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George Warren Miller, a well known citizen of
Manchester having extensive business interests, was born
near Elgin, Illinois, October 13, 1853, a son of Leonard
and Delilah (Turner) Miller. His parents removed from
Schoharie county, New York, to the vicinity of Elgin,
Illinois, in 1852 and there purchased land upon which
they resided until 1854, when they came to Delaware
county, Iowa, buying a quarter section near Eads' Grove,
in Delaware township. Soon afterward they took up two
hundred and forty acres of prairie land about a mile and
a half distant, and the latter tract has remained in the
possession of the family up to the present time, being
now the property of George W. Miller of this review. The
father was killed on his farm by the accidental
discharge of his gun in June, 1855. He was married in
Schoharie county, New York, to Delilah Turner and had
but one child, George W. The mother afterward became the
wife of S. M. Hoyt, one of the leading citizens of his
section of county, by whom she had two children: Jessie
D., who died at the age of five years; and W. D. of
Manchester. Mrs. Deliah Hoyt was called to her final
rest in 1893.
George W. Miller spent his boyhood on the home farm and
received his early education in a district school. |
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Subsequently he attended Lenox College of Hopkinton for one year and during the
next three years pursued the civil
engineering course in the Iowa University, being graduated from that
institution in June, 1878. He did not follow his
profession after returning home but took up farming on the tract of prairie land
in Delaware township previously
mentioned. There he resided until 1887, when he removed to Manchester and
engaged in the buggy and implement
business, being associated with R. G. Kennedy under the firm name of Kennedy &
Miller. Later Mr. Miller purchased the business and continued alone until 1896,
when W. D. Hoyt was admitted as a partner under the style of Miller & Hoyt,
which was maintained until 1898, when Mr. Miller bought out Mr. Hoyt, but at the
end of two years sold to Mr. Hoyt and retired from active business. He is
president and director of the Iowa & Montana Land Company, of which he was one
of the organizers and which is a syndicate owning a large tract of land in the
Musselshell valley of Montana. He is likewise the owner of farm lands in Iowa
and South Dakota.
On the 31st of December, 1878, Mr. Miller was
united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Hollister, a native of Delaware
township, and a daughter of William H. and Margaret (Wilcox) Hollister, the
former born in Warsaw, Wyoming county, New York, March 23, 1830, and the latter
in Mayville, Chautauqua county, New York, July 27, 1832. Mr. Hollister removed
to Chautauqua county,. New York, in 1840 and was married there in 1849. After
residing in Portland, Chautauqua county, for three years he removed to Boone
county, Illinois, and from there came to Delaware county, Iowa, in 1855,
settling in Delaware township. He continued to conduct his farm until 1900,
when he retired and took up his abode in Manchester, which remained his home
until he passed away on the 3d of July, 1903. Mrs. Hollister was called to her
final rest in December, 1910. They were the parents of eight children, as
follows: William H., John J., and Mrs. George W. Miller, all of whom are
residents of Manchester; George F., who makes his home in Waterloo, Iowa; Alson
A., living in Wessington, South Dakota; Professor Horace A., of the University
of Illinois, of Champaign; Jennie, who died in early life; and Grace M., who
gave her hand in marriage to L. A. Clute, of Greeley, Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs.
Miller have been born four children, namely: Viadella M., the wife of Arthur H.
Middleton, a planter residing in Canton, Mississippi, by whom she has five
children, Pauline, Ruth, Dorothy, Maude Helen and Esther; Maude E., who is the
wife of Frank Johnston, of Chicago; Mabel I.; and Roy G., who died at the age of
twenty one years.
Mr. Miller gives Ins political allegiance to the
republican party but has never sought nor desired the honors and
emoluments of office. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias,
the Grange and the Woodmen. His
religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist church, to which
his wife and children also belong and in
which he has served for a number of years as steward and also as a member of the
board of trustees. His life has been
one of well directed activity and intelligent effort, resulting in the
attainment of a gratifying measure of success, and
wherever he is known he is highly esteemed and respected by reason of his
genuine personal worth and excellent
qualities of character.
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