The Miller Families of Washington County, Iowa

ALEXANDER R. MILLER.

Alexander R. Miller, who according to the consensus of public opinion has measured up to the full standard of manhood in all of life's relations, is now editor of the Washington Democrat. He is well known in this part of the state where he has spent his entire life, being numbered among the native sons of Washington county, his birth having occurred in Marion township, February 6, 1865.

His parents, Peter P. and Piarbara (Sommer) Miller, were both natives of Holmes county. Ohio, where they were reared. The former was a son of Moses P. Miller who was born in Pennsylvania. He became a farmer and was also prominent in the Mennonite church, becoming one of its clergymen and also a bishop of that denomination. He gave his services to the cause of Christianity without pay. and rode horseback over Indiana, organizing many churches. Who can measure the influence of such a life, characterized by self-sacrifice and by the utmost devotion to the work of promoting the moral and religious progress of the race? He died in Holmes county. Ohio, at the age of seventy-five years, while his wife. Mrs. Catharine (Miller) Miller, was about seventy years of age at the time of her demise. They were the parents of seven children who reached years of maturity: Sarah, who died unmarried: Jonathan; Maria, who died single: John; Mrs., Catharine Kauffman; Moses, living in Tuscarawas county. Ohio; and Peter P. The last named, the father of our subject, was reared on the home farm in his native county until fifteen years of age. when he became a stock drove and was thus employed for ten or twelve years. He came west with a partner, Philip Yoder, with five thousand head of sheep and located in Marion township, Washington county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming in i86. He was married in this county in January of that year, the lady of his choice being Miss Barbara Sommer, a daughter of Joseph Sonnner. who was a native of Pennsylvania and one of the early settlers of Holmes county. Ohio, where he accumulated considerable property. He came to Iowa with his family in 1853. driving across the country to Van Piuren county, and located soon afterward in Washington county, his home being a refuge in pioneer times for all new-comers. He. too. was a Mennonite and was one of the founders of a church of that denomination in this county. He lived an active, useful and honorable life and was called to his reward in 1888 at the age of eighty

IIISTURV Ul" WASHINGTON COUNTY 9 years His wife, Mrs. Martha (Miller) Sommer, died in 1875 at the age of sixty-five years. They had a large family, namely: Catharme the wife of Daniel Winter; Susan, the wife of Samuel Hagie; Lydia, who wedded Rev Benjamin Eicher; Eve, the wife of Peter Goldsmith; Barbara, the wife of Peter P. Miller; Lucinda, who married John A. Rumble; Henry residing at Wheatland, Wyoming; and Martha, the wife of G. W. Neff, ot

Wavland, Iowa..,. t to-,

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

In taking up the personal history of Alexander R. Miller we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely known in Washington county, having spent his entire life within its borders. He was reared on the home farm, pursued his early education in the district schools and later attended the Eastern Iowa Normal School, at Columbus Junction, and the Washington Academy. He lived at home until twenty-five years of age, giving his attention to the work of the farm and also to school teaching, which profession he followed for ten years in the district and village schools-always in Washington county. He then read law with Dewey & Eicher, well known attorneys of Washington, and was admitted to the bar in 1892 but he did not follow the profession, and in 1893 became connected with journalism, purchasing a half interest from George G. Rodman m the Washington Democrat, thus becoming a partner of William N. Hood with whom he\yas thus associated for five years. Mr. Hood was killed by the cars September 14. 1898, and that year Mr. Miller by purchase acquired the entire plant and has since conducted the paper alone. The Democrat was established in 1878 and its name indicates its political complexion. Mr. Miller has a fine plant, most modern in all of its equipment, and in addition to the publication of his paper, which is an attractive sheet and has a large circulation, he also conducts an extensive job-printing business.

On the 28th of May, 1895. was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Miller to Miss Ola Rabcock, a daughter of Nathan L. and Ophelia (Smith) Babcock Mrs. Miller was born in this county while her father was a native ot New York and her mother of Ohio. The former was a son of Stanton Babcock, a native of New York, and one of the honored pioneer residents of Washington county, Iowa. He married Thurza Babcock, whose surname was therefore not changed at the time of her marriage. Both lived to an advanced age and their remains were interred in a cemetery of this county when they were called to their final rest. They had three children who reached mature years. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Miller was a farmer by occupation. He married a Miss Rogers and they were early residents of Iowa where Mrs. Smith died at the age of thirty-three years, her grave being made in Richmond. Mr. Smith afterward married again and died at an advanced age. By his first wife he had five daughters: Harriet, the wife of Adam Page: Ophelia, the wife of N. L. Babcock: Cora, the wife of Nial Van Sickle: Emina, the wife of Anthony \"an Sickle of Washington; and Mrs. Elizabeth Canier, a widow.

Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Babcock became residents of Washington county at an early day and the father engaged in farming here. Espousing the cause of the Union at the time of the Civil war, he did active duty for two years in the Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. For the past thirty years he and his wife have lived in Washington where he has been engaged in dealing in live stock. They were the parents of seven children, but only three are now living, Ola, John and Josephine. Of these the first named became Mrs. Miller, and by her marriage three children have been born, Joseph, Ophelia and Barbara, but the first named died in infancy.

In his fraternal relations Mr. filler is a Mason, prominent in the order as a member of Washington Lodge, No. 26, A. F. & A. M.: Cyrus Chapter No. 13, R. A. M.; and Bethlehem Commandery, No. 45, K. T. He is also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and his wife is a member of the Methodist church. His political allegiance is given to the democracy and that he is one of the prominent workers and foremost representatives of the party in this section of the state is indicated in the fact that he is now serving as a member of the state central committee from the first district. He also uses the columns of his paper to further the political interests in which he believes but is not bitterly aggressive in his attacks upon those holding opposing views. In fact his salient qualities are those which characterize progressive and honorable American manhood and throughout the state wherever known, he is regarded as a dynamic force in furthering the best interests of his native county.

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

WILBER L. MILLER.

Wilber L. Miller, formerly engaged in the furniture and undertaking business and now devoting his energies entirely to the latter line in Washington, was born in this city April 5, 1868. His parents, Charles S. and Eliza A. (Worthen) Miller, are numbered among the early residents of Iowa, having first come to the city in 1854 while in 1858 they took up their permanent above in Washington. The Millers are of an old New England family. The great-grandfather, Jacob Miller, was born in 1760 and removed from Chesterfield, New Hampshire, to Northfield, Massachusetts. He served his country as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, valiantly aiding in the struggle for independence and again was a soldier in the war of 181 2. He married Phebe Grover. The paternal grandfather, Cyrus Miller, was a native of Massachusetts, born on the 22d of October, 1794, and his life record covered the intervening years until the 8th of April, 1882, when he was called to his final rest. He served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812, manifesting the spirit of loyalty for which the family has always been noted. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eliza M. Leach, was also a native of the old Bay state.

Charles S. Miller, father of Wilber L. Miller, was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, April 12, 1830, and having arrived at years of maturity was married at Enfield, Connecticut, on the 23d of September, 1849, to Miss Eliza A. Worthen, who was born October 17, 1830, at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, and was a daughter of Jacob and Eliza (Wason) Worthen. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Miller came to Iowa in 1854 and entered land near Keota. Two years later, however, they removed to St. Louis and Mr. Miller secured employment in the car shops at St. Charles, having previously been engaged in car building in the east. In the spring of 1858 they arrived in Washington, Iowa, and Mr. Miller entered commercial circles here in the wagon-making business while later he turned his attention to the sale of sewing machines. Gradually he made progress in a financial way and in 1875 embarked in the furniture and undertaking business, which he conducted successfully for twenty-eight years, enjoying not only a large trade but also the confidence and good will of the general public. In fact he was well known and highly esteemed throughout the county, being a man of sterling business integrity and of genuine personal worth. He was outspoken and positive in his convictions yet he believed in giving others the right of their opinions. Honesty was one of his most salient characteristics and moreover he endeavored throughout his entire life to follow the Golden Rule, doing unto others as he would have them do unto him. In politics he was a silver democrat and a strong admirer of William Jennings Bryan. He died July 1, 1903, at the age of seventy-three years, two months and nineteen days, while his wife passed away March 28, 1904, at the age of seventy-three years, five months and eleven days. On the 23d of September, 1899, they celebrated their golden wedding, having completed a half century of happy married life. Mr. Miller was reared a Unitarian and his wife held membership in the Methodist church. They were the parents of five children: Frank, who died at the age of twenty-one years from injuries sustained in a tornado at Burlington, Iowa, in 1873; Theresa, the wife of William Gentzler, of Waterloo, Iowa; G. Edgar, who died in infancy; Fred, living in Webster City, Iowa; and Wilber L., of this review.

The last named has spent his entire life in Washington and in retrospection one can see him in his boyhood days, attending the public schools where he mastered the common branches of English learning. He lived at home throughout the period of his minority and after completing his education worked for his father in the store until the ist of August, 1889, when he was admitted to a partnership in the furniture and undertaking business. Thus throughout his entire career he has been connected with commercial interests in Washington. On the ist of January, 1903, however, he sold out but on the ist of September, 1904, reentered trade circles as proprietor of an undertaking establishment which he still successfully conducts. He has a large share of the public patronage in his line for he carries a fine line of undertaking goods and moreover is known to be thoroughly reliable and trustworthy in all of his dealings.

