The Miller Families of Black Hawk County, Iowa

GEORGE B. MILLER.

George B. Miller is the president of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company and as such is closely connected with one of the important productive industries of the city. He was born in Waterloo in 1872, a son of George W. Miller, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Black Hawk county when there were only three or four houses in the county seat. He walked the entire distance from Dubuque to this county and after reaching his destination followed the profession of civil engineering, laying out and surveying nearly all of Waterloo and the adjacent territory. He became closely associated with the pioneer development of this section of the state and was a most prominent, valued and influential citizen. After following civil engineering for a time he turned his attention to manufacturing interests and later engaged extensively in real-estate dealing, owning a large amount of property in Waterloo and its vicinity. His judgment was sound and his investments therefore judiciously made, so that he derived a substantial income from his activity in the real-estate field. His death occurred about the year 1897 and in his passing Black Hawk county lost a representative citizen.

George B. Miller was educated in the Waterloo high school and in the State University of Iowa, completing the course in the law department of that institution with the class of 1894. He then practiced law for five years, after which he turned his attention to the manufacture of gasoline engines, in which he was associated with his brother and others, his brother managing the business. In 1899 George B. Miller purchased his brother's and the others' interests in the factory and he has been in active management as president of the company for the past ten years. This is one of the most extensive and most important industries of the city. The main building is one thousand by one hundred and twenty feet, there are two other buildings fifty by one hundred and twenty feet each, and the foundry is one hundred and sixty by six hundred feet. The concern employs on an average seven hundred workmen and the output is extensive. The company manufactures gas engines, traction engines, spreaders, cream separators and a number of smaller articles. The plant is splendidly equipped with all the latest improved machinery and the business is most carefully systematized, so that maximum results are achieved at a minimum expenditure of time, labor and material — which is the source of all business success. Mr. Miller as president of the company is bending his efforts to administrative direction and executive control and his capability in correctly solving intricate business problems is manifest in his efficient management which is bringing to the company a most gratifying and substantial measure of prosperity. He is also interested in other business enterprises of importance in Waterloo and is the secretary of the Leavitt-Johnson- Miller Building Company.

In 1897 was celebrated the marriage of George B. Miller and Miss Myrtle L. Caldweld, a daughter of J. D. Caldweld. They now have one son, De Forrest, who is a high-school student in Waterloo. The parents are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Miller is serving as president of the board of trustees. He is a generous contributor to the support of the church and an active factor in various departments of its work. He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree, and in his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. He likewise has membership with the Knights of Pythias and the Elks, and the nature of his interests is further indicated in the fact that he has membership in the Chamber of Commerce, the Commercial Club and the Waterloo Club. His activity in business has not only contributed to his individual success but has also been a factor in the development of the city and he is now accounted one of the foremost residents of Waterloo, controlling one of its most extensive and most important business enterprises.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

L. D. MILLER.

L. D. Miller is the secretary and treasurer of the Crystal Ice & Fuel Company and as such occupies a creditable position in the business circles of Waterloo, in which city he has made his home for a quarter of a century. Attractive personal qualities as well as business enterprise have made him widely and favorably known and he has a large circle of warm friends here. For forty-six years he has lived in Black Hawk county, being but an infant when his parents left their home in Cook county, Illinois, where he was born, and brought their family to Black Hawk county. He is a son of Christ and Elizabeth (Welter) Miller, who arrived in this section of the state in 1867, after which the father was for many years actively engaged in business at Gilbertville, where he passed away several years ago. His wife died about five or six years ago.

L. D. Miller was reared at Gilbertville and was employed in his father's store until about twenty years of age, when he came to Waterloo and entered the employ of the Smith, Lichty & Hillman Company, wholesale grocers, with whom he was connected for about twenty years. He entered their employ as driver of one of the wagons, later was advanced to the position of shipping clerk, and in 1893 went upon the road as traveling representative of the house. From the beginning he thoroughly mastered every task assigned to him and thus developed the power and ability to meet the increased responsibilities which came with promotion. He remained with the firm until 1906 and then after twenty years' connection with the house resigned, to the deep regret of his employers. He was, however, ambitious to engage in business on his own account and having been, in 1901, one of the organizers of the Waterloo Ice & Fuel Company, he in 1906, in connection with J. F. Simpson, bought out the interests of the other stockholders in the concern. The business had been reorganized the previous year under the name of the Crystal Ice & Fuel Company and since 1907 Mr. Miller has been the secretary and treasurer. This business now has a liberal patronage, its annual sales of both ice and fuel reaching a creditable and gratifying figure. Aside from his interests therein Mr. Miller is a stockholder in the Commercial National Bank of Waterloo.

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Mr. Miller and his family are communicants of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and he holds membership in die Knights of Columbus, the Foresters and the Elks. Diligence and determination have been the basic elements in his business career, winning for him the success which he now enjoys. Practically his entire life has been spent in Black Hawk county, where he is well known, and the twenty-five years of his residence in Waterloo have established him as a resourceful, enterprising and representative business man.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Hermann Miller is the secretary and manager of the Iowa Manufacturers Fire Insurance Company of Waterloo, in which connection his efforts have been a contributing element to the substantial success won by the company. A native of Germany, he was born in 1861 and remained a resident of the fatherland until he reached the age of nineteen years, when he crossed the Atlantic to America. He had been educated in his native country and was engaged in mercantile pursuits there before making the voyage to the new world, having served a regular apprenticeship. On reaching the United States in 1880 he first took up his above at Reinbeck, in Grundy county, where he was employed as a clerk in a store.

