Rebecca (Tanner) Mills (abt. 1609 - aft. 1682)

Born about 1609 in England

Descendants

Died after 1682 after about age 73 in Jamaica, Queens, New York

Problems/Questions Profile manager: William Brown [send private message]

Biography

George Mills, Zachariah Mills, and Bethia Mills and her mother (not named) all received bequests in the 1658 will of Nicholas Tanner of Rustdorp, New Netherlands.^[1]

On 24 Mar 1681/2, George Mills signed a deed providing for wife Rebecca by putting son Samuel Mills in charge of her care. The wording is unusual and may indicate that Samuel had been a child of an earlier marriage.^[2]

Documented children of George Mills:^[3]

• Samuel Mills, m. Susannah Palmer
• Zachariah Mills, m. Abigail (Messenger) Darling
• Isaac Mills
• Jonathan Mills, m. Martha Wood or Martha Halstead
• Bethia Mills

It is assumed, but not entirely proven, that Rebecca was their mother (as opposed to an unknown prior wife).

Disputed family

An award-winning book by Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CG, FASG, updates what is known about the life of George and his family, based upon many sources and references not previously cited.

Many have assumed that the bequests in Nicholas Tanner's will indicate that George Mills' wife Rebecca was a daughter of Nicholas, "but the documents relating to Nicholas Tanner's estate do not show this clearly at all."^[4] In fact, Tanner made bequests to a long list of other neighbors and associates without any apparent family relation.^[5]

There is absolutely no evidence for any other parents of Rebecca. There is no evidence she was daughter of John Tanner.

Other children are attributed to George Mills, but lacking evidence:

• George Mills
• Nicholas Mills
• Susannah Mills, m. Samuel Messenger.
• Nathaniel Mills

Sources

1. ↑ Ullmann 2002, pp. 70-71
2. ↑ Ullmann 2002, p. 3
3. ↑ Ullmann 2002, pp. 8-9
4. ↑ Ullmann 2002, p. 3
5. ↑ Ullmann 2002, pp. 70-71

• Ullmann, Helen Schatvet. A Mills and Kendall Family History. Boston: Newberry Street Press, 2002.