See the very thorough report by Elizabeth Shown Mills here: https://www.historicpathways.com/download/MillsAmbroseResearchNotes... :

AMBROSE MILLS, b. by 1721, possibly the child of that name bapt. 7 October 1719, Tiverton in Devon; married, c1745, Mourning Stone, and c1759, Ann Brown; lived in Goochland Co., VA (1743–44); Lunenburg and Albemarle Cos., VA (1745–53); Bedford Co., VA (1754–57), Anson Co., NC (late 1758); Craven Co., SC (c1759–68); Tryon Co. (now Polk), NC (c1770–79); and Rutherford Co., NC (1780); hung 14 October 1780, Bickerstaff’s Farm, Rutherford Co., NC, as a Loyalist colonel. He is the first child named in his father’s will, to be residular heir of his father’s widow.

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The names of his parents are rarely mentioned; so his parentage is questionable. Since he named two sons William, one might surmise that his father's name was William, although that is not definitive. Elizabeth Shown Mills (https://www.historicpathways.com/download/MillsAmbroseResearchNotes...) provides the names of his parents as William and Mary Mills of Goochland, Albemarle & Amherst Cos., Virginia, citingher own research notes at https://www.historicpathways.com/download/MillsWilliamMaryofGoochAl...

Ambrose Mills

married bef. 1745 (1) Mourning Stone (killed by Indians c 1755-1765 with all children except son William, who was his first son named William) (2) married c 1766 Anne Brown and had 3 sons (including a second William) and 3 daughters with her.

Children by first marriage:

• William Mills #1 (1746 - 1834)
• John Thomas (d. c.1755)
• Mary Amanda "Polly") (c.1750-c. 1755)

by second marriage:

• William Mills #2 m. Eliza Durant
• Ambrose Mills (1769 - 1848) m. Anne Jones
• Unknown Son Mills m. Honor ???
• Amelia Ruth Mills (1771 - 1846) m. Featherstone
• Amanda Mills m. Adolphus Mills
• Pamilla Mills (1775-1825) m. Robert C. Laughter

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https://www.historicpathways.com/download/MillsRutherfordTryonLinco...

pp. 17-18

1 DECEMBER 1770 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land purchase. “Thomas Reynolds of Tryon co., to Ambrose Mills of same, for £100 proc. Money … land on both sides Green River including the mouth of Walnut Creek by the upper end of a small Island above the mouth of the creek, 640 A granted 25 Sept. 1740 … Thomas Reynolds (+) (seal), Wit: William Mills, Mose Moore, Henry Reynolds (+_). Rec. Jan. term 1773.”48

COMMENT: ...Ostensibly, the witness William Mills would be Ambrose’s son by Mourning Stone, born in 1746 and now a married adult. The N.C. land grant packets filmed by Ancestry does not include a grant to Thomas Reynolds (Runnels, etc.) in 1740; it shows none before 1753.

48 Brent Holcomb, Deed Abstracts of Tryon, Lincoln & Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1769–1786; Tryon County Wills & Estates (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1977), 50; citing 1:680.

p. 19

19 MAY 1772 TRYON COUNTY, NC Association. “John Steen. 200 acres. On both sides Green River Joining Ambress Mills on the lower Side and Including Joells Blackwells Improvement. Warrant 722. 19 May 1772. LOG [Land Office Grant?] original.” 55

55 Miles S. Philbeck, Tryon County, North Carolina, Land Warrants, 1768–1774 (Chapel Hill, N.C. P.p., 1987), unpaginated, entry 454.

p. 20

4 JANUARY 1773 TRYON COUNTY, NC Court order. “A Deed of Sale from Thomas Reynolds to Andrew [Ambrose] Mills for 640 acres dated 1 September [December?] 1770. Proved by Moses Moore evidence thereto. Ordered to be Registered.” Proved 4th Tuesday in January 1773.”61

26 APRIL 1773 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land purchase. “Walter Sharp of Rowan Co., to Willm. Mills of Tryon Co., for £50 proc. Money…land on Green River and both sides Panther Creek, 300 A granted to Walter Sharp 28 Apr 1768. Walter Sharp (Seal), Wit: Wm. Sharp, Wm. Butler. Rec. Apr.. term 1775.”63

61 Lucille Hendrick Gardner and Virginia Greene DePriest, Minutes of the Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for Tryon County, North Carolina, vol. 2, 1773–1779 (Shelby, NC: P.p., 1985), 2. No Picketts.

63 Brent Holcomb, Deed Abstracts of Tryon, Lincoln & Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1769–1786; Tryon County Wills & Estates (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1977), 72; citing Tryon-Lincoln vol. 2: 155–56.

p. 22-23

COMMENT: In 1770, Ambrose Mills bought land from Thomas Reynolds. In 1784, Micajah Pickett of Fairfield bought from Ambrose’s son William a tract of land that Ambrose owned in Fairfield. The next week he sold the land, for the same price, to John & William Watts, nephews of Ambrose. In 1786, John Watts sold that land to a neighbor named Nathan Sanders, putative brother of one Henry Sanders.72 The Sanders of Fairfield were associates of a Philip and Bartlett Hinson in Fairfield (same names that we’re finding here in Lincoln) and Micajah Pickett was married to the only daughter of Philip Henson of Fairfield. When Philip of Fairfield died in 1785, one of the men appointed to inventory his estate was John Watts, nephew of Ambrose Mills.

Relationships are extremely likely between these families and need to be sorted out.

15 AUGUST 1774 TRYON COUNTY, NC Deed. “A Deed of Sale from Samuel Sharp to Wm Mills for 200 Acres of Land Dated the 1th of August 1774. Proved by Walter Sharp evidence thereto. Ordered to be Reg.” April 1775.73

COMMENT: This William should be William-of-Ambrose. See 26 April 1773, above, for an abstract of the deed by which he purchased 300 acres on Green River and Panther Creek from Walter Sharp of Rowan.

26 APRIL 1775 TRYON COUNTY, NC Deed. “A Deed of Sale from Walter Sharp to William Mills for 300 Acres of Land Dated the 26th day of April 1775. Ackd in Open Court. Ordered to be reg.” April 1775.76

26 JULY 1775 TRYON COUNTY, NC Military service. “Minutes of a meeting of the Freeholders in Tryon County … Pursuant to Notice … in order to elect a Committee [of Safety] for said county, the following persons were chosen to wit: For Captain Paris’ Company: George Paris, Ambrose Mills.”78

73 Lucille Hendrick Gardner and Virginia Greene DePriest, Minutes of the Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for Tryon County, North Carolina, vol. 1, 1769–1772 (Shelby, NC: P.p., 1985), 62.

76 Lucille Hendrick Gardner and Virginia Greene DePriest, Minutes of the Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for Tryon County, North Carolina, vol. 1, 1769–1772 (Shelby, NC: P.p., 1985), 62.

78 Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Tryon County Documents 1769–1779: A North Carolina County (Forest City, NC: Genealogical Society of Old Tryon Count), 2000), 183.

p.24

12 JUNE 1776 TRYON COUNTY, NC Military service.

“Gentlemen of the Commity of Rowan County, with these we send you under gard Ambrous Mills one of the greatest Enemys of our pese in Tryon County a companion of Robinsons and been lying out in the mountens since before the South Carolina campaign; has held a coraspondence with Camron; has acknowledged himself to have been in the Indian Nations, he seems simple but is subtile and insinuating and has had influence enough to pradgiduse {prejudice] not only his nighbours but many at a great distance against the Cause of American liberty, in short his character is so notorious that we expact that every gentleman in Rowan is acquainted with it and we hope that he will be confind till he has a fare tryel[.] Every article above mentioned and a great deal more can be proved against him when required. For further perticquelers inquire of Cpt Cook Commander of this guard {.} for fear of a resque will not inform you of our own circumstances but hope Mr. Cook will there to inform you {.} we are gentlemen with great respect your most obedient Humble Survents. [Signed] John Walker, June the 12 1776. Jas Mcentire George Black, Jas. Cook.

“We have sent the deposition of Robert Ranken, a worthy man of this neybourhood that may be depended on.”80

80 Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Tryon County Documents 1769–1779: A North Carolina County (Forest City, NC: Genealogical Society of Old Tryon Count), 2000), 192–93.

p. 24

15 June 1776, Tryon County, NC

[Compiler%E2%80%99s comment:] “Rowan Committee of Safety dealt with Mr. Mills as follows. Their order was written below the communications from the Tryon Committee.”

