Cyrus Taggart Mills was born on May 4, 1819, in Paris, New York. He was the youngest of the three sons of William and Mary Mills. He grew up in the midst of the poverty which was common among families on the frontier during the early part of the nineteenth century.
Although Mills was inadequately prepared for college when he entered Williams and was obliged to work his way through, he graduated in 1844, seventh in a class of thirty-three. The influence of Mark Hopkins was a force that Mills delighted to acknowledge throughout his life. From Williams College, he went to the Union Theological Seminary, New York, worked his way through there, and graduated in 1847. At some time during his period of preparation, he became interested in missionary work in India and took up the study of Tamil while in the theological seminary.
On February 2, 1848, Mills was ordained by the Third Presbytery of New York. The two sailed almost immediately for India, under appointment of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Full of enthusiasm, the young couple landed in Ceylon and Mills took charge of Batticotta Seminary, an institution devoted to training native teachers and preachers. His administration was successful and he established an enviable reputation among both his colleagues and the natives of the community, but the climate was enervating and the environment was unhealthful. A constitution none too rugged at any time was soon undermined by the diseases common to that section, and after six years of arduous labor, he and his wife returned to the United States. Then followed four years of recuperation, agitation on behalf of foreign missionary work, pastoral labors in Berkshire, New York. (1856 - 58), business ventures, and, finally, determination to undertake again the work in foreign fields. This time, he and his wife went to the Hawaiian Islands, and in 1860 took charge of Oahu College near Honolulu. He found the college dependent on the American Board for support, but put it on a self-supporting basis during the four years he remained in charge. Obviously, his business acumen had not deserted him, though his body had not fully recuperated from the ravages of disease contracted in India. His health failed again and in 1864, he returned to the United States, spent a year at Ware, Massachusetts, and in 1865 settled in California. From Mary Atkins, he bought a school for young ladies at Benicia and devoted his energies to administering it. His missionary zeal was tinctured, however, with a penchant for business venture, and within a few years, he acquired about sixty acres of land in what was then called Brooklyn, five miles south of Oakland and east of the southern end of San Francisco Bay. On this new site he erected a modern building with accommodations for about one hundred and twenty-five women, and in 1871 moved the school from Benicia, giving the name of Mills Seminary to the new institution. The transfer brought heavy financial obligations. About one hundred and sixty thousand dollars had been spent, approximately eighty thousand of which remained unpaid. To the task of canceling this obligation he now turned his attention. He had invested in lands in the southern part of California, and while looking after his property there, a few years before his death, he was induced to make another venture. The country around Pomona interested him, the need for water attracted his attention. He died in Oakland, California.
Mills was a hard worker, patient, and persevering in the tasks he assigned himself, keenly interested in the development of the community in which he lived, and judicious in his financial investments. Recognizing his limitations in purely educational matters he wisely sought the advice of his wife, and frequently her decision could be seen behind his action in connection with campus administration. From his various financial investments and from gifts, he paid off the obligations with the exception of seven thousand dollars, about forty thousand dollars being contributed from his own private funds.
On September 11, Mills married Susan Lincoln Tolman.
