I imagine that if I lived in colonial times, I would have sided undoubtedly with the Rebels in the fight for independence from England. Thus, I have written and researched about Patriot ancestors a great deal. But in our midst, there have been those who were loyal to the Crown. Among those are our ancestral grandfathers, Col Ambrose Mills, and his son, Major William Mills.

Major William Mills

Born: 10 November 1746 in James River, VA
Died: 10 November 1834 in Edneyville Twp, Buncombe County (now Henderson County), NC

William Mills, the only known surviving child of Col. Ambrose Mills and Mourning Stone Mills, was
born Nov. 10th, 1746, at their plantation in the town of James River, Virginia. The family soon migrated to the Wateree River in Camden District, Craven County, South Carolina. Tragedy marked William’s life early. While he was away from home with his father hostile Indians attacked and murdered his mother, Mourning Stone Mills, and possibly his siblings. It is reported that William often spoke of this sorrowful event as the saddest of his life.

William lived with his father, Ambrose Mills, step-mother, Anne Brown, and their 6 children in Old Tryon County, (now Polk County), NC. As a young man William worked in his father’s trading post and sawmill in what is today known as the Mill Spring community.

On Oct 12, 1765, William married Eleanor Morris, formerly of Virginia. (She was the sister of John Morris, of Old Tryon County, NC who fought as a loyalist and was killed in the Battle of King’s Mountain.) William and Eleanor had two sons; Marvel and John, and five daughters; Phalby, Elizabeth, Mourning, Sarah (who married Asa Edney, for whom the town of Edneyville was named), and Eleanor (who married Rev. Samuel Edney). It is through the Asa Edney line that we are connected to the Mills family.

William and Eleanor celebrated 69 years of marriage together and were said to be like young lovers until death. She died just a year before he did at the age of 94 in 1833. It was thought that his grief for her hastened his death. It is reported that upon the death of his wife, William walked out by a spring near the grave and remarked, with tears streaming down his furrowed cheeks, "Nelly and I drank upon our knees at that spring fifty-five years ago, when there was no white man's foot in the country."

On his 88th birthday William either he fell or was thrown from his horse and died of injuries he sustained during the fall. At the time of his death, William had 89 grandchildren! A weathered, moss-grown stone marks the grave where William Mills is buried near his old homestead. In the few words written on his tombstone there is no reminder of the eventful career and life of William Mills from his birth in 1746 to his death eighty-eight years later. It is for reasons such as this that I have sought to find the meaning of the “dash between the dates” in so many of our ancestors’ lives.

But let’s backtrack a bit and look at the long lives of William and Eleanor Mills.

In the initial years of their marriage, they migrated to the area of the “blockhouse” on the Catawba River. As early as 1750, this blockhouse stood as a prominent landmark along the boundary line between the Carolinas and was used a trading post and for fortification. In 1776, they went on to settle on the Green River, in what is now Polk County, NC.

Until sometime shortly before the Revolutionary War began, both Ambrose and William Mills were active in helping to defend this frontier settlement. William Mills had served earlier in 1776 with the Patriots in the Cherokee Wars. He was paid as a private in Porter's Company from Tryon County for 71 days of service from Oct 21st to Dec 30th under Gen. Rutherford. The order for pay was entered in 1777. A new gravestone was procured through the US Veterans Administration in honor of William’s service has been placed near William’s original grave marker. There is controversy over this gravestone due to William's alliance with the Tories.

William Mills' family was of English descent and once the War against the English Crown began, he chose to remain loyal to England. William served as Major under his father, Col Ambrose Mills, at King's Mountain, where William was badly wounded in the shoulder and heel. There are different accounts of what happened to William when he was wounded. One of them says he was left for dead and had the good fortune to be discovered by a group of Tories who were foraging for food. With help of William’s friend, Merrimon Featherstone, and his cousin, James Stepp, he was carried to safety and recovered from his wounds. Another version of the story states that William was taken prisoner but was released when friends intervened. Whatever the case may be, William Mills and Merrimon Featherstone, hid out initially around Mills Springs, but later moved to Sugar Loaf Mountain. Tradition says he found refuge in a cave on Saluda Mountain where he remained until the war was over. Visitors to its summit claim to distinguish within the cavern signs of his old camp fire. It is written that there was an old sign posted near the cave but it was lost in the great flood of 1919.

When the Mills’ family sided with the loyalists, the land of these Tories was confiscated by the Act of 1777. Thus, they found themselves homeless when the struggle for independence was over. The lands west of the mountains were opened for settlement in 1783, many of the former loyalists began a new life in the plateau region. William and his compatriots came forward, pledged allegiance to our new country and began to rebuild their lives. They settled in Buncombe County (the area that later became Henderson in 1838) where they each secured large tracts of land. Merrimon married William's half- sister, Amelia.

When William Mills pioneered into this newly opened territory in search of a home, he came across the mountains by the area that is still known as Mills Gap. Legend states that as the sun was going down, he reached a fine, bold spring under a maple tree, not far from where he eventually built a home. Laying aside his pack, he stooped down, drank from the spring and exclaimed to himself, “There no white man has ever drunken of this water before. Here I'll rest tonight, and this is where my family shall have their new home.”

And so after the Revolution, William and Eleanor crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and settled on the waters of Clear Creek, NC. It was William who cut the wagon roads across the mountains at this point, and hence it was always called, and is to this day called, Mills Gap. He was the pioneer of that country and gave names to the mountain streams and places of that section. What is frequently called the most beautiful river in Western NC, "Mills River," was named for William. He named Clear Creek, the stream on which he lived, because of its beautiful crystal waters. He also named the following mountains; Bear Waller, Sugar Loaf, Look-out, Bald Top, Pilot Point, Black Mountain.

