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BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois
The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co.
1912
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EDWARD D. McCABE.
Since 1891 Edward D. McCabe, has been a practicing attorney
at law in Peoria, Illinois, with offices at 127 North Jefferson
street. He was born in Peoria county in 1859, and is a son of
a pioneer family of the county, his parents being Patrick and
Catherine McCabe. The father followed agricultural pursuits.
Both parents were natives of Ireland and are now deceased.
Edward D. McCabe received his early education in
the district schools near his father's farm and afterward attended
the Brimfield high school, while later he entered St. Viateur's
College at Kankakee. At the close of his studies at college,
he engaged in farming until appointed, in 1887, to a position in the
government service as United States store keeper at Peoria,
Illinois, a position which he occupied for over two years. In
1889, desiring to enter the legal profession, he resigned his
position to enter the law department of the University of Michigan,
from which he was graduated with the class of 1891, receiving the
degree of LL. B. Immediately after his graduation therefrom he
came to Peoria where he has since remained in the practice of his
profession. He is vice-president and a director of the Lake
View State Bank of Chicago, his brother, George W. McCabe,
being president thereof.
Mr. McCabe is an active and honored member of
the Peoria and the State Bar Association. In his political
faith he is a democrat, and, in 1908, was elected democratic central
committeeman, a position which he held with credit to himself and
his party until 1910. He occupies the position of public
guardian in and for Peoria county. He is a member of several
fraternal and social associations and clubs.
His practical knowledge and careful application of the
law, coupled with good business judgment, and his kindly treatment
of all persons, have combined to give Mr. McCabe a creditable
standing among the members of his profession as well as a good,
clean and abundant clientage.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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LEONIDAS B. MARTIN, M. D.
Dr. Leonidas B. Martin is the oldest practicing
physician in Peoria, having taken up the profession here in 1867.
He is now living partially retired and yet many households in which
he has been the loved family physician for many years are loath to
have him discontinue his services. Forty-five years'
connection with the profession here has well established his
position as a learned, capable practitioner and his work throughout
the entire period has been of an important character.
Dr. Martin was born in Catawba, Clark county,
Ohio, Mar. 28, 1845, his parents being Dr. James W. and Mary M.
(Gardner) Martin. The father was also a practicing
physician who followed the profession for twelve years before he
came to Peoria, where he arrived in December, 1861. He
continued active in his chosen line of work to the time of his
death, which occurred Nov. 5, 1885. He was visiting a sick
child when he suffered a stroke of apoplexy and life was at once
extinct.
Dr. Leonidas B. Martin was a lad of six years
when brought by his parents to Illinois, the family settling first
at Fairview, Fulton county, in 1851. He attended the local
schools there until December, 1861, when a removal was made to
Peoria. He then continued his education in the high school of
this city and in 1864 he entered Rush Medical College of Chicago,
where he prepared himself for his profession, being graduated from
that institution. On returning to this city he entered his
father's office, which was then located at what is now 305 Main
street. Dr. L. B. Martin became associated with his
father in practice and after the latter's death continued in the old
location. The office has been remodeled and additions have
been made but Dr. Martin still maintains it in the
same place in which he entered it as a student under his father,
nearly fifty years ago. This record is unparalleled in the
medical history of Peoria. It is said that for a quarter of a
century he did the work of five ordinary physicians, being the
busiest member of the profession in Peoria. He is now
practically retired, only attending to such cases in which his
services are insisted upon. While he always remained as a
general practitioner he did much obstetrical work, and his skill and
ability in that connection were marked. He has served for two
years as examiner for the pension board and all through his life he
has kept in close touch with the advancement made by the
profession—an advancement that has continually revolutionized the
methods of practice. Progress has been his watchword and while
he has never hastily discarded old and time-tried methods the value
of which has been proven, he has always been ready to take up new
ideas which his judgment has sanctioned as of value in checking the
ravages of disease.
