The Mills Family 
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Thomas and Mary Mills had ten children born on PEI, all of whom
were baptized at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown.
The maiden name of Thomas’s wife Mary is not known, nor is the
date of their marriage. In the 1891 census, Thomas’ place of
birth is listed as the West Indies. Thomas’ grand daughter,
Hattie Mills Clyke, daughter of Albert and Mary Agnes,
recalled that her grandfather Thomas “came off a molasses
boat from Barbados.”
The first documentation of the Mills family in PEI was in the St. Peter’s Anglican church records where Thomas and Mary’s first child, William, was baptized in 1876. In the 1881 census, Thomas is listed as a “servant,” and in 1901, as a “Coachman.” Thomas lived in Charlottetown until his death in 1927 when he was seventy-eight years of age.
In the 1891 census return, there was another Black Mills family living in PEI. Alonzo Mills, aged 30, lived in Charlottetown and worked as a “Laborer.” Alonzo, (born 1861), his wife Eliza (1863), and children John (1872), Bertie (1874), Jane (1876) and Gertrude’s (1879) only appearance is in the 1891 census. There is no other documentation of this family on PEI.
There are many similarities between the families of Thomas and Alonzo Mills, who could very well have been brothers. Born within eleven years of each other, both were listed as having been born in the West Indies and both families were Anglican. Their first born sons were called John and the name “Gertrude” appears in both family’s daughter’s names.
Of John and Mary’s children, one moved to Nova Scotia and only two (John and Albert) remained on PEI. The rest of the children are unaccounted for. Between John and Albert, there were ten descendants born on the Island. Descendants of John and Mary Mills still live on the Island today, the Mills name is not visible within the Black community on PEI.
Surnames appearing within the descendants of Thomas and Mary Mills:
The first documentation of the Mills family in PEI was in the St. Peter’s Anglican church records where Thomas and Mary’s first child, William, was baptized in 1876. In the 1881 census, Thomas is listed as a “servant,” and in 1901, as a “Coachman.” Thomas lived in Charlottetown until his death in 1927 when he was seventy-eight years of age.
In the 1891 census return, there was another Black Mills family living in PEI. Alonzo Mills, aged 30, lived in Charlottetown and worked as a “Laborer.” Alonzo, (born 1861), his wife Eliza (1863), and children John (1872), Bertie (1874), Jane (1876) and Gertrude’s (1879) only appearance is in the 1891 census. There is no other documentation of this family on PEI.
There are many similarities between the families of Thomas and Alonzo Mills, who could very well have been brothers. Born within eleven years of each other, both were listed as having been born in the West Indies and both families were Anglican. Their first born sons were called John and the name “Gertrude” appears in both family’s daughter’s names.
Of John and Mary’s children, one moved to Nova Scotia and only two (John and Albert) remained on PEI. The rest of the children are unaccounted for. Between John and Albert, there were ten descendants born on the Island. Descendants of John and Mary Mills still live on the Island today, the Mills name is not visible within the Black community on PEI.
Surnames appearing within the descendants of Thomas and Mary Mills:
- Clyke
- Gallant
- Martin
- MacDonald
- Ryan
- Stewart