John Harrison Mills
{{short description|American poet}}
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File:JohnHarrisonMillscirca1915.jpg
John Harrison Mills (January 11, 1842 – October 23, 1916) was an American artist, businessman and philanthropist who worked in Buffalo, New York, and in Colorado. While he considered himself to be foremost a painter, he also worked in sculpture, sketches, poetry and other writings. His primary occupation was an engraver, making illustrations for publications of the day. He was a partner in a lithography business and an engraving/publishing business, and founded a shipping company for artists.
As a young man, Mills was badly injured in the Second Battle of Bull Run, and he was involved with veterans' groups for the rest of his life, primarily the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). He was a member of numerous artists' groups, some of which he founded, and he arranged exhibitions and taught art classes. In his later life, Mills became a supporter of the emerging Baháʼí Faith which he helped to establish in Buffalo.
Mills's artworks are known for capturing the time in which he lived. His work depicts the US Civil War and its lasting effects, wilderness landscapes, portraiture, and life scenes. He won a few prizes for his art, pieces of which are in the collections of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, and the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy.
Early life and education
File:BowmansvillerelativetoBuffalo1855.jpg
John Harrison Mills was born January 11, 1842, in the hamlet of Bowmansville, New York. He was the first son of Aaron P. Mills{{cite web
| title =One Funeral Makes Another;Buffalo Civil War Round Table |author=Benedict R. Maryniak
| url =https://www.buffaloah.com/h/linc/linc.html
| website =Lancaster Historical Society
| date =2020
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020}}{{cite news
| title =This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =14
| date = 27 Oct 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41664479/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020 }} and Abigail, both from Otsego County. They were a farming family, which grew with children Daniel W., Elvira,{{cite web
| title =John H Mills United States Census
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCY4-WWD
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =1850
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}} and Aaron T. (born {{circa|1852}}).{{cite web
| title =John H Mills New York State Census
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K63T-B68
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =1855
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}} All the children worked on the farm{{rp|p1}} and were raised with a Baptist sensibility of serious-mindedness.{{rp|p3}}
As a child, Mills was known to mold with clay. Early biographer Benedict R. Maryniak wrote:{{blockquote|Long before he could read and write to a teacher's satisfaction, [he] would return from the field and use charred wood to scratch out pictures of things he'd seen. Clay turned up by his plow would be molded info figures of barnyard animals ... people instantly recognized the things he had shaped and sketched.{{rp|p3}} }}
Abigail had died by late 1855. In 1857, at age 15, Mills moved to Buffalo to become an artist. Maryniak believed Mills's father endorsed this as a step towards developing business sense.{{rp|p3}} Mills became an apprentice bank-note engraver to Jack Jamison,{{rp|p3}} but suffered eye strain. He then took up marble work with sculptor William Lautz and painting with Lars Gustaf Sellstedt and, with encouragement from William H. Beard, began doing portraits.{{rp|p3}}{{cite book|author=Lee M. Edwards|title=Domestic Bliss: Family Life in American Painting, 1840–1910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7cwfZ1q_qEC&pg=PA74 |year=1986|publisher=Hudson River Museum|pages=74–|id=GGKEY:RGJYX4BZ64G}} At age 17, Mills painted a portrait of his father.{{rp|p3}} He camped along the Niagara River 1859–1860 and sold paintings.{{rp|pp3,79}} That year in the fall he was noted as a member of the Nameless Club and had given a talk.{{cite journal
| last =Olmsted
| first = John B.
| journal = Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society |title=Josephys Nelson Larned
| volume =19 |editor=Frank H. Severance
| date = 1915
| page =7
| url =https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027562357&view=1up&seq=35
| oclc = 755039818}}{{explain|date=January 2020}}
By December 1860, Mills had rented rooms for a studio in Buffalo,{{cite news
| title =Going to Buffalo
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =8 Dec 1860
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42365427/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_young/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }} in the Weed Block building.{{cite web
| title =The Buffalo You Should Know: Grover Cleveland was here|author= Steve Cichon
| url =http://blog.buffalostories.com/tag/weed-block/
| publisher = Buffalo Stories Archives & Blog
| date =2020
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020}}
War experience
After the April 1861 Battle of Fort Sumter, Mills enlisted for the Union in the Civil War,{{cite news
| title = Names of the volunteers
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =16 Apr 1861
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42365568/2_john_h_mills_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020}} aged 19.{{cite book|author=John Harrison Mills|title=Chronicles of the Twenty-first Regiment New York State Volunteers|url=https://archive.org/details/chroniclestwent02millgoog|year=1887|publisher=21st Reg't. Veteran Association of Buffalo|oclc=1041815042}}{{rp|p354}} On May 8, he mustered out with the 21st New York Volunteer Infantry,{{rp|p5}} which joined the Army of the Potomac for the duration of the war.{{cite web
| title =Battle Unit Details; Union nes York Volunteers; 21st Regiment, New York Infantry
| url =https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UNY0021RI
| publisher =National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
| date = 2020
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }} By May 21, they had established "Camp Buffalo" and then "Fort Buffalo" at Washington, DC.{{rp|p5}} Mills carried out the record keeping of the regiment in the early days of their deployment.{{rp|p5}} He also painted some portraits of soldiers and camps.{{rp|p84}} They took part in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, during which Mills was a private of Company D.{{cite web
| title =Soldier: Mills, John H.
| url =https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=DFFC5CBB-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A
| publisher =National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
| date =2020
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020}}{{cite web
| title = John H. Mills United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861–1865
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSMW-Z26
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =1861
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}
He next fought on August 30, 1862, in the Second Battle of Bull Run. He later recorded personal details of the battle in his Chronicles.{{cite news
| title =This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author=Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =12
| date =31 Oct 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42344665/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}File:Battles and leaders of the Civil War - being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon "The Century war series." (1887) (14576024500).jpg
{{blockquote|we feel the pounding breath of batteries, grape and canister sweep broad gaps in our little line, and it melts like the first snow of winter before this awful wind of bullets.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} }}
Mills's company began to engage in hand-to-hand combat at the front line when he was struck down,{{cite news
| title =This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =14
| date =2 Nov 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41678092/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2010 }} and evacuated by ambulance as a retreat was called. One report stated that his leg had been shattered, and Mills later called it a knee injury, but it was a bullet lodged through the front of his pelvis which was removed from the back side.{{rp|p48}} "They cut where I told them and when they pulled it out the suction made a noise... a sort of whistle that I will never forget."{{rp|p48}} Some reports were that he nearly died and Mills gained the title "the name who would not die". He was registered as totally disabled.{{rp|p354}}
Mills spent four months recovering and made some drawings which he sold on return to Buffalo.{{rp|p48}} While convalescing, he began the work that led to the Chronicles of the 21st Regiment.{{cite news
| title =This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =6
| date =28 Oct 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41677699/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}} He also visited the old Smithsonian Institution during this time and saw George Catlin's Indian and war paintings.{{cite news
| title =This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =8
| date =7 Nov 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41679226/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }}{{rp|p48}} Mills was discharged December 22, 1862,{{rp|p354}} and filed paperwork for his military pension, marked as an invalid.{{cite web
| title =John H Mills United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVNS-YTLP
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =1862
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}
Artistic career
= Establishment =
Mills returned to Buffalo and wrote his first notable work, Chronicles of the 21st Regiment of New York. The first edition was published in six parts, from August 1863{{cite news
| title =Chronicles of the Twenty-First Regiment
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date = 19 Aug 1863
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41655103/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
to July 1866.{{cite news
| title =July 23d, 1866 – fifty years ago today |author= Grace Carew Sheldon| author-link = Grace Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =16
| date =23 Jul 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41682415/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}
Some of the writing was delayed due to complications from his injury{{cite news
| title =Mr. John H. Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening Post
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date = 28 Nov 1863
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42366990/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020}}
and a further serious illness.{{cite news
| title =This day in Buffalo's history – fifty years ago today |author= Grace Carew Sheldon| author-link = Grace Carew Sheldon
