Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
NameRebecca HOLMES 
Birthabt 1739, Bedford?, Westchester, New York35
BurialHarrison’s Hill Burial Ground, Southampton, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada7615
FlagsBrick Wall
FatherJohn HOLMES (~1697-<1763)
MotherJemima BEECHER (1698->1763)
Individual Notes
• It is possible that James Holmes’ sisters Rebecca and Sarah were the wives of our David and John Mills of NS. Here are some interesting connections:
1. James Holmes like David and John Mills was a loyalist and went to NS after the Revolution (although James Holmes returned to Bedford.) (David Mills son George stayed in Bedford until after 1790.)
2 James Holmes was the Lieutenant of the Company at Ticonderoga during the F&I War. Peter Mills, David’s brother served in that company and died that year. (Probably killed in battle at Ticonderoga while serving under James Holmes.)
3. The name Dorcas is significant. None of the sisters of David Mills’s Holmes or Mills ancestors were named Dorcas. So his daughter Dorcas was probably named from his wife Rebecca’s side. Rebecca Holmes’s sister was named Dorcas. This is not a common name.
4. Rebecca and Sarah Holmes, sisters of James Holmes, are the right age range and the Bedford Genealogies do not give their husband’s names.
5. If Rebecca and Sarah were sisters, that would help explain the closeness of the families in NS since John and David Mills were apparently quite distantly related.
6. John Mills lived in Norwalk Conn and David Mills in Bedford before the Revolution. It is not known if there were any connections between their families there, but there easily could have been. James Holmes’s mother was born in New Haven and James Holmes himself retired there during the last part of his life.
7. It seems probable that David Mills’ wife Rebecca might have had strong loyalist ties. David Mills himself did not serve in the Revolution on either side. (Some of his uncles and cousins were active Patriots while his brother Reuben was apparently a Loyalist soldier.) He was able to sell his land in Bedford in 1791. What made him go to NS in 1785?
8. The fact that David Mills and Rebecca Holmes were 2nd cousins (And Jesse Mills and Martha Mills would be 1st cousins) helps rather than argues against the hypotheses since such marriages were very common in the Bedford Genealogies.
Of course this hardly proves the hypotheses that Rebecca and Sarah Holmes were the wives of David and John Mills. But the clues are very strong, and they give a strong reason to conduct any possible further research that might relate to this family. I would be interested in any details or scraps which either confirmed or contradicted this idea, or leads on the investigation of the Holmes Family. I noticed that in the BEDFORD GENEALOGIES Bibliography, Ronald B Reynolds of Katonah NY had a MMS collection relating to Holmes, Miller, Renolds and Seely Families. (I am also researching Millers and Seelys) I would like to see that but do not know about disturbing private persons.
Dennis Kenaga1089
1. James Holmes like David and John Mills was a loyalist and went to NS after the Revolution (although James Holmes returned to Bedford.) (David Mills son George stayed in Bedford until after 1790.)
2 James Holmes was the Lieutenant of the Company at Ticonderoga during the F&I War. Peter Mills, David’s brother served in that company and died that year. (Probably killed in battle at Ticonderoga while serving under James Holmes.)
3. The name Dorcas is significant. None of the sisters of David Mills’s Holmes or Mills ancestors were named Dorcas. So his daughter Dorcas was probably named from his wife Rebecca’s side. Rebecca Holmes’s sister was named Dorcas. This is not a common name.
4. Rebecca and Sarah Holmes, sisters of James Holmes, are the right age range and the Bedford Genealogies do not give their husband’s names.
5. If Rebecca and Sarah were sisters, that would help explain the closeness of the families in NS since John and David Mills were apparently quite distantly related.
6. John Mills lived in Norwalk Conn and David Mills in Bedford before the Revolution. It is not known if there were any connections between their families there, but there easily could have been. James Holmes’s mother was born in New Haven and James Holmes himself retired there during the last part of his life.
7. It seems probable that David Mills’ wife Rebecca might have had strong loyalist ties. David Mills himself did not serve in the Revolution on either side. (Some of his uncles and cousins were active Patriots while his brother Reuben was apparently a Loyalist soldier.) He was able to sell his land in Bedford in 1791. What made him go to NS in 1785?
