BLACK HAWK CO., IA: BIOGRAPHY: Edward G. Miller
From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875

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NOTE:  For more information on Black Hawk County, Iowa 
       Please visit the Black Hawk County, IAGenWeb page  
       at http://iagenweb.org/blackhawk/
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Honorable EDWARD G. MILLER, present State Senator from Black Hawk County, 
Iowa, was born on the 3d day of September, 1840, at Cornish, York County, Maine.  His 
father, who was a tanner and leather dealer, removed West in November, 1851, and 
settled on a farm in Dane County, Wisconsin, where the subject of this sketch spent his 
youth, laboring on the farm during the Summer, and attending district school for a few 
months each Winter, until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the preparatory 
department of the University of Wisconsin.  Here he pursued his studies for nearly three 
years, paying his own way, when, in response to the first call of the government for 
troops, he enlisted as a private in the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, on the 17th day of 
April, 1861.  This regiment was attached to General Patterson's army, was engaged in the 
battle of Falling Water, Virginia, and discharged the first gun fired by Wisconsin troops 
in the War of the Rebellion.  His term of service expiring, he returned home in the Fall, 
and again pursued his studies until May, 1862, nearly completing the sophomore year, 
when, receiving a commission as a recruiting officer, with rank of first lieutenant, he 
raised a full company and became its captain.  This company was mustered into the 
United States service at Madison, Wisconsin, on the 18th day of the following August, as 
Company "G" of the 20th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.  The regiment spent the 
following Fall and Winter in Southwestern Missouri, and Northwestern Arkansas, under 
the command of General Heron, and were first engaged in the battle of Prairie Grove, 
Arkansas, in which they lost over two hundred in killed and wounded--more than any 
other regiment in the command.  In the Spring of 1863 they returned to St. Louis, and 
were ordered to Vicksburg, where they remained until after the surrender of that city, 
when they accompanied the expedition up the Yazoo River and assisted in the capture of 
Yazoo City.  They were then attached to the 13th Army Corps and ordered to New 
Orleans, where they remained until Fall, when as a part of General Dana's Division they 
were ordered to the Rio Grande.  While on this expedition, during a revolution in the 
Mexican State of Tamanlipas, this regiment, with the 94th Illinois, was sent to 
Maramoras to protect the American Consulate there, which was the only instance in 
which our troops served on foreign soil during the war.  Returning to New Orleans in 
1864, they were immediately attached to General Granger's command in Mobil Bay, and 
took part in the capture of Fort Morgan, and the following Spring were engaged in the 
capture of Forts Spanish and Blakely, and in the subsequent occupation of the City of 
Mobile.  The regiment was then order to Galveston, Texas, where it remained until the 
14th of July, when it was mustered out of the service.
     After returning home Captain Miller was employed as deputy clerk for some two 
years in the Circuit Clerk's Office of Dane County at Madison.  In June, 1867, he 
removed to Black Hawk County, Iowa, and settled on a new farm in the southeast part of 
the county, where he still resides.  In the Fall of 1869 he was elected County 
Superintendent of Public Schools, and in 1873 to the Upper House of the Iowa General 
Assembly, to which the importance of his county entitled him.  He was assigned a place 
on the Committee on Railroads, Public Schools, Agricultural College, and several others 
of importance.  Although a clear, forcible, speaker, his voice is seldom heard except 
when the public interest is in danger, or local wants demand his earnest support.  A pure 
minded, honest, industrious man, he carefully guards the interests of his constituents, and 
is highly respected by his colleagues, and all who known him intimately and well.  He 
early took an active part in the farmers' movement in this state, and assisted in the 
organization of most of the granges in this county, as deputy of the State Grange, and is 
an active member of Rustic Grange, number 83, of which he was the first master.
     He was married in Wisconsin, June 17, 1867, to Miss Mary J. Klinefaller.  They have 
two children living, a boy and a girl, having, in March, 1874, lost a little girl, their 
youngest.