, New York City, 1916. 8. GENEALOGY OF THE GORDON-MACY HIDDLESTON-CURTIS AND ALLIED FAMILIES, Jessie G. Flack and Maybelle G. Carman, Tulsa OK, 1967, 293 pgs. 9. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN QUAKER GENEALOGY, Volume I, North Carolina, William W. Hinshaw, GPC, Baltimore MD, 1936, 1185+ pgs. 10. QUAKER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES, NEW GARDEN MONTHLY MEETING, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, 1704-1799, Gwen B. Bjorkman, Heritage Books, Bowie MD, 1990, 307 pgs. 11. HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, Volume I, J.S. Futhey and G. Cope, Philadelphia, 1881, 460 pgs. 12. HOPEWELL FRIENDS HISTORY, 1734-1934, Frederick County, Virginia, GPC, Baltimore MD, 1975, 1671 pgs.

Sorry, Rod's table at the end of this note, had its format removed by the rootsweb server. If anyone would like the table just drop me a note and I'll send it to you direct. Dave Mills ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave" <dt-mills@mailsnare.net> To: <MILLS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 1:28 PM Subject: [MILLS] More information on John b ca 1688, Rachel Bates and Rebecca 1 and 2