BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
Portrait Biographical Album
of
Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio
containing Full Page Portraits
and Prominent and Representative Citizens
of the County
Together with Portraits and Biographies of all the
Presidents of the United States.
Chicago:
Chapman Bros.
1890.

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	JOSEPH J. MILLER, ESQ., a popular and able young attorney of Springfield, his native city, has already gained an enviable reputation before the bar for talent and knowledge of his profession, and is very prominent in public life.  His father, George John Miller, was born in Bavaria, and was a son of John Miller, likewise a native of that country, who was, in turn, a son of Andrew Miller.  Both the grandfather and great-grandfather of subject were royal foresters, and were life-long residents of Bavaria.  The maiden name of the grandmother of subject was Marie Zweckert, and she was also a Bavarian.  She was the mother of six children, namely: Frantz, Marguerctte, George, John, Johann, Catherina and John M.  The three youngest sons came to America; Johann located in Cincinnati, and there spent his last years; John M. became a successful physician in Springfield.      The father of our subject was reared in his native land, and at an early age learned the trade of a butcher.  When he was thirty-five years old he came to America, and settling in Springfield, engaged in his old business in this city, residing here until his death, in 1878, when his community was deprived of an honorable and useful citizen.  He came to this city when it was in its infancy, and beside being a witness of much of its growth and did what in him lay to advance its prosperity.  He was married in Springfield to Agnes Storz, a native of Germany; she was born in Renfrizhansen, Wartenberg.  She was reared in her fatherland, and was the only member of her family who ever came to America.  She now resides in Springfield, and is held in respect and esteem by all who know her.  The subject is the only survivor of the three children born to his parents, one child dying in infancy, and their son John is now deceased.      Joseph Miller was born in Springfield, Sept. 27, 1855, and in its public schools laid a solid foundation for a fine education.  He subsequently became a student in the Holbrooks Normal School, at Lebanon, in Warren County, where he pursued a thorough course of study.  When not in school he assisted his father in the butcher business till he was seventeen years old, and then devoted his whole time to his studies till 1876.  In that year he commenced reading law with E. S. Wallace, was well grounded in that profession, and in the fall of 1878 was admitted to the bar, and at once opened an office for the practice of his calling, in which he has been eminently successful, and to-day is numbered among the leading lawyers of the city.  He has secured a large clientage, and in 1888 was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace for a term of three years.      Mr. Miller’s intellectual powers are harmoniously developed, so that clear judgment, sound sagacity, and cool, practical sense, and a constant devotion to duty are among his distinguishing characteristics, and have enabled him to rise to his present position.  He is just, cautious, politic and courteous in his dealings, and in his honorable career as a lawyer has ever shown himself worthy of the confidence placed in him by his clients.  He was reared in the Lutheran Church, and has always been true to the faith of his fathers.  He is an ardent Democrat in politics, and has been since he cast his first Presidential vote for S. J. Tilden, always using his influence to promote the highest interests of his party.  He is identified with the I. O. O. F., as a member of Springfield Lodge, and of Mad River Encampment. Source:  Portrait Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio, Published Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1890 - Page 463
	SAMUEL S. MILLER.  This gentleman is one of those who, born in Clark County in an early day, have grown to maturity amid pioneer surroundings, and in boyhood and youth taken such a part as their advancing strength would allow in the work of development which was going on around them.  In looking back upon the labors and privations by which the wilderness was made to blossom as the rose, we should not forget that to the class represented by our subject scarcely less gratitude is due than to their progenitors, the pioneers of the country.  Mr. Miller is a man of intelligence, well posted regarding events which are transpiring in various parts of the world, and the improvements which are being made in various departments of labor.  In 1887 he published a pamphlet entitled ‘‘Early Settlers and Early Times on Donnel’s Creek,” an interesting volume which shows much care in its compilation.      Mr. Miller is of German lineage, his grandfather, Frederick Miller, having either been born in Germany or was the son of German parents.  While a resident of Botetourt County, Va., in which he lived prior to 1818, he was a farmer.  