Where were they in NJ? Pennsylvania? & New York?
In his loyalist application John I referred to his land in Sussex County. Most or all of his children listed Sussex County as their place of birth in various documents and census records. John II’s children were born in Pennsylvania in the 1790’s. John II’s sister, Phoebe Adair had a son born in Fonda, NY in 1792.
This helps support the theory that these moves were forced on them; as they were for many other loyal British subjects.
Were the Mills Mennonites or Quakers?
I find it interesting that John Mills 1, according to his loyalist application for land, was such a strong supporter of the British but his sons do not appear to have served in the military (except for the mystery son referred to in John I’s application for a further 200 acres: “his son the only one of them that was of age fit for that service at his request escaped to the British and joined that army as a soldier at New York”).
This led me to wonder if the Mills were Mennonites or Quakers or part of another religious group that didn’t take an active part in the American Revolution. This would explain why the Mills did not serve during the war, except for John I guiding loyalists to Staten Island. This would also help to explain why a number of John I’s children remained behind when he made the trek to Canada in 1794. Parker came from Pennsylvania to Canada in 1793 with his wife Mary Ashbridge. Mary was from a Pennsylvania Quaker family. Four children came to Canada with John I, his remaining children, I believe all married, came to Canada about 1800.
Some history regarding the sentiments in Pennsylvania and New Jersey at the time of the Revolution; after 1783 some loyal to the British (especially Germans from Pennsylvania) emigrated to Canada to take advantage of the British government's offer of free land. Loyalists of German origin settled in Ontario as early as 1784. However, the biggest influx into Ontario, began in 1796, and consisted of Pennsylvanian Mennonites, many departing the US because they faced continuing hostility.
Friends began settling in the Niagara region in 1786. Many incoming settlers, including some Friends, had stood loyally by King and country during the American Revolution. Nearly all Friends who came to Niagara had taken no active part in the war and did not claim to be Loyalists. They had suffered nevertheless from double taxation and the loss of civil rights for their refusal to bear arms or pledge to defend the new nation. These penalties continued after the war. [1]
Friends who settled in the Niagara peninsula came from southeastern Lancaster County and eastern Bucks County and from Sussex County, New Jersey. Mennonites, Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Anglicans also came to Niagara from these same places. During the American Revolution this had been the safest route for British prisoners escaping from internment camps to reach their own lines at New York. Sergeant Roger Lamb, for instance, recorded in his journal how “our worthy friends the Quakers” helped him and his companions across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Quite a few settlers in Ontario had sheltered these fugitives and some had suffered for it.
So far I have not been able to link my Mills to any of these religious groups, but I think it is a strong possibility that they were members of one of these communities.
[1] https://quaker.ca/archives/document/friends-in-the-niagara-peninsula-1786-1802
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