One who gave his life

Front matter

Class __Bd70__ Book ■ --

CQEOilGHT OEPOSm

War Letters of Lieutenant Quincy Sharpe Mills

Foreword

Many persons have contributed information and, some, personal narratives or appreciations to this memoir of the career of Quincy Sharpe Mills. To all, the author offers his heartfelt thanks. In general, specific mention is made of the contributors in the appropriate places.

In addition, thanks are due to Mr. Frank A. Munsey, at present the proprietor of The {Evening) Sun, for his kind permission to reprint editorials and other articles by Quincy Sharpe Mills, and matter referring to his career.

Vli

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. — A Month of Tragic Waiting and its Climax — Tribute and Inspiration — Traditions OF an American Southern Family — The Spirit of Liberty in Old Days . . 3

11. — The Civil War and its Aftermath of Gloom — Tonic Influences of an ex-Confederate Home — A Picturesque Boy and his Quaint Surroundings— Evolution of an Ideal 40

Chapter I

A Month of Tragic Waiting and its Climax — Tribute and Inspiration — Traditions of an American Southern Family — The Spirit OF Liberty in Old Days.

In the mid-summer of 191 8 — that summer of universal dread — there came weeks of anguished waiting to a small family group and of mournful expectation to a large circle of friends. At last, on September 4, The Evening Sun of New York printed the following editorial :

QuiNCY S. Mills

The worst fears are now confirmed regarding the fate of Lieutenant Quincy S. Mills of the i68th Infantry. He was killed in battle near lEpieds, between Chateau-Thierry and F^re-en-Tardenois, on July 26, the date from which he was reported as missing in the War Department Casualty bulletins. He was buried by Chaplain Robb of the i68th Infantry, and his resting place is marked and known.

His was a glorious end. He died not merely for his country but for mankind, for all the things that other men live for and will live for during countless generations. In one sense his fate is only an item in an epoch of tragedy and his sacrifice but a mite in a world of heroism. But to him and his friends the tragedy and the sacrifice were and are immense because they are total. He gave all that man can give and those who loved him suffer utter bereavement which throbs in their souls with a pain that no faith can dull and no pride can compensate.

We single out this instance from the congeries of cruelties that is the life of today not because it is exceptional but because it is typical. And its phases of pain and pride come home to us with an intimate appeal. Mills was an editorial writer on The Evening Sun down to the day when he laid down his pen and took up the sword. He was a man of unusual qualities and promise, just ripening into the fulness of his powers. He held a serious attitude toward life. He was a conscientious student of public questions. He had high standards of honor and duty and an admirable gift of expression.

The field of journalism held a successful future for him, or he might have made his way and done good service in politics, towards which he had a natural bent. Prosperity and happiness seemed assured to him, when in common with so many other young Americans he gave up all for an ideal. Now night has closed over his hopes and his prospects, so far as this earth is concerned; but we cannot believe that such a spirit is altogether extinguished.

This book is written in the same spirit as the above article. Quincy Sharpe Mills was a young American of Southern birth, descent and tradition. He possessed remarkable natural gifts; he had an excellent training for his lif ework ; he was just gaining clear consciousness and full command of his powers ; he had a career of usefulness and distinction before him as certain as anything can be in life.

He was of cheerful temperament and courageous outlook; he expected to do much work in the world, to do it well and to reap the reward in personal success. The future seemed bright for him in his own eyes as well as in the estimation of his friends.

The Star of Sacrifice 5

But at an early day in the progress of the Great War, the star of duty and sacrifice rose on his horizon and its white gleam pierced his soul. From that time it was never obscured in his vision. No matter what other light dazzled or attracted him, that one purest ray wooed him on. He foresaw the entry of America into the struggle for freedom and humanity and he devoted himself to a share in his country's battle, regardless of the cost in hopes or in dreams.