In that year he removed to Ohio, accompanied by his wife and seven children, the entire journey being made overland with teams.  He located in Clark County, buying a tract of timber land in what is now Bethel Township, in which but little improvement had been made at that date, the county seat being but a small village.  A cabin of round logs had been built on the land and a clearing of forty acres made, this being one of the largest clearings in the vicinity.  His purchase was a quarter-section, for which he paid $1,000.      For some time after the removal of Frederick Miller to this county, wild game of various kinds abounded here, deer, wild turkeys and bears being especially numerous.  In 1822 Mr. Miller breathed his last, and there being no cemeteries here, his remains were deposited on his own farm.  The place has since been set apart as a burial ground, and is called Bethel Cemetery.      The maiden name of Mrs. Miller was Elizabeth Peery.  She was born either in Germany or Pennsylvania, and spent her last years on the home farm, dying in 1844.      In the family of the couple above mentioned was a son, John, who was born in Augusta County, Va., in November, 1798.  He was twenty years old when he accompanied his parents to the Buckeye State, and here he resided with his father until the latter’s death.  He then bought the interest of the other heirs in the homestead and enlarged the farm by purchase, on which he continued to reside until called hence, in April, 1863, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.  He married Miss Joanna Smith in 1824, who was born on her father’s farm in the same township, Dec. 27, 1806.  She is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.  She has reared eight children, named respectively: Harrison, Elizabeth, Samuel S., Milton J., Catherine, Charity, John Peery and Clinton.      In the maternal line the subject of this sketch derives his descent from the Rev. Peter Smith, who was born in Wales in 1753, and in early life came to America, settling in New Jersey, where he married Catherine Stout, whence he afterward removed to Georgia. In one of these States his son Samuel, grandfather of our subject, was born.  Peter Smith practiced medicine and preached the Gospel, leaving his Southern home on account of his dislike to the institution of slavery.  Turning his footsteps northward he located in Kentucky, the removal being made with pack-horses.  Mrs. Smith had three small children, the youngest of whom she carried in her arms, the others (twins) traveling in baskets tied together and placed before her.  After spending a short time in Kentucky they came into the Northwest Territory, in 1794-95, locating in Hamilton County.  The records of the old Baptist Church at Duck Creek, Columbia Station, near Cincinnati, show that the Rev. Peter Smith and his wife Catherine united with that church by letter in 1795, and that the husband was ordained minister in 1801.  In an account of the Centennial Celebration held June 21, 1890, of this the first Baptist Church in the Northwest Territory, the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette says, “In 1801, under Elder Peter Smith’s preaching, a great revival came, and in a few months over one hundred and fifty members were added to the church.”  In 1805 they came to Clark County, and near the present site of Donnelsville bought nine hundred and sixty acres of land, which Mr. Smith afterward divided among his children.  He was one of the early ministers of the county, and at his own home, where religious meetings were frequently held, he organized a society of Christian believers.  There he died in 1816, his remains being buried on his own farm, the place afterward becoming Donnelsville Cemetery.      Samuel Smith married Elizabeth McCleave, a lady of Scotch-Irish descent and a native of the United States.  He settled on the tract of land given him by his father, and followed farming there during his entire life.  He died in 1856.      The natal day of Samuel S. Miller was July 20, 1829, and his birthplace his father’s farm in Bethel Township.  In the early schools, which did not include instruction in the varied branches taught today, with a couple of terms at Wittenberg College, he received his education, and as soon as his strength would permit he began to assist his father on the farm.  When seventeen years old he began teaching, his first term being in the home district, and the labor of a pedagogue was pursued by him several terms.  He afterward turned his attention exclusively to farming, locating on a part of the homestead, which he subsequently sold, buying and building on the tract which he now occupies, near Springfield.  On May 13, 1856, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Palmer, who has proved an efficient and loving helpmate, a devoted mother and a true Christian, for “lo, these many years.”  Mr. and Mrs. Miller have four children - Orion P.; Cyrus I., who married Mamie Judson; Bertha A. and Milton.  Both parents belong to the Christian Church.  Mr. Miller was formerly a Whig, but has been a Republican since the formation of the party.      Mrs. Miller was born in Miami County, being a daughter of John and Margaret (Hance) Palmer.  