“To the Corronor or Keeper of the Publick Gole for the District of Salisbury

“We do hereby require you to take into your costeday the above named Ambrous Mills a Netorious offender against the common cause of america and him safely keep in the publick gole until discharged by order of Congress or Committee. Given under our hands this 15th of June 1776. [signed] Matthew Lock, Griffith Rutherford. This 15th of June 1776.

[Compiler%E2%80%99s comment: On the reverse is written] “Ambros Mills. Comitment. Disposition Salsburg Goal.”81

81 Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Tryon County Documents 1769–1779: A North Carolina County (Forest City, NC: Genealogical Society of Old Tryon Count), 2000), 193. 

p. 26

10 MARCH 1778 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land entry. “Granted. Alexander Mackey claims 100 ac in Tryon Co on both sides of a creek that runs into Green R at Wm Mills ‘on S side of river’: entered Mar. 10, 1778. £3.14.”90

31 MARCH 1778 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land entry. “Granted. Anthony Metcaf claims (page torn) ac in Tryon Co on N side of Green R; border: Ambrose Mills survey and his own land: entered Mar. 31, 1778; £2.0.6.”91

90 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 13; citing page 36.

91 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 14; citing page 37.

p. 27

26 APRIL 1778 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land purchase. “John Wilson of Rowan Co., N.C. to John Earles of Tryon Co., for £100 proc. Money … land on both sides North Pacolet River, 300 A … John Wilson (Seal), Wit: Baylis Earle, George Neawethy, Peter Rentfro (P).”93

COMMENT: One John Earle of Lunenburg County, ca. 1749, is said to be married to Mary Elizabeth Watts.94 The 1749 tax roll of Lunenburg places Thomas Watts (husband of Ambrose Mills’s sister Sarah) in the household of that John Earl(e)95

APRIL 1778 TRYON COUNTY, NC Jury duty. “Ordered also that Wm Nevil, John Earle, George Paris, Wm. Mills Junr., Wm Capshaw, James Capshaw, Benjm Jenkins, John BcFadin, Alexr Coulter, John Little, Elias McFadin & Andrews Hampton be a Jury to try two disputed Claims to Lands between the Honorable Saml Spencer Esqr & Wm Gilbert & James Miller and two between James Miller and Nathl. McCarroll.”96

COMMENT: This William Mills Jr. should be son of Ambrose, now aged 30. Nathaniel McCarroll raises a possibility that I’m going to pursue, considering the c1806–15 Franklin Co., VA, association of William Mills (parents unknown, carrier of a Witt Y) with Samuel McCarroll/McCarrell, son of Thomas McCarrell. The origin of the Franklin County William Mills (Witt) and Thomas and Samuel McCarrell are unknown. Note, below, that McCarrell is on North Pacolet (the site of Jesse Mills) and is associating with James Miller, the 1780 administrator of the estate of Ambrose Mills.

21 JULY 1778 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land entry. “Granted. John Scott claims 200 ac in Tryon Co on both sides of Walnut Cr of Green R; border: Jno Phipher desc and Wm Mills survey; entered Jul. 21, 1778; £3.14.” 97

93 Brent Holcomb, Deed Abstracts of Tryon, Lincoln & Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1769–1786; Tryon County Wills & Estates (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1977), 139; citing Rutherford Deeds A-1:92.

94 For example, see “scanner5” [creator, “Murphy-MacDaniel Family Tree,” Ancestry.com (http://trees.ancestry .com/tree/11032083 /person/6159613367?ssrc=&ml_rpos=37 : accessed 5 January 2015), “John Earl” page.

95 Landon C. Bell, Sunlight on the Southside: List of Tithes, Lunenburg County, Virginia; 1748–1783 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974), 108–15, particularly 114; no source cited.

96 Lucille Hendrick Gardner and Virginia Greene DePriest, Minutes of the Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for Tryon County, North Carolina, vol. 2, 1773–1779 (Shelby, NC: P.p., 1985), 107.

97 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 13; citing page 46.

p. 28

23 JULY 1778 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land entry. “Granted. Joseph More claims 100 ac in Tryon Co on Walnut Cr of Green R; above William Mills land: entered Jul. 23, 1778; £3.15.” 98

98 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 19; citing page 48

p. 29

15 JANUARY 1779 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land grant. “487. Granted. William Hall claims 100 ac in Tryon Co on both sides of Richland Cr of Green R; border: William Mills Jr on N side; entered Jan. 15, 1779; £3.14.” 104

COMMENT: William Jr., as called here in Tryon, would mean “William, the younger” and would refer to the son of Ambrose. See William Sr. entry below.

15 JANUARY 1779 TRYON COUNTY, NC Land grant. “489. Granted. discontinued Oct. 2, 1779 William Hall claims 100 ac in Tryon Co on branch of Green R about 1 mile from Ambrose Mills; border: land claimed by Ambrose Mills where Wm Mills Sr now lives; entered Jan. 15, 1779; £3.14.” 105

COMMENT: William Sr. would be the brother of Ambrose. Their father, who had been called Wm. Sr. until his death, died in 1766. Also, here in Tryon, the William Jr. of Albemarle would not have been called William Jr. because he was the elder of the two adult Williams in Tryon.

15 JANUARY 1779 TRYON COUNTY, NC “Granted. Randolph Kersey claims 50 ac in Tryon Co on both sides of Green R; border: Wm Mills; includes John Stuart’s improvement; entered Jan. 15, 1779; £2.9.” 106

COMMENT: The adjacent owner in this case should be William Jr., son of Ambrose

104 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 42; citing page 103.

105 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 42; citing page 103.

106 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entrys, Tryon and Lincoln Co., NC, 1778–1780 (N.p.: P.p., 1987), 42; citing page 103.

p. 30

29 SEPTEMBER 1779 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land sale. “William Mills of Rutherford Co. to Thomas Wadlington of same, for £200 proc. Money of N.C. … land on both sides Walnut Creek, waters of Green River, adj. John Fisher, granted to John McKnitt Alexandeer 29 April 1769, and conveyed to Samuel Sharp, then to William Mills. … William Mills (sea), Elinor Mills (Seal), Wit: John Earle, Wm. Nevil. 107

COMMENT: This William is also William of Ambrose, who married Eleanor “Nellie” Morris.

27 OCTOBER 1779 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Association. “John Kirkconnel of Beaufort Co., N.C. to Samuel King of Rutherford Co., for £65 proc. Money … land on both sides S fork Broad river. 200 A granted to sd. Kirkconnel by deed from Andrew Neel, 28 Mar 1778, and to sd. Neel by patton (sic) 2 Mar 1775 … Jno Kirkconnell (Seal), Wit: Wm. Gilbert, William Mills.”108

COMMENT: William Gilbert, in 1782, was surety for Ambrose Mills’s widow Anne, as administrator of Ambrose’s estate. One might assume that the William Mills associating with him above was Ambrose’s son William. But see the 2 November 1773 sale of land granted 23 May 1772 to Kirkconnell (“Kerconal”). Taken together, one might conclude that the William who witnessed the Kirkconnel deed was Ambrose’s brother William.

107 Brent Holcomb, Deed Abstracts of Tryon, Lincoln & Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1769–1786; Tryon County Wills & Estates (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1977), 157; citing Rutherford Deeds A-1:321–321½.

108 Brent Holcomb, Deed Abstracts of Tryon, Lincoln & Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1769–1786; Tryon County Wills & Estates (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1977), 139; citing Rutherford Deeds A-1:139.

OCTOBER 1780 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Context. This month saw the hanging of both William Mills Jr. (“Inglish Billy”) and his brother Col. Ambrose, the first occuring in the week before King’s Mountain and the second in the wake of the battle.

p. 32

JANUARY 1782 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court minute. “On Enquiry made by the Court Respecting William Mills, Charge of treason against the State, it appearing to the Court that sd Mills was in .. Service of the State, the Court therefore are of the opinion that his property is protected by law, and it is Ord. that the property of sd Mills remain in peaceable possession of his family till the law shall otherwise direct. James Miller being obligated to the Court, that the Estate now in the possession of sd Mills shall not be Entered, bound in the sum of five Hundred pounds specia.”118

118 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 18; citing p. 48.

p. 33

JULY 1782 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land confiscation. “Following lists 3577 & 578 are from Morgan District. Superior Court Miscellaneous records---DSCR 205.428.2]”

COMMENT: The compiler of this volume states “The material on Rutherford County is in the Pleas and Quarter Sessions Court minutes and Morgan District Court papers.” He does not state explicitly was DSCR stands for. The numeric citation seems to be a cataloging number within the NC State Archives system.

