Colonel Roger Q. Mills
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1832-1911) Born in Kentucky. Came to Texas 1849. Civic and political leader. Represented Navarro County in Legislature, 1859-60. Joined in call for State Secession Convention, 1861. Joined 3rd Texas Cavalry. Later a colonel in 10th Texas Infantry. Wounded in Tennessee and Georgia battles. A leader in 1871 Democratic Convention held in Corsicana, which started move to end Reconstruction in Texas. Member United States Congress 1873-92. Author Mills Tariff Bill. In U. S. Senate 1892-99.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Roger Q. Mills came to Texas from Kentucky in 1849 and rose as a civic and political leader in Navarro County. He joined the call for secession in 1861 and served the Confederacy as a colonel in the 3rd Texas Cavalry and 10th Texas Infantry, taking wounds in battles across Tennessee and Georgia. After the war he helped lead the movement to end Reconstruction in Texas and served two decades in Congress, authoring the Mills Tariff Bill before entering the U.S. Senate.
Why it matters
Mills embodies the Confederate-veteran-turned-national-statesman whose career spanned secession, Reconstruction's end, and Gilded Age tariff politics in Washington.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Roger Q. Mills Home
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This Corsicana home was long the residence of Roger Quarles Mills, who came from Kentucky in 1852, served as a colonel in the Civil War, and then represented Texas in Congress and the U.S. Senate for 27 years. He began the house in 1856 using logs from an 1847 cabin on the site and finished it in 1875. Its broad verandas and carriage lamps recall the plantation era.
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