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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania with Biographical SketchesBy H. C. Bradsby, 1891If You Have Photos of People Mentioned on the Page, Send Them In For Inclusion |
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1888, he married Edith, daughter of James and Emily (Walton) Fredericks, of Lock Haven, Pa. Mr. Maxwell is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a Republican in politics.
WILLIAM MAXWELL, attorney and counselor at law, Towanda, though comparatively a young man in the profession, yet is reckoned one of the prominent and influential members of the Bradford county bar. He is a native of Steuben county, N.Y., born March 18, 1852, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Carey) Maxwell, of Irish nativity, who came to America and located and made their home near Bath, in Steuben county, N.Y., on their farm, and there spent the remainder of their days. The father died in 1853, when his youngest son, William, was about twelve months old; there were three other children then living. The youngest son grew to manhood in his native place, and his mother tenderly cared for him, and sent him to the public schools of the place, and then to Bath, N.Y. Quitting school at an early age, he soon found employment as a handy boy in a store, commencing in the humblest capacity, but rapidly picking up knowledge of the business and the ways of the business world, and meeting rapid promotions. Then he entered the office of Peet & Davis, Towanda, as a law student in 1873, where his diligence in his studies, his quick perceptions and analytical mind enabled him to master the books, pass a successful examination and receive his license as an attorney and counselor at law in May, 1875. He at once formed a partnership with Mr. Andrew Wilt, Towanda, and they opened their office to clients, to practice in all the courts. This firm continued one year, and then Mr. Maxwell opened his law office, and has called about him a large and eminently respectable clientage, and has pushed his way to the front of the Bradford bar with unequaled strides. His executive abilities marked him as a leader of men, and the Democracy of Bradford county called him to the chairmanship of their county central committee, and also made him a member of the State committee. He has signalized his discharge of these onerous official duties with marked ability. The third ward of Towanda is largely Republican, the majority reaching from ninety to one hundred in a poll of about 300 votes. In 1888 he was elected member of council for three years for this ward (in which he resides), was chosen burgess of Towanda, and at the end of his term, in 1891, was re-elected councilman over his competitor, by more than two votes to his competitor’s one. He has rendered the people of the borough valuable service. As an organizer in political campaigns, he has few equals; as a leader, he is regarded as safe and discreet; as a lawyer he is careful and painstaking, and stands at the head of his profession. He was united in marriage, January 3, 1877, to Anna D., daughter of John Geidleman, of German extraction.
D. SMITH MAY, farmer, of Granville township, P. O. Windfall, was born in Essex county, N. J., September 30, 1823, and is a son of Anthony and Huldah (Corby) May, who settled in Canton township, this county, in 1834, and later in Troy township. The father, who was a manufacturer of tobacco, died in Ithaca, N. Y.; his children were: Daniel S., David J., Stephen W., William H., John C. and Woodford C., all of whom reside in Bradford county. D. Smith May was reared in Bradford county from twelve years of age, since which time most of his years have been spent in Granville township. He cleared the farm now owned by Patrick Maney, in Granville, one in Canton owned by Eustace Clason, a part of the farm he now occupies, and also a portion of the Fitch farm. He married, April 1, 1844, Garafilia, daughter of Joel and Esther (Avery) Packard, of Granville township, and has four children: Jerome B., Mary (Mrs. John S. Fenton), Leland and Lilly (twins), the latter being now Mrs. Myers Case. Mr. May was in the Civil War, enlisted September 5, 1864, in Company K, Fifteenth New York Engineers, and was honorably discharge June 13, 1865; he is a popular and enterprising citizen; has held several township offices; is a member of the F. & A. M., and in politics is a Republican.
