The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1938-07-29


William Mills was a small
why active man, strlklngly
( clothed in round. woody hat
leans suit and moccasinS, who
rode bareback wherever he went,
+ for it is said that he never owned
but one saddle in his life Fruit
growing was his hobby, and ne
set hundreds of trees yearly,
MANY of them cherries. Around
the old site at Fruitland where
his home stood is a grove of an
cient walnut trees, and among
the heaps of stones clumps OF
/ cherry stress still flourish. The
community there received its
name, Fruitland, from the extern
sive orchards which were old
when tn e present owners first
remember them.
Ri. Rev. Francis Asbury, the
first bishop of the Methodist
church in America, writes in his
diary of visiting Father Mills
and of preaching there. The big
spring at the foot of the hill, not
far from the old houSe-place, is
shaded by huge walnut trees. al
though its rock walls have fallen
in and wide areas of the sur
rounding fields have become
overgrown with Lords Candles
since the days when the good
! l;,lo,> rne+nl thnra
1t is told Of William Mills
wife that while the family lived
on Green River and Mills was
away with the soldiers she saw
Indians approaching the house
one day. Going up into the loft
of the house, she waited until the
invaders were inside, then crawl
ed through small window and
down the outside of the chimney.
Secreting herself under cover of
the woods. she raised great cry:
| "Here comes the Kings men, "
until the Indians fled.
During later trouble with In
| dams, after coming to what is
| now Henderson county. William
Mills, built a fort on Point Look
out. where his family and that of
Ambrose Mills "forted up" when
there was any threat of attack
by the savages. One time while
Mills was away and the families
were barricaded in the fort, In
dams were seen approaching.
Placing young Tom Mills on q
horse, the widow of Ambrose
Mills started him to Gilbertown,
Just this side of Rutherfordton
where the soldiers were garrison
ed. to bring help. As she watch
ed the Red men coming nearer,
she listened to the rattle and
noise of the horses hoofs as the
boy raced down the valley on his
way for assistance, which reach
ed the little band on the peak in
time to protect them from dan
ger.
At another time when the saw
ages surrounded the house and
entered it, young Marville Mills
dashed a bucket of water on the
blazing logs in the fireplace.
While the room was in darkness,
he crawled out of the door and
hid under the house until the un-
welcome guests were gone.
William Mills never fully re-
covered from the wounds receiv-
ed at Kings Notwithstanding
| the time he was hiding in his
camp on Salola he could not give
his limb proper attention, and
during later life it often caused
him trouble and suffering. When
he reached the age of 8S, he
still followed his habit of riding
bareback and was thrown when
his horse became frightened. In
iuries received in the fall caused
the old wounds on his leg to be-
come infected, and he died from
, its effect, on Nov. 10, 1924.
His body, with that of his wife,
who had been Eleanor Morris of
Virginia, his daughter, Mourning
Lewis, and several other mem
bers of the family are buried in
the Lucian Edney graveyard not
far from the present Chimney
Rock highway. While the old road
is little used, it is easily followed
as it winds through a field, by the
spring under the sheltering maple
where Mills spent his first night
in what later became Henderson
County, and across to the place
where his home stood, on the
! Mills Gap Road, near Fruitland.
William Mills was the progeni-
tor of a large proportion of the
earlier citizens of Western North
Carolina.
His son John moved to South
Carolina, and Marville Mills went
back to Green River, at what is
now known as Mills Springs, and
there reared the ancestors of the
large Mills family in that section.
The five daughters of William
and Eleanor Mills were: Mourn
ing, who married H. Overton
Lewis; their daughter, Sophia,
was the wife of General Philip
/ Britain, and lived for a time
near Stoney Mountain. After
General Britain died, his widow
moved back to Mills River.
Phalby Mills married David
! l..