William H. Miller, Jr. Biography This biography appears on pages 75-76 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm WILLIAM H. MILLER, JR. William H. Miller, Jr., of Canton, is one of the best known men of Lincoln county and was one of those who braved the hardships of pioneer life, coming to this state when it was as yet but sparsely settled. His father was also one of the early settlers of the section and achieved a position of prominence in his locality. William H. Miller, Jr., was born at Winooski Falls, Vermont, July 16, 1848, a son of William H. Miller, Sr., who was born in Dublin, Ireland, November 26, 1823, and at the age of fifteen years enlisted as a musician in the Seventy-seventh Infantry of the British army and was stationed at a number of posts in the British. Isles, including Galway, Annaugh, Belfast, Carlisle, Dover, Hanvec, Chatham and Sheerness and subsequently was sent to Jamaica, West Indies. He also saw service in Nova Scotia at St. John, New Brunswick, and at Montreal, Quebec. At the last named place he purchased his freedom from further military service and in 1847 removed to Vermont, continuing to make his home there for a number of years. In 1860 he went to Madison, Wisconsin, and upon the outbreak of the Civil war was appointed by Governor Randall a lieutenant of the First Wisconsin Infantry. In the following December he was made major of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry and in 1863 was promoted by Governor Solomon to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the same regiment. He was a man of splendid physique and was considered one of the two best swordsmen in the army. Following the war he engaged in merchandising in Madison, Wisconsin, until 1874, when he removed to Canton, South Dakota, where he became a pioneer merchant and an influential citizen. He was for over a half century a Mason, having entered as an apprentice in Hiram Lodge, No. 5, A. F. & A. M., of Madison, Wisconsin, July 19, 1858, taking the Fellow Craft degree August 30, 1858, and becoming a Master Mason September 30, of the same year. In that year he also became a member of Madison Chapter, No. 4, of Madison, Wisconsin, receiving the Royal Arch degree, and on the 27th of February, 1859, he was given the Red Cross degree, and on the 29th of March, 1859, he was made a Knight Templar in Robert McCoy Commandery, No. 3, Madison, Wisconsin. In 1875 he was honored by being made the first senior grand deacon of the grand lodge of South Dakota and two years later held the office of deputy grand master. He was one of the charter members of Silver Star Lodge, No. 4, of Canton, and served as first worshipful master therein during the years 1874-75-76. He married Miss Rachel Irwin, who passed away March 4, 1897, but he survived for a number of years, dying October 30, 1909. It may be appropriately said of him: ". . . night came, releasing him from labor, When a hand as from darkness touched him—and he slept." Five of his children survive and hold his memory in the greatest love and veneration. Those living are as follows: William H., Jr., of this review; Mrs. Margaret Aikens, of Sioux Falls; and Mrs. Lydia Fowler, Mrs. Nora Smith, and Mrs. Anna Rudolph, of Canton. The others were Mrs. Henry Conklin, of Seattle, Washington, and Thomas W. Miller, who died in Nebraska some years ago. William H. Miller, Jr., was but a boy when he accompanied his parents to Madison, Wisconsin, and he received his general education in the public schools of that place. He subsequently took a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Milwaukee and was then for a time proofreader on the State Journal of Madison. After serving as a newsboy on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway he turned his attention to farming, operating a place owned by his father until 1868, when he removed to Sioux City, Iowa, remaining there but a short time. He was next in charge of the cattle herd of the Grand River Indian Agency and the following winter went to General Harney's headquarters at Peoria Bottoms, where he superintended the erection of a number of new buildings. Returning to Sioux City, he was then sent by the government in 1869 to Whitestone Indian Agency where he supervised the erection of buildings, and in 1870 went to Fort Thompson, where he had charge of the erection of the barracks and other post buildings. In 1871 he assisted in removing the Indians from Whitestone Indian Agency to Big White Clay, now known as the Pine Ridge Agency. For some time afterward he served as assistant Indian agent. In 1872 he returned to his home in Wisconsin for a visit, but in March of the following year removed to Canton, South Dakota, and began the improvement of land which he had purchased three years previously. He also took up a homestead near Worthing, in the same county, and now owns a fine farm of four hundred and forty acres near Canton and one of three hundred and twenty acres in Jerauld county. He has been known for many years as a successful breeder of horses, having probably the finest strain of registered Morgan horses in America. On one of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt's visits to South Dakota Mr. Miller presented him with the splendid Morgan stallion, Pat Murphy, which was in turn, presented by the Colonel to the government experimental farm at Beltsville, Maryland, and was later transferred to the government farm at Middleburg, Vermont. Mr. Miller was also for a number of years an extensive breeder of blooded Devonshire cattle. Mr. Miller has done a great deal to raise the standard of stock throughout the state and has thus not only Won for himself financial prosperity and a well known name among stock raisers, but he has also performed valuable service for the agricultural interests of South Dakota. Mr. Miller was married July 16, 1884, to Miss Anna Sundvold, a native of Norway, who in her childhood came to America with her parents, both of whom were lost in the wreck of the vessel on which they crossed Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. Mr. Miller is a progressive republican in politics and is influential in the local party councils, but he has never sought any but county offices. He served for three years as county commissioner and was also elected justice of the peace, resigning, however, after a short time, as his business affairs claimed his undivided attention. He is a member of Silver Star Lodge, No. 4, A. F. & A. M., of Canton, and was one of the active promoters of the Masonic Temple Association, which erected the splendid temple at Canton. His religious adherence is given to the Episcopal church. He is one of the most prominent citizens of the county and has done a great deal in many ways to secure the material and moral welfare of his community