Rcollections regarding Newton Mills and his family from stories exchanged by his three youngest children, Louis Mills Kirby (1899-1985), Ethel Mills Espel (1901-1972), and Eugene DeCourcy Mills (1907-1965).

It was my impression that Newton was the youngest of three sons - and, perhaps, a daughter. He attended grade school in either Dresden, Ohio, or Zanesville, Ohio in a one room schoolhouse. Students were required to shovel coal into its furnace each morning. In the third grade little Newt shoveled fuel (?) from under the outhouse into the furnace. Class was cancelled for the day. Newt's formal education came to an abrupt halt. He was expelled!

At the advent of the Civil War Milton (and possibly a middle brother?) left for the war. Newton was told to remain at home, tending their widowed mother and the family farm. Lured by adventure, on three separate occasions Newton joined the military, only to be sent back to Zanesville by Milton (or disenchantment?). He must have formally enlisted, because he was under arrest for desertion at the war's end. Then, he was honorably discharged. Quite likely Big Brother Milton intervened!

During the war an officer failed to return Newt's salute. This was observed by Col. DeCourcy who summoned both men. He chastized the officer, and told Newt that never again need he salute that officer. So great was Newt's delight that our father was named for the English Colonel.

While on a Southern campaign Newton suffered heat exhaustion marching through a peach orchard. For the rest of his life he was sensitive to heat, and smelled peaches as a collapse neared. It was on this campaign that Newt and many fellow soldiers were stricken with severe dysentery. They were bivouacked on a chicken farm, and found chicks a soothing substitute for "Charmin". Supposedly the government eventually compensated the farmer for his violated poultry.

Although a comparatively small man, Newton ate heartily, breakfasting on pork chops, tomatoes, and green onions. He was 5ft., 9in. tall, of slight build. Photos of his elder sons, Tom and Fred, indicate that they were of similar size. The daughters were small, dark, and pretty. However, our father, Eugene, was 6ft. tall, of husky build, with green eyes and soft brown hair. Both Michael (6ft, 2in.) and I (5ft., 7in.) share our father's coloring and build.

Newton married at a rather young age. This first wife died soon after bearing sons Tom and Fred (one later became a guard at the Ohio State Penitentiary camaraderie in Columbus). Newton married a second time. This wife was abusive to the little boys and he divorced her. The boys were grown when Newton married Adella Harris in the 1890's. Our grandmother was a milliner. We don't know how they met, only that Newt gave his bride a set of cast iron pots and pans as a wedding gift. I still have one! After the births of Louise and Ethel they had twin babies, a boy and a girl, who died within weeks. Grandmother's recovery was slow, and her doctor prescribed wine as a tonic. Newt bought a case and stored it in the barn for her. By the time grandmother rallied enough to ask for a bit of the wine, Newton confessed that he'd drunk it all. I can remember grandmother's black eyes flashing in anger as she recounted the story more than forty years later! The eventual arrival of Eugene so late in life was a great embarrassment to our Victorian grandmother, and she didn't announce his birth or name him for six months. (However, they had a deep devotion throughout grandmother's life. Our father stayedwith her until his marriage at age thirty, and spent all subsequent Sundays with her, and phoned all other evenings at precisely 7 p.m.) Born when Newton was 65, our dad was 11 at his death, and never really enjoyed typical paternal nurturing. The family moved frequently. Ethel was born in Cleveland, Eugene in Zanesville, and Newton died in Dresden. Apparently Newt dressed mills and farmed on a small scale throughout his life. He enjoyed comraderie with other Civil War veterans, spending hours swapping war stories which escalated throughout his lifetime. Upon Newton's death from uremic poisoning in 1917 grandmother and her children moved to Cincinnati to be near her brother. The daughters, now young ladies, found ready employment at a posh department store. Their tastes, though not always their pocketbooks, werexpe quite aristocratic.

The version we were told of Milton Mills' final years is that he was a policeman (police chief?) in Zanesville, and suffered from heart disease. While bedridden, he learned of a police raid on a house of ill repute where several of the ladies were resisting arrest. Milton arose, dressed, and assisted in subduing the bad ladies. The effort was too much. He died shortly thereafter. (You must admit this story has a certain flair!)

I'll briefly describe the younger children of Newton Mills:

LOUISE (1899-1985) married John Kirby in 1920, lived in big Civil War era home in Cincinnati. Highly literate, she was charming and gentle. Her four children, Winifred Tabor, Norma Grosse, Carolyn Wilson, and Jack Kirby provided her with eight grandchildren.

ETHEL (1901-1972) married Henry Espel in 1934. She was very witty and sociable, extremely popular. They had no children. In 1959 Henry's employment with Baldwin Piano Co. took them from Cincinnati to Greenwood, Miss. They happened upon the monument to Maj. Milton Mills while exploring Vicksburg soon thereafter.

EUGENE (1907-1967) married Lillian Leussing in 1937. A quiet, gentle man who loved books, and was especially interested in history, he managed meat markets for most of his life. I'll describe his children, Michael and Suzanne since we are your family contacts at this time:

MICHAEL, born in 1940, graduated from the University of Cincinnati (B.S.I.M.) stationed in Korea as Lt. in Army Transportation Corps, recently retired from Proctor & Gamble as Design Manager. Married Sally Mills in 1967; son, Mark B.A. & M.A. in English, U. of Cincinnati, daughter, Jane, B.A. English and Economics, Vanderbilt U., married to Donald Ray, lives in Aurora, Ill., expecting second child in Feb. (firstborn's name is MICHAEL); daughter, Christine, BA Business, Miami U., accountant at Fidelity Investments. Lives near her parents in Cincinnati.

Memories of Suzanne Mills Losekamp
January 4, 1998