Dr. Martin was united in marriage, in 1868, to
Miss Mary Hughes, of Peoria, and unto them have been born
eight children, of whom seven are living. Their eldest son,
Leonidas B., died of appendicitis in February, 1911. The
others are: Hughes; Maud, the wife of Otho
Wakefield, of Chicago; Mabel, the wife of Dr.
L. S. Brown, of Hillsboro, Illinois: Ethel; James
W.; Harry; and Bruce. Dr. and Mrs. Martin
reside at No.
610 Morton
street. Their acquaintance not only largely covers the
population of Peoria but of the county as well. The
hospitality of many homes is freely accorded them and their genuine
personal worth has gained for them the warm and enduring regard and
friendship of all. The life of Dr. Martin has been a
serviceable one. He has been actuated in his practice by broad
humanitarian principles as well as by a legitimate desire to attain
success and his tenderness, sympathy and ready understanding, as
well as his knowledge of remedial agencies and methods of treatment,
have been factors in gaining for him his high and well merited
reputation as a practitioner.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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FRANK J. MILLER
was a lifelong resident of Peoria and it will be long ere his
friends cease to remember him, for he had a firm hold on the
affectionate regard and respect of those with whom he came in
contact. He represented business interests of the city as a
member of Joseph Miller & Sons and also of the Garside
Manufacturing Company, in both of which connections he manifested a
spirit of progress that found tangible expression in substantial
success. he was born March 9, 1850, in this city, and came of
German ancestry, manifesting in his life many of the sterling
characteristics of the people of the fatherland. He was a son
of Joseph Miller, a native of Germany, who on coming to
America first settled in Cincinnati but in the latter '40s came to
Peoria, where he established a lumberyard, continuing in that
business for many years. He was one of the early lumber
merchants of the city and is classed with those who laid broad and
deep the foundation upon which has been builded the present
growth and prosperity of this section.
His son Frank J. Miller was sent to the German
schools of Peoria, in which he pursued his studies to he age of
eighteen years, when he began working for his father in the lumber
business. He studied every phase of the trade, manifested
unfaltering industry in performing the tasks that devolved upon him
and won his promotion not through parental influence but through
genuine personal worth. Eventually he was admitted to a
partnership under the firm style of Joseph Miller & Sons.
Following the death of the father he was associated with his brother
Joseph Miller who is also now deceased. They controlled
and enjoyed an extensive trade, their sales reaching a large annual
figure. They handled building materials of all kinds, sought
to obtain only a fair profit upon their investment and in all of
their dealings were strictly reliable. Their progressiveness
was tempered by a safe conservatism that never countenanced
unwarranted risks and yet they steadily forged forward along the
path of success. In addition to his connection with the lumber
trade Mr. Miller was interested in the Garside Manufacturing
Company and was a stockholder in the Commercial German National
Bank.
On the 5th of November, 1873, occurred the marriage of
Mr. Miller and Miss Franziska Streibich, a daughter of
Frederick Streibich, a prominent pioneer of Peoria. Unto
Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born seven children: Frank J.,
who is engaged in the lumber business as a member of the firm of
Joseph Miller & Sons; Joseph F.; Fred C., who is also associated
with the lumber company; Charles W., who is a practicing
physician of Peoria; Edward A., a jewelry manufacturer of
this city; Irma, the wife of William J. Fickeson, of
Peoria; and Olga, at home.
Mr. Miller held membership in St. Joseph's
German Catholic church and his political faith was that of the
republican party, his ballot always being given for the support of
its men and measures. He was interested in all the uplifting
influences of life. He greatly enjoyed German literature and
was a home man, devoted to the welfare of his family. He
possessed that quality which for want of a better term has been
called personal magnetism, having the happy faculty of drawing men
to him by reason of his sterling character, his geniality, his
kindly spirit and his hospitality. He was, indeed, a
warm-hearted and great-hearted man and there was in his life record
much that is worthy of commendation and emulation.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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FRANK T. MILLER.