T. S. MAY, dealer in boots and shoes, Athens, is a native of West Fairlee, Vt., and was born January 18, 1842. He parents were George and Jan (Fulton) May, the former also a native of West Fairlee, Vt., born January 7, 1800, and died December 2, 1846; the latter is now a resident of Boston, Mass. George May represented his county in the State Legislature during the years 1836, 1837, 1840 and 1841, and held numerous local offices; he also aided in organizing the anti-slavery party in Vermont. T. S. May is the youngest in a family of four children, of whom two are living; his brother, George May, was president of the First National Bank, St. Johnsbury, Vt., until 1885, when he accepted the position of secretary of the Massachusetts Mortgage and Debenture Company, of Boston, where he resides. T. S. May was in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company sixteen years, during thirteen of which he was train dispatcher; then traveled through the West about two and one-half years, when he came to Athens, and engaged in the boot and shoe trace in the spring of 1889. He was married in Newark Valley, N. Y., in 1869, to Miss Ellen M., daughter of William H. and Miranda (Burbank) Wade, natives of Warren, Pa., residents of Newark Valley, N. Y. ; she is the second in a family of nine children, and was born in Newark Valley, September 13, 1848.
Responding to his country’s call, Mr. May enlisted, September 12, 1861, in Company C, First Regiment, Vermont Cavalry, and took part in seventy-five battles and skirmishes; was wounded and captured near Boonsboro, Md,. July 8, 1863, was paroled about the 20th of the same month, and was mustered out at Burlington, Vt., August 9, 1965. He is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, and in politics he is a Republican.
WILLIAM H. MAY, farmer, in Springfield township, P. O. Big Pond, was born May 4, 1833, in Newark, N. J., a son of Anthony and Hulda (Corby) May, the former of whom was a native of New York City, and came to this county, settling at Canton in 1836; he was a manufacturer of cigars and tobacco, lived to the age of fifty years, and died at Binghamton, N. Y.; the mother died at the age of seventy-two years. The families were of English ancestry. William H. May is the sixth in a family of nine children, all sons, five of whom are living. He enlisted, in the summer of 1861, in Company E, Fifty-second P. V. I., serving only a few months in the Civil War, as he was discharged on account of disability; he is a pensioner and a member of the G. A. R. Three of his brothers – Daniel S., John C. and Woodford C – were also in the Civil War, each whom saw long service and are pensioners. Our subject was married, July 2, 1856, to Mary E. Fleming, born March 5, 1838, a daughter of Freegift R., and Mary E. (Mix) Fleming, natives of Tompkins county, N. Y., who settled in Granville in early life, were farmers and are both still living, the father aged eighty-eight years and the mother aged eighty. Mrs. May is the fifth in a family of eleven children, all of whom are living; her grandfather, Mix, was a soldier in the War of 1812. To Mr. and Mrs. May have been born four children, as follows: Ella S., who died at the age of eight years; Lizzie B., born October 31, 1860, wife of John Stirton, of Ridgebury; Garfilia, who died at the age of one year; Fred D., born October 18, 1867, married to Effie D. Covell, and is on the farm with his father. Mr. May has a fine farm of 107 acres on one of the highest and best locations in the State. He is a Republican; has been school director, and has held other offices of public trust; is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the Patrons of Husbandry. He is a man of sterling worth, respected by all who know him. Mrs. May is a member of the Free-Will Baptist Church.
F. M. MAYNARD, farmer, Orwell township, P. O. Allis Hollow, was born in Susquehanna county, this State, February 14, 1832, and is a son of Erastus and Olive (Leonard) Maynard, the former of whom was a farmer. They had a family of eleven children, five yet living. F. M., who is the youngest, passed his boyhood, until he was sixteen years old, in Susquehanna county, where he received his education in the common schools, and then came to Bradford township. He attended the district schools of Orwell, until he was twenty-one; then went to New York and worked there one summer, and, returning home, he commenced farming, which he has followed to the present. He enlisted February 2, 1865, in Company K, One Hundred and Eighty-fifth N. Y. V. I., and participated in the following battles: Quaker Road, Gravely Run., Five Forks and Appomattox. After Lee’s surrender, and while on a march, he broke down, and was in hospital about six weeks; he was discharged from Satterlee Hospital, Philadelphia, June 29, 1865, and returned home. In 1858 he purchased the farm he now owns, and sold it in 1864, but repurchased in 1867. It contains thirty acres of well-improved land. His health was greatly injured in the service of his country. He was married, June 2, 1855, to Mahala, daughter of John and Jemima (Horton) Lyons. Mrs. Maynard has been twice married: first time to Elihu Ransom, by whom there was one child, Adelbert, born May 12, 1851, married to Frankie Westbrooks, of Standing Stone. Mr. and Mrs. Maynard have been blessed with one child, Montville, born September 28, 1861, married to Eva Wheeler, of Tioga county, and is now a telegrapher. Mr. Maynard is a member of Stevens Post, No. 69, G. A. R. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a steward and class-leader. Mr. Maynard has lived the greater portion of his life in the neighborhood where he resides, and has always commanded the respect of all who know him.