He did not speak much about it, he made no great display of his purpose; but he was quietly resolute and resolutely practical. He entered at once upon a course of preparation for the work that he saw ahead. When the call came, although well above the obligatory age, he at once volunteered for the fighting line. He toiled his way into the army with a commission ; he went to France with his regiment and there won the affection and respect of his brother officers and the hearts of his men; he was on the verge of promotion when death came to him in battle in the very act of exposing himself for the sake of others. Such was the climax to a career which combined an admirable simplicity with exaltation of pitch and amplitude of tone. Its sequel so far as he is concerned belongs to the realm of faith; but all higher instinct forbids us to doubt that his spirit rose out of the storm of combat through some gateway of new and fair opportunity. All that is left to those who loved him, here on earth, is a treasure of memories and a small legacy of the first fruits of his expanding powers.

This volume is planned to give definite form and longer duration to these memories and these relics. It is, in the first place, a tribute of appreciation and love. Many hearts, many minds and many pens have contributed to it besides his own. Many who knew him have united in the passionate wish that his figure should not fade altogether out of the eyes of living men nor his spirit out of their recognition.

But their desire that he should not be forgotten for his own sake and on his own account is not the sole impulse that has prompted this compilation. It is believed that in the life of Mills as citizen and soldier the image of young American manhood as it shone in the days of crisis and consecration is typified. In its earnest endeavor, in its bountiful promise and in its maimed and untimely end; in its rich store of human interests — friendship, love, work, pleasure, trial, hope — and in the generous and willing sacrifice of these in response to a noble sentiment, his all too short life cannot fail, his friends believe, to afford some inspiration to others in the future to whom the challenge of fate and of duty may come hand in hand.

In the very limitation of his career, in the very fact that his supreme decision robbed him of the time in which to do all the other brave deeds and to pursue all the other useful purposes of which he was capable, some young men yet to live may find a light cast upon their way. They may see how tragedy when illumined by high principle can glorify thoughts that had hardly taken form and works only begun in outline. The lesson Mills taught, all unconsciously — for it never occurred to him that he was doing anything unusually fine; the way of duty, especially of public duty was to him the obvious, the only way — the lesson of his life is that there is a success higher than success itself and a recompense more to be prized than prosperity or happiness.

How he reached this higher achievement and earned this better reward, it is the purpose of the succeeding pages to show. They will present him to the reader as he was. In many of them he will speak for himself, especially in his letters after he entered the army. The outline of his family history and the remembrances of associates of

Millses and Sharpes 7

his early life and comrades of his years of work in the newspaper field will show how he came to be what he was, clear-eyed, right-minded and strong-hearted, full of the enjoyment of life and eager for its prizes but willing to give up all for an ideal.

It will be seen that he fully understood the mortal risk that he incurred when he chose active service in the field. There is a final letter in which, as one might say, he seems to feel the great shadow already falling upon him. But he faced the danger cheerfully, even gaily, and his last word is a challenge to the hearts most in unison with his own to share his exaltation because he had done the one greatest thing a man can do and shared in the sublimest impulse that has thrilled the civilized world in a hundred years.

There was a blending of strains in Quincy Sharpe Mills which could not fail to produce a character compacted of strength and human sympathy. Through the family history there rings a note of sturdy romance. The record is in effect the history of the Old North State. From the wild days of settlement down the patriarchal years of slavery, through the desperate strain of civil war and in the cheerless twilight of reconstruction, the Millses and the Sharpes were always vivid figures in the life of their day.

The Mills family came to America from England at a very early period, and, long before the Revolution, had established a homestead, Mills's Point, on Chaptico Bay, four miles from the town of Chaptico, Maryland. Unfortunately the exact date of the migration and the founding of the house cannot be given. The family records, brought to North Carolina by Quincy 's great-great-grandfather Charles Nathaniel Mills — of whom more hereafter — and all the early correspondence between the Carolinian and Maryland branches of the family were destroyed by fire. But the house was built somewhere between 1620 and 1660. It is still in existence and is owned by a distant relative. The locality, which is the western part of St. Mary County, itself the most southern promontory of the state, lying between the Potomac and the Patuxent rivers, gives ample evidence in place names of the prevalence of the Millses. Near Mills's Point are Mills 's End and Mills 's Run — also Cook 's Hope — all homes belonging to the family and some ten miles south of Chaptico is Millstown, a considerable village.

