Henry Miller
Page 202, 203
- HENRY MILLER, an able business man,
leading hardward merchant and successful general farmer, desirably located in
Chester Townshiup, Ottawa County, Mich., is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and
was born January 29, 1834. He is the son of Christian and Barbara Miller, his
mother having passed away in the Fatherland in 1849. The father married again in
1852 or 1853, wedding Miss Sophie Kober, also a native of Germany, with whom he
emigrated to the United States in 1874, locating in Ottawa County, Mich., where
he died in 1881, at the advanced age of eighty years. His last wife is yet
surviving. By his marriage to the mother of our subject, Christian Miller became
the father of four children: Michael, of Ottawa County; Henry; Fred, residing in
Ottawa County; and Frederica, wife of Fred Ata, of this county. By his second
marriage the father had three children: Barbara, wife of John Sehler, of Grand
Rapids; Regina, wife of Benjamin Wildemburg, of Chester Township; and
Christiana, widow of Robert Bauer, of Grand Rapids.
Henry Miller received his education in the public schools of Germany and was but
fourteen years old when he began the work of life. He remained with his father,
who was by occupation a farmer and nail-maker, until twenty years of age, and in
1854 emigrated to America. Landing in Buffalo, N.Y., with twelve shillings in
his pocket, our subject laboriously worked six months to pay his board, and
meantime studied ambitiously at home to learn the English language. In 1855,
leaving Buffalo for the farther West, Mr. Miller journeyed to Grand Rapids,
where, March 6, he was met by his brother Michael, who had preceded him to
America by two years. For six continuous years our subject worked in Grand
Rapids, doing heavy teaming, hauling wood and stone. He had reached there $25 in
debt but by patient toil had in 1860 amassed a small capital. At this period of
time October 10, 1860, he removed to Chester Township, and located upon section
27, when this part of the country was almost entirely covered with a heavy
growth of timber. Purchasing eighty acres of land, for which he paid $650,
almost his total savings, Mr. Miller erected a log house, in which he lived for
some years.
When his wife, Mrs. Catherine (Fluhrer) Miller, with whom he was united in
marriage in 1857, first saw her new home she wept, and our subject admits it
must have looked a little cheerless to her, coming as she did from the city. As
time passed on, however, the appearance of the farm and its surroundings rapidly
changed. The timber, yielding to the steady strokes of the axe, gave cleared and
fertile land, which, yielding to high cultivation, annually furnished a
bounteous harvest and buildings large and comfortable arose, residence, barns
and sheds.
Financially prospered, Mr. Miller now owns over one hundred and seventeen
valuable acres, ninety-five acres of which are finely cultivated. He has also
given to his children about one hundred acres of excellent land. In 1884, our
subject went to Coopersville and engaged in farming for three years, and in 1888
returned to Conklin, where he erected the first store building in the village,
and opened it to the public with a well-selected stock of farming implements.
Succeeding beyond his expectations, be built in 1889 his present spacious store,
25x80 feet in size, constructed of brick, two stories in height, finely finished
in modern style, and which cost $3,000. As soon as the building was completed
Mr. Miller stocked with a variety of farming implements and added a large line
of hardware. Commencing business with a modest capital, he now carries a
complete stock of goods, valued at from $7,000 to $10,000, and transacts a
business of from $15,000 to $25,000 annually, with ease supplying the increasing
demands of one of the best trades in this part of the county. The estimable wife
of our subject was a native of Germany and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John
Fluhrer. The pleasant home has been blessed by the birth of seven children:
Elizabeth, the wife of Christian Dinkle, of Chester Township; Sophia, the wife
of Henry Weldenberg, of Wright Township; George M., Jr.; Christian, deceased;
Margaret B.; Henry, deceased; and Anna B., who completes the list of sons and
daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are both valued members of the Lutheran Church
and active in religious work. Our subject is, politically, a strong Democrat and
has been a member of the Democratic County Convention. He was appointed in 1886
by President Cleveland the first Postmaster of the village of Conklin; for
eleven consecutive years he ably discharged the duties of Township Treasurer,
and for four years served faithfully as Highway Commissioner. In 1893,
re-elected Township Treasurer, Mr. Miller is now with great acceptability
holding the position of trust assigned him by his fellow-townsmen, who repose in
him the highest confidence as a friend, neighbor and citizen.
Portrait & Biographical Record of Muskegon & Ottawa
Counties, Michigan 1893, Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company
Transcriber: Susan Gates Davis
Created: 31 March 2003
URL: http://ottawa.migenweb.net/biographies/1893/millerh.html
Contact County Coordinator: Evelyn_Sawyer@msn.com