Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
NameNelson Merrell MILLS 
Removal1925, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California7497 Age: 14
Memomoved to 725 Winthrop Road
Removal1947, San Marino, Los Angeles, California Age: 36
Memomoved from 725 Winthrop Road to 1525 Oak Grove Ave (the Eckart house)
Retirement19723236 Age: 61
Death22 Dec 1983, Palm Springs, Riverside, California1166 Age: 73
Education1AB, Political Science, Stanford University, 1931 (Zeta Psi)4695
ResidenceCleveland, OH; Santa Cruz, South Pasadena (1934), San Marino, Palm Desert, CA7440
FatherDavid Williams MILLS , 1661 (1879-1957)
MotherMaud Mitchell MERRELL (1881-1937)
Individual Notes
• He [David Williams Mills] was married in 1909 to Miss Maud Merrell, of Detroit, and they have one son, Nelson.50
• …Nelson Merrell Mills, formerly of Santa Cruz and now of South Pasadena.
Mr. Mills, the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Mills, lived in this city with his parents about five years before leaving for South Pasadena where he is connected with the Standard Oil Company. He is a graduate of Stanford university.
[Note: the connection with Standard Oil was as a gas station attendant]7440
• Purchased house at 725 Winthrop Road, San Marino by April 1, 1935.6720
• SAN MARINO HOME WINS DISTINCTION
[photo caption] This home at 725 Winthrop Road, San Marino, was selected by the editors of a national magazine for its distinction in design. The residence was bought by Nelson Mills.7156
• Nelson Mills Heads Pacific Outdoor
The Board of Directors of Pacific Outdoor Advertising Co., Los Angeles, today announced the election of Nelson Mills as president of the firm, effective July 1, 1949.
A graduate of Stanford University, Mills previously was executive vice president and general manager, and has been with the company 14 years serving in all phases of the business.
The new executive succeeds Hal W. Brown, who continues as chairman of the board.7157
• Nelson’s Best Man and lifelong friend was Don Wright, who rose to be Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1970, and subsequently had many run-ins with Jerry Brown, when he was Governor of California. Don served from 1973 to 1980. Don graduated from Stanford in 1929, Harvard Law School, practiced law in Pasadena, California, was appointed to the Municipal Bench in Pasadena, Superior Court in Los Angeles, where he became Presiding Judge, then was appointed to the California Court of Appeals, before being named Chief Justice - which came as a complete surprise.
Source: Recollections of DWM, 8/20/95
See also2228 Hon. Donald Richard WRIGHT
• Upon Harriet’s death, [Nelson] sold the Eckart house in San Marino (at 1525 Oak Grove Avenue) in 1967. Nelson and young Don moved to an apartment on Orange Grove in Pasadena, and lived there until his wedding to Virgie Houseman.7377
• Dad requested that Gretchen and I arrange for his wedding to Virgie Houseman be conducted in a chapel. He indicated this was important to him.
• Dear Nelson
Many thanks for the penny. I have put it in my savings. In return I am sending you a good luck dime.
Love, Grandpa3369
• Former long-time San Marino resident Nelson Merrell Mills died Dec. 22 in Palm Desert, following a lengthy illness.
Mills, born in Cleveland in 1910, was a graduate of Stanford University.
He married his first wife, Harriet, in 1934, and they resided in San Marino until her death in 1966.
Before retiring in 1972, Mills had been president of Pacific Outdoor Advertising for 19 years.
He was a past president of Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena and Marrakesh Golf Club in Palm Desert and a member of Zeta Psi fraternity and Rotary International.3236
• …Nelson Merrell Mills, formerly of Santa Cruz and now of South Pasadena.
Mr. Mills, the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Mills, lived in this city with his parents about five years before leaving for South Pasadena where he is connected with the Standard Oil Company. He is a graduate of Stanford university.
[Note: the connection with Standard Oil was as a gas station attendant]7440
• Purchased house at 725 Winthrop Road, San Marino by April 1, 1935.6720
• SAN MARINO HOME WINS DISTINCTION
[photo caption] This home at 725 Winthrop Road, San Marino, was selected by the editors of a national magazine for its distinction in design. The residence was bought by Nelson Mills.7156
• Nelson Mills Heads Pacific Outdoor
The Board of Directors of Pacific Outdoor Advertising Co., Los Angeles, today announced the election of Nelson Mills as president of the firm, effective July 1, 1949.
A graduate of Stanford University, Mills previously was executive vice president and general manager, and has been with the company 14 years serving in all phases of the business.
