Biography - John H. Miller, M. D.
JOHN H. MILLER, M. D. To attain eminence in any of the learned
professions and especially in the humane one of medicine, is worth the
efforts of a life time and when this achievement is gained by a
comparatively young man. it is certainly worthy of note by the biographer.
The popularity already gained by the gentleman whose name appears at the
head of this paragraph, the only physician and surgeon in Oconee, justifies
the prediction that he will soon stand at the head of his profession in this
State.
Our subject was born in Fayette County, Ill., April 10, 1855 and is the son
of the Rev. Jacob and Mary J. (Stapp) Miller who were pioneers of that
county, the father having been born there. The mother was a native of
Kentucky but very early in life came to Fayette County.
There were four sons and one daughter in the family of the Rev. Jacob
Miller, of whom Dr. Joseph F. Miller is the eldest and is located at Palmer,
Ill., where he is engaged in the practice of medicine. The healing art is a
favorite calling in this family and a half brother of our subject, Dr. A. D.
Miller, is also practicing his profession at Palmer. The only remaining half
brother, Louis A. Miller, will enter the College of Physcians and Surgeons
at Chicago this year, thereby making complete a continuous line of medicos
in the family. Two brothers and one sister are deceased. Dr. J. H. Miller
received his general education in the excellent public schools of Illinois
and at the High School at Shelliyville, and at Eureka College, Eureka, Ill.
His professional study and training were secured privately under competent
and painstaking tutors, and these were supplemented by attendance at the
Missouri Medical College at St. Louis. At this popular institution he
attended two courses of lectures, graduating March 4, 1880, with honor to
himself and credit to the profession.
Like most men who achieve commendable heights in art, literature of science,
his success is mainly due to his own exertions. An indomitable will combined
with energy, industry and good health was his stock in trade, and every
draft upon this kind of bank stock brings a liberal response. Immediately
after his graduation the young Doctor located in the practice of his chosen
profession at Oconee, where he still remains, enjoying the confidence and
esteem of all with whom he is associated either professionally or socially.
A genial, whole-souled, and companionable gentleman, it is not strange that
he should he a favorite among his fellow-men. but it is remarkable that so
young a man should have built up a practice which more experienced
physicians might justly enjoy with pride. Another evidence of the Doctor's
professional popularity is the fact that he is the only physician in the
town of Oconee or within a radius of several miles around, although several
talented men have attempted to get a foothold here in their profession.
On the 10th of January, 1883, Dr. Miller was united in marriage with Miss
Laura Theile of Ramsey, Ill., the ceremony being performed at the residence
of the bride's parents. Mrs. Miller is a daughter of Henry and Eliza Theile.
who were among the first settlers of Ramsey, and her father, a millwright by
profession, owned and operated a mill in that place. The Doctor is a member
of Oconee Camp No. 1312, M. W. of A. and enjoys the distinction of having
been chosen to the office of Deputy Head Counsel of the Seventeenth
Congressional District of Illinois. The duties of this office are a general
supervision over the affairs of the order within his territory and the
organization of new camps, his territory comprising the counties of Shelby,
Macoupin, Montgomery, Moultrie, Effingham and Fayette
Of professional associations Dr. Miller is a member of the District Medical
Society of Central Illinois in which he is Secretary; also of the Illinois
State Medical Society in which body he is the Secretary of the Section on
Etiology, Preventive and State Medicine. He is also a member of the American
Medical Association and in all these organizations he ranks high among his
brethren in the profession. In May 1891 he was elected to the position of
Assistant to the chair on Practice of Medicine in the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Chicago for the winter term, and in addition was made a
member of the spring faculty to fill the above named chair.
Extracted 16 Feb 2019 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 584-585.