| newspaper = The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date =24 Feb 1914
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41663936/50_yrs_ago_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}
During this time, Mills continued to paint and was awarded a bronze medal from the New York State Agricultural Society for a painting of a bull.{{rp|p49}}
File:JohnHarrisonMillscirca1865.jpg
The funeral train of Abraham Lincoln came to Buffalo on April 27, 1865. Mills was an honor guard for the coffin in St. James Hall, despite looking out of place due to his disability and his hair being in the long fashion of an artist rather than a soldier. For two hours while a reception area was being finished, Mills was allowed to sketch Lincoln. From these he made a bust{{cite news
| title = This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =14
| date =10 Nov 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41680386/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }}
of plaster about ten inches tall. Some gray-tinted copies were made,{{cite news
| title ='News' story recalls missing Lincoln bust
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =11
| date =3 May 1915
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41655713/letter_to_editor_byabout_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020 }} which were mass reproduced in the fall of 1865.{{rp|p49}} In 1865, Mills was described by the president of the Buffalo Nameless Club (of which he had been a member for more than five years) as "equally at home in sculpture, poesy, and painting. His bust of Abraham Lincoln, his poem of 'Booths', and twin pictures 'A dream of life' each are master pieces of conception and composition."{{cite journal
| last =Severance
| first = Frank Hayward
| author-link = Frank Hayward Severance
| title = (Revised) Random notes on the authors of Buffalo; Paper read before the society March 18 and April 15, 1889/1896
| journal = Cornell Library New York State Historical Literature
| volume =4
| pages =353, 364–5
| publisher =Buffalo Historical Society | location =Buffalo, NY
| date =1993 |orig-year=1896
| url =https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924067077317&view=1up&seq=17
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}
In 1867, Mills sketched scenes of the Angola Horror railroad disaster for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.{{cite book|author=Charity Vogel|title=The Angola Horror: The 1867 Train Wreck That Shocked the Nation and Transformed American Railroads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MVB_AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT189 |date=15 August 2013|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-6975-6|page=189}}{{cite news
| title =Scenes and incidents of the railroad disaster at Angola, NY – Sketched by our Special Artist, Mr. J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Frank Leslie's Weekly
| date =January 11, 1868
| url =https://www.accessible.com/accessible/print?AADocList=1&AADocStyle=&AAStyleFile=&AABeanName=toc1&AANextPage=/printFullDocFromXML.jsp&AACheck=1.33.1.1.1
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }}
In 1869, Mills became a partner in a lithography business.{{cite news
| title =Notice of Copartnership
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date =8 Jan 1869
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41655216/lithograph_business_by_later_bahai/
| access-date =Jan 2, 2020}}
From 1869 to 1872, Mills was on the staff of the Buffalo Morning Express, starting as a copy reader and rising to assistant editor under Samuel Clemens.{{rp|p50}} For a time Mills was responsible for converting drawings into wood-stock for printing,{{cite book|author=Thomas J. Reigstad|title=Scribblin' for a Livin': Mark Twain's Pivotal Period in Buffalo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdTUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT10|date=19 March 2013|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=978-1-61614-592-7}}{{rp|p49}} and he reworked Clemen's illustrations for a Buffalo Express series of articles spoofing coverage of a tightrope walker crossing Niagara Falls.{{rp|pp69,213–9}} During this time, Mills and Clemens were both members of the "Nameless Club" of war veterans.{{cite news
| title = Clubs of…
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =7
| date =27 Nov 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42509606/background_of_nameless_club_later/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}{{rp|p50}} By December 1869, Mills was an elected senior vice-commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans' association of Post Chaplin in Buffalo.{{cite news
| title =G. A. R.
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date =18 Dec 1869
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41655370/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_in_gar/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }} File:City of Buffalo.jpg
Mills had married Henrietta Fell, a Canadian, on August 25, 1865.* {{cite web
| title = Henrietta F. Mills New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795–1949
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24M7-P6S
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =9 Sep 1924
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}
- {{cite book
|author=Sarah M. Fell
| title =Genealogy of the Fell Family in America descended by James Wilkins Fell
| publisher =An Association of the Fell Family
| date = 1891
| pages =199–200
| url =http://kinzers.com/don/genealogy/Genealogy-of-the-Fell-Family-in-America.pdf}} Their first child, Harrison Winthrop, was born {{circa| 1867}}, followed by Margaret Elvira about a year later.{{cite web
| title = J H Mills United States Census
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFDD-M9T
| website =FamilySearch.prg
| date =1880
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}{{rp|p49}}
Another daughter Bertha was born in 1869 but died after a few months.{{rp|p49}} The family lived in the home of Henrietta's father, a civil engineer.* {{cite web
| title =John H Mills United States Census
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8NM-DZT
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =1870
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}
- {{cite web
| title =Henrietta Mills United States Census
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8NM-DZY
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =1870
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}
and in summer 1872,{{cite news
| title =Mr. J. Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =6 Jul 1872
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41668272/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_gone/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }}
due to concerns for her health, the family moved{{rp|p57}}
to Colorado, where Mills's brother Aaron{{cite news
| title = A. T. Mills, Texas pioneer engraver, dies at age of 72
| newspaper =San Antonio Light
| location = San Antonio, TX
| page =29
| date =Mar 28, 1924
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1432DBB4AA9B7B12%40GB3NEWS-171DE19DC91FD36C%402423873-171DD769F011A992%4028-171DD769F011A992%40
}}{{subscription required}}{{cite news
| title =Denver Gossip; The Mills Engraving and Publishing…
| newspaper =Colorado Daily Chieftain
| location = Pueblo, CO
| page =2
| date =June 15, 1882
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CFT18820615-01.2.6
| access-date =Jan 21, 2020 }}
had an engraving company.See entries Mills, J. Harrison and longer Mills, John Harrison – {{cite book
| last = Bromwell
| first =Henrietta E.
| author-link =Henrietta Bromwell
| title =Colorado portrait and biography index|chapter=Mills, John Harrison
| publisher = Western History Dept., Denver Public Library
| date = 1933
| location =Denver, CO.
| page =57(of pdf)
| chapter-url =http://worldcat.org/digitalarchive/content/server16079.contentdm.oclc.org/DPL/p16079coll54/RecordVolume1/CO_Portrait_Bio_Index_Bromwell_Part2.pdf
|oclc =866018890 }}
= Frontier artist =
Mills bought 5 acres of land in town.{{rp|p57}}{{specify|date=January 2021|Is there only one town in Colorado?}}
He took a prize at the Art Department of Colorado's Agricultural Fair, and painted a sheep for a stockmen's show. A poem of his was published in Denver's Rocky Mountain News.{{cite news
| title =In Memoriam |author= J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =For Everybody
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =17
| date =1 Jan 1873
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41668629/poem_of_later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }} In 1873, Mills was joined by Buffalo artist Hamilton Hamilton,{{cite news
| title =Portfolio and easel; Farewell
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =1
| date =29 Jan 1873
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41668901/mention_of_later_bahai_john_harrison/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}} and together they sold art during the year.{{cite web
| title =History of Colorado Art, from Traditional through Modern
| url =https://www.kirklandmuseum.org/about-colorado-regional-art/
| publisher = Kirkland Museum|author= Hugh Grant
| date =2020
| access-date = Jan 25, 2020}} They went on the Upper Arkansas expedition invited by the Chain & Hardy Bookshop owners.{{rp|p79}} Mills took other horse trips into the mountains to paint water colors, and by 1873 offered art classes in Denver.{{cite web
| title =Alexander Phimister Proctor and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney: Sculptor in Buckskin and American Princess |author= Sarah E. Boehme
| url =https://centerofthewest.org/2016/04/17/points-west-proctor-and-whitney/
| publisher =Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Originally published in Points West magazine)
| date =Apr 17, 2016 |orig-year=2004
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}{{cite web
| title =Big Horn Mountain Sheep (comment)
| url =https://www.kirklandmuseum.org/collections/work/big-horn-mountain-sheep/
| website =Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
| date =2020
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}
File:View east from hot springs, Middle Park. Grand County, Colorado. - NARA - 517542.tif view east from hot springs, Middle Park, 1874]]
Mills continued to sell paintings and contributed art and articles to publications,{{cite news
| title =Life and scenes in Denver, Colorado — from sketches by J. Harrison Mills HARRISON MILLS, and Photographs by W. G. Chamberlain
| newspaper =Frank Leslie's Weekly
| date = October 25, 1873
| url =https://accessible.com/accessible/emailedURL?AADoc=FRANKLESLIESWEEKLY.FL1873102503.00003
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}{{cite news
| title =A street scene – buying outfits for the mountains and the mines — sketched by J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Frank Leslie's Weekly
| date =October 25, 1873
| url =https://accessible.com/accessible/emailedURL?AADoc=FRANKLESLIESWEEKLY.FL1873102501.00001
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }} while periodically travelling into the mountains to sketch.
