{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox Senator | name=Elijah Hunt Mills | image= ElijahMills.jpg | jr/sr=United States Senator | state =[[Massachusetts]] | term_start= June 12, 1820 | term_end=March 3, 1827 | preceded= [[Prentiss Mellen]] | succeeded= [[Daniel Webster]] | state2=Massachusetts | district2={{ushr|MA|5|5th}} | term_start2=March 4, 1815 | term_end2=March 3, 1819 | predecessor2= [[William Ely]] | successor2= [[Samuel Lathrop]] | office3= Member of the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] | term3= 1811-1814 | birth_name= Elijah Hunt Mills | birth_date= {{birth date|1776|12|1}} | birth_place= [[Chesterfield, Massachusetts]], US | death_date= {{death date and age|1829|5|5|1776|12|1}} | death_place= [[Northampton, Massachusetts]], US | spouse=Harriet Blake | alma_mater= [[Williams College]] | profession= [[Lawyer]] | party= [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]] }}
'''Elijah Hunt Mills''' (December 1, 1776{{spaced ndash}}May 5, 1829) was an [[politics in the United States|American politician]] from [[Massachusetts]].
==Early life== Mills was born in [[Chesterfield, Massachusetts]]. He was educated by private tutors and graduated from [[Williams College]] in 1797. Mills studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in [[Northampton, Massachusetts]].
==Career== He was the [[district attorney]] for [[Hampshire County, Massachusetts]], and opened [[Northampton Law School]] in 1823. Mills was also a founding member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1812.<ref>[https://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistm American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]</ref>
He was a member of the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] (1811–1814). Mills was elected as a [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]] (March 4, 1815 - March 3, 1819). In 1819 he returned to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he became [[List of Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] in 1820. He was elected to the [[United States Senate]] in 1820 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[Prentiss Mellen]]. Mills was reelected and served from June 12, 1820, to March 3, 1827. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in [[United States Senate elections, 1826|1826]]. He retired from public life due to ill health.
==Personal life== Mills was first married to Sarah Hunt (1780–1802), a daughter of Dr. Ebenezer Hunt and Sarah ({{nee}} Bradish) Hunt, on May 16, 1802. Sarah died a few months later on October 2, 1802. Mills later married Harriet Blake (1780–1871), a daughter of merchant Joseph Blake and Deborah ({{nee}} Smith) Blake. With his second wife, Mills was the father of seven children, including:<ref name="Dwight1871">{{cite book |last1=Dwight |first1=Benjamin Woodbridge |title=The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass |date=1871 |publisher=J. Munsell |pages=1481–1483 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWJmAAAAMAAJ |access-date=23 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
* Helen Sophia Mills (1806–1844), who married Hon. [[Charles Phelps Huntington]].<ref name="Dwight1871"/> * Sarah Hunt Mills (1808–1887), who married Prof. [[Benjamin Peirce]], the father of [[Charles Sanders Peirce]].<ref>Adams, Henry. ''The Life of George Cabot Lodge''. pg. 4-5. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1911</ref> * Elijah Hunt Mills Jr. (1810–1830), who died unmarried in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref name="Dwight1871"/> * Charles Henry Mills (1813–1872), a merchant who married Anna Cabot Lowell [[Dwight family|Dwight]] (1818–1880), a daughters of Edmund Dwight.<ref name="Dwight1871"/> * William Kilby Mills (1815–1855), an invalid for the last 20 years of his life; he died unmarried.<ref name="Dwight1871"/> * Harriette Blake Mills (1818–1892), who married Admiral [[Charles Henry Davis]].<ref name="Dwight1871"/> * George Francis Mills (1821–1829), who died young.<ref name="Dwight1871"/>
Mills died on May 5, 1829, in Northampton, and was interred in the Bridge Street Cemetery. His widow died at Cambridge on February 9, 1871.<ref name="Dwight1871"/>
===Descendants=== Through his daughter Harriette, he was a grandfather of Anna Cabot Mills Davis, who married U.S. Senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge]]. One of their sons, poet [[George Cabot Lodge]], was the father of U.S. Senators [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] and [[John Davis Lodge]].
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{CongBio|M000774}} *{{findagrave|7493107|Elijah Hunt Mills}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=5 | before=[[William Ely]] | after=[[Samuel Lathrop]] | years= March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1819}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box | state=Massachusetts | class=1 | before= [[Prentiss Mellen]] | after= [[Daniel Webster]] | alongside= [[Harrison Gray Otis (lawyer)|Harrison Otis]], [[James Lloyd (Massachusetts)|James Lloyd]] | years= June 12, 1820 – March 3, 1827}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Elijah H}} [[Category:1776 births]] [[Category:1829 deaths]] [[Category:People from Chesterfield, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Massachusetts lawyers]] [[Category:Massachusetts National Republicans]] [[Category:Federalist Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Federalist Party United States senators from Massachusetts]] [[Category:National Republican Party United States senators from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:County district attorneys in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Williams College alumni]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:19th-century United States senators]]