“577. Rutherford Co Pleas & Quarter Sessions Court second Monday in Jul. 1782 before William Gilbert, James Withrow, Jonathan Hampton, & other justices” a Grand Jury say the following people, all late of Rutherford Co planters, ‘aided and joined’ the army of Maj. Ferguson and are convicted as tories.” The list of 93 names start with William Mills and includes “Allbros [sic] Mills, William Hinson Sr., and William Hinson Jr.

“578. The following is only a partial list; part of sheet is lost. A petition mentioned for a case between William Gilbert vs.” 26 individuals, including Ambros Mills.”

“The following are from Rutherford Co Pleas & Quarter Sessions Court minutes CR 086.301.1 and 086.301.2.”

“579C, p. 42: On motion of William Gilbert esq and testimony produced by the Court it is ordered that the opinion of the Court be entered on the records to wit—it is the opinion of the Court that the said William Gilbert is not guilty of the charge laid against him to the General Assembly and we do certify that W Gilbert never plundered nor was guilty of plundering to our knowledge.”

“582F. Grand Jury returns an inquisition of treason forfeitures against Thomas Mills and others; jurors for the State present and find a bill against William Withrow and others; Grand Jury dismissed.” 119

COMMENT: There follow several other abstracts from the county court minutes that I already have. Because of time restraints, I am not copying Newton’s version.

JULY 1782 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court order. “Jurors find a Bill of Profacturas treason against William Mills and others. John Goodbread, one charged in sd … appeared, pleads not Guilty.” Estate of William Henry (agent: John Cook) was confiscated after a jury found him guilty. “The Grand Jury returns an Inquisition of treason against Thomas Mills and others.”… “Ord. that the Commissioners of Confiscated property to advertise all persons (returned?) in the Enquisition by the Grand Jury for treason, forfeiture, confiscation against the State, to appear at next Court to answer the Charges. To advertise sixty days before next Court.”120

119 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Sales of Confiscated Loyalist Land and Property in North Carolina (N.p.: P.p., 1989), 113–27.

120 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 24–26, 28; citing pp. 63–66, 73.

p. 34

OCTOBER 1782 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court minute.

Various individuals are found guilty of treason in this term and their property. In the case of the Widow Biggerstaff (the woman history credits with burying the corpses of Ambrose Mills and seven others hanged on her farm) the court ordered the confiscation of ”all her moveable property except Negroes and also all the lands possessed by her Deceased Husband in his lifetime, and also the rents of her land for the present year. [but] it is ord. that the trial of Aaron Biggerstaff for forfeiture treason be laid over till next Court.”123

“Ord. that an order of sale issue to Ann Mills and James Miller, Adm. on the Estate of Ambros Mills, dec’d. accordingly. Ord. by Court that James Miller and Ann Mills have Authority (to) take into their possession all the Estate of Ambros Mills dec’d. in this State (or?) where to be found.”124

124 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 36; citing p. 91.

p. 35

JANUARY 1783 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court order.

“William Gilbert on Petition vs. Gideon Rucker, John Answorth, John Goodbread, Richard Ledbetter, James Chitwood, Joshua Chitwood, William Thomason, John Thomason, George Thomason, Barnaba King, Benjamin Biggerstaff, Samuel, Biggerstaaff, Thomas Welch of Sandy Run, John Camp, Thomas Cmp, Mark Powel, Jeremiah McDaniel, Joseph McDaniel, Peter Dills, William Robbins, Joseph Underwood, Thomas Robinson, Thomas Townsend, Joseph Clark, Ursy Husbands of Burk County, Jonas Bedford, Ambros Mills, William Nettles, Shadrack Nettles, John Edgerton, Simeon Harris and others: Judgmt. By Default.”

“James Gray, George Anderson, Joseph Young, David Moore, John Miller, Rodger Carson, James Hamilton, John Huddlestone, James Armstrong, James Wilson, Alexander McFadin, and Patrick Watson was summoned, Impaneled and sworn to try the Enquiry do find for the plaintiff against the Several Defendants and asses Damages to 1206 pounds Specia and Costs; Verdict.”127

COMMENT: The nature of the suit is not stated, but several of these (Goodbread, Chitwood, Biggerstaff, Mills) are otherwise documented as Loyalists in this set of materials. Likely, they all are.

JANUARY 1783 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court order.

“John Walker, Esq., on petition vs. Ambros Mills, Elia Brock, Thomas Townsend, Jeremiah McDaniel, Joseph McDanie, Benjamin Biggerstaff, Stephen Langford,Jonas Bedford, James Chitwood, Abram Green and William Green;

“William Morrison, William Porter, William Withrow, Thomas Welch, James Adair, Robert Rankin, Stephen Willis, Junr. James Gray, James McDaniel (of the Cove), John Twitty, James McDaniel (of Broad River), and James Armstrong was Summoned, Impaneled and Duly Sworn to try the Enquiry do find for the plaintiff against the Several Defendants and assess Damages to 540 pounds Specia and Costs.”128

127 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 41; citing p. 103.

128 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 42; citing p. 105.

p. 36-37

JANUARY 1783 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court order. “Petition of John McClaine against Ambros Mills and other Enemies of the State. Judgmt. By Default.129

COMMENT: There are also a number of cases where widows are being allowed to retain the property left by a husband who was deemed an “enemy” of the state.

1 AUGUST 1783 BURKE COUNTY, NC Land grant.

“Know ye that We have given and granted unto Anne Mills a Tract of Land Containing Two Hundred and forty Seven Acres lying and being in Our County of Burke on the Western Waters on the West Side of French Broad River above the mouth of Mills Creek.”

Begining [sic] at a large black Oak on the river bank marked WM and runs with this 80 poles to a white oak near Mills Creek, thence S 80 poles to a Maple in a swamp at the Head of a pond, thence W 80 poles to a black gum in a Swamp, thence S 227 poles to a Stake, thence E 83 poles to a black Oak on the River bank, thence up the Meanders of the river to the Beginning. Entered 1 August 1783; issued 15 December 1787.130

1 AUGUST 1783 BURKE COUNTY, NC Land grant. “Know Ye that We have given and granted unto William Mills a Tract of Land Containing One Hundred and thirty one Acres lying and being in Our County of Burke On the Western Waters on the East Side of French Broad River.” Beginning at a Sourwood Tree on the River bank above the mouth of Mud Creek and Runs E 400 poles to two large white Oaks and a black Oak marked W.M. thence S 220 poles to a branch, the Same Course 40 poles to a black Oak on a High Ridge, thence W 28 poles to a red Oak and black Oak on the River bank at the upper end of the Bottom, thence down the meanders of the River to the Beginning. Entered 1 August 1783; issued 15 December 1787.131

AUGUST 1783 BURKE COUNTY, NC Land grant.

“Know Ye that We have given and granted unto William Mills a Tract of Land Containing Six Hundred and forty Acres Lying and being in our County of Burke on the Western Waters on the West Side of French Broad River and on both sides of the mouth of Mills Creek.” Beginning at a large black Oak on the river bank marked W.M., the Lower Corner of Anne Mills Survey and Runs with her line W 80 poles to a white Oak near the Creek, thence with Said line S 80 poles to two Maple in a Swamp at the nead of a pond, thence W 80 poles to a black gum in a Swamp, Anne Mills NW Corner the same Course 156 poles to five red Oaks and a post Oak in a large Meadow, thence N 84 poles to the Creek , the Same Course 260 poles to a Stake, thence E 316 poles to a Stake on the river bank, thence up the meanders of the river to the Beginning. Entered August 1783; issued 15 December 1787.132

AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 1783 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Military service.

“The following are in Morgan Dist. Criminal Action papers DSCR 205.326.1[,] file for 1783 and are grouped together even though there [sic] from different counties.]

“596. Aug. 19, 1783 a bond by widow Mills, wife of Ambros Mills, & Wm Wills [sic] to Wm Gilbert for £250 each for Thomas Mills to appear to answer charges as captain under Maj. Forgison at Kings Mountain.”

“589. Sept. 1783 a suit vs Thomas Mills (of Rutherford Co)—on Sept. 10, 1780, he was a captain in the King’s Army; evidence: Wm Gilbert, Ben Cleveland, Geo. Black, & Saml Hunter; ‘not a true bill’.”133

20 SEPTEMBER 1783 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Military service.

“William Mills of Rutherford Co. to William Twitty of same for £ 200 specia … 150 A on N side of Green River, part of a tract conveyed to Ambrose Mills and falling to sd. William by heirship ... Powels Cabin ... William Mills (seal) Wit: Ann Mills, John Mills.” 134

129 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 43; citing p. 107.

