Pulaski County ArArchives Biographies.....Miller, Charles Henry 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 August 16, 2009, 7:48 pm

Source: See Full Citation Below Biography
Author: S. J. Clarke

MAJOR CHARLES HENRY MILLER.
    Major Charles Henry Miller needs no introduction to the readers of this
volume, for he has an extremely wide acquaintance by reason of his connection
with the Miller-Butterworth Company, engineers and contractors, of which he is
the president and also by reason of the valuable service which he rendered the
country in the World war. His professional ability is of an extremely high order
and his success is indicated in the large number of important contracts with
which his firm has been favored. He has made his home in Little Rock since 1911,
but comes to this state from Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in
Strasburg, Lancaster county, in November, 18C6. His parents, Henry B. and
Elizabeth (Bartholomew) Miller, were also natives of Lancaster county, the
former born in 1837 and the latter in January, 1845. They lived for many years
in their native county, the father there following the occupation of farming in
order to provide for his family. At the time of the Civil war, however, -he put
aside all business and personal considerations and responded to the country's
call for aid to preserve the Union. With the Boys in Blue of the One Hundred and
Twenty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry he served during the last nine
months of the war. His political allegiance was at all times given to the
republican party, of which he was a stalwart supporter, although never an office
seeker. He died in December, 1890, and is survived by his widow who still makes
her home in Strasburg. Pennsylvania. They were the parents of three children:
Charles H., of this review: Enos H., living in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania;
and John Milton, whose home is in Strasburg.

    Charles Henry Miller attended the public schools of his native city and was
graduated from the Strasburg high school with the class of 18S4. He afterward
took up the study of civil engineering in Lehigh University at South Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, and the C. E. degree was conferred upon him at his graduation with
the class of 188S. Through the intervening period he has engaged in business as
a civil engineer and contractor. Immediately following his graduation he became
identified with the improvement of the Mississippi river, under the direction of
the United States Engineer Corps, handling surveys, dredge work, bank revetment,
dike construction, levee and ditch construction and in fact all character of
work pertaining to that improvement. He was thus engaged for thirteen years,
during which time he served as instrument man, draftsman, assistant engineer,
chief of the survey party and superintendent of construction. At the close of
the thirteen-year period, or in 1901, he was made superintendent of construction
with the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and had charge of the building of their Pittsburgh plant, which manufactures
steel bridges and buildings and does all class of general construction work,
consisting oŁ concrete foundations, erection of iron buildings, placing of
railroad yard tracks and placing of waterworks and sewers. For four years Mr.
Miller remained with the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company and then from
1905 until 1911 was engineer of river protection for the Missouri-Pacific & Iron
Mountain Railway System, having charge of all river-bank protection work as well
as drainage work along the lines of these railways and at the same time handled
a considerable amount of special consulting work pertaining to river protection
and drainage for a half dozen or more other railway systems. He next spent six
years, from 1911 until 1916, as president of the Miller Engineering Company, now
the Miller-Butterworth Company of Little Rock, Arkansas, engaged in the general
engineering and contracting business. He was chief engineer for a number of very
large drainage districts in Arkansas and Missouri and also became a member of
the board of consulting engineers for the Dayton flood committee and handled a
considerable amount of consulting work for drainage districts and railways. As
contractors the company built about five miles of bank protection for the Caddo
levee board of Shreveport. Louisiana, built several miles of Macadam road in
Lonoke county, constructed Dam No. 2 of the Ouachita river, for the United
States government and also dikes and bank work for the government in the
Mississippi river between Grafton, Illinois, and Louisiana, Missouri. At the
present time the company is engaged in the construction of thirty-three miles of
"Warrenite" road in Arkansas county.

    In the midst of a highly successful business career, Mr. Miller put aside
all thoughts of personal interest because the country needed his service in
connection with the World war. He enlisted in June, 1917, and was on duty until
April, 1919. From the first date until December, 1917, he was located at Deming,
New Mexico, as constructing quartermaster in the building of Camp Cody, near
Deming, erecting buildings to accommodate thirty thousand soldiers. When this
work was almost completed, about the middle of November, 1917, he was
transferred to the Twenty-third Engineers and stationed at Camp Meade, Maryland,
while later he went to Laurel, Maryland, organizing and getting ready for
overseas duty as a member of the Highway Regiment, being major in command of the
Second Battalion and having charge of several construction jobs around Camps
Meade, Laurel and Humphreys. From the 13th of April, 1918, until April, 1919.
Major Miller was in France. He was in charge of construction work on the Nevers
Cut-off (Railroad) to the 4th of July and then in charge of construction at the
Advance Overhaul Motor Park, No. 2, at Dijon, until the 11th of October. He was
next placed in charge of construction at Base Hospital Center, motor spare parts
and overhaul park of the army school camps at Langres, France, where he
continued until December 10 and was then assigned in addition all building work
and repairs in training areas seven to twenty-two inclusive. On the 18th of
December, 1918, he was given charge, in addition, of all road repair work,
handling this in conjunction with the several division engineers. Being a
district engineer he made reports direct to the chief engineer of the advance
section, the road work involving a total of approximately seven thousand miles
of road. This was gradually turned over to the divisions as they came back from
the front and occupied nine of the training areas.

