William N. Mills, Watchmaker and Sandemanian

Nova Scotia # 10 on 9 June 1864 cover from Halifax to Pictou, Nova Scotia. Addressed to Mrs. E. Mills, care Mr. W. N. Mills, Watchmaker, Pictou, N.S. Two backstamps: Halifax 9 June 1864, Pictou, 10 June 1864.

Elizabeth Mills was 31 years old and the mother of 3 young boys, William, 7, Alfred, 5, and Norman, 4, when she received this letter from Halifax. She was married to William Norman Mills, Sr., a watchmaker. William had been born in Halifax in 1827, the son of Police Constable William Mills. William Norman Mills immigrated to New York before 1853, where he presumably learned the watchmaker's trade. He and Elizabeth Smith (born 1824 in Scotland), were married October 11th, 1853, in Manhattan. In 1857, a son, William Norman, was born in Manhattan. The family was back in Nova Scotia by 1861 and living in Pictou where Willaim N., Sr. had a watchmaking shop on Water Street. Around 1885, he moved from Pictou to Truro and left the Methodist denomination to become a Sandemanian, i.e. a member of a "Restorationist" congregation.

1838 census for Halifax has Wm Mills, Police Consta., head of a family of 7, with 2 females under 6, 2 males under 14, 2 females above 14. Formal policing began in Halifax in 1749 with the establishment of a Day Watch of peace officers. A Night Watch was formed in 1799. Following the incorporation of the City of Halifax in 1841, the three constables currently serving on the Day Watch were augmented by another eight men, under the supervision of the City Marshall. At this time the Night Watch was not a permanent part of the Force but was formed annually to patrol after sunset during the winter months.

October 11th, 1853, in Manhattan, NY, William N. Mills, born in Halifax, age 25, married Elizabeth Smith, born in Scotland, age 29.

July 26th, 1857, William Mills was born to William N, and Elizabeth Mills. The delivery was at 56 West 19th Street, Manhattan, but the family lived at 34 East 14th Street.

1861 census for Pictou, William Milles, head of a family of 4, 2 males, 2 females.

Hutchinson's Nova Scotia directory, for 1864-65, lists Mills, William M., watchmaker, Water n Market, h Water n College.

The corner of Water Street and Market Street was the center of Pictou's business district

McAlpine’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1868-1869, Mills, William N., watchmaker, Water [St.]

1871 census for Pictou, District 200, William N Mills, born c.1830, Methodist, Watchmaker, wife Elizabeth, born 1831, Scotland, son William, 14, born United States, son Alfred, 12, born Nova Scotia, son Norman, 11, born Nova Scotia.

1881 census for Pictou, William Mills, Married, age 54, born 1827, Nova Scotia, Watchmaker, Methodist Church of Canada, wife Elizabeth, age 48, born Scotland, son Norman Mills, age 21, born Nova Scotia, watchmaker.

Mills, W. N., Jeweler, Pictou, N.S., 1864-1875, Truro, N.S., 1885-1900, Langdon, John E., Clock and Watchmakers and Allied Workers in Canada, 1700-1900, Anson-Cartwright Editions, Toronto, 1976

Teare's Directory of Pictou and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, 1879-80, Mills, W.N., watchmaker, Water Street, Pictou

1891 census, Truro, Colchester County, Wm N Mills, 64, born Nova Scotia, Sandemanian, jeweler, his father's birthplace, England, his mother's birthplace, Ireland, wife Elizabeth Mills, 60, her father's birthplace, Scotland, her mother's birthplace, Scotland

Watchmaking in the 19th Century

Tiffany, New York, 1845-50

Watchmaking in the 19th Century went from crafting individual pocket watches for the elite to assembling watches using mass-produced parts made on duplicating tools and machinery. It was in the United States that this system took off. Aaron Lufkin Dennison started a factory in 1851 in Massachusetts that used interchangeable parts, and by 1861 was running a successful enterprise incorporated as the Waltham Watch Company.

The railroads' stringent requirements for accurate watches to safely schedule trains drove improvements in accuracy. Temperature-compensated balance wheels began to be widely used in watches during this period, and jewel bearings became almost universal. The first international watch precision contest took place in 1876, during the International Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia (the winning four top watches, which outclassed all competitors, had been randomly selected out of the mass production line), on display was also the first fully automatic screw-making machine. From about 1860, key winding was replaced by keyless winding, where the watch was wound by turning the crown.

Small watchmakers like William Mills would have purchased mass-produced parts and assembled them into pocket watches which could be afforded by working class folks. Eventually his business would have trended towards repair of mass-produced pocket watches rather than assembling individual chronometers. The wristwatch was not popularized until World War I.

Sandemanians

About 1730, John Glas (1695–1773), a Presbyterian minister in the Church of Scotland, concluded there was no support in the New Testament for a national church because the kingdom of Christ is essentially spiritual. He also believed the Christian church could not be built or upheld by political and secular weapons but only by the word and spirit of Christ. Deposed for his beliefs from the Church of Scotland in 1730, Glas established his own church, first in Dundee, Scotland, and then in Perth. Robert Sandeman, Glas’s son-in-law, came to be the recognized leader of the sect, whose members were called Sandemanians in England and America. The Sandemanian churches attempted to conform to primitive Christianity as understood by them. Each congregation had several elders, pastors, or bishops, who were chosen according to St. Paul’s instructions, as interpreted by the Sandemanians, without regard to education or occupation. The Lord’s Supper (communion) was observed weekly, and each Sunday noon a feast was held that was attended by every member. Foot washing was also practiced. They believed that the accumulation of wealth was unscriptural and improper. Several churches were founded in Scotland, England, and America, but the sect gradually declined. Because of their pacifism and refusal to challenge governing authorities, Sandemanians ran afoul of American revolutionaries and were labeled Torys and traitors. Many emigrated to Nova Scotia, particularly Halifax. Read more at the link below.

Forgotten Sandemanian Loyalists

It is thought Thomas and Alexander Campbell, the founders of the Disciples of Christ (Christians), were influenced by the Sandemanians. Alexander Campbell (12 September 1788 – 4 March 1866) was an Ulster Scots immigrant to the United States who, with his father Thomas Campbell, led a reform effort that is historically known as the Restoration Movement, and by some as the "Stone-Campbell Movement." It resulted in the development of non-denominational Christian churches, which stressed reliance on scripture and few essentials. Eastern Canada (Ontario and the Maritime provinces) was the seedbed the Restoration Movement in Canada. Several decades before Alexander Campbell visited Restorationist Canadian congregations, a movement similar, but not identical to that in the United States, took root in Canada brought by Scottish immigrants. It was an appeal to model the church according to the simple doctrine and polity of the New Testament, to pursue unity, and to discard denominational labels and creeds.

During the 19th century, 47 Restorationist congregations had been established in the Maritimes: 11 Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ congregations in Prince Edward Island, 21 in Nova Scotia, and 15 in New Brunswick. The roots of these congregations include: one Sandemanian, two Scotch Baptists, four Haldanian, four English Baptists, and 36 Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ. For more on the Restorationist movement in Canada, check out the link below.

The Restoration Movement in Canada

Most probably William N. Mills was a member of a small Campbellite (Sandemanian) congregation in Truro.