Robert Mills Biographical Sketch Part 1

Robert Mills, early Texas merchant, cotton commission agent, and banker,
son of Adam and Janet (Graham) Mills, was born in Todd County, Kentucky,
on March 9, 1809. He attended Cumberland College) in 1826–27. He opened
a plantation in Madison Parish, Louisiana, but abandoned it when it was
devastated by a flood. In 1830 he moved to Brazoria, Texas, where he joined
an older brother, Andrew G. Mills, who had begun trading supplies for
cotton and pelts in 1827. Robert became known as the "duke of Brazoria"
because of his possessions.

Robert and Andrew both fought in the battle of Velasco in 1832, and Robert
was in the Brazoria County delegation to the Convention of 1833 in San
Felipe. He provided use of a schooner to the Republic of Texas in 1836,
helped finance the Texas Navy, and supplied blankets, clothing, lead, and
other essentials for troops on credit. He married Elizabeth McNeel,
daughter of John McNeel, on January 26, 1836. Elizabeth died in the
childbirth along with their infant in 1837. Robert Mills never remarried.
Robert became a partner in Mills, McDowell, and Company of New York and
McDowell, Mills, and Company of New Orleans in 1850. His ships
transported Texas sugar and cotton to all parts of the world.

One of the few descriptions of Robert Mills is given by William Pitt Ballinger,
a prominent lawyer from Galveston with close ties to Brazoria County: “An
afternoon tea with the “urbane Robert Mills” meant “fine talk of homes,
books and trade” and often playing dominoes until dinner time and even on
into the evening.”

Mills was reputed to be one of the wealthiest men in Texas and possibly in
the entire South. His large, plantation-style home in Galveston stood on ten
acres. In 1852 two of the Mills' plantations produced more sugar than any
other in Texas. By 1860 the brothers cultivated approximately 3,300 acres
on their four Brazoria County sugar and cotton plantations.

The following resources were used in creating this sketch of Robert Mills:

Texas State Historical Society:

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmi39
Bynum Plantation: http://lifeonthebrazosriver.com/Bynum-Plantation.pdf