8. The fact that David Mills and Rebecca Holmes were 2nd cousins (And Jesse Mills and Martha Mills would be 1st cousins) helps rather than argues against the hypotheses since such marriages were very common in the Bedford Genealogies.
Of course this hardly proves the hypotheses that Rebecca and Sarah Holmes were the wives of David and John Mills. But the clues are very strong, and they give a strong reason to conduct any possible further research that might relate to this family. I would be interested in any details or scraps which either confirmed or contradicted this idea, or leads on the investigation of the Holmes Family. I noticed that in the BEDFORD GENEALOGIES Bibliography, Ronald B Reynolds of Katonah NY had a MMS collection relating to Holmes, Miller, Renolds and Seely Families. (I am also researching Millers and Seelys) I would like to see that but do not know about disturbing private persons.
Dennis Kenaga1089
Research
• Gives her parents as Nathaniel Holmes & Rebecca Goodwill.8372
Spouses
1David MILLS 1821, 183
1821, 183MemoFt. Cumberland
BurialHarrison’s Hill Burial Ground, Southampton, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada7615
Residence“of Franchlin Manor, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia”1090
FlagsLegatee in Will
FatherGeorge MILLS , 84 (~1702-<1758)
MotherMary HOLMES (1705->1759)
Individual Notes
• Included as “Yeoman” in 1763 list of Freeholders in Westchester County.874
• MILLS, DAVID
Of Westchester County, New York. Mills had 100 acres. He apparently was living in Cumberland, Nova Scotia in 1786. Mills enumerated his loss at £350 New York.1085
• In September, 1783, arrangements having been made by the British Government to convey a large number of those who were loyal to the British Crown (later known as United Empire Loyalists) from New York to Nova Scotia, and among them most of the Mills families, who came from Westchester County and other localities along the Hudson in New York State. Having had all their property confiscated, the Loyalists arrived at Saint John, N. B., and other ports, in a destitute condition and were provided for by the British Government.
In May, 1784, John Mills and David Mills, with their wives and most of their children, came from Saint John to Barronsfield, in the County of Cumberland, Nova Scotia, now known as the Joggins and Minudie district.
David Mills apparently lived for some time at Barronsfield, or Franklyn Manor, as that district was sometimes called. At a later date we find that his sons acquired land at Southampton along the Athol River, (probably should be Maccan River), where David Mills afterward lived during the remainder of his lifetime. He died at Southampton, but the date of his death is not recorded. His wife died there 1st August, 1808, and they were probably buried in the Southampton Cemetery at Harrison's Hill.98
• Mills, David. Loyalist; Cumberland Co. 1784 (391:43).3212
• Granted 500 acres in 1785 at Cobequid Road; from Westchester, N. Y.789,1089,1090,1816
• Abstract of Bill of Sale
DAVID MILLS of Barrons Field, Prov. Halifax, & wife REBECCA
Sold to Lemuel Light of Bedford, Westchester, N.Y., for £100, N. Y. money, Aug. 2, 1791
“Two certain tracts...in...Bedford...874
• Although David Mills submitted a claim in 1786 in NS for losses in Westchester County, he sold property in Bedford in 1791, probably by means of his oldest son George who left NY for NS shortly thereafter. But it is also probable that David Mills did lose other property in Westchester. The map of Bedford prepared for the American army by Robert Erskine before the burning of the town shows David Mills’s mill.1816
• See David Mills and John Mills of Cumberland Co., Nova Scotia, circa 1784 for discussion of possible relationship of David and John.1829
• Loyalist. Listed as West Chester Loyalist in 1783 papers of Gilbert Totten. The West Chester Loyalists was composed of men who had fled their homes. It was a loyalist regiment operating from the New York City area during the Revolution. Colonel James Delancey commanded them throughout most of the war.
