The first known reference to Abijah Millis appears on a Tax List of Capt. McKain's Company in Sumner County in 1791. We do not know his birth year or birthplace, but assume he was born in about 1755. His oldest son, Thomas, was born before 1785. Another son, William, who was born about 1790, always claimed his birth place as North Carolina. We have no way of knowing whether he was actually talking about North Carolina or what is now Tennessee. He appears again on the 1794 Tax List as Abijah Millace.

On 31 March 1795, Abijah bought 100 a, from Thomas Cribbins, a part of 200 a. purchased by Cribbins from Robert Aspey (Espey). Robert Erspy (Espey) married Curry Cribbins on 1 Feb 1790. Abijah may have purchased other land earlier since he was a property owner in 1791 and two parcels of land were sold after his death, but no record of another purchase could be found.

Son Thomas was involved in a lawsuit in 1801 which says he lived in Sumner County , Drake's Creek.

Abijah probably died on 30 Oct 1797, as this date was referenced in the numerous Sumner County Estate Records which followed until 1818. There seem to have been numerous problems related to guardianship and inaction by the executor. The estate was finally settled in 1816 - 1818 when William was appointed "attorney-in-fact" to sell land owned by the deceased Abijah. The family had moved to Shelby and Bullitt County, Kentucky. Some of the daughters had married by that time.

The heirs were listed as:

There were numerous spellings of the name on various court records, but since about 1816, there is consistent spelling as Millis.

There were numerous references to Thomas Cribbins and Armstead Rogers in connection with the settlement of Abijah Estate, so there may have been some family connection. No proof has been found. Mary, Abijah's widow, probably married Benjamin Davis after Abijah's death and then separated prior to the settlement of the estate in 1816. No verification of this marriage or divorce has been found either.