The new executive succeeds Hal W. Brown, who continues as chairman of the board.7157
• Nelson’s Best Man and lifelong friend was Don Wright, who rose to be Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1970, and subsequently had many run-ins with Jerry Brown, when he was Governor of California. Don served from 1973 to 1980. Don graduated from Stanford in 1929, Harvard Law School, practiced law in Pasadena, California, was appointed to the Municipal Bench in Pasadena, Superior Court in Los Angeles, where he became Presiding Judge, then was appointed to the California Court of Appeals, before being named Chief Justice - which came as a complete surprise.
Source: Recollections of DWM, 8/20/95
See also2228 Hon. Donald Richard WRIGHT
• Upon Harriet’s death, [Nelson] sold the Eckart house in San Marino (at 1525 Oak Grove Avenue) in 1967. Nelson and young Don moved to an apartment on Orange Grove in Pasadena, and lived there until his wedding to Virgie Houseman.7377
• Dad requested that Gretchen and I arrange for his wedding to Virgie Houseman be conducted in a chapel. He indicated this was important to him.
• Dear Nelson
Many thanks for the penny. I have put it in my savings. In return I am sending you a good luck dime.
Love, Grandpa3369
• Former long-time San Marino resident Nelson Merrell Mills died Dec. 22 in Palm Desert, following a lengthy illness.
Mills, born in Cleveland in 1910, was a graduate of Stanford University.
He married his first wife, Harriet, in 1934, and they resided in San Marino until her death in 1966.
Before retiring in 1972, Mills had been president of Pacific Outdoor Advertising for 19 years.
He was a past president of Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena and Marrakesh Golf Club in Palm Desert and a member of Zeta Psi fraternity and Rotary International.3236
Census
• 1910 Census: East Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Age 3/12ths, b OH. Father b MI; mother b IN.1772
• 1920 Census: Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Age 9, b OH. Father b MI; mother b OH [sic].1781
• 1930 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 20, b OH. Student. Father b MI; mother b IN. Living with parents.3619
• 1940 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 30, b OH. Salesman, Outdoor Advertising. Same house for 5 years.6720
• 1950 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 40, b OH. President, Advertising.7781
• 1920 Census: Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Age 9, b OH. Father b MI; mother b OH [sic].1781
• 1930 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 20, b OH. Student. Father b MI; mother b IN. Living with parents.3619
• 1940 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 30, b OH. Salesman, Outdoor Advertising. Same house for 5 years.6720
• 1950 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 40, b OH. President, Advertising.7781
Directories
• City of San Marino, California
1936: 725 Winthrop Rd, slsmn Sou Calif Tel Co (Pasa)…CO 15226717
1949: 1525 Oak Grove Ave.6303
1950: Mills, Nelson (Harriet E) pres Pac Outdoor Adv Co (L A), h 1525 Oak Grove Av....SY 2-18466303
1936: 725 Winthrop Rd, slsmn Sou Calif Tel Co (Pasa)…CO 15226717
1949: 1525 Oak Grove Ave.6303
1950: Mills, Nelson (Harriet E) pres Pac Outdoor Adv Co (L A), h 1525 Oak Grove Av....SY 2-18466303
Spouses
Baptism16 Mar 1912, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California366 Age: <1
Removal1927, San Marino, Los Angeles, California171 Age: 15
Burial13 Jan 1967, Cypress Lawn Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo, California31
Memoashes
Education1graduate Castilleja School, Palo Alto, California; 7 Jun 19275254
ResidencePalo Alto; San Marino, California
FlagsMayflower Descendant
FatherWilliam Rankine ECKART (1873-1958)
MotherAmy Estelle WALTER (1872-1955)
Individual Notes
• Named “after her grandmother” Harriet Louise Gorham Eckart. Born at 1125 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, California.365
• October 14th, 1911: Went to Berkeley to visit her Great Grandfather Gorham. [Charles Miner Gorham]365
• Flower girl at marriage of Lester Warren Lewis and Alice Miriam Harrier, 22 Nov 1916, Stanford Memorial Church.969
• At 1921 Thanksgiving dinner, 3014 Clay Street, San Francisco.172
• Harriet Eckart To Marry Soon
San Marino Girl Engaged to N. M. Mills
San Francisco and peninsula society circles learned last night of the engagement of Miss Harriet Louise Eckart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William R. Eckart of San Marino, to Nelson M. Mills of Los Angeles. Announcement was made at the prospective bride’s home in San Marino.
Miss Eckart, granddaughter of the late William R. Eckart, noted engineer and a pioneer Californian, was prominent in San Francisco society while an undergraduate of Stanford, where her father was professor of engineering. She graduated in 1931 and moved with her parents to San Marino when her father became associated with a Pasadena engineering firm.