On the loth of July, 1895, Mr. Miller was married in Fort Madison, Iowa, to Miss Emma Arnold, a daughter of Emerson and Eliza (Cramner) Arnold. Mrs. Miller was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, near Danville, September 16, 1873. Her maternal grandmother still survives at the age of nearly ninety years. She is Mrs. Sophia Woodmansee, having married again since the death of her first husband, Mr. Cramner. All of the other grandparents of Mrs. Miller have passed away. Her parents, however, now reside in Denmark, Lee county, Iowa. Her father was born in Indiana and her mother in Des Moines county, Iowa, and he was a soldier of the Civil war. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born three children: Murrel Arnold, Maude Vaile and Charles Emerson.

Mr..Milk'r is well known in fraternal circles, holding membership in Washington Lodge, No. 26, A. F. & A. M.; Cyrus Chapter, No. 13. R. A. M.; Bethlehem Commandery, No. 45, K. T. and Kaaba Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In his political views he is an earnest democrat, iiis tudy of the questions and issues of the day leading him to the opinion that the principles of the party are best calculated to conserve the public gied. He was a member of the city council for two terms and exercised hi official prerogatives in support of various movements and measures which he believed would prove beneficial to the community. In fact his cooperation can always be counted upon to further progressive public measures and his labors are an element in the general improvement of city and county. He has a wide acquaintance and his uniform courtesy and genial spirit have made him popular with a large circle of friends.

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

MARTIN P. MILLER.

On the list of Washington county's honored dead appears the name of Martin P. Miller who for many years figured as one of the most prominent, prosperous and honored merchants of the city of Washington, where he owned and conducted the New York Store. In all things he measured up to the full standard of manhood and the warm regard entertained for him throughout the county caused the news of his demise to be received with deep and sincere sorrow in this portion of the state.

He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1858, and was a son of Samuel and Barbara (Finnefrock) Miller, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state. The family is an old one of Pennsylvania, the grandfather having been born there, while for many years he followed farming about eight miles from the city of Lancaster. The Finnefrock family was also represented in Lancaster county, where the maternal grandfather of our subject was born and carried on general agricultural pursuits.

Samuel Miller, who has made the occupation of farming his life work is still living in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Having lost his first wife in 1855, he has since married a Mrs. Crawford. The children of the first union were: George; Mary, who was the wife of the Rev. John Rover; Martin P., deceased; Rev. Benjamin Miller; Anna, the wife of Harry Dennis; Amanda, the wife of Alfred Collins; Frances, the deceased wife of Charles Jenks; Alice, the wife of the Rev. Charles Wiles; Emma, the wife of Frank McKain; and Samuel, of Chicago.

Martin P. Miller was reared in Lancaster county, Pennsvlvania, on the old home farm and lessons of industry and diligence were early impressed upon his mind. He attended the district schools in the acquirement of his early education, afterward continued his studies at Mount Joy. Pennsylvania, and later taught school for a time. On his removal to the west in 1880 he located in Washington, where he began clerking for T. Saeger, and subsequently became a salesman in the store of Glaze & Ball. He with his brother-in-law, C. R. Daugherty, afterward purchased Mr. Ball's interests and he eventually became sole proprietor of the store. From a small beginning he built up the business until it was the largest dry-goods store in this section of the country, known as the New York Store. He conducted it along modern business lines, actuated in all that he did by a progressive spirit, his labors being the expression of well formulated and carefully executed plans.

On the 8th of July, 1884, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Willie Daugherty, a daughter of Captain Thomas S. and Christiana (Rhodes) Daugherty. Mrs. Miller was born in Rock Island county, Illinois. Her paternal grandfather. William Daugherty, was reared in Ohio and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He married Susan Scott and in their later years they came to Iowa, where Mr. Daughetry died at an advanced age. His wife survived him for a number of years and passed away in 1890. They were the parents of eight children: Jane and Thomas, both deceased; Susan, the deceased wife of Lewis Quinn; Charity, deceased wife of I. N. Watt, of Moline, Illinois; Rebecca, the deceased wife of John W. Maxwell; Lydia, who has also passed away; Martha, the wife of the Rev. M. A. Head; and Delia, deceased.