130 David McCorkle, NC Land Grant Images and Data (http://www.nclandgrants.com : accessed 7 July 2018), imaging Book 65:491; citing Burke Co. File No. 1088, NC microfilm reel S108.160.15N, frame 750, State Archives.

131 David McCorkle, NC Land Grant Images and Data (http://www.nclandgrants.com : accessed 7 July 2018), imaging Book 65:490; citing Burke Co. File No. 1086, NC microfilm reel S.108.517, State Archives.

132 David McCorkle, NC Land Grant Images and Data (http://www.nclandgrants.com : accessed 7 July 2018), imaging Book 65:490; citing Burke Co. File No. Burke file no. 1087, NC microfilm reel S.108.160.15N, frame 750, State Archives.

133 A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Sales of Confiscated Loyalist Land and Property in North Carolina (N.p.: P.p., 1989), p. ?.

134 Brent Holcomb, Deed Abstracts of Tryon, Lincoln & Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1769–1786; Tryon County Wills & Estates (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1977), 146; citing Rutherford Deeds A-1:182.

p. 40

18 OCTOBER 1784 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land grant. “Know ye, that we have granted unto William Mills one hundred acres of land in Rutherford County on Nottens Creek of Green River.” Beginning at a Black Gum and pointers on Gilberts old line, thence S 30 E 80 poles to two White Oakes, thence S 7 W 110 poles to a Spannish Oak Black Oak one post oak, thence W 50 poles to a Stake, thence N 30 W 178 poles to the Corner of the Corner of the 50 acres tract John Mills got from Fish [?], then N 33 W 60 poles to the beginning of said tract, thence N 47E 72 poles to a large Black oak, thence SE 18 poles to a Spannish Oak in the old line, thence S 8 E 80 poles to a Stake, the old Corner, thence with the other old line N 82 E 30 poles to the beginning. Entered 18 October 1784; issued 22 December 1808. [David McCorkle, NC Land Grant Images and Data (http://www.nclandgrants.com : accessed 7 July 2018), imaging Book 124:182; citing Rutherford Co. file 2711, NC microfilm reel S.108.160.33N, frame 352, State Archives.]

COMMENT: This John Mills would be William’s brother—both being sons of Ambrose. He has just turned 17.

10 JANUARY 1785 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land entry.

“Know Ye that We have given and granted unto William Mills one Tract of Land Containing One hundred Acres Lying and being in Our County of Rutherford on Panters Creek of Green River.” Beginning at a Hickory on the N bank of the Creek in a bottom, thence N 90 poles to a black Oak, thence W 180 poles to a Stake, thence S 90 poles to a Stake, thence to the Beginning. Entered 10 January 1785; issued 9 August 1787. [David McCorkle, NC Land Grant Images and Data (http://www.nclandgrants.com : accessed 7 July 2018), imaging Book 65:320; citing Rutherford Co. file 302, NC microfilm reel S.108.160.15N, frame 665, State Archives.]

p. 42

20 JANUARY 1785 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land entry. “Know Ye that We have given and granted unto William Mills a Tract of Land Containing One hundred Acres Lying and being in Our County of Rutherford On Silver Creek of Green River.” Beginning at a red Oak Marked thus WM thence N 180 poles to a Red Oak, thence W 90 poles to a black Oak, thence S 180 poles to a black Oak thence to the beginning. Entered 20 January 1785; issued 9 August 1787.151

JANUARY 1785 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Court order. “A Writt of Error was moved by John Goodbread and others on the suit of William Gilbert against John Goodbread, Joseph Underwood, Thomas Townsend, John Camp, William Mills, Richard Ledbetter and Thomas Camp, and on the affidavit of John Crawford in open court. It is thereupon ord. that a Writ of Error be granted to the sd. John Goodbread, Joseph Underwood, Thomas (Townsend), William Mills and Thomas Camp – on the Judgement that the sd. William Gilbert recovered against them and that the Clerk Certify the same to Superior Court acco. to law.”152

COMMENT: All of these men are among those charged with being an enemy of the state. William Gilbert, who brought the charges against them, was also bondsman in 1782 for the widow of Ambrose Mills in her administration of the estate left by her husband. That financial support for the widow does not seem likely that he brought charges against Ambrose’s son out of animus for the family’s political position during the revolutionary activities. It is more likely that the court is “going through the motions” of trying and then exonerating certain individuals.

APRIL 1785 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Road order. “On petition, it is ord. by Court that William Mills, George Green, Benjamin Johnson, … Justice [sic], Amos Justice, Abram Musick, John Cummons, George (Potts?) [sic], William Thompson, David Musick, George Paris and James Rice be … hereby appointed a Jury to lay off and mark a road the nighest and best way from Col. John Earles to William Mills, and from thence to …..the Mountain, and report the same to our next court.”153

151 David McCorkle, NC Land Grant Images and Data (http://www.nclandgrants.com : accessed 7 July 2018), imaging Book 65:324; citing Rutherford Co. file 317, NC microfilm reel S.108.160.15N, frame 667, State Archives.

152 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 98; citing p. 258.

153 Hedy Hughes Newton, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1779–1786 (Ellenboro, NC: P.p., 1974), 103; citing p. 271.

p. 43

10 JUNE 1785 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land grant. “Know Ye that We have given and granted to William Mills a Tract of Land containing Fifty Acres lying and being in our County of Rutherford on Panters Creek of Green River.” Beginning at a Hickory on the North bank of the Creek in a bottom, thence N 90 poles to a black Oak, thence W 180 poles to a Stake, then S 90 poles to a Stake, thence to the Beginning. Entered 10 June 1785; issued 9 August 1787.155

15 JULY 1785 RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC Land purchase. “Peter Johnston of Mecklenburg Co., N.C. to William Mills of Rutherford for 50 pds. spe. 200 a., in Rutherford Co. on both sides Green River incl. Vaughns imp. Land was granted John Kerkonel by Pat. Dtd. 9 July 1775. Rec. 4 Jan. 1794. [Witnesses:] James Miller, Benjamin Adams.”156

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Book A page 76

Rutherford County Wills and Deeds

15 April 1797. Proved April term 1797. Whereas, AMBROSE MILLS, decd. Died intestate in the year 17—(1780), leaving a widow ANNA MILLS, and seven children, to wit: WILLIAM MILLS, THOMAS MILLS, JOHN MILLS, AMBROSE MILLS, MILLY MILLS, POLLY TWITTY, PAMILEA MILLS, ANNA MILLS, the youngest. Col JAMES MILLER, in the year 1782 administered on the estate. The said ANNA MILLS (the widow) intermarried with JOHN CARRICK in Feb 1790. Such proceeding have been had and such management with the estate as appeared in the copy annexed, and certified. RICHARD LEWIS, esq. and WILLIAM MILLS has been appointed guardian of AMBROSE MILLS, MILLY and ANNA MILLS, one petition is to require bond and security for the estate and action of debts, in part of the second sale of a negro, a wagon, a note on MCCAFFENTY, horses, cattle. Bond to be on Admnr. JAMES MILLER, JOHN CARRICK and ANNA his wife. This indenture witnesses that WILLIAM MILLS and JOHN CARRICK have agreed to settle their suit in law, and other disputes about the estate of the decd. The widow to have her dower in the old home place, WILLIAM MILLS to pay court cost, attorney fees. JOHN CARRICK shall not claim any more of the personal estate of the decd. Then he had or left at the old home place when he went to Cumberland…Wit: WAIGHTSILL AVERY, JOHN MCKINNEY, JOHN GOODBREAD

                                                               Signed:    WILLIAM MILLS and JOHN CARRICK

=-----------------------------= From http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59106974:

A Famous Tory, Ambrose Mills.

Tradition states he came as a baby to Maryland with his father and grandfather.

After his marriage to Mourning Stone, he settled in Virginia where he farmed on the banks of the James River. He moved the family to the area of Wateree, S.C., in 1765. There was a grant of land containing 600 acres to Ambrose Mills filed on Dec. 16, 1766, in Craven County, S.C., bounding "on the said river on Patrick McCommicks and Frances Laton ... one Pickett .. Richard Ricklands."

His wife and children were killed by Indians at Pine Tree Hill in Camden County in South Carolina. William was the only survivor.

