Person:Stephen Mills (6)

"Ellen Lott Mills, mother of Annie, Abe and Stephen, was born in New York on December 12, 1802, of Dutch descent. She married Abraham Mills in December 1839, a fairly wealthy lumber mill and retail storeowner. She was devoutly religious and instilled this devotion to her daughter, Annie. After her husband’s death in 1848, Ellen continued to live in Jamaica, New York, spending time with her son, Abe, in Washington D.C. and New York City. She died March 11, 1883.

Stephen Lott Mills, born in New York 1847, can be considered a drifter. He lived in New York; Washington D. C.; Chicago; Omaha; San Francisco; Osawatomie, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Montana, much of the time employed by various railroads. He was married to Lulu Shankland in 1888, who had been reared by her uncle, S. T. Shankland, an executive with the Missouri Pacific Railway Lines. Together they had 1 son, Samuel, and 3 daughters, Lucy, Elizabeth and Grace. Religious differences between Lulu’s tyrannical uncle and caused Steve and Lulu to separate in 1900. She remained in Osawatomie, managing rental properties and raising their children, while Steve moved to Chicago. Stephen left Chicago in the spring of 1906 to seek his fortune in Central America, visiting Ecuador before settling in Panama. He died of yellow fever while working on the Panama Canal in 1906." {South Dakota State Archives, <http://www.sdhistory.org/arc/mss/jmhanson/_private/familymembers.htm>}