As his wife's health improved, they bought a wagon and began to travel the lands. They made a trip to the Colorado Basin, called "Middle Park", and found a place to make a homestead. Around 1874 they were living in what was then called Hot Sulphur Springs, where Henrietta held a school.{{cite news
| title = First houses at sulphur springs
| newspaper = Routt County Sentinel
| location =Colorado
| page =5
| date =June 18, 1915
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RCS19150618.2.79
| access-date =Jan 15, 2020 }}{{rp|p58}} This later became the subject of his painting "First School in Middle Park". However, while the scenery was rich and inspiring, there was no local market for his art and it was a difficult life.{{rp|p60}} At one point, Mills suffered from rheumatic fever and had to be rescued by hunters.{{rp|p57}}
File:Tabor Grand Opera House, Denver, by Weitfle, Charles, 1836-1921.jpg
In 1876, the family moved into a brick house in Denver and Mills took a studio at what later grew to become the Tabor Grand Opera House.{{rp|p51}} Mills organized short-lived art schools and associations. He was also appointed a probate judge,{{cite news
| title =General items; J. Harrison Mills, our Middle Park artist…
| newspaper =Colorado Miner (Weekly)
| location = Georgetown, Clear Creek County, CO
| page =3
| date =April 15, 1876
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CLM18760415-01.2.32
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }} seemingly on his reputation for mediating differences between whites and Ute people, and also became secretary of the local Republican party.{{cite news
| title = Hot Sulpher Springs, Col, Aug 31, 1876 |author= N. L. Parkonian
| newspaper = Colorado Miner (Weekly)
| page =3
| date =September 9, 1876
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CLM18760909.2.45
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
Engraving was his success in these times.{{rp|p90}} Mills sold wood engravings and writing to Scribner's Monthly and Harper's Magazine.{{rp|p84}}{{cite news
| title = This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =10
| date =8 Nov 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41679305/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
In particular, a 12-page article in Scribner's with mostly his own sketches with the story "Hunting the Mule-Deer in Colorado" was published in September 1978.{{cite news
| title =Hunting the Mule-Deer in Colorado |author= J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Scribner's Monthly
| pages =610–622
| date =Sep 1878 | volume=16 |number=5
| url =https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106007740472&view=1up&seq=622&size=125
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
He sold another illustrated article for the October 1879 Scribner's titled "The Camp of the Carbonates".{{cite news
| title =Camp of the Carbonates – ups and downs in Leadville
| newspaper =Scribner's
| pages =801–24
| date =Oct 1879 |volume=18 |number=6
| url =https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175024615406&view=1up&seq=817
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }}
Mills was commissioned by George Crofutt to do illustrations and wood-engravings for several guidebooks, among which the 1881 "Colorado Springs, Pike's Peak Sunset", was called his greatest wood-engraving.{{rp|pp69-73}}{{by whom|date=January 2021}} The engraving/publishing company Mills was a partner in expanded in 1881,{{cite news
| title =The Mills engraving company
| newspaper =Leadville Daily Herald
| location = Leadville, CO
| page =1
| date = January 1, 1881
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=LDH18810101.2.5
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
and Mills was also co-owner of a publishing shop in Denver.{{cite news
| title =Messrs. Cullier and Mills…
| newspaper =Colorado Daily Chieftain | volume= 8 | number=2092
| location =Pueblo, CO
| page =4
| date =February 18, 1879
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CFT18790218-01.2.17
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
In January 1882, Mills's painting "Frontier School" was reported sold to Wolfe Londoner, later mayor of Denver, for $1000{{cite news
| title =State News; Wolf Londoner…
| newspaper =Colorado Miner (Weekly)
| location =Georgetown, CO
| page =2
| date =January 7, 1882
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CLM18820107-01.2.18
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}{{cite news
| title = The Art Gallery…
| newspaper = Lake City Mining Register
| location = Lake City, CO
| page =1
| date = September 8, 1882
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=LCR18820908-01.2.2
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }} (more than $25,000 in 2020 dollarsSee {{cite web
| title =US Inflation Calculator
| url =https://www.usinflationcalculator.com
| website =USInflationCalculator.com
| date =2020
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}). Mills did multiple "pioneer-life dugout" paintings including "News from Home" (1882) which is now in the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.{{rp|p75}}{{cite web
| title =News From Home |author= Harrison Mills
| url =https://cspm.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/5D5D33C8-41E3-4243-AB3B-958409802246
| publisher =Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
| date =2020
| access-date = Jan 25, 2020}} As president of the Academy of Fine Arts of Colorado, Mills worked with state senator and mining tycoon Horace Tabor to set up the Mining and Industrial Exposition in the summers of 1882 and 1883.{{cite thesis |last= Allen|first=Holly Carol |date= 2007 |title=Early Colorado women artists |type=MA History |publisher= U. of Colorado at Denver |oclc= 244584515 |page=22 |url=http://digital.auraria.edu/AA00001487/00001/31 |access-date=Jan 25, 2020}}{{cite news
| title =Art notes; Denver, Col…
| newspaper =National Republican
| location =Washington City, D.C.
| page =4
| date = July 10, 1882
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86053573/1882-07-10/ed-1/seq-4/print/image_681x648_from_2129%2C4943_to_3191%2C5954/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}} Mills taught through the Academy as well, holding meetings in the Tabor Opera House building. Among his students was political caricaturist Albert Wilbur Steele.{{cite book|title=The Artists Year Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2M6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA189|year=1905|publisher=Art League Publishing Association|page=189}} Despite the short-lived nature of some groups he founded – such as the Colorado Academy of Design, which suffered from conflicts – Mills had great influence in developing artists and an art market in Colorado.{{rp|pp61-2}}
Henrietta's health returned and she bore a third child – John Eghert – on June 19, 1882.
In July 1883, Henrietta was a delegate from the Denver chapter of the Ladies Auxiliary to the national meeting.{{cite news
| title =The Colorado Delegates
| newspaper =The National tribune
| location =Washington, D.C.
| page =2
| date =July 19, 1883
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187/1883-07-19/ed-1/seq-2/print/image_681x648_from_1015%2C8216_to_3053%2C10157/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}} The Woman's Relief Corps was established by the GAR at Farragut Post, chartered with Mills present.{{cite news
| title =This Day in Buffalo's history fifty years ago today |author= Gracie Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =10
| date =9 Nov 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41679408/remembering_deceased_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020}} Henrietta was a charter member and founded the Colorado state chapter in the Mills home in Denver, becoming its first president. (It was named the Farragut Corps [after Farragut Post].){{cite news
| title =The new Denver Relief Corps
| newspaper = The National tribune
| location =Washington, D.C.
| page =2
| date = October 4, 1883
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187/1883-10-04/ed-1/seq-2/print/image_681x648_from_2845%2C5515_to_4738%2C7318/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}} In October, Mills wrote an article reporting on the organization and local militia groups.{{cite news
| title =Armed Auxiliaries |author=J Harrison Mills
| newspaper =The National Tribune
| location =Washington, DC
| page =7
| date =25 Oct 1883
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41850328/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_on/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}{{cite news
| title = We print in another…
| newspaper =The National tribune
| location =Washington, D.C.
