The Miller Families of Pottawattamie County, Iowa

ROBERT MILLER, one of the representative citizens of Washington Township, Pottawattamie County, has resided here since 1882. He is justly deserving of honorable mention in a work of this character, and a resume of his life is herewith given.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

Robert passed his youth at farm work in his native county and received his education in the public schools. In 1854, when he was twenty-four years uf age, he was married in Allegheny County, to Miss Eleanor McKee, a lady of intelligence and refinement. She was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Mary Ann (Crawford) McKee. Her parents were of Irish ancestry, and were born in Belfast, Ireland. They worshiped with the old-school Presbyterians. Robert Miller resided in Pennsylvania until 1854, when he removed to Rock Island County, Illinois, where he remained until 1868, with the exception of one year spent at Pike's Peak. In 1868 he removed to Page County, Iowa, and located northwest of Clarinda, being one of the early settlers of that place. He resided in Page County until the spring of 1871, when he moved to Thayer County, Nebraska, then called Jefferson County. After remaining there five years and four months he returned to Page County, and for one year made his home south of Essex. He then went to Atchison County, Missouri, and from there, in 1882, he came to Washington Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. In 1881 he purchased 160 acres of land from B. F. Clayton. The soil had been broken but there were no improvements on the farm. In 1886 he purchased eighty acres more, now being the owner of 240 acres of well improved land. Besides his own residence he has two tenant houses. His farm is devoted to general farming and stock-raising.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller have six children, namely: Mary Jane, wife of (george Fulton, Thayer County, Nebraska;'Eliza Belle, wife of Samuel Bartle, Carson Township, Pottawattamie County; Joseph B. is married and lives on his father's farm; William Joini is also married and resides on the Perry place; James T., at home; and Robert R., at school. Two of their children are deceased, an infant son and Eleanor, who died at the age of seven months.

Mr. Miller cases his vote and influence with the Republican party, and lie has served the public ill some of the township offices. He and his wife are members of the Sharon Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. He is also an active worker in the Salibath-school. Mr. Miller is a man of three-score years, yet he bears his age lightly. He is a desirable acquisition to the community in which he resides, and is honored and esteemed by all who know him.

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

G. J. MILLER.

G. J. Miller, engaged in general farming and stock-raising on section 7, Neola township, owns a well improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres and also operates another tract of similar amount. He is one of the early settlers of. the county, having made his home within its borders since 1878. He arrived here when a young man of twenty-five years, having been born in Muskingum county, Ohio, May 18, 1853. His father, George Miller, was born in Germany but was reared and married in this country. On coming to the new world he settled near Zanesville, Ohio, where he reared his family and spent his remaining days.

G. J. Miller was reared to manhood in his native county and educated in the common schools. In the spring of 1878 he left his Ohio home and made his way direct to Pottawattamie county, where he worked by the month as a farm hand for four years, when with the money he had saved from his earnings he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which he now resides. This he broke and fenced, erected buildings thereon and continued the work of opening up and developing a farm. For a time he kept bachelor's hall but later completed arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage in Neola, on the 7th of August, 1884, to Miss Catherine D. Buchanan, a native of Scotland, who came to the new world when a maiden of eleven years with her father, John Buchanan, who on crossing the Atlantic established his home near Neola, Iowa. The young couple began their domestic life upon the farm where they have since lived. Mr. Miller has here erected a good residence, commodious and attractive in its style of architecture, and has also put up two barns and outbuildings. He now cultivates two hundred and forty acres of land in the production of grain and is also largely engaged in raising and feeding stock, both branches of his business proving profitable.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born five children: Jessie O, George J., Arthur W., Janet T., and Anna S. In his political views Mr. Miller has been a life-long democrat where national issues are involved but cases an independent local ballot. He served as township trustee for three years, was school treasurer four years and secretary of the school board for eight years. He also capable served as assessor for fourteen years, his last term being in 1896. He has been a delegate to the county conventions and is much interested in the political situation of the country, while in office he has always been found trustworthy. efficient and reliable. Both he and his wife are active and helpful members of the Neola Presbyterian church, in which Mr. Miller is serving as an elder, anil their upright lives and fidelity to principle have gained them the kindly regard and warm friend-hip of many with whom they have come in contact.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

