Click here to see the George Mills line of Jamaica, Queens, NY (eliminated as our line)

My gg grandmother, Martha Jane Mills Kirwin has been a real stinker to research! Several family members have given it a shot and all have come up empty handed. The member who has come the closest reports:

"After spending two weeks looking at every Mills name on the North Carolina 1850 census for a fifteen year old girl named Martha Mills, I now find that she had a second name which is Jane. I didn't find her under the name Martha, and I'm not sure that I'll find her listed under Jane, but I'll have to look."

Family history claimed Martha was born 4 July 1835, Charlotte, Mecklenberg, NC and died 27 April 1891 West Cherry Town, Montgomery, Kansas. Her Obit published in the local newspaper 30 April 1891 states:

"Mrs. Martha Kirwin, died at her home in West Cherry township, Montgomery County, Monday, in the 53rd year of her age. She leaves six children to mourn her loss, all of whom were absent at the time of her death except Albert. Her remains were buried in the Westcott Cemetery Tuesday, surrounded by a large number of sorrowing friends." Neodesha Sun Times

This appears to make her birthdate 1838 instead of 1835. Census records are equally unhelpful; in 1860 Martha is 25 (b.1835), in 1870 she is 35 (b. 1835), in 1880 she is 46 (b. 1834) and in the Kansas State Census of 1885, she is 49 a month before her birthday (1835). Average it and we have 1835 ...

On 22 July 1855, Martha married Patrick Kirwin, an Irish Famine Immigrant whom she met while she was visiting her kin in Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana. Their children; Francis Marion (legend says named for the Swamp Fox), William H., Mary A., John Arthur, Thomas Jordan, Charles Edward were all born in Addison Township, Shelby Co., IN between 1855 and 1862. They went to Kansas where their last child, Albert W. Kirwin was born in 1870. This far we have gotten...

From here the quest to give Martha a family has been tedious and difficult. With lots of help and much time, I have finally found a family in the right time frame who at least know HAD a daughter named Martha Jane...Suddenly, I am into Quaker records (we should all be so lucky!) and though everything is fitting together, including the places they lived and the occupations they had, I still have no one official document which shows Martha Jane until her wedding certificate in 1855!  There is still no concrete link to the Swamp Fox story, however, given the places these people lived, it makes sense to me that what I am about to present will link together one day someway, somehow. At this point, I am not willing to throw out anything!

I have researched pretty thoroughly two family lines; the line of George Mills out of Jamaica, Queens County, New York and the line of John Mills, a Quaker. I have no evidence so far that the George Mills line had Quaker ties, but I have nothing to dismiss this either and these two lines did intermarry. I suspect we will eventually prove that Martha Jane is the daughter of Enos Mills and Edith Mankins - this is the John Mills Quaker line. Here is what I know so far:

Cheska Callow Wheatley (now deceased) documented the descendancy of John Mills on her website, The Quaker Mills Family and I can do no better. Look there to get the basic ancestry and LOTS of peripheral information. Here are the charts so far - once I get it proved I will add in the collateral charts:

Family of John Mills and (1) Rebecca Wright

[1] "Wright" as the surname of John's first wife was supplied by Harold Curryer email him!

Family of John Mills and (2) Rebecca Harrold

[1]1786 Rowan County Tax List shows Rebecca Mills widow of John Mills. Between 1747 and 1753 the family moved from Virginia to North Carolina.

Family of Henry Mills and Hannah Thornburg

Family of Aaron Mills and Charity Mendenhall

[1] Isaac eventually went to Oregon on the Applegate Wagon Train in 1843. His son, John Beales Mills accompanied him with his 1 year old son, William Riley Mills. William Riley married Adaline Miller. Contact Harold Curryer for more info and see the charts for this family here.

Family of Seth Mills and Charity Thornburg

(NOTE: I have all the names of the grandchildren of Seth & Charity as well, email me if you need them)

