Mary Emily Mills

Last Update: Tuesday 25 May 2021

Mary Emily Mills, born Dec 1858 Staten Island NY, died 03 Nov 1937 Brooktondale NY, who commonly went by Emily, and in more formal contexts, M. Emily Mills or M. E. Mills. Youngest child of Edward Hallock and Mary Ann Mills. Proprietor, M. E. Mills general store in Brookton/Brooktondale NY. Active in the temperance movement in the Independent Order of Good Templars and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, as well as Sunday School teacher and piano player in Brooktondale Congregational Church, now Caroline Valley Community Church.

"Emily Mills was a little woman, with her hair in a bun on top of her head... She was quiet, neat, cheerful and always smiling."
"She was a 'sweet little lady'"
"I remember her as very kind"
"If everyone to whom Miss Mills extended a helpful hand were to place a floral emblem upon her grave, she would sleep today amidst a wilderness of flowers."

Year	Type	Town	Name	Age	Computed birthyear	Birthplace	Occupation	Industry
1860	US	Castleton	Mary E Mills	1	1858	New York
1870	US	Pembroke	Mills Mary E.	11	1858	New York	At school
1875	NYS	Pembroke	Emma M Mills	16	1858	Staten Island
1880	US	Caroline	Mills Em. Emily.	20	1859	New York
1892	NYS	Caroline	Emily Mills	34	1857		Clerk
1900	US	Caroline Town	Mills Mary E	41	1858	New York	Saleswoman (General store)
1905	NYS	Caroline	Mills Emily	46	1858		[unclear] clerk
1910	US	Caroline Town	Mills Emily	51	1858	New York	Merchant	Country Store
1915	NYS	Caroline	Mills Emily M.	56	1858	US	Merchant
1920	US	Caroline	Mills Mary E.	61	1858	New York	Manager	General Store
1925	NYS	Caroline	Mills, Emily M.	67	1858		Merchant
1930	US	Caroline Township	Mills, Mary E.	71	1858	New York	Proprietor	Grocery Store

— United States Federal Census and New York, U.S., State Census, ancestry.com. Click column headers to change sort order. Download source data.

Emily’s middle name may be in honor of Edward’s sister who died over a decade before Emily was born. Presumably she went by Emily in casual circumstances to distinguish her from her mother, and in more formal contexts, she typically used “M. Emily Mills”, particularly in later years.

Emily was baptized in the Reformed Dutch Church of Port Richmond on 30 Nov 1859, the last recorded baptism in the church that year. The timing of the baptism may be a clue to narrow her exact birthdate; perhaps this was the Sunday immediately prior to her first birthday. Otherwise, I do not have direct evidence of Emily attending church prior to her Brookton baptism.

— Jan 1923, Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church on Staten Island, New York City, v2, transcribed and edited by Royden Woodward Vosburgh, v2, p70, Staten Island, Richmond County, NY Genealogical Resources, FHL Film 514656 Item 5. Partial transcription.View largest available size.

Date	Baptized	Parents’ Names	Born
1859, Nov. 30	Mary Emily	Edward Mills & Mary A. Pine

— Church Register 1790-1908, Reformed Dutch Church of Port Richmond, p25. Digitally photographed by Kathleen Langdon and used with permission via personal correspondence 05 Feb 2023. View largest available size.

Documentation suggests the Mills family moved from Staten Island to Corfu sometime between 01 Sept 1862 and 01 May 1863, a period overlapping Emily’s fourth birthday.

The family moved to Motts Corners in Mar 1879, which must have filled Emily with many mixed emotions. Corfu was her childhood home, where she had attended school, and she was leaving behind friends that she would make return trips to visit. But it was also where her brother Horace had killed himself just a few years prior.

— 17 Oct 1876, The Buffalo Commercial, Buffalo NY, p3, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 27 Oct 1876, The Progressive Batavian, Batavia NY, fultonhistory.com. View largest available size.

This was also a few months after Emily’s 20th birthday, and the move must have been an exciting one. Very soon after her arrival in Mott’s Corners, Emily was actively involved in several community social groups, providing clues to her personality as a young woman. Emily was energetic, outgoing and appeared to make friends easily, and it seems she was welcomed warmly by her new neighbors.

