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Mills Brothers
Society Reunion
& Mills Brothers Concert
Bellefonte, PA, April 2, 2011
The Mills Brothers Concert and The Mills Brothers Society Reunion
The Mills Brothers returned to the Mills
family ancestral home of Bellefonte, PA for a concert at the Bellefonte High School
on April 2, 2011. It was their first appearance there in ten
years. Instrumental in making the concert happen, the Mills Brothers
Society also held a reunion of its members prior to the concert. The
Society get-together also featured a huge memorabilia display and a
collection of rare videos of Mills Brothers' performances over the years. Today’s Mills Brothers are John Mills II and Elmer
Hopper. John Mills II is the son, grandson and nephew of the members of the
original Mills brothers. Elmer Hopper sang with the Paul Robi Platters for
over 21 years. To visit The Mills Brothers website, click
www.themillsbrothers.com/. The Bellefonte Historical & Cultural Association with
sponsorship from The Mills Brothers Society and Glenn O. Hawbaker, Inc.
presented the concert.
Why Bellefonte?
While most people associate the Mills Brothers with Piqua, OH, the
birthplace of the original four Mills Brothers, the ancestral home of the
mills family is really Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
Bellefonte today is a quiet and charming town of 6000+ people, located in
central Pennsylvania in the scenic Nittany Valley of the Ridge and
Appalachian Mountains, about twelve miles from Penn State University. Named
for the natural spring that supplies Bellefonte with some of the purest
water in the world, Bellefonte is proud of its history. First settled in
1795, Bellefonte has been the home to seven state governors. Today,
magnificently preserved 19th Century Victorian mansions serve as
bed & breakfasts for visitors with a flair for bygone eras.
With its Quaker roots, Bellefonte has long been a place where people of
different races and backgrounds could live and work side by side. From
about 1818 until the Civil War, Bellefonte was a stop on the Underground
Railroad and several homes in the town have now been identified as being
former safe houses for runaway slaves. In the late 1820’s, the ancestors of
the Mills family escaped slavery in the South on the Underground Railroad.
Upon arriving in Bellefonte, they decided to stay rather than continue on to
Canada. Of their four sons, Lewis and Edward Mills, joined the Union Army’s
Colored Troops and fought in the Civil War. Lewis’ son, William Hutchinson
Mills (b. 1847, d. 1931) was to become the singing Mills Brothers’
grandfather.
William Hutchinson Mills became a barber in Bellefonte in 1871. In 19th
Century northern cities, the barber trade was historically delegated to
African Americans. In fact, we’ve read that Bellefonte did not have a white
barber until sometime after 1880. Thus William H. Mills began a barbershop
at 215 W. High Street in downtown Bellefonte that continuously did business
until 1931. Due to the location of his barbershop, we can assume that
William H. Mills had both white and black customers. An April 19, 1874
reference in the Centre Democrat newspaper states, “Mr. William Mills, one
of Bellefonte’s best barbers, is refitting his shop in the most tasteful
manner.”
Building that housed the
former William H. Mills barbershop (basement, lower left)
at 215 W. High Street in Bellefonte, PA. This building was destroyed
by fire in 1978.
(Photo courtesy of Dan Clemson)
In the early 1870’s a troupe of black singers out of Fisk University in
Nashville set out to raise money for their school singing old African
American spirituals. They were soon touring world and becoming one of the
most respected and most influential vocal groups of their time. The Fisk
Jubilee Singers spurred hundreds if not thousands of imitators throughout
the United States. In Bellefonte, members of St. Paul’s AME Church, a black
church started in 1859, formed their own jubilee singers group. Early
newspaper accounts refer to the group as the Bellefonte Colored Jubilee
Singers but oral tradition also indicates they were also called the
McMillen-Sourbeck Jubilee Singers. This is believable since John Sourbeck
and C. G. McMillen were white respected members of the Bellefonte community
who assisted many performers. William H. Mills is believed to have been a
member of that jubilee style group, the first known involvement of the Mills
family in the world of vocal harmony.