Practically all the settlers in this region were English Episcopalians of High Church tendencies. They were large slave owners, and planters on an extensive scale. They developed and maintained that type of patriarchal aristocracy which was so characteristic of the entire South before the Civil War. Mills's Point was only forty miles distant from Mount Vernon and there was an acquaintance between the owners which was cultivated by frequent exchange of visits.

The War of the Revolution found Mills's Point in the possession of Quincy's great-great-great-grandfather, John Mills, through whose wife, Elizabeth Rial, daughter of Admiral Rial of Marseilles, France, a strain of Gallic blood was introduced into the family. John Mills was the father of five sons, including John Mills, Jr., and Quincy's great-great-grandfather, Charles Nathaniel, who was born at Mills's Point on January 12, 1758. It was an incident of the Revolution in which these two figured that caused the removal of a branch of the family to North Carolina. The elder John Mills served as a captain under Washington in the Continental army. He was accompanied by his son John Mills, Jr., who was an ensign in the regiment with his father. Together they took part in the fighting around New York, and later John Mills, Jr., served with the rank of captain under General Nathaniel

A Mills Migration 9

Greene in the Will-o-the-Wisp game which that able soldier played with Cornwallis from January 24, 1781, a week after the battle of the Cowpens, to March 15th, the date of the fight at Guilford Court House. This curious speed contest between the opposed armies had its course in part through the section of North Carolina lying between the Catawba and Yadkin rivers.

The weather was very bad throughout that wild March. It rained almost continuously, flooding all the streams, a circumstance which was highly favorable to the patriotic commander's strategy though not calculated to charm the soldiers or to render the country attractive in their eyes. Prayerful thanks are still offered up by the people of that country for the fortunate downpour which helped in the ruin of the British army, but the men in the ranks and the company officers must often have said left-handed prayers as they squashed over the soggy roads while rivulets trickled down their backs. Yet, through the dismal conditions, one man saw the possibilities of the region. Captain John Mills observed the fertility of the soil and noted the abundance of game. The picture remained in his mind as of a good place to live in, a place to develop and to grow rich with.

When the war was over and the great prize of freedom won, and he returned to Mills's Point, he told his neighbors about it. He praised it so convincingly that the curiosity and the enterprise of his younger brother, Charles Nathaniel Mills, were awakened. Charles started an agitation among his friends which caused the migration in 1794 of ten or twelve families, including his own, to what is now the southern part of Iredell County, North Carolina. Charles Nathaniel Mills took with him his wife — also named Elizabeth Rial and his first cousin, whom he had married on January 17, 1779 — several children and a number of slaves. Among the names of families accompanying him are found Turner, Barber, Burrus, Alexander, Cook, Poston and Reeves. All these are extant in Iredell County, North Carolina, to-day, among the numerous descendants of the original settlers. An Episcopal clergyman, the Rev. Hatch Dent, a relative of the Mills and Turner families, went with the Marylanders to their new home and remained for a year.

Charles Nathaniel Mills and his son William, who was born in Maryland, November 7, 1784, revisited the old home in 1799. They were about to visit, also, their distinguished neighbor at Mount Vernon when the news of Washington's death was brought to them. This was the last recorded pilgrimage of the North Carolina branch to the original Mills settlement. The first John Mills had died shortly before and Charles Nathaniel took back to Iredell County several slaves as his share of the inheritance. The party of migrants which went over from Maryland to the hilly section of western North Carolina brought a new element into the population of the region. They were all faithful Church of England communicants and they were the first settlers of that persuasion to penetrate so far west, although there was already a considerable population. It would seem that they must have regarded themselves as an oasis of orthodoxy in a waste of nonconformity, for all around and about them to the east, west, north and south, stretching far down into South Carolina, there was a numerous settlement of Scotch- Irish Presbyterians. Charles Nathaniel Mills, the leading spirit of the expedition, was, as has been indicated, the great-great-grandfather of QuincySharpe Mills. From among the Scotch-Irish population living all about came the latter's ancestors on his mother's side.