[1] Aaron L and Pamelia Samuels Mills had a son, their 3rd child, named Enos (perhaps with middle initial "L") b. 1835-40 in Indiana. This Enos married Margaret Roberson in Washington County, AR 28 September 1855 and died on the Mills Farm in AR 29 September 1863. He is sometimes confused with the Enos who married Edith Mankins... they are two different men!
[2] Jacob and Edith "Edy" Lewis Mills also had a son, their 4th child, named Enos Plesant Mills b. abt. 1852 in Washington County, AR. NOTE: From Roy L Carter (click on his name to contact him): My great grandfather was Enos Plesant Mills. His parents were Jacob Mills and Edy Lewis. Enos married Rebecca  Jonnes; from this marriage he had four children: Willy C, Audie, Humphrey, Emma Gertrude (my grandmother). Rebecca passed away from unknown causes. Then Enos P. remarried to Sarah Rozella Ramsey; from this marriage was born Waco Plesant, Flossy, Dewy, Zena. Enos Plesant Mills during his time in Arkansas was a deputy U.S Marshall who worked for Issac Parker, the "hanging judge" in Fort Smith Ar. He was in the posse which killed the Indian outlaw Ned Christie. I have pictures of the posse and  Ned Christie. My grandmother married my grandfather John Jordon Carter and when my grandfather and grandmother moved to Mckinney, Texas in 1918. Enos moved his family as well to Mckinney; this is where he died  in the 1920s and is buried in the Pecan Grove Cemetery in Mckinney, Texas. I never had the privilege of meeting any of the Mills as I came from my father's second marriage - he was 66 years old when I was born. I am only thirty years old. My father did tell me quite a bit about Enos and my grandmother and the whole family. I did know Enos' three youngest daughters never married and and my father took care of them until their deaths."

Family of Enos Mills and Edith Mankins

[1] one researcher lists the date as 14 June 1834, but offers no source.... LDS Temple Film # 1761123 shows the above date and a location of Washington County, AR. We have since established the marriage took place in Edith's county of birth as shown.

[2] Enos (and brother Henry) both show up in a book of Dade County, MO Abstracts of Wills and Admrs. "A" 1841-1867 in 1971 published by Mrs. Howard W. Woodruff as follows:

"MILLS, ENOS, died intestate. Admr. Silvester C. Massey, 9 Nov. 1849 (A-74)" (note: Massey is son of Enos' sister Mary Ann Mills Massey)
"MILLS, HENRY, died int. Admr. Jacob Reed, 14 Nov. 1848 (A-65)" (note: Reed was Henry's wife's maiden name, thus this is a relative of hers)

[3] Click on Edith's name to see her ancestry charts

[4] Martha Jane is listed as "1 female under 5" in 1840 Washington County, Arkansas Census; listed as age 10 in 1850 Dade County, MO Census... As I mentioned, this family group chart is what I HOPE to prove - it is looking good so far, but so far, it is still not proved! I would love to talk to any descendents of this family group!

[5] The 1860 census shows Lidia as a Mc Clinto?? and a marriage between John McClintock and a Lidia is found in Barry County in 1859. Lidia lives with her 1 year old daughter, Lewisea. It was common for newlywed couples to live apart until they could afford to set up a household. John McClintock is enumerated living close by in the same township in1860, age 27 and born in Tennessee. I cannot find them in 1870. If you are related to this line, please contact me! Civil War records show: McClintock, J. S. 2nd Lt. 13th MO Inf.

[6] On a trip into Greene County, Missouri, my aunt has learned that our William Riley Mills joined the Union Army Missouri Volunteers, 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry which was "organized at Springfield, Mo., August 6 to September 15, 1862." He died of wounds received in the Battle of Little Rock aka Battla of Bayou Forche, 10 September 1863: "The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South." See notes at the bottom of this page regarding previous datas thought to apply to this man but dismissed as incorrect!.

[7]  There is a record in the 15th Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps for a Pvt. Henry M. Mills, Company E, but no proof that this is the same man, nor any information on whether he survived the Civil War.

NOTES on the family of ENOS and EDITH/EDA MANKINS MILLS: The couple first shows up in Washington County, AR in the 1840 census as follows:

WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP
PAGE 6 - LINE 2

Enos MILLS; 1 white male 20-30 years, 1 white female under five years, 1 white female 15-20 years

1. this Census puts Enos' birth in a range of 1810-1820 matching the known information for Enos Mills, son of Seth and /Charity Thornburg Mills - this is important because there were four Enos' in this family and some researchers have them all grouped as one person:
#1 Enos as listed above ( I have never seen a middle name or initial associated with this Enos)
#2 Enos L., b. abt. 1836-40, son of Aaron L. and Pamelia Samuels Mills (grandson of Seth & Charity and nephew to #1 Enos - Aaron was brother to #1 Enos)
#3 Enos P., b. after 1845, son of Jacob and Edith/Edy Lewis Mills (another grandson of Seth & Charity and also nephew to #1 Enos - Jacob was also brother to #1 Enos)
#4 Enos, Jr., son of #1 Enos born May 1850, Dade County, MO after #1 Enos had died.

