Henry Miller, born on November 13, 1822, in Oldenburg, Germany, was a prominent example of German-American success. Emigrating with his family to the United States in 1837, they initially settled in Cass County, Illinois. After his father’s death in 1838, Henry moved to Palmyra Township, where he and his brothers transformed raw prairie into a prosperous 270-acre farm. Henry married Fredricka A. Klostermann, also from Oldenburg, and they had nine children. Retired in Sterling, Illinois, Henry and his wife were active members of the Lutheran Church and contributed significantly to their community.
Henry Miller. The German citizen of the United States, as a rule, brings with him from the Fatherland three traits of character which may almost be termed national, namely, industry, economy, and perseverance, and in the broader fields of labor, and wider opportunities offered him in this country, so uses these qualities, as not only to secure for himself and family a competency, but also to leave his impress on the community in which he lives, in all that tends to the betterment of its institutions and enterprises.
The subject of this sketch, who is a good example of the class of men spoken of, is a well-to-do farmer, owning a fine tract of two hundred and seventy acres on sections 30, 31, and 32, Palmyra Township, on the latter of which is situated the residence; he at present makes his home in Sterling, Ill., where he is living retired. The land was purchased from the Government at an early day, and he with the assistance of his brothers, improved it from the raw prairie into the fine farm which it is today. He has been eminently successful, as the appearance of the place indicates, it being well supplied with fine farm buildings and a good brick residence.
Mr. Miller was born in Oldenburg, Germany, November 13, 1822, and is the youngest son of Pope and Theda (Remmers) Miller, natives of Oldenburg, where they were reared and married. The family resided in this city until all their family of five sons and two daughters were born and reared, when they emigrated to the United States in May, 1837, sailing in the vessel “Charlotte” and after a voyage of forty days landed in New York City. From that place they came to Illinois and began life again in the wilds of the Prairie State. They were poor in purse, but possessed of true German thrift and energy, and here laid the foundation of the comfortable fortune which each one at present possesses. They first settled in Cass County, this State, and about one year later the father died there, aged fifty-eight years. In the fall of 1838, the widow with her children came to Palmyra Township, this county, remaining there until the spring of 1850, when she returned to Germany with one of her sons, Fred, and about ten years later died there in her native town of Oldenburg in the seventy-third year of her age. She, as well as her husband and children, was a member of the Lutheran Church, and was a most estimable woman.
Henry Miller was married in this township to Miss Fredricka A. Klostermann, also a native of Oldenburg, Germany, born in 1832. She is a daughter of Ernest E. and Alma Klostermann, natives respectively of Saxony and Oldenburg, who were married in that country, and with their family came to the United States in 1845, settling on a farm in Palmyra Township. Here both the parents died, the father in 1890, at the age of eighty-four years, and his wife a few years previously, aged seventy-eight years. They were worthy members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Miller was married after coming to this country, and has proved a worthy wife, assisting her husband in every way possible. She is the mother of nine children, as follows: Mary is the wife of Warren Powers, a farmer in Whiteside County; Charles lives in Monte Christo, Tex.; Rena is the wife of Mathias Rikert, and they live on a farm in this township; Lucy married Henry Lampkin, and they reside on a farm in Grundy County, Iowa; Alma married David Brightweizer, who is a farmer in Adams County, Neb.; Frank married Addie Martin, and resides on the old homestead; Nellie is a teacher in Sterling and resides with her parents; Katie is the wife of Joseph Crombie, and they are farmers in Grundy County, Iowa; and Minnie became the wife of Frank Snyder, and lives in Hitchcock County, Neb.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are of the same religious faith as their parents and prominent members of the Lutheran Church. In politics, Mr. Miller is a Republican, and has held several local offices in the township.