William H. Mills (1847 -1931), The Mills Brothers grandfather
Photo courtesy of Dan Clemson
In 1872, the great black abolitionist and orator, Frederick Douglass,
visited Bellefonte to speak at a fund raiser. While there, he had his hair
cut by Williams H. Mills. Douglass was, perhaps, the inspiration for
William H. Mills and the other officers of St. Paul’s AME Church to persuade
the Bellefonte school board to integrate their schools, in 1885.
William H. Mills and his wife, Cecilia, had eight children, one of whom was
John Hutchinson “Pike” Mills. John undoubtedly learned the barbers’ trade
from his father, assisting in the Mills barbershop in Bellefonte. By the
1890’s barbershop quartets were popular throughout the country. While
barbershop quartets in modern times are almost exclusively white, there is
little doubt that they started out as an African American art form. While
there is no documentation that a barbershop quartet operated out of the
Mills barbershop. It is highly likely. John H. Mills married Eathel
Harrington and moved to Piqua, Ohio, in 1907. There he started his own
barbershop and sang in a barbershop quartet called the Four Kings of
Harmony. It was also in Piqua, that four sons were born who would become
the famous Four Mills Brothers. The four sons, John, Harry, Herbert and
Donald Mills, learned harmony from their father and began singing outside
their father’s barbershop in Piqua. On frequent trips to visit family in
Bellefonte, the four Mills sons would gather around their Aunt Harriet’s
piano at a home on High Street and sing.
When the Four Mills Brothers made their first radio appearance on WLW
(Cincinnati), their father John H. Mills was in Bellefonte. He’d returned
to help out at the Mills barbershop there, as William H. Mills was reaching
the end of his career. Having no radio of his own, John visited Hood’s Pool
Hall at 124 & 126½ W. High Street to listen to his sons on the radio.
The Four Mills Brothers, 1932
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
In 1936, after the untimely death of his son John, John H. Mills assumed the
role of bass voice with his remaining three sons in the Mills Brothers. In
October 1939, the immensely popular Mills Brothers returned to give their
only performance as a quartet in Bellefonte. They were greeted with a
parade and sang at the Plaza Theatre.
The building that once housed Bellefonte’s Mills barbershop burned down in
1978. A Pennsylvania State Historical Marker was dedicated there in 1992.
The Mills Brothers Society has helped sponsor Mills Brothers concerts in
Bellefonte by Donald Mills and his son John (1998) and John Mills & Elmer
Hopper (2001). It was only fitting that our Mills Brothers Society Reunion
was held at the Governors Pub, now located on the barbershop site, and
assist in bringing John & Elmer back to Bellefonte in 2011.
April 1, 2011 - We arrive in Bellefonte, PA
While the
weather threatened our four hour drive across the Pennsylvania mountains
with a treacherous Nor-Easter snowstorm, we were pleasantly surprised to
find that the storm had stayed north of us and our trip was uneventful. Our first stop was the Reynolds Mansion
Bed & Breakfast, where we had booked lodging.
Rather than check into a hotel, we felt the best way to immerse ourselves in
Bellefonte's history was to stay in one of the 19th Century Victorian homes.
The Reynolds Mansion was
built in 1885 by Major William Frederick Reynolds, a wealthy
Bellefonte businessman, landowner, and banker. Reynolds was
Bellefonte's first millionaire and in the history of this town, the
Reynolds name pops up quite often. Our research showed that in
the 1870's, downtown Reynolds Hall was opened to entertainment
events for the pre-integration colored school.
The Reynolds Mansion
The Reynolds Mansion is superb in a
town of numerous outstanding Victorian mansion B&B's. The breathtaking
outer appearance of the Reynolds Mansion was just a hint of what was inside.
We were greeted with a opulent marble foyer complete with mirrors and an
original gas lamp. We felt as though we'd stepped back into the 19th
Century. Our innkeepers, Tricia and Mike gave us a tour of the
mansion, including the common areas; the living room, billiard room, dining
room, and Snuggery (where guests could sip a glass of brandy at the end of
the day). The Mansion's interior included classic mirrors, handcrafted
woodwork, stained glass windows, detailed molding, and inlaid parquet floors
of which no two were the same. Each room has its own character.
