Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-16

ued Oh n DToken ncdrt, iHo uoClot
diagnosis waS tuberculosis. On July
20. 1911, Mr.. Hall married Mas
Frances Stevens. Shc gave hcr age |
~ ~, no gave HE al 80. Natives OF
tho city say tho difference was
greater than that.
This and tho family relationships |
Of Mrs. Hall--her connection with the |
Stevens family, which II ''old' but
not very rich, and with the Carpcn-
dera. who are also old and quito rich
(wall paper. real estate. banking in-
forests and 90 on) and who arc pow
crful in tho church. are now n thread
bare story. Not 90 much has been
written about Mrs. Mills. She came of
factory workers and married one.
While not exactly aahnmed Of her
origin, ehe was. those who knew hor
say, constantly trying to rise above
X.
Shc WAS in her late twent,ce when
Mr.. Hall took charge OF ST. Johns
and already married TO Jimmy Mills.
who worked IN rubber factory and
whose insirnlflcance Seems TO have
Increased ae his wife etruggled for
the richer life. Mrs Mills had pleas
Ing soprano volce--what muaicia ms
cnll truo voicc--and had made the
most OF n little training.
! Hhe was neither beautiful nor
homcly. but ordinarily attractive in
appearance. She was vivaclous. talk
ntivc, and ambitlous--an ND and COM
ing woman. Even her enemiee cay
TINT she was devoutly religious in
tho common use of that term. She also
hnd an imaginative streae which
puzzlod her ploddng husband and
which IL indicated by her habit OF
writing suggestions for the minister,s
sermone. as we'll ar by tho phraeeology
OF her three notes 10 him which have
bccn made public.
Shc wac also an 1nvctcrate house
wifo. Her passion for ttdlnes, en-
oraced the church as well as her
nome. and she WIS xrca. hand at
keop'ng tho church in order long be-
fore there wac any talk about hcr and
Mr.. HILL.
Tells Of Mrs. MIlIs' Activities.
a man who knows the whole church
situation and who never has been men.
TONED In newspaper stories. says,
1T was In 1915 that Mrs. Mills be-
oame prominent In tho church. aomo-
how. no one knew Just how. the
task OF taking down and puttinu
up the seasonal hanginEs in the
church had fallen 10 her. and rhe
was always busting around tho church
netung things TO rights She had
always been assertive I'm the choir md
ns time went on she became more so
Tho choir resented her attitude. espc.
cialiy the younger women, and that's
where all the feeling against her orig.
mated. One OF the young women had q
quarrel with her.
within the last year don't belieye
sho had n friend I'm the choir. Shc wa
dlctorial, and there's no use danyinp
IL. She wanted To have the say M 70
what music should be sung and how q
should be sung Now. Mr.. Hall wns q
good einger too. and on Sundays he
used 20 eing with the choir. 80 he Mt.
tended Friday night choir rehearrala
1T began 10 he noticed that when
ever Mrs. Mills was overruied by the
choir leader and the others she ap-
pceled 90 Mr. Hall. 1Io used to try to
decide In n way that would smooth
things out" M no said, but usually no
sustained Mr. Mills. even when she
was wrong. as ehe often was al
though. TO give her credit. she made
Vany suggestions that were admirable
Tho talk about Mr.. Hall and Mrs.
Mills goes back 10 that--her trying To
boss tho choir and his standing by her.
Then there werc tho church so
clals, or sociebles, an we call them {:
the strawberry festivals. plays and 30
on Mrs Mills was always there, and
somehow sho and Mr.. Hall were
thrown together. 1t Is not true that he
wouldn't dance with any one but her.
He danced irnpartially with all the
women. And might as well say here
that Mr. Hall was not a ladies man.
Rector a Llkable Man.
HE was a robust figure. and I think
he was happicst when out camping
with men. To meet him was TO like
him. and the liking lasted good
while. Well, It got TO be gossiped in
the choir that Mr. Hall and Mrs. Mills
were unusually friendly at these
church parties-nothing serious, but
more talking and joking between
, those two than between the ministe,
and any other woman. But wha
, really rankled was her continued at
tempt at dictation to the choir.
by 1919 most of the choir dislikeC
- her, believe. and In 1920 and 1921 tn
Y gossip was pretty thick. but still ther
n weren't many who thought that any
:. thing was really out of the way. a
g the saying 10. They just thought tina
/. Mrs. Mills and Mr.. Hall liked eac
z other very we'll and had no thought c
= concealing 1t.
=. 81 remember that one day Mr.. Ha
J. reproved a young theological studer
I. for having taken Mrs. Mills to tn
:. movies the night before. He said
wasn't proper to take a married VIC
man out In the evening that way. A
n this time certain persons were sayin
d that Mrs. Mills was throwing herse
y at Mr.. Hall and that he was weaker
y Ing. Personally. 1 do not think tn
Y was true. l have always believed, an
e still believe, that all there was TO the