Remembering "Uncle Hank"

Henry Miller was born August 31, 1913, while the Miller family lived in Chicago. Before he was old enough to enter school, the family moved to Watertown, South Dakota, where Hank probably began school. However, it’s likely that his most formative years were growing up in the Scottsbluff area.

Pete and Dora lived at several location in “the valley,” and that’s where they lived as son Hank became a teenager. Although we don’t know, he may well have endured the kind of anxiety that many youngsters have when they’re uprooted from family and friends. Although the distance from the Scottsbluff to Whitney is not that far – in the late 1920s it was a formidable distance. Too, there were numerous aunts, uncles and cousins in Scottsbluff. Most likely, this was not a move that pleased Hank

By the time Pete and Dora settled north of Whitney, Hank was about 14 years old. By all accounts, he was a gregarious and fun-loving youngster. His brother Fred – who was about 10 years younger than Hank – remembers a time when a group of Whitney fellows were having a card party at Claude Stewart’s house, next to where the old Post Office was at the main intersection in Whitney. Among the group were Ralph Grant, Claude Stewart, Al Schmechel and his father-in-law, as well as Hank. It seems the group ran out of beer and “…they elected Hank to run to Crawford to get a case of beer.” On the trip back, so the story goes, Hank swerved to miss a mule by the road, and his car tipped over onto its side. Not injured, Hank sent word on to Whitney with a passing motorist. When the fellows arrived to help, Hank was sitting on top of the car drinking the beer.

Hank didn’t date girls much, according to his brother Fred. However, at some poinet in the early 1930s, he and Clarence Connell became acquainted with the three Field sisters, whose father was a railroad section foreman at Horn, north of Crawford. Clarence ended up marrying Mary Field, and – much to the surprise of many – Hank began dating Leora Field. Brother Fred recalls that Hank and Leora were planning to get married, when a horrible accident changed everything.

It was one day in about 1936 when Leonard “Red” Schmell approached Hank and asked him if he’d tighten the rods in Schmell's old Chevrolet. Hank agreed, and they headed to the grain elevator, where there was a hoist.

This was an air hoist that was used to help off-load wheat from trucks. The vehicles would drive in and the front wheels would set up on a platform, and a little air compressor would raise the truck and dump the wheat.. They put Schmell’s car on the hoist so Hank could get under the car and complete the work.

“He was just about done with it, and he crawled down under there, and that hoist came down on him – broke his back,” remembers Fred Miller.

Hank Miller would never walk again. He was 22 years old. He called off the wedding.

For some years, Hank was able to get around a bit on crutches, but he essentially spent the rest of his life in bed or in a wheel chair. For 20 years after the accident, Hank lived with his parents. With their passing, he lived for some time with his brother John and family in Chadron, before moving to the nursing home in Chadron. That is where he lived for the final years of his life.

Surely there were moments of anguish and despair, but Hank didn’t wear those emotions on his sleeve. He would often get out and about to family picnics and other gatherings and displayed a quiet but wry sense of humor.

Hank also found a place as a “fix-it” handyman at the nursing home. Since his days as a teenager, he had been interested in radios. His friendship with Bob Galloway, another Whitney resident who was an amateur radio operator, would lead to a life-long interest in shortwave radio listening.

Hank Miller died in Chadron, Nebraska on March 12, 1984. Like both his mother and father, he was 71 years old when he died.

Here's the scoop: Miller family reunion planned

From California and Texas to Washington and the Dakotas, Miller Family members will be congregating next year for the first family reunion we've had since the 1980s......and you're invited!  Of course, we're also hoping to see cousins from Alaska, Kentucky, Michigan, and elsewhere.

Mark your calendars for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 24-25-26 of 2011.  Tentatively, we've planned for the reunion to focus on Wilson Park in Chadron, although we can easily shift the site to either Fort Robinson State Park or Chadron State Park.  Both are within 30 minutes of Wilson Park.  And it's just a stone's throw away from the village of Whitney, Nebraska, long-time home to Pete and Dora Miller, our German-Russian ancestors who were directly responsible for most of us being here!

It was mostly our moms and dads and a few cousins that gathered in Chadron, Nebraska for the last reunion at Wilson Park in Chadron more than two decades ago -- so we're due!

This will be a wonderful chance for "cousins" to get together to meet and get reacquainted with relatives not seen for many years. Sharing photos, memories and stories will be punctuated with lots of fun things to do for the entire family in the beautiful "Pine Ridge" region of northwest Nebraska.