G. A. MILLER.

G. A. Miller, who for twenty-two years has been a resident of Pottawattamie county, now owns and cultivates one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 16, James township. He was born in LaSalle county, Illinois, August 5, 1859, his parents being Nicholas and Kate Miller, the former born in Germany and the latter in Boston, Massachusetts. The father came with his parents to the United States in 1840, the family home being established in the state of New York, where he remained until he attained his majority. He then made his way westward to LaSalle county, Illinois, where he resided until 1875, when he established his home in Livingston county, Illinois, near Dwight. Both he and his wife are now deceased. They became the parents of ten children, of whom eight yet survive: Magdaline, the wife of H. C. Brandes, of James township, Pottawattamie county; Carrie, of Chicago, Illinois; G. A., of this review; Katie, of Pottawattamie county; Emma, the wife of Frank Wilkinson, of Chicago; Louise and Rose, also of Chicago; and Hattie, who is living in the same city. Those deceased were Nicholas and Sophia.

In the common schools G. A. Miller obtained his education while spending his boyhood days under the parental roof. He remained a resident of Illinois until 1885, when he came to Iowa, settling in James township, Pottawattamie county, where he rented a farm for three years. He then purchased eighty acres of land and has since extended its boundaries by the purchase of an additional tract of eighty acres, so that he now owns one hundred and sixty acres on section 16, James township. He has brought his fields under a state of rich fertility, and he uses the latest improved machinery to carry on the work of the farm. Everything about the place indicates his careful supervision and practical methods, and his labors have brought to him a desirable measure of success.

In 1884 Mr. Miller was married to Miss Carrie Deffenbaugh, who was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and was one of six children. Her parents were of German descent, Unto Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born eight children: Maud, Harry, Roy, Alta. Ada. Howard, Merle and Glenn. The parents attend and support the Evangelical church in James township, and Mr. Miller gives his political allegiance to the democracy. For three years he has served as township trustee, his election being proof of his fidelity and trustworthiness in office. Mrs. Miller was reared in Illinois, among pleasant surroundings, and developed a genial disposition and sunny nature which contribute much to the happiness of their home and make a visit at the Miller household a thing of delight to the many friends of the family. In his business career Mr. Miller is determined and energetic, and at all times thoroughly reliable. In this way he has won the success that he is now enjoying.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

STEPHEN T. MILLER, D. V. S.

Dr. Stephen T. Miller, who is city meat and fruit inspector for Council Bluffs, was born on a farm in Powcsheik county, Iowa, on the 23d of August, 1864, and is a representative of one of the old families of this state, his parents having located here at an early period of Iowa's development. The father, Jacob S. Miller, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and after his removal to the middle west continued his residence in Iowa until his death, which occurred in Montezuma in 1877. He married Armilda Edmonds and they became the parents of a large family "of seventeen children, fourteen of whom are yet living. The mother still survives and makes her home in Montezuma.

Dr. Miller of this review spent the first fifteen years of his life in the county of his nativity and during most of that period was a pupil of the public schools near his father's home. In 1879 his mother removed to Norton, Kansas, where he lived on a homestead until 1892, and there he completed his education in a sod schoolhouse, such as was common upon the plains of the Sunflower state, where it was difficult to obtain building materials. Considering his education completed at the age of twenty-one, he started in life "on his own account. About that time he was elected a school director and served for three years. He went to school, however, for nine months after he was elected to office, and, as he expresses it, "hired his own teacher," and says that he learned more in that period than he had done in all of his previous attendance at schools. In 1891 he became a student in a veterinary college at Des Moines, Iowa, and was graduated in 1893. He then located at Shelby, Iowa, as a veterinary, and in 1898 he pursued a post-graduate course in the Kansas City Veterinary College. In 1905 he located for practice in Council Bluffs, where he has since remained, and he has here secured a liberal patronage as a member of the profession. In 1906 he was made meat and fruit inspector, which position he is still filling, and in 1907 he was appointed by Governor Cummings assistant state veterinary.

Dr. Miller was married in 1891, in Kansas, to Miss Ida Roys, and they have three children: Russell T., Miss Marvel D. and Bernard C. Dr. Miller belongs to the Yeomen and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. Although he was denied in youth many advantages which most boys enjoy, owing to the fact that he lived upon the frontier, he has nevertheless made use of his opportunities and he has now attained to a position of prominence in his profession owing to the skill which he has acquired therein.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

FRANKLIN W. MILLER.

Franklin W. Miller, an able practitioner at the bar of Council Bluffs, has been a resident of Iowa since 1881, in which year lie settled in Mills county, coming thence to this city in 1896. He was born in Fulton county, Illinois, his parents being Daniel Y. and Jane (Randolph) Miller, who settled in the Prairie state in 1848 and are still living there.

