Frances Jones Mills
Frances Jones Mills | |
---|---|
Born | July 4, 1920 Gray, Kentucky |
Died | May 24, 1996 (aged 75) Louisville, Kentucky |
Occupation(s) | teacher, career politician |
Spouse(s) | Marvin Wayne Bowling, Gene Mills |
Parent(s) | Bertie (Steely) and William H. Jones |
Frances Jones Mills (July 4, 1920 – May 24, 1996) was an American politician who was a state official in Kentucky for a large portion of the 1970s and 1980s. She was the first woman and first Democrat in the 20th century to win the office of State Representative for the Knox County, Kentucky district. She was also the first woman to serve three (non-successive) terms as Kentucky State Treasurer, serving a total of 12 years.[1]
Background
Mills was born in Gray, a small town in Knox County, Kentucky to Dr. William H. Jones and Bertie (Steely) Jones. She graduated from Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky and attended Eastern Kentucky State Teacher's College. She taught school in Gray for eight years after which she married Marvin Wayne Bowling, whom she later divorced in the early 1940s. She then married Gene Mills in 1949.[1]
Public office
Mills was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives from Knox County, Kentucky in 1961 as a Democrat, serving one term from a heavily Republican district. She then worked as an aide to the Speaker of the House.
Mills was an unsuccessful candidate for the
From 1965 to 1972 she worked for the Kentucky Civil Defense, but in 1971 Mills was nominated for Clerk of the
For 100 years (1891–1992) the
In 1984, Mills and six of her employees in the secretary of state's office were indicted for violating state ethics laws in regards to her election as State Treasurer. Mills was acquitted after a two-year-long case. In the early 1990s she was charged with violating ethics laws and was fined $11,000. She filed an appeal and the case was still pending at the time of her death.
Death
On May 24, 1996, Mills died of cancer and is buried in the Highland Cemetery in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
See also
- John Y. Brown, Jr.
- Martha Layne Collins
- Drexell R. Davis
- Thelma Stovall
References
- ^ a b "Secretary of State: Frances Jones Mills". Kentucky Secretary of State. Kentucky.gov. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
Further reading
- 200 Years of the Kentucky Treasury (PDF). Kentucky Treasury Department. 1992. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- Lexington Herald-Leader. 4 October 1994.
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(help) - Louisville Courier-Journal. 14 October 1994.
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External links
- "Frances Jones Mill". Candidate. Our Campaigns. Retrieved 4 January 2012.