Ambrose later married Anne Brown of Chester, S.C., and had three more sons and three more daughters. About 1767, the first child from his second marriage was born in South Carolina.

In 1770, he bought a tract of land containing 640 acres in Old Tryon County from Thomas Reynolds for 100 pounds on both sides of Green River, including the mouth of Walnut Creek. Reynolds had bought the property in 1760 and there was a cabin on it called Powell's cabin.

He established a trading post and a sawmill by a spring. It is said the basin was hewn from solid rock. (Jackson tradition is that it was either Gabriel Sr. or David Sr. who carved the basin for Mills). It was called Mills Spring.

During the Revolutionary War, he was a colonel with British forces, commander of Tory Cavalry at the Battle of Kings Mountain on Oct. 7, 1780. He was captured and taken to a field on Biggerstaff's farm, where he was hung by American forces Oct. 14, 1780. In addition to being a Tory who fought against Patriot forces, he was accused and found guilty of inciting the Cherokee to attack the frontier of South Carolina.

The farm was near Gilbert Town in Rutherford County. The bodies were cut down by Mrs. Biggerstaff and an old man. Eight of the nine persons hung were buried in a shallow trench some two feet deep. From "Kings Mountain and Its Heroes" by Lyman Draper.

In a letter to Gen. Smallwood Nov. 10, 1780, Lord Cornwallis wrote: "the hanging of Colonel Mills who was always a fair and open enemy to your cause, was an act of the most savage barbarity."

His second wife, Anna, married John Carrick in 1790. In the court proceedings on administration of the estate (he died intestate) it states that in 1782 she and Col. James Miller were named administrators of the estate, but since she re-married in 1790 the administration changed to his son, William, from his first wife. William was appointed guardian for the children still living at home (Ambrose and a younger sister). William filed three suits against John Carrick concerning the estate "in order to compel him to give security for the estate of the deceased."

The following was written by Lyman C. Draper, 1881, no.5, pg. 481

"Of the Loyalist leaders but little can be gleaned from history or tradition. Colonel Ambrose Mills, among the unfortunates who were executed at Bickerstaff's, was born in England, about 1722 and was taken while yet young to Maryland.

He married Miss Mourning Stone, settling on James River, and finally removing to the frontiers of South Carolina, where his wife was killed by Indians, during the Indian war of 1755-61, leaving an only son, William. He afterwards married Miss Anne Brown, of the Chester region, sister of the wife of the noted Loyalist leader, Colonel Thomas Fletchall; and, settled on Green River, in Rutherford Co., North Carolina; by this second marriage had three sons and three daughters.

In 1776, he served against the Cherokee Indians.

In 1778, Colonel Mills and the notorious David Fanning raised a corps of five hundred men with the design of joining the Royal standard at St. Augustine, when one of the party betrayed their plans. Mills and sixteen others were apprehended, and conveyed to Salisbury jail; Fanning undertaking to rescue him on the way, but his force proved too weak to effect the purpose. Mills was, in course of time, liberated; joined Ferguson with the Loyal militia of his region, fought at Earle's Ford and King's Mountain; and, as viewed a century after the occurrence, he was too severely dealt with at Bickerstaff's."

The following was written by By Tony Earley, Forest City Daily Courier Staff Writer

Baxter Hollifield led Forrest Lyda to where Stowe Upton told him years before that the hanging tree stood. Upton grew up close to the spot and Samuel Long, who owned the farm, showed him the place. Long, who lived to see the far side of 80, died close to thirty years ago. His father farmed the place before him. "This is the spot, as near as I can figure it," Hollifield told Lyda in a clearing surrounded by scrub woods. The walk in was on the bed of an old road, where maybe armed frontiersman and condemned men walked 205 years ago. Skeletal briars reach for travelers now, and beggars' lice cling to pant legs, trying to get somewhere else. Lyda stepped forward into the clear place and looked around like a man expecting to see ghosts rise from the ground. "Within a hundred feet of here," he said quietly, "My great-great-great-great-great grandfather's buried. Col. Mills is buried here. Merrill hung here, too." Col. Ambrose Mills and William Merrill are Lyda ancestors - men on opposite sides of the Revolutionary War. Both men were hanged from the same tree in the bloody days following the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Col. Mills, a Tory, was hanged by Merrill, along with eight other supporters of the Crown. Merrill, a Patriot, was dragged from his Rowan County home four months later by Tory nightriders and taken back to the hanging tree. Mills' son William, who had been left for dead on top of Kings Mountain, swung him off.

Forrest Lyda is a talker. He can't finish one story without starting 100 others. A historian, he talks about what he has learned backtracking his ancestors into the past. The farther back he looks, the more he has to say. He can't explain every capillary of a bloodline to a listener, but he tries.

Ambrose Mills was captured during the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780 along with 40 to 50 other Tories. They were lucky they ever made it off the mountain. One hundred British troops and Loyalists were gunned down in a mountaintop hollow that day after they laid down their weapons. William Mills, bleeding from wounds in his shoulder and heel and left for dead, was discovered by a party of Tories who had been foraging for food when the blood ran on the mountain.

The victorious over-the-mountain-men marched their captives westward and decided to hang them a week into the march. Nine Tories swung from the tree before Captain John Sevier caught up with the frontiersmen and convinced them to stop the slaughter. Col. Mills was the second man hanged that day. William Merrill slapped the horse, avenging his brother's death.

Legend says that Martha Biggerstaff and a slave buried the nine men in a common grave. Charles Chitwood's body was exhumed later by his family and buried in the Biggerstaff family cemetery several miles away. Forrest Lyda loves telling the story of how the Mills and Merrill families united in marriage 40 years later. William Merrill's granddaughter Catherine married William Mills' grandson, Ambrose Jones Edney, knotting a happy ending of sorts around the violence of the war and the hanging tree. Even so, the differences between the families weren't easily forgotten and new ones rose within the political struggles of the new nation and the coming of the Civil War

Family links:

Spouse:

• Mourning Stone Mills (1725 - 1755)*

Children:

• William Mills (____ - 1755)*
• John Thomas Mills (____ - 1755)*
• William Mills (1746 - 1834)*
• Mary Amanda Mills (1750 - 1755)*
• Ambrose Mills (1769 - 1848)*
• Amelia Ruth Mills Featherstone (1771 - 1846)*
• Calculated relationship

Burial:

• Non-Cemetery Burial
• Specifically: Buried at Biggerstaff Farm near Gilbert Town, Rutherford County, NC.
• Created by: Dianne Boren
• Record added: Sep 23, 2010
• Find A Grave Memorial# 59106974

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The Journal of Alexander Chesney: A South Carolina Loyalist in ..., Issues 7-8
By Alexander Chesney, Wilbur Henry Siebert

Colonel Ambrose Mills

Born in England in 1722, Ambrose Mills was taken in childhood to Maryland. There he married Mourning Stone, a spinster, and settled on James River in Virginia, afterwards removing to the frontiers of South Carolina, where his wife was killed by Indians in the Indian risings of 1755-61. Ambrose Mills married (II), Anne Brown, a sister of Leah Fletchall, wife of Colonel Thomas Fletchall (see page 71). In or about 1765 he settled on Green River, North Carolina. The issue of his first marriage was a son, William, born 10 November 1746, and by his second marriage, three sons and three daughters.

The military services of Ambrose Mills during the Revolutionary war include actions against the Cherokee Indians in 1776, in ignorance of the alleged alliance between the Cherokees and the British, an ignorance which was shared with the loyalists, Colonel John Phillips (see p. 65) and Alexander Chesney. In 1778, Ambrose Mills and Colonel David Fanning raised a corps of 500 loyalists for the purpose of joining the royal standard at St. Augustine in East Florida, but this scheme was frustrated by the treachery of a traitor in the camp betraying their plans to the enemy. Colonel Mills and sixteen others were apprehended and taken to Salisbury jail. On the way thither, David Fanning with characteristic courage endeavored to rescue his brother loyalist, but his small force was too weak to break through the American guard.