Emily joined the existing “High Bridge Lodge No. 296” of the Independent Order of Good Templars shortly after arriving in Mott’s Corners, as she “furnished entertainment for the good of the order” in August 1879. (20 Aug 1879, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4.) The Good Templars often met above Edward Mills’ store, “E. H. Mills”, in a space for public events and private meetings called Lounsbery Hall, named for the owner of the building, Edward Lounsbery. Emily was a member until at least August 1886, as attested by the meeting minutes of the Good Templars at that time, where she wrote the final three words recorded for High Bridge Lodge No. 296 on 27 Aug 1886: “Emily Mills Sec.”.

Emily held a number of offices in the Lodge over the years, and as a result of her time as Secretary, there are many more examples of her distinctive handwriting preserved.

— 23 Apr 1886, Independent Order of Good Templars High Bridge Lodge No. 296, Tompkins County History Center, Ithaca NY. View largest available size.

— Quarterly Returns for Independent Order of Good Templars High Bridge Lodge No. 296, Tompkins County History Center. View largest available size.

The Good Templars’ meetings were both entertaining and educational by design, to offer a compelling alternative to drinking establishments, and Emily often contributed literary items to the “Good of the Order” portions of meetings in which members volunteered in advance to read or recite a short piece, such as a poem or essay. In the preserved meeting minutes of the lodge, the items for the Good of the Order were only identified in a minority of cases, but in the period from Apr 1883 to Aug 1886, Emily provided the following works that I have tried to identify:

Dates	Recorded Citations	Possible Matches
01 Jun 1883	Misplaced Door Keys	05 May 1883, “Door Keys”, Harper’s Bazar, p274.
10 Aug 1883	Something or Nothing	“Nothing and Something” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
15 Feb 1884	The Call of St. Gregory by John Greenleaf Whittier	“The Supper of St. Gregory” by John Greenleaf Whittier
22 Feb 1884	This Method	currently unknown
25 Sep 1885	One Day in a Country Store	may be “A Day in a Country Store” referenced elsewhere, but still unidentified
29 Jan 1886	Strive, Wait and Pray	“Strive, Wait, and Pray” by Adelaide A. Procter

And on 15 Jan 1886: “Reading of a pleasant poem by Sis Mills”. Years later, when Emily joined the Brookton chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, she held offices in the chapter just as she had in the Templar’s Lodge, including “Superintendent of Literature and Publications”.

Emily was also involved in the Caroline Amateur Dramatic Club, along with George Richardson and other Good Templars members. The Club, along with Dr. Besemer’s orchestra, gave several acclaimed performances of the play The Colleen Bawn, for the benefit of the Templars. Emily played supporting character “Sheelah”.

— The colleen bawn; or, the brides of Garryowen : a domestic drama, in three acts, Boucicault, Dion, 1820-1890, London : John Dicks, Identifier b13704126, Image Number colleenbawnorbri0000bouc_0003, Hall Collection of Prompt Books, Warwick Digital Collections. View largest available size.

The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was first performed at Laura Keene’s Theatre, New York, on 27 March 1860 with Laura Keene playing Anne Chute and Boucicault playing Myles na Coppaleen. …The Colleen Bawn captivated audiences with its interwoven character plots and overall story.

— The Colleen Bawn, Wikipedia.org.

“Laura Keene (20 July 1826 – 4 November 1873) was a British stage actress and theatre manager. In her twenty-year career, she became known as the first powerful female manager in New York. She is most famous for being the lead actress in the play Our American Cousin, which was attended by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington on the evening of his assassination. …In 1858, Our American Cousin debuted in Laura Keene’s Theater. On the night of 14 April 1865, Keene’s company, which primarily included John Dyott and Harry Hawk, were performing Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. In attendance that night were President Abraham Lincoln and his wife First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Actor John Wilkes Booth fatally shot President Lincoln while Lincoln watched the play from the presidential box; Booth then fled the theatre. Amid the confusion, Keene made her way to the presidential box where Lincoln lay dying and cradled the mortally wounded President’s head in her lap. President Lincoln’s fatal head wound bled on her dress, staining her cuff. The cuff was later donated to the National Museum of American History.” (Laura Keene, Wikipedia.org.)