Mr. Mills, also a 1931 Stanford graduate, is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. David Mills, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio.
The bride-to-be was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority during her collegiate career and Mr. Mills was affiliated with Zeta Psi fraternity.
Miss Eckart is a lineal and collateral descendant of numerous well-known Californians. Nelson Eckart, chief engineer of the San Francisco Water Department, is an uncle. Another uncle, Charles Eckart of Piedmont, is identified with the sugar importing industry.
The late George C. Gorham, noted journalist of the late eighties, was a relative of the bride-to-be’s family.
A date for the wedding has not been set.149
• Engagement of Miss Harriet Louise Eckart, San Marino society girl, well known in Peninsula circles, to Nelson M Mills of Los Angeles, was learned today.
Miss Eckart is the daughter of Mr and Mrs. William R Eckart of San Marino, and a granddaughter of the late William R Eckart, noted engineer and a pioneer Californian. She was prominent in local society while an undergraduate at Stanford, where her father was former professor of engineering. Mills, also a Stanford graduate, is the son of Mr and Mrs David Mills, formerly of Cleveland, O.7650
• Stanford University
Office of the President
16 Oct ‘33
Dear Harriet:
Through the newspapers I learn of your engagement to Mr. Nelson Mills. I want to send you my heartiest good wishes and to tell you that I have always tried to more or less of an eye on you and your activities. I am glad to see that you are going right ahead with normal plans.
Please give my kindest regards to your mother and father.
Faithfully yours,
Roy Lyman Wilbur6702
• I will send you a few letters, some you can keep - others return please - I hope Harriet Louise will care someday.
How strange it seems for me to find in you, my niece, a nearness I cannot get from my own dear child. I am sure when I am gone it will be you that Harriet Louise will turn to. When her family is raised, when the demand on her time is less, she will have time to think and it may be that she will be interested in all these little events I am writing you.6
• [excerpts] California and fiestas go together, so Circle D of the Florence Crittenden Home is giving a Mexican party with a fiesta theme. Mrs. Nelson Merrell Mills is opening her home at 1525 Oak Grove Ave. in San Marino the evening of Sept. 30 for cocktails and a dinner/dance. Proceeds will go to the Florence Crittenden Home.8430
• She was able to feel Margaret kicking in Gretchen’s womb a few days before her death.
• Memorial Service, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale; 19 Dec 1966.
Inurnment, Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Northern California.5721
• October 14th, 1911: Went to Berkeley to visit her Great Grandfather Gorham. [Charles Miner Gorham]365
• Flower girl at marriage of Lester Warren Lewis and Alice Miriam Harrier, 22 Nov 1916, Stanford Memorial Church.969
• At 1921 Thanksgiving dinner, 3014 Clay Street, San Francisco.172
• Harriet Eckart To Marry Soon
San Marino Girl Engaged to N. M. Mills
San Francisco and peninsula society circles learned last night of the engagement of Miss Harriet Louise Eckart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William R. Eckart of San Marino, to Nelson M. Mills of Los Angeles. Announcement was made at the prospective bride’s home in San Marino.
Miss Eckart, granddaughter of the late William R. Eckart, noted engineer and a pioneer Californian, was prominent in San Francisco society while an undergraduate of Stanford, where her father was professor of engineering. She graduated in 1931 and moved with her parents to San Marino when her father became associated with a Pasadena engineering firm.
Mr. Mills, also a 1931 Stanford graduate, is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. David Mills, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio.
The bride-to-be was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority during her collegiate career and Mr. Mills was affiliated with Zeta Psi fraternity.
Miss Eckart is a lineal and collateral descendant of numerous well-known Californians. Nelson Eckart, chief engineer of the San Francisco Water Department, is an uncle. Another uncle, Charles Eckart of Piedmont, is identified with the sugar importing industry.
The late George C. Gorham, noted journalist of the late eighties, was a relative of the bride-to-be’s family.
A date for the wedding has not been set.149
• Engagement of Miss Harriet Louise Eckart, San Marino society girl, well known in Peninsula circles, to Nelson M Mills of Los Angeles, was learned today.
Miss Eckart is the daughter of Mr and Mrs. William R Eckart of San Marino, and a granddaughter of the late William R Eckart, noted engineer and a pioneer Californian. She was prominent in local society while an undergraduate at Stanford, where her father was former professor of engineering. Mills, also a Stanford graduate, is the son of Mr and Mrs David Mills, formerly of Cleveland, O.7650
• Stanford University
Office of the President
16 Oct ‘33
Dear Harriet:
Through the newspapers I learn of your engagement to Mr. Nelson Mills. I want to send you my heartiest good wishes and to tell you that I have always tried to more or less of an eye on you and your activities. I am glad to see that you are going right ahead with normal plans.
