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| Birth: | 15 Jan 1823 in Halifax,Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada 1 2 3 4 5 |
| Death: | 16 Mar 1904 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan 1 2 3 6 |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | Barnabas Mills b. 26 Feb 1801 in River Hebert,Cumberland,Nova Scotia,Canada |
| Mother: | Margaret Ann Nelson b. 1803 in County Down,Northern Ireland |
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| Burial: Lakeside Cemetery,Port Huron,St. Clair,Michigan 1 7 |
| Religion: "in 1850 he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church", Marysville 8 |
| Changed: 29 Jul 2001 01:00:00 |
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| Mary Jerralds Williams (Wife) b. 4 Jun 1842 in Algonac,St. Clair,Michigan
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| 9 3 |
| Marriage: | 22 MAR 1863 in Marysville?,St. Clair,Michigan |
| Children: | |
 John Edgar Mills b. 24 Sep 1864 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan
 Myron Williams Mills b. 8 Apr 1866 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan
- Mary Margaret Mills b. Dec 1869 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan
- Hannah Elizabeth Mills b. Mar 1872 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan
- Emeline Williams Mills b. 1874 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan
- David Williams Mills b. 22 Jul 1879 in Marysville,St. Clair,Michigan
- Hally Ballenger Mills b. 17 Apr 1884 in Marysville?,St. Clair,Michigan
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Individual:
age 63 in 1884; b NS
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the first born in a family of 14children. In 1844 he left his father's farm near Wardsville [Ontario]andmigrated to Newport, now Marine City, Mich. where he went to work asaship carpenter in the same ship yard where in later years he hadseveralships built and repaired. About 1850 he moved 14 miles northtoVicksburg, the name being changed to Marysville, to honor his wife, togointo the lumber business. He resided in Marysville until his death.
March 1845: School in Mosa; from penmanship book: "went toschool on 12th of March, 1845, Aldborough."
10 Oct 1845: Living in Mosa Township.
"Nelson Mills, his Book. A living in the Township of Mosa, LondonDistrict, October the 10th, 1845.
...who came from Canada in 1844, and had been a ship-carpenterin Marine City until he joined Miron Williams in lumbering on theTurnpikeabout 1850.
Married 1863. All children born in Marysville, Michigan.
"Nelson Mills settled in Mosa with his father in 1826......."
The 1826 date of settlement in Mosa given in this source corresponds tothat indicated in the query in Mills Ancestry [issue #10 26 Sept.1988],which gives it as c. 1826. The wording "settled...with his father"seemsa bit incongruous, since Nelson would have been only 3 years old in1826.The fact that the author, writing about 60 years after Nelson movedfromMosa to Michigan, chose to describe the settlement in terms ofNelsonrather than Barnabas, suggests that he may have had some kind ofcontactwith Nelson over the years. (The author, Hugh McColl, who was b.1837 inEkfrid Twp., published the Strathroy Age from 1868 to 1876, andwaspostmaster at Strathroy from 1875 until his death in 1910.)
Source: Commentary by Robert A. Jones,, in which this quotation is takenfrom Hugh McColl, Some Sketches of the Early Pioneers of the CountyofMiddlesex (Toronto, 1902; facsimile edition Ottawa, Ont.,CanadianHeritage Publications, 1979), page 23.
At Marysville, or Vicksburg, as it was then generally called, E.P. Vickery, the first syllable of whose name had been used in giving thenameto the settlement, had built a steam saw mill about 1843 which helaterenlarged until it had a capacity of one million feet. A shortdistancebelow, Williams and Mills built, in 1855, a steam mill of twomillion feetcapacity, and this together with the Vickery mill, wereacquired byWilliams and Mills, and later by Nelson and Barney Mills, whoalsopurchased in 1878 the mill above their upper mill, which had beenbuilt in1871 by William Sanborn and brother (James). This mill was afine modernmill with a capacity of seven million feet, and was erectedto saw timberbrought from north of Saginaw bay.
Two brothers, J. L. and J. W. Kelsey, built a mill in 1844 inthe forest three miles west of Vicksburg on the Fort Gratiot Turnpike.Theirlumber was hauled by teams to their dock up the St. Clair riverwhich wasknown as Kelsey's dock or wharf.
Miron Williams and Nelson Mills organized a partnership March 21, 1850and bought the mill and adjoining land of Kelseys. They operated themillunder the name of Williams and Mills, later to became a wellknowninstitution along the river and at Vicksburg, to which point theKelseymill was moved in 1858, after the timber available to the turnpikemillwas exhausted.