Mr. Miller's life has been one of intense and well directed activity. His literary education being completed, he engaged in teaching school for five years and during that time devoted his leisure, aside from the duties of the schoolroom, to the mastery of the principles of law. After careful and thorough preparation he was admitted to the bar at Springfield, Illinois, in 1880, by the supreme court of that state. The following year he removed to Iowa and settled in Mills county, where he continued in the practice of his profession until his removal to Council Bluffs in 1896. He has for twenty-seven years been a member of the bar, during which time he has given proof of his wide and comprehensive knowledge of law principles and his ability in correctly applying them to the points in litigation. He is engaged in general practice in all the courts, both state and federal, and he was in 1906 honored by the democratic nomination for the office of district judge. The district, however, has a republican majority of eight thousand and although he did not succeed in overcoming this he ran far ahead of his ticket, polling a strong vote. Aside from what he has accomplished in his profession, Mr. Miller is deserving of mention for what he has done in establishing an independent telephone system here. He was the organizer of the Independent Telephone Company at Council Bluffs, having been the one who formed the company by selecting the persons composing it and who circulated a petition for its franchise, which was carried by a vote of two to one at a special city election held therefor and was also the first signed for stock. The movement was started on the 15th of July, 1904, and the company was organized in the spring of 1905. It now has over three hundred thousand dollars invested, a local exchange of over three thousand and connection with one hundred and seventy thousand phones in Iowa and Nebraska. Mr. Miller deserves great credit for this work. He has never asked nor held office in connection with the company, simply laboring for the good of the community in this direction.

Mrs. Miller bore the maiden name of Belle B. Whitmore and was a resident of Fulton county, Illinois, her parents being H. J. and Ann Whitmore, the former a farmer by occupation. They have three sons: Earl W.. now a student in the state college at Ames, Iowa, where he is pursuing an electrical engineering course; Carl D., a student at the John A. Creighton Medical College in Omaha, Nebraska; and Clarence, who is attending the high school at Council Bluffs. Mrs. Miller is a member of the Women's Club and has always taken a very active part in associate charity work. Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are prominent socially and one of the leading features of their attractive home is its warm hearted hospitality They attend the Congregational church and Mr. Miller is a member of the Elks lodge, the Commercial Club and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In community affairs he is deeply and helpfully interested, his name being a synonym for true American patriotism, which seek* the good of the community and not personal aggrandizement.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

J. C. MILLER.

J. C. Miller, the owner of two hundred acres of land in Knox township, Pottawattamie county, which he is successfully operating, was born in Denmark on the 9th of September, 1860, a son of Andrew and Hannah Miller, who were also natives of Denmark and passed away in that country. They had the following children: Christine, the wife of Chris Sorenson, living in Nebraska; J. O, of this review; William, deceased; Trine, the wife of Peter Nelson, a resident of this county; Carl, who makes his home in Shelby county, Iowa; Lena, who became the wife of Martin Larson and now resides in the state of Washington; and Marie, who still resides in Denmark.

J. C. Miller was reared in his native country and there acquired his education. In 1885, at the age of twenty-five years, he determined to take up his above in the new world and accordingly crossed the bring deep, taking up his residence in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, on his arrival in this country. He operated rented land for nine years and then, with the money which he had saved during this period, purchased a farm of his own. He is now the owner of two hundred acres on section 26, Knox township, Pottawattamie county, and has improved his farm until it is one of the model properties of the county. He has built a fine residence, also a barn and other outbuildings and has equipped his place with all modern accessories and conveniences. He is meeting with success in his agricultural interests by reason of his well directed energy and capable business management and is recognized as one of the county's alert and enterprising farmers and business men.

In 1881, Mr. Miller was joined in wedlock to Miss Marie Hansen, who was born in Denmark in 1859. She was one of a family of six children and both her parents died in Denmark. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of seven children, namely: Christ F., of Twin Falls, Idaho; Hannah, Christine, Fred, Antone, Emma and Carl, all yet at home.

In his political views Mr. Miller is a democrat and has served as school director for two terms. He and his family support the Lutheran church and are recognized throughout the community as people of genuine personal worth and commendable traits of character. Mr. Miller has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in the new world, for here he has found the opportunities he sought and through their utilization has gained his present prosperity. He also attributes his success in large measure to the aid of his estimable wife, who has ever been a faithful companion and helpmate to him on the journey of life.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.