— 07 Jan 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 14 Jan 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 24 Jan 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 28 Jan 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 11 Feb 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 18 Feb 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 26 Feb 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 05 Mar 1880, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

Although not a large role, Sheelah is in key scenes and her character gave Emily an opportunity to deliver substantial dialogue, perform powerful emotions and even be involved in physical action. Here are some of the words spoken by Emily on those evenings in Jan and Feb 1880, in Lounsbery Hall at Mott’s Corners, above her father Edward’s store where she clerked:

Sheelah The poor Colleen! Oh, no, Danny, I knew she’d die of the love that was chokin’ her. He didn’t know how tindher she was when he gave her the hard word. What was that message the masther sent to her, that he wouldn’t let me hear? It was cruel, Danny, for it broke her heart entirely; she went away that night, and, two days after, a cloak was found floatin’ in the reeds, under Brikeen Bridge; nobody knew it but me. I turned away, and never said—. The creature is drowned, Danny, and woe to them as dhruv her to it. She has no father, no mother to put a curse on him, but the Father above that niver spakes till the last day, and then
—[She turns and sees Danny gasping, his eyes fixed on her, supporting himself on his arm.]
Danny! Danny! he’s dyin’—he’s dyin’!
[Runs to him, R. of bed.]

— The Colleen Bawn by Dion Boucicault Act III, Scene I.

[Enter Sheelah, guarded by two Soldiers, R.]
Sheelah [Crying.] What’s this? Why am I thrated this way—what have I done?
Corrig You are wanted a while—it’s your testimony we require. Bring her this way. Follow me! [Exit, L.]
Sheelah [Struggling.] Let me go back to my boy. Ah! good luck t’ye, don’t kape me from my poor boy! [Struggling.] Oh! you dirty blackguards, let me go—let me go!
[Exit Sheelah and Soldiers, L.]

— The Colleen Bawn by Dion Boucicault Act III, Scene IV.

The Good Templars may have also provided opportunities for Emily to travel, as the Good Templars commonly attended events at other Lodges in Tompkins County, cooperated with other temperance groups, and they sent representatives to the state “Grand Lodge” as well. Because of this, Emily may be present in some of the well known photographs of other temperance groups in Caroline.

When Lodge No. 296 disbanded after Aug 1886, just over seven years after Emily joined, she must have keenly felt its absence in her life. From the information I have seen so far, I cannot say if she joined High Bridge Lodge again when it re-formed a few years later with the number 720. Emily eventually joined the WCTU, but I don’t know when. It is interesting to note however, that the Brookton chapter of the WCTU organized in 1907, the same year the Emily was baptized by the Reverend Annis Ford Eastman.

More information on Emily’s activities in High Bridge Lodge–including more discussion of the items she furnished for the “Good of the Order”–and the WCTU, can be found in the following pages:

Emily is mentioned in the will of her uncle, Henry Higbie:

— 21 Oct 1881, Last Will and Testament of Henry Higbie of Hempstead Long Island, ancestry.com. Partial transcription.View largest available size.

Emily returned to Corfu in later years to bury Jonas, Mary Ann and Edward. She also returned to Corfu to visit her childhood friends.

— 21 Jul 1882, The Batavia Daily News, Batavia NY, p1, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

At least by the 1890’s, Emily was working as a clerk in her father’s store, just as her older brothers had. (She may have always helped with the store, or perhaps she only began clerking in the store after Jonas died.) Several volumes of sales journals have survived from M. E. Mills general store that are written by Emily’s hand (and certainly Ellen Gould’s handwriting must also be present in those books).

Many aspects of Emily’s handwriting are quite distinctive—such as uppercase E’s, M’s, W’s, C’s, T’s and F’s as well as lowercase p’s are often written with similar idiosyncrasies. Note for example, the following page of entries in M. E. Mills sales journals, which appears to be entirely written by Emily.

— 26 Mar 1909, E. H. Mills Store Sales Journal No. 41, p554 digital photograph of book owned by Brooktondale collector. View largest available size.

Her E’s C’s L’s and J’s tend to have big loops. Her lowercase p’s practically pierce the line above it. And her uppercase T’s and F’s have distinctive crosses that rise and fall. Her handwriting is easily recognizable, and when others (most likely Ellen Gould) make entries in the Mills’ store journals, the differences are apparent.

Interestingly, her T’s are sometimes written quite differently. See for example, the way “to” is written in the entries for John and James Caveny vs. those for J. T. Miller and Emily herself. These very different looking T’s appear to all be written by Emily given other matches that can be verified, including most obviously, the capital J’s which all begin in the center with an extra initial loop.

Jonas died on 14 October 1885 after a brief illness. Whether Emily worked in the store prior to Jonas’ death, by 1892, she lists herself as clerk in the state census.