Miron Williams had been a mill operator for Ward & Gallagher at BelleRiver Mills. Nelson Mills had been since 1844 a shipcarpenter inWard'sMarine City Shipyard. Williams married the oldest Gallagher girl,Mary,in 1838 and they came in 1854 with their family of two boys andsevengirls to Vicksburg, this being quitea substantial increase inthepopulation of that time. The Williams farm home became the scene ofmuchentertainment during the 30 years following. A school was maintainedbyWilliams for his own children and those of the neighborhood, beingthefirst school house in Vicksburg.
Before the end of pastor Tuttle's first successful year here,the Methodists were planning for a building. They had organized a Boardoffive Trustees--Peter Brakeman, Nelson Mills, Ainsley Griffith,WilliamSmith, and David Carlisle. These trustees purchased a strip ofland 4rods wide and 39 rods deep from Obadiah Gardner for the sum of$100.
At the foot of River Road and what is now Huron Ave. stood thegeneral store operated by Nelson and Barney Mills. They carriedeverything alumberjack needed to get along in life. All kinds ofmerchandise andgroceries. The men were paid $1.50 per day and felt anobligation totrade with Mr. Mills. They were paid on Saturday at theoffice in rear ofstore on way home from work. Later in day on paydaymost of them wentback to store and purchased their needs for next weekwhich resulted inMr. Mills getting the money back that he had paid themen earlier in theday.
The Mills family had a complete lumber empire -- a lumber camp but can'trecall where it was located but my Father called it the Nelson Millscampin his songs. They owned a fleet of boats, four sawmills andseveralfarms and the store also leased and operated Stag Island, andinaugerateda ferry service between Marysville and the island.
Also would like to add that Nelson Mills was in his office a lot but hecould put on boots and grab a pole and ride the logs in the river asgoodas any of the men.
Marysville Postmaster: 1864-1892.
My [Myron Mills] father, N. Mills, was one of the leaders ofindustry in this section from 1876 to 1904, taking an active part in mostof theenterprises that developed St. Clair County, and was speciallyinterestedin lake freight transportation. After his death in 1904, Ibecame one ofthe executors of his estate, and had charge of it untildisposed of in1912.
NELSON MILLS PASSES BEYOND
Active Life Closed
Interested In Many Industrial Corporations
and Large Vessel Owner
-- Reported Very Wealthy
Nelson Mills, one of the oldest and best known residents of St. Claircounty, died at his home in Marysville on Wednesday afternoon. Hewastaken sick on Sept. 9 last and has been confined to his roomsinceChristmas day. Different specialists have been called and allhaveagreed that the stomach trouble was of such a serious nature thathecould not recover and that the end would be only a matter of afewmonths. Notwithstanding his illness he has looked after many ofthedetails of his business up to within a few days, and remainedconsciousup to the time of his death. Mr. Mills was considered thewealthiest manin St. Clair county, his property holdings being estimatedat over$1,000,000.
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Nelson Mills was born January 15, 1823, in Nova Scotia, of Englishparentage. When three years of age his family moved toWardsville, nearChatham, Ont., where his early boyhood was passed on afarm until he wastwenty-one years old, except one winter which was spentgetting out shiptimber for the Quebec trade. In 1844 he came to MarineCity, then knownas Newport, and engaged in shipbuilding, at whichoccupation he had thename of doing more work in one day and doing itbetter than any otherthree men in the county. It was there that he firstbecame known forthat strength, endurance, and passion for labor that hasmarked his wholelife, and this great capacity for work soon gained himmore than localfame. He detested shams and believed that work was themother ofsuccess, and that luck was only a very distant relative.
Between 1844 and 1850 he made frequent trips into the pine forests ofMichigan as a land looker for various people, and in 1850 engagedinlumbering on his own account in partnership with Myron WilliamsandNathan Reeves, doing what was then a large business in lumber andraftingof logs on Black river, their capacity being 10,000,000 feet oflumberannually. In a few years Reeves went out of the business andWilliams &Mills erected their first saw mill on the Fort Gratiotturnpike, threemiles from the St. Clair River, for which their supply oflogs wasobtained from a 3,000 acre tract of thickly timbered landsurroundingthat point, the logs being brought to the mill on a woodenrailroad.
In 1862 Mr. Mills purchased his partner's interest in the business, andwith his brother, Barney, formed the partnership of N. & B. Mills,whichhas until the present time continued with-out interruption,withheadquarters at Marysville. This firm later purchased 15,000 acresofpine land in Ogemaw and Arenac counties, which became their resourcefora large timber supply for fifty years.
In 1862 Mr. Mills, in connection with L. M. Skidmore, opened a wholesalelumber yard at Toledo, Ohio, which continued for six years.
