Charles A. R. Miller 1847-1895

MILLER, WEIRICH, HARTUNG, MITTELSTADT, STREUSER, THEISEN, WOLENG, KESSLER

Posted By: cheryl Locher moonen (email)
Date: 4/18/2020 at 20:23:24

Cascade Pioneer, Published in Cascade, Iowa, Friday, November 22th, 1895

DEATH OF CHARLES A. R. MILLER
~
A Former Dragoon in the German Service
and Served Through the Franco-Prussian War
~
Charles A. R. Miller, an esteemed citizen of Cascade for the past twenty years, died at the family residence last Sunday morning, after a long and wasting illness. Until about two years ago he was a robust and healthy man, but a stealthy disease gradually undermined his constitution and day by day his condition grew worse. His death was not an unexpected event, for of late the hope of recovery was abandoned as no visible improvement was evidenced in his condition. Mr. Miller was born in Neuwelde, County of Waldenberg, East Prussia, Germany, December 22, 1847. At Old Hütty, July 1, 1860, he passed his examination as a first class miller and worked at that trade in the towns of Arnswalde, Kresht, Stieglitz and Kuchthal until the declaration of war between France and Prussia in 1871, when he enlisted as a Dragoon in the service of Emperor William. The troops of which he was a valiant member, was actively engaged in eight of the bloodiest battles of the war, among them Gravelotte and Sedan. The latter engagement was the decisive contest of the great conflict, and there the Third Napoleon’s glory faded and the complexion of a nation was changed. The light horse company-the Dragoons-was a valuable accessory in the success of the Germans, and as a member of the troop, Mr. Miller was unostentatiously a prime factor in that mighty drama of the war, and witnessed the downfall of a proud and haughty foeman. For it was at Sedan that the French were not only defeated but the capture of Napoleon was affected. Mr. Miller was present at the siege of Paris and the sequent capitulation of the gay capitol. At the close of the war he resigned from the army and returned to his native town and resumed his trade as a miller. The exposure and excitement he had just passed through affected his health and in order to preserve his health Mr. Miller emigrated to the United States and landed at New York in May, 1875. Later he came to Cascade and worked for Frank May.

In 1879, he was married to Miss Cathrina Hartung, daughter of the late Mrs. Nicholas Weirich. About 1881 he purchased the saloon business of Joseph Meinhart, and conducted the same up to the time of his severest illness, and ran the boarding house known as the City hotel, in connection therewith. Mr. Miller accumulated considerable property and the late years valuable and substantial improvements, all of which are a credit to him and the town.

Mr. Miller was still a young man, comparatively, and his death is deeply regretted by all out citizens, and the sympathy of the community is with the afflicted family.

He is survived by his wife and four children: Johnnie, Charles, Artie and Clara; a sister, Mrs. Mittelstadt in San Francisco, California, and one brother in Germany. Of his wife’s relatives there are Mrs. J. J. Streuser and Mrs. Peter Theisen, of this city; Mrs. Woleng, Mrs. Kessler and Peter Weirich, of Dubuque; William Weirich, attending school in Montreal, and Christina and Charley Weirich.

The funeral was held Tuesday at 10 o’clock from St. Mary’s Church, and was attended by the local branches of the Roman Catholic Mutual Protective Society, of which deceased was a member. The services for the dead were conducted by the Rev. F. X. Feuerstein.