While details are not yet in place, we ask that you mark JUNE 24-25-26, 2011 on your calendars, and start making plans now to join in this celebration of family.

Importantly, if you can offer ideas and suggestions for this reunion, please let us hear from you. Just e-mail us with comments, questions, etc.  We're in the process of gathering names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all our Miller relatives.  Please send your information (and that of any others who might be interested in the reunion) to cousin Pete Miller  in Metaline Falls, Washington or cousin Larry Miller in Spearfish, South Dakota.



We'll soon be posting information about camping and lodging facilities in the Chadron/Whitney/Fort Robinson area, along with phone numbers and web sites where you can get further details.

We'll post more reunion information on this site in the weeks and months to come, so please check back from time to time!

"Cousins" reunited in 1979

While we’re tempted to say this was a gathering of German-Russian “cousins” – and a couple of them are – there’s really a mixture of relationships reflected in this August 1979 photograph.

It was taken at the home of Katie (Steinbrecher) Behm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Shown left-to-right are: Pauline (Behm) Greenhalgh, Marie (Behm) Hergenrader, Marie (Miller) Derrick, and Katie (Steinbrecher) Behm. Click on the photo to see a slightly larger image, or visit our Miller Gallery.

Pauline and Marie – both born in Unterdorf, Russia – were the daughters of Pete and Eva (Miller) Behm. Marie (Miller) Derrick was a cousin to Pauline and Marie. She was born in Longmont, Colorado to Pete and Dora (Eckerdt) Miller. Pete Miller and Eva (Miller) Behm were siblings. At right is Katherine “Katie” (Steinbrecher) Behm, who was married to Alex Behm, an older brother to Pauline and Marie – shown on the left here. So…..Katie was a sister-in-law to Pauline and Marie (Behm), and a wife of the first cousin to Marie (Miller) Behm.

Confused? So were we for a while, but it’s finally beginning to make sense after all these years!

Sisters Pauline and Marie Behm were both born in Unterdorf, Russia. Marie was born in October 1901, some five years before the family chose to emigrate to the United States. By late 1906, the family was settled in Longmont, Colorado, where sister Eva (Behm) Lei was born in March of 1908. But within two years, Pete and Eva Behm pulled up stakes and returned to Unterdorf, and that’s where their daughter Pauline was born. By late 1911, they chose to return once more to the United States.

Such migration was surely a formidable task, even in the best of times. But we believe that Behm’s were not a well-to-do family, which makes their adventures all the more remarkable.

Remembering...

Pete Miller visiting the gravesite of his dad, Fred Miller, in late June of 2009 in a cemetery near Metaline, Washington. Born in Bayard, Nebraska in 1923, Fred died four years ago this month (12/05) at his home in Metaline Falls. Eighteen months later, his only surviving sibling -- Pauline -- passed away in Texas. They were the last two of the 11 children born to Peter and Dora Miller. Our on-line Miller family charts list other members of this German-Russian family and some of their ancestors.

Meeting Molly - born in Unterdorf!

One of the exciting prospects for learning more about our Miller family migration from Germany to Russia – then to North America – came last summer, when we had a chance to meet Molly Miller Both. It was during a trip to Washington state to visit family in the Metaline Falls and Seattle areas.

One of the few remaining “Miller” family descendants to be born in the Volga-Russian village of Unterdorf, Molly now lives in Marysville, just north of Seattle. While Molly and I had corresponded a few times over the past decade, we were unable to establish a firm link between our families.

However, with fewer than 100 families living in Unterdorf at the beginning of the 1900s, and with both families named Miller, it seems likely that there is a connection. While there’s still no documentation that confirms such a linkage, some aggressive sleuthing in the weeks and months ahead may well uncover something. At least, that’s our belief, and we’re proceeding optimistically.

Molly Miller was born in January of 1926 in Unterdorf, Russia, her family having survived the political upheavals and famine that cursed the Volga region in the early 20th century. That's Molly on the right, when she was about four years old. Our patriarch of the Miller line in western Nebraska, Peter Miller, was born in Unterdorf in 1886 – some 40 years earlier. By the time Molly was born in 1926, Peter and Dora (Eckerdt) Miller were in the North Platte River valley region of the Nebraska panhandle. Chances are, they were making plans or were already on their way to a new home in Whitney. Molly’s family would migrate to Canada, where she grew up, later meeting and marrying Nick Both.

