Arthur J. Mills was born in Guthrie county, Iowa, on October 20, 1867, being the son of Hadley and Margaret (Bowles) Mills, natives of Indiana. The father was born on March 16, 1844, and now lives in Lyon county, Kansas. He was a soldier in the Civil war in the Forty-sixth Iowa Regiment, under Colonel D. B. Henderson. His mother bought government land where Stuart now stands. She was born in 1845 and died in 1889. Arthur grew to the age of fifteen in Iowa, attending school and working with his father on the farm. In 1882 the family went to Kansas and settled in Jewell county and there our subject continued at school until he was twenty. At that age, he took up farming for himself. He worked one year in Cherokee county and then sold out and came to Latah county. In the spring of 1897 he came to the reservation country and since that time he has continued here in the good work of development and improvement. His farm of eighty acres lies about one mile southwest from Melrose and is one of the places that produces abundant crops of diversified grains, while also Mr. Mills raises cattle and hogs. On February 22, 1897, at Moscow, Latah county, Idaho, Mr. Mills married Cora A. McKinzie, daughter of Sterling N. and Rebecca (Ousterhouse) Bunce. and to them two children have been born, Margie E. and Edward S. Mr. Bunce is a farmer in Nez Perces county and he and his wife were born in Massachusetts. Mrs. Mills was born in Michigan in 1874 and she has the following brothers and sisters: Clara Buttrey, Grace Rancier, Mattie Buttrey Bernie. Mr. Mills has two brothers and two sisters, Emery H., Rhoda M. Dobbins, William C. and Edith Mills. Mr. Mills is a member of the I. O. O. F., and the W. W. at Melrose. He is a Democrat, but does not press for preferment in political matters. Mr. Mills is of excellent standing in the community and is a good, reliable and capable citizen.