James H. Mills History of Montana,by Joaquin Miller, 1894 Montana GenWeb Archives May be copied for non-profit purposes. Captain James H. Mills, one of Montana's representative citizens, who has been identified with this part of the county from its earliest settlement, is a native of New Lisbon, Ohio, born December 21, 1837. Captain Mills descended from English and Holland ancestors, seven generations of the family having been born onAmerican soil--in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Both his maternal and paternal ancestors participated in the Revolutionary War. As far back as can be traced the Mills family have been members of the Presbyterian Church and they were for the most part artisans. Captain Mills' father, George S. Mills, was born in Pennsylvania in 1815.His mother, Susan Davis, also a native of Pennsylvania, was a daughter of John Davis of that state, who removed toOhio about 1814. The father died in his 64th year, the mother's untimely death occurring when she was 28, their only child being James H. After the death of his mother, the subject of our sketch went to live with a relative, by whom he was reared and educated, his schooling being received in Eastern Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pa. In early life he was inured to farm work, later engaged in mercantile and mechanical pursuits, and finally engaged in the timber business and was thus employed in Jefferson County, Pa when the Civil War broke out. April 27, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, he enlisted in Company G, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves, Fortieth Infantry. He entered the service as a private, participated in twenty-seven general engagements, his regiment being a part of the Army of the Potomac.He was successively promoted as Corporal, First Sergeant, First Lieutenant and Captain and for "gallant conduct" in the battles of the Wilderness and Bethesda Church (the latter occurring the last day of his term of service) was commissioned Brevet Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel. The regiment remained on duty nearly two months after his three years term of service had expired, and he was mustered out with it at Pittsburgh, June 13, 1864. During the entire service he passed through unscathed, notwithstanding many "close calls," seeming almost to possess a charmed life. This is the more remarkable, considering that of the more than two thousand regiments in the Union armies during the war the Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves sustained the eighth heaviest loss. After the war Captain Mills engaged in the wholesale leather business at Pittsburgh, where he remained until thespring of 1866. At that time he came to Montana and first turned his attention to mining, operating on the Yellowstone river. In company with several others, he was interested in the opening of a hydraulic claim at Emigrant Gulch. Provisions were high and very difficult to obtain at any price. He and his party gave their money to a packer to buy provisions at Bozeman and bring them to the mines, and after some weeks of anxious waiting for his return they learned that he had gambled away the money and left for parts uknown. They were thus obliged to abandon their claim. Captain Mills had sunk his money in the venture, and when he arrived in Virginia City, in November 1866 had just 10 cents in postal currency. He at once, however, secured employment there as a bookeeper for a party who had frieght trains, a "corral" and a little hotel. An aritcle which he had written for an Eastern journal soon afterward accidently came to the notice of Mr. D. W. Tilton, and through it Captani Mills was offered the editorship of the Montana Post, which he accepted, and thus became the editor of the first paper published in the Territory of Montana, succeeding Professor Dinsdale and Judge Blake. He entered on these duties in December, 1866. The Post was removed to Helena in 1868 and Captain Mills continued with it until 1869. InJuly of that year he founded the New Northwest in Deer Lodge of which he was editor and publisher until November 1891, a period of twenty two years during which time he as a prominent factor in all that pertained to the welfare of Montana, and has been as thoroughly acquainted with her history, development and progress as perhapsany of her citizens. Captain Mills has been a life-long Republican and as such has served the party and the state in various positions. Heas a member of the First Constitutional Convention of Montana. Upon the election of General Hayes to the Presidency, he appointed Captain Mills Secretary of the Territory, in which capacity he served five years, at the end of which time he declined a reappointment. In 1889 he was again nominated for a member of the convention to formulate the State Constitution. This nomination he resigned to accept an appointment as Collector of Internal Revenue for the district, including Montana, Idaho, and Utah, in which position he served until February 28, 1893,when he resigned and accepted the appointment of State Commissioner of the bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry. This bureau had just been established by an act of the Legislature. His appointment is for a period of four years, and such have been his opportunities for information on these subjects that he is eminently fitted for the position to which he is now devoting his whole time. In 1875 Captain Mills married Ella M. Hammond, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Martin Hammond of that state. She came to Montana in 1865. They have three children--Mary E., Nellie G., and James H. Jr,-- all natives of Montana. Captain Mills is a Companion of the Loyal Legion, Past Senior Vice Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic,Past Grand Master Workman of the A.O.U. W. and in 1894 Senior Grand Warden of the A.F. & A.M. of Montana. In his religious views he partakes largely of that liberality which characterizes the people of the west. Mrs. Mills became a member of the Presbyterian Church in 1876. both are favorably known throughout the state where they have so long resided. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format forprofit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. 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