H. F. MAYNARD, attorney, Athens, is a native of Rome, this county, and was born March 12, 1838, a son of L. M. and P. E. (Washburn) Maynard, natives of Vermont, who came to Rome, this county, when quite young; the father was French and the mother was of Irish descent. They were agriculturists. The father died in Rome, in 1859, in his fifty-first year; the mother survives. H. F. Maynard, who is the second in a family of four children, received his education in the common schools, at the Rome Academy; in 1868 he commenced a course of law reading in the office of Jacob DeWitt, and had read considerable while at school. He was admitted to the bar, remaining with Jacob DeWitt until 1872, when he formed a partnership with D. C. DeWitt, and they continued together until the fall of 1876, when Mr. Maynard removed to Athens. Previous to this time the firm had a branch office at Athens. Mr. Maynard was married in Rome, this county, August 19, 1861, to Miss Pamlia, daughter of Josiah and Lutheda (Watkins) White, natives of New Hampshire; she is the youngest in a family of four children, and was born in Litchfield, Bradford Co., Pa., August 20, 1840. To this union have been born four children, two now living, viz.: Edward L., married to Miss Anna Rogers, and Paul E. Mr. Maynard is a Democrat , and at the Bradford bar is widely known as a leading and successful lawyer. He is a self-made man, and by his own unaided efforts has risen steadily and successfully from humble and unpretentious beginnings.
CHARLES FREDERICK MEAD, farmer, North Towanda township, P. O. North Towanda, was born in Athens, July 2, 1860, and is a son of Abijah and Mary (Swain) Mead, the former a native of Athens, Pa., and of Irish origin, the latter a native of Chemung, N. Y., and of Irish origin and American lineage. During the reign of William and Mary of England, in 1690, James, Daniel and Albert Mead came to America, and settled near Boston. James had a son Daniel, who was a Revolutionary soldier; Daniel had a son James A., who married Hannah Barnard, daughter of Louis Barnard, a French soldier, who came to America with Rochambeau. James A. was a soldier in the War of 1812, and had eleven children: Daniel, Martha, Abijah, Robert, Sarah, James A., Hannah, Elias, Mary, George and Peter. Abijah was born July 31, 1815, followed teaching for twenty years in his native State, and the latter part of his life was a farmer; he died July 2, 1887. He married, October 5, 1859, Mary, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Hollan) Swain, of Chemung, N. Y. They had born to them four children: Charles F., the subject of this sketch; Ira Henry born in June 12, 1864, and died July 6, 1866; Allen Lloyd and Elwin Floyd (twins), born May 14, 1866. The three sons and their mother are living on the old homestead. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are Democrats.
HIRAM B. MEEKS, farmer, Wilmot township, was born in Steuben county, N. Y., April 12, 1837, and is the eldest of ten children of Edward and Polly (Reydor) Meeks, natives of New York, the former born of Dutch and Scotch descent, and the latter of Dutch ancestry; they settled in this county when Hiram B. was ten years of age. The subject of this memoir began life for himself at the age of sixteen, lumbering in Terry, where he remained about one year; then went to Lock Haven, where he was also engaged in lumbering. Returning to Wilmot, he here remained until February 2, 1862, when he enlisted in Company K, Fifty-Eight Regiment P. V. I. He participated in the following battles: Fair Oaks, Black Water, Petersburg, Siege of Richmond, Fort Harrison, Chafton’s Farm, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania Court House, and several minor engagements; he received a gunshot-wound at Fort Harrison, which disabled him for about sixty days, when he again returned to his company and was mustered out at City Point, Va., January 29, 1866; then returned to Wilmot township, and purchased his present home, where he has since been engaged in farming. On November 22, 1866, Mr. Meeks was married to Rebecca M., daughter of William and Margaret (Asley) Bartley, of Milledgeville, Ill. They have had seven children, viz.: Captola B., born August 16, 1867, and died June 19, 1870; William W., born December 12, 1868, died September 11, 1869; Pollie M., born July 10, 1870, married to A. A. Schock, May 7, 1891; Inez V., born June 6, 1872; Robina Etta, born June 2, 1875; died March 2, 1879; Loema A., born April 9, 1877, and Edna M., born February 4, 1880. Mr. Meeks is a Republican, and has held the office of town commissioner two terms.