When the British army evacuated New York City, the West Chester Refugees were transported to Nova Scotia. About 500 Westchester Loyalists left New York City in June 1783.The transport ship “Thetis” landed about 195 men, women and children at Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, that July. Other ships followed.7606
• In his will, dated 1 Nov 1815, he mentions his sons Ruben, Peter, Stephen and Nathan Mills; and his daughters, Martha Mills, Abigail Hoeg, Charlotte Harrison and Dorcas Gilroy.7697
• MILLS, DAVID
Of Westchester County, New York. Mills had 100 acres. He apparently was living in Cumberland, Nova Scotia in 1786. Mills enumerated his loss at £350 New York.1085
• In September, 1783, arrangements having been made by the British Government to convey a large number of those who were loyal to the British Crown (later known as United Empire Loyalists) from New York to Nova Scotia, and among them most of the Mills families, who came from Westchester County and other localities along the Hudson in New York State. Having had all their property confiscated, the Loyalists arrived at Saint John, N. B., and other ports, in a destitute condition and were provided for by the British Government.
In May, 1784, John Mills and David Mills, with their wives and most of their children, came from Saint John to Barronsfield, in the County of Cumberland, Nova Scotia, now known as the Joggins and Minudie district.
David Mills apparently lived for some time at Barronsfield, or Franklyn Manor, as that district was sometimes called. At a later date we find that his sons acquired land at Southampton along the Athol River, (probably should be Maccan River), where David Mills afterward lived during the remainder of his lifetime. He died at Southampton, but the date of his death is not recorded. His wife died there 1st August, 1808, and they were probably buried in the Southampton Cemetery at Harrison's Hill.98
• Mills, David. Loyalist; Cumberland Co. 1784 (391:43).3212
• Granted 500 acres in 1785 at Cobequid Road; from Westchester, N. Y.789,1089,1090,1816
• Abstract of Bill of Sale
DAVID MILLS of Barrons Field, Prov. Halifax, & wife REBECCA
Sold to Lemuel Light of Bedford, Westchester, N.Y., for £100, N. Y. money, Aug. 2, 1791
“Two certain tracts...in...Bedford...874
• Although David Mills submitted a claim in 1786 in NS for losses in Westchester County, he sold property in Bedford in 1791, probably by means of his oldest son George who left NY for NS shortly thereafter. But it is also probable that David Mills did lose other property in Westchester. The map of Bedford prepared for the American army by Robert Erskine before the burning of the town shows David Mills’s mill.1816
• See David Mills and John Mills of Cumberland Co., Nova Scotia, circa 1784 for discussion of possible relationship of David and John.1829
• Loyalist. Listed as West Chester Loyalist in 1783 papers of Gilbert Totten. The West Chester Loyalists was composed of men who had fled their homes. It was a loyalist regiment operating from the New York City area during the Revolution. Colonel James Delancey commanded them throughout most of the war.
When the British army evacuated New York City, the West Chester Refugees were transported to Nova Scotia. About 500 Westchester Loyalists left New York City in June 1783.The transport ship “Thetis” landed about 195 men, women and children at Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, that July. Other ships followed.7606
• In his will, dated 1 Nov 1815, he mentions his sons Ruben, Peter, Stephen and Nathan Mills; and his daughters, Martha Mills, Abigail Hoeg, Charlotte Harrison and Dorcas Gilroy.7697
Census
• 1793 Census: District of Rivers Macan, Nappan and Hebert, Nova Scotia.1544
General
• A party of the enemy, denominated “Cow Boys” (Refugees) had destroyed his stores. He solicited some men from the Light Infantry, to endeavour to capture some of the gang whom he was personally acquainted with, who belonged to, or were often at Westchester, a village near King’s bridge. Accordingly, a captain and two subaltern officers, and about eighty men (of which I was one) was sent from our regiment, then lying at a village called Bedford, to his assistance. We marched from our camp in the dusk of the evening, and continued our march all night. We heard repeatedly, during the night, the Tories firing on our sentrys that belonged to the horse guards, who were stationed on the lines near the enemy. This was often practised by those villains, not only upon the Cavalry but the infantry also, when they thought they could do it with impunity.6577
• [excerpts] In “The Loyalists of New Brunswick,” Esther C. Wright says that the West Chester Loyalists were settled at Cobequid and Remsheg (Wallace), and “West Chester Loyalists” was just another name for “Delancey’s Refugees.”
What this means for Cumberland County, NS, Mills genealogy is quite clear and should suggest some new avenues of research. David, Jesse, Reuben, Samuel and Nathaniel were listed as West Chester Loyalists in 1783 papers of Gilbert Totten.
