MILLER, Hiel Dunsmore - 1912 Bio (1839-1925)

MILLER, CHEADLE, SPILLMAN, MOYER, CORBETT, OVERTURFF, PITZINGER

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 9/23/2007 at 20:34:38

History of Jefferson County, Iowa -- A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol II, Published 1912, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago
Pages 469-471

Hiel D. MILLER. One of Jefferson county's highly successful and well known agriculturists is Hiel D. MILLER, whose enterprise, clear judgment and business sagacity has numbered him among the affluent citizens of Des Moines township. His birthplace was Morgan county, Ohio, and his natal day the 8th of December, 1839. He is a son of William and Harriet (CHEADLE) MILLER, natives of Ohio, the father of German and the mother of American descent, the maternal grandparents having come from Massachusetts. Mr. MILLER engaged in farming during the entire period of his active life, beginning his agricultural career in his native state. In 1847 with his wife and family he started westward, crossing the prairies to Iowa, feeling convinced that this state afforded rich possibilities for the industrious practical farmer. He settled in Jefferson county, which at that period yet contained large tracts of government land, the price of which, as well as its fine timber and fertile prairies, were rapidly attracting the settlers. He purchased three hundred and twenty acres of unimproved, wild land in Des Moines township, where he removed his family after erecting the necessary buildings for their comfort. Here he began the hard and wearisome life of the pioneer, as had his grandfather who emigrated from England and located in Ohio more than half a century previously. By means of diligence and unremitting energy he slowly converted the prairie and forest into a productive farm and comfortable home. There he continued to live until his death in 1886, at the age of seventy-seven years. The mother then left the farm and went to Libertyville to reside, and there her death occurred on June 22, 1888. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. MILLER: Newell, who died when he was six years of age; and Winchester and Dean, both of whom are deceased; Hiel D., our subject; and Mary Ann, the widow of James SPILLMAN, of Kansas.

The first seven years of his life Hiel D. MILLER spent in his native state, in whose district schools he began the education that was completed in Des Moines township. The life of a pioneer lad in the rural districts was very different from that of the farmer boy of the present day. The modern agricultural implements that have done away with much of the drudgery incident to country life were then unknown, much time being consumed in performing tasks by hand that now require but a brief period and the expenditure of comparatively little labor. From his earliest childhood there were chores about the home that devolved upon the young shoulders of Hiel D. MILLER, these being increased as his strength and sense of responsibility developed with the passing years. He began his inedpendent career upon attaining his majority, at which time he left the parental roof. After his marriage he traded for a portion of the old homestead, and for fifteen years thereafter devoted his energies to its cultivation, meeting with very satisfactory results, financially. In 1888 he acquired his present place located on section 35, Des Moines township, and there he has ever resided, but no longer engages in the work of the fields. Mr. MILLER is one of the men who are not content to remain at a standstill, but must keep advancing, and during the entire period of his business career he made steady and permanent progress. Quick to recognize opportunities, not afraid to act in accordance with his own judgment, despite the fears of the more conservative, he always worked toward a definite end, of which he never lost sight, despite the backsets he sometimes encountered. As a result he acquired seven hundred and eighty acres of excellent land, all in a high state of cultivation, that he has now divided among his children. He had acquired a competence that warranted his retirement eight years ago, so he laid aside the duties and responsibilities he had been carrying for so many years, and is now enjoing the ease of a well spent, fruitful life.

On the 25th of June, 1874, Mr. MILLER was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth MOYER, a daughter of William and Mary (CORBETT) MOYER, natives of Pennsylvania but of German extraction. They came to Iowa before the Civil war, locating in Fairfield, where the father worked at the cabinet-maker's trade until he went to the front in the service of his country. There he died during the siege of Vicksburg, while the mother passed away in Fairfield, where Mrs. MILLER was born. Six children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. MILLER. Mabel, the eldest member of the family, who was born on the 31st of May, 1875, married Harry OVERTURFF and has one child, Hiel D., named for his grandfather. Mr. and Mrs. OVERTURFF are still living on the old homestead with Mr. MILLER. Arthur, who was born in the 23d of August, 1876, is living on a claim in Idaho. He married Miss Jennie PITZINGER, a daughter of George PITZINGER, of Des Moines township, and they have four children: Helen, Mary, Alice and George. Ethel, the third in order of birth, was born on the 25th of January, 1879, and died May 12, 1900. Clyde, who was born October 2, 1880, is engaged in farming on the place adjoining his father. Beulah, was born on the 5th of December, 1881, and died on March 23, 1885. Fred, the youngest member of the family, his birth occurring on the 25th of November, 1887, is still at home with his father. The wife and mother passed away on the 24th of December, 1888, and was laid to rest in Fell's (sic - Fell) cemetery, Des Moines township.

In matters politic Mr. MILLER is a Jeffersonian democrat, and served for one term as assessor in his township and as school director for three. He has always taken a deep interest in all public affairs and the national welfare, however, as have all of the men of his family, his uncle, Dean CHEAGLE, having gone to the front as the captain of a regiment raised in Marion county during the war, and there remained until the close of hostilities. The name of MILLER has always been an honored one in Des Moines township in the development and progress of which the members of the family have been factors for over sixty years.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.