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JOHN A. MILLER, who owns one hundred and fifty-four acres of well-improved land in section 13, Eldorado township, was born in Linn county, Iowa, August 31, 1863. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Maurer) Miller. John Miller was born in Hesse, Germany, in 1819, and died at the age of eighty-two years; his wife was a native of Bavaria, Germany, born in 1833, and died at the age of sixty-eight years. They were parents of eight children, four of whom are living, namely: Catherine, wife of John Busmann, of Bryant, South Dakota; John A.; Emma, wife of Joseph Hensing, of Newhall, Iowa; and Carrie, wife of A. L. Lowe, of Missouri. Mr. Miller came to the United States when he was about thirty years of age and located at Sandusky, Ohio, where he lived but a short time, and then purchased a farm in Linn county, Iowa. He sold out in 1868 and in 1869 purchased the farm in Eldorado township where his son now resides; at first this was raw prairie, which he worked to clear and improve, and here he and his wife died.
John A. Miller spent his boyhood on a farm, and received his education in the public schools. His father was an invalid for many years, and in 1890 John began farming on his own account on his father's farm. Most of the buildings on this place were erected by its present owner. Besides general farming he raises some graded stock, and has been very successful. He has served as school director, justice of the peace and township trustee. He helped organize the Newhall Savings Bank, in which he has since been a director, and since 1904 has also been president. He is one of the substantial and representative farmers of the county, and universally respected. He has always been a Democrat.
On January 1, 1890, Mr. Miller married Luiza J., daughter of William and Catherine (Heiber) Vornholt, who was born in Linn county, Iowa, October 28, 1867. Her parents were both born in Germany and came to the United States in their youth, locating in Johnson county, Iowa; they were married in Iowa City, making the trip there with oxen to be married. They then located in Linn county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They had eleven children, eight of whom survive. Mr. Miller and his wife have two children, Henry W. and Clara E., both at home; they also lost one child, Clarence G., who died when two years and two months old.
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