2. this Census puts Edith's birth in a range of 1820-1825 which is important because there were TWO Edith Mankins born in Floyd Co., KY and some researchers seem to have them confused:
#1 Edith Mankins, b. 1810, Floyd County, KY, daughter of Peter and Rachel Bracken Lewis Mankins
#2 Edith Mankins, b. 16 Oct. 1821, Floyd County, KY, daughter of John Bracken and Mary "Polly" Sloan Mankins. John Bracken Mankins was the son of Peter and Rachel Bracken Lewis Mankins and also the brother of #1 Edith Mankins. The dates for this Edith match the information on all the censuses from 1840 to 1860, whether she was married to Enos Mills, on her own as a widow, or married to John R. Williams. Click here to see Edith's Ancestry including the information on her Aunt Edith. Also note that John Bracken and Mary Sloan Mankins went to Washington County, AR by 1834 where their son Walter W. Mankins and successive children (John Bracken Mankins, Jr. and Samuel Walter Mankins) were born. John died in 1876 in Mariposa County, CA.

A letter written by Jacob Mills, brother of Enos, 5 June 1843 mentions the marriage of Enos and Edith and the date of the marriage. You can read the letter here. It also lists the following children's names: Martha Jane, Lydia, William Riley and a four-day-old unnamed son (Henry). The letter mentions some of the family has gone to Dade County, MO, so I looked there for the family in the 1850 Census... BINGO!

I found Edith listed as EDA MILLS in the 1850 DADE COUNTY, MO Census with all the children. At this point, I did not know Enos had died in 1849, so I was puzzled to find Eda alone on the Census. She was living "next door" to Permilia "Milly" Reed Mills (the two sisters-in-law who had both become widowed) and all her children. Living with Edith is Samuel Mills who is the right age (to be her brother and the son of John Bracken Mankins b. 16 April 1837, Washington Co., AR (I suspect the associated MILLS surname is a typo on the census). Here is the census (note: Edith's age is 28, matching the birth year for Edith Mankins, dau. of John Bracken Mankins):

1850 Census - Dade County, MO - Film M420 - 22 Oct 1850, 302R

Next, I read the letter from Seth T. Mills, another brother of Enos (you can read it here) written 24 February 1852, which includes the following statement: "Out of seven brothers there is but two of us left." I went back and looked at the material on the children of Seth and Charity Thornburg Mills and was able to ascertain that by 1852, only Seth T. Mills and Jacob Mills survived. Of the sisters, Mary Ann Mills Massey, Sarah (Sally) Mills Camp, Rachel Mills Van Hoose and Lettie Elizabeth Mills Lewis did live full lives. Both of the remaining two brothers had died by the end of the Civil War. Jacob was "killed by bushwhackers" and Seth contracted measles and died. Seth and Charity Thornburg Mills lived until 1876 and 1875, respectively. Shortly after all this was sinking in, I found the information regarding the Intestate Deaths of Henry and Enos.

So, I am now up to 1852. Edith, at age 28 is a widow with 6 children aged 2-12. So far, I have been unable to find any further record of this root family. However, by 20 February 1855, my Martha Jane Mills, age 15-17 has given birth to son Francis Marion out of wedlock in Indiana. Perhaps she went there to hide her pregnancy? She does not marry Patrick Kirwin until 22 July 1855 and the Kirwin Family Ballad says she met Patrick "while visiting kin" in Indiana. There surely were members of this family in Indiana!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This has been a long chilly summer both in terms of actual weather and progress! I suspect I am still on the right track and the Fall offers new promise. If my aunts are able to find documentation, I will have all kinds of collateral data to add to these charts. The good news is that IF this is right, the rest is very well documented!

I noticed that 1)Enos' brother Aaron L. Mills named a son Francis Marian Mills and 2) Enos and Edith's daughter Lucinda married a man whose middle name is Marion...... perhaps all this somehow explains why Martha Jane Kirwin named her first son Francis Marion Kirwin??? I also note that Aaron L. Mills and his brother Jacob Mills both named sons "Enos" after their brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WINTER 2002 - The plot thickens or thins; depends on your outlook!

My aunt and her new hubby have made a major breakthrough! They have discovered that Edith Mankins Mills married her neighbor, John R. Williams after Enos died. In 1850, Edith and John were enumerated as follows:

[1] John was born 3 March 1813 in Floyd County, Kentucky and died 1 March 1878, buried Harrington Cemetery, Greene County, MO. Sarah ??? was born 1817 in Tennessee and the marriage took place in Missouri, 1834 according to US Marriage Records 1560-1900. Sarah must have died soon after the census was taken. Enos' estate was not settled until December 1853. John R. and Eda had sold all the property the owned in Dade county between the months of July and October 1853. They probably then moved to Barry county the last of 1853 or early in 1854. Both of their names show up on the land sales, so they must have married by then.