The life record of Frank T. Miller is another indication of
the fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the
stimulus of necessity that the strongest and bet in man are brought
out and developed. Hampered by lack of early opportunities,
Mr. Miller resolved that he would advance despite all this and
the consensus of public opinion places him today among Peoria's
capable and foremost lawyers. He was born in Muchlheim, near
Cologne, in the Rhine Province, Germany, Jan. 1, 1873, his parents
being Theodore D. and Clara A. Miller, who were also natives
of the same province. He was nine and a half years of
age when his parents, in July, 1882, came to America bringing with
them their family of six children to whom five more were added in
this country. The father was a carpenter and when he worked
steadily at his trade earned about fifty dollars per month.
According to the laws of his native country he was forced to render
military service in the German army and had been on active duty
during the Franco-Prussian war. When the family arrived in
America they had absolutely nothing in the way of money or furniture
or the barest necessities of life. Not one of he household
could speak a word of English and Frank Miller says that it
has ever remained a puzzle to him how the family obtained a start.
He himself often experienced unfair treatment at the hands of he
boys of the neighborhood, his inability to understand English
bringing upon him many a knockdown blow from a boy who wished to try
his strength, before Mr. Miller knew what was wanted.
He had had three years' training in the schools of Germany and was
sent to school in this country, spending three years in the ward
schools in Champaign and Bloomington, but when twelve years of age
he was forced to put aside his text-books and provide for his own
support. He secured a situation in a drug store, washing
windows, bottles, floors, etc., working twelve hours per day, for
which a dollar and a quarter as paid into the family fund each week.
By the time he was fourteen he was earning two dollars a week in a
dry-goods store. Realizing the fact that he had been taken out
of school permanently he resolved to seek education along other
lines and began selling Sunday papers, having, however, an
understanding with his father that the money so earned should go for
violin lessons. His Sunday task proved to be profitable one
and his constant practice on the violin at all leisure hours won him
such rapid advancement that at the age of sixteen years he was
playing in a theater for experience. When eighteen years of
age he was in demand as a musician and at twenty had become a
recognized factor in musical circles in his home city. He had
also made substantial advance in the stores in which he had been
continuously employed but his violin in the evenings brought him as
much or more than his regular wages in the store.
His earlier dreams for a higher education now began to
take form and, leaving the store, he entered a law school, hoping to
earn enough with the violin at night to meet the expenses of his
course. He had been out of school for more than eight years
and in consequence did not know how to study. For a time it
was uphill work, his earlier examinations proving his incapacity in
that direction, but at the end of two years he stood second in the
class in examinations covering the entire course and drew a cash
prize. The income from his music had steadily increased and
enabled him to pursue a two yeas' special literary course, after
which he spent a year in the law office. He won his LL.B.
degree from the Illinois Wesleyan University in 1896 and completed
his two years' special literary work in 1898. For twelve years
he has been a resident of Peoria. In May, 1899, he opened a
law office with Judson Starr and on the 1st of March, 1900,
entered into a partnership with Daniel R. Sheen under the
firm name of Sheen & Miller. When he located in Peoria
he resolved to give up music except for the pleasure of it and
concentrate his efforts upon his law practice without any side
issues especially resolving not to become actively connected with
politics. During the first year of his practice he made very
slow progress and was obliged to live most economically, but his
determination and ability won in the end and his success has far
exceeded his fondest expectations. His partnership with Mr.
Sheen continued until July 1, 1909, when he joined John S.
Stevens and J. M. Elliott, in a partnership under the
firm name of Stevens, Miller & Elliott, succeeding W. S.
Horton, who had previously been with them in the practice of
law. The firm is today one of the strongest of the Peoria bar
and has a large and distinctively representative clientage. As
Mr. Miller has prospered in his undertakings he has become
interested in city business and residence properties and is a
stockholder in the Illinois National Bank. He is attorney for
several Peoria banks and is local attorney for many railroad and
other corporations. He was appointed public administrator of
Peoria county by Governor Yates in 1901 was reappointed by
Governor Deneen in 1905 and again in 1909. In politics he
has ever been a stalwart republican and did active campaign work in
1900 and 1904. For a considerable period after entering upon
practice, however, he did not engage actively in politics but his
qualities of leadership and his deep interest concerning the
government of city, state and nation have naturally forced him into
more intimate and active relations with political affairs.
