What kind of a man was my Father? Well, in all the time that I can remember him, I never heard a single soul say anything but good abut him. This goes for Liberals, Conservatives, Catholics, Protestants, colored people and Micmacs (Natives).
He was Baptist as were his family. He was educated at Acadia College, (one of the eldest in Canada). Passed in Law at Harvard and gave everything he had to his country. He never smoked, rank or swore, and I can truthfully say that I have never seen a more tolerant man.
Right here there should be put in the record a letter dated March 27/30, which was sent to me from Iru W. Harwick of Brooklyn, New York. This Gentleman knew my father in the seventies before he was married and gives me one good idea of what people thought of him as a man.
I can remember him saying to me, "There will be times in your life when the truth will not serve nor is it desirable in order for a peaceful, existance. But remember, a lie is nothing and you cannot make something out of nothing. Seek the truth in all times, but hurt nobody if this is possible.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
The Mill's Story by Roland Manfred Mills
Having reached an age of three score years and ten, with an added three years and a bit, one of my daughters asked me to tell the family, in writing, some of our early history and my own experiences, especially as the last 70 years, for better or worse, have made so many changes in our way of life.
FAMILY HISTORY
According to my father's telling and the 'Calmek-Savary" history of Annapois County, Nova Scotia, my Father's people came from around Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, in the year 1775 and settled on long strips of land, close together at Granville Ferry, then called Caledonia, directly across the Annapolis River from the Ancient town of Annapolis Royal, first settled in 1604 and called Port Royal by the French.
There were four immigrants, three brothers and a sister, and the family name at that time was Milnes. The older brother and sister never married and we are descended from one of the other brothers, named John. All these brothers were Justices of the Peace, farmers, merchants and shipbuilders, and their graves can be seen in the Mill's private burying ground at Granville Ferry.
My Mother's people were named Corbitt and came from back of Boston, then New England in 1768. One of them was named Isaaiah, my Great-Great Grandfather. My Grandfather Corbitt married a Holland from the hamlet of Clements near Annapolis Royal, of an Empire Loyalist family. My Father married Bessie B. Corbitt in 1878 and there were five children, Jean, Harold, Victor, Manfred and Ruth.
My father, John Burpee Mills was born on the Mills Homestead, Granville Ferry, July 21, 1850, married my mother Bessie Brittain Corbitt in 1870, was called to the bar in 1875, appointed Queens Counsel, 1890, elected to the House of Commons in 1887 and sat there until November 1900. Married for a second time in 1896 to Agnes Rose of Ottawa. Moved to Vancouver, B.C. 1908 and was called to the bar of B.C. August 25, 1908. He died on Christmas Even in 1913 at Providence, Rhode Island whilst on the last leg of a trip around the world, starting from Vancouver on a Blue Funnel Tramps.
MILL'S CHILDREN
My sister Ruth and I were born on the 40 acre Estate my father owned on the Southern edge of the town of Anapolis Royal. My date of brith being September 26, 1888. This piece of land was very historical, and certainly is one of Canada's great beauty spots. On this farm is a hill, marked 13 on the sketch attached.This hill must have been fortified against ships on the river and according to historical records, hand a blockhouses to command the southern approaches to the town. From this hill you can see the site of the first dwellings ever to be created by white men in Canada and the site of the first mills and watershed in the New World. You can see a system of of fortifications which were fought over for over 100 years, taken and retaken time and time again. The first Church of England in Canada can be seen. The Hamlets of Clements, Alain, Grenville, Belle Isle, Mosahall, Lequille can be seen and on a Sunday you can hear most their church bells. All around can be seen the work of the French - the dykes they build, the places they ???? and the willow threes that they brought from France. Champlain drew a map of the spot, a good one, Lescarbot drew another, (copy attached). Both Champlain and Leecarbot must have stood on this hill to draw their maps. It is the only site that the Alain River can be seen in all its windings from the Lequille River to the Annapolis River or R. de Deuphin. It must have been free of bush and trees, the common Bullein or Mullon, Indian tobacco, (Verbasaun Thapsus) tells me this. This only grows on poor, sandy soil, free of trees and bush, and it abounds on this hill.
Hundreds of prominent men from all over Canada, the U.S. and U.K. have stood there in my precense. H.T. Cambie of Ottawa and Vancouver was there in 1891. Cambie Street, in Vancouver is named after him. Captain Joshua Slocum who was born in Wilmot within 10 miles of the spot, on the Bay of Fundy shore was there with Father and myself in 1899. He had just finished a voyage around the world alone in the "Spray". As I remember this, he was a very tall and powerful man with whiskers on the end of his chin. He looked like the cartoon of U.S. Uncle Sam, or the Saturday Evening Pot's Mr Tutt, the lawyer of Tutt & Tutt.
From this hill I have seen a dozen ships built of local materials, some of them in my Grandfather Mills' shipyard, launched, and manned by local men and boys, and these boys made a name for themselves all over the world.