ANDREW MELVILLE, contractor and builder, Luther’s Mills, was born in 1843, a son of Peter C., and Lucinda M. (Travis) Melville, the former of whom was of Irish origin, and by trade a carpenter. The father removed to Burlington, from Albany, when he was six years of age; the mother’s family were among the early settlers of the township. Great-grandfather Travis was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The paternal grandfather was born in Ireland. Andrew Melville was reared to the trace with his father, but in September, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, Fifty-Second P. V. Ii., in which he served three years, and then re-enlisted, so that his whole term of service was for nearly the entire war. On July 3, 1864, he was taken prisoner with his company, as was also their colonel (ex-Governor Hoyt), and they were held in Andersonville and Libby prisons; he was wounded by the explosion of a shell, and was honorably discharge, January 12, 1965. He is now a pensioner. At the close of his army life Mr. Melville engaged in the building and contracting business with his brother, John C., and they have carried on an extensive and successful trade since their commencement; they are, without doubt, the most enterprising gentlemen in their line of business in their vicinity. He was married, March 16, 1868, to Harriet S. Grist, by whom he has had two children, Harry T., and Walter E. Mr. Melville is a Republican in politics, and has been town clerk twenty-one years in succession; is a member of the G. A. R., and is much respected.
JOHN D. MERCUR, M. D., Towanda, was, from both sides of the house, the descendant of as illustrious families as have ever formed a portion of the strong men and women of the "Northern Tier" of the old Commonwealth. A native of the borough of Towanda, born July 15, 1853, to Judge Ulysses and Sarah Simpson (Davis) Mercur, the son spent his youth and childhood in his father’s family, and among their good friends in the borough, attending the public schools, and when sufficiently advanced he became a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, whence he passed to Harvard University, and was graduated from Jefferson Medical College, an M. D., in 1878. He then practiced one year in Philadelphia Hospital, where he had all the advantages of a practical application of the theories to which he had been a diligent student, during the preceding years. He returned in June, 1889, to his old home and friends, in Towanda, offered his services to the good people, and has continued actively in the practice to the present time. Dr. Mercur inclines to the political faith of the grand old Republican party, and worships at the Episcopal Church; he is a member of the Sons of Revolution, and of the Medical Society of Philadelphia, and served two years as delegate to the State Medical Society. He makes his home at the family residence, with his widowed mother.
RODNEY A. MERCUR, a prominent member of the Bradford county bar, was born in Towanda, September 29, 1851, and is the eldest soon of the late Chief-Justice Ulysses and Sarah Simpson (Davis) Mercur. He was reared in his native town, and was educated at Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Phillips Academy, at Exeter, N. H., and Harvard University; studied law with the late Judge Paul D. Morrow, of Towanda; was admitted to the Bradford county bar, May 3, 1875; was admitted to practice in the United State Circuit and District Courts, June 20, 1876, and to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, March 11, 1878. On May 29, 1877, he was commissioned Register in Bankruptcy for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and filled the office from 1875 to 1879. Mr. Mercur was associated in business with D. A. Overton, from his admission to 1879, since which time he has been in active practice alone. He was married, June 12, 1879, to Mary, daughter of James M. and Louisa (Overton) Ward, of Towanda, and has two children living, Sarah D., and Rodney A., Jr. Mr. Mercur is an active member of the Episcopal Church, of which he has served as a vestryman twelve years, and is now the junior warden and treasurer. He has represented his parish in Diocesan Convention a number of years, and was a lay deputy to the General Conventions of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Chicago in 1886, and at New York in 1889. He has always taken an active interest in politics, and was elected an alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention held at Chicago in 1888; is a director, and the solicitor of the First National Bank, of Towanda, and is also a director of the James H. Hawes Manufacturing Company, the Towanda Gas Company, also the Towanda Cemetery Association, and is a member of the Union League, of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of Revolution, also a commissioner to the World’s Columbian Exposition from the State of Pennsylvania.
