Dr James Mills

DR. JAMES MILLS, M.A, LL.D.

• Graduate, Victoria College, Cobourg Ontario, 1868. Achieved the Prince of Wales Gold Medal for highest marks in his class.
• Schoolmaster, Stanstead County Wesleyan Academy, Eastern Townships, Quebec Province 1868-1869
• Headmaster, and Teacher of Classical Languages & Algebra, Cobourg Collegiate Institute, Ontario 1869-1871
• Headmaster and Professor of Classics & Algebra, Brantford Collegiate Institute, Ontario 1872-1879
• Headmaster, and Professor of English Literature & Political Economy, Ontario School of Agriculture, Guelph 1879-1880
• President and Professor, Ontario Agricultural College and Experimental Farm, Guelph 1880-1904
• Founder, Farmers' Institutes of Ontario, 1885
• Co-Author, "The First Principles of Agriculture", a Ministry of Education textbook for Ontario high schools, 1890
• Regent, Victoria (College) University, University of Toronto 1890-1910
• Doctor of Laws, LL.D., conferred by Victoria University, University of Toronto, 1892
• Co-Founder, Macdonald Institute, Guelph, 1903
• Senator, University of Toronto, Ontario for 16 years
• Appointed member of the San Jose Scale (Insect) Commission, 1899
• Board of Directors, Railway Commission of Canada, Ottawa Ontario 1904-1915
• Librarian and Supervisory Officer, Board of Railway Commissioners, Ottawa Ontario 1915-1924
• My great-Grandfather. *

James Mills was born into an Irish-immigrant farming family near the village of Dunkerron, south of Bond Head, Ontario. The eldest of 9 children, he began his primary education at the age of 20 after the loss of his right arm in a farm accident. Upon graduating from Victoria Wesleyan Methodist College at Cobourg, he taught high school and later became a principal at Cobourg and at Brantford. Mills was invited to assume direction of the Ontario School of Agriculture and Experimental Farm at Guelph, in 1879

The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) changed in both stature and appearance during the 25 years it was headed by Dr. James Mills. He built public confidence in the value of the College by launching the innovative Farmers' Institutes of Ontario in 1885 as an experiment in adult extension education. Early in his tenure, he negotiated affiliation with the University of Toronto so that OAC could offer a degree program; the first class graduated in 1888. Dr. Mills also orchestrated the establishment of Macdonald Institute as Ontario's first college for women in 1903

Through persistence and determination, Dr. Mills secured government funds to improve the appearance of the campus and personally oversaw the construction of several new farm and academic buildings, most of which are still in active use today. Dr. Mills won the College's first private-sector support for the construction of Massey Hall, built to house the College library, as well as Macdonald Hall, and the Macdonald Institute

In 1904, Dr. Mills was selected to serve on the three-person Board of Railway Commissioners for the Dominion of Canada. Although never a politician, he was chosen for his knowledge and understanding of the agricultural industry across the whole of the country. The appointment necessitated his retirement from OAC, as well as a move for Dr. James, his wife Jessie, and their family, to the nation's Capital of Ottawa

In January 1921, a men's residence, Mills Hall, was opened and dedicated in recognition of his achievements at OAC. Fittingly, the now co-ed residence that bears his name at University of Guelph has long been a vital part of student life on campus

Dr. James Mills died at the age of 84, of cerebral haemorrhage, on 4th December 1924, at his residence in Ottawa. Jessie had preceeded him in 1919. His body was transported in state by train to Guelph for burial beside her at Woodlawn Cemetery

A tireless worker, Dr. Mills set high standards of conduct and morality for the young farmers who came to OAC. Under his Presidency, OAC developed until it gained an international reputation. Dr. Mills undoubtedly laid at Guelph the foundation of agricultural development and progress throughout the Dominion of Canada. By the time of his death in 1924, nearly every agricultural school Principal, President or Dean in Canada, and many in the United States as well, had at one time been a student of the late Dr. Mills

The Ontario Agricultural College became one of three founding colleges of the University of Guelph in 1964. The others were Ontario Veterinary College and Macdonald Institute. A formal portrait of the former OAC President hangs in a place of honour in War Memorial Hall. Today, OAC operates four campuses throughout Ontario

In 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame at Milton, Halton County, Ontario

Dr. James Mills and Jessie (Ross) Mills had 6 children, 4 girls and 2 boys. Their second son, John Percy Mills, died of diptheria early in his second year and was laid to rest in the Mills family plot at Woodlawn. Their daughters married gentlemen prominent in education, business and the politics of the nation. Their surviving son was a career officer in the Permanent Force of Canada, who served with distinction in World War I, rising to the rank of Lt.Colonel RCHA and earning the D.S.O. at Gallipoli

Because all but two of their daughters and sons are buried elsewhere in Ontario and Quebec, I am immensely proud to reunite my Great-Grandparents, the Great-Aunts and young Great-Uncle, my Grandparents, and my Father through this virtual Memorial.

May they rest peacefully . . . Inscription: MILLS

In Memoriam JAMES MILLS, M.A., LL.D. 1840-1924

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 28 2017, 16:22:33 UTC