CHARLES WESLEY MILLER.     Charles Wesley Miller, attorney general of the state of Indiana, was born on a farm near the village of Galena, Floyd county, Indiana, Feb. 4, 1863 and comes of one of the oldest families in the state.  On the maternal side his ancestors, of English descent, settled at Cape May, New Jersey, about 1800.  In 1817 his great-grandfather, Jacob Garrison moved to Floyd county, Indiana, where he was a pioneer and prominent citizen.  Accompanying him on his early migration was his daughter, Experience Smith,  Mr. Miller's grandmother, who was then seventeen years of age.  Of great natural vigor and strength of character, she was a remarkable woman in many ways, and was ninety-seven years old when her death occurred in Floyd county in January, 1898.  On the paternal side the family is of German lineage.  Grandfather Jacob Miller moved from Pennsylvania to Floyd county, Indiana, in 1807, and from the wilderness wrested a homestead on which was born, in 1819, Jacob B. Miller, the father of Charles W. Miller.  Both the father and mother are still living, having celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1891.
     Reared on the homestead farm in Floyd county, at an early age Mr. Miller began his training in the school of useful endeavor.  The country schools supplied his first educational equipment and by spending the summers at farm labor until he was sixteen years old he was enabled at that time to begin his college career.  This he also carried to successful completion by teaching during the winter and selling books and fruit trees in the summer vacations.  His higher education was obtained in the private school of Prof. W. W. Pinkham at Paoli, Indiana, and in the Ladoga Normal School, and when he was ready to begin active preparation for the law he entered the University of Michigan and graduated from the law department in 1884.  Immediately taking up active practice, he formed a partnership with John H. Binford at Greenfield, Indiana, and this continued until he came to Goshen in January, 1885.  In 1892 he formed a law partnership with Francis E. Baker, and the firm of Baker and Miller continued until the senior partner was elevated to the supreme bench of Indiana, on Jan. 1, 1899.  At that date J. S. Drake became Mr. Miller's partner, and later S. C. Hubbell was admitted, the firm thenceforth being Miller, Drake and Hubbell.  As a member of these successive law firms Mr. Miller was interested i almost ever lawsuit of importance in Elkhart county, and also had an extensive practice in other counties of northern Indiana.
     Politically an ardent Republican, and a quiet though effective worker for his party, Mr. Miller has given of his time and energies to political affairs for many years.  He has served as chairman of the Elkhart county central committee and for many years a member of the executive committee.  In 1888 he was elected mayor of Goshen, having the distinction of being the youngest mayor in the state of Indiana at the time, and he served two years with credit.  He has been a delegate to all the Republican state conventions since 1882, and was a delegate to the Republican national convention which nominated Harrison in 1892.  His ability as a lawyer and prominence in state Republican circles brought him forward in 1902 as the logical candidate for attorney general, and election followed his nomination, and in 1904 he was re-elected.  Mr. Miller has also made his influence felt in business affairs.  He is president of the State bank of Goshen and is interested in several other business and industrial enterprises.  Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and Knight Templar, and a member of the Knights of Pythias.
     Mr. Miller was married in Goshen in June, 1887, to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Perkins.
     Born without either the handicap or advantages of wealth, placed at an early age face to face with the realities and difficulties on the road to success, largely self-educated and gaining his entrance upon a professional career as a result of steady industry and unceasing application, Mr. Miller, seems to have deserved every advancement and reward which have come to him in professional and public life, since they have been won through force of character and eminent ability and are the fitting prizes for those who make obstacles of chance and circumstance but stepping stone to the attainment of their laudable ambitions.
Source: A Twentieth Century History & Biological Record of Elkhart County, Indiana by Anthony Deahl - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905 - Page 428