Of this family Captain Thomas S. Daugherty was born in Ohio and became one of the early settlers of Muscatine, Iowa. He engaged in teaching school in early manhood and afterward conducted a grocery store in Muscatine. His business activity, however, was interrupted at the time of the Civil war by his active service in defense of the Union. He became captain of Company I, Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in 1864, and while at the front was largely engaged in duty at Mobile, Alabama, and Brownsville, Texas. On leaving Muscatine he came to Washington in 1867 and here established a grocery store, that he conducted until his death, which occurred in the '80s when he was forty-six years of age. In early manhood he had wedded Christiana Rhodes, a native of Kentucky. Her father, Thomas Rhodes, was a native of Ohio and married Elizabeth Ragan, who was born in Kentucky. He died in the state of his nativity when yet a young man. Mrs. Daugherty was their only child. She still survives her husband and yet lives in Washington. They were the parents of four children who reached adult age: Maude I., the deceased wife of Frank W. Maxwell; Willie Elizabeth, now Mrs. Miller; Charles R., of New York city; and Docela, who died in early womanhood.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Miller was blessed with four children, three sons and a daughter, but the second child, Charles, died in infancy. Thomas S., the eldest, is a graduate of the Chicago University; Dorothy is a sophomore in the same institution; and Maxwell P. is a graduate of the Washington high school and now a student of the Chicago University.

The husband and father died February 6, 1904, and the news of his death brought a sense of personal bereavement to his many friends as well as his immediate family. Since her husband's death Mrs. Miller has carried on the New York Store and displays excellent business ability, executive management and sound judgment in the control of her affairs. She is also well known socially and is a member of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Miller likewise belonged. He was, moreover, a prominent Mason and held the office of grand treasurer of the state in 1892 and 1893. Politically he was a republican and served for a few years as a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of all public measures which he deemed would prove beneficial to the community at large. His life was indeed a busy and useful one and he was justly accounted one of the representative and honored citizens of Washington. He was loyal in all public relations, faithful in friendship and devoted to the welfare of his family. He won his success by straightforward methods and his record constituted an example well worthy of emulation.

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

D. MILLER is a farmer, stock-raiser and supper, residing on section 2, Oregon Township. He is a native of Clinton County, Ind., born leb. 19, 1830, and is the son of Henry and Jane (Diehl) Miller, both of whom were natives of Virginia, and of Irish and German descent. They were the parents of seven children, all of whom are living. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in his native county in Indiana, where he received a common-school education, and was reared on a farm. In October, 1855, he came to Washington County, Iowa, and purchased eighty acres of land, on which he built a small house 14x16 feet, which is still standing, although it has been replaced by a fine residence. He has kept adding to his possessions until he now owns 840 acres of fine farm land, all under a high state of cultivation, and one of the finest farms in Washington County.

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From small beginning large results often grow. Mr. Miller commenced his career by first trading an old wagon for a colt, which he kept one year, and then traded it for another colt, which he kept till it was two years old and then sold it for *l(i( lie then put the filOO received for the colt in wheat and cattle. He has kept buying and selling up to the present time, and is considered one of the most practical men in Washington County. Although not so long a resident of the county as many others, he has 3'et been closely identified with it for almost a third of a century. Few men are better known or more highly respected. Politically he is a Democrat. Jlr. Miller's father, Henry Miller, was a soldier in the War of 1812, enlisting at Rockbridge, Va.

J' L. ilATTHEWS is a notary public and general collection agent at Wellman, Washington Co., Iowa; he is also a dealer in school books, stationery ofUcial blanks, notions, confectionery, cigars and tobacco. He was born in Columbus, Bartholomew Co., Ind., Jan. 24, 1845, and is the son of William Wesley and Harriet L. (Downing) Matthews, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Kentucky. His mother died Feb. 9, 1845, when he was but sixteen days old. He was then taken by his grandmother Downing, with whom he remained until nine years of age, the fan.ily moving in the meantime to Martinsville, Morgan Co., Ind. His grandmother dying, he made his home with a maiden aunt, Miss Judith K. Downing. While in Martinsville, Ind., he attended the common schools of that village, the only educational advantages that Ue ever received. In the spring of 1857, in company with this maiden aunt, and her brotiier, W. A. Downing, and his family, he removed to Washington County, Iowa, landing at Wassonville May 27, 1854.

On coming to this county, the family settled upon a farm, and in the discharge of the various duties required in farm life J. L. Matthews was engaged until Sept. 1, 1862, when he enlisted in Co. F, ist Iowa \o\. Cav., and served until the close of the war, participating in all the engagements of the regiment, the first of which after his enlistment was at Prairie Grove, Ark., Dec. 7, 18G2. It was next at the capture of Van Buren, Ark., and participated in the moonlight charges near Jackson, Mo., and in the three da-s' running fight at Crowley's Ridge, Mo., and also in the capture of Baj-ou Metairc and Little Rock, Ark., Sept. 10, 1803. On March 30, iat!4, it was at Spoonville, Ark., and there had an engagement. Its next one was on April 2, 1864, where Ihey met 2,700 of the enemy at Antoine, Ark., and had a running fight for five miles, followed by the fight at the Little Missouri River, where they lost thirty'-nine killed and wounded. It w.is also engaged at Prairie D'Anne, known as the "Artillery Duel," and the regiment was the first to enter the works at that place, and also participated in the capture of Camden, after which it was sent to Little Rock, Ark.

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