John Graham Mills was born in the province of Quebec, Canada, on May 23, 1854. In 1875 he took Horace Greeley's advice, "Go west, young man, " and left for Ontario. It was there that he received his training in how to raise good stock. He spent six or seven years in Ontario and then proceeded westward.

Mr. Mills came to Dakota Territory in March 1881. He was married March 15, 1882, to Mary C. Fletcher, who also came from Ontario.

Mr. John Mills bought four head of purebred Hereford cattle in 1903. In 1910 he exhibited at the fair in Fargo. In 1912 he again exhibited all around the circuit and was then made charter member of the State Fair Board. He was president of the Griggs County Fair Association for 19 years. When Mr. Mills left the farm in 1912, his son, George, bought all the stock. John Mills and his wife lived in Hannaford for the remaining years of their lives.

In 1925 Mr. John Graham Mills was honored by having his picture hung in the Saddle and Sirloin Club Hall of Fame for his outstanding efforts in the improvements of agriculture in North Dakota.

Their first son, Milton, was born in 1883. At the age of 23, he started his own farm one-half mile west of the old homestead (Section 22-145-59), where he lived until 1919 when he moved to New York State.

A daughter, Mabel, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Mills in 1886. She attended high school in Minneapolis and studied and taught music until her marriage to Eli Parker.

A second son, George W. , was born in 1888. He lived on the old homestead and was married in March 1912. The family moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1942. George Mills died there in 1968.

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 207