|
Progressive Men of Iowa
1899
 MILLER, Henry, one of the
substantial business men of Calmar, is a native of
Germany, and was brought with his parents to
America when but 3 years of age. His father, Henry
Miller, who was a farmer in the province of Hesse
Darmstadt, in Germany, emigrated to this country
in 1842, landing at New York. He moved his family
in a covered wagon from Newburgh, on the Hudson,
out into the heavy timbered country about Pike
Pond, now Kenoza Lake, in Sullivan county. There
among the hills he cleared off the heavy growth of
beech and hemlock woods for a farm. There Henry
grew to manhood. There the
father lived and prospered. He died at nearly 80
years of age, worth $25,000.
His mother's maiden
name was Elizabeth Wehrum. She came from Germany
also, after her marriage to Henry Miller, Sr. She
was a helpful wife, a kind and affectionate
mother, and lived to the age of 86 years. The son
Henry was born in the village of Muchenheim,
Germany, March 2. 1839. As his father settled in
the dense forests of Sullivan county, New York,
before Henry was four years old, where the people
were poor and widely separated, there were few
schools and very little chance to get an
education. He grew up inured to constant hard
labor in clearing off the heavy wood, and working
among stumps to help support the family. He
chopped cord wood and hauled it two and a half
miles with oxen, selling it at a dollar a cord to
earn the first money he ever had. When 19
years of age he went to learn the blacksmith
trade, working a year and a half from 5 o'clock in
the morning until 8 or 9 at night, for his board
and $3.33 a month, until he was 21 years of age.
At the close of his term of service he had $18 in
money, to begin his career in the world. He started
out on foot to look for work, and after three
weeks' search he had spent his last dollar and
found work at Port Jarvis at $8 per month. He
afterwards went to Goshen, in Orange county, and
learned to be a good horse shoer. He soon became a
skilled workman and in 1864 earned $45 a month at
his trade. In December, 1865, Henry started for
the far west, stopping at Calmar, Iowa, where he
rented a small building, purchased a few tools and
opened a blacksmith shop on his own account. Soon
after his brother, who was a wagonmaker, joined
him, and they began to repair and make wagons.
They built up a fine business by hard work and
good management, and in 1870 took in a partner,
put up a good building and began to deal in
general agricultural implements. For
thirty-two years Mr. Miller, with various
partners, has been carrying on a growing business
until their sales have reached $35,000 a year and
are rapidly
increasing.
In politics Mr. Miller
has always been a democrat, until 1896, when he
left the party, owing to the position it took for
free coinage of silver, and he has since voted the
republican ticket. He is a member of the German
Lutheran church, and has served two terms as mayor
of Calmar. In 1867 he was married to Miss Elsie
Herklotz. They had eight children. His wife died
in 1879; he afterwards married Eliza Hintermann,
by whom he had six
children.
Industry, economy, temperate living and
honesty have been his watchwords. Starting
with no capital, dependent entirely upon the labor
of his hands, Mr. Miller's
success in life has come from habits of industry
and economy, and a natural ability to manage and
build up a thriving business. From the poor boy
working for $3.33 a month, he has become a
substantial and successful manager of an extensive
business, built up by his ability and
energy.
(No Photo)
PORTMAN, Reginald Fitzhardinge Berkely, is one of
the leading business men in the city of Decorah.
He is vice-president of the Citizens Savings bank,
and in addition to the duties of this office
practices law and deals extensively in real
estate. Though a loyal American, Mr. Portman is
justly proud of the fact that he has descended
from one of the oldest families of the English
nobility. One of his ancestors, Sir William
Portman, was lord chief justice of England in
1655, his uncle, the late Edward Berkely, Viscount
Portman, was lord warden of the Stannaries in
Cornwall and Devon, in which are among the most
valuable tin mines of England, and was lord
lieutenant of Somerset for twenty-four years. The
Portmans of today own over 300 acres of land in
the heart of London, including Portman Square,
Bryanston Square and Blandford Square, besides
some 37,000 acres in the counties of Somerset,
Devon and Dorset. Mr.
Portman is a first cousin of the second Viscount
Portman and also of Viscount Peel, late speaker of
the house of commons, and is more distantly
related to the duke of Somerset
His father, Rev.
Fitzhardinge Berkely Portman, received his
master's degree at Christ Church college, Oxford.
He was canon of Wells and a fellow at All Souls
college, Oxford. He had three curates and was
rector of five parishes: Staple Fitzpaine,
Bickenhall, Orchard Portman, Thurlbear and Stoke
St. Mary, all in the county of Somerset. He died in
1894, aged 83 years. Mr. Portman's mother was
Frances Darnell, daughter of Rev. William N.
Darnell, rector of Stanhope, Northumberland, and
canon of Durham. She died at the age of 78, in
1889.
R. F. B. Portman was
born February 20, 1853, at Staple Fitzpaine,
county of Somerset, England, and was educated for
the life of a sailor. He entered her majesty's
service in 1864 and served as a midship-man,
receiving severe injuries in consequence of a fall
at sea. After long confinement in the hospitals at
Malta and Haslar, he was discharged on account of
the injuries he had received. He came to America
in 1872, at the age of 19, settling in Iowa at
Decorah, his present home. He spent four years in
varying lines of business, employing himself
successfully as a farmer, manufacturer and
mechanic, and in 1876 began practicing law, which
he had studied at odd times for several years. He
became vice president of the Citizens Savings bank
of Decorah in 1886, the position he now holds. He
also does a large busi-ness in real estate and
loans, and still practices his profession,
confining himself mostly to equity and probate
cases. In August, 1898, he was appointed United
States referee in bankruptcy for the district of
Winneshiek county.
In politics Mr. Portman
is independent. In
religion he is still loyal to the church in which
he was brought up, the Episcopal. He belongs
to the Masonic order, is past master of Great
Lights Lodge No. 181, at Decorah, and past
commander of Beauseant Commandery No. 12. He is
past grand treasurer of the Grand Commandery, and
grand treasurer of the Grand Chapter of Iowa. He
has always taken great interest in the public
affairs of his locality. In 1876 he organized the
volunteer fire department of Decorah, and was its
first foreman and chief
engineer.
Mr. Portman was married November 6, 1878,
to Caroline S. Warren. They have two children, a
daughter, Frances C., born in 1880; and a son,
John F. B., born in 1885.
The information on Trails
to the Past © Copyright may
be used in personal family history research,
with source citation. The pages in entirety may
not be duplicated for publication in any fashion
without the permission of the owner. Commercial
use of any material on this site is not
permitted. Please respect the wishes of
those who have contributed their time and
efforts to make this free site possible.~Thank
you! |
