The Mills family photograph album consists of approximately 200 images and 6 loose photographs documenting a trip to London, Ontario, as well as the daily life of a well-to-do family in Marysville, Michigan.
The album (28 x 38 cm) has leather covers with the stamped initials “HEM” of the compiler Hannah Elizabeth Mills. Contents include photographs of the Marysville “Lower Mill,” residences belonging to Hannah’s brother Myron, numerous portraits of people including Hannah's youngest sister Hally, two photographs of Hally from when she had diphtheria in 1891, “Hal” in a darkroom likely in the Mills family home, people playing tennis, the Mills family cemetery plot, views of a trip to Stag Island, Ontario, an apparently ill person lying on a cot, and several views documenting a trip to what may be a relative’s home in London, Ontario. Also present are images from a winter "In the Lumber Woods, 1891", an excursion to Niagara Falls in 1894, the town of Pinckney, Michigan, following a tornado, and wedding gifts for Mary Margaret Mills and Walter Jasperson Hopkins.
Hannah Elizabeth Mills (1872-1935) was one of seven children born in Marysville, Michigan, to Nelson and Mary Jerralds Mills. Hannah attended Somerville, a school for girls, in the late 1880s. In 1907 she married Dr. William James, who became involved with the Nelson Mills estate. After her husband’s death in 1926, Hannah moved to Glendale in Los Angeles, California, to live with her sister Emeline.
The Mills family played a prominent role in the development of the Marysville area. The town was originally called Vicksburg after originating around a sawmill known as Vickery’s Landing established by Edward P. Vickery in 1854. Later on that same year, Nelson Mills and his son Myron purchased the mill with Nathan Reeves. In 1859, Vicksburg was renamed Marysville in honor of Nelson’s wife and in 1862 he became the sole owner of the mill. Nelson went on to establish several other mills in the area as well as a general store, which greatly enhanced the wealth of the Mills family.
