Hermann Miller

As printed in 1915

HERMANN MILLER.

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 History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people (1915). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.