Molly is convinced that our Miller families are related, and I agree. But we’re still searching for the proof.

Until we discover that elusive document, we delight in discovering a new “cousin.” Our visit with Molly and Nick Both at their home in Marysville was a joy, and it was a bonus to meet a few other other members of their family. Much to our delight, Molly also agreed to a short video interview, which we did on the spot!

One of the rewards of genealogy is bringing together long lost relatives. Even if those elusive documents confirming such a kinship are never uncovered, we’re so pleased to meet one of the few remaining “Unterdorfers” -- a lady we’d be proud to call “family.”

Surviving the Titanic

More than 10 years before the White Star Steamship Line launched the SS Titanic in 1912 for its destiny with an iceberg in the North Pacific, White Star built another vessel that was the biggest steamship at the time.

Like the Titanic, the SS Celtic was built in the Harland & Wolf shipyards in Belfast. With twin screws, it was twice as long as a football field and her displacement was more than 20,900 tons – more than any other steamship. Celtic was launched in 1901 and would provide long and significant service to her owners.

Our interest in knowing more about the SS Celtic emerged some years ago when I learned that my grandfather, Peter Miller, voyaged to the new world aboard the Celtic – likely in steerage, but aboard her, nonethess.

The year was 1906, and Pete Miller was traveling with his older sister, Eva Behm, and her family from Liverpool to New York City. They’d likely already endured a long train ride from Saratov, Russia to a port on the Baltic – then probably gaining passage on a ship to England. They all had made the collective decision to leave their homes in Unterdorf, Russia, not far from the Volga River, to find new lives in America.

They arrived at Ellis Island on September 30, 1906 and would make their way to Longmont, Colorado. Eventually, the Behms would settle in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Pete Miller met Dora Eckerdt in Longmont, where they were wed in 1909, later moving to Chicago, then Watertown, South Dakota, before settling in the Nebraska panhandle, where they raised their family and spent the rest of their lives.

As for the SS Celtic: she survived well beyond the Titanic disaster. The Celtic was particularly noted for her steadiness in rough weather. In 1928 she was converted to a cabin class liner; shortly thereafter, she ran aground in the fog near the entrance to Queensland Harbor in Australia, ending her seagoing days. She was converted to scrap in 1933.

A "mini" reunion of Millers

It was a few years back -- in June of 2006 -- that three Miller cousins got together in the City Park at Spearfish, South Dakota, for something of a "mini-reunion."

Left-to-right are: Pete Miller of Metaline Falls, Washington, son of Fred and Charlotte Miller; Jeanette Miller Gleed of Rapid City, South Dakota, oldest daughter of Alex and Mildred Miller; Connie Miller Merchen of Rapid City, South Dakota, middle daughter of Alex and Mildred Miller; and Larry Miller of Spearfish, South Dakota, younger son of John and Lettie Miller.

The last large gathering of this Miller family was in Chadron, Nebraska in 1985. Or was it 1988?    Or....?   Perhaps we're due for another one, eh?

Millers find a home in the Pend Oreille

Pete and Dora (Eckerdt) Miller came to the United States from Russia and were married in Longmont, Colorado in 1909. They ultimately chose Whitney, Nebraska, as their home, but their children would make their homes in other locales -- ranging from Wyoming and Arizona to Washington and Texas.

We've visited most of these places and must confess that we've become especially smitten with one of them.

The beautiful Pend Oreille River Valley north of Spokane, Washington, is home to many of Pete and Dora's descendants.

In the photograph above is their grandson, "Pete" Miller and his wife, Judy, who guided us up to this overlook above Metaline Falls, Washington, which they've called home most of their lives -- and the place they chose to raise their family. Pete's brothers, Wayne and Charlie, aren't far away, and their sister Jean and family live just to the south in Spokane. Their mother, Charlotte Miller, still lives in the family home nestled on a hill above the river. Pete's cousin Albert "Mike" Miller and his wife, Cheryl, live in nearby Ione.

It's easy to see why two of Pete and Dora's sons -- Fred and Albert -- chose to settle in this region after they left military service following World War II. There's nowhere in the country any more beautiful, and it's hard to imagine a better place to raise kids.

