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MATHIAS MILLER was born in Bavaria, Germany, on the Rhine river, April 11, 1819, where he remained, working on the farm and at the stone mason's trade, until twenty one years of age, when he came to the United States. He landed at New Orleans, and came to St. Louis, Missouri, and to Springfield, in 1842. In 1844, went to the pineries of Wisconsin, where he and one other man made twenty four thousand shingles. He then returned to Springfield, and on May 17, 1846, married Miss Martha (Ross) Miller. She was born in Kentucky, and was a daughter of Wm. Ross, who was a farmer, and died in 1864; and his wife, Maria (Morrison) Ross was born in Kentucky.
Mr. and Mrs. Mathias Miller are both members of the church. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he a member of the Catholic church. They have had ten children, four living: Mrs. Sarah E. Gards, Mrs. Florence Campbell, Alfred F. and Virginia Miller. The father of Mathias Miller, Peter Miller, was born in Germany. He was a farmer, and died in Germany in 1845 or 1846; and his wife, Margaret Derzapf, was born in Germany. She died at Lincoln, Illinois, in 1868, and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield. She came to the United States with her son, Peter Miller, in 1848. The subject of this sketch has a farm of four hundred and fifty acres in Gardner township where he resides. He also owns a house and two lots in Monticello, Illinois. In politics, he has been a Democrat, but in future will vote for the best man. He cast his first vote for James K. Polk for President of the United States.