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2024 52 Ancestors: Worship - The Society of Friends in the Family

As the family story goes, Simon George Mills was a wife beater, and his spouse ran him out of the house because of it. Unless any court documents testifying to this fact (or contrary to it) come to light, this is the disparaging image we're left with of my 2nd great grandfather. But he probably was not brought up to act in such a manner.
Simon George Mills alias George Simon Mills

He was raised by parents, Lewis Mills and Ann (Jackson Smith) Hopkins, who both originally belonged to the Quaker faith. The official name for their religion is the Religious Society of Friends. It's said that the word "Quakers" was an insulting nickname bestowed upon them by others to describe the way their bodies shook while experiencing spiritual energy, but over time they've come to embrace it.

Quakers believe that every individual is capable of experiencing the divine nature of the universe and receiving messages from God or finding their "inward light," even to this modern day. Rather than attending services or mass in churches, temples, mosques, or cathedrals, they worship in meetinghouses, partially in silence.

If there's one tenet of the faith that sets them apart, it's their choice to be nonviolent. They are conscientious objectors to war and strive for world peace. The first member of the Society of Friends, George Fox, declared "All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny." It's clear that Simon Mills did not adopt this faith himself. Either that, or he strayed far from its principles by the time he was married to my 2nd great grandmother, considering his reputed ill treatment of her.

Two of his brothers chose the occupation of minister (though each outside of the faith of Friends) and his father Lewis was reported to be "a man of strong, vigorous character, having a well-balanced mind with an unusually good judgement." His father was also said to be "a leader in church and educational work, and scrupulously honest in all his dealings."

The family's fracture from the Quaker religion began to take shape during Simon's parents' generation. Lewis's first wife was Sarah Balderston. The two were joined in marriage on 24 March 1836 in Morgan, Ohio. Sarah was also a Friend, but the couple decided to marry outside of a meetinghouse. This offense resulted in the Deerfield Ohio Meetinghouse discharging Lewis on grounds of marrying "contrary to the discipline."

Lewis Mills and Sarah Balderston Marriage Record

And while Simon's mother Ann was also brought up in the Quaker religion, she too, split with the Society when she married her first husband, George W. Hopkins. They became affiliated with the Episcopal Church instead.

But Simon came from a long line of Quakers before that. His grandfather, Gideon Mills, was born into the Deep River Monthly Meeting in Guilford, North Carolina and later transferred to the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting in Ohio when he moved west (Gideon was discharged in 1845 for "marrying contrary to discipline"). Gideon's wife (and Simon's grandmother), Edith, was a member of the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting nearly all her life. She was buried in the Friends Cemetery of Washington County, Ohio. A cursory look at her family tree shows generations of Friends on both sides of her family.

Gideon was the son of Reuben Mills, Sr. and Sarah Overman. Reuben worshiped with at least three different meetinghouses during his life (Deep River, New Garden, and Concord), and Sarah was born into a widely known branch of Quakers. The Overman name likely gained notoriety due to their gaining grants of land and being among the first pioneers in North Carolina and Indiana.

The Quakers are known to be amazing record keepers. Not only do they note births and deaths in their meeting minutes, but also name every person in attendance at a marriage. Here is the Guilford MM record of Reuben and Sarah (Overman) Mills's wedding:


If only Simon had stayed with the faith of his ancestors, I might be so lucky to have found a record of his death, given their plentiful availability. As it stands, once he and his wife went their separate ways, he pretty much falls off the map. And I'd venture there's little hope finding him buried in a Friends Cemetery or with a handshake depicted on his headstone (the sign of a Quaker burial).











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