Please give my kindest regards to your mother and father.
Faithfully yours,
Roy Lyman Wilbur6702
• I will send you a few letters, some you can keep - others return please - I hope Harriet Louise will care someday.
How strange it seems for me to find in you, my niece, a nearness I cannot get from my own dear child. I am sure when I am gone it will be you that Harriet Louise will turn to. When her family is raised, when the demand on her time is less, she will have time to think and it may be that she will be interested in all these little events I am writing you.6
• [excerpts] California and fiestas go together, so Circle D of the Florence Crittenden Home is giving a Mexican party with a fiesta theme. Mrs. Nelson Merrell Mills is opening her home at 1525 Oak Grove Ave. in San Marino the evening of Sept. 30 for cocktails and a dinner/dance. Proceeds will go to the Florence Crittenden Home.8430
• She was able to feel Margaret kicking in Gretchen’s womb a few days before her death.
• Memorial Service, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Glendale; 19 Dec 1966.
Inurnment, Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Northern California.5721
Census
• 1920 Census: Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California. Age 8, b CA. Parents b CA.1782
• 1930 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 19, b CA. Parents b CA.3620
• 1940 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 29, b CA. [Supplement] Parents b CA. Age 23 at 1st marriage. Mother of 2 children.6720
• 1950 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 39, b CA.7781
• 1930 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 19, b CA. Parents b CA.3620
• 1940 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 29, b CA. [Supplement] Parents b CA. Age 23 at 1st marriage. Mother of 2 children.6720
• 1950 Census: San Marino, Los Angeles, California. Age 39, b CA.7781
Directories
• Palo Alto, CA, 1917/18
p 82: Eckart, Mrs. [sic] Harriet. L., 1145 Bryant3350
p 82: Eckart, Mrs. [sic] Harriet. L., 1145 Bryant3350
Marriage Notes
• At the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Miss Harriet Eckart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Eckart, became the bride last Saturday of Nelson Merrill [sic] Mills, son of Mr. and Mrs. D. W. Mills.
For the ceremony the bride wore a brown ensemble of sheer wool trimmed with mole. She had brown accessories and her corsage was of white orchids. Miss Winifred Rule served as maid of honor in a green frock with brown accessories. Donald Wright was best man and the ushers were Harry Hillman Jr., Charles Hanna Jr., Thomas Cooper and Richard Sims.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Mills are graduates of Stanford University where the bride was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and her husband was affiliated with Zeta Psi.4009
• Immediately after the church ceremony, the wedding guests, numbering nearly a hundred, were welcomed to a reception in the garden of the bride’s parents in San Marino, where groups of oleander bushes and white baskets of bridal flower displays served to enhance the setting.4009
For the ceremony the bride wore a brown ensemble of sheer wool trimmed with mole. She had brown accessories and her corsage was of white orchids. Miss Winifred Rule served as maid of honor in a green frock with brown accessories. Donald Wright was best man and the ushers were Harry Hillman Jr., Charles Hanna Jr., Thomas Cooper and Richard Sims.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Mills are graduates of Stanford University where the bride was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and her husband was affiliated with Zeta Psi.4009
• Immediately after the church ceremony, the wedding guests, numbering nearly a hundred, were welcomed to a reception in the garden of the bride’s parents in San Marino, where groups of oleander bushes and white baskets of bridal flower displays served to enhance the setting.4009
Death19 Nov 1997, Palm Desert, Riverside, California4241 Age: 86
MemoPalm Desert from personal knowledge of DWM
Cremation22 Nov 1997, Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena, Los Angeles, California Age: 86
MemoPersonal knowledge of DWM
FatherReuben Smith ISENHOWER (1879-1952)
MotherWilly Clyde MAJOR (1888-1956)
Individual Notes
• When my mother divorced my father, I was 11 years old. I chose to take my stepfather’s name and was known thereafter as Virgie Lee Cross.2010
• 4th Cousin, twice removed of Pres. Dwight David Eisenhower.
• 4th Cousin, twice removed of Pres. Dwight David Eisenhower.
Census
• 1920 Census: Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan. Age 8, b IL. Father b MO; mother b KS.5723
• 1930 Census: Highland Park, Lake, Illinois. Age 18, b IL. Father b Canada-English; mother b KS.4787
• 1930 Census: Highland Park, Lake, Illinois. Age 18, b IL. Father b Canada-English; mother b KS.4787
Marriage30 Mar 1968, South Pasadena, Los Angeles, California
Marr MemoRedwood Chapel, Oneonta Congregational Church
No Children