My Genealogy Hound

JOSEPH J. MILLER, Esq., a popular and able young attorney of Springfield, his native city, has already gained an enviable reputation before the bar for talent and knowledge of his profession, and is very prominent in public life. His father, George John Miller, was born in Bavaria, and was a son of John Miller, likewise a native of that country, who was, in turn, a son of Andrew Miller. Both the grandfather and great-grandfather of subject were royal foresters, and were life-long residents of Bavaria. The maiden name of the grandmother of subject was Marie Zweckert, and she was also a Bavarian. She was the mother of six children, namely: Frantz, Marguerette, George, John, Johann, Catherina and John M. The three youngest sons came to America; Johann located in Cincinnati, and there spent his last years; John M. became a successful physician in Springfield.

The father of our subject was reared in his native land, and at an early age learned the trade of a butcher. When he was thirty-five years old he came to America, and settling in Springfield, engaged in his old business in this city, residing here until his death, in 1878, when his community was deprived of an honorable and useful citizen. He came to this city when it was in its infancy, and beside being a witness of much of its growth and did what in him lay to advance its prosperity. He was married in Springfield to Agnes Storz, a native of Germany; she was born in Renfrizhausen, Wartenberg. She was reared in her fatherland, and was the only member of her family who ever came to America. She now resides in Springfield, and is held in respect and esteem by all who know her. The subject is the only survivor of the three children born to his parents, one child dying in infancy, and their son John is now deceased.

Joseph Miller was born in Springfield, September 27, 1855, and in its public schools laid a solid foundation for a fine education. Ho subsequently became a student in the Holbrooks Normal School, at Lebanon, in Warren County, where he pursued a thorough course of study. When not in school he assisted his father in the butcher business till he was seventeen years old, and then devoted his whole time to his studies till 1876. In that year he commenced reading law with E. S. Wallace, was well grounded in that profession, and in the fall of 1878 was admitted to the bar, and at once opened an office for the practice of his calling, in which he has been eminently successful, and to-day is numbered among the leading lawyers of the city. He has secured a large clientage, and in 1888 was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace for a term of three years.

Mr. Miller’s intellectual powers are harmoniously developed, so that clear judgment, sound sagacity, and cool, practical sense, and a constant devotion to duty are among his distinguishing characteristics, and have enabled him to rise to his present position. He is just, cautious, politic and courteous in his dealings, and in his honorable career as a lawyer has ever shown himself worthy of the confidence placed in him by his clients. He was reared in the Lutheran Church, and has always been true to the faith of his fathers. He is an ardent Democrat in politics, and has been since he cast his first Presidential vote for S. J. Tilden, always using his influence to promote the highest interests of his party. He is identified with the I. O. O. F., as a member of Springfield Lodge, and of Mad River Encampment.