| page =4
| date =October 25, 1883
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187/1883-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/print/image_681x648_from_2319%2C741_to_5259%2C3541/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}} In mid-December Mills aided the organization of the GAR corp in Delta, Colorado,{{cite news
| title = Comrade J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Delta Independent
| location = Delta County, CO
| page =1
| date = December 18, 1903
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=DEI19031218-01.2.4
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020 }} and in late December Mills was elected commander of the Farragut GAR corps.{{cite news
| title = Farragut Post…
| newspaper =Castle Rock Journal
| location =Castle Rock, Douglas County, CO
| page =1
| date =December 26, 1883
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CRJ18831226.2.6
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
= Exhibition organizer =
File:Art Students League 215 West 57th Street.jpg
Exhibitions at the American Art Association in New York City ({{circa|1885–1888}}){{cite news
| title = The Oil sketches
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =10
| date =18 Jan 1885
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43097694/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_in/
| access-date = Jan 27, 2020}}* {{cite news
| title =Some new paintings; An Academy Prize Picture
| newspaper =New York Herald
| location =New York, NY
| page =5
| date =Dec 6, 1887
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11A050B7B120D3F8%40GB3NEWS-129C76C730961C40%402410612-129C76C825A037A8%404-129C76CC1FABBE08%40
| access-date = Jan 27, 2020}}{{subscription required}}
- {{cite news
| title = A Studio Reception
| newspaper = New York Herald
| location =New York, NY
| page =8
| date = Mar 6, 1888
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11A050B7B120D3F8%40GB3NEWS-129E774AD9661EF8%402410703-129E774C317FBCD8%407-129E7755DFC53978%40
| access-date =Jan 27, 2020 }}{{subscription required}} spread Mills's reputation and he moved to Manhattan where he was invited to the founding of the New York Art Guild, becoming its general manager under president Thomas Moran.{{rp|p84}}
In 1889, the American Fine Arts Society was incorporated in New York with Mills among the trustees.* {{cite news
| title =The Fine Arts Society incorporated
| newspaper =New York Tribune
| location =New York, NY
| page =10
| date = Jun 21, 1889
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1284B46450E6EE32%40GB3NEWS-12DA23CB8704B508%402411175-12D9C6CB8EC0D718%409-130701296236C43D%40
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}{{subscription required}}
- {{cite news
| title =A new Fine Arts building
| newspaper = The sun
| location =New York, N.Y.
| page =3
| date =June 22, 1889
| url =https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83030272/1889-06-22/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_681x458_from_445%2C920_to_1368%2C1542/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}
He held a similar position when the New York Art Guid incorporated in 1891.{{cite news
| title = New York Art Guild
| newspaper =New York Herald
| location =New York, NY
| page =6
| date = Mar 11, 1891
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11A050B7B120D3F8%40GB3NEWS-129EB68C6E7B3350%402411803-129EB68D4EF400C0%405-129EB69379C5CF68%40
}}{{subscription required}} Mills commented at this time that he was too busy for more than brief trips into the countryside for inspiration.{{cite news
| title = Seeking Rural Scenes
| newspaper =New York Tribune
| location =New York, NY
| page =16
| date =Jun 15, 1890
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1284B46450E6EE32%40GB3NEWS-12DB1CE65F620308%402411534-12DA54903073FDE0%4015-13114CBEAFFE60E5%40
| access-date =Jan 27, 2020 }}{{subscription required}}
In 1892, Mills was coordinating the New York component of the country's contribution to the World of Art exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington, where Henrietta hosted a White House reception for the artists.* {{cite news
| title =National Art Congress
| newspaper =New York Herald
| location = New York, NY
| page =12
| date =May 11, 1892
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11A050B7B120D3F8%40GB3NEWS-12A73AB576AAF308%402412230-12A73AB6942C17D0%4011-12A73AC02A29E260%40
| access-date = Jan 27, 2020}}{{subscription required}}
- {{cite news
| title =Art notes; The National Art Congress…
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =16
| date =15 May 1892
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42879863/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 23, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =The world of art
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =6
| date =6 Aug 1892
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42879520/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
Mills had also opened a shipping company for artists{{cite news
| title =New York Artists' Packing and Shipping Co
| newspaper =The Sun
| location =New York, New York
| page =33
| date =9 Oct 1892
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43097800/advert_for_company_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 27, 2020}}
(which was taken over by his son Harrison by 1898{{cite news
| title =Artists' Packing and Shipping Company
| newspaper = The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =9
| date =22 Apr 1898
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41857112/artist_company_inc_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}).
In June, Mills contributed the painting "On the Croquet Ground of Central Park" toward fundraising for Grant's Tomb.{{cite news
| title =Artists Contribute To The Fund
| newspaper =New York Tribune
| location =New York, NY
| page =4
| date = Jun 2, 1892
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1284B46450E6EE32%40GB3NEWS-12E0A86346A310F0%402412252-12DFABFD68A00258%403-1314E4BC77A6AEB8%40
| access-date = Jan 27, 2020}}{{subscription required}} He exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago.{{cite book|author1=Carolyn Kinder Carr|author2=National Museum of American Art (U.S.)|author3=National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)|title=Revisiting the white city: American art at the 1893 World's Fair|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6tPAAAAMAAJ|date=March 1993|publisher=National Portrait Gallery|isbn=978-0-937311-01-1| page=370|oclc= 311720871}} Mills organized many art exhibitions during this time, including the 1898 "Art Kalendarium" exhibition series for the New York Art Guild.{{cite book|title=The Nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L2lNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA370 |year=1898|publisher=J.H. Richards|page=370}}
In 1895, Mills organized a retreat for art students at a summer home in Rothesay, New Brunswick,{{cite news
| title = J. Harrison Mills…
| newspaper = The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =4
| date =15 May 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41853022/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }} then organized an art school and student's exhibition series.{{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =9
| date =24 Aug 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41854115/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_art/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}* {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper = The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =13 Nov 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856298/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =20 Nov 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856363/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper = The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =1 Dec 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856419/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =8 Dec 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856468/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =15 Dec 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856797/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Normal Art School
| newspaper = The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =22 Dec 1895
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856753/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =1 Jan 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856707/art_school_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| date =12 Jan 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/c7lip/41856669/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =19 Jan 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856628/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =26 Jan 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856580/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Normal Art School
| newspaper = The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =2 Feb 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856547/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Normal Art School
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =7
| date =23 Feb 1896
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41856509/art_school_of_later_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
In August 1897, a bicyclist ran into Mills and his arm was broken.{{cite news
| title = Ran into Mills to save himself
| newspaper =The sun
| location =New York, N.Y.