A small glimpse of Emily’s interests around that time:

— 1887, Arthur’s Home Magazine, v56, p106, books.google.com. View largest available size.

Emily acted as nurse at the end of her mother’s life:

— 31 Dec 1895, The Daily News, Batavia NY, p1, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

In 1907, Emily was baptized and officially joined the membership roll of Brookton Congregational Church, along with 10 other single women, in a ceremony officiated by Reverend Annis Ford Eastman. A closer examination of the circumstances around the baptism can be found here. It is unclear what Emily’s religious outlook was before being baptized, but at least from that point on, Emily’s faith was a very important part of her life.

— Digitally scanned entry in *Congregational Church 1868-1933 Minutes of Meetings and Membership*, used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church. View largest available size.

This photo, taken on 13 Jun 1907 shows the Congregational Church as Emily knew it then, with the original steeple:

— 13 Jun 1907. Digital photograph of print photograph, used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church. View largest available size.

Emily, along with many of the others baptized with her, immediately became deeply involved in church activities, a level of commitment they sustained the rest of their lives. Emily was a Sunday School teacher, and possibly taught classes specifically for adults. There are newspaper accounts detailed below of her organizing bible study groups and prayer meetings in her home. In the following report, dated the eve of Edward’s death, we see that in the months immediately after joining the church, Emily taught a class with an average attendance of five students:

— 31 Dec 1907. Digitally photographed record from Caroline Valley Community Church, used with permission. View largest available size.

Gertrude Conant (19 Jul 1924 to 04 Sep 2007) mentions that Emily played the piano or organ in the Church. The church historical records, as one would naturally expect, cover topics unevenly over the years. Concerning the piano/organ: there was an organ in the church at one time, but it was destroyed by mice. The roles of pianist/organist and that of assistant pianist/organist, were for a time at least, positions that were voted on at the annual meetings just as officers such as secretary and treasurer were. I have not found any references for Emily being in either of those roles, but there are many years where these roles are not noted at all, so unless Gertrude is mis-remembering, without her noting this detail, it would be lost. (Anna Mulks and Cassie Landon were several times noted in these roles.) I will also point out, however, that in the many newspaper accounts and meeting minutes of the Good Templars, there are many mentions of Emily providing literary items for the “Good of the Order”, but I don’t see any mentions of her providing musical entertainment, which was also a weekly occurrence at their meetings. The Good Templars Lodge, which met above Mills’ Store, was known to have an organ.

Originally a pipe organ stood on a raised platform (for choir) at the back of the auditorium. After it deteriorated (with assistance from the church mice) a piano was used. During the pastorate of Rev. James L. Burckes (1949-1955) the platform was eliminated and double entrance doors cut in the curving wall. Prior to that time there had been only a single entrance door at each side of the wall.

— History of the Congregational Church, Brooktondale, New York. Compiled and edited by Mrs. Amy Atwater on the occasion of The Centennial Celebration of the Caroline Valley Federated Church, Brooktondale, New York, June 16th, 1968. Used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church.

Annual meetings were typically held the first Monday in January, in the afternoon or evening. A small group attended and Emily is not listed as attending these meetings, despite being elected as Treasurer and being acknowledged as filling that role for at least two years:

— 16 Jan 1913, Annual Meeting of Brookton Congregational Church. Sunday School Report for 1912. Digitally photographed entry in *Congregational Church 1868-1933 Minutes of Meetings and Membership*, used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church. View largest available size.

Tres. report - Miss Mills Tres.

— 05 Jan 1914, Annual Meeting of Brookton Congregational Church. Digitally photographed entry in Congregational Church 1868-1933 Minutes of Meetings and Membership, used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church. View largest available size.

— Digitally photographed entry in *Congregational Church 1868-1933 Minutes of Meetings and Membership*, used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church. View largest available size.

— 18 Dec 1921, Digitally photographed entry in *Congregational Church 1868-1933 Minutes of Meetings and Membership*, used with permission from Caroline Valley Community Church. View largest available size.

Emily continued to be involved in temperance into the 1900’s, and for some period of time, she was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, along with her step-mother Hannah. This is almost certainly unknowable now, but I have wondered if Hannah was introduced to Edward through the Emily’s involvement with temperance. This may also be how Emily knew Ellen Gould. It is interesting to note that the Brookton chapter of the W.C.T.U. was organized in 1907—the year of Emily Mills’ and Jessie (Shurter) Brewer’s baptism—and that Jessie is also active in the W.C.T.U.