JOHN MEREDITH, grocer, Towanda, was born at Brady’s Bend, Armstrong Co., Pa., July 20, 1843, a son of Evan and Margaret (Lewis) Meredith, natives of Wales. His parents came to America in 1840, locating in Pittsburgh, and in 1861 removed to Bradford county, where his father, who had charge of the Barclay mines tracks, was accidentally killed, January 8, 1864; he had been twice married, and by his first wife had one daughter, Mary (Mrs. John Bennett); by his second wife, Margaret Lewis, he had three children, who grew to maturity, viz.: John, Martha (Mrs. Thomas Muir) and Thomas. John Meredith, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Armstrong county, and on September 10, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, participating in the battles of Stone River, Chattanooga and many minor engagements; he never had a furlough, and was honorably discharged at Kittanning, Pa., November 4, 1864, after three years and two months’ service. In the fall of 1864 he came to Towanda, where he engaged in the grocery business, until 1872; then he entered the employ of the Cambria Iron Company as manager of their store at Henrietta, Blair Co., Pa., and filled that position two years, when he resigned, and went to Confluence, Somerset county, where he was engaged in the drug business, and was also agent for the Adams Express Company two years. He then took charge of a store at Hopewell, Bradford county, for the Sandy Run Coal Company, until 1880, when he located in Canton, where he was elected justice of the peace, which office he resigned in May, 1883; again he came to Towanda, and held the position of night officer on the police force two years, when he resigned, and has since been engaged in the grocery business. On December 14, 1870, he married Mary E., daughter of Jane and Ann (Perry) Morley, of Johnstown., Pa., formerly of Cornwall, England, by whom he has seven children living, viz.: James E., Kate B., Charles, Margaret, Ann, Bertha and John A. Logan. Mr. Meredith is a well-known and respected citizen of Bradford county, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, I. O. O. F., K. of P., G. A. R. and Union Veteran Legion; he is a Republican in politics.
H. A. MERRILL, was born March 22, 1849, in Litchfield township, this county, in the house where he now resides, a son of Ira and Maria C. (Wolcott) Merrill. The father, who was a farmer and a carpenter, spent a greater portion of his life in Litchfield township, and died March 31, 1878, aged sixty-nine years, eleven months and eleven days; his widow still survives him. The grandfather, Eleazer Merrill, was a native of Connecticut, and moved his family into Litchfield (on the same ground where the family residence now stands) in the year 1803, and when he had paid his teamster he found he had just one dollar left. But nothing daunted, he, with that sterling energy and ambition that characterized the pioneers of this county, set to work to provide for the wants of his family of four small children and an invalid wife, by walking three or more miles, crossing the river in a canoe, and working by the day, carrying his provisions home on his back. So he worked his way, until he succeeded in clearing over 100 acres of the wilderness; he died April 4, 1855, at the age of eighty-two years, eight months, twenty-one days; his wife, Nancy, died August 29, 1842, aged seventy-four years. The great-grandfather, also named Eleazer Merrill, died in December, 1819, aged eighty years, his wife, Rebecca, died January 2, 1827, aged eighty-five. Solomon Merrill, the grandfather’s brother, died October 3, 1844, aged seventy-four; Abigal, his wife, died August 13, 1833, aged fifty-five years. In Ira Merrill’s family there were six children, viz.: Edwin, a farmer, of Litchfield township; Eliza C., married to B. S. Hadlock, a farmer of Athens township; Emily L., who makes her home with her brother Edwin; Ira F., who lives on the homestead; H. A., the subject of this sketch; Martha M., married to W. F. Perry, a farmer of Litchfield; Marion, who died in infancy; Susie C., an adopted child; Mary J., also adopted, married to Alvin Phalin, a farmer. The subject of these lines was reared on a farm, and received his early education in the common schools. His first business on his own account was keeping a dairy. Mr. Merrill was married March 11, 1874, to Almira, daughter of Moses and Hannah (Cornell) Park. Mr. Merrill has joined the Order of the World, is a member of the Universalist Church, in politics is a Democrat, and has held the office of town clerk one year.
