{"id":103400,"date":"2025-07-11T11:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T15:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=103400"},"modified":"2025-07-30T11:04:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:04:03","slug":"mayflower-descendants-the-mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-part-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/mayflower-descendants-the-mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-part-10.html","title":{"rendered":"Mayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (part 10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series on the genealogy of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, again focusing on the Bearse, Pells and Mills family lines. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I continue my \u201cMayflower Descendants & the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe\u201d series, featuring Mayflower<\/em> descendants who married into Mashpee Wampanoag families.<\/p>\n

To recap: My series on the Mayflower<\/em> lines of Katie Crocker<\/a> of Barnstable, Massachusetts, has featured a rare account book connected to the business of Zenas Crocker<\/a> (1761-1807) and his descendants.<\/p>\n

The Crocker account book<\/a> includes residents of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and the Cahoon Museum<\/a> in Cotuit, Massachusetts, granted me permission to share the account book\u2019s pages and do further research. (For previous stories see the links listed at the end of this article.)<\/p>\n

In my last article in this series (Part 9<\/a>) I covered some of the scions of Civil War soldier Nathaniel D. S. Bearse<\/a>, a direct descendant of Mayflower<\/em> passengers Stephen Hopkins, Thomas Rogers, John Howland, and his wife Elizabeth Tilley. Nathaniel married Olive Gould Pells, a member of the Wampanoag people.<\/p>\n

I introduced their great-grandson Elwood Oakley Mills Sr. (1920-2006), son of Ferdinand Wilson and Emma Genevieve (Oakley) Mills.<\/p>\n

Elwood served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is a direct descendant of Mayflower<\/em> passengers Stephen Hopkins, Thomas Rogers, John Howland and the Wampanoag people.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Elwood Oakley Mills. Credit: Falmouth Public Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marriage to Member of the Women\u2019s Army Corps (WAC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elwood married Josephine D\u2019Amico, daughter of Anthony Peter and Antoinette (Presutti) D\u2019 Amico. They have descendants who are still very active in the town of Mashpee, Massachusetts, and with Wampanoag tribal affairs.<\/p>\n

I found a wedding photo of Elwood and Josephine in the archives as well as a wedding announcement in the Woodbury Daily Times<\/em>. They married on 9 September 1944 in Naples, Italy. The couple met in Africa where they were both stationed.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Elwood and Josephine Mills. Credit: Barnstable Library Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is their wedding announcement.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Woodbury Daily Times (Woodbury, New Jersey), 29 September 1944, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

Staff Sergeant Josephine D\u2019 Amico, of the Women\u2019s Army Corps, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony D\u2019 Amico of Mt. Royal, N.J., became the bride of Sergeant Elwood O. Mills, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Mills of Mashpee, Cape Cod, Mass., on Saturday, September 9th at 10 AM. A double ring ceremony was performed by Chaplain Carman of Richmond, Va., in the Church of England, somewhere in Italy.<\/p>\n

The bride, who was given in marriage by her former commanding officer, Captain Jane A. Stretch of Newtown Square, Pa., wore a bridal gown of white satin, entrain with brocaded veil of scalloped lace. She carried a spray of white tuberoses.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Concetta Borasera of New York was maid of honor and was in uniform. Sgt. John H. Knake of Iowa was best man. Sergeant Bernice Roblee of Massachusetts sang \u201cBecause.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bride is a graduate of the Swedesboro High School and was employed by the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the Philadelphia Navy Yard prior to enlistment in January 1943.<\/p>\n

After basic training at Daytona Beach, Fla., the bride was among the first WAC contingent stationed at Fort Dix. Her military career sent her to North Africa in October 1943.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Mills attended St. Anslem\u2019s College, New Hampshire, and Hyannis State Teachers College, Massachusetts, where he was active in athletics. He was employed by the Vega Aircraft plant, Burbank, Cal., and was inducted into the service in October 1942.<\/p>\n

The couple honeymooned on the Isle of Capri.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is a photo of Josephine when she was stationed at Fort Dix.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Woodbury Daily Times (Woodbury, New Jersey), 24 April 1943, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josephine Escapes Death in Italy Air Raid<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the war, Josephine told the press of her near-death experience which was prevented by her keeping to a habit.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Woodbury Daily Times (Woodbury, New Jersey), 29 September 1945, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

Atlantic City, Sept. 29 \u2013 Sometimes habits pay off. Staff Sgt. Josephine Mills, WAC stenographer of Mt. Royal, N.J., who is being processed at the AAF Redistribution Station No. 1 here, will testify that on one occasion a habit did pay off for her.<\/p>\n

It was while she was serving with the 15th Air Force in Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got in the habit of going to the air raid shelter every time the sirens blew,\u201d she recalled, \u201ceven though many times there were no planes around to warrant it.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly one evening I heard the sirens wail. Most of the girls who lived in my hotel in Naples were away at a dance, and I was one of the very few girls left in the hotel. We stepped outside when we heard the warning, looked up into the sky which was clear and beautiful, and wondered whether we ought to walk the four blocks to the shelter or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, I piped up and said I wouldn’t be comfortable unless I went to the shelter, and started for it. The rest followed, and we sat there through the all-night raid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe following morning we went back to our hotel and discovered it had suffered a direct bomb hit. The front half of it was completely blasted away.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wampanoag Side<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of Elwood\u2019s ancestors can be found in the Crocker ledger mentioned above. Among them are the Attiquin\/Attaquin family lines.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:
Photos: cover of the Crocker account book and a page showing Ebenezer Attiquin\/Attaquin dated 1806-1807 listing payment of cash, rum, hat, meals vitals, shoes, and cheese, as well as payments to Rowland Thatcher Crocker, Alvan Crocker, and Ebenezer Crocker, Esq. Courtesy of the Cahoon Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I will cover these lines in my next post. Until then readers can view photos and history of the family at \u201c125th Anniversary of Mashpee Massachusetts<\/a>.\u201d Also check out \u201cTalking with the Elders of Mashpee: Memories of Earl H. Mills, Sr.\u201d<\/a> published by Elwood\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n

To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> Ousamequin, or \u201cMassasoit\u201d (Wampanoag term for \u201cGreat Sachem\u201d) and Governor John Carver smoking a ceremonial pipe at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Credit: Sutro Library; Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n

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