— Directory 1917-1918, Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Tompkins County, New York, p8. Tompkins County History Center, Ithaca NY. View largest available size.

Edward died on New Year’s day 1908, and Emily made another heartbreaking trip to Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Corfu. If Emily walked the streets of Corfu on that trip, she should would have seen that the building that housed her family’s store, as well as her childhood home, were now gone.

— 06 Jan 1908, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p3, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 06 Jan 1908, The Daily News, Batavia NY, p4, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

Edward died “intestate”, without a will, and it wasn’t until July 1909 that Emily and Hannah, working with their lawyer Fordyce Cobb, became official legal co-owners of the Mills’ home and Mills’ store assets. Emily followed her father’s example and renamed the store M. E. Mills. When Hannah passed less than a decade later, Emily inherited all assets and property.

— 07 Apr 1908, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p3, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 07 Apr 1908, Admin Minutes, Orders, Decrees, Vol 056, p416, Surrogate Court, Tompkins County, Ithaca NY, ancestry.com. View largest available size.

— 02 Aug 1909, Ithaca Daily News, Ithaca NY, p5, fultonhistory.com. View largest available size.

— 02 Aug 1909, Minutes, Orders, Decrees, Vol 55a, p159, Surrogate Court, Tompkins County, Ithaca NY, ancestry.com. View largest available size.

Thanks to Gertrude Conant’s personal recollections, we have a basic description of Emily’s appearance and personality:

Emily Mills was a little woman, with her hair in a bun on top of her head, like Grandma Bacon’s. She was quiet, neat, cheerful and always smiling.
...I remember her as very kind...

Full quote and citation are below. Ralph Conant in personal correspondence 24 Jul 2021 identifies “Grandma Bacon” as Mary Louise (Vandemark) Bacon (1867-1950).

She was a "sweet little lady"

— A Drive-by Tour of the Town of Caroline sponsored by the Town of Caroline Bicentennial Committee 1994-1995, Tour 4 - P7, 484 Brooktondale Road.

And from E. D. Shurter’s Tribute:

Reserved, unostentatious, and kindly...she went about her daily round of duties with a Christian fortitude and faithfulness...

— 11 Nov 1937, In Tribute To Emily Mills by E. D. Shurter, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p2. Full quote is below.

These descriptions of Emily’s demeanor are consistent with the personal recollections of a current Brooktondale resident, currently in her 90’s who has early childhood memories of Emily and her store in the last years of Emily’s life.

Due to the level of detail given to the context of this story, I am choosing to include the entire text and not just Emily’s section:

— 15 Jan 1909, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p7, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

— 06 Dec 1913, Ithaca Daily Journal, Ithaca NY, p11, nyshistoricnewspapers.org. View largest available size.

Hannah died 25 Feb 1917, and the funeral was held the following Wednesday in the Mills’ home.

Mrs. Gould is keeping house for Miss Emily Mills.

— 20 Mar 1917, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p7, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

Emily, along with Edward and Hannah, are mentioned in the diaries of George Jansen.

From 1908 to 1925 an itinerant worker named George Jansen, who dug gardens, painted rooms or houses, washed dishes, or “kept house” when an owner went on a trip, recorded events in Brookton along with the daily weather.

— 1998, Molly Adams, “Town of Caroline” in The Towns of Tompkins County: From Podunk to the Magnetic Springs edited by Jane Marsh Dieckmann, p62.

— Gertrude Conant Collection, Caroline History Room, Slaterville Springs NY. View largest available size.

George notes in a number of entries throughout the years that he did odd jobs for Emily, such as painting her home and the store as well as planting her garden.

— Notebooks of George E. Jansen, Tompkins County History Center, Ithaca NY. View largest available size.

It seems likely that Emily grew a garden not just for her own use, but to have fresh vegetables to sell in her store:

— 1920, “Clock System” Map and Farmer Directory, Tompkins County History Center, Ithaca NY. View largest available size.

— 13 Dec 1917, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p7, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 15 Oct 1918, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p9, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 24 Apr 1923, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p9, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 11 Apr 1923, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p11, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

George Jansen painted Emily’s home in the Summer of 1924:

June day	day
	June 26th 1
11th 1"	" 27th 1
12th 1"	" 28th 1
16 1/2	" 30 1
17th 1	July 1st 1
18th 1	" 2nd 1
19th 1	" 3rd 1
20 1
23 1
24 1
Paid	Paid

George Jansen was also a member of High Bridge Lodge No. 296 of The Independent Order of Good Templars, Brookton NY at one time.