It is unnecessary here to tell in any detail the story of the Scotch-Irish immigration to America or to descant upon the type of men and women who took part in it.

The Sharpe Tradition 1 1

Only so much need be said as will illustrate the influence of the strain upon the character and temperament of their descendant who is here commemorated. Very full notes on the family history have been furnished by Quincy Mills's mother, Mrs. Nannie Sharpe Mills, and the matter which follows is derived from these in combination with other sources.

The Sharpe family to which she belonged departed from the north of Ireland among the thousands of refugees who came to America in the early part of the eighteenth century in search of liberty of conscience, freedom from oppressive taxation and release from restriction of their industry. The tradition of the Sharpes down to the present day is that they, Scotch Covenanters, were twice driven from their homes by religious persecution. The first time, they moved from Ayrshire, Scotland, to Ulster on that account. Again, in 1704, an Act of Parliament required all public officials in Ireland to take the Sacrament according to the rites of the Established Church. Presbyterian magistrates and other public servants were removed from office in the Ulster counties which had been ' ' planted ' ' with Scotch settlers. Presbyterians were disciplined for being married by their own ministers. Presbyterian schoolmasters were imprisoned and the doors of their houses of worship nailed up. The raising of cattle for the English markets was first suppressed and then the exportation of woolen goods, which had become a great Ulster interest.

The resulting emigration to America began in 1698, when, it is estimated 200,000 people came over. By the time of the Revolution the Scotch-Irish settlers numbered in the neighborhood of 400,000. Many states received their quota, but the group that interests us here came in early in the seventeen-hundreds. Large numbers who refused to take the test oath imposed in 1704 landed at

New Castle, Delaware, then a part of Pennsylvania. While the bulk of the later immigrants went westward, this earlier group passed into Maryland and formed a fringe of settlement along the eastern coast of Chesapeake Bay which came to be known as ' * The Cradle of American Presbyterianism." The religious toleration of Lord Baltimore, the Catholic governor, attracted these refugees. Only later when a more bigoted regime set in did they join their brethren in the southward and westward movement.

Among these early comers was Thomas Sharp, first of the name in the American line. He arrived some years prior to 171 8, but the exact date is unknown. No list of the incomers was kept until 1724; in fact no accurate record was ever made. He was among those who, having first choice, took up the desirable lands near the head of Chesapeake Bay. He was the great-great-great-grandfather of Quincy Sharpe Mills on his mother's side. His will which is dated January 9, 1747, describes him as "of Cecil County in the province of Maryland, Yeoman." It disposes of what must have been a goodly estate at that time. One third of all his movable estate is left to his wife, Isabella, absolutely, with a life interest in one third of his real estate. Sums ranging from sixty to twenty pounds, and totaling three hundred pounds, go to his five sons, two daughters and two sons-in-law. There must, in view of the bequest to the widow, have been a substantial residual estate, but no specific disposal is made of it.

Thomas Sharp, Sr., must have been a highly successful yeoman and colonist. His plantation, "Sharp's Industry," embraced 640 acres of land near Fair Hill, Cecil County, Maryland; it was in the section where the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland was in bitter dispute until the Mason and Dixon line was established in 1767. He built on his land a large dwelling of stone which remained in existence until a few years ago. There is extant

Prosperity in Iredell 13

sufficient evidence of his prominence in the community. There being need of a new Presbyterian church in or near Cecil County in 1720, the prehminary steps were taken toward the organization of the Rock Church, one of the landmarks of Colonial piety. Sharp was active in the founding of it. A list of Elders given in the history of the congregation by the Reverend J. H. Johns, published in 1872, shows that he was chosen Commissioner June 28, 1720, and later an Elder. The first home of the church, a log building, was at the Old Stone Graveyard near Lewisville, Pennsylvania. The second church, of stone, erected in 1741, was at Sharp's Graveyard near Fair Hill. The graveyard was a tract of land donated by the Elder about the time of the founding of the church.