Nelson Mills has been interested in vessels all his life, and has ownedand operated a large fleet of boats in the lumber, grain, and oretrades,and has always been closely connected with the developmentofshipbuilding, from the small vessels of the '60's to the present day. In1863 his first venture was the building of the schooner Antelope,andplacing her in the Chicago trade, where she not only cleared herfirstcost during the first season, but was sold at the end of the firstyearfor more than her entire cost. This phenomenal success induced himtodip deeper into this branch of business, and for many years theMillsTransportation Co., the Pawnee Boat Co., and other lines havebeenimportant factors in the carrying trade of the Great Lakes. Thisfirm in1864 established a wholesale and retail lumber yard at Cleveland,Ohio,under the name of Mills, Jewett & Co., which some years later waschangedto N. Mills & Co., and then to the Mills, Carleton Co. In 1897thepresent corporation was formed by the consolidation of the Mills,Gray,Carleton Co., became one of the largest wholesale lumber companiesdoingbusiness on Lake Erie, handling over 100,000,000 feet annually.
In 1889 Mr. Mills, together with his son, John, in connection with IsaacBearinger of Saginaw, and Hiram W. Sibley, of Rochester, N. Y.,purchased10,000 acre tract of land in West Virginia, timbered with blackwalnutand yellow poplar, and commenced manufacturing this valu-abletimber onan extensive scale.
In 1900 John E. Mills, eldest son of Nelson Mills, secured the right ofway and began the construction of an electric suburban roadbetweenLansing, St. Johns, and St. Louis. Upon his death in August,1903, thework was taken up and carried on by his father. During thesummer of1903, Mr. Mills with his son, Myron, his son-in-law J. R.Elliott, andGeo. G. Moore, of Port Huron, bought the Lansing streetrailway, whichhas been reconstructed, and both roads are being rapidlypushed tocompletion.
The many business interests in which Mr. Mills was personally concernedare:
President of the Mills, Gray, Carleton Lumber Co., Cleveland, Ohio
President of the Lansing street railway
President of the St. Louis & St. Johns Railway Co.
President of the Mills Transportation Co.
President of the Pawnee Boat Co.
President of the Mills, Elliott Manufacturing Co.
President of the Nelson Mills company
President of the Port Huron & Sarnia Ferry Co.
President of the Port Huron Navigation Co.
Director of the Panther Lumber Co., West Virginia
Director of the Port Huron Savings Bank
Director of the Port Huron Engine & Thresher Co.
Director of the Deepspring Mineral Bath Co.
Director of the Northern Life Assurance Co., of Canada
Mr. Mills was a large property holder in Port Huron, Detroit, Toledo, andCleveland. He was the owner of Stag Island, a popular summer resortinSt. Clair river, owned a planing mill and branch lumber yard inSt.Clair, and large farms in St. Clair county. He was also anactivestock-holder in numerous industries: Malleable Iron Works, PortHuronSaw Works, and the Anglo-American Fire Insurance Co., of Toronto.
Mr. Mills always took a marked interest in politics, his first votehaving been for Fremont in 1850, and while a devout adherent to theprinciples ofthe Republican Party, and often solicited to accept office,his businessinterests compelled refusal, except in the early days of thecounty, whenhe was supervisor and justice of the peace.
In 1850 he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and formore than fifty years held the office of steward of the church. Nomatter whatthe business cares of the week had been, he was never foundabsent fromhis pew twice on Sunday, and during the early part of hislife took anactive part in Sunday school work. In his business,religious and everyday life, he has shown the same strongcharacteristics. Determined incarrying out with success whatever heundertook, and always thoroughlyjust in his dealings with men inwhatever station in life. He rarelydischarged an employee, and duringdull seasons in business his greatanxiety was to be able to keep thosedepending on him employed.
Mr. Mills, was married in 1862 [sic] to Miss Mary Williams, daughter ofhis former partner, and the union was blessed by three sons andfourdaughters: John E., Myron W., Margaret M., Hanna E., Emeline W.,DavidW., and Hally B. Mrs. Mills died in 1891. Her death was followedbythat of Hally in 1900, and John in 1903.
LATE NELSON MILLS
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An Interesting Story Told of His Early Life
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How the Village of Marysville Received Its Name
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A dispatch from Marine City says, of the late Nelson Mills:
An interesting story is told of Nelson Mills, St. Clair County'smillionaire, who died a few days ago. It would be needless tostate forthe benefit of those who were personally acquainted that Mr.Mills when ayoung man was very plain in his appearance and address, butpossessed ofa good stock of courage and perseverance.