One of the first engagements of Colonel Ambrose Mills after his liberation was the action at Baylis Earle's ford on the North Pacolet River, North Carolina, when he surprised and attacked the American camp of Colonel Charles McDowell on the night of 15 July 1780. In this action the loyalists under Mills, and Major James Dunlap's party of seventy dragoons, killed Noah Hampton, son of Colonel Hampton, and wounded Colonel John Jones of Burke County, North Carolina—an attack which was revenged later by Captain Edward Hampton's exploit in overtaking Dunlap's party and inflicting defeat upon it. Draper, in his King's Mountain and its Heroes, is very severe in his condemnation of the killing of Noah Hampton by Dunlap while he was asleep, an act which he rightly regards as murder, though a precisely similar surprise, achieved by the deception of Colonel John Jones, is regarded as almost heroic. (Op. cit., p. 79). Major Dunlap, who had been appointed an officer in the Queen's Rangers in 1776, and was one of the most adventurous spirits among the loyalists, neither giving nor expecting quarter, was killed on or about 25 March, 1781, by his guard after his surrender at Beattie's mill on Little River in South Carolina. General Pickens offered a "handsome reward for the murderers" (Draper, op. cit., pp. 163-4). The feud between Colonel John Jones and the loyalists had become exceedingly bitter after his deception in palming himself off as a loyalist and thereby gaining entrance into a loyalist camp, with the object as he had averred of taking revenge on some "rebels" who had slain loyalists in a recent skirmish. Arriving at the camp, which was in a state of self-security and the loyalists mostly asleep, Colonel Jones ordered an attack by his party and killed one and wounded three. (Draper, op. cit., p. 79).

Returning to the career of Colonel Ambrose Mills, he commanded the North Carolina loyal militia in the memorable battle of King's Mountain and was taken prisoner. The subsequent severity of his treatment as a prisoner and his execution has been the subject of hostile criticism. (Draper, op. cit, p. 82). Lord Cornwallis in his protest against his execution describes him as "always a fair and open enemy," a verdict which was endorsed by his opponents. (Correspondence of Lord Cornwallis, Vol. I, p. 67). Early in the military life of Colonel Ambrose Mills, Lord Cornwallis had experienced some difficulty in restraining his ardor, and in complaining of his premature activities, desired him to act only on the defensive until ordered to act otherwise. (Ibid., op. cit, p. 47.)

William Mills, his son, was very popular and was engaged with his father in the campaign against the Cherokee Indians, and at King's Mountain, where he was severely wounded, he acted as major under his father. He died in North Carolina, 10 November 1834, aged 88.

Colonel Ambrose Mills has been confused with Colonel William Henry Mills, an Irishman who had gone out to America as a surgeon's mate in the British army. Here he served until 1764, when he retired from his military duties and settled in South Carolina, marrying two years later an American lady at Georgetown in that Province. Early in the Revolutionary War, Colonel William Henry Mills served in the South Carolina Provincial Congress, but in June 1778, he was appointed colonel of the Cheraws loyal militia. He died at Liverpool, England, 7 May 1786, leaving a widow, Elizabeth, and one daughter. (A. O. 12/52, fos. 45-46, 327-340; Stedman, American War, Vol. II, p. 223; Tarleton, Hist of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, p. 127; Draper, King's Mountain and its Heroes, p. 373; B. F. Stevens, Clinton-Cornwallis Controversy, Vol. II, pp. 236-7).

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Was "a commissioned officer in Cornwallis' Army and fought with the Royalists for the Crown" (JBC Nicklin, The Millers of Millersburgh, 1923). Battle of Kings Mountain was Oct. 7, 1780. Ambrose was hanged one week after the battle. All historical documentation states his hanging was Oct. 14, 1780.

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[After the Battle of King's Mountain,] as the Patriot army began to separate into its regional units, thirty-six Tory prisoners were court-martialed for various acts of alleged lawlessness and, after a day-long trial, sentenced to death. On October 14, at Bickerstaff's Farm in North Carolina (Captain Aaron Bickerstaff, a Tory, died at King's Mountain), nine of the condemned men were strung up from a limb of an oak known for years afterwards as the 'Gallows Tree.' However, after one of the condemned men made a daring escape, Shelby, Sevier, and some of the other officers put a stop to the executions."

(http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/h/a/Michael-W-Shaw/GEN...)

The following is compiled in Michael Shaw's family tree (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/h/a/Michael-W-Shaw/GEN...):

A "drum head trial" was held by the Patriots on the first night after the battle for the military prisoners and about 20 local citizens who had sided with the Loyalists; all were convicted and sentenced to die. Nine were hanged before higher officers intervened and stopped the executions. Eight were buried in graves at the site but the body of John Chitwood was carried to the burial plot of a nearby Loyalist family and given a formal burial. Upon arrest, his sons took the Oath of Allegiance rather than face exile as Loyalists.

     The trial and hangings took place near the town of Sunshine, NC in Rutherford Co. There is a highway marker at the site calling it the "Biggerstaff Hanging Tree". The original tree is gone but is said by residents to have survived until about 1990. Most of the victims are buried by a rock bridge nearby. The descendants of the Biggerstaff family say the grave of Capt. Chitwood can no longer be found; the wrought iron fence that was once around it has long since been destroyed by vandals or time. 

"The names of the condemned Tories were - Colonel Ambrose Mills, Captain James Chitwood, Captain Wilson, Captain Walter Gilkey, Captain Grimes, Lieutenant Lafferty, John McFall, John Bibby, and Augustine Hobbs. They were swung off the Gallows Oak, three at a time, and left suspended at the place of execution. According to Lieutenant Allaire's account, they died like soldiers - like martyrs, in their own and friends' estimation. 'These brave but unfortunate Loyalists', says Allaire, 'with their latest breath expressed their unutterable detestation of the Rebels, and of their base and infamous proceedings; and, as they were being turned off, extolled their King and the British Government, Mills, Wilson, and Chitwood died like Romans... The poor Loyalist leaders had been left swinging from the sturdy oak upon which they had been executed. No sooner had the Whigs moved off, than Mrs. Martha Bickerstaff, the wife of Captain Aaron Bickerstaff who had served under Ferguson, and been mortally wounded at King's Mountain, with the assistance of an old man who worked on the farm, cut down the nine dead bodies. Eight of them were buried in a shallow trench, some two feet deep; while the remains of Capt. Chitwood were conveyed by some of his friends, on a plank, half a mile away to Benjamin Bickerstaff's, where they were interred on a hill still used as a grave-yard.'" (from the book "King's Mountain and It's Heroes", by Lyman C. Draper)

"The morning after the action, the (Loyalist) prisoners were marched sixteen miles; previous to their march, orders were given by Campbell, should they be attacked, to fire on and destroy every prisoner… A few days after, a mock court-martial sat for the trial of the militia prisoners; when, after a short hearing, thirty gentlemen, some of the most respectable characters in that country, had sentence of death passed on them; and at six o'clock the same day they began to execute. Col. Mills and Capt. Chitwood, of North Carolina, Capt. Wilson, of Ninety Six, and six privates, were first executed." [from Scot's Magazine Jan. 1781, pp. 516-17.]

[from Allaire's diary] Friday, 13 Oct 1780: "Moved six miles to Bickerstaff's plantation." Saturday, 14 Oct 1780: "Twelve field officers were chosen to try the militia prisoners - particularly those who had the most influence in the country. They condemned thirty - in the evening they began to execute Lieut. Col. Mills, Capt. Wilson, Capt. Chitwood, and six others, who unfortunately fell a sacrifice to their infamous mock jury."

Ambrose Mills was born in England in 1722. Ambrose Mills came to Virginia with his father, William, in 1729 and lived first in Goochland County in a part that is now Amherst County. He married (l) Mourning Stone, and they settled first on the James River, Virginia, and had several children. They moved into what is now upper SC, where Mourning and all the children except their son William were killed by the Indians. He married (2) Ann Brown, the Daughter of a Tory Leader, possibly the Major Brown referred to in one account of "notorious" Tories, and sister-in-law of the noted Loyalist leader, Colonel Thos. Fletchall. About 1765, Ambrose moved his family to the Green River in Old Tryon County, later Rutherford, and now Polk County, where the area became know as Mills Springs.

Ambrose Mills built Seven Hearths (said to be the first clapboard house built in the wilderness). This Federal style home was used by the family for several generations before sitting empty and finally being moved in 1934. Marvel Mills (the grandson of Ambrose Mills) was reported to have raised all his children at Seven Hearths, and George Mills (Marvel's youngest son also raised his children there. After the Civil War and the death of Georges's wife (Ella Bolyston) George sold the house to his cousin Nesbit Mills. Nesbit was the last Mills to live there and did so until his death. Seven Hearths - Built in 1740, is said to be the first clapboard house in the county. Moved piece by piece from Mills Spring to its present location by Dorothy and Arthur Brintnal (antique dealers from Chicago) in 1934. The house is completely restored and listed in the Historic Register of Homes. It stands N of Tryon at jct. of U.S. 176 and Harmon Field Rd., Tryon NC to this day.

