Wilhelm Miller, sr., died suddenly at 12 o'clock last night at the residence of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Max Heubach, No. 141 Singer street, Ninth Ward, in his eighty-seventh year. The cause of his death was general debility. Mr. Miller was born in Cambery, Hessen Nassau, Germany, August 12, 1817, and was one of a family of two boys, Philip, his brother, passing away in Germany three years ago. Wilhelm Miller when a young man became a skilled foundryman in Cambery where he was married early in the 40's, coming to America alone in 1849. He landed in Baltimore and from there came directly to Johnstown, where he began work in H. S. Smith's foundry on the Island. Later he worked for a while in the Fronheiser & Meanor foundry on Coal street. When the Cambria Iron Works began operations in 1853 Mr. Miller was given employment there and remained with that concern until a short time after the Great Flood of 1889, when he retired. Mr. Miller helped to make the iron bridge across the Conemaugh River where the present Stone Bride of the P. R. R. stands.
Mrs. Miller, wife of the deceased, came to American with her daughters Louisa and Ida in 1850 and located in the Ninth Ward, where Mr. Miller resided for over fifty years. Mrs. Miller died on January 8, 1886. A son, George C. Miller, who was the first City Treasurer, died in the ninth Ward on December 6, 1891, and William F. Miller, and another son, passed away in Salina, Kans., October 11, 1903. Mr. Miller is survived by two daughters--Louisa, wife of Max Heubach, and Mrs. Ida Gahm, of Baltimore--together with seventeen grandchildren and one great grandchild, the latter living in Kansas.
Wilhelm Miller was one of Johnstown's oldest and best German residents. He was one of the few charter members of Zion's German Lutheran congregation and had helped to build the edifices on the lot on which the present structure stands at the corner of Jackson and Locust street. He was one of the oldest members of Alma Lodge, No. 523, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being identified with the order for more than fifty years. The officers of Alma Lodge will have charge of the funeral, which will take place from the Heubach home at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon. The Rev. Hugo R. Erdmann, pastor of Zion's congregation, will conduct the obsequies. Interment will be made in Sandyvale Cemetery. The family of the deceased have requested that no flowers be contributed by friends. |