In 1881, Mr. Miller arrived in Waterloo and was associated with the firm of J. G. Hoff & Sons as a clerk for four years. He was afterward in charge of their store in Reinbeck, a fact which indicates that he enjoyed the unqualified confidence and regard of the firm. He then engaged in the insurance business and soon afterward left the mercantile field and devoted his time to the upbuilding and development of his insurance interests. He became one of the organizers of the Iowa Manufacturers Fire Insurance Company, which was incorporated with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, and their assets are now nearly two hundred thousand dollars. The officers of the company are: W. W. Marsh, president; Hermann Miller, secretary and manager; and A. H. Holt, treasurer. The business has been carefully planned and systematized and has been developed along the most modern lines. Each forward step in the insurance field has brought to Mr. Miller a wider outlook and his efforts have been directed by the highest business ethics, and his success is therefore well merited.

In 1887, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Josie Akers, of Iowa, and they have become the parents of four sons: H. C, who is a member of the Miller-McCartney Insurance Agency at Waterloo; Max F., a student of architectural engineering at the Illinois State University at Champaign; Milo H., who is studying agricultural engineering at Iowa State College at Ames; and Karl, a student in the Waterloo schools. The family are members of the Congregational church and in its teachings find the guiding motive of their actions.

Mr. Miller gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and was a candidate for representative on that ticket. He is a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, also has membership in the Waterloo Club, is an Elk, a Knight of Pythias and a Mason. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he found the business opportunities which he sought and which are always open to an ambitious, energetic young man. Gradually he has advanced through the wise use of his time and advantages and has been active in the upbuilding of what is today one of the important business enterprises of his adopted city.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

GEORGE W. MILLER.

George W. Miller is the secretary-treasurer of the Miller-Hey Construction Company, builders of concrete bridges, in which connection the company enjoys a most enviable reputation that has led to contracts being awarded them in Iowa and other states. Mr. Miller was born in Barnes City, Mahaska county, Iowa, April 16, 1881, a son of John B. and Martha A. (Darland) Miller, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. Mrs. Miller was a daughter of

John and Margaret (Lowe) Darland, who are residents at this time of the town in which George W. Miller was born. John B. Miller was a son of Samuel and Maria (Braddock) Miller, who arrived in Iowa in 1855, in which year they removed from Hancock county, Ohio, to Keokuk county, this state. During his early manhood John B. Miller engaged in teaching school and later followed merchandising in Iowa. In 1853 Martha A. Darland arrived in Poweshiek county, Iowa, with her parents, who, Hke the parents of John B. Miller, were among the early settlers, taking an active part in the pioneer development. For many years John B. Miller successfully carried on business and in 1896 retired, spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest until death called him on the 24th of August, 1907. His wife passed away August 24, 1908, just a year after his demise. They were the parents of two children: Lilly Mae, the wife of A. E. Priem, a business man of Seattle, Washington; and George W.

The latter attended school in Alontezuma, Iowa, where his father was engaged in business. In the pursuit of his education he passed through consecutive grades until graduated from the Montezuma high school with the class of 1898. He then entered Iowa State College at Ames in 1899 and there pursued a course in civil engineering, which he completed in 1903, winning the degree of B. C. E. After his graduation he was employed in the city engineer's office at Des Moines until December of that year, when he became connected with the Marsh Bridge Company of Des Moines as an engineer, remaining with that firm until 1906. He then returned to the office of the city engineer, where he remained for one year as assistant city engineer of Des Moines, after which he again spent one year in the employ of the Marsh Bridge Company. He next went to Norwood, Colorado, in April, 1908, as chief engineer for the Empire Irrigation Company. On the ist of September of the same year, however, he returned to the middle west, going to Wisconsin, where he became bridge engineer for the Advance Construction Company. In the spring of 1909 he became a stockholder therein and came to Waterloo as Iowa representative of the company. On the ist of January, 191 1, Mr. Miller and W. A. Hey took over the bridge department of the Advance Construction Company and they then formed a partnership under the name of the Miller-FIey Construction Company, engineers and constructors of concrete bridges. They have secured various important contracts resulting in building numerous bridges throughout Iowa and other states. Mr. Miller thoroughly understands the scientific principles which underlie the business as well as the practical phases of the work and is thus well qualified to execute important contracts. He also is interested in a fruit ranch in Idaho and is the owner of valuable residence and business property in Waterloo.

On the 6th of April, 1904, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Cammie L. Waugh, a native of Albia, Iowa, and a daughter of John E. and Martha (Arnold) Waugh, who were early settlers of this state. Mrs. Miller's grandfather Waugh was killed at Nashville, December 3, 1864, while serving in the Union army. Her mother died November 9, 1906, and her father now resides near Nampa, Idaho. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born three children: Kenneth Arnold, eight years of age; Howard Albert, who is five years of age; and John Robert, who is but a year old.

Mr. Miller holds membership in both the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and the Royal Arch Masons and he belongs also to the Knights of Pythias. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but he does not seek nor desire office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs, in which he is meeting with substantial success owing to his close application, his indefatigable efforts and his honorable methods.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.