On the 16th of September, 1903, in Peoria. Mr.
Miller was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Bruce Morgan,
a daughter of H. B. Morgan. Mrs. Miller is an
exceptional pianist. She studied for four years in Chicago and
Berlin, her instructors being Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler.
Leopold Godowski and Xavier Scharwenka. Mr. and Mrs.
Miller have two daughters: Jeannette M., born in 1906;
and Lillian Bruce, Sept. 8, 1911. Mr. and Mrs.
Miller are very prominent in social circles, particularly where
music is a leading attraction and source of interest.
Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and held all
the offices in the lodge from 1901 until 1904. Since the
latter year he has been connected with the Knights of Khorassan and
has always been a member of the dramatic team. He likewise
belongs to Shiller Lodge, F. & A. M., in which he is now holding
office. In more strictly social and recreative lines he is
connected with the Creve Coeur Cub and the Kickapoo Golf Club.
Never fearing to venture where favoring opportunity has led the way,
never faltering when determination and courage could overcome
difficulties and obstacles, never hesitating to make attempt to
reach high ideals and to occupy a place of prominence, Frank T.
Miller has continuously advanced since starting out in life on
his own account of the age of twelve years, and is today numbered
among the foremost citizens of Peoria in political, social and
professional lines.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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HARRY S. MILLER
is the junior member of the law firm of Dailey & Miller. The
copartnership is comparatively a new formation but both members are
experienced lawyers, Mr. Miller having practiced for
twenty-two years, or since his admission to the bar when he was
twenty-one years of age. His work in the profession has been
marked by an earnestness and a thoroughness which have won him
advancement. He was born in Peoria, Aug. 8, 1869, and is a son
of Henry C. and Elizabeth L. (Fisher) Miller. The
father was for a number of years engaged in the contracting and
building business and is now living retired. He came to this
city about 1860 from Newport, Kentucky, and in the intervening years
has done much to improve the city along building lines.
The games of youth and the work of the public schools
occupied the attention of Harry S. Miller in his boyhood, and
when he looked over the field of business to determine upon a life
vocation, he decided upon the practice of law and began studying in
the office of Starr & Starr, with whom he remained for a year
and a half. He then continued his reading with Henry C.
Fuller as his preceptor and was in his office when admitted to
the bar. He then opened an office for himself and practiced in
this city for about two years, at the end of which time he removed
to Creede, Colorado, which was then a mining camp. He looked
carefully over the field but saw no immediate prospect for success
there and after three months returned to Peoria. Here he
entered into partnership with R. H. Radley and opened a law
office, practicing in that connection in the Woolner
building. Two years later the firm dissolved and Mr. Miller
then entered into partnership with Robert Scholes, the
present states attorney. Their business association was
continued for three years, at the end of which time Mr. Miller
formed a partnership with the Hon. John Dailey, with whom he
has been associated since 1904, his partner being the present state
senator from this district. They do general trial work
entirely and are strong advocates before the courts, Mr. Miller
has always realized that success depends largely upon a thorough
preparation of his cases and has never feared that laborious work of
the office which must precede the presentation of his case in the
court room. His reasoning is strong, his deductions logical
and his points follow in a natural sequence that cannot fail to
impress court and jury with the correctness of his opinion. He
never fails to command the attention of those in the court room and
seldom fails to win the verdict desired.
On the 26th of November, 1902, Mr. Miller was
united in marriage to Miss Mabel Peterson, a daughter of
John and Patience Peterson of Peoria. There are now two
interesting little daughters in the household, Virginia and
Harriet. The parents are well known socially and
their own home is characterized by an attractive and generous
hospitality. Mr. Miller is interested in all matters of
progressive citizenship to the extent of giving his cooperation
wherever his aid con be of avail, but he has little time for work
outside of his profession, his practice having constantly grown in
volume and importance.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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JAMES B. MILLER,
living on his farm which is situated one and one half miles south of
Hanna City, Ohio, April 12, 1830, the son of Ezra and Nancy
(Weed) Miller, who, in 1845 came by water route from Cincinnati
to Peoria where they settled on a farm of forty acres which the
father had purchased the previous year. In their family were
ten children, of whom James B., of this review is the second
in order of birth.