Our room was the Cherub Room which boasted a hand-painted cherub ceiling
mural, a fireplace and an antique chandelier over the heart-shaped Jacuzzi.
Our stay included delicious gourmet breakfasts every day, prepared by Chef
Mike.
Charlie in the Reynolds
Mansion dining room
Reynolds Mansion dining
room
Reynolds Mansion
Snuggery
For a
stay in the Bellefonte area in a B&B with exquisite architecture, warm and
welcoming hosts, gourmet breakfasts and a sense of history, we
enthusiastically recommend the Reynolds Mansion Bed & Breakfast
(see
http://www.reynoldsmansion.com/).
The next morning we took
a walk to explore the town before the Mills Brothers Society gathering.
The Linn House, 133 N.
Allegheny St., Bellefonte
Built in 1810, this home was also a station on the Underground Railroad
It now houses the Bellefonte Museum for Centre County
Bellefonte storefront
advertises the coming Mills Brothers concert
Former residence of John
H. Mills, father of the Mills Brothers
and the group's bass singer from 1936 - 1957.
Pam at the
basement entrance to what was once Hoods' Pool Hall.
John H. Mills first listened to his four sons on the radio here.
The old pool hall is now, ironically, a barbershop.
We visited the Plaza
Theatre where the Mills Brothers performed in 1939. It is now an
antique gallery, but much of the indoor interior can still be discerned
including the lobby, sloped floor and stage area. On the second floor,
we found a couple of museum display cases, one holding memorabilia found in
the theater during renovation and one holding Mills Brothers memorabilia.
Pam outside what was once
the Plaza Theatre.
The Mills Brothers performed here in 1939.
Mills Brothers display
inside the old Plaza Theatre
We held the Mills Brothers Society
Reunion at The Governor’s Pub, 215 West High Street. We parked our car
in the small front parking lot, probably the exact location of what was once
the Mills barbershop. As we unloaded our collection of Mills Brothers
memorabilia, we couldn't help but notice the Pennsylvania State Historical
Sign commemorating the site.
The Governors Pub, 215 W.
High Street, Bellefonte
Once the barbershop of William H. Mills
Pennsylvania State
Historical Marker for the Mills barbershop
Inside, we set up what was probably the
most comprehensive collection of Mills Brothers memorabilia ever displayed,
including 92 pieces of Mills Brothers related sheet music, 50 rare Mills
Brothers photos, programs, cards, magazine covers and other related items,
and a collection of rare Mills Brothers movie lobby cards and posters.
We also set up a laptop playing early Mills Brothers movie and Soundie
performance videos. Anthony DiFlorio III brought dozens of rare Mills
Brothers videos from his collection, which were played on a large flat
screen TV in the Pub all afternoon.
Charlie at the Mills
Brothers memorabilia Display
Charlie at the Mills
Brothers memorabilia Display
Rare Mills Brothers
photos on display.
On left is a 1930's photo of Donald Mills in a polo uniform.
John Mills explained to us that the Mills Brothers had a polo team in Los
Angeles at the time.
More rare Mills Brothers
photos.
On right is a 1930's photo of the Mills Brothers with Guy Lombardo.
Mills Brothers programs
on display
Original Mills Brothers
lobby cards on display.
Above card from the movie, "The Fight Never Ends"
starring Joe Louis & The Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers
Commemorative Coin
Donated to the Classic Urban Harmony Archives
by Mills Brothers Society member KJ O'Doherty
All afternoon, we were delighted to
socialize with Mills Brothers Society members who had traveled from as far
away as Virginia and Florida to attend the event. Philadelphia, New
Jersey, and of course Bellefonte, were well represented. Dan Clemson, former president and
co-founder of The Mills Brothers Society was instrumental in making this all
happen, along with Society treasurer Anthony DiFlorio III and Classic Urban
Harmony's Charlie & Pamela Horner. John Mills II and Elmer Hopper
stopped by to greet The Society
members and view the memorabilia displays. Member of the Bellefonte
Historical and Cultural Society and Mills family members also attended. It was a delightful afternoon.