Thomas Sharp died in 1 749. The successor to his honors and the bulk of his estate was Thomas Sharp, Jr., who was an Elder of the Rock Church for more than thirty years. His will, made in October 1785, like his father's, distributes a healthy estate in land, cash and slaves among his progeny. He was twice married and had thirteen children, twelve of whom survived him. He died November 1 1 , 1 785, and lies buried in Sharp's Graveyard. The inscription on his tombstone is still plainly visible. His eldest son, William, was the first of the family to settle in North Carolina ; his will shows that four other sons were also living in that state at the time of his death. Four of these, William, Joseph, James and John, founded homes in Iredell County and all were Revolutionary soldiers, Joseph serving through the struggle with the rank of captain. Amos, the second son of Thomas, Jr., and Mary McFerren, his second wife, seems to have held a high place in his esteem. He makes special provision for the boy to remain at school for the purpose of securing a liberal education. Amos was the great-grandfather of Quincy Sharpe Mills.

William, the eldest son and Quincy's great -grand-uncle,

H One Who Gave His Life

is spoken of in Wheeler's History of North Carolina as "a distinguished patriot of the Revolution who early threw into that dangerous and dubious conflict, 'his life, his fortune and his sacred honor.' He was a member from Rowan County of two state congresses in 1775, and again in 1776 when the State Constitution was framed." He served as aide-de-camp to General Rutherford in 1776 in the campaign against the Cherokee Indians; and Quincy's great-great-grandfather, William McKee, was also a member of this expedition. William Sharpe became a member of the Continental Congress in 1779 and served until 1782. He died in 1818, leaving twelve children. Nothing in his career was more noteworthy than his letter to Governor Alexander Martin of North Carolina, by which, under date of Salem, November 26, 1781, he retired into private life. This is what he wrote :

I beg leave through your excellency to acquaint the legislature with the lively sense I entertain of the honor which they have been pleased to confer by their electing me three successive years to be one of their representatives in Congress.

Such repeated instances of the confidence of my country is very flattering and demands my unfeigned thanks. Conscious of my own inability, it was with great reluctance and with great diffidence that I engaged in the arduous task. I take the liberty to assure that honorable assembly that although I have not executed the trust reposed in me according to my wishes, yet I have done it to the utmost of my abilities. If I have at any time erred, I trust the candor of my country will ascribe it to the true cause, and not to any defection of my heart.

The obligations I am under to my numerous family, the deranged condition of my estate, which four years ago was very moderate and now much diminished by my long application to public business, are among the many reasons which induce me to resign my seat in Congress. At the first period of this

Militant Ancestors 15

great Revolution I took an active part. I have now seen, and, as far as in my power, assisted my country through her greatest struggle, and her most critical situation. The prospect of Independence, peace and happiness to our great republic brightens every day; therefore, none can imagine that I have taken this step and retired to private life from any unworthy motive.

Amos Sharpe, bom in 1769 and therefore too young to aid in the struggle for independence, joined his four brothers in Iredell County after the Revolution. There, in 1797, he married Mary Andrew, only child of Hugh and Rebecca Blair Andrew. In two important respects he followed the example of his Maryland forefathers — he became the father of a large family, eight sons and two daughters, and he was for years an Elder in the Presbyterian church. He was not unmindful of his military duty, for he served as major in the home guard of his section. In the early days this organization was of vital importance in the defence of the frontiers. He died at his home, not many miles from Statesville, on March 9, 1837. The youngest of his ten children, Leander Quincy Sharpe, bom in 1816, was the grandfather of Quincy Sharpe Mills.

