Homer B. (Homer Baxter) Sprague

Born in Sutton, Massachusetts, on October 19, 1829, Homer Baxter Sprague was an American educator, author, lawyer, and abolitionist. He studied at Leicester Academy and Yale, where he graduated as valedictorian, later earned admission to the bar, and built a reputation as a lecturer and prolific writer with strong anti-slavery views.

When the Civil War began, he joined the 13th Connecticut Infantry and rose from captain to colonel. He was captured by Confederate forces in 1864 and released in a prisoner exchange the following year. After the war, he returned to education and became known for both leadership and reform-minded ideas.

Sprague led several important institutions during his later career, including Mills College in California and the University of North Dakota. He also served at Adelphi Academy, where he is remembered for helping introduce the first fire drills in an American school system, and he played a role in launching what became the Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute, an early summer school for teachers. He died on March 23, 1918.