— 10 May 1924, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p11, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 14 Oct 1924, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p10, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 04 Sep 1924, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p12, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 14 Jan 1925, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p14, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 11 Mar 1925, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p12, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 08 Apr 1925, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p12, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 17 Dec 1925, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p14, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 12 Jan 1926, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p10, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 30 Oct 1926, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p14, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 02 Feb 1931, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p5, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

Christmas seals are for sale by Mrs. Charles Mulks, Miss Emily Mills and Mrs. Tillie McWhorter.

— 05 Dec 1935, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p19, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 22 Jun 1936, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p2, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 09 Feb 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p14, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

Emily fell and broke her hip while on her way to services at Brooktondale Congregational Church on 10 Oct 1937. She spent the last several weeks of her life in Memorial Hospital in Ithaca where she died on 03 November, a few weeks shy of 79 years old. Presumably, she was the first in her family not to die at home (with the possible exception of Horace). Like her father, Emily died without a will.

— 15 Oct 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p13, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 20 Oct 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p9, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 03 Nov 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p2, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 04 Nov 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p3, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 05 Nov 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p17, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

This moving tribute was authored by E. D. Shurter, a Brookton native who was at different times, an attorney, a college professor and a nationally renowned orator and author. This is Emily’s only known obituary and is referenced elsewhere as such:

— 11 Nov 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p2, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

The professor clearly took great care in crafting this tribute, and with the pacing of the final sentence, one can sense the weight of responsibility he felt representing the sense of loss of an entire community who held Emily in equally high esteem. He is Emily’s first and most eloquent biographer, without whom we wouldn’t fully appreciate some of the most important aspects of Emily’s life, most notably, her charitable acts.

The news clippings above give examples, such as her contributions to the Red Cross, and of course, the W.C.T.U. did considerable charitable work. In the M. E. Mills store sales journals, there are entries indicating direct donations from the store that Emily counted against her own account as “Goods for Charity”:

There are also entries in the historical records of Caroline Valley Federated Church of extra donations made to the church by both Hannah and Emily among other members. By agreement with the Church, I have not reproduced any financial records here.

— 26 Nov 1937, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p9, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 15 Dec 1937, Tompkins County Rural News, Dryden NY, p7, fultonhistory.com. View largest available size.

— 19 Jan 1938, The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca NY, p15, newspapers.com. View largest available size.

— 06 Jul 1938, Tompkins County Rural News, Dryden NY, p6, fultonhistory.com. View largest available size.

— 09 Dec 1938, Tompkins County Rural News, Dryden NY, p6, fultonhistory.com. View largest available size.

Emily was the last in the line of Edward H. Mills, and it seems that her family’s story has become unknown to the Mills of subsequent generations.

Emily is interred at Brookton (formerly Quick) Cemetery at the corner of Landon Road and Lounsbery Road in Brooktondale NY, 14817.

As one is standing in front of the Emily’s headstone, with back to the cemetery entrance on Lounsbery Road, the ground is disturbed on the left side of the two plots purchased for Emily, indicating where she rests. As is the case with Hannah, the date of birth on Emily’s headstone is incorrect:

As already shown above, Emily was baptized at the Reformed Dutch Church on Staten Island on 30 Nov 1859, and Emily is listed with her family in the 1860 Federal Census:

— 19 Jun 1860, United States Federal Census, Castleton NY, p135, ancestry.com. View largest available size.

Furthermore, in her entry in the 1900 US census, Emily indicates her birth date is “Dec 1858”. The census data I have seen is presently limited to what is available online through ancestry.com, but among those I was able to find during Emily’s lifetime, only the 1900 census asked for month and year of birth, while all others, including 1900, simply ask for age at last birthday. Census’ were typically done in May or June of the appropriate years, and Emily’s self reported age in each census consistently resolves to 1858 as indicated in the “Computed birthyear” column in the census data summary shown above.

— 13 Jun 1900, United States Federal Census, Caroline NY, p4, ancestry.com. View largest available size.

