Springfield-Greene
County LibraryEarly and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
WILLIAM S. MILLER. One of the best methods to keep the soil from becoming depleted of its natural strength is by proper rotation of crops. Some of our farmers grow too much grain and not enough grass on their land, especially if it is old land. With a little study and experience it is always possible to determine exactly what particular crop should succeed another. This problem seems to be well understood by William S. Miller, who is engaged in general farming in the western part of Greene county. He has spent his life in this vicinity and has watched closely the best methods of farming.
Mr. Miller was born in Pond Creek township, Greene county, Missouri, March 27, 1851. He is a son of James and Ellen (McDaniel) Miller, and is the youngest of two children; his sister, Sarah T. Miller, married Edward Potts, of Republic, and they have five children. James Miller, the father, was born in Tennessee where he spent his early life on a farm and was educated in the rural schools. He remained in his native state until the breaking out of the Civil war when he removed to Greene county, Missouri. He enlisted in the Confederate army and served faithfully. He engaged in farming here until his death, which occurred when our subject was a child, and the mother of our subject also died when he was young. So he was reared by his grandparents on the mother's side, William and Sarah Ann (Glades) McDaniel, who were also natives of Tennessee, from which state they came to Greene county, Missouri, in 1830, among the earliest settlers, and here spent the rest of their lives on a farm.
Mr. Miller spent his boyhood on his grandfather's farm and there worked hard during the crop season, and in the wintertime he attended the district schools. When twenty years of age he left the home of his grandparents and purchased eighty acres nearby and here he has since resided. He is making a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle and keeps a fine herd.
Mr. Miller was married in April, 1880, to Nancy E. Jackson, a daughter of William Jackson, a farmer and school teacher, who came from Georgia to Greene county, Missouri, in 1854, making the long overland journey, with wagon and team, and began life here in typical pioneer fashion as did the parents of our subject, and his grandparents. Mr. Jackson's death occurred a number of years ago, but Mrs. Jackson is still living at the advanced age of seventy-eight years.
The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller: Ritta. Ethel, born November 17, 1888, is at home; Bertha Alma, born September 8, 1891, is at home; Emmet Clarence, born on July 11, 1893, has a taste for mechanics; Alpha Ellen, born July 7, 1895, married William Carter, a. farmer living in Center township, Greene county; Tressie Marie, born December 1, 1898, died June 13, 1899; Ernest Lester, born October 29, 1901.
Politically, Mr. Miller is a Republican, and he is liberal in his religious views, attending no particular church, being a friend of all denominations.
[1797-1798]
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