San Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN MARTIN MILLER
John M. Martin was born in the
province of Württemberg, Germany, near Tubingen, on June 13, 1861, a son of
John and Judith (Foell) Miller. His father, John Miller, was an expert
locksmith who lived and died in his native country of Germany. The mother also died there. Of their fourteen children John M. was the
seventh. He received a good education in
the schools of Germany, and when he was fourteen years old learned the baker’s
trade in the town of Moessingen. He followed his trade for two years in his
home city. In February, 1879, he came to
Hoboken, New Jersey, but soon made his way to Albany, New York, where he was
employed at the butcher trade until 1881, when he came to California. He was employed on the Dos Palos ranch of
Miller & Lux, beginning as a general farm laborer; later, for nearly ten
years, he was a sub-foreman on the large ranch.
He then went to San Francisco for a short time, and then to Madera,
Madera County, California where he bought and conducted a bakery business. At the end of one year he disposed of his
business and went to Brazil, South America, in 1893, where he spent the next
two years. In 1896 he returned to
California and leased a ranch near Bellota, engaging in dairying and
farming. In 1904 he purchased his ranch
of eighty-seven acres, four and one-half miles east of Lodi, which he improved
in part to vineyard and orchard. In
April, 1922, he sold the ranch and located in Lodi, where he resides with his
family. He also owns a ten-acre vineyard
near Woodbridge which he cares for and operates.
On June 15, 1898, at The Dalles, Oregon, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Emma Mack,
also a native of Germany, born near Heilbronn, Württemberg, a daughter of
Theodore and Lena (Klooz) Mack. Her father, Theodore Mack, died when she was
a small girl, and her mother married again, and Mrs. Miller was raised by her
grandparents. She came to America and to
The Dalles, Oregon, when she was sixteen years old,
and lived there for seven years, or until she was married. There were five children in her family, of
whom she is the oldest, the others being:
Anna, Josephine, Bertha and Otto.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of three children. Lena is a graduate nurse from St. Joseph’s
Hospital at Stockton; Grace, a graduate of Heald’s
Business College, is a stenographer and resides in Stockton; Otto is at
home. Since their marriage they have
resided continuously in San Joaquin County.
Improvements made by Mr. Miller include a fine irrigating system,
pumping the water from a small lake on his ranch to irrigate his vineyard. As soon as possible, after arriving in
California, Mr. Miller took out his citizenship papers in Fresno County, and
his loyalty as an American citizen has never been questioned. In national politics he is a Republican. He was trustee of Victor School District, and
with his wife is a member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Lodi.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1552. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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