Josephine-Lane-Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Miller, Henry B. April 14, 1854 - November 28, 1921
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 3, 2010, 5:51 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 66 - 69
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     High on the roll of Oregon's honored dead is written the name of Henry B. 
Miller, a distinguished educator, statesman and diplomat, who rendered notable 
service to his commonwealth and country. Nature endowed him with many talents, 
of which he made the best possible use, and his activities as a business man 
and horticulturist were also resultant and beneficial. His was a successful 
career in the fullest sense of the term and his example of integrity and high-
minded endeavor lives to inspire future generations.

     A native of Sidney, Ohio, Mr. Miller was born April 14, 1854, and was a 
son of Albert S. and Cecilia (Harris) Miller. The ancestral record of the 
family in England dates back to 1636 and one of his forbears was the founder 
of Northampton, Massachusetts. Henry B. Miller was educated in the public and 
high schools of Toledo, Ohio, and in 1873 went with his parents to California. 
Soon afterward they migrated to Oregon, locating in Eugene, and the father 
embarked in business as a bridge builder and contractor, a field in which he 
excelled. He organized the firm of A. S. Miller & Son, of which Henry B. 
Miller was the junior partner, and their operations extended throughout 
Oregon, Washington and Idaho. They were thus engaged until 1884 and built most 
of the bridges for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Oregon as well as 
timbering the tunnels from Roseburg to Ashland.

     In 1879 Henry B. Miller began his career as a lumberman at Grants Pass 
and in 1885 organized the Sugar Pine Door & Lumber Company, of which he became 
president. For ten years he remained at its head, creating an industry of 
large proportions, and then disposed of his business at Grants Pass. Keenly 
interested in the subject of horticulture, to which he devoted much thought 
and study, he planted the first orchard in the Rogue River valley and later 
had one of the first and best apple orchards at Sheridan. He was regarded as 
an authority on matters pertaining to the growing of fruit and during 1897-98 
was president of the Oregon Agricultural College, successfully administering 
its affairs. During the next two years he was at the head of the state board 
of horticulture and met every requirement of that important position.

     In 1891 Mr. Miller was elected a member of the lower house of the Oregon 
legislature and during his tenure of office manifested a statesman's grasp of 
the vital questions and issues of the day. He entered upon his diplomatic 
career in 1900 as United States consul at Chumgking, China, and in the 
following year was made consul general at Newchwang, where he was stationed 
until 1905. When Russia and Japan were at war he acted for Japan and was 
decorated with the Chinese Red Cross for his services as president of the 
Chinese Refuge and Aid Society in Manchuria. He received a special letter of 
thanks from the Japanese government and later was presented to the emperor of 
Japan, being the first consul thus honored. From 1905 until 1907 he was consul 
general at Yokahama and during 1909-10 filled the same office at Belfast, 
Ireland, resigning because of the state of his health. Looking at life from a 
broad standpoint, he was able to judge questions of importance in their inter-
national relations and to promote good will and a better understanding between 
peoples and nations. Following his return to Oregon he located in Portland and 
in 1914 was chosen director of the School of Commerce of the State University, 
acting in that capacity until December, 1917, when failing health led to his 
retirement.

     Mr. Miller was married November 24, 1875, to Miss Mary Louise Kelly, a 
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Parker) Kelly and a member of one of the 
honored pioneer families of Springfield, Oregon. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller were 
born four children: Annie Laurie, at home; Winifred, who died May 12, 1928; 
Kenneth C., who has charge of the Sheridan orchards; and Carol Dudley, who 
married Miss Flora Paterson and has four children, Carolyn, Dudley, John and 
Mary Ida.

     While residing in Eugene, Mr. Miller became a Mason and was deeply 
interested in the activities of the order, whose teachings he closely 
observed. A man of deeply imbedded convictions as to right and wrong, he was 
as true to them as is the needle to the pole. Of distinguished bearing and 
polished manners, he was a notable figure in every gathering which he graced 
with his presence, and his high ideals of citizenship and national honors 
united with unfailing and uncompromising courage, faith and devotion in making 
his life a serviceable factor in the cause of human progress. His earthly 
pilgrimage was ended November 28, 1921, when he was sixty-seven years of age, 
and of him it may well be said:

                        "He has joined the choir invisible
                         Of those immortal dead who live again
                         In lives made better by his presence."

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