| page =1
| date =August 1, 1897
| url =https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83030272/1897-08-01/ed-1/seq-1/print/image_681x462_from_1796%2C2890_to_2238%2C3190/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
By April 1901, Mills had moved to Westford, New York, where Henrietta had formed a branch of the Sunshine Society club{{cite news
| title = Sunshine Society; New branch
| newspaper =New-York tribune
| location =New York, NY
| page =5
| date = April 6, 1901
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-04-06/ed-1/seq-5/print/image_681x648_from_3063%2C3686_to_4300%2C4864/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }} (a service club which often worked with the blind{{cite web
| title =Guide to the Records of the International Sunshine Society, Department of the Blind 1917, 1926–1928 MS 3055
| url =http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/ms3055_sunshine/bioghist.html
| publisher = New-York Historical Society
| date =June 5, 2018
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}). In 1902, Mills won a $100 prize from the New York Herald for best poem on the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.* {{cite news
| title =Colorado artist of pioneer days
| newspaper =Denver Post Sunday
| location =Denver, CO
| page =19
| date =Jul 27, 1902
| url =https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A12C7581AC4BD0728%40GB3NEWS-132B19DEECB60F68%402415958-132ACC4B12E514F8%40
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Report of Westford Branch
| newspaper =New-York Tribune
| location =New York, New York
| page =5
| date =30 Jul 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41692580/later_bahais_westford_t_s_s_branch/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}} His poem, "The Third Day", did not have universal critical acclaim,* {{cite news
| title =The melancholy author |author=Ambrose Bierce
| newspaper =The San Francisco Examiner
| location =San Francisco, California
| page =14
| date =8 Aug 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723021/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =The melecholy author |author=Ambrose Bierce
| newspaper =The Butte Miner
| location =Butte, Montana
| page =4
| date =16 Aug 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723033/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = The melancholy author |author= Ambrose Bierce
| newspaper =Star Tribune
| location =Minneapolis, Minnesota
| page =8
| date =1 Sep 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723050/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}} but it was widely circulated and brought Mills considerable publicity.* {{cite news
| title =The New York Herald… |author= John Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Muncie Evening Press
| location =Muncie, Indiana
| page =4
| date =9 Jul 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41724718/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title = Views of state editors
| newspaper =The Indianapolis News
| location =Indianapolis, Indiana
| page =4
| date =12 Jul 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41722945/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title = The Third Day |author= John Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Gettysburg Compiler
| location =Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
| page =1
| date =15 Jul 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41722958/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =The New York Herald
| newspaper =The Parsons Daily Sun
| location =Parsons, Kansas
| page =2
| date =18 Jul 1902
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41722979/prize_winning_poem_by_later_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }} It ends:
The little house would hold no more:
The little maid was not afraid,
But the tender eyes ran o'er;
The spent shot swept the town,
With the dying she lay down;
The little maid smiled – she was not afraid
To die as the sun went down}}
= Buffalo artistic community =
In 1904, Mills and his wife moved back to Buffalo. Now in his sixties, Mills hosted artists, and held artists' meetings and exhibitions in his house, often on a weekly basis.* {{cite news
| title =As announced…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =3 Oct 1904
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42872447/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_moving/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =J. Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =17
| date =31 Oct 1904
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41652594/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_at/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{cite news
| title =Mr and Mrs. Mills at home
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =19
| date =8 Dec 1904
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41652643/soon_bahai_john_harrison_mills_at/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}* {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =17
| date =3 Jan 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41652960/bahai_john_harrison_and_mrs_mills/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills
| newspaper = Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =12 Jan 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653001/bahai_john_harrison_mills_host/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Sunday Morning News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =15 Jan 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41658372/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =19 Jan 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653020/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills_host/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper = Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =25
| date =23 Jan 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653038/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills_host/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Mills…
| newspaper = Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =2 Feb 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653057/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills_host/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =9 Feb 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653087/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills_host/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =18 Feb 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653115/bahai_john_harrison_mills_host/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. Mills reception
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =13
| date = 25 Feb 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653156/summary_of_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}* {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper = Buffalo Evening News
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =4 Mar 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653193/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =23 Mar 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653219/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills_home/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Sunday Morning News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =26 Mar 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41658519/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}* {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =19
| date =27 Apr 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723293/bahais_john_harrison_and_mrs_mills/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Sunday Morning News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =30 Apr 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41658726/bahais_john_harrison_mrs_mills_hold/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}* {{cite news
| title =Mr. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =7 Dec 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41658814/bahai_john_harrison_mills_portraits/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =14 Dec 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41878164/bahais_john_harrison_mrs_mills_host/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =28 Dec 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653439/bahai_john_harrison_mrs_mills_host/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =22
| date =31 Dec 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41878467/bahai_mrs_john_harrison_mills_held/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{excessive citations inline|date=January 2021}} A profile of Mills in the 1905 Artists Year Book, published in Chicago, noted that he had exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York and was a member of professional arts clubs including New York's Salmagundi Club and some Philadelphia clubs.{{cite book|title=The Artists Year Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ia5DAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA133 |year=1905|publisher=Art League Publishing Association.|pages=133–4}}
Mills continued to paint{{cite news
| title =Mr. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =11 Jul 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41865511/bahai_john_harrison_mills_with/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =42
| date =10 Sep 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41865615/bahai_mrs_john_harrison_mills_had_a/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mr. and Mrs. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Enquirer
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =14 Sep 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41865706/bahais_john_harrison_mrs_mills/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{cite news
| title =Two new pictures…
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =20 Nov 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41877874/bahai_john_harrison_mills_donates_1884/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
largely creating portraits at this time.{{cite news
| title =Mr. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =15
| date = 26 Sep 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41865828/bahai_john_harrison_mills_does_portrait/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
He also taught a class on clay modeling{{cite news
| title =Teaching Clay Modeling…
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =18 Dec 1905
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41878247/bahai_john_harrison_mills_does_clay/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
and exhibited the work of his art students.{{cite news
| title =Mr. J. Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =24
| date =4 Feb 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41658882/bahai_john_harrison_mills_holds/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
Mills became a founding director of the Artists and Illustrators Club of Buffalo,{{cite news
| title =Buffalo has new art club
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =4
| date =1 Feb 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41879803/bahai_john_harrison_mills_among/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
and joined the Buffalo Historical Society.{{cite news
| title =Annual meeting
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date =17 Sep 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41972717/bahai_john_harrison_mills_joins/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}{{cite book
| title =Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association, ninth and tenth annual meetings | chapter =Proceedings of the ninth annual meeting of the New York State Historical Association, held at Buffalo, Sept 17, 1907
| volume =8
| date = 1909
| page =5
| publisher =The Association
| url =https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009008656 |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101072334350&view=1up&seq=11
| oclc = 982610617
| isbn = 978-1-331-23060-1}}
Mills was also active with the Buffalo Society of Artists,{{cite news
| title =The 12th annual exhibition…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =9
| date =28 Apr 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41881522/bahais_john_harrison_mrs_mills_at/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}} with which he exhibited some paintings.* {{cite news
| title =Mr. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =28 Apr 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41882055/bahai_john_harrison_mills_shows/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =The 12th annual…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =37
| date =29 Apr 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41882306/bahai_john_harrison_mills_among/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020 }} Mills exhibited several times at the Albright Gallery.* {{cite news
| title = Mrs. J. B. Lewis…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Enquirer
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =29 Jan 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41891108/guest_visiting_bahai_mrs_john_harrison/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Last night's reception at the Art Gallery
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =21 Mar 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41966657/bahais_john_harrison_mrs_mills/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}{{cite news
| title =The Society of Artists' thumb-box reception
| newspaper = Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =16 Nov 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42026677/bahai_john_harrison_mills_attends/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}* {{cite news
| title =Gallery and studio chat