I suspect that if Pete and Dora Miller were to peek down from above today, they'd find great joy in seeing the wonderful lives many of their descendants have found in this part of the country. It's a far cry from the wind-swept plains along the Volga River where they grew up. I think they'd be very pleased.

A family death....a family gathering

One of our favorite photographs, this shot was taken in Whitney, Nebraska. We earlier thought it was taken when Dora Miller died in February of 1963; however, cousin Bruce Miller in California suggests it was more likely in June of 1957, upon the death Pete Miller. Grandma and Grandpa Miller had moved from the irrigation company "ditch house" near the railroad depot in Whitney to the small house just north of the Post Office, then on the northwest corner of the intersection of Division and Missouri Streets. The Post Office is just to the right and out of view in this photograph. .

In this photograph are three of Pete and Dora's sons; left-to-right are: Alex Miller of Lusk, Wyoming; John Miller of Chadron, Nebraska; Louis Bird of Houston, Texas; and Fred Miller of Metaline Falls, Washington. Louis Bird was married to Pete and Dora's fourth daughter, Bertha.

In the background on the left, the tops of both the old lumber yard and the Baldwin building are visible.

A place named Unterdorf

Early in my genealogical research, I was confronted with the sad fact that our family surname, Miller, is about as generic a name as you'll find within the German language. Many folks have speculated that our name was originally Muller (probably with an umlaut), and that's likely accurate, although there's no verification one way or the other. Miller, Muller, and Mueller are all surname candidates!

My grandfather, Peter Miller, was born in Unterdorf, Russia in 1886. When I was able to verify that information, I was ecstatic. When I learned that Katie Behm, the wife of my grandfather's nephew, Alex Behm, had created a map of Unterdorf, I was excited at the prospect of learning exactly where my grandfather had lived in the "old country."

Alas, while I guess I had known it, I conveniently overlooked the reality that every family seemed to name their boys the same: Pete, Alex, John, Henry, Fred, etc. There was not a lot of variety. Thus, with so many Miller families in Unterdorf, I haven't been able to pin down exactly where my grandfather lived before migrating to the United States with his older sister, Eva (Miller) Behm, and her family in 1906.

While I've not been able to update it much over the past year or so, I have expectations of significantly enhancing my Unterdorf website in coming months. Of course, that's done largely through the benevolence of people like you -- folks who may have new information about this small village not far from the Volga in Russia and the families that lived there.

Shown above is a contemporary aerial photo of the Unterdorf region. For the many years that I've been tracking the Peter Miller and Dora (Eckerdt) Miller families, I've had hopes of one day setting foot on the same soil that Grandpa Miller walked. With each passing year, that becomes less likely, but I've not given up hope. And perhaps by the time I make the trek, I'll know more about this little village and the circumstances that drove its citizenry to seek opportunities in the "new world."

The Millers in the Windy City

From about 1910 until about 1918, Peter and Dora Miller and their young children lived on the near north side of Chicago, Illinois.

In 1978, while attending a meeting in Chicago, I hired a cab to take me to 4504 N. Kasson Avenue, where -- according to their oldest daughter Marie -- the family had lived. Since the Miller's were not wealthy, I fully expected to find a run down neighborhood -- or perhaps a parking lot or new building.

Much to my surprise, this was the home that I found at that address. It was an older but very nice neighborhood, and I took several pictures. Still thinking that I might have written down the wrong address, I was eager to see what aunt Marie said. It was quite a delight to see her face light up when she saw the photographs. She acknowledged that there had been modification to the structure, but there was no doubt in her mind that this was the place!

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Four of the Miller children were born in Chicago: Alex, Henry, Caroline and John. I was delighted to add this to my sparse collection of Miller ancestor photographs.

She does it again!

Not realizing that he might be entering a world surrounded by art, John Miller kneels down on his San Diego, California, patio to show off a beautiful painting created by sister Linetha Davis of Madill, Oklahoma.

It was a surprise gift for John’s 70th birthday, but wife Cheryl has already laid claim to at least partial ownership of the piece, since she first saw a photograph of the scene on the web many months ago. It's a South Dakota barn on the north edge of Spearfish.

They’ll just have to share!

The oil painting is the latest out of Davis Gallery in Madill, where Linetha lives with her rancher husband, Bruce. She took up painting seriously in just the last year or two, and she’s been doing a remarkable job – winning awards and selling her work. You can see some of her many other offerings at the Davis Gallery website.