Cassia County ID Archives Biographies.....Miller, Josiah E. 1842 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 11, 2012, 1:41 am

Source: See below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

    COLONEL JOSIAH E. MILLER is now a retired stockman living at Burley,
enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He was born near
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1842, a son of Robert and Rebecca (Love)
Miller. His boyhood days were passed in the Keystone state, where he pursued his
education as a public school pupil, and afterward learned the trade of a mason
and bricklayer. At the time of the Civil war all business and personal
interests, however, were put aside and in 1861 he joined the Union army as a
member of Company H, One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, which was
attached to the Army of the Potomac. His military service was of a most
strenuous character. He was wounded four times in the battle of Fair Oaks, was
again wounded at Gettysburg and at Spottsylvania Courthouse. He was present when
General Lee surrendered and on that occasion was in command of a brigade. He
served altogether four years and was honorably discharged at Pittsburgh. In the
meantime his valor, loyalty and capability had won him various promotions until
he had reached the rank of Colonel and with that rank he was commanding a
brigade at the time of General Lee's surrender. 

    In 1861 Colonel Miller went to the oil fields of Pennsylvania and worked on
the first oil well drilled in the United States, but after the war, on account
of the wounds which he had received in battle, he was obliged to give up that
labor in 1867. He then made his way westward, settling at Washington, Iowa,
where he purchased a farm, which he continued to cultivate and improve until his
health failed. He afterward sold that property and became a resident of Lincoln,
Nebraska, where he entered business circles as a building contractor. For six
years he continued in that business and in farming and afterward went to Halls
Station, Missouri, where he remained through one winter. Later he drove across
the country to Humboldt, Kansas, where lived his brother Mathew, who had also
served in the Union army in the same company as Colonel Miller. He and his
brother then started west, traveling as far as Green River, Wyoming, there being
forty-nine wagons in the train. Mathew Miller continued the journey by way of
Ogden, Utah, while Josiah E. Miller traveled by way of Soda Springs. They were
to meet at Goose creek, but on arriving Josiah Miller found that his brother and
others of the party were far ahead. Colonel Miller, however, remained at Goose
creek, settling three-fourths of a mile from where the town of Burley now
stands. Here he took up one hundred and sixty acres and began the arduous task
of developing a new farm. After building a log house he commenced the work of
breaking the sod and cultivating his fields, which he brought under a high state
of cultivation. Later he sold that property and located the land where Burley
now stands, taking up a desert claim of six hundred and thirty acres, while his
wife secured four hundred and eighty acres. Colonel Miller also bought more land
and built thereon a brick house, after living for a time in a log house that
already stood upon his claim. In 1905 he founded the town of Burley in
connection with others, sold lots and bent his energies to the development of
the village. He now owns two-thirds of the stock of the Townsite Company. Much
of the growth and progress of Burley is directly due to his efforts and
assistance. He was largely instrumental in having the sugar factory located
there and has at all times been a prominent figure in promoting the development
and upbuilding of his part of the state. 

    In 1865 Colonel Miller was married to Miss Isabel Ray, a daughter of George
and Betsey (Gilmore) Ray and a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania. They have
become the parents of three children: Mrs. Grace Higgins, now living at Red
Bluff, California; Mrs. Lillian Vaughn, whose home is in Sacramento, California;
and Arthur C., a resident of Burley. 

    In his political views Colonel Miller is a republican, having long given
stanch and unfaltering support to the party. He served as first deputy sheriff
at Albion and while acting in that capacity was wounded. He has also been
postmaster, assessor and school trustee, filling the latter position until 1915,
and while acting as postmaster at Albion he also conducted a general banking
business there. He likewise established the Burley State Bank, which was the
first bank of the town, and he became its first president. In 1915 he was
elected mayor of Burley. He had previously been connected with the legislative
history of Idaho, having in 1893 been chosen to represent his district in the
state senate. While a member of the upper house he introduced a bill providing
for the Albion Normal School, which bill passed both houses by a large majority.
No one has ever questioned his devotion to the public welfare. He has labored
untiringly to promote the progress and upbuilding of community and commonwealth,
and over the record of his official career there falls no shadow of wrong or
suspicion of evil. Fraternally he is a prominent Mason, having attained the
thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the consistory, and he is also a
member of the Mystic Shrine. His life has indeed been an active and useful one.
While holding office at various periods, he has continued a successful and
prominent stockman and now in the evening of life is living retired, enjoying a
rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. Throughout his entire life
he has been as loyal to the best interests of his country as when he followed
the nation's starry banner on the battlefields of the south and aided in the
defense of the Union. 


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

IDAHO
DELUXE SUPPLEMENT
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY

1920


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