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =16 Feb 1914
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42289011/bahai_john_harrison_mills_has_seven/
| access-date =Jan 22, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =Great interest in local arts holds displays to the last
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =7 Mar 1914
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42289433/review_of_exhibitors_inc_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}
Among the groups the Mills hosted was the Progressive Thought League. Its 1908 business meeting was held at their home, and Mills was listed as the vice-president.{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo, a mental clearing house
| newspaper = The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =46
| date =19 Jan 1908
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42028097/progressive_thought_league_business/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
In January 1910, Mills presented a painting of the new commander of the Chapin Post at a GAR reception.* {{cite news
| title = Chapin Post
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =11
| date =22 Jan 1910
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42147789/painting_by_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 20, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Commander Orr
| newspaper =The National Tribune
| location =Washington, DC
| page =3
| date =24 Feb 1910
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42148122/painting_by_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
In 1911, Mills visited Bull Run for the 50th anniversary of the battles there, and made some commemorative portraits.{{cite news
| title =Personal notes of artists and art; Mr. John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =8
| date =23 Dec 1911
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42276801/bahai_john_harrison_mills_revists_bull/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}
Mills wrote a memorial poem for Gettysburg, "To the devoted departed".{{cite news
| title =To the devoted dead |author=John Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Larned Chronoscope
| location =Larned, Kansas
| page =4
| date =30 May 1912
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42281637/poem_by_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}
He was honored at a GAR gathering for Gettysburg,{{cite news
| title =Leave tomorrow for Gettysburg
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =10
| date =28 Jun 1913
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41724219/bahai_john_harrison_mills_of_21st/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}
and later at a reunion of veterans of the 21st Regiment.{{cite news
| title =21st regiment veterans meet
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =4
| date =29 Nov 1913
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42288604/bahai_john_harrison_mills_in_vet_meet/
| access-date =Jan 22, 2020}}
He remained an elected officer of the GAR corps until his death.* {{cite news
| title =21st Regiment veterans hold outing Tuesday
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =7 Jul 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41681765/bahai_john_harrison_mills_officer_of/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =21st Regt. holds reunion Tuesday
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =53
| date =9 Jul 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41681892/bahai_john_harrison_mills_of_21st/
| access-date =Jan 23, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =This day in Buffalo's history – fifty years ago today |author=Grace Carew Sheldon | author-link = Grace Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =6
| date =10 Jul 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41682054/bahai_john_harrison_mills_of_21st/
| access-date =Jan 23, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =ʻMarching through Georgiaʻ for squad of veterans
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =14
| date =11 Jul 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41682142/bahai_john_harrison_mills_of_21st/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
Mills joined the Guild of Allied Arts in January 1916.{{cite news
| title = Byrant Fleming heads Guild of Allied Arts
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =15
| date =21 Jan 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42334194/bahai_john_harrison_mills_led_guild_of/
| access-date =Jan 23, 2020 }}
In March, Mills wrote a booklet on the early artists of Colorado.{{cite book
| author=John Harrison Mills
| title =Letter concerning early art in Colorado
| date = March 1916
| location =Buffalo, NY |publisher=Western History Department of the Denver Public Library
| oclc=19604065}}{{cite book
| author1=Nelson A. Reiger |author2= Ellsworth L. Mills III
| title =John Harrison Mills – pioneer painter of Colorado
| publisher =Pikes Peak Heritage Art Gallery
| date = 2009
| location =Colorado Springs, CO
|oclc= 1001297410 }}{{rp|pp76,86}}
Promotion of Buffalo Baháʼí community
Mills stated that had been interested in the Baháʼí Faith since 1898, when he was living in New York City.{{cite news
| title =Latest cult of Behaism
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =7
| date =8 May 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41967811/summaryreview_of_talk_on_bahai_faith/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Behaism the great religious unifier
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =22
| date =8 May 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41967728/bahai_john_harrison_mills_talk/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020}}
Mills may have been introduced to the religion through his daughter Margaret's husband, Charles Sprague, who had been an active Baháʼí in New York in 1900.{{cite book
| author=Horace Holley
| title =The Baha'i (sic) World |chapter= Current Baha'i (sic) Activities
| publisher =Baháʼí Publishing Committee
| series =A Biennial International Record
| volume =9
| date =1945
| location =Wilmette, IL
| page =23
| url =https://bahai.works/Bahá'%C3%AD_World/Volume_9 |chapter-url=https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:BW_Volume9.pdf&page=52 }}
Margaret moved to Buffalo in March 1906,* {{cite news
| title = Mrs. Charles E. Sprague…
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =26 Mar 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41880592/bahai_daughter_mrs_margaret_charles/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Mrs. Charles E. Spraque…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Sunday Morning News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =1 Apr 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41880796/bahai_mrs_margaret_charles_e/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
and a series of talks by her the following month were the first mentions of the Baháʼí Faith in local newspapers.{{cite news
| title = Mrs. Charles Sprague…
| newspaper = Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =3
| date =19 Apr 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41653500/bahai_mrs_charles_sprague_talk_at/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
This was about the time that the first meetings of the Baháʼís were later credited as beginning.{{cite news
| title =Abdul Baha (sic) leaves today
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =7
| date =12 Sep 1912
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34154239/abdulbaha_talk_summarized/
| access-date = Jan 22, 2020}}{{cite news
| title = The Bahai (sic) Assembly
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =20
| date =25 Apr 1912
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41654463/bahai_john_harrison_mills_home_hosting/
| access-date =Jan 22, 2020 }}
The Mills sought to have more Baháʼís to work with. Religious scholar Robert Stockman summarized a November 1906 letter to Henrietta from the Baháʼí House of Spirituality of Chicago (a precursor of the Baháʼí administrative institution the Local Spiritual Assembly) as: "We don't know of any believers there."{{cite web
| title =Chicago House of Spirituality Records 1905, Notes from the National Baháʼí Archives on the Chicago House of Spirituality |author= Robert Stockman
| url =https://bahai-library.com/stockman_chicago_house_notes#1905
| website =Bahai-Library.com
| date = 1986
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}
Margaret spoke at the Progressive Thought League{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo, a mental clearing house
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =34
| date =17 Jun 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21996386/progressive_thought_league_margaret/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}
(organized that year by Elizabeth Marney Conner and Grace Carew Sheldon* {{cite news
| title =Progressive Thought League hold first formal meeting
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =29
| date =28 Jan 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41908531/progressive_thought_league_orgaanizes/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Ologies and isms are their studies
| newspaper =The Buffalo Sunday Morning News
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =6
| date =28 Jan 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41905795/meeting_for_the_progressive_thought/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}* {{cite magazine
| title =New Thought in Buffalo |author= Florence Newhouse Fox
| magazine = The Nautilus
| pages =37–39
| date = Jun 1907 |volume= 9| number=8
| url =http://www.iapsop.com/archive/materials/nautilus/nautilus_v9_n8_jun_1907.pdf
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =The June Nautilus…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Sunday Morning News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =4
| date =26 May 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41968677/a_magazine_reviews_progressive_thought/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}),
and presented a paper which was published in the local newspaper.{{cite news
| title = To read a paper
| newspaper =The Buffalo Commercial
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =16
| date =19 Jun 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13538739/bahai_margaret_sprague_quotes/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}See {{cite web
| title =Brittingham, Isabella |author= Robert Stockman
| url =https://bahai-library.com/stockman_brittingham
| date =1995 |publisher= Bahai-Library.com; Written for possible inclusion in The Baháʼí Encyclopedia. Posted with permission of both the author and of the editor of the Encyclopedia project
| access-date = Jan 28, 2020}}
By mid-July, Margaret was vice-president of the League.{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo, a mental clearing house
| newspaper = The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =34
| date =15 Jul 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21996432/bahai_margaret_mills_sprague_a_vp_in/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
Through August 1906, the Mills hosted Baháʼí Alma Knobloch,See {{cite AV media
| people =Judy Hannen Moe
| title =Pauline and Joseph Hannen Book Summary: "Aflame with Devotion"
| medium =video presentation
| publisher =Wilmette Institute
| date =Dec 15, 2019
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4voTm9d5G04 }}{{cite news
| title =Miss Aluea (sic) S. Knobloch…
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =24
| date =29 Jul 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41886436/bahai_alma_s_knobloch_guest_of_mrs/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}{{who|date=January 2021}}
who promoted that faith through publications in local newspapers and meetings{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo, a mental clearing house
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =34
| date =29 Jul 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21996447/progressive_thought_league_meet/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020 }}
held at the Mills home.{{cite news
| title =Bahaei (sic) meetings, Friday…
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =43
| date =30 Sep 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41659238/bahai_meetings_at_progressive_thought/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
Margaret wrote to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the head of the religion, expressing her wish for martyrdom.The names of the recipients was blanked in the original publications – see: {{cite book|author=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |title=Tablets of Abdul-Baha (sic) Abbas|url=https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/TAB/tab-608.html |year=1916|publisher=Bahai (sic) Publishing Society|page=556}}
However John Walbridge hand-annotated an edition of volumes 1–2, and 3, based on notes of Robert Stockman which had been posted to the internet – see the lead page of v. 1–2 for the later and the title page of volume 3 for the former as at {{cite book |author=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá|title=Tablets of Abdul-Baha (sic) Abbas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5R0qAQAAMAAJ|year=1916|publisher=Bahai (sic) Publishing Society}}
- {{cite book |author=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |title=Tablets of Abdul-Baha (sic) Abbas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5R0qAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA554 |year=1916|publisher=Bahai (sic) Publishing Society|page=556}}
Before she received a reply, Margaret suffered a night of hysteria and broke her arm while running from her parents' house; she was placed in a state hospital.* {{cite news
| title =Mrs. Sprague goes insane!
