Chauncy D. Miller
Coming of worthy ancestry and early imbued with an ambition to win an honored name in the world, Chauncy D. Miller, of Denison, has succeeded in maintaining the good name of his family and also in earning substantial recognition as a leading citizen of Crawford county.
He was born in Tompkins county, New York, January 4, 1846, a son of Andrew J. and Marilla (Searles) Miller, the former of whom was a native of New York and the latter of Massachusetts. The father was reared as a farmer and moved to Huron county, Ohio, in 1852, where he lived for sixteen years, then taking up his residence in Lenawee county, Michigan, where he spent the remainder of his life, being called away after he had passed the eightieth milestone of his earthly career. His wife survived him and died in Crawford county, Iowa, when about eighty years of age.
Mr. Miller was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and a leader in the community. He took an active part in politics and held various town offices, always discharging his duties with the highest sense of honor. He and his wife were consistent members of the Baptist church.
Alexander Miller. the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of New York. He served as an officer in the Revolutionary war and applied for a pension from the government when he was one hundred and four years old.
The grandfather Searles was a native of Massachusetts but moved to New York state, where he passed his later years. He lived to the age of ninety-two.
Nine children were born to Andrew J. and Marilla Miller, three of whom are now living, namely: Aretas H., who was for three years a soldier in the Civil war and now makes his home in Denison; Clara E., the wife of Henry Hall, of Boyne, Michigan; and Chauncy D., our subject.
Chauncy D. Miller at the age of six years moved with his parents to the state of Ohio, where he grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools. In 1868 he accompanied his parents to Michigan, but having decided to make his home west of the Mississippi river, he traveled across the country in the fall of 1871, his objective point being Crawford county, Iowa. He began life in this county by renting a farm in Denison township but later moved to the city of Denison, where he lived for three years. He then bought one hundred acres in East Boyer township, which he greatly improved.
He has acquired more land and owns one hundred and forty-three acres in one tract. He continued upon his farm until 1898, when he rented it to his son, and once more took up his residence in Denison. In 1899 he entered the milling business and in the spring of the following year he built a modern mill at Denison, which he has ever since operated. Under excellent management, the business has been largely developed and the products of the mill are now distributed over a radius of many miles in this section.
In September, 1868, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Marcia T. Butler, a native of Morenci, Michigan, and a daughter of Flavel and Jane (Baldwin) Butler. Elias Baldwin, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Miller, moved from Massachusetts to Michigan in the territorial days of the latter state and was prominent in business and municipal affairs. His wife was Tryphena Moore before her marriage.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, namely: Ethel T., now a bookkeeper in her father's mill, who graduated from the Denison Normal School and taught school for ten years; Arthur W., who is connected with a fruit-packing establishment at Whittier, California; Albert E., who was graduated from the University of Iowa and is now in the law department of the census bureau at Washington, D. C.; and Edward F., who married Miss Daisy Miller, of New York, and is now in the paymaster's department at Mare Island navy yard. Miss Ethel T. Miller is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is a lady of unusually fine mental attainments.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are active members of the Baptist church, in which he serves as trustee. Politically he is allied with the republican party and has held various township offices. He was for nine years consecutively a member of the school board of East Boyer township and also served as justice of the peace. He is a man of energy, enterprise and progressiveness, and his labors have met with deserved financial reward. Always prompt and straightforward in his dealings, he enjoys the confidence of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in this part of the state.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.