Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JOHN HENRY MILLER
Among the much esteemed and
highly respected residents of Santa Clara is John Henry Miller, who came to
California ten years ago in search of health and strength, and having selected
this city as the most favorable place to locate, built for himself, on Prune
Ridge avenue, a beautiful residence, which he has since occupied. A native of
Germany, he was born May 13 1853, in Hanover, which was likewise the birthplace
of his father, John C. Miller. Emigrating from the Fatherland to the United
States in 1857, the father settled first in Pittsburg, Pa., where for ten years
he was engaged in the manufacture of glass. In 1865 he removed to Hamilton,
Ontario, where he lived six years. In 1871 he returned to Munden,
Hanover, Germany, where he now resides. His wife, whose maiden name was
Margaret E. Miller, was born in Hanover, Germany, and died in Pittsburg, Pa.,
in 1863. She bore her husband eleven children, four sons and seven daughters.
The family name was formerly spelled Mueller.
Coming with his
parents to the United States when four years old, John Henry Miller received a
common school education, and while living in Hamilton, Ontario served an
apprenticeship at the glass blower’s trade. He subsequently began work
in Pittsburg, Pa., but in 1871 went to Baltimore, Md., where he remained a
year, after which he returned to Hamilton. Leaving Ontario in 1886, Mr. Miller
located in Buffalo, N. Y., where he began the manufacture of glass with Ball
Brothers, owning a share of the business. In 1888, continuing with the same
firm, he removed to Muncie, Ind., and for seven years thereafter was a director
in the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Works. In 1895, on account of ill
health, Mr. Miller came to California, hoping in this genial climate to regain
his former physical strength and vigor, and selected Santa Clara as his place
of residence. He has since bought a fine prune orchard of fifteen acres and has
managed it with excellent success.
In Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Miller
married Johanna Doyle, a native of that city, and they became the parents of
ten children, of whom one son and five daughters are living, namely: Margaret
Elizabeth; Anna, a pupil in the San Jose normal school; Sophia, a sister in the
Notre Dame convent; Louisa, also attending San Jose normal school; Mary; and
Edward J., a teacher in the Philippine Islands. Mr. Miller is a member of the
German Lutheran Church. In politics he affiliates with the Republicans, and
while living in Indiana was active in party work. He is a retired member of the
Glass Blowers’ Union.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 908-909. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.