| newspaper = The Buffalo Enquirer
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =1
| date =12 Oct 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41659719/bahai_margaret_sprague_to_state/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020 }}
- {{cite news
| title =Mrs. Sprague taken to state hospital
| newspaper = Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =7
| date =13 Oct 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41659820/bahai_margaret_mrs_charles_e/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Mrs. Sprague demented
| newspaper =The New York Times
| location =New York, New York
| page =1
| date =13 Oct 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41920077/bahai_mrs_magaret_charles_e_sprague/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
In April and May 1907, Mills gave the talks: "Bahais {{sic}} at home and abroad"{{cite news
| title =International Progressive League of Buffalo; a mental clearing house
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =46
| date =14 Apr 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21996529/progressive_thought_league_bahai_john/
| access-date = Jan 19, 2020}}
and a talk on the religion's "mission as a unifier of all faiths".* {{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo, a mental clearing house
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =47
| date =5 May 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41967657/progressive_thought_league_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Address on Bahaism (sic)
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =1
| date =7 May 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41967563/bahai_john_harrison_mills_talk_at/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}} The following year he gave an extended talk at the League, "Basis of the Bahai Faith" which was published in the Buffalo Times.{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo, a mental clearing house
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =43
| date =26 Jul 1908
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42030806/progressive_thought_league_bahai_john/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
Mills counted some 35 people as the Buffalo Baháʼí community, and called the faith the "cord which binds all faiths in God as One".
Baháʼí literature could be obtained free from Mills's home.{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League (continued from page 38)
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =46
| date =23 Jun 1907
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41969303/progressive_thought_league_bahai/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
Mills represented the Buffalo Baháʼís at the national convention{{cite news
| title =We are glad to know…
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =47
| date = 14 Mar 1909
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40960609/bahai_john_harrison_mills_host_of/
| access-date =Jan 20, 2020}}
in March 1909,{{Cite book
|last = Stockman
|first = R.
|title = Early Expansion, 1900–1912
|volume=2 |year=1985
|series= The Baha'i (sic) Faith in America
|publisher = George Ronald
|place = Wilmette, Ill.
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xo_uAAAACAAJ
|isbn = 978-0-87743-282-1
|oclc= 769906822}}{{rp|pp462-3}}{{cite book|author= Whitmore, Bruce W.|year= 1984|title= The Dawning Place: The Building of a Temple, the Forging of the North American Baháʼí Community |publisher= US Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois |isbn= 0-87743-192-2 | oclc= 903363399 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iO9IAQAAIAAJ |page=260}}
where he voted for the precursor of the national organization of Baháʼís.{{cite news
| title = The Mashrak El Azcar |author= Gertrude Buikema
| newspaper =The Bahai (sic) Bulletin
| location =New York, NY
| page =4
| date =May 1909 | volume=1|number=6
| url =https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Bahai_Bulletin_6.pdf&page=5
| access-date =Jan 20, 2020 }}
Regular Baháʼí meetings continued at the Mills home.{{cite news
| title =International Progressive Thought League of Buffalo; a mental clearing house
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =55
| date =23 May 1909
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41660633/progressive_thought_league_bahais/
| access-date =Jan 20, 2020}} He was described as the president of the local Baháʼí community{{cite news
| title =Will talk on Bahai (sic)
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =6
| date = 22 Jun 1909
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41684268/bahais_hosted_by_international_league/
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
and his meetings were listed in first editions of Star of the West (the national Baháʼí magazine).* {{cite magazine
| title =Buffalo
| magazine =Star of the West
| page =14
| date =Mar 21, 1910 | volume=1 |number=1
| url =http://starofthewest.info/viewer.erb?vol=01&page=14
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Buffalo
| newspaper = Star of the West
| page =6
| date =Apr 9, 1910 | volume=1|number=2
| url =http://starofthewest.info/viewer.erb?vol=01&page=26
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Buffalo
| newspaper =Star of the West
| page =17
| date =Apr 28, 1910 | editor1= Albert Windust |editor2=Gertrude Buikema | volume=1|number=3
| url =http://starofthewest.info/viewer.erb?vol=01&page=51
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}} In June 1912, Mills received ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in Buffalo.{{cite news
| title =Persian Peace Apostle predicts war in Europe
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =7
| date =11 Sep 1912
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30319078/abdulbaha_in_buffalo_j_harrison/
| access-date =Jan 22, 2020 }} The meetings at the home continued after Mills's death, and some visitors from abroad referred to it as the "Bahai center".* {{cite news
| title =The Bahai (sic) movement
| newspaper = The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =7
| date =10 Mar 1917
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41686237/bahai_corinne_true_talks_inc_home_of/
}}
- {{cite news
| title = The Bahai (sic) cause
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =11
| date =13 Mar 1917
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21997033/bahai_corrine_true_talk_at_meeting/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
Death and remembrance
Mills died on October 23, 1916.{{cite web
| title =John H Mills New York, State Death Index, 1880–1956
| url =https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGGL-LCT6
| website =FamilySearch.org
| date =23 Oct 1916
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}{{registration required}}
His absence was noted in a poem published in November.{{cite news
| title = Sign of thʻ livinʻ
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =4
| date =10 Nov 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41680736/poem_in_honor_of_bahai_john_harrison/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}{{relevance inline|date=January 2021}} The Art Institute of Chicago exhibition showed his work in December.{{cite journal
| title =Catalogue of the Twenty-ninth annual exhibition of American oil paintings and sculpture
| journal =Abstract and Surrealist American Art1947/48
| publisher =Art Institute of Chicago
| date =December 7, 1916
| location =Chicago, IL
| pages =95, 120
| url =https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082172051&view=1up&seq=95}}
A group of Civil War veterans marched the following summer in remembrance of Mills and others who had been lost.{{cite news
| title =Rain and cold fail to deter vets on outing |author=Grace Carew Sheldon| author-link = Grace Carew Sheldon
| newspaper =The Buffalo Times
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =4
| date =10 Jul 1918
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41918259/kin_of_bahai_john_harrison_mills_noted/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
Biographer Nelson A. Reiger called Mills a "highly intelligent, deeply caring, sensitive man, greatly motivated, widely experience[d]".{{rp|p2}} An exhibition on Mills with newspaper clippings and art was held at the Denver Public Library in the early 1930s.
