And who were John I’s wife & children?

According to John I’s loyalist application “He came into this province in the year 1793 with his wife and four children.” 

Mary Lou suggested Rebecca Smith was John I’s wife, guessing that the supposed daughter Rebecca was named after her mother.  In another letter she said “John Mills Sr. was probably born about the same time as Richard Griffin and married in the east, possibly Sussex Co., NJ as that is where he was at the time he filed his petition for land.  Taking a long shot by putting a lot of coincidences together, I feel he was married to Rebecca Smith, daughter of Joseph & Rachel Smith, who also went to Grimsby from Sussex Co.”

“The only thing I don’t have definite proof on is that Rebecca Smith is John’s wife, but the UEL Assoc accepted my 8 assumptions – John Mills came from Sussex Co., NJ, lived by the Smiths there, and then came to Grimsby and settled right in the middle of the four Smith sons who settled there.  The names are all the same and carried down in the Graham line, and the Smiths were also in the Markham area, but no inter-marriages between Smiths, Mills or Grahams.”

Mary Lou’s UEL application was for Rachel Graham via her father, John Mills I.  The UEL association would not have looked at who Johns wife was, so one cannot use this as confirmation that Rebecca Smith was John’s wife.

In Annals of the Forty, it lists Joseph & Rachel Smith and their children, 4 who came to Grimsby.  Rebecca (Smith), would have been about 14 when daughter Sarah was born in 1759.  Again unlikely that she was John I’s wife.

Not only that, the only mention of the supposed daughter Rebecca Mills is from a marriage entry taken from the Christ Church marriage records in Philadelphia:

Thorn, Zaccheus and Rebecca Mills 23 Dec 1790

I have not found anything else about this couple and nothing to tie them to John I or any of his children.

Although Mary Lou was a very careful researcher who worked for many years on this family, I wasn’t in agreement with the above statement.  To me it was far too much of a “long shot”.  If anyone should be looked at to form a theory about who was John I’s wife, it should be “Parker” – an unusual first name - possibly a last name.  Could “Parker” be John I’s wife’s maiden name?

Is this reference to John I’s wife?

As the tensions increased the New Jersey Committee of Safety was busy denouncing enemies of the state.  Quakers were pouring into Philadelphia looking for a safe haven to avoid persecution.

From the Council of Safety: Wed the 22^nd Oct 1777 – The council met, pursuant to Adj….4^th pg. Ordered that the wives of the persons hereafter named appear before the President & council tomorrow at 3 o’clock in the afternoon; to show cause why they should not be removed with their children into the enemies lines according to the law, and on default of their appearance that they be removed accordingly.  Their husbands names are John Vought, Chris Vought, George Casmer, Peter Young, Conrad Eikier, Michael Dennis, Philip Cyphers, John Mills, Joseph Lee, Jacob Foust…

Thursday morning 23 Oct 1777 - Pg 156 The wives of sundry persons said to be gone over to the enemy being cited to appear before the council, to show cause why they should not be removed with their children into the enemy lines.  Eight of them now appeared viz: the wives of Christopher Vought, George Casner, Peter Young, Conrad Eisler, Michael Dennis, Philip Cypers, John Mills, Joseph Lee and Jacob Foust and the council having inquired into their respective circumstances and situation, were unanimously of opinion, that it would not be expedient to remove them for the present.

Again possibly our John I Mills family but need some proof.

John Mills I Family

I think all his children were born in Sussex County, New Jersey

Child	born	spouse	Order in Council	Married in US
Sarah	1759	George Boyles	1804	yes
John Jr	1760	Permila Seeley	1817	yes
Parker	1762	Mary Ashbidge	settler	yes
Phoebe	1765	John Adair	1800	Yes
Rachel	1766	Robert Graham	1801	yes
Hannah	1770	Lewis Beam	1804	no
Rebecca	1771	Zacctheus Thorne		not a daughter
Richard	1773		?	no
Joseph	1778	Elizabeth Hansbury	1800	no
Mary	1782	Peter Null/Marlett	1801	no

 I don’t believe Rebecca belongs in this family.  She married Zacctheus Thorne at Christ Church, Philadelphia Dec 23, 1790.; I have not been able to find anything further about this couple.  Did she remain in Pennsylvania ? was she part of this family? was she added by Mary Lou while she was attempting to prove John I’s wife was Rebecca Smith?  I often create potential relatives while trying to prove family connections, sometimes I have shared "speculation" that eventually shows up in a tree as proof.

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