In 1860, the MILLS/WILLIAMS family shows up in Barry County, Missouri as follows (note adjacent Williams families):

[1] This child would have to be the issue of John and Edith, b. about 1855.

[2] So far this is the last trace I can find of Henry M. Mills - did he die in the Civil War along with William Riley?  There is a record in the 15th Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corps for a Pvt. Henry M. Mills, Company E, but no proof that this is the same man.

[3] a marriage between John McClintock and a Lidia is found in Barry County in 1859. It was common for newlywed couples to live apart until they could afford to set up a household. John McClintock is enumerated living close by in 1860.

Our Martha married Patrick Kirwin in 1855, so she would have moved on by the 1860 census and does not show up in this census with her mother. I am now looking to find the obituary of Edith listing there whereabouts of her children.

UPDATE 2004: I found John, but where is Edie??? Note that John has a new wife. Since Edith already had a documented daughter named Martha, it would be unlikely that she would give another daughter the same name. Thus, the age and name of the five year old child "Martha" in this household suggests Edith had died by 1862 and Martha* and Malinda are the issue of John Williams and Elizabeth, wife #3.... this narrows the field to find a likely death notice for Edith in Barry County between 1860 and 1862...

1870; Greene County, Wilson Twnsp; pg. 225 (aka 269b)

[1] Marriage of John and Elizabeth performed by William Cliborne, JP and is on page 282 of book B: 5 Feb 1863, to "Elizabeth Roberson" aka Elizabeth Hagewood Robertson (information contributed by Megan Zurawich - email her for more info).

[2] Martha E.* was born 20 Dec 1865 and died 4 Jul 1906 - she is buried next to her father in Harrington Cemetery.

FALL 2004: The death of John R. Williams from an article in the History of Greene County, Missouri - 1883; R. I. Holcombe, Editing Historian; Chapter 23 -
Brookline Township:

ITEMS: "February 25, 1878, John R. Williams, living a few miles south of Brookline, and an old citizen of the township, was hauling a load of wood. The mules he was driving became frightened at a hog and ran, throwing Mr. Williams from the wagon and fracturing his skull. He died in a few days, aged 64."

A look at the 1880 Census record for Elizabeth Williams shows that she and John added two sons, James A. and Josefhus (sic) to their family before John's death. This likely explains why contact between the Williams and Mills families was lost over time. Daughters Sarah (now 30) and Narcissa (now 27) had by 1880 moved on. This makes John, at his death, the father of 11 children.

Bio of Jaspar: History of Greene County, Missouri - 1883; R. I. Holcombe, Editing Historian; Chapter 31 - Resume of the City's History from 1876 to 1883; Part 2 - Biographies:

J. N. WILLIAMS (Jaspar Newton Williams): Mr. Williams is the son of John R. Williams, who came to this county about 1833, and was born here in October, 1840. He lived in Dade County, Missouri, from 1852 to 1856, and than removed to Barry county. He returned to Greene county in 1860, and in 1861 enlisted in the 8^th Missouri volunteers, U.S.A., under Col. W. F. Geiger, and served about one year. He was a non-commissioned officer of company K. He was disabled and discharged. Since coming to Springfield, he has been actively engaged in business, and for the last twelve years has been in the produce business, most of the time with J. M. Garrett, and still remains at the old stand with A. Koenigsbruck. Mr. Williams was married March 19, 1865, to Miss Matilda P., daughter of Junius M. Rountree, one of the most prominent citizens of this county. Their union is blessed with five children, three boys and two girls.

Still be found is an obit for Edith ... If you have anything to add to our search, do email!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

!!! DISMISSED INFORMATION !!! ~ from FALL 2000

WINTER 2005

Correspondence from Harold Curryer in Oregon, a direct descendant of the William Riley Mills described living in Oregon has led me to information proving "our" William Riley Mills is a different man. However, this William Riley is cousin to "our" William Riley. Both were born in Washington County AR, but one year apart. The William Riley shown below is the son of John Beales Mills, son of Isaac, son of  Aaron. Aaron was also the father of Seth who was the father of Enos, so the two William Riley's were second cousins. See the footnote #1 under chart #4 and footnote #6 under chart #6 above. See the charts for cousin William Riley Mills' family here.