ALBERT D MILLER

       In connection with the stock-raising interests of central California no name is more familiar than that of Albert DeForest Miller, whose labors have not only brought to him individual success but have also been of great benefit in promoting the interests of stock-raisers by improving the grade of horses and thereby advancing prices.  He is a reliable business man, widely known and everywhere esteemed for his honorable methods.

       Mr Miller was born in Onondaga county, New York, February 7, 1844.  His father, Henry Miller, was also a native of the Empire state,  and after arriving at years of maturity he wedded Julia Adams, who was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1811. His parents emigrated westward, locating in Walworth, Wisconsin, and in 1844 became residents of Columbia county, that state.  In 1860 the Miller family, numbering twelve members, started overland to California with five wagons, beginning the journey on the 7th of May.  On the 11th of October, 1860, they reached Sacramento county, and Mr. Henry Miller, the father of our subject, took up his abode in Brighton township, where he rented a farm for two years.  In the winter of 1862-3, he returned to the east, where he remained for a year, but from 1864 until the time of his death he resided continuously in Sacramento county.  Both he and his wife spent their last days at the home of their son Albert.  The children are W. B., who died in Ventura county a few years ago; Mrs. Schafer; W. A, who died in Sacramento county a few years since; Sophia, who married Mr. Powderly and after his death became the wife of Mr. Townsend; Allen DeLorin, of San Francisco; Sarah, who died in New York; Albert; Sanford DeLorin, who died in Wisconsin; George Alonzo, who resides near Yreka, California; Frederick, a farmer of Oregon; Miner Adelbert, a farmer of Eldorado county; Henry who resides near Yreka, California; Josephine Elizabeth, the wife of Henry West, of Sacramento; and Sarah, the wife of Charles Robinson of Sacramento.  

       When the father of the family returned to the east, Albert DeForest Miller was left in charge of the home and the children, most of whom were younger than he.  During the flood of 1861-2 he was operating a tract of rented land. The wind storm carried his house ten or twelve feet from its foundation, upsetting everything within and carrying the kitchen fifty yards away, but injuring no one, although eight persons were in the house at the time.  They were rescued by boats.  Mr. Miller plowed his land and sowed his crops between floods and raised seventeen hundred bushels of wheat and barley that season, hauling the same to Folsom.  In 1862 he removed to a farm just east of Brighton, and from 1863 until 1867 he followed teaming over the mountains, using six horses to a wagon.  In 1864 his crops were not very large and during the fall he worked on the canal in Yolo county, but found this an unprofitable venture.

       In 1866 he purchased eighty acres of land in Brighton township, built a house upon it, and followed farming and teaming for others.  Subsequently he engaged in agricultural pursuits and speculated in live stock and hay, this proving his first really successful enterprise, and was the foundation for his present prosperity.  In 1868 he rented and cultivated three hundred and twenty acres in Yolo township.  His farm in Brighton township comprises two hundred and forty acres and is largely devoted to stock-raising.  He was one of the pioneers in the breeding of fine horses in California.  He owns the offspring of the famous stallions Morgan, Messenger and Black Hawk, and in 1880 he bred to Governor Stanford's Young John Nelson.  He has raised some of the finest horses produced on the Pacific slope.  From the time of his early boyhood Mr. Miller has manifested a special fondness for horses, and has displayed excellent judgment in their care.  He is today a recognized leader in his line of business, and his success in well merited.

       On the 28th of December, 1868, Mr Miller was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret J. Lea, who was born on Prince Edward's Island July 4, 1848, and was reared in Boston, Massachusetts, coming to California in 1862.  By her first marriage she had one daughter, Annie R. Six children were born to Mr and Mrs. Miller, two of whom died in early childhood.  They are: Mina Alberta, born November 13, 1869; Arthur Eugene born February 27, 1872; Amy Elizabeth, born July 23, 1874; Bertha Belle born September 9, 1877; Ruby May who died February 9, 1885 at the age of  twenty months, and Leland Stanford, born January 27, 1886, who died at the age of four years.  The living children are: Mina Alberta, who resides with her parents on the farm; Arthur Eugene who is married and is now a promising young attorney of Sacramento; and Amy and Bertha, who are also married.

       Mr. Miller casts his vote in support of Republican principles and is a staunch advocate of the party, yet has never sought or desired political preferment.

 

Source: “A Volume Of Memoirs And Genealogy of Representative Citizens Of Northern California” Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. Chicago. 1901. Pages 288-290.

 

 

Submitted by: Betty Tartas.