It was about 1848 that Mr. Mills arrived in what was then Newport, nowMarine City, Capt. Sam Ward who was the founder of Newport, wasthencarrying on a shipyard and general store, the shipyard being knowninlater years as the Holland yard. Being in urgent need ofmoreship-carpenters, and happening to be on the dock as young Millslanded,and learning that he wished work, Capt. Ward went with him at onceto theshipyard, where Jacob Wolverton was master builder, and StephenRoseforeman. Capt. Ward suggested to his master builder that he thoughthehad found a man to work in the yard. Wolverton, giving a sideglanceover his shoulder at Mills and his tools (which were exposed in hisopen"coon box"), told him that if Ward had any barns to build he mighthirehim, but that he himself had no use for him in his shipyard.
It happened that Ward was in need of having a barn built, and at the curtanswer of Wolverton the captain turned to Mills and asked him if hewouldbuild it. The young man answered he was looking for work, anditmattered little where it was. He went to work at once on the barn(whichfor many years stood in the rear of the Ward residence). This hassincebeen known as the Holland homestead. After completing the barn,Capt.Ward was so well pleased that a position was given Mills at once intheshipyard, where he remained as long as it was continued by Ward,andafterward for Solomon Gardner when the Steamer "Ocean" was built.
When he settled up with Ward, Mills had the larger portion of his wagescoming to him, which furnished the nucleus for his going into thelumberbusiness at Marysville in company with Myron Williams.
Mills afterwards married Mary, the daughter of his partner, and in herhonor the village was named.
Mills' experience in the Newport shipyard was of great importance to him,as, outside of his vast lumber and real estate interests, he hadbeenknown as one of the largest ship owners on the lakes. The oldshipyardwhere he once worked has been kept busy for many years buildingnew boatsand repairing old ones for him.
MILLS' ESTATE
Will of Nelson Mills Was Filed Today
The Five Children All Get Share and Share-Alike
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The will of the late Nelson Mills was filed in the probate court today.The estate is divided, share and share alike, among his fivechildren,namely: Myron W. Mills, Margaret Hopkins, Hannah Mills, EmelineElliottand David Mills.
The will was executed on the 17th of April, 1903, and occupies justtwenty-three typewritten lines.
Myron W. Mills was made executor and was empowered to sell or convey anyor all of the estate without the necessity of applying to theprobatecourt. Subsequently Mr. Mills made his son, David W. Mills, ajointexecutor with Myron W. Mills and expressed his desire that theestateshould be kept intact and that all partnership and businessinterests inwhich he was engaged at the time of his death should becarried on untilsuch time as the best interests of the estate wouldpermit them to beclosed up, and for this purpose Myron W. and David W.were also madetrustees of all of the estate, real and personal, and weredirected todistribute the estate among the heirs from time to time as thebestinterests of all seem to require. The trustees are given full powerandauthority to manage the business precisely as if it was their own. Inthe event of the death of either of the trustees, the other is givenfullpower and authority under the will.
John E. Mills was alive at the time this will was made but, owing to thefact that his father incurred large liability for him which theestatehad to pay, no provision was made for him in the will. Theotherchildren were asked to deal fairly and justly by this son.
The will was witnessed by Prudence Carroll and W. L. Jenks.
Myron L. Mills said it was impossible to estimate the value of theestate. In the petition filed by Attorney George G. Moore in the probatecourtthis morning, the value of the estate was placed at $1,000 andupwards,but it is understood the real value comes nearer a million or amillionand a half. It includes the Mills Gray Carleton Lumber Co., ofCleveland,and business and book property in Cleveland and Canton, Ohio,includingalso large summer resort property in Cleveland, great lumbertracts inNorthern Michigan and coal and lumber lands in the south. TheLansing andSuburban Traction Company, vessel property, bank stock, tenor twelvefarms in St. Clair county, Stag Island, stock in the Engine andThresherCo. and many other industrial enterprises. By the provisions ofthe willit is estimated that the children will have two hundred to threehundredthousand dollars each.
When Nelson Mills passed from life into death St. Clair countysuffered one of the greatest losses in her history. He was a realcaptain ofindustry, but his success was never due to any crooked methodsbut to atremendous capacity for hard work and unusual business ability.(cont.)
OBITUARIES:
1) NELSON MILLS PASSES AWAY
2) VIGOROUS TYPE OF BUSINESS MAN
3) NELSON MILLS' WILL
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| Sources | | |
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- Title: Nelson Mills Passes Beyond
- Title: FGR of Barnabas Mills & Margaret Ann Nelson
- Title: #16
- Title: #17
Text: Includes reference books for Mills, Hamilton, Nelson families.
- Title: #10
Text: Family of Nelson Mills.
- Title: Legal Abstracts
- Title: #19
- Title: Supplementary Historical Materials On The Early History of
MarysvilleMethodist Church
- Title: Williams Family Bible
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