I have been in contact with two people at Brookton Cemetery who have both looked into the matter, and they each confirmed that the only information they have on Emily is the name and plot number “and what is on the headstone”. There is no indication who made the funeral arrangements for Emily, who the plot was sold to, or any information that might shed light on the erroneous birth year. Emily’s grave stone is the only documentation I have with this birth year other than subsequent histories that were written using the grave stone as the source for her birth year.

That the birth year on Emily’s grave is incorrect suggests Emily’s final arrangements were made by one or more people in Brooktondale, likely someone from the Congregational Church, Jessie Brewer being the most likely candidate, although E. D. Shurter is another possibility. This further implies that Emily no longer had contact with any Mills family descendants on Long Island, which seems to be supported by the potential heirs sought out after her death as noted in the Mills’ home deeds.

Further research will obviously need to be done, but ultimately, Emily’s exact date of birth (and that of her brothers) may be lost, as she was born during a notoriously bad period for the recording and preservation of birth records. In addition to the usual sources, I submitted a reference question to the staff of the Presbyterian Historical Society, but they were unable to find records for Mary Ann or her children. (Much of the Church’s digitized records are actually available via ancestry.com, and in fact, entries can be round for Edward’s sister Emily Tabitha Mills for example.) I have also submitted requests to the New York State Department of Health vital records as well as the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, and in both cases so records for Emily’s birth were found. It is interesting to note however that according to ldsgenealogy.com, there are potentially many microfilm records for Richmond County (Staten Island) during this time period.

Other Historical Accounts

Understandably, previous historical references to the Mills family have typically focused on Emily and her store. All previous secondary sources of information on Emily accepted 1861 as her birth year, which I have presented overwhelming documentary evidence disproving.

Shortly after I moved into the Mills’ home in Brooktondale, Molly Adams visited me to sign me up for the Old Mill newsletter, and to give me the following history of Emily Mills and her store. I have since been told that this was a ritual Molly performed with other Brooktondale newcomers. Despite its title, this exceptional account is more about the M. E. Mills store than it is about Emily herself.

— Molly Adams. View largest available size.

Although I read this “Note” with some interest initially, I didn’t appreciate its importance until several years too late to ask Molly to teach me more. I at least had the foresight to save it somewhere I could find it again years later when I needed it. I revisit this often, still mining it for clues about Emily, trying to learn what Molly knew.

The answer to Molly’s question “and some groceries?” seems to be yes. Perhaps the question arose because Jessie Brewer apparently did not continue to sell groceries, and this was what residents of the time would more likely remember.

The Caroline History Room in Slaterville Springs NY has a collection of Molly Adams’ research notes in file folders, organized by people and property among other subjects. She had a folder of deed research into 475 Brooktondale Road, a folder dedicated to the Mills family, and there are a few drafts of her “Note” that all seem to be dated in the Spring of 2002. Although these versions largely repeat what is in the “Note” and elsewhere, they contain further historical context and most importantly, indicate the sources of the quotes in the “Note” as well as the fact that the “leatherette booklet” was accessioned by the Caroline History Room.

— Molly Adams, Caroline History Room, Slaterville Springs NY. View largest available size.

The following appears to be written for publication, or possibly mailed to people to ask them for more information, which was also one of my main motivations for starting the memills.com website. Note that that item is numbered “7”, but I don’t know where this page might have originally come from.

— Molly Adams Collection, Caroline History Room, Slaterville NY. View largest available size.

Barbara Kone and others have searched the Caroline History Room for the “leatherette booklet” Molly mentioned, but it has not yet been found. Fortunately, Molly had the foresight to keep printed reproductions in her file folders:

And Molly retained a printed reproduction of the following item; the location of the original is currently unknown to me:

Emily is also mentioned twice by Molly Adams (1936 to 23 Jun 2014) in her chapter “Town of Caroline” in The Towns of Tompkins County: From Podunk to the Magnetic Springs edited by Jane Marsh Dieckmann:

…[George Jansen] noted the death of Emily Mills, who had continued her father’s store for thirty years, extending credit to many needy individuals.

— 1998, Molly Adams, “Town of Caroline” in The Towns of Tompkins County: From Podunk to the Magnetic Springs edited by Jane Marsh Dieckmann, p61-2.

As indicated elsewhere, George Jansen predeceased Emily by two years. The entry that Molly must have been referring to is the mention of Edward’s death:

— Notebooks of George E. Jansen, Tompkins County History Center, Ithaca NY.

Emily is mentioned in Town of Caroline Historian Barbara Kone’s compilation “A History of the Town of Caroline, Tompkins County, New York, United States of America” known to us all as “The Bicentennial Book.”