FAMILY HISTORY
According to my father's telling and the 'Calmek-Savary" history of Annapois County, Nova Scotia, my Father's people came from around Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, in the year 1775 and settled on long strips of land, close together at Granville Ferry, then called Caledonia, directly across the Annapolis River from the Ancient town of Annapolis Royal, first settled in 1604 and called Port Royal by the French.
There were four immigrants, three brothers and a sister, and the family name at that time was Milnes. The older brother and sister never married and we are descended from one of the other brothers, named John. All these brothers were Justices of the Peace, farmers, merchants and shipbuilders, and their graves can be seen in the Mill's private burying ground at Granville Ferry.
My Mother's people were named Corbitt and came from back of Boston, then New England in 1768. One of them was named Isaaiah, my Great-Great Grandfather. My Grandfather Corbitt married a Holland from the hamlet of Clements near Annapolis Royal, of an Empire Loyalist family. My Father married Bessie B. Corbitt in 1878 and there were five children, Jean, Harold, Victor, Manfred and Ruth.
My father, John Burpee Mills was born on the Mills Homestead, Granville Ferry, July 21, 1850, married my mother Bessie Brittain Corbitt in 1870, was called to the bar in 1875, appointed Queens Counsel, 1890, elected to the House of Commons in 1887 and sat there until November 1900. Married for a second time in 1896 to Agnes Rose of Ottawa. Moved to Vancouver, B.C. 1908 and was called to the bar of B.C. August 25, 1908. He died on Christmas Even in 1913 at Providence, Rhode Island whilst on the last leg of a trip around the world, starting from Vancouver on a Blue Funnel Tramps.
MILL'S CHILDREN
My sister Ruth and I were born on the 40 acre Estate my father owned on the Southern edge of the town of Anapolis Royal. My date of brith being September 26, 1888. This piece of land was very historical, and certainly is one of Canada's great beauty spots. On this farm is a hill, marked 13 on the sketch attached.This hill must have been fortified against ships on the river and according to historical records, hand a blockhouses to command the southern approaches to the town. From this hill you can see the site of the first dwellings ever to be created by white men in Canada and the site of the first mills and watershed in the New World. You can see a system of of fortifications which were fought over for over 100 years, taken and retaken time and time again. The first Church of England in Canada can be seen. The Hamlets of Clements, Alain, Grenville, Belle Isle, Mosahall, Lequille can be seen and on a Sunday you can hear most their church bells. All around can be seen the work of the French - the dykes they build, the places they ???? and the willow threes that they brought from France. Champlain drew a map of the spot, a good one, Lescarbot drew another, (copy attached). Both Champlain and Leecarbot must have stood on this hill to draw their maps. It is the only site that the Alain River can be seen in all its windings from the Lequille River to the Annapolis River or R. de Deuphin. It must have been free of bush and trees, the common Bullein or Mullon, Indian tobacco, (Verbasaun Thapsus) tells me this. This only grows on poor, sandy soil, free of trees and bush, and it abounds on this hill.
Hundreds of prominent men from all over Canada, the U.S. and U.K. have stood there in my precense. H.T. Cambie of Ottawa and Vancouver was there in 1891. Cambie Street, in Vancouver is named after him. Captain Joshua Slocum who was born in Wilmot within 10 miles of the spot, on the Bay of Fundy shore was there with Father and myself in 1899. He had just finished a voyage around the world alone in the "Spray". As I remember this, he was a very tall and powerful man with whiskers on the end of his chin. He looked like the cartoon of U.S. Uncle Sam, or the Saturday Evening Pot's Mr Tutt, the lawyer of Tutt & Tutt.
From this hill I have seen a dozen ships built of local materials, some of them in my Grandfather Mills' shipyard, launched, and manned by local men and boys, and these boys made a name for themselves all over the world.
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Thirty Years of Canadian Life: The Mills Story by Roland Manfred Mills
1883 to 1913 - Nova Scotia to British Columbia
Part of the life story of Roland Manfred Mills. Born September 26th, 1883, at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
Ox Team, horse and buggy to auto and airplane.
Candles, oil lamps to electric light.
The old oaken bucket to running water.
Chic sales to indoor plumbing.
Magic lanterns to moving pictures.
Bustles to falsies.
Talking machines, wireless etc, etc...
The C.P.R. and opening up of the West.
THIRTY YEARS OF WONDERS.
Part of the life story of Roland Manfred Mills. Born September 26th, 1883, at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
Ox Team, horse and buggy to auto and airplane.
Candles, oil lamps to electric light.
The old oaken bucket to running water.
Chic sales to indoor plumbing.
Magic lanterns to moving pictures.
Bustles to falsies.
Talking machines, wireless etc, etc...
The C.P.R. and opening up of the West.
THIRTY YEARS OF WONDERS.
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