James B. Miller, being fifteen years of age when
he removed with his parents to Peoria county, grew to manhood there
and remained at home helping his father on the farm until 1855.
At that date he, together with his father, purchased a tract of
eighty acres of land in Logan township, and soon afterward he bought
an adjoining eighty acres, and later purchased his father's share in
the first eighty. He became very successful in his financial
affairs and in time owned five hundred and forty acres of land in
Peoria county, and at the same time a general merchandise store at
Smithville which store he operated for fourteen years. Later
he engaged in the mercantile business at Hanna City, and his
merchandise was the fist hauled over the Iowa Central Railroad out
of Peoria. He was widely known throughout the entire county,
and for thirty years in a grove on his farm known as Miller's
Grove, he held a Fourth of July celebration, furnishing political
speakers, band music, fireworks and refreshments to all the farmers
for miles around. Mr. Miller now owns one hundred and
forty acres in the farm on which he resides.
On the 21st of November, 1855, Mr. Miller wedded
Miss Nancy A. Smith, and they have become the parents of
seven children: William Fulton, born May 24, 1857, who,
for the past twenty-two years has been a mail clerk on the Iowa
Central Railroad; Martha Isadora, who was born Jan. 27, 1859,
and died Aug. 17, 1860; James Smith, who was born Apr. 20,
1860, and is engaged in farming in Logan township; Thomas Porter,
who was born July 12, 1862 and died Sept. 25, 1885; Anna Belle,
who was born Dec. 8, 1864, and is the widow of Mr. Walters
who was a farmer in Limestone township; John Gordon
who was born Oct. 14, 1870, and is engaged in farming in Logan
township; and Ralph Marion who was born, Apr. 13,
1873, and is a farmer near Shedds, Oregon. Mrs. Nancy A.
Smith Miller passed away Feb. 8, 1910 at the age of seventy-six
years nine months and four days. She was a member of the
United Presbyterian church, and was greatly loved by all who knew
her.
In politics Mr. Miller is a stanch republican
and he is a faithful member of the United Presbyterian church.
He has now resided in Peoria county for more than sixty-six years
and he has witnessed the entire growth and development of this
section of the country. He has always shown great interest in
all that pertains to the general welfare, and has been known as a
public-spirited man who has always found time and inclination to
cooperate in the movements for the public good. In all the
relations of life he had been honorable and straightforward, and his
example is well worthy of emulation.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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JOSEPH MILLER, now
deceased, figured prominently in industrial and financial circles of
Peoria, and owed his success to hard work and honest methods.
In all his undertakings he put forth earnest, persistent effort,
realizing that the source of power is within he individual, and that
not upon environment or circumstances does progress depend. He
became well known in connection with the lumber trade of the city,
also with its manufacturing, insurance and banking interests, and in
every relation commanded the trust and admiration of his associates.
He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mar. 25, 1848, a son of Joseph
Miller, who was a native of Germany and became one of the early
residents of Peoria after living for a few years in Cincinnati
subsequent to his immigration to the new world. It was in the
early 50's that he arrived in Illinois, where he entered the lumber
business now conducted under the name of Joseph Miller & Sons.
he built his success upon a broad and stable basis, and the
reliability of his methods commended him to the public patronage.
Joseph Miller, whose name introduces this
review, was but three years of age when brought by his parents to
Peoria, and in the German schools of this city he pursued his
studies. His business training came to him under the direction
of his father whom he joined after putting aside his text-books,
thoroughly acquainting himself with every department of the trade.