Hugh Andrew, bom in 1754, was first an Orange County colonist. He there joined in the "Regulator" uprising against unjust taxation by Governor Tryon, and took part in May, 1771, in the battle of Alamance, which might really be termed the first armed clash of the Revolution. Many of the Regulators lost their lives in this unsuccessful stand against oppression, and the survivors escaped to the frontier to elude Tryon 's vengeance. Andrew, in company with one of the Alamance leaders, James Hunter, called the "General" of the Regulators, went to Iredell, then part of Rowan County. Hunter, a man of means, influence and ability, had been outlawed for his activities, and after the Alamance affair a reward of a thousand pounds and a thousand acres of land was offered for his delivery, "dead or alive." He was never taken, however, and died forty-four years later as a result of over-exertion in celebrating Jackson's victory over the British at New Orleans/ During the early part of the Revolution, Andrew served one campaign with Captain Hugh Hall. He was then, with Hunter, James Young and four associates, sent to Young's Fort to manufacture gunpowder for the army. This was a particularly dangerous assignment, for the Tories made every effort to destroy the fort and the men engaged in the essential task. Afterwards, Andrew returned to active service and fought in the battle of Cowpens, From this field he brought away a souvenir in the shape of an English gun barrel which was fashioned into a poker for the six-foot fireplace of the hall of his home. Hugh Andrew was as Scotch in character as in name; he was strong-willed, grimly humorous, a firm friend, a bitter foe, a faithful member of the Presbyterian church and actively interested in the educational advancement of his community. His long and useful life ended on his plantation north of Statesville on July 6, 1846, in his ninetysecond year.

The group of Scotch-Irish immigrants to which Hugh Andrew belonged came to America some years after the arrival of the Sharps, The first comers having occupied the available lands near the coast, the succeeding waves, including the McKees, McKnights, Blairs, Andrews, Simontons, McHenrys, Caldwells and Waddells, all families whose blood was blended in Quincy Mills's mother, had to go further west into Pennsylvania for homes. As their numbers grew, they spread farther and farther, passing southward along the valley of Virginia to Piedmont

>= See The Life and Times of James Hunter, an address delivered by Major J. M, Morehead on July 3, 1897, at the Guilford Battleground Annual Celebration.

Enter the McKees 17

North Carolina, and on into South Carolina and Georgia. First they settled in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, then they spread into Rowan and Iredell, carrying their racial strength, their religious bent and their enthusiasm for freedom with them. Among their number was William McKee, great-grandfather of Mrs. Mills, who joined kindred and friends in what is now Iredell County but was then still, and for long years after, the western frontier of the state.

The McKees, Ulster Scots from the County Down, left Ireland for America about 1 735. They were staunch Presbyterians, and descendants of one of the defenders of Londonderry who had "acquitted himself with great gallantry and suffered patiently the horrors of that awful siege." The McKees established themselves in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, and two of the family took part in the ill-fated Braddock expedition of 1755. Later, three of the pioneer McKee brothers, William, Robert and John, removed to the Valley of Virginia where they prospered greatly. Another brother, James McKee, great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Mills, remained permanently in Lancaster, bought land there and also acquired property in the Tuscarora Settlement in western Pennsylvania and in North Carolina. At his death his son Robert inherited the Lancaster estate; another son, John, received the Tuscarora land, and his widow, Margaret McKee, with her daughters, sons-in-law and young son William went down to the North Carolina plantation, the deed to which is dated in 1752. Three years after this date, in 1755, and slightly more than two miles to the west of the McKee land. Fort Dobbs was built as a border defence against the Indians.

Meanwhile another wave of Scotch-Irish colonization had rolled in by way of Charleston, South Carolina, and one stream from it had turned westward and northward to the frontier in this same Iredell region, where its people mingled with their brethren, the pioneers from Pennsylvania and Maryland. Naturally, any line of cleavage speedily disappeared. All were of one race, one creed and one type. Presently all the colonists were so blended by intermarriages that kinship is almost universal among their descendants.