Ira Couch Miller

As printed in 1910

IRA COUCH MILLER.

On the roll of Henry county's honored dead appears the name of Ira Couch j

Miller, who for almost sixty years lived within the borders of the county, this covering the entire period of his life save the first six months. He always took a deep interest in what was being accomplished along the lines of substantial growth and improvement, and in his own business affairs kept abreast with the;

trend of general development. Mr. Miller was born September 16, 1842, the place '

of his nativity being Grande Tour, Illinois. His parents were Abram and Sarah I

Ann (South worth) Miller, the former a native of East Hampton, Suffolk county,;

New York, where he was born August 24, 1816. Sarah Ann Southworth was born < at Bemis Point, near Jamestown, New York, and was a daughter of Hiram and,

Rachel (Couch) Southworth. They removed from the vicinity of Jamestown, ]

New York, to Henry county, Illinois, when this district was largely an undevel-;

oped region and with its early progress were closely associated. Mr. Southworth j served for some years as justice of the peace and was otherwise closely associated with public interests. His wife died when more than seventy years of;

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

Creek and remained among the pioneers who were busily engaged in reclaim- '

ing this district for the uses of civilization. During the first sixteen years of his ' residence here Mr. Miller devoted most of his time to the carpenter trade, but in

1854 — the year in which the Rock Island Railroad reached Geneseo — he embarked in the hotel business and for forty years was well known as the popular host of a hotel, especially of the Geneseo House. He died July 8, 1893, at the age of seventy-seven years, while his wife passed away in 1902 at the age of eighty-two years. They were the parents of three sons and a daughter.

Ira Couch Miller was only six months old when his parents took up their above in Geneseo, so that he was reared in Henry county. The public schools of the town afforded him his educational privileges, and when not busy with his textbooks and after he had completed his education he was his father's assistant in the hotel. After the outbreak of the Civil war he went to Springfield to enlist and was there made clerk of the commissary department. Subsequently he was transferred to Rock Island and then to Camp Douglas, where he remained until the camp was discontinued by reason of the cessation of hostilities and the inauguration of peace. After the war he continued in the hotel business with his father, and this brought him a wide acquaintance, while his genial manner and many substantial qualities gained for him the warm regard of those with whom he came in contact.

On the i6th September, 1866, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Josephine McFarlane, a daughter of Andrew and Keziah Ann (IMcCIoskey) Mc- Farlane. Mrs. Miller was born in Pulaski, Pennsylvania, June 19, 1847. Her father was born on a farm in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1804. and was a son of John McFarlane, who was a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, but was born of Scotch parentage, belonging to the McFarlane brothers' clan, whose exploits and accomplishments constitute an important part in the Scotch history, the home of the family being on Loch Lomond. John McFarlane wedded Katharine McNickle and after coming to America, they resided at Lowellville, Ohio. Mr. McFarlane purchased fifteen hundred acres of land in Pennsylvania and gave to each of his children a farm. The family name was originally spelled McFarland. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Miller were Thomas and Rachel (Creighton) McCloskey and resided at East Palestine, Ohio, where both died, the former when more than sixty years of age while the latter had passed the seventieth milestone on life's journey when called to her final rest.

Andrew McFarlane, the father of Mrs. Miller, was married December 10, 1845, to Miss Keziah Ann McCloskey, who was born in East Palestine, Columbiana county, Ohio, September 22, 1826. On the 20th of October, 1851, they arrived in Henry county, Illinois, and took up their above in Geneseo, where he engaged in the dry goods business, opening a little line of goods in Deacon Ward's woodshed where the Collegiate Institute now stands. In the east he had been engaged in merchandising, and at the time of the big Pittsburg fire, in 1847, his cotton mills were destroyed. He was a stanch advocate of abolition and was one of the committee of five in Geneseo who conducted the underground railroad. On retiring from the dry goods trade he looked after his landed and other property interests in Geneseo, for he had made extensive investments in real estate. He died January 27, 1885, at the age of eighty-one years and thus passed away one of the prominent and representative citizens. He was survived for some time by his wife, who died December 29, 1898, at the age of seventy-two years.

Their only child was Mrs. Miller, who by her marriage became the mother of two sons and a daughter: Andrew Abram, who married Jessie Frances Vilas and has been in the employ of the J. V. Farwell Dry Goods Company, of Chicago, from the age of eighteen years; Lulu Grace, at home; and Percy Burdette, who died in 1882 at the age of two years. The husband and father passed away April 8, 1901, when fifty-nine years of age. His many good qualities having gained him a large circle of warm friends his death was deeply regretted by many who knew him. Practically his entire life had been spent in Geneseo and few had a wider acquaintance. His social qualities were such as made him a genial landlord, while his business ability well prepared him for the duties which devolved upon him in connection with the management of a hotel. Mrs. Miller has also spent the greater part of her life in this county, and she, too, is widely and favorably known in the city where she has made her home for so many years.

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.