Ambrose was a private in the local militia under the Crown, with the task of protecting the frontier areas from Indians. When the revolution was developing he thought first to follow the revolutionary thinking, but changed his mind and remained loyal to the King. Lord Cornwallis commissioned him Colonel and his son William became a British Major. It is reported by Colonel Thomas L. Jones (Great grandson of Ambrose Mills) that Cornwallis used the Mills home Seven hearths as headquarters part of the time when he was on the Wateree, Between them they recruited Merrimon Featherstone, and all three of them, in addition to Ambrose's brother, Colonel Wm. H. Mills, were at the Battle of King's MN. Ambrose was taken prisoner and was one of the first three to be hanged by the patriot forces. In fact, he and nine of his officers were hanged after the battle of King's Mountain on Bickerstaff's Plantation in Rutherford County. ( His descendents claimed he was hanged buy renegades and that the execution was not sanctioned by the American Army). The bodies remained hanging for three days until the wido Brickerstaff (with the help of one slave) secretly cut them down and buried them. His son, Major Wm Mills was badly wounded and left for dead, but he and his brother-in-law, Merrimon Featherstone (husband of his step-sister Amelia Mills), managed to escape with the help of Col Wm. H. Mill's son-in-law James Stepp, and other Tory friends.

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Rutherford Co, NC Wills & Miscellaneous Records 1783 ? 1868

P 76. 15 Apr 1797. Proved April Term 1797. Whereas Ambrose Mills, decd died intestate in the year 17?? Leaving a widow Anna Mills and seven children to wit: William Mills, Thomas Mills, John Mills , Ambrose Mills, Milly Mills, Polly Twitty, Pamilea Mills, Anna Mills the youngest. Col James Miller in the year 1782 administered on the estate. The said Anna Mills, the widow, intermarried with John Carrick in Feb 1790. Such proceedings have been had and such management with the estate as appeared in the copy annexed and certified. Richard Lewis Esq & William Mills has been appointed guardian of Ambrose, Milly & Anna Mills, one petition is to require bond and security for the estate and action of debts, in part of the second sale of a negro, a wagon, a note on McCaffenty, horses, cattle. Bond to be on Admnr James Miller, John Carrick & Anna his wife. This indenture witnesses that William Mills & John Carrick have agreed to settle their suit in law, and other disputes about the estate of the decd. The widow to have her dower in the old home place, William Mills to pay court cost, attorney fees. John Carrick shall not claim any more of the personal estate of the decd than he had or left at the old home place when he went to Cumberland. Wit: Waightsill Avery, John McKinney, John Goodbread. Signed: William Mills & John Carrick

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White Oak Plantation, located in Tryon, was originally part of a land grant by King George II to the Ambrose Mills family and is steeped in American Revolutionary history.

Loyalist Colonel Ambrose Mills was made a prisoner at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The victors at Kings Mountain immediately marched north with their prisoners, finally stopping at Biggerstaff's plantation near Gilbertown, NC not far from Col. Andrew Hampton's home place. There they tried, convicted and condemned to the hangman's noose thirty-six of the vilest Loyalists, including Ambrose Mills. In the end, only Mills and eight others were hanged.
Note: 4 A Famous Tory, Ambrose Mills. Tradition states he came as a baby to Maryland with his father and grandfather. After his marriage to Mourning Stone, he settled in Virginia where he farmed on the banks of the James River. He moved the family to the area of Wateree, S.C., in 1765. There was a grant of land containing 600 acres to Ambrose Mills filed on Dec. 16, 1766, in Craven County, S.C., bounding "on the said river on Patrick McCommicks and Frances Laton ... one Pickett .. Richard Ricklands." His wife and children were killed by Indians at Pine Tree Hill in Camden County in South Carolina. William was the only survivor.

Ambrose later married Anne Brown of Chester, S.C., and had three more sons and three more daughters. About 1767, the first child from his second marriage was born in South Carolina.

In 1770, he bought a tract of land containing 640 acres in Old Tryon County from Thomas Reynolds for 100 pounds on both sides of Green River, including the mouth of Walnut Creek. Reynolds had bought the property in 1760 and there was a cabin on it called Powell's cabin.

He established a trading post and a sawmill by a spring. It is said the basin was hewn from solid rock. (Jackson tradition is that it was either Gabriel Sr. or David Sr. who carved the basin for Mills ). It was called Mills Spring.

During the Revolutionary War, he was a colonel with British forces, commander of Tory Cavalry at the Battle of Kings Mountain on Oct. 7, 1780. He was captured and taken to a field on Biggerstaff's farm, where he was hung by American forces Oct. 14, 1780. In addition to being a Tory who fought against Patriot forces, he was accused and found guilty of inciting the Cherokee to attack the frontier of South Carolina.

The farm was near Gilbert Town in Rutherford County. The bodies were cut down by Mrs. Biggerstaff and an old man. Eight of the nine persons hung were buried in a shallow trench some two feet deep. From "Kings Mountain and Its Heroes" by Lyman Draper.

In a letter to Gen. Smallwood Nov. 10, 1780, Lord Cornwallis wrote: "the hanging of Colonel Mills who was always a fair and open enemy to your cause, was an act of the most savage barbarity."

His second wife, Anna, married John Carrick in 1790. In the court proceedings on administration of the estate (he died intestate) it states that in 1782 she and Col. James Miller were named administrators of the estate, but since she re-married in 1790 the administration changed to his son, William, from his first wife. William was appointed guardian for the children still living at home (Ambrose and a younger sister). William filed three suits against John Carrick concerning the estate "in order to compel him to give security for the estate of the deceased."

The following was written by Lyman C. Draper, 1881, no.5, pg. 481

"Of the Loyalist leaders but little can be gleaned from history or tradition. Colonel Ambrose Mills, among the unfortunates who were executed at Bickerstaff's, was born in England, about 1722 and was taken while yet young to Maryland.

He married Miss Mourning Stone, settling on James River, and finally removing to the frontiers of South Carolina, where his wife was killed by Indians, during the Indian war of 1755-61, leaving an only son, William.

He afterwards married Miss Anne Brown, of the Chester region, sister of the wife of the noted Loyalist leader, Colonel Thomas Fletchall; and, settled on Green River, in Rutherford Co., North Carolina; by this second marriage had three sons and three daughters.

In 1776, he served against the Cherokee Indians.

In 1778, Colonel Mills and the notorious David Fanning raised a corps of five hundred men with the design of joining the Royal standard at St. Augustine, when one of the party betrayed their plans. Mills and sixteen others were apprehended, and conveyed to Salisbury jail; Fanning undertaking to rescue him on the way, but his force proved too weak to effect the purpose. Mills was, in course of time, liberated; joined Ferguson with the Loyal militia of his region, fought at Earle's Ford and King's Mountain; and, as viewed a century after the occurrence, he was too severely dealt with at Bickerstaff's."

The following was written by By Tony Earley, Forest City Daily Courier Staff Writer

Baxter Hollifield led Forrest Lyda to where Stowe Upton told him years before that the hanging tree stood. Upton grew up close to the spot and Samuel Long, who owned the farm, showed him the place. Long, who lived to see the far side of 80, died close to thirty years ago. His father farmed the place before him. "This is the spot, as near as I can figure it," Hollifield told Lyda in a clearing surrounded by scrub woods. The walk in was on the bed of an old road, where maybe armed frontiersman and condemned men walked 205 years ago. Skeletal briars reach for travelers now, and beggars' lice cling to pant legs, trying to get somewhere else. Lyda stepped forward into the clear place and looked around like a man expecting to see ghosts rise from the ground. "Within a hundred feet of here," he said quietly, "My great-great-great-great-great grandfather's buried. Col. Mills is buried here. Merrill hung here, too."

Col. Ambrose Mills and William Merrill are Lyda ancestors - men on opposite sides of the Revolutionary War. Both men were hanged from the same tree in the bloody days following the Battle of Kings Mountain. Col. Mills, a Tory, was hanged by Merrill, along with eight other supporters of the Crown. Merrill, a Patriot, was dragged from his Rowan County home four months later by Tory nightriders and taken back to the hanging tree. Mills' son William, who had been left for dead on top of Kings Mountain, swung him off.