The business prospered year after year, for, to the broad experience
and sound judgment of the father were added the enterprise and
progressiveness of the two sons, for both Joseph Miller and
his brother Frank were admitted to the partnership in the
business under the style of Joseph Miller & Sons.
Following the father's death the brothers continued the business
with Joseph Miller as the senior partner, and thus the
subject of this review was closely associated with the lumber
business of this city up to the time of his death. The
business of the house constantly grew in volume and importance for
they carried an extensive line of lumber and all kinds of building
material, and their business methods measured up to the highest
standard of commercial ethics. Joseph Miller was well
known also in other connections, becoming treasurer of the Garside
Manufacturing Company, vice president of the German Fire Insurance
Company and a director of the Commercial German National Bank.
He found ready solution for intricate business problems, and seemed
to recognize almost intuitively the possibilities and opportunities
of a situation. He was also prominently identified with the
Board of Trade and enjoyed an enviable reputation for his sound,
conservative and reliable business methods and his straightforward
dealing.
On the 10th of April, 1871, occurred the marriage of
Mr. Miller and Miss Mary DeFries, a daughter of Charles
DeFries. They became the parents of four children:
Joseph, who is identified with the firm of Joseph Miller &
Sons; Mary M., Emma J., and Oscar W. The eldest son
is now married and has two children, Joseph, Jr., and
Helen Elizabeth. Mr. Miller held membership in the St.
Joseph's Catholic Church, also with the St. Joseph's
Brothers and Knights of St. George. His political support was
given to the republican party where national questions and issues
were involved, but in local elections he cast an independent ballot.
He was a splendid type of a successful German-American citizen.
Whatever the quiet forces and influences at work in his life to
shape his destiny, it was evident at the outset of his business
career that he understood clearly the fact that energy and
unfaltering perseverance constitute the surest basis upon which to
build success. Those qualities were ever numbered among his
salient characteristics and won for him the constant promotion and
advancement which attended him in his business career and gained for
him his prominent and honorable position in the trade and banking
circles of the city.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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JOSEPH MILLER & SONS.
No history of Peoria's industrial and commercial progress would be
complete and satisfactory were there failure to make reference to
the enterprise long conducted under the name of Joseph Miller &
Sons. This firm manufactures and handles lumber and
building materials, is plant being at South Washington, Walnut and
South Water streets. The yards extend from South Washington to
South Water at the corner of Walnut and the office is at No. 530
South Washington. This business was established in 1848 by
Joseph Miller, one of the pioneer lumbermen of the city.
Later his two sons, Joseph and Frank J., joined him in
a partnership under the firm style of Joseph Miller & Sons,
but all three are now deceased, the business being conducted as a
part of the estates of Joseph and Frank J. Miller.
It is an active charge of Joseph Miller, a son of Joseph
Miller II, and Frank J. and Frederick C. Miller,
who are sons of Frank J. Miller, Sr. All three are
grandsons of Joseph Miller the founder of the business, which
stands as a monument to the enterprise and progressive spirit of the
promoter.
Joseph Miller was a native of Baden-Baden,
Germany, and came to America in the '40s. He resided for a
short time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and about 1846 came to Peoria, where
two years later he established a lumberyard and also entered upon
the contracting business. His elder son, Joseph Miller,
was born in Cincinnati and the younger son, Frank J. Miller,
in Peoria. They were reared and educated here and on attaining
manhood entered the lumber and contracting business with their
father, forming the firm of Joseph Miller & Sons. Joseph
Miller, Jr., became very prominent in industrial and banking
circles and was a director of the Commercial German National Bank of
Peoria at the time of his death, which occurred Oct. 4, 1905.
Frank J. Miller was also a leading figure in business circles
here and passed away Jan. 24, 1904. Both are mentioned at
length elsewhere in this volume.
The three grandsons of the original proprietor, who are
now active in the management of the business, are also well known as
leading factors in trade circles in Peoria. Of these Joseph
Miller married Theresa K. McDermott, of Elmwood,
Illinois, and they have two children, Joseph and Helen E.
