Background
Mills Gardner was born in Russellville, Ohio, the son of Seth Gardner, a captain in the War of 1812.
lawyer politician representative
Mills Gardner was born in Russellville, Ohio, the son of Seth Gardner, a captain in the War of 1812.
He attended the public schools of Highland County, Ohio and Rankins academy at Ripley, Ohio.
He relocated to Fayette County, Ohio in 1854 and was admitted to the bar in 1855, locating at Washington Court House, Ohio where he built up a large practice. He was prosecuting attorney of Fayette county for two terms (1855–1859). Gardner was an original Republican, casting his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856 and for every nominee of the Republican party for president after that until his death.
He was elected on the Republican ticket to the Ohio Senate in 1861.
In the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, Gardner was a presidential elector for Ohio. In 1865, Mills Gardner was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives.
He was elected to the Forty-fifth congress in 1876 from Ohio’s Third district. He declined renomination in 1878 for a second term.
While a public servant, Mills Gardner nevertheless owned land in Washington Court House.
In 1875, he sold a new city resident the south-side lot upon which the Jacob Light House was later constructed. Upon leaving office, he resumed the practice of law until his death at Washington Court House. He is interred there in Washington Cemetery.
In 1872 he was elected a member of the Ohio constitutional convention.