The WCL was composed of men who had fled their homes. To the Mills it means they fled Bedford, NY, and Stamford, CT, during the war to live at West Chester and Morrisania.
The West Chester Refugees were a loyalist regiment operating from the British-held New York City area during the Revolution. They are neither a traditional British regiment, nor a motley group of militiamen, but the 18th century equivalent of a guerrilla battalion. Colonel James Delancey commanded them throughout most of the war. His West Chester Loyalists were refugees from the surrounding counties, who had fled the rebels’ retribution. He and his Corps were thoroughly detested by their rebellious neighbors, and rightly so, for they were a formidable force.
When the British army evacuated New York City, the West Chester Refugees were transported to Nova Scotia. About 500 Westchester Loyalists left New York City in June 1783. The transport ship “Thetis” landed about 195 men, women and children at Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, that July. Other ships followed. In October of 1784, “W. C. Loyalist” Captain Gilbert Totten, acting as land grant agent for the Corps to Governor Parr, enumerated 182 men, 98 women and 247 children of the Westchester Loyalists at Ft. Cumberland.
Those at Ft. Cumberland included Captains Barnes Hatfield, Samuel Kipp, Moses Knapp, Gideon Palmer, Henry Purdy, Gilbert Totten and Frederick Williams, as well as a smattering of lieutenants and ensigns. Included in this list were six Ackelys, including Isaac, Jr., six Fowlers, five Mills, six Piers, four Pugsleys, seven Purdys, six Tidds and six Tottens with most listing wives and children.
The West Chester Refugees had lost all. Their rich farms in the lower Hudson Valley of New York were seized by the U.S. and sold. In return the Crown granted the Refugees tracts of wilderness and swamp at the head of the Bay of Fundy in a land they called “Nova Scarcity.”1824
• [excerpts] In “The Loyalists of New Brunswick,” Esther C. Wright says that the West Chester Loyalists were settled at Cobequid and Remsheg (Wallace), and “West Chester Loyalists” was just another name for “Delancey’s Refugees.”
What this means for Cumberland County, NS, Mills genealogy is quite clear and should suggest some new avenues of research. David, Jesse, Reuben, Samuel and Nathaniel were listed as West Chester Loyalists in 1783 papers of Gilbert Totten.
The WCL was composed of men who had fled their homes. To the Mills it means they fled Bedford, NY, and Stamford, CT, during the war to live at West Chester and Morrisania.
The West Chester Refugees were a loyalist regiment operating from the British-held New York City area during the Revolution. They are neither a traditional British regiment, nor a motley group of militiamen, but the 18th century equivalent of a guerrilla battalion. Colonel James Delancey commanded them throughout most of the war. His West Chester Loyalists were refugees from the surrounding counties, who had fled the rebels’ retribution. He and his Corps were thoroughly detested by their rebellious neighbors, and rightly so, for they were a formidable force.
When the British army evacuated New York City, the West Chester Refugees were transported to Nova Scotia. About 500 Westchester Loyalists left New York City in June 1783. The transport ship “Thetis” landed about 195 men, women and children at Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, that July. Other ships followed. In October of 1784, “W. C. Loyalist” Captain Gilbert Totten, acting as land grant agent for the Corps to Governor Parr, enumerated 182 men, 98 women and 247 children of the Westchester Loyalists at Ft. Cumberland.
Those at Ft. Cumberland included Captains Barnes Hatfield, Samuel Kipp, Moses Knapp, Gideon Palmer, Henry Purdy, Gilbert Totten and Frederick Williams, as well as a smattering of lieutenants and ensigns. Included in this list were six Ackelys, including Isaac, Jr., six Fowlers, five Mills, six Piers, four Pugsleys, seven Purdys, six Tidds and six Tottens with most listing wives and children.
The West Chester Refugees had lost all. Their rich farms in the lower Hudson Valley of New York were seized by the U.S. and sold. In return the Crown granted the Refugees tracts of wilderness and swamp at the head of the Bay of Fundy in a land they called “Nova Scarcity.”1824
Research
• Unproven that wife Rebecca is Rebecca HOLMES; parents could be John Holmes, b abt 1697, and Jemima Beecher.35 See discussion by Dennis Kenaga.1089
MarriageBedford, Westchester, New York7615