Henry O. Miller Bio. Hancock County, WV ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************* Submitted by: Valerie F. Crook The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 220-221 Hancock County HENRY O. MILLER. Perhaps no one man in the educa- tional life of the Ohio Valley of West Virginia has exerted an influence finer in quality and purpose than Henry O. Miller, superintendent of schools of Hancock County, for it is one proceeding from a character of quiet strength, sanity and disinterestedness. Mr. Miller not only is a good teacher, but a man of specialized training and comprehen- sive learning, as well as capable and progressive executive. The representative relation of the teacher to the pupil is a close and intimate one, and few leave the schoolroom without carrying with them the impress of the character of the one under whom they have studied, so that it is very important that the individual who trains the youthful mind during the formative period be one whose example is worthy of emulation, a position for which Mr. Miller's qualities and abilities equip him eminently. Mr. Miller is a native of the Gas Valley, having been born in Poe District, Hancock County, West Virginia, three miles east of Pughtown, October 20, 1876, a son of John P. and Margaret A. (Campbell) Miller, a grandson of Benjamin Miller, also born in Hancock County, and a great-grandson of David Miller. David Miller was born in County Tyrone. Ireland, and as a young man immigrated to America and settled first at Pittsburgh, where he spent a few years. Later, about 1780, he came to the Poe District, where he passed the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits, and his old farm is still in the family possession. He was one of the real pioneers of this locality and experienced the hard- ships of such a life, including the clearing up of a farm and warfare with the Indians, by whom he was forced to leave the community on one occasion and seek refuge in a more settled locality, but was also of the stuff of which the pioneers were made, and lived to the remarkable age of ninety-nine years. Benjamin Miller, the grandfather of Henry O. Miller was born in 1799 and spent his life on the same farm, dying in 1876. The family landed possessions were ex- tended under his management, and at the time of his death the property was passed on to his two sons, John P. and Martin Luther, who spent their lives on that property. A brother, Morgan H. Miller, still resides on an adjoining farm, at the age of eighty-one years. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having fought as a private in Company I, Ninety-second Regiment, West Virginia Volunteer Infan- try. Another brother, Joseph Harvey Miller, died young. A half-brother, Dr. L. M. Miller, who practiced at Toronto, Ohio, died at the age of thirty-three years, and a half-sister, Margaret, married Lawrence W. Glass and now resides at East Liverpool, Ohio. John P. Miller married Margaret A. Campbell, a daughter of Robert and Ellen (Young) Campbell, who were of the same vicinity. John P. Miller in addition to being a farmer, was quite a sheep breeder and grower. He and the other members of the family were democrats until the split between the states of the North and South, at which time they joined the ranks of the republican party. For many years the family has been identified with the Presbyterian Church. David Miller was an original member of "The Flats" Presbyterian Church, about four miles distant, and his son Benjamin was an elder therein, as was also the latter's son, Morgan H. That church was organized about 1800 and was the parent church of all the Presbyterian churches of the vicinity. Since 1891 it has been known as the Fairview Presbyterian Church, and is located about one and one-half miles from Pughtown, on the Flats. David and Benjamin Miller were buried at the site of this church, but John P. Miller, who died in 1907, at the age of seventy-five years, was laid to rest at the Mill Creek Hill Cemetery, as was his worthy wife, who passed away in 1903, at seventy years of age. They were the parents of the following children: Joseph Harvey, who died at the age of thirty-four years while an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Pittsburgh; Elmer A. and B. S., partners on the old farm until it was sold, and now both residents of Pughtown; William M., who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Clinton, Pennsylvania; Robert Sherman, twin of Benjamin S., men- tioned before, who left West Virginia as a lad and is now a retired farmer of Summer, Nebraska; Margaret Ellen, who died at Chester at the age of forty-five years as the wife of Lawrence L. Stewart; Mary Jane, the wife of Frank F. Mayhew, living near Salem, Ohio; and Henry O. Henry O. Miller acquired his early education in the coun- try schools, following which he attended the Tri-State Normal School, then at Pughtown, of which the president was J. D. Hull. At the age of twenty years he began teaching, and spent the next eight years in Hancock County, during four years of which time he was principal of schools at Pughtown. In 1909 Mr. Miller was elected superin- tendent of schools of Hancock County, and consecutive re- electiona have brought him to his fourth term. In 1909, when he first assumed the duties of this office, there were fifty-eight schools and fifty-eight teachers, with two high schools at New Cumberland and one at Chester. There are now 125 schools, with four first-class high schools. The enrollment in 1909 was 1,000 pupils, whereas now there are 4,000 pupils, of whom about 300 are attending the high schools. Much hard work was necessary to interest the people in the advantages of high school training, but a splendid sentiment has arisen in this direction. About ninety-five per cent of the teachers have had normal school training. The Tri-State Normal School continued only until 1906, but many of the high school graduates attend normal schools elsewhere in West Virginia, as well as in Pennsyl- vania and Ohio, and at the present time preparations are being made for summer normal terms in Hancock County. Mr. Miller is devoted to his work and is an earnest striver after an elevation of standards. His labors have resulted in arousing public interest and in gaining him the co-opera- tion of teachers, parents and pupils. In 1911 Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Wells, daughter of William H. Wells, of East Liver- pool, Ohio, and granddaughter of George Wells, whose old home stood on the present site of Newell. A blockhouse once stood on the old Wells farm and Indian relics picked up there are now in the possession of Mr. Miller. George Wells was an old steamboat owner and followed the river, and also followed farming until his farm was all sold to the townsite company. His son, William H., who was a carpenter by trade, died in 1920, age seventy-one years. Mrs. Miller, who was born at East Liverpool, Ohio, is active in the Ladies' Aid Society of the Presbyterian Church, of which she and her husband have long been members. He belongs to the Blue Lodge of Masonry at New Cumber- land and has attained to the Scottish Rite degree. Mr. Miller is well known as a public speaker in the line of educational work, and his services in this direction are frequently in demand.