Living on what was then the frontier held many challenges. The family home was surrounded by Indians several times and the family was driven from their home, having their home and all their contents looted and burned. Slaves of William Mills were captured on several occasions and were butchered by the natives. A story is told that there was one time when their home was attacked by

Indians during the night when William was absent. His family escaped and fled to a hill or the brushy woods nearby. Upon reaching the hill Eleanor noticed their son, Marvel, who then about seven or eight years old, was missing. He had crawled under the bed and was hiding in their home. The natives entered the house and among them was the most noted Indian in that region. He was known as "Club" or "Big-Foot" because he not only had an enormous body but also an enormous foot, which "made its mark" wherever he went. Some of the Indians stood at the door as "Club-Foot went in first. He went to the hearth and began "blowing up the fire." At that time Marvel, in his boyish innocence, and even though he was afraid of being seen, thought to himself about of the pail of water, which was a staple in every "Log Palace." Marvel instantly made for it emptied its contents right over "Big-Foot's' head. He succeeded in extinguishing every spark of fire to the amazement of "Big-Foot." To his surprise, the next thing Marvel knew, he struck the other end of the wall about eight feet from the floor and eighteen from the fire-place, "Big-foot" having seized him and, with one hand, hurled him against the other end of the house. It was perfectly dark, and knowing where the doorway was, Marvel was able to crawl away. He crept cautiously out right under the feet of the Indians at the door and thence under the floor, where he remained until the Indians "struck fire", plundered the house and left. The way Eleanor felt had to be unnerving when she did not know where her son was. And how great her joy must have been when she found the Indians were gone, and Marvel was alive. It is stated that Marvel remembered the impression of that fire, water, and lofty-tumbling scene very distinctly till the day of his death, and always related it with laughter and animation.

The Mills home was on a large area of the choicest mountain lands about a mile from the present village of Fruitland, which derived its name from the many apple and cherry trees which William planted. He had large orchards which he generously opened to the poor. On Saturdays, an army might be seen, mostly children of the neighborhood, filling their baskets, pails and cans with the contents of the orchards. The only charge he ever made was "Don't break my trees!” Over time, William became known as the father of the apple industry in what was to become Henderson County. Present day downtown Hendersonville is the official home of the North Carolina Apple Festival, a four-day celebration in honor of the huge local apple crop that was originally planted by my ancestral grandfather.

William and Eleanor’s daughters, Sarah and Eleanor, and their husbands, Asa Edney and Samuel Edney, lived on adjoining farms. From them and their large numbers of descendants, the township of Edneyville was named.

William was a great rifleman and was fond of the woods. It is said that he killed a great many bears and deer. He owned 25 to 30 slaves and the farm on which he lived was large. He also had several mountain places where raised horses and cattle. His swift saddle horse and trusty rifle were objects of his attachment. He was very fond of fast horses. William had little to do with mankind and was seldom seen at town meetings or public places. When he had business to attend to, he did so swiftly and headed back home. He was devoted to his family and enjoyed their company, but otherwise he lived in nature’s solitude. He often sought the mountains and streams on which he lived and held communion with the silence of nature.

A person who knew him wrote, "He was silent generally, but had one of the most genial, handsome and speaking faces that I ever beheld. I accompanied my mother on her annual visits to him from South Carolina. I can see him in my imagination distinctly before me now. In person, he was extremely handsome, medium height and elegant proportions, small hands, feet and ankles. A bright, clear complexion, large beaming blue eyes and high expanded forehead - with hair as white as snow, worn straight back and plaited into a queue. He was one of the most active and sinewy men of his day. I have often seen him, then 85 years of age, breast and mount his horse from the ground. His habit was to ride to his mill about a mile distant every morning before breakfast. vHe often wore moccasins with russet leggings, or the old-fashioned tight pants, buttoned close to the legs and ankles. He frequently wore buck-skin pantaloons."

William and Eleanor’s home was visited by almost everybody who traveled through the area. What a wonderful hostess Eleanor must have been. They had many visitors from the low country of South Carolina during the summer. They entertained General Jackson as he passed from Tennessee to South Carolina. Their house was the home of the ministry too and William erected a church which was called "Mills Chapel." The ministers called him "Father Mills" and Bishop Asbury spent much time at his house. "He was a man of great passions - high temper and would fight in a minute even at his advanced age, yet his passion was soon over, for he had as tender a heart as ever beat in human bosom. He was economical in all his habits. It was told that he never made a debt in his life and died not owing a shilling."

A life well-lived!

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There has been a great deal of research done on the Mills line. I am very thankful that generations have kept a written history and have passed down stories through the generations. I certainly believe that I will uncover more and more about the Mills family. As I am about to end this missive, I discovered that one of William and Eleanor’s daughters, Elizabeth, married a member of the Jones family. Could this Mr. Jones be related to our own William Jones, another of my ancestral grandfathers through whose Patriotic service I was admitted to the Daughters of the American Revolution…? I guess we will just have to keep exploring!

The Mills lineage is through the Edney line in my family:

Kate Edney (Raburn Anglin) (3rd great grandparents)

Calvin Edney (Lucinda Wilson)

Sarah Mills (Asa Edney)

William Mills, Maj (Eleanor Morris)

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Special thanks and credit to:

~Lyman Draper: King's Mountain and Its Heroes

~Elizabeth Shown Mills for her extensive research on the Mills family: https://www.historicpathways.com/download/MillsWilliamofAmbroseResearchNotes.pdf

Additional thanks to Marshall Styles for procuring the newer gravestone through the US Veterans Admin, erected June 10, 2017. It is interesting to note that William Mills originally fought for the Rebel army but then joined his father as a Tory.

The Dashes Between Our Dates

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