The Sons of Jacob Miller

The past few weeks I have been writing about two of Jacob Miller’s sons, Christian “Chris” Miller and Jacob Miller Jr, writing about the time they spent working in the oil fields of California, Oklahoma, and Texas around 1910. The Miller family saved their postcards from their time out west and those picture postcards gave me enough information to create a timeline of their brief time spent there. They both died young out west. Chris of typhoid in Texas in 1911 and Jacob Jr died in Oklahoma in 1913, killed when parts of an oil derrick fell on him.

Chris and Jacob Jr were half-brothers and they were my great-uncles. Chris Miller (1880-1911) was the son of Jacob Miller and his second wife Margaretha Strabel (1859-1882). Jacob Jr (1885-1913) was the son of Jacob Miller and his third wife Christena Rueck (1858-1945). My grandfather Carl Miller (1896-1973) was a full brother to Jacob Jr. They all grew up on the Miller Century Farm in northern Mercer County, Ohio.

Front: Carl, Jacob, John, Christena (Rueck), Clara, Caroline. Back: Mary, Peter, Jacob Jr, Christian, Maggie.

Jacob Miller (1843-1918) had a total of five sons and they all resembled each other. I remember the Miller men talking about what they call the Miller Ears. They felt their ears were rather prominent and stuck out too far. I don’t think the Miller ears are that noticeable. Maybe their prominence has toned down over the years.

The Miller brothers all seemed to be big, robust men. Some family members say that John Miller was once a bouncer at the Chatt Bar, which may have been quite a job during Chatt’s oil days.   

Today, some photos of Jacob’s sons. As you can see in the following photos, the Miller brothers really did resemble each other.

From Jacob Miller’s marriage to Margaretha Strabel two sons:

Johann Peter “Pete” Miller (1878-1957), married Della Kuehm (1887-1975):

Pete Miller (1878-1957) & Della (Kuehm) Miller (1887-1975)

Christian “Chris” Miller (1880-1911), never married:

Chris Miller (1880-1911)

From Jacob Miller’s marriage to Christena Rueck, three sons:

Jacob Miller Jr (1885-1913), never married:

Jacob Miller Jr (1886-1913)

Jacob Miller Jr, on right

Jacob Miller Jr, 3rd from left.

Jacob Miller Jr, on left

John Miller (1889-1964), married Frona Dull (1893-1973):

Johnny Reef, John Miller (on tractor)

John Miller, Carl Miller

Carl Miller (1896-1973), married Gertrude Brewster (1896-1973):

Carl F. Miller

Carl Miller

My dad and his two brothers bear a strong resemblance to each other as well. And they all look like their dad, Carl!

Jacob and Christena (Rueck) Miller also had 4 daughters: Maria Regina (1884-1905); Catherine (1886-1895); Caroline Christine (1893-1988), married Howard Caffee; and Clara C (1899-1997), married Johnny Reef.

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    • Deborah Jones on September 27, 2019 at 7:22 am
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    Great photos of our family. Your research clears up some of the family background for me. I wasn’t aware that there were two daughters that died young. I don’t remember Grandma Caroline ever mentioning them. Thank you for sharing your research!

    1. Caroline was probably too young to have remembered Catharine, but she probably remembered Maria/”Mary.” I have heard that my aunt Kate was named after Catharine.

    • Susan Miller Bargerhuff on April 16, 2023 at 3:51 pm
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    My father was John and Frona Miller’s son. We often went to Van Wert, Ohio to visit
    Mike and Maggie Kallen eager when I was a child. Would like to find out what part of Germany Jacob came from (according to a U.S. census copy I have) as my daughter will be in Germany in June and wondered if she might be close to the area where the Miller’s came from. My father’s name is Bob. He was the third son of John and Frona. My Uncle Don is the only living child of John and Frona and he is 91.

    1. How nice to hear from you. I remember that some of my aunts and uncles mentioned your father Bob. At one time, years ago, our branch got together regularly, a reunion of sorts, with some of John’s family. I know some from the Dull family as well, a couple of Frona’s nephews and her grand-niece. Small world. Jacob came from the village of Bierbach, Kingdom of Bavaria. It is near the Blies River, near Zweibrucken, and Blieskastel, in southwestern Germany, not all that far from France. I have written several blog posts about Bierbach. If you search for “Bierbach” on my home page the blog posts I have written about it should come up. One post also has a map, “Bierbach-Jacob Muller’s Hometown.” Your daughter’s trip sounds wonderful and please let me know if she visits Bierbach. Thanks for writing!

    • Susan Miller Bargerhuff on May 1, 2023 at 8:25 pm
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    Thank you for your quick response. This is Susan Miller Bargerhuff, John Miller’s granddaughter. On your list of John and Frona’s children, Beatrice was born in 1926 and died July 4,2020. Would it be possible to get a copy of the picture of John – the one on the tractor? I would pay for the copy. I’d like to give it to Don as he doesn’t have many pics of his Dad. Also, would you have any information on Anna Louise Kallen eager Smeltzer? She was Mike and Maggie Kallenberger’s granddaughter. When we would visit Mike and Maggie Anna Louise would play with us. The last I heard she lived in Tennessee.

    1. Would emailing a digital copy of the photo to you work? I will look into the other information and get back with you. Karen

    • Susan Miller Bargerhuff on May 3, 2023 at 12:51 pm
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    A digital copy would work fine. Thank you so much! Looking forward to hearing from you again. The Carl F. Miller picture looks so much like Murlin Miller (my uncle) that it is uncanny.

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