Ossian Everett Mills
| Ossian Everett Mills | |
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| Born | February 16, 1856 Thompson, Connecticut |
| Died | December 26, 1920 Wellesley, Massachusetts |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Resting place | Thompson, Connecticut |
| Occupation | College administrator (Bursar) |
| Employer | New England Conservatory |
| Known for | Founding what is today known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social fraternity rooted in music (for men) |
| Spouse(s) | Clara Cleveland Carper Mills (1863-1952) |
| Children | Son: Homer Ossian Mills, Sr. (1888-1973); Grandchildren: Everett Matherson Mills (1916-1999), Ruth Perry Mills Cole (c. 1917-), Homer Ossian Mills, Jr. (1922-1999), Arthur Warren Mills II (1927-2016). |
| Parent(s) | Andrew Mills (1813-1913) and Maria Hezekiah Perry Mills (1821-1889) |
| Relatives | Siblings: Sarah Mills Truesdale, Fitz Henry Mills, Hezekiah P. Mills, Lucina Mills Low, John Andrew Mills, Clinton J. Mills, Carrie M. Mills, Arthur A. Mills I |
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Ossian Everett Mills (February 16, 1856 – December 26, 1920) was the founder of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 6, 1898.
Mills' ancestors had emigrated from England to Massachusetts in the 1600s. Ossian Everett Mills was born to Andrew and Maria Wheaton Perry Mills in Thompson, Connecticut on February 16, 1856. Andrew Mills was himself a music teacher.
The name Ossian is an anglicized version of Oisin, who in Irish mythology, was regarded as the greatest poet of Ireland and was a fianna warrior. This legendary figure played prominently in the work Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books, together with Several Other Poems composed by Ossian, the Son of Fingal, translated from the Gaelic Language, written in musical measured prose, published by Scottish poet James MacPherson in 1761. The source of Mills' given name is ironic given the later traditions associated with the fraternity that he would establish.
Mills married Clara Cleveland Carper, the daughter of Homer Carper and Catherine Welch, on August 28, 1883 in Delaware, Ohio. Clara was born on December 28, 1863 in Ohio, and died twenty-six years after her husband on January 14, 1952 in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mills had one son, Homer Ossian Mills, Sr., who was born on March 5, 1888 in Boston, attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and died in Putnam, Connecticut, on June 5, 1973.
As early as 1879, Ossian Mills went to Boston and was eventually employed in the business office of the New England Conservatory by Dr. Eben Tourjee, founder of the institution. Mills rose eventually to be bursar, the position he held at the time of his death, and the one through which he had been known to thousands of conservatory teachers and students. While his father was a music instructor, and while it has been reported that his wife was a vocalist, Ossian Mills' specific musical background and/or training remains unclear.
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