Landed Gentry of
the Blue Ridge
\l Seven llenrllis. Aniltroso Mills
clcnreil I lie land, fonglil
Инь
Indians,
and generally <lressc*d for diniipr.
Bi# LILLIAN MILLS MOSSELLKK
Few people know ihal ihe Landed
Gentry coloni/cd a part of the Appala¬
chian Mountains and brought elegance,
luxury and slaves to the wilderness in
the eighteenth century and some say.
dressed for dinner in a block house.
Ihe first white settlers in this rough
country. Ambrose Mills and his son.
William, retained most of the English
customs.
I he story of the first Mills who was
offered five hundred acres in the al¬
ready colonized Virginia or ninety-
three thousand acres in the unchartered
wilderness of the upper Carolines has
often been told by historians.
“The Mills ancestors were Cavaliers,
belonging to the Court Party in the time
of Charles the First." — M. C. Torrcy.
Mississippi. 1894.
The Mills history is not only a family
history but a regional one. where came
the first white man since DcSoto and
the first Englishman to a Utopian area
in the oldest mountains in the world.
Even in the wilderness, interrupted
from time to time by Indian raids, ele¬
gance was maintained through the
years.
Hanged by Renegades
Ambrose Mills was a Royalist ad¬
hering to the crown of England during
the American Revolution. Lord Corn¬
wallis commissioned him Colonel in the
British Army and his son William was
commissioned Major. He and nine of
his officers were hanged after the Battle
of King's Mountain on Bickcrstaff's
plantation in Rutherford County. His
descendants declare that he was hanged
by renegades and that the execution
was not sanctioned by the American
army.
The bodies remained hanging for
three days until during the night the
Under construction tor sc»en
усом
by Rcvolutionory Colonel Ambrose Mills, Seven Hcorths wos the
lirst clopboord bouse in the wilderness. It eventuolly become the property ot
о
grandson. Marvel
Mills. »ho willed it to his youngest son. George. Alter the Civil War, the house wos sold to Nisbol
Mills, lost ot the Mills descendants to live there. Now located in Tryon, it is owned by A. R. Black¬
mon. Jr.
IB
At Mills Springs. Seven Hcorths circa 1 744 1
wos wasting away until 1934, when Mr. and Mrs.
Arthur Brintnol, onlique dealers ot Chicago,
moved it to nearby Tryon and restored it to its
original elcgonce. — 'Ronold Mills photos.l
widow Bickcrsiaff, with the help of one
slave, secretly cut them down and
buried them.
William Mills escaped, and after the
war his land was confiscated, but later
some acreage was restored to him. This
pioneer gave names to the mountains,
streams and places of the region. A
beautiful river in Western North Caro¬
lina was called Mills River. He named
Clear Creek, the stream on which he
lived, because of its crystal waters. He
named the mountains Hear Wallow,
Hall Top, Sugar Loaf, Pilot Mount, and
Black Mountain. These names are still
used today.
Four Mills houses were built before
the Revolution. Seven Hearths is said
to be the first clapboard house built in
the wilderness. "That is where the
grandson of Ambrose. Marvel Mills,
raised all his children and George
Mills. Marvel's youngest son. raised
his children there." said Eloise Camp.
After the Civil War and the death of
his wife, the former Ella Boylston,
George sold the house to a cousin.
Nisbet Mills. Nisbet lived there until
he died, according to Lily Taylor, his
great grand-daughter. He was the last
of the Ambrose descendants to occupy
the old home.
Building Seven Hearths
In 1934. when this house was near
ruins in Mills Spring. Dorothy and Ar¬
thur Brintnal, antique dealers from
Chicago, decided that it could be re¬
claimed and restored. They bought the
house and had it moved piece by piece
to Tryon. There were thirty-five truck
loads. Every piece was numbered and
the rebuilding methods were much the
same as in the beginning. The Brint-
nals restored the original elegance to
THE STATE. NOVEMBER 1974