Caleb Mills

Caleb Mills (born July 29, 1806, Dunbarton, N.H., U.S.—died Oct. 17, 1879, Crawfordsville, Ind.) was an American educator known as the father of Indiana’s public schools.

Mills, the son of a farmer, was educated at local schools and at the Pembroke Academy before entering Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. He graduated in 1828 and then pursued theological studies at Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Mass., completing his work there in 1833 and being ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1835.

In 1833 Mills moved to Indiana and settled in Crawfordsville, where he established a school that later became Wabash College. At first he was the sole instructor as well as principal, but by 1835 Wabash College had a faculty and Mills was professor of languages. He later served variously as principal of the preparatory department and of the normal school, professor of Greek language and literature, and college librarian.

Appalled at the low level of literacy then prevailing in Indiana, Mills began a one-man crusade to bring about the creation of a state public-school system. Starting in 1846 he wrote anonymous messages (signed “One of the People”) to each Indiana state legislator. He continued writing until, in 1852, the legislature passed an act that established a system of common schools and provided tax support for them. Owing to legislative imperfections the act was later invalidated by state courts, but a subsequent act in 1865 finally established the system.

In the interim, Mills served as state superintendent of public instruction (1854–57). During his administration, he helped found the Indiana State Teachers Association, and he awakened the people of the state to the need for normal schools to produce better-trained teachers.