Charles A. Miller

CHARLES A. MILLER. - Associated in the practice of law with his elder brother, Hon. Orrin L. Miller, of Kansas City, he whose name initiates this sketch has won for himself a secure place as one of the able members of the bar of Wyandotte county, and the firm of which he is a member controls a large and important practice. Concerning Hon. Orrin L. Miller specific mention is made on other pages of this work, and in that connection may be found further data concerning the family history.

Charles A. Miller was born at Newburg, Penobscot county, Maine, on the 17th of September, 1869, and is a son of Sewell and Lodaski (Cowan) Miller, both of whom were likewise born in the old Pine Tree state, where the father continued to follow the vocation of farming throughout his active career and where he maintained his home until his death. His wife still resides in Maine, amidst the surroundings and associations hallowed by many years. Of the eight sons seven are now living, and of the number the subject of this review was the eighth in order of birth. Charles A. Miller early gained his full quota of experience in connection with the work of a somewhat stubborn New England farm, and in the meanwhile he was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native county. For a short time thereafter he continued his studies in the Maine Central Institute, and he then entered Hampden Academy, in his native county, where he completed a thorough academic course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1890. He proved a most receptive and appreciative student and that his advancement in scholastic lore was most substantial is shown by the fact that after his graduation he served one year as a valued member of the faculty of his alma mater. In further pursuance of the work of the pedagogic profession, he served one and one half years as principal of the grammar school at Oldtown, Penobscot county, and he then went to the city of Bangor, Maine, where he completed a course in stenography in a business college. Soon after this he made a radical change from the vocation previously followed, as he became a traveling salesman for a wholesale grocery house, and later he was similarly engaged with a tobacco company. His assigned territory in both of these connections was in New England, and he continued to be a commercial traveler until 1895, when he joined his brother Orrin L. in Kansas City. He began the study of law under the preceptorship of his brother, for whom he acted as stenographer in the meanwhile, and he also attended the evening classes in the Kansas City (Missouri) School of Law, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898 and from which he secured his coveted degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was forthwith admitted to the Kansas bar and since that time he has continued to be actively associated in practice with his brother, under the firm name of Miller & Miller. He is well grounded in the learning of his profession and has shown his mettle both in litigated issues in the various courts and also as a counselor. Mr. Miller is found arrayed as a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he is known as one of the progressive and liberal citizens of Kansas City, of whose advantages and attractions he has been fully appreciative.

In 1894 Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Littlefield, who was born and reared in Maine.