Norman E. Miller (Meyersdale, PA)
Norman E. Miller (November 25,1853 – February 16,1946)
Biography
- Name: Norman E. Miller
- Birth: November 25,1853 Somerset Co., PA
- Death: February 16,1946 Meyersdale, PA (and is buried there)
It was almost a century from the time the first settlers came to this section of the state, before the completion of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad through Somerset County transformed this area from a collection of small, quiet trading centers into a scene of activity and development that resulted in Meyers Mills, renamed to Meyersdale, becoming the largest trading center between Connellsville, PA and Cumberland, MD. Prior to that time, Berlin, Salisbury and Summit Mills were typical pioneer trading centers of about equal importance in this section of the county.
Norman E. Miller was born November 25, 1853 in Somerset County. His father, Ephraim D. Miller, was one of the early settlers there and conducted a general merchandise store, supplied with a stock of goods to meet the requirements of the frugal inhabitants of the village and the surrounding farms. For about half a century, Ephraim acted as postmaster and storekeeper, jealously guarding his honorable name as a good citizen, an honest merchant and a God-fearing man.
His two sons, Urias M. and Norman E. led the life of average boys of that period. Norman E. got his schooling in the rural schools of the town, the average winter term being about 4 months. Before and after school and Saturdays he helped his father around the store and thereby got an early education that served him well as a merchant and during his more than 30 years as a banker.
While still in his early twenties, Norman E. Miller saw an opening in the newly established mining village known as Keystone Mines. Miller then made his first venture as a merchant in 1873, the year of the great panic following the tragic struggle between the North and the South. The B&O railroad had just been completed and the millions of tons of the Pittsburgh coal seam, also known locally as "the big vein" or the "14 foot coal" were just being opened up for export.
Meyers Mills, hitherto an insignificant country village, was now a station on a main line railroad and was rapidly developing as the trading center of the coal fields in the southern part of Somerset County. The young storekeeper at Keystone Mines saw the possibilities of a budding local metropolis here, and transferred his mercantile venture from Keystone Mines to Meyersdale. He formed a very successful partnership with J.T. Shipley in the sale of farm implements and machinery. After a few years this partnership dissolver and Mr. Shipley engaged in general hardware sales by himself. Miller became associated with the late Johnson Collins, formerly of Eckhart, Maryland, father of Mr. Miller's subsequent partner, George W. Collins. Their modest little store prospered from the start. After it got well under way, the elder Collins retired and his son George took his place as the partner of Mr. Miller and the firm name Miller & Collins soon became the most familiar and widely known of any business concern in Somerset County. For more than 43 years the partnership continued and the Miller & Collins store for most of those years was the best stocked and largest department store in the county, excepting perhaps the big Eureka store of Windber. In 1927, Mr. Collins sold his half interest in the department store to his partner and retired. The store name was changed to N.E. Miller & Son, N. E. Miller then taking into full partnership his only son, Robert Garfield Miller and under that title it functioned as one of the leading mercantile establishments of the county. This partnership existed until October 1939 when Miller & Son sold out to Alexander Stephens who continued the business under the Miller name.
With his prestige as a successful merchant and leading businessman, Mr. Miller was one of the chief factors in the organization of the Second National Bank in 1901 and its subsequent phenomenal success. He was one of the first directors of the bank and its Vice President from the start and its President since 1912, succeeding Cyrus W. Truxal. Mr. Miller while in his twenties married Miss Fannie Schrock, a member of a respected and honored pioneer family of Somerset County. They named a son Robert Garfield, the middle name being bestowed in honor of the martyred President of that name. The son is a junior member of the firm of N. E. Miller & Son. He is married and has two sons and one daughter, all three married and identified with the firm of N.E. Miller & Son. The head of the house also has three great-grandchildren, one of the grandsons, Cedric, having a son and a daughter, and the other grandson, Paul, a daughter, so there appears to be no danger of the house of Miller becoming extinct.
Mr. Miller was a charter member of the Main Street Brethren Church, and he and his family took keen interest in its affairs. He had been a member of the church board for more than half a century and for a great portion of that time its treasurer. At 81 plus years, Norman E. Miller's looks belied his age, being described in 1935 as carrying himself erectly, with a step as light and blue eyes as clear, as of many a man of 50 years or less and having lead a long and intensely active life, neither time nor worry had left a wrinkle on his brow.
Norman E. Miller passed away at 8:30 Saturday evening, Feb. 16, 1946 at the great age of 92 years, 2 months and 21 days. He had been living retired for a number of years at his home continuing to walk daily and doing various chores around his home. He lived alone since the death of his wife six years earlier with his housekeeper, Miss Lottie Forney, a niece of the late Mrs. Miller who came to live with her aunt and uncle many years prior. With Miss Lottie out, there was a cold stormy night with snow squalls pilling up drifts around the house and Mr. Miller went out to sweep his front porch and steps. While doing so, he fell down the steps. His cries were heard by neighbors and he was transported to the Hazel McGilvery hospital where Dr. Glass administered to a now unconscious patient. He had a broken hip and left shoulder and his injuries proved beyond repair. He passed away nearly 48 hours after his fall, but not before his son Robert arrived from Meadville for a few moments where his father recovered consciousness, recognized his son with a smile, hummed a few lines of a favorite hymn, then lapsed into coma again.
Meyersdale banks, stores and other business places were closed that Tuesday in respect and reverence for Meyersdale's oldest and beloved businessman.
Bank Officer Summary
During his banking career, N. E. Miller was involved with the following bank(s):
- Second National Bank, Meyersdale, PA (Charter 5801): President 1912-1935
Sources
- Obituary: The Republic, Meyersdale, PA, Thu., Feb. 21, 1946
- Findagrave.com: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68390980/norman-e-miller
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
- The Republic, Meyersdale, PA, Thu., Feb. 21, 1946
- The Republic, Meyersdale, PA, Thu., Mar. 28, 1935.