MIDDAUGH, proprietor of livery and Herdie line, Athens, is a native of Sullivan county, N. Y., born October 27, 1841, a son of Eli and Ellen (Decker) Middaugh, the former of whom was a contractor and died in 1847, in his thirty-second year, the latter died July 3, 1888, in her sixty-sixth year. Our subject, who was the elder of two children, left Sullivan county when eight years old for Tioga county, N. Y., and worked at farming and teaming, and in 1862, he went to the woods until 1863, when he went to work in a lumber mill in Williamsport, clerking in a store during the winter; then was employed as sawyer for Lentz & White about two years, and about fifteen years was foreman for Mr. Herdick, the extensive public-works’ contractor, of Williamsport; from there he went to Philadelphia, where he remained a short time. In the fall of 1880 he went to Washington, and was there two years, running Herdic coaches for Patts & Herdick, known as the Herdic Phaeton Company; from there he came to Athens and established the Herdic line from Athens to Waverly, in connection with which Herdic line he started a livery stable at the same time. He is also extensively engaged in the stone business, and has teams to deliver the stone from the quarries. Mr. Middaugh was married in Williamsport, in 1863, to Miss Meda, daughter of William Angle, a native of this county (she is the sixth in a family of eight children, and was born in this county in 1847). Mr. Middaugh is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, and is a Republican.
CARROLL E. MILLER, of the firm of Miller Brothers, proprietors of saw, planning and shingle mill, Alba, is a native of Chemung. N. Y., born June 8, 1850, a son of Phillip S. and Cynthia (Jones) Miller, natives of Delaware and Chemung counties, N. Y., respectively. Phillip S. Miller was a lumberman, and died in 1889, in his sixty-third year; his widow resides in Alba. The subject of these lines, who is the eldest in the family of three children, was reared in Chemung county; until five years of age, when the family removed to Granville township, where they resided seven years; then moved to Alba, where he received an academic education; also learned the carriage-maker’s trade, and in 1869, he went to Corning, N. Y., where he worked at his trade, until the fall of 1872; thence removed to Grover, and was engineer and sawyer in a sawmill, until 1876; then returned to Alba, and engaged in business for himself. He was married in Grover, in 1874, to Olive E., daughter of Allen and Samantha (Rockwell) Taylor, natives of Canton township. Allen Taylor was a farmer, and died in 1889; his widow resides in Grover. Mrs. Miller, who was the third in order of birth in a family of five children, was born in Grover, March 4, 1851, and died February 13, 1890; she was a member of the Christian Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born three children, as follows: Carroll (deceased), Edith M. and Maud. Mr. Miller is a member of the I. O. O. F., Canton Lodge, No. 321. In politics he is a Republican, and has served as burgess, and several terms as member of the borough council in Alba; also several terms as school director and president of the school board.
F. W. MILLER, of the firm of Miller Brothers, Alba, was born in Granville township, this county, July 28, 1857, the second in the family of three children of Phillip S. and Cynthia (Jones) Miller. He received his education in the common schools, and served as an apprenticeship at the carriage-maker’s trade with J. S. Reynolds, in Alba. He began working at his trade in 1875, and continued in same until 1881, when he became a member of the firm of Miller Brothers. He was married in Canton township, in 1878, to Sarah H., eldest daughter of Ward and Helen (Lilley) Warren, natives of this county; she was born in Canton township, May 12, 1857. Ward Warren was a farmer and died in 1881 in his fiftieth year; Mrs. Warren died in 1872. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller was born one daughter, Lillie H. The family are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Miller is a member of the I. O. O. F., Canton Lodge, No. 321. Politically he is a Republican, and has served as auditor and town clerk, and is a member of the borough council.