Joseph Miller III is a member of the Creve Coeur Club, of the
Illinois Valley Yacht Club and Anna R. Prenger and his
brother, Frederick C. Miller, wedded Alice Yingst.
Like their cousin, they are members of the Knights of Columbus
and all three hold membership in the Roman Catholic church.
They are all active, enterprising, energetic young business men, who
were born and reared in this city and who have made for themselves a
substantial and creditable position in its business life. They
are now proprietors of one of the most extensive lumberyards of
central Illinois, the volume of their trade having reached a large
figure annually. They possess the same stable and creditable
business characteristics which characterized their grandfather and
their fathers, and in the further development of their business are
proving their right to rank with the leading young men of the city.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
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S.
M. MILLER, inventor and manufacturer, who is the president of
the Miller Safety Lock Company of Peoria, was born on Aug. 4,
1851, on a farm in Morrow County, Ohio, a son of Samuel and Sarah
Ann (Call) Miller. He is a descendant of the early
pioneers and noted Indian fighters and is related to the Poe
family to which Adam and Andrew Poe belonged, who killed the
Big Foot Indian Chief, and were therefore famous as Indian fighters.
His two great-grandfathers on his mother's side fell in action in
the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, David Call,
served as captain in the War of 1812 under General Harrison,
who afterward became president. The family is of
Pennsylvania-German descent. The father of S. M. Miller
was a carpenter and mechanic and was during his lifetime thus
identified with industrial pursuits. In 1856 he came with his
family to the city of Peoria and remained here until the following
spring, when he moved to McDonough county, Illinois, settling on a
farm on which he made his home for one year. In 1858 he
removed to a farm one and a half miles east of Dunlap in Peoria
county, where he remained until the spring of 1861. His next
move was to a place two miles east of Princeville, in this county,
where he purchased a farm, besides renting adjoining land, and
carried on farming there extensively until the fall of 1867, when he
sold his land and moved to Benton county, Missouri, where he settled
on a large property and remained for three years. At the end
of that time he bought land in Henry county, Missouri, and engaged
in agricultural pursuits until August 8, 1873. S. M. Miller,
the subject of this sketch helping his father with the work on this
place.
The son accompanied his father on his various removals
and early became familiar with the labors which fall to the lot of
an agriculturist. At the age of twenty-two years he drove a
team of horses from Missouri to the eastern part of Ohio and was
forty-five days in making the trip. He remained in Ohio for
three years and in the spring of 1876 drove back to Peoria county,
arriving in June. He then purchased a farm in Hallock township
in the northern part of Peoria county, of which he remained the
owner until 1901. As a farmer he was very successful, brought
his fields under a high state of cultivation, kept his buildings and
fences in good repair and his mechanical skill and inclination were
of great advantage in doing many things around the farm and keeping
it neat in appearance. His life stock also looked well cared
for and he took pride in his herds and treated his animals kindly.
He was considered one of the enterprising, progressive and
successful farmers of the community. In the meantime, however,
he had turned his attention to industrial pursuits, having in 1892
became the owner of a portable sawmill which he operated in
Woodford, Marshall and Peoria counties for twelve years.
Early in his career, in 1887, he spent a year in Florida, leasing
his farm, and while in the south followed the carpenter's trade as
contractor and builder until he went into the sawmill and lumber
business. He found a market for his output in the large coal
mines and carried on an extensive business there. In 1891 he
exchanged his farm for land in Nebraska. He moved to Peoria in
1904, where he has ever since lived. Through his skill and
ingenuity he has given to the public various useful and valuable
mechanical devices, some of which are now upon the market finding a
ready sale. He has succeeded in inventing the only practical
mechanical elevator safety lock that is on the market and working
successfully. It makes it impossible for an accident to occur,
thus preventing ninety-five per cent of elevator accidents which
happen by reason of open doors, people getting on or off of cars or
falling down the open shaft. The device compels the operator
to stop his car at a safe landing for receiving and discharging
passengers before the door can be opened. It also locks the
power while the door is open so that it must be closed and locked
before it is possible to start the car. Mr. Miller has
other inventions now perfected and patents applied for which he
expects soon to place upon the market. We can justly class him
with the pubic benefactors and he prides himself on being a useful
member of society who will leave something to benefit humanity long
after laying aside his earthly labors.
