Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Miller, Capt James 1828 - 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 8, 2007, 12:58 am

Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890

CAPT. JAMES MILLER, Superintendent of the machine department of the General 
Machine Manufactory of E. R. Brainard & Co., was formerly chief engineer of 
the Illinois State Penitentiary, and has seen a service of twenty-two years in 
this line of business. He is a man highly spoken of by those who have known 
him long and well, and needs no further introduction to the people of Will 
County. Capt. Miller comes from one of the best nationalities on the face of 
the globe, having been born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, the date thereof being 
March 11, 1828. He received a practical education in the schools of his native 
shire, and when of suitable years, commenced an apprenticeship at marine 
engine building on the Clyde. After becoming master of the business, he, in 
1853, when a young man of twenty-five years, determined to seek his fortunes 
in America. Upon crossing the Atlantic, he first located in Sharon, Pa., and 
established a foundry and machine shop, which he conducted successfully until 
about 1857. Believing then that he could better his condition in the farther 
West, he came to this State and established a similar business at Morris, 
Grundy County. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Miller, who had become 
strongly attached to the institutions of his adopted country, determined to 
assist in the preservation of the Union, and raised a company called the 
Mechanics Fusileers. He repaired with them to Camp Douglas, Chicago, but met 
with a great disappointment on account of their services not being required. 
They were accordingly mustered out, but Mr. Miller, going to Cairo, enlisted 
in the navy and was assigned to the Mississippi Squadron. Soon afterward, on 
account of his evident understanding of the business and his fidelity to his 
duty, he was promoted from fireman to chief engineer, and held this position 
for three years, participating in many of the engagements which followed, and 
making for himself a fine record in connection therewith. Mr. Miller continued 
in the service until the close of the war, and then being given an honorable 
dismissal, returned to Morris, Ill., and resumed his old business. He now 
enjoyed the reputation of being a first-class machinist, and a year later 
received the appointment of chief engineer of the Illinois State Penitentiary, 
a position which he held for the long period of twenty-two years and until 
1889. He then became Superintendent of the E. R. Brainard & Co. machine shops, 
a position which he has since held. He assisted in organizing the People's 
Loan & Homestead Association, in which he is a Director, and he is also a 
Director of the Joliet Press Company, and is connected with various other 
important enterprises. Capt. Miller was married, in 1857, in Scotland to Miss 
Elizabeth A. Miller, a distant relative. The wife of Capt. Miller is also a 
native of Scotland, and was born in 1828. They are the parents of five 
children, viz.: James, Edwin, Frank, Maggie, the wife of A. W. Smith, of 
Channahon Township, and Lillie. The children of Capt. Miller have received 
excellent school advantages, and have become fitted for their proper position 
in life. The family residence is properly located in the east part of the 
city, among whose people they count their friends by the score. On another 
page of this work the reader will notice a portrait of Capt. Miller, who is 
conceded to be one of Will County's representative citizens.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890

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