FREDRICK J. MILLER, of the firm of F. J. Miller & Son, LeRaysville, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1839, a son of Peter Miller, who was born in the same place, in 1810, was a shoemaker by trade, and came to Honesdale, Pa., in 1841, where he followed his trade until his death, in 1858. Peter Miller married, in Germany, Elizabeth Wagner, and had one child, F. J. Our subject was educated in Honesdale, Pa., learned his trade there, and worked fifteen years; then opened a shop in Honesdale, in 1859, which he conducted until 18--, when he went to Erie, and thence, in 1883, to Warren County; then came to LeRaysville and worked for the Northern Tier Cigar Manufacturing Company, until 19, 1888, when he opened his present shop in company with his son, John F., under the firm name of F. J. Miller & Son. They have been generally successful, and are doing an annual business of $5,500. Mr. Miller is a member of Lodge, No. 88, I. O. O. F., and No. 402, K. of P.; also of the G. A. R., Spalding Post, No. 33. In 1860, he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John and Amie (Neat) Evans, and they have had ten children, as follows: Carrie, born in 1861, wife of Andrew Button; Charles, born in 1863, died in infancy; John, born in 1864; Agnes, born in 1866; Margaret, born in 1869; Elizabeth, born in 1870; Isabel, born in 1873; Albert, born in 1875; Nettie, born in 1878, and William, born in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Miller and family attend the Congregational Church. John F. Miller was born in Honesdale, Pa., received a common-school education and in his sixteenth year began his trade with A. S. Platt, of Warren county, this State, with whom he worked four months; then worked for a Mr. Flacke, of the same place, nine months, after which he was with the Warren Cigar Company, two years; then he went to Chicago, where he followed his trade, and in the fall of 1884, came here and worked for the Northern Tier Cigar Manufacturing Company, four years, and then went into business with his father. Mr. Miller was married, October 8, 1890, to Ella, the second of three children born to Emanuel and Corinthia (Brink) Ashton. Mr. Miller is a member of LeRaysville Lodge, No. 471, F. & A. M., and Post, No. 232, Sons of Veterans.
LOUIS J. MILLER, LeRaysville, was born October 8, 1845, in Dansville, N. Y., a son of Theodore and Elizabeth (Truman) Miller. In his father’s family were seven children of whom Louis J. is the youngest. His parents were natives of Germany; the father a cabinet-maker by trade, died in 1875, at the age of eighty; the mother died in 1870, at the age of seventy-five years. Louis J. Miller, the subject of the sketch, began life for himself when sixteen years of age by enlisting, October 23, 1861, in Company E, One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, N. Y. V. I., and was in the following engagements: Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor and the Weldon raid. At Bull Run he received a gunshot would in the left breast, and at Cold Harbor in the left leg, but was not out of the service long enough to miss any of the battles of his regiment; he was made corporal No. 1, in 1864, which position he held until he was mustered out at Elmira, N. Y., July 29, 1865. Mr. Miller then returned to his home at Dansville, where he served a barber’s apprenticeship, wince which time he has been engaged in that business; nine years in Bath, N. Y., and the past seven years in LeRaysville. He married, April 25, 1875, Sarah Fronk, and the following children were born to them: Louis H., Herbert G. and Gracie B. His wife died July 10, 1889, and his three children are living with friends at Cohocton, N. Y. Mr. Miller is a Republican.
RUSSEL MILLER, farmer, Asylum township, P. O. Durell, was born June 15, 1824, in Laddsburg, Albany township, a son of Daniel and Hannah (Fowler) Miller, natives of Elizabethtown, N. J., of German and English extraction, respectively. Daniel Miller, who was a tanner, currier and shoemaker, came to this county and settled in Monroe township, about 1801, and in 1805, he removed to Laddsburg; he was one of the valuable pioneers, and experienced many hardships, but being a man of strong nerve and unflinching resolutions, he carved his way in the wilderness to ultimate triumpth; he built several sawmills and a gristmill in that town, and became an extensive farmer. The subject of this sketch was reared to his father’s vocations, and when eighteen took charge of and conducted the business from that on, and, being of the same persevering nature as his sire, made a success of life. He was married March 22, 1848, to Margaret O., daughter of Moses A. and Susan (Lawrence) Ladd, and there have been born to them five children, as follows: Alice L., born June 13, 1849, and died
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