Society members, Gene
Sterud, Charlie, Tom Rowell
Left to right: Dan &
Skipper Clemson, Anthony DiFlorio,
Connie Docherty, Mae Saylor, Gene Sterud, Charlie Horner
Pam & Charlie Horner
Left to right: John
Saylor, Bill Docherty, Peg Smead, Kay Temchack
Anthony DiFlorio holding
up T-shirt of the Mills PA State Historical Marker
Anthony holding a T-shirt
from the 1998 Mills Brothers Society
Convention in Bellefonte. Anna Sterud in background.
John Mills & Dan Clemson
Charlie & Pam Horner with
Elmer Hopper
Elmer Hopper & Skipper
Clemson
Pam Horner & John Mills
Charlie Horner & John
Mills
Gene Sterud and John
Mills looking through
The Mills Brothers sheet music display
Mills family members and
Skipper Clemson
Mills Brothers Society
executive board
Anthony DiFlorio, Dan Clemson, Charlie Horner
Tom Rowell, Gene Sterud,
Carl & Dan Payola watching Mills Brothers videos
Mills Brothers videos at
The Governors Pub
Watching Mills Brothers
videos
Mills Brothers sign at
the Governors Pub
After dinner we headed to the Bellefonte
High School, where the Mills Brothers' concert was to take place in the 800
seat auditorium. Arriving early to again set up our Mills Brothers
memorabilia displays, we found the high school had named a hall for the
Mills Brothers and commemorated it with a plaque.
Bellefonte High School,
site of the Mills Brothers concert
Pam at Mills Brothers
Hall
Pam at Mills Brothers
Display outside the auditorium
Charlie at the Display
table
An enthusiastic crowd filed into the
hallway outside the theater, stopping to thumb through and compliment us on
our books of memorabilia. On stage, The Mills Brothers were backed by
a trio of piano, drums, and a base. All instruments were acoustic.
John Mills and Elmer Hopper began
their set with “Opus 1”, “Yellow Bird”, and “You’re Nobody Til Somebody
Loves You”. They sang songs that are well known to Mills Brothers fans as
well as the general public, like “Paper Doll” "Cab Driver," and “Don’t Blame
Me”. Elmer soloed
some of the songs he sang with the Platters, “Twilight Time” and “Only You”. John
rejoined him on the Mills Brothers' classic “You Only Hurt the One You Love”. Throughout the first
set John displayed his humor and connected with the audience through
stories.
The Mills Brothers on
stage
Bill Docherty at the
Mills Brothers table, during intermission
Pam at the display table
at intermission
After intermission, the second set began
with “Bye, Bye Blackbird” and a song penned by John when he was singing as a
duet with his father, Donald Mills, “Still There’s You”. John
said that of all the songs he wrote, this was his father’s favorite.
John and Elmer sang a smashing version of “Basin Street Blues” complete with
John imitating a trumpet sound by cupping his hands to his mouth. They concluded with
"Glow Worm" and “Nevertheless’ to the cheers of the crowd. The Mills
Brothers ended their performance with an encore of “Up A Lazy River”.
It was just a spectacular night for The Mills Brothers and all those in attendance,
including many members of the Mills family.
John & Elmer during the
second set
The Mills Brothers in
Bellefonte
The Mills Brothers
During the performance accolades were
given to Dan Clemson who devoted much time and energy into making this
performance happen. After the concert and Mills Brothers
came out to the lobby to pose for photos and sign autographs.
John Mills. Pam, Tom
Rowell
Charlie & John Mills
Elmer Hopper, Pam &
Charlie
A party for
The Mills Brothers, Mills family members, and Mills Society members was held
at The McCafferty House Bed & Breakfast. JoAnn Knupp is the
innkeeper of the Bed & Breakfast and President of The Bellefonte Historical
& Cultural Association. We had a wonderful short stay in
Bellefonte. We would definitely recommend that if you get a chance to see
The Mills Brothers perform don’t hesitate, because they are fabulous.
The after party at the
McCafferty Mansion
Dan Clemson accepts an
award from the Mills family for his
research on Bellefonte's Civil War Colored Troops
Bellefonte's Spring Creek
To return to The Mills
Brother Society Page, click
here.
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