Tuscola-Hillsdale-Antrim County MI Archives Biographies.....Mills, Charles B. 1823 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 22, 2007, 4:24 pm

Author: Chapman Bros. (1892)

REV. CHARLES B. MILLS, founder and pastor of the Free-Will Baptist Church, at
Mayville, is of English descent, his ancestors having come from the North of
England, and settling in Virginia. Eligood Mills, the grandfather of our
subject, was an officer on board the "Grand Turk" during the Revolutionary War,
and for some four or five years was held a prisoner at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Later he settled in Waterboro, Me., and here his son, Luke Mills, was born and
reared upon a farm. He was the Lieutenant of a company of militia, which was
called to defend Portland during the War of 1812, and he represented his
district in the Legislature and died in Penobscot County at the age of
seventy-seven. His good wife survived to reach the age of ninety-eight, and her
mother lived to be ninety-six, and up to the last of her life could relate
historical events in the minutest detail.

  Our subject was born in York County, Me., May 5, 1823, and his parents were
Luke and Betsey (Goodwin) Mills, who had nine children. While attending the High
School and Seminary, this youth broke down in health, and it was thought he
would never recover. At the age of nineteen he entered the ministry of the
Free-Will Baptist Church, and lectured extensively on temperance, being one of
the promoters of the Prohibitory law of Maine. In 1855 he migrated to Ohio and
took charge of the Geauga Seminary, but on account of failure of health, he
removed to Michigan and began farming in Fremont Township, Tuscola County, which
then had only five families within its bounds. He was a practical surveyor, and
surveyed much of the land in this county, and for eighteen years he tilled the
soil.

  Mr. Mills organized the Free-Will Baptist Church, and for nineteen consecutive
years was its pastor. For eight years he was Judge of Probate, and while a
Supervisor was influential in establishing a County Home for the Poor. In 1869
he was elected State Senator, representing the Twenty-seventh District,
extending from Lapeer to the Straits of Mackinaw, and comprising thirteen
counties. He was Chairman of the Committee on Manufacture, and a member of
various committees. In 1876 he was elected to the Lower House of the State
Legislature and served as Chairman of the Committee on the University, and is
the author of the measure which extended the medical course of study.

  While in the Legislature, Mr. Mills accepted the position of Secretary and
Treasurer of Hillsdale College, and for nine years was its financial manager.
During this time he also occupied for five years the Chair of Ecclesiastical
History. He is one of the proprietors of the Antrim County Bank. For many years
he lectured on slavery and temperance, and for twenty-five years was active as a
stump speaker. He was a Democrat in early life, but having been a member of the
convention in Maine which organized the Republican party, he has since
affiliated with it.

  The Rev. Mr. Mills, in 1851, married Ann M., daughter of Samuel and Anna
(Littlefield) Morrison. She is a native of Springvale, Me., and has had ten
children. The four who have died are Maria H., Alice N., Arthur J., and an
infant, Anna A. Those who are still living, are Cynthia R., wife of Eugene E.
Moss, a lawyer and real estate dealer at Little Rock, Ark.; Charles; Mattie C.,
Mrs. T. J. Davis, of Duluth, Minn.; May E., twin sister of Mattie, and the wife
of Oliver D. Thayer; Elmer L. J., Assistant Cashier in the Antrim County Bank;
and Kittie C., wife of Hugh N. Coldren, a teacher in St. Croix Falls, Wis. To
all of these children except one, the parents gave an excellent education, and
they completed their school-life at Hillsdale College.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties,
Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of
the Presidents of the United States

Chicago:
Chapman Bros.
1892


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