William Miller
A life of quite effectiveness marked by a record of many duties well done, and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled was that of the late William Miller, who died at his home in Matthews, January 19, 1913. Outside of his service in the Civil War, where he made a record for coolness and bravery he was never in the conspicuous activities of abnormal events, but in the faithful and intelligent performance of every task allotted to him during his long life, he left a record which may well be envied and admired by the generations to follow him.
William Miller was born in Clermont County, Ohio, October 6, 1836, and was in his seventy-seventh year when death came to him. Hi parents were David and Mary (Chapman) Miller. His father was a native of Ohio, and of German ancestry, and his mother was born in Clermont County, Ohio, and there their careers began and all their children were born. About the time the Civil War broke out they moved to Indiana, and bought and located on eighty acres of land, located two and a half miles south of Muncie on the Middletown Pike. That was their home until 1871. Like many dwellers in the middle states, they were attracted by the high sounding promises of western lands, and moved out to Montgomery County, Kansas, buying a half section there. Their residence and activity as farmers in Kansas was brief, since the grasshopper scourge and the drought soon compelled them to abandon their enterprise and return to a more hopeful country. Thus in 1873 they reestablished their homes in Delaware County, and finally traded their three hundred and twenty acres of Kansas land for eighty-four acres in Washington Township of Delaware County. There Daniel Miller died when seventy-three years of age. His wife had passed away some years previously when sixty-seven years old. They were good citizens, prominent workers in the United Brethren Church, and Daniel Miller during his early manhood was a vigorous supporter of the Whig politics, and later equally strong in his advocacy of Republican principles. There were eight children. Two of them died in Ohio, four died in Indiana, and the two living are: Miss Angie, who is unmarried and makes her home with Mrs. Miller at Matthews, and Mary, wife of Edward McClelland, of Muncie, and the mother of one son and one daughter.
William Miller, who was the oldest in the family of children, was reared in the home of his parents, and lived on the old farm in Clermont County, until the breaking out of the war. Then in May, 1862, he enlisted in Company C of the Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, going in as a private and saw nearly three years of active service before his honorable discharge. He participated in the second battle of Bull Run, and later was in the armies under Sherman and other leaders and fought in the battle of Lookout Mountain, and many other engagements of the campaign. Much of his military experience was as driver of an ammunition wagon, and at the battle of Lookout Mountain he had a very narrow escape. His wagon in going up an incline road was stalled between two trees and was exposed to a crossfire, while the bullets were flying fast from both directions, he never flinched and stayed by the wagon until an orderly rode up and directed him to cut loose his mules and make a hasty escape. After the war he returned and rejoined his family, who in the meantime had taken up their residence in Delaware County, Indiana. He remained at home from 1865 to 1867, and in the latter year started out for himself and was married.
Mr. Miller married Miss Martha Pittser. Mrs. Miller, who survives her husband, and enjoys the high esteem of her neighbors in Jefferson Township, was born in Henry County, Indiana, September 28, 1845, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Stewart) Pittser. Both her father and mother were born in Brown County, Ohio, but grew up in Henry County, where they were married. John Pittser was the son of Mathias and Sarah (Jones) Pittser. Mathias Pittser, who was born in Germany, came to America in early life, married in Ohio, and during the decade of the twenties, settled as a pioneer in Henry County, Indiana, where many years of his active career were devoted to the development and improvement of that estate. It was finally made a good home, and continued to be the residence of Mathias and wife until they were both about threescore and ten years of age, at which time death came and removed them from the scenes of useful work and enjoyment. They were Methodist Protestants in religion. On her mother's side, Mrs. Miller is likewise related to pioneers in Henry County, Indiana, and the Stewart family has an ancestry which goes back to Scotland, and to the ancient clan of Stuarts, including the noted Mary Queen of Scots. Mrs. Miller's maternal grandparents, William and Margaret Stewart, built and established a home in Henry County, during the pioneer epoch, and lived there until a ripe old age. They were both members of the Christian Church.
After their marriage, William Miller and wife took up their careers as farmers, and spent two years in Kansas, during 1871-73. There they experienced a share in the disasters already mentioned, and returned with other members of the family to Delaware County. Their home was on a farm in Delaware County until 1905, when they retired, and selected a home situated on five lots of land at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Fourth Street in the village of Matthews. There Mrs. Miller still lives, and she is also owner of the farm of forty-two acres in Delaware County. Mrs. Miller is a fine type of the old fashioned woman, a true lady, and possessed of the graces and the courtesies of the heart and mind which are so characteristic of the older generation.
Mrs. Miller is the mother of the following children:
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Lillian, who died in infancy.
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Ida, who died May 20, 1902, unmarried, and who for fifteen years was a successful educator in Delaware County, being a graduate of Fairmount Academy and the Terre Haute Normal School.
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Arthur, who was born May 13, 1877, was educated in the public schools, and in Valparaiso University, now operates his mother's farm in Delaware County. Arthur Miller married Miss Myrtle Carmin of Delaware County, and they have four children -Ralph, William, Walter I., Myra N. and Helen C.
Mrs. Miller and her family are members of the Christian Church, and her husband was also a communicant in the same faith. His politics was Republican, and his son Arthur follows in the same political line.
Source: Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914, page986-87.