“A Drive-by Tour of the Town of Caroline” sponsored by the Town of Caroline Bicentennial Committee 1994-1995 contains a listing for M. E. Mills on a page identified as “Tour 4 - P7” in a 2016 reprint by The White Church Cabin Country Store and is the source (with some alterations) of the description Molly Adams used in her “Note”. In Molly’s research notes, she gives the attribution: “[Driveby, ie Conant]” and I confirmed with Barbara Kone that Gertrude wrote the Brooktondale portions of the “Drive-by” book:

BROOKTONDALE POST OFFICE, left – 484 Brooktondale Road
This was Miss Mary Emily Mills’(1861-1937) Dry Goods Store. She also had kerosene, Kerosene lamps with green shades, penny candy, stockings, handkerchiefs, yard goods, pins & sewing notions sheets & pillowcases, groceries, etc. She was a “sweet little lady” who succeeded her father in the business. Jessie Brewer had dry goods here after Miss Mills, and also had a lending library in the back.
The post office has moved at least 3 times. This is the 3rd site.Between the Post Office and the bridge sat the Shurter House which was moved.

Gertrude Conant’s personal recollections provide valuable details, including physical descriptions of Emily and her store as well as reflections on her personality. If not for Gertrude, these precious details would be long forgotten.

— Gertrude Conant. Used with permission. View largest available size.

Emily is not mentioned by name, but is implicitly referenced in a photo caption of a portrait of Jessie Brewer published in 2016, “Around Caroline” by Patricia A. Brhel, p23:

Jesse Brewer ran a dry goods store in Brooktondale, selling fabric, ribbon, greeting cards, and other items. She took over from a woman who had managed a grocery store in the same building and used the proceeds from the store to increase the family income and help support her widowed mother. She was also active in the Caroline Valley Federated (now Community) Church.

M. E. Mills is listed as a “present merchant” in the Ithaca Daily Journal, 26 Aug 1909, p5, in an article “Early History of Brookton Village”.

Notes for Future Researchers

Unfortunately, Emily’s death certificate does little to clarify her birthdate:

— Tompkins County Health Department. View largest available size.

One of my main goals is to find photos of the family and their stores, but my highest priority is Emily. No known photos of the family exist. I know of only one person still living who interacted with Emily, and that person says their memory would not be good enough to identify Emily in a photo.

In Gertrude Conant’s recollections, she notes that Ellen Gould “looked a great deal like Miss Mills,” so when looking for photos of either woman, one must be cautious not to mis-identify one for the other.

There is an intriguing photo in “Around Caroline” by Patricia A. Brhel that shows a woman minding a general store, with no indication which general store in Caroline it is:

— 2016, Around Caroline by Patricia A. Brhel, Arcadia Publishing, p85. View largest available size.

In the Caroline History Room in Slaterville Springs NY, a version of this photograph exists as a slide, with the words “CAROLINE DEPOT” written on the back of the slide, identifying the store. A mirror image of those words is visible in the following, in the area of the large window above the door:

— Caroline History Room, Slaterville Spring NY. View largest available size.

I believe that the reference to “Bertha Mills” in the 1914 American Agriculturist Farm Directory shown below is in fact a misprinted reference to Emily. I have yet found no evidence of a Bertha Mills in Brookton at that time, and everything but the reference to the road on the map in that volume fits Emily. As for the map reference, consider that the same road reference is given for Dr. Lockwood and Frank Mulks, Emily’s neighbors on what is now Brooktondale Road, and who are listed on the same page:

— American Agriculturist Farm Directory of Yates, Schuyler, Tompkins and Seneca Counties New York 1914. Orange Judd Company. p212. View largest available size.

— American Agriculturist Farm Directory of Yates, Schuyler, Tompkins and Seneca Counties New York 1914. Orange Judd Company. p449. View largest available size.

So far I have found only the following with the name Bertha in Caroline alive in 1914:

Bertha K. Caveney (1886 yo 1960), approximately 28 in 1914.
Bertha (Pritz) Ross (1876 to 1964), approximately 38 in 1914.
Bertha (Bogardus) Beard (1873 to 11 Aug 1944), approximately 41 in 1914.

And Emily is the only Mills in Caroline at that time that I am aware.

Mary Emily Mills

Other Historical Accounts

A Note on Emily Mills

Notes for Future Researchers