Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)
Cornelius Mills
(c.1755-1823)
MSA SC 3520-16711
Biography:
Birth circa
1755. Wife:
Elizabeth Goldsmith (married in Annapolis
in January 1775). Children:
William
Montgomery (1775), Washington (1778), Sophia (1781), and Elizabeth
(1784). [1]
During the
October 1778 session, the
House of Delegates
first appointed Cornelius Mills as doorkeeper.[2]
His tasks included supplying wood for the use of the General Assembly
and maintaining the furniture. In 1782, Mills was also paid separately for
crafting a chair for the Speaker. [3] Mills held his position as doorkeeper until November 1784 when he replaced Robert Reynolds as Sergeant at Arms for the House of Delegates.[4]
During
this time, Mills also worked on the James Brice House in Annapolis
as a carpenter/joiner, ran a
boardinghouse, and advertised his experience as an auctioneer.[5][6] Mills’
presence in Annapolis
was well-documented through an exchange of money with its residents.
In
1797, he appeared in the Gazette with the intention of petitioning the
assembly
for an act of insolvency. [7]
In
1807, he was appointed adjutant to the 22nd
regiment. [8]
He appeared in the 1810 Federal Census, holding at least 3 slaves. [9]
At the time of his death in 1823, Mills had attained the rank of major
and was remembered as “a patriot, and an
active
participant in our revolutionary struggle.” [10]
[1] McIntire, Robert Harry. Annapolis
Maryland
Families. Baltimore,
MD:
Gateway Press, Inc., 1979.
[2] Votes
and Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1778, MSA SC M 3196.
[3]
MARYLAND
STATE PAPERS (Scharf Collection), MSA S 1005-82-11444,
MdHR 19,999-076-073. AUDITOR
GENERAL (Journal) MSA S
150-5, Peter Force Collection B-2, MSA SC
4391, page 365.
[4]
Votes
and Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1784,
MSA SC M3197.
[5] Ridout,
Orlando IV. Building the James Brice House 1767-1774.
Annapolis,
MD: Friends of the Maryland
State
[6] Papenfuse, Edward C. In Pursuit of
Profit: The Annapolis
Merchants in the Era of
the American Revolution, 1763-1805, Baltimore,
MD: Johns
Hopkins University
Press, 1975, p. 254.
[7] The Maryland
Gazette, 19 August 1802, 5
October 1797.
[8] The Maryland
Gazette, 30
July 1807.
[9] US
Census Bureau, 1800, 1810 Federal Census, Annapolis, MD,
Roll 9, 14, ff. 59, 79. Family History Library Film: 193662, 00052.
[10] Barnes,
Robert. Marriages and Deaths from the Maryland
Gazette, 1727-1839. Baltimore, MD:
Genealogical Publishing Co.,
Inc., 1979.
Archives, 2013.
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