    It was in February, 1919, that Major Miller was transferred to the Three
Hundred and Seventh Engineers of the Eighty-second Division and early in March
received orders to report to the commanding officer at Brest for return to the
United States, reaching Newport News on April 2, 1919, while three days later he
was honorably discharged at Washington. He at once returned to Little Rock and
took up his work in connection with the Miller-Butterworth Company, since which
time this company has been engaged in the general contracting and engineering
business, their contract work being principally in line with good road
construction. The engineering work handled by Mr. Miller personally has involved
principally general consulting practice. In this connection he received
appointment from the supreme court of the United States as a member of the
commission to settle the boundary between Arkansas and Mississippi, a short
distance below Friars Point, Mississippi. He was also consulting expert engineer
for the United States government in the sunk land cases in eastern Arkansas and
consulting engineer for the United States government in the boundary dispute
between Texas and Oklahoma near Wichita Falls.

    It will be of interest in this connection, as showing the value of Major
Miller's service when on duty overseas, to include in his history letters
received from his commanding officers at the close of the war. W. M. Black,
major general, chief of engineers, wrote to him as follows: "1. The signing of
the armistice with the Central Powers having made further sacrifice on your part
unnecessary, I wish to convey to you my appreciation of your efforts in behalf
of your country during the recent emergency. The engineers of the United States
have by their patriotic and self-sacrificing conduct well merited greater thanks
and appreciation than it is possible for me or any other one man to give them. I
am sure, however, that when it is possible to relate in full the efforts and
accomplishments of American engineers, both overseas and in this country, the
people of the United States will show appreciation of their efforts in no
uncertain terms. 2. That you have heen one of these engineers and have
contributed your part toward this successful accomplishment constitutes in
itself an honor greater than any official expression of opinion. Permit me,
however, to extend to you my personal thanks and those of the corps of engineers
for your efforts and assistance."

    From L. S. Chappelear, adjutant general, Major Miller received a
communication reading, "There is inclosed herewith extract copy of letter
received from Brigadier General 1. W. Littell, Quartermaster Corps National
Army. The department appreciates the splendid service rendered by you in
connection with the work of cantonment construction and advises that a copy of
the letter from Brigadier General Littell has been filed with your records in
this office." The inclosure signed I. W. Littell, Brigadier General, Q. M. Corps
N. A., was as follows: "1. Having just received orders relieving me from duty in
charge of the Cantonment Division, 1 take this occasion to especially commend
the officers of the Engineer Corps named helow. 2. The magnitude of the work
with which they have been connected is best shown by the fact that construction
work to the extent of an average of eight million dollars had to be performed
within a period of six months in connection with the cantonments and the
expenditure of approximately two million dollars within a shorter period of time
in connection with each National Guard camp. The short time in which this work
had to be completed is the element which makes these achievements remarkable. 3.
In view of the unusual task which has been accomplished by the constructing
quartermasters in the development and construction of these camps, with hut a
limited amount of assistance from other officers, it is desired that this great
service shall not go unnoticed, but that there shall be placed upon the record
of the officers who had charge of this work the definite statement from this
office that the service which each has rendered is worthy the highest
commendation within the power of this office to express. 4. The problems
involved in laying out the cantonments and camps, development of systems of
water supply, sewerage and electric lighting, and the design and construction of
systems of roads, both within the camps and between the camps and the nearby
cities and towns, have all been of such character as in civil life are handled
by consulting engineers of established reputation. The fact that these officers
were able to plan and execute the great problem of design and construction shows
conclusively that they are deserving of well merited recognition. Major Charles
H. Miller, Engineer R. C, was the constructing quartermaster at Camp Cody,
Deming, N. M."

    Major Miller is most pleasantly situated in his home life. He was married
October 9, 1900, in Luna Landing, Arkansas, to Miss Edna Ward, who was born
there in June, 1881, a daughter of Francis M. and Virginia (Bryan) Ward. The
father, a native of North Carolina, died in December, 1897, while the mother
lives at Little Rock, Arkansas. Mrs. Miller was educated in a high school of her
native town and by her marriage has become the mother of two daughters: Anne
Charlene, now the wife of Captain Edgar A. O'Hair, XT. S. A.; and Marion Edna.

    Both Major and Mrs. Miller are members of the Second Presbyterian church of
Little Rock, in which he is filling the office of deacon, and fraternally he is
connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he maintains
an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than party, and
preferring at all times to concentrate his efforts and his attention upon his
professional interests and duties. He is well known to the profession because of
his frequent contribution of articles to leading technical journals, his
writings appearing often in the transactions of the American Society of Civil
Engineers, in the proceedings of the American Railway Engineering Association
and in the Engineering-News Record, besides other publications. He has always
maintained the highest professional standards and an indication of the advanced
position which he fills is found in the fact that he has been admitted to
membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Railway
Engineering Association and the American Association of Engineers.



Additional Comments:
Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922



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