There was renewed interest in Mills {{circa|1992}} with the rediscovery of When Mark Twain lived in Buffalo, and his "Campsite in the Rockies" painting was included in the Western America: Landscapes and Indians collection for 1994–1998.{{rp|p75}} Biographies began to appear. "From Bowmansville and back: the odyssey of John Harrison Mills" (1999) and{{cite journal
|author= Benedict Maryniak
| title =From Bowmansville and back: the odyssey of John Harrison Mills
| journal =The Lancaster Legend
| volume =6
| issue =6
| pages =1–2, 4
| publisher =Lancaster Historical Society
| location =Lancaster, NY
| date =Dec 1999
| url =https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AX-Neic7GQB1I-warJUqB2OreS-y7VsO/view
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }} "The Most Humane of Humans: Mark Twain and John Harrison Mills" (2002) were published in the Buffalo area.{{cite journal
| author= William H. Loos
| title =The Most Humane of Humans: Mark Twain and John Harrison Mills
| journal = Western New York Heritage Illustrated
| volume =1
| issue =4
| pages =4–21 |issn=1097-0568
| publisher =Western New York Heritage Institute
| location =New York
| date = 2002
| url =https://www.wnyheritage.org/content/the_most_humane_of_humans_mark_twain_and_john_harrison_mills/index.html
| access-date =Feb 13, 2020}} The review says that Mills's original text When Mark Twain lived in Buffalo, remains unknown except for the excerpts printed in newspapers. These excerpts were reprinted by the Western New York Heritage Institute's magazine. A 2004 biographical review of Mark Twain noted Mills.{{cite journal
| title = About Mark Twain: Bibliographic issue
| journal =Mark Twain Journal
| volume = 42
| issue =1
| pages = 1–48
| date =2004
| jstor =41641540
}}
In 2009, a biography of Mills's early years as a Colorado painter was published. The Huntington Library in San Marino, California, exhibited a painting of Mills in 2011.{{clarify|date=January 2021|problem=Is this a portrait of Mills, or a painting by Mills?}}
The holdings of Mills's work continue to be found at Albright-Knox Gallery and Colorado Springs Pioneers Museums.{{cite encyclopedia
| encyclopedia =Benezit Dictionary of Artists
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| date =2011
| doi =10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00123104
| title =Mills, John Harrison
}}
Notable works
{{excessive examples |section|date=January 2021}}
= Poetry =
- Booths
- Poem about 1871, title unknown (1873)
- Over the Range (1874){{cite news
| title =The Globe; Over the range |author= J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date =29 Dec 1874
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41669366/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020 }}* {{cite news
| title = Over the range |author= J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =The new North-west
| location =Deer Lodge, Mont.
| page =1
| date = February 5, 1875
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038125/1875-02-05/ed-1/seq-1/print/image_681x648_from_806%2C2325_to_2290%2C3738/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title = Over the range |author=J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper = Watertown republican
| location =Watertown, Wis.
| page =6
| date =January 13, 1875
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033295/1875-01-13/ed-1/seq-6/print/image_681x749_from_0%2C309_to_1980%2C2488/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Over the range |author=J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Las Vegas gazette
| location =Las Vegas, N.M.
| page =1
| date =June 19, 1875
| url =https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027457/1875-06-19/ed-1/seq-1/print/image_681x648_from_2564%2C1662_to_4593%2C3594/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
- "Colorado" (1880)
- "The Third Day" (year unknown)
- "What they did to the flag" (year unknown){{cite news
| title =Songs and poems asked for
| newspaper =Buffalo Evening News
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =26
| date =28 Feb 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723336/poems_of_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 18, 2020}}
- "Uplift" (year unknown)* {{cite news
| title =Uplift
| newspaper =The Buffalo Enquirer
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =6 Jan 1909
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42143260/poem_by_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
- {{cite news
| title =Daily Thought
| newspaper =The Wilkes-Barre Record
| location =Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
| page =8
| date =11 Jan 1909
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42143404/poem_by_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
- "To the devoted departed" (year unknown){{cite news
| title =To the devoted dead|author=John Harrison Mills
| newspaper =The Hutchinson Times
| location = Hutchinson, Kansas
| page =5
| date =21 May 1909
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42144470/poem_by_bahai_john_harrison_mills/
| access-date = Jan 20, 2020}}
= Other writings =
- Chronicles of the 21st Regiment, published in five parts (1863–1866)
- "Indian Summer" (1874){{cite news
| title = Indian Summer |author= J. Harrison Mills
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =4
| date =26 Dec 1874
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41669092/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_i/
| access-date =Jan 16, 2020}}
- "Hunting the Mule-Deer in Colorado" (1878) 12-page story with illustrations for Scribner's Monthly
- "The Camp of the Carbonates" (1879) story with illustrations for Scribner's Monthly
- When Mark Twain lived in Buffalo(1910){{cite book
| author=John Harrison Mills
| title =When Mark Twain lived in Buffalo
| publisher =Buffalo Evening News
| date = 1910
| location =Buffalo, N.Y.
| oclc= 51842847 }}
= Sculpture =
- Death bust of Abraham Lincoln, 1865
- Bust of Jesse Ketchum (year unknown){{cite news
| title =Art exhibits at Albright Gallery of great interest
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =29
| date =16 Apr 1916
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41681631/bahai_john_harrison_mills_among/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
= Paintings =
- Painting of a bull (title and year unknown), received a bronze medal from the New York State Agricultural Society in 1864.{{rp|p49}}
- A dream of life
- Portrait of Mark Twain, title unknown (1870){{rp|pp166,305}}{{rp|p50}}
- Painting of a sheep (title unknown, 1873)
- Painting of "Boulder Falls" (title and year unknown)
- "East on the So. Boulder"
- "West on the Grand"
- "Artist Painting a Satirical Painting"{{cite web
| title =On Tax Day—A Little Death, Drama, and Profanity
| work =The Huntington
| url =https://www.huntington.org/verso/2018/08/exhibitions-tax-day—-little-death-drama-and-profanity
| publisher =The Huntington Library Art Museum
| date =April 15, 2011
| access-date =Jan 25, 2020 }}
- "First School in Middle Park" (1876)
- "Through fire and flood" (1878){{cite news
| title="Through fire and flood"…
| newspaper =Daily Denver Tribune
| location =Denver, CO
| page =4
| date = July 16, 1878
| url =https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=DDT18780716.2.97
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
- "Frontier School" (year unknown)
- "News from Home" (1882){{rp|p75}}
- "Morgan Road (year unknown){{cite news
| title =More about Buffalo artists
| newspaper = Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =16 Oct 1887
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42878275/later_bahai_john_harrison_mills_work/
| access-date = Jan 23, 2020}}
- "Forgotten Martyrs" (year unknown)
- "the Captive" (year unknown)
- "Embarkation at the Street" (year unknown)
- "His Father a Soldier" (year unknown)
- "Campsite in the Rockies" (1887){{rp|p75}}
- "Portrait of Henrietta Fell Mills" [his wife], 1889
- Portrait of Charles Walter Couldock (1888) {{cite book|author=Buffalo Fine Arts Academy|title=The Academy Blue Book: Constitution and By-laws, Report ... List of Members, Etc|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGDj1DXvAPEC&pg=PA59|year=1906|page=59}}
- "On the Croquet Ground of Central Park" (year unknown)
- Portrait of the youngest son of Seneca Chief Red Jacket (1906){{cite news
| title =Among the artists; John Harrison Mills…
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =9 Apr 1906
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41880926/bahai_john_harrison_mills_finished/
| access-date =Jan 18, 2020 }}
- Portrait of Baháʼí 'Abdu'l-Karim (1908){{cite news
| title =Society of Artists
| newspaper =Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express
| location =Buffalo, New York
| page =5
| date =13 Apr 1908
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42029369/bahai_john_harrison_mills_contributes/
| access-date =Jan 19, 2020}}
= Sketches and illustrations =
- Viewing the remains of the victims of the Angola Disaster for Identification, at the Soldier's Rest, Buffalo (1867)
- Untitled humorous sketch of a policeman 'brawling' with kids{{cite news
| title =A humorus sketch
| newspaper =Buffalo Courier
| location = Buffalo, New York
| page =2
| date =19 Apr 1869
| url =https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41655324/comment_on_lithograph_sketch_for/
| access-date = Jan 16, 2020}}
- "Life and scenes in Denver, Colorado", 1873 illustrations for Frank Leslie's Weekly
- "A street scene – buying outfits for the mountains and the mines", 1873 illusrations for Frank Leslie's Weekly
- "Hunting the Mule Deer" (1876) for The Century Magazine
= Engravings =
- Illustrations for "Chicago Lakes, below Towering Mount Evans" (1880){{rp|pp69-73}}
- Illustrations for "Colorado Springs, Pike's Peak Sunset" (1881){{rp|pp69-73}}
- Illustrations for "Nearing Kenosha Hill, Union Pacific Railway" (1881){{rp|pp69-73}}
- Illustrations for "South Park from Kenosha Hill" (1881){{rp|pp69-73}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, John Harrison}}
Category:Military personnel from Buffalo, New York
Category:Converts to the Bahá'i Faith from Protestantism
Category:Artists from Buffalo, New York