Forrest Lyda is a talker. He can't finish one story without starting 100 others. A historian, he talks about what he has learned backtracking his ancestors into the past. The farther back he looks, the more he has to say. He can't explain every capillary of a bloodline to a listener, but he tries.

Ambrose Mills was captured during the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780 along with 40 to 50 other Tories. They were lucky they ever made it off the mountain. One hundred British troops and Loyalists were gunned down in a mountaintop hollow that day after they laid down their weapons. William Mills, bleeding from wounds in his shoulder and heel and left for dead, was discovered by a party of Tories who had been foraging for food when the blood ran on the mountain.

The victorious over-the-mountain-men marched their captives westward and decided to hang them a week into the march. Nine Tories swung from the tree before Captain John Sevier caught up with the frontiersmen and convinced them to stop the slaughter. Col. Mills was the second man hanged that day. William Merrill slapped the horse, avenging his brother's death.

Legend says that Martha Biggerstaff and a slave buried the nine men in a common grave. Charles Chitwood's body was exhumed later by his family and buried in the Biggerstaff family cemetery several miles away. Forrest Lyda loves telling the story of how the Mills and Merrill families united in marriage 40 years later. William Merrill's granddaughter Catherine married William Mills' grandson, Ambrose Jones Edney, knotting a happy ending of sorts around the violence of the war and the hanging tree. Even so, the differences between the families weren't easily forgotten and new ones rose within the political struggles of the new nation and the coming of the Civil War."

Family links: Spouse: Mourning Stone Mills (1725 - 1755)*

Children: William E Mills (____ - 1755)* John Thomas Mills (____ - 1755)* Mary Amanda Mills (1750 - 1755)*

Burial: Non-Cemetery Burial Specifically: Buried at Biggerstaff Farm near Gilbert Town, Rutherford County, NC.

Created by: Dianne Boren Record added: Sep 23, 2010 Find A Grave Memorial# 59106974Page: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59106974

From The Journal of Alexander Chesney, a South Carolina Loyalist in the Revolution and After (ed. E. Alfred Jones). The Ohio State University Bulletin Vol XXVI No. 4, October 30, 1921, pp. 86 ff.

The Battle of King's Mountain (written by E. Alfred Jones)

The memorable battle of King's Mountain was fought October 7, 1780, between the Americans under the command of Colonels Campbell, Shelby, Cleveland, Sevier, and Williams, and the loyalists commanded by Major Patrick Ferguson, composed of detachments from the King's American regiment, the Queen's Rangers, the New Jersey Volunteers, and South Carolina loyal militia, and was one of the most desperately fought battles in the Southern Colonies.

It is not proposed to enter into the controversy regarding the numbers of the forces engaged. Whatever the figures may have been, the combatants on both sides fought with unsurpassed courage and determination. The exploit of the Americans deserves all the praise bestowed upon it as one of the finest examples of the application of Washington's disregarded advice to Braddock to seek cover behind trees, and of the splendid marksmanship of the Americans.

The loyalists had fought with unwavering bravery until the fall of the intrepid Ferguson somewhat early in the battle, when their courage failed them for a moment until their rally by the new leader. Captain Abraham De Peyster. The criticisms of this officer's alleged premature surrender are considered under the notes on Captain De Peyster.

King's Mountain was the only important battle in the war in which the British force was composed entirely of loyalists, except Major Ferguson.

Just as the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga was a momentous event, not only in hastening the alliance of the Americans with France, but also as a great turning point in the war, so the battle of King's Mountain may be regarded as the turn of the tide in the South, leading to the heartening and the re-organization of the American forces in South Carolina for the final triumph in the war of Independence.

It is regrettable that the memory of this signal victory should be tarnished by the cruelties inflicted on the loyalists and by the execution of nine loyalist officers: Colonel Ambrose Mills, Captains James Chitwood, Wilson, Walker, Gilkey, and Grimes, and Lieutenants Lafferty, John McFall, John Bibby, and Augustine Hobbs. (Tarleton, Hist, of the Campaigns 1780 and 1781, p. 168; Moultrie, Memoirs, pp. 242-6; Stedman, American War, Vol. II, pp. 245-7;

ADDITIONAL NOTES 87

Draper, King's Mountain and its Heroes, pp. 332-7 ; Fortescue, Hist, of the British Army, Vol. Ill, pp. 323-4 ; E. McCrady, The Hist, of S. Carolina in the Rev., 1775-1780, p. 805; S. G. Fisher, The Struggle for American Independence, Vol. II, pp. 349-366) .Page: 86-87 Note: 3 Early in the evening, the trials having been brought to a conclusion, a suitable oak was selected, upon a projecting limb of which the executions were to take place. It was by the road side, near the camp, and is yet standing, known in all that region as the Gallows Oak. Torch-lights were procured, the condemned brought out, around whom the troops formed four deep. It was a singular and interesting night scene, the dark old woods illuminated with the wild glare of hundreds of pine-knot torches; and quite a number of the Loyalist leaders of the Carolinas about to be launched into eternity. The names of the condemned Tories were: Colonel Ambrose Mills, Captain James Chitwood, Captain Wilson, Captain Walter Gilkey, Captain Grimes, Lieuten- ant Lafferty, John McFall, John Bibby, and Augustine Hobbs. They were swung off three at a time, and left suspended at the place of execution. According to Lieuten- ant Allaire's account, they died like soldiers, like martyrs, in their own and friends' estimation. " These brave but un- fortunate Loyalists," says Allaire, " with their latest breath expressed their unutterable detestation of the Rebels, and of their base and infamous proceedings; and, as they were being turned off, extolled their King and the British Gov- ernment. Mills, Wilson and Chitwood died like Romans."Page: 339-340 Note: 3 Of the Loyalist leaders but little can be gleaned from history or tradition. Colonel Ambrose Mills, among the unfortunates who were executed at Bickerstaff's, was born in England, about 1722 and was taken while yet young to Mary-- land. He married Miss Mourning Stone, settling on James River, and finally removing to the frontiers of South Car- olina, where his wife was killed by Indians, during the Indian war of 1755-61, leaving an only son, William. He afterwards married Miss Anne Brown, of the Chester region, sister of the wife of the noted Loyalist leader. Colonel Thomas Fletchall; and, about 1765, settled on Green River, in North Carolina; and by this second marriage had three sons and three daughters: In 1776, he served against the Cherokee Indians. In 1778, Colonel Mills and the notori- ous David Fanning raised a corps of five hundred men with the design of joining the Royal standard at St. Augustine, when one of the party betrayed their plans. Mills and six- teen others were apprehended, and conveyed to Salisbury jail; Fanning undertaking to rescue him on the way, but his force proved too weak to effect the purpose. Mills was in course of time, liberated; joined Ferguson with the Loyal militia of his region, fought at Earle's Ford and King's Mountain; and, as viewed a century after the oc- currence, he was too severely dealt with at Bickerstaff's. His descendants are among the ablest and best citizens in the South and South-West.

His son, William Mills, was born on James River, Vir- ginia, November tenth, 1746. He was very popular, and served in 1776 against the Indians. He acted as Major under his father at King's Mountain, where he was badly wounded, and left for dead and was subsequently saved from being executed by the interference of leading Whigs who knew his worth and goodness. In after years, he set- tled in the mountain region of the south-western portion of North Carolina on Clear Creek, in now Cleveland County. Mills' River and Mills' Gap, in that section, were named after him. He married early in life Eleanor Morris, by whom he had two sons and five daughters. He was a handsome, noble, generous man. He died, in consequence of a fall from his horse on his birthday, November tenth, 1834, at the age of eighty--eight years. He had lived a happy married life of sixty-nine years ? his venerable com- panion surviving him.Page: 481-482

During the Revolutionary War, he was a colonel with British forces, commander of Tory Cavalry at the Battle of Kings Mountain on Oct. 7, 1780. He was captured and taken to a field on Biggerstaff's farm, where he was hung by American forces Oct. 14, 1780. In addition to being a Tory who fought against Patriot forces, he was accused and found guilty of inciting the Cherokee to attack the frontier of South Carolina.

The farm was near Gilbert Town in Rutherford County. The bodies were cut down by Mrs. Biggerstaff and an old man. Eight of the nine persons hung were buried in a shallow trench some two feet deep. From "Kings Mountain and Its Heroes" by Lyman Draper.

In a letter to Gen. Smallwood Nov. 10, 1780, Lord Cornwallis wrote: "the hanging of Colonel Mills who was always a fair and open enemy to your cause, was an act of the most savage barbarity."