Her father was born in Bristol, England, Sept. 19, 1791, and her grandfather, Robert Palmer, was also an Englishman.  The latter came to America in 1807, accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth, and two children, and locating near Fishkill, N. Y., remained there two or three years.  He then made an overland journey to Ohio, locating near Dayton, but after a short sojourn removing to Miami County, and settling in Lost Creek Township.  He bought a tract of land, which was partially cleared, and upon which a log cabin stood, residing there until his death.  The father of Mrs. Miller was sixteen years old when his parents brought him to America, and he resided with them until his marriage, in 1819.  His wife was born in Kentucky Mar. 11, 1800, and was a daughter of William and Margaret (Northcntt) Hance, who located on a farm in Lost Creek Township, Miami County, at which home William died in 1833, aged eighty-three, and Margaret in 1845, aged eighty-four years.  John and Margaret Palmer inherited the farm of Robert Palmer, remaining there until 1857.  They then sold, and until August, 1881, made their home at Troy.  They then came to Springfield, residing with Mr. and Mrs. Miller during the remainder of their lives.  Mr. Palmer breathed his last Dec. 11, 1882, aged ninety-one, his wife surviving until June, 1884, aged eighty-four. Source:  Portrait Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio, Published Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1890 - Page 584
	NIMROD MYERS.  Among the solid men of Springfield who have reaped success from a course of persevering industry and prudent living, may be properly mentioned Mr. Myers, who is now retired from active business and living amid the comforts of one of the best-regulated homes of the city.  He has been a resident of the Buckeye State for a period of forty years, and in watching its growth and development has contributed materially in bringing it to itspresent condition.  Every man who has acquitted himself honestly and as a good citizen has thus been a factor in the prosperity of the place where he makes his home.      A native of Frederick County, Md., the subject of this sketch was born near Frederick, the county seat, Sept. 29, 1813.  His father, John H. Myers, was a native of England.  The mother died when her son Nimrod was only two years old, and he consequently knows little of her family history.  They were the parents of five children - three daughters and two sons - of whom Nimrod was the fourth born.  He and his sister Margaret are the only survivors.  The latter is a resident of London, this State.  After his mother’s death Mr. Myers was taken into the home of his uncle, David Morgan, with whom he lived until a youth of seventeen years.  Going then to Boonesboro, Md., he commenced learning the carpenter’s trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of three and one-half years.  Afterward he went to Hagarstown, where he worked at his trade for a period of eighteen years.      In 1851 Mr. Myers, leaving his native State, came to Springfield and put up a small cottage, which he occupied with his family four years.  In the meantime he followed his trade and operated as a contractor, superintending the erection of many of the most important dwellings and business houses of the city of Springfield.  For the long period of thirty-five years he was thus engaged, and accumulated a competence, so that in 1878 he wisely retired from these arduous labors and now employs his time in looking after his property and farming lands.  He has in German Township two hundred and seventy-seven acres, in a high state of cultivation and supplied with modern farm buildings.  The family residence was built in 1859, and is pleasantly located on West High Street.  It is a solid brick structure, and the fact that it has stood the storms of over thirty winters testifies to the skillful and thorough manner in which it was built under the superintendence of its present owner.      Mr. Myers was married in 1837, over fifty-three years ago, to Miss Mary A. Lushbaugh, of Hagarstown, Md.  Mrs. Myers was born in that town in 1816, and is a daughter of John Lushbaugh, who was of German descent.  This union resulted in the birth of eight children, all of whom are living:  Ann; William, who lives in Springfield; Edward, in Omaha; Amelia; Mary; Maria Louisa; Ellen, and Mattie.  Mr. and Mrs. Myers are members in good standing of the First Lutheran Church, with which our subject has been connected for the long space of forty-five years.  In politics he is a sound Republican and an ardent defender of the principles of his party.  In the early days he was a Democrat, casting his first Presidential vote for Martin Van Buren; then became a Whig, and subsequently a Republican.  For six years he has been a member of the School Board of his district, and has served on various important committees in connection therewith, and was generally Chairman of the building committee. Source:  Portrait Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio, Published Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1890 - Page 387

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