DAVID F. MILLER, a leading representative of industrialism in Nappanee, who is engaged in the manufacture of buggies, was born in Concord township, Elkhart county, Sept. 22, 1862.  His father, Joseph Miller, was a native of Pennsylvania and became one of the pioneer residents of Elkhart county, but was killed in 1865 when his son David was only about three years of age.  The latter was reared upon a farm in Kosciusko county, Indiana, by J. H. Miller, with whom he remained until eighteen years of age, and during that time he mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools and also gained an intimate and practical knowledge of farm work in its various departments.  On starting out upon an active business career he worked as a farm hand, being thus employed for five years, but thinking that he might enter a business that would prove more congenial and more profitable he came to Nappanee in 1884, and began dealing in harness and buggies.  He continued in that line until 1892, when he commenced the manufacture of carriages as a member of a company, but in 1900 he purchased his partner's interests and is now conducting the business alone, employing about thirty men.  He manufactures carriages, buggies and cutters, and the output of the factory is now quite large, as is indicated by the fact that so many workmen are retained in his services.  Thoroughness and substantial workmanship are two of the qualities which characterize the output and have been a strong element in his success.  His trade is growing and Mr. Miller has made for himself a creditable position among the leading manufacturers of Elkhart county.
     A stanch Republican is his political views, Mr. Miller has acceptably served on the school board, and whether in office or out of it he labors consecutively and effectively for the welfare of the community.  Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias.  He has married Oct. 23, 1885, to Miss Alice Artz, a daughter of Ahab Artz, and a native of Elkhart county.  They now have two interesting children - Vera and Walter, and in social circles they are well known, the hospitality of the best homes of this locality being freely accorded them.
Source: A Twentieth Century History & Biological Record of Elkhart County, Indiana by Anthony Deahl - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905 - Page 398

JOHN W. MILLER has for so long a period been a resident of Elkhart county that he is numbered among its old settlers, and his life has been so well spent that he is classed with its most respected citizens.  He was born in Osolo township May 18, 1838.  His father, Jesse Miller, was a native of Ohio, and came to Elkhart county, about 1837, locating on the northern part of the county, where he remained for a year.  He then traded his land there for a farm in Harrison township, Elkhart county, upon which he spent his remaining days, his life's labors being ended in death when he was about sixty-six years of age.  With the pioneer development and improvement of this section of the state he was connected, and his aid could always be counted upon to further the interests of Democracy and of the Methodist Episcopal church.  His religious faith was a permeating influence in his life and made him worthy the regard in which he was uniformly held.  He married Miss Lucy Dalrymple, a native of Ohio, who died in Concord township, Elkhart county, when about sixty-six years of age.  They were the parents of three sons and five daughters, and with one exception all reached adult age.
     John W. Miller, the fourth child and eldest son, was only about a year old when taken by his parents to Harrison township, this county, and upon the home farm he was reared, pursuing his education in a schoolhouse built of round logs and furnished with primitive equipments in harmony with the methods of instruction.  He remained at home, assisting in the work of the farm save through the short winter season when he attended school, and became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist.
     In 1860 occurred the marriage of John W. Miller and Miss Mary Stutsman, a daughter of Daniel B. and Betsey (Bashore) Stutsman, who came to this county at an early day, settling in Harrison township, where their daughter's birth occurred.  At the time of his marriage Mr. Miller located on a farm adjoining his father's place, but after a year sold that property and bought his present place of residence about 1865.  There were few improvements on this place and it stood in the midst of the forest, but he has since developed one of the best farms of the county.  He has carried on general farming and has also made a specialty of the raising of berries and other fruit.  About twelve thousand ties were furnished from his farm to the Lake Shore Railroad Company, and also much timber was furnished for building cars.  In former years Mr. Miller owned other farms, but has since disposed of much of his property, retaining possession of the old homestead, which comprises one hundred acres, all of which is valuable land, the greater part of it being under a high state of cultivation.
     To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born the following named: Cyrus, who is inspector for the street railway company and is living in Concord township; Nervy, at home; Ira J., of Elkhart; Louis R., an engineer on the Lake Shore Railroad, living at home; Ortha, the wife of Charles Dinehart, of Concord township; Edward, a druggist of Elkhart; and Lawrence, engaged as foreman of the Tablet Works, of Kalamazoo, Michigan.  Mr. Miller is a Democrat but has no aspirations for public office.  His entire life, covering sixty-seven years, has been passed in this county, and he is familiar with much of its development and growth.  What to many is merely a matter of history is to him a matter of personal experience, because of his residence here during the occurrence of certain events that have aided in shaping the annals and the policy of the county, and at all times he has furthered the movements for the public good
Source: A Twentieth Century History & Biological Record of Elkhart County, Indiana by Anthony Deahl - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905 - Page 710

Source: A Twentieth Century History & Biological Record of Elkhart County, Indiana by Anthony Deahl - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905 - Page 526

Source: A Twentieth Century History & Biological Record of Elkhart County, Indiana by Anthony Deahl - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905 - Page 656

Source: A Twentieth Century History & Biological Record of Elkhart County, Indiana by Anthony Deahl - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905 - Page 659