Mills, W. H. (William Hayne), 1872-1942

William Hayne Mills was born on September 12, 1872 in Winnsboro, South Carolina, the son of Reverend William Wilson Mills and Sarah Edith (Smith) Mills. Mills received his A.B. from Davidson College (Davidson, North Carolina) in 1892 and his B.D. at Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, Georgia) in 1897.

Mills was Principal at Bethesda High School from 1892-1894 and was a teacher of Hebrew at Columbia Theological Seminary from 1896-1898. He later served as minister to a number of congregations, including appointments in Clarendon and Williamsburg Counties in South Carolina. From 1903-1906 he served as a home missionary under the Synod of South Carolina. In 1907 he accepted the pastorate of Fort Hill Presbyterian Church in Clemson, South Carolina, a charge in which he remained until 1918 when he joined the faculty at Clemson College with the Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Department. Mills was, in addition, a trustee at the Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School at St. Helena Island, South Carolina and President of the Pendleton (S.C.) Farmer's Society. As a writer and editor, Mills focused mainly on South Carolina Farmer's Society. As a writer and editor, Mills focused mainly on South Carolina agriculture and Presbyterian ecclesiastical history.

William Hayne Mills married Emma Louise Pressley in 1889 and together they had six children, though only three survived: Edith Louise, William H. Jr., and Mary Leighton. Mills died at age 69 on March 29, 1942.

From the description of William Hayne Mills collection. 1917-1942. (Clemson University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 19910158