Levi Miller.-The name of Miller is associated with some of the progressive farming done in Williams County, and one of the expert agriculturists bearing it is Levi Miller, who owns his fine farm of 282 acres, which is located five miles north and three miles west of Montpelier. He was born on the farm he now occupies on April 29 185/, a son of John H. and Elsa (Gardner) Miller. John Miller was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in 1831, and his wife was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1833. While still a boy he was brought to Wayne County, Ohio, where he was reared, and he was married in Richland County, Ohio. In the fall of 1855 he came to Williams County and located on the farm in Bridgewater Township which remained the homestead, and there he died on December 9 1876, his wife having died there in February, 1873. They were very active members of the Church of God. In politics Mr. Miller was a democrat. He and his wife became the parents of the following children: Silas, who is a carpenter and contractor of Montpelier Ohio; Levi, whose name heads this review; Wilda, who is the wife of George Canfield, lives in Bridgewater Township; Louisa who is deceased, married M. J. Kurtz; John, who is also deceased, married Laura Champion; Elsie, who married John Jackson; and Grace who married Reynold Koch, of Denver, Colorado.
Levi Miller spent his entire life in Bridgewater Township. When he was seventeen years old he lost his parents, and he left off attendance at the log schoolhouse in the neighborhood and began working by the month. After four years he left the farm work and was employed in other lines. He was very industrious and saving and by the time he was thirty-two years old he was able to buy his father’s homestead from the other heirs, and later added 122 acres. Here he has been engaged in farming ever since and has a fine property
On December 25, 1888, Mr. Miller was married to Eva C. Hunter who was born in Northwest Township on September 12, 1859 a daughter of Edwin and Margaret (Kunsman) Hunter, natives ‘of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Seneca County, Ohio, respectively, who were married in Northwest Township, Williams County, Ohio, in 1854. Mr. Hunter was killed by a kick from a horse in 1871, but his widow survived him and still lives in Northwest Township. Mrs. Miller was educated in the common schools of her native township. Mr. and Mrs. Miller became the parents of four children, namely: Mary B., who is the wife of George Messner, lives in Northwest Township-Ralph, who married Sarah A. Owen; Clarence E, who is unmarried] lives at home; and Flava, who is at home. Mrs. Miller belongs to the Presbyterian Church, but Mr. Miller is not connected with any religious organization. He is a democrat and belongs to the Farm Bureau at Montpelier. In addition to his agricultural interests, Mr. Miller is a director of the Montpelier National Bank. All that he owns today Mr. Miller has made himself and deserves great credit for this, as many left as he was would not have had the courage and initiative to forge ahead and accomplish so much.
Source: Bowersox, Charles A. ed. A standard history of Williams County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development , 2 vols. Publisher Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. 1920.