On the 14th of June, 1883, S. M. Miller was
united in marriage to Miss Clara E. Brown, the only child of
Elder S. H. Brown, who formerly edited the Christian Gleaner,
a Peoria Paper, and later on published the Chillicothe Enquirer,
published at Chillicothe, Illinois. He was a minister of the
Christian church and filled the pulpit of that denomination for
twenty-seven years. He was first appointed to the ministry of
that church in Brunswick, McDonough county, where he was residing
with his family at the time of the marriage of his daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller have become the parents of eight
children: Mabel E., the wife of Fred Hunt; and
Frank E., Emmett S., Lyman H., Alma E., Merrion M., Howard B.
and Earl C. The three eldest sons are engaged in
business with their father, and are of great assistance to him,
having become skilled mechanics. Mr. Miller prefers to
concentrate his energies upon his inventions, which promise
gratifying returns. He may well be proud to have by his life
work contributed great benefits to his fellowmen and his life may
rightly be called on of great usefulness.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
- Page 784 |
| |
WALTER MURRAY
was called to the position of secretary of the board of park
commissioners on the 20th of June, 1910. This was not his
first public office for in other connections he had proven his
loyalty to the best interests of the city in the faithful
performance of duties which devolved upon him. He is one of
Peoria's natives sons, his birth having here occurred Oct. 27, 1870.
His parents were James j. and Mary (McLean) Murray, the
latter a daughter of William McLean who was a native of
England. In the paternal line Walter J. Murray comes of
Irish and English ancestry. His father was born on the Emerald
isle and the mother in Liverpool, England. In 1854 the father
was brought by his parents to the United States, the family home
being established in Peoria. He became a moulder by trade and
afterwards served for a number of years on the police force of the
city. Both he and his wife have now passed away, but their
son, Walter J. Murray, still occupies the old home at 1208
North Monroe street in which he was born and to which his parents
removed in 1864.
The public schools afforded him his early educational
privileges, and after he began earning his own livelihood he
continued his studies by attending night school. He was first
employed as a page in the circuit court under Sheriff Berry
and was afterward connected with the firm of Singer & Wheeler
for two yeas in the wholesale drug business. He then entered
the employ of Nickol-Burr & Company, serving an
apprenticeship at the mechanist's trade. He afterward spent
eleven years as a machinist in the shops of the Rock Island Railroad
and then became superintendent of sewers of Peoria under Mayor
Bryan. That his services were appreciated by the railroad
company is indicated in the fact that he was solicited to return to
his old position where he continued until the shops were moved from
the city. He next entered the service of the Keystone Fence
Company as a machinist, and while there became his party's nominee
for city clerk against Robert Joos, the republican candidate.
He lost the election by a majority of one hundred and thirty-four
votes, but was appointed assistant city comptroller under Mayor
Tolson, and acted in that capacity for two years. When
Thomas O'Connor succeeded Mr. Tolson to the position of
mayor Mr. Murray was appointed city comptroller and continued
in the office for two years more after which he returned to the
Keystone Fence Company. A year later he was elected by the
park commissioners to the office of secretary of the park board, and
has now filled that office for two years. In this connection
he is rendering valuable service and is doing much to further the
park interests of the city.
Mr. Murray is connected with various
fraternities and societies. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen
camp, the Independent Order of Foresters and was the first financial
secretary of Court Gibbons Independent Order of Foresters. He
is also a member of the Peoria Yacht Club. He likewise holds
membership with the Knights of Columbus and the International
Association of Machinists and for three years was secretary of the
Machinists' Union. His religious faith is that of the Catholic
church. He has made a creditable record in public office, and
in his different private positions has proven himself thoroughly
loyal and faithful to the interests which he has represented.
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1912
- Page 25 |
NOTES:
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