Sources Index
Source S452
Author: Texas Department of Health
Title: Death Certificate - Thomas Elliott Crutcher
Publication: Name: Bureau of Vital Statistics; Location: Austin, Texas; Date: 7/20/1937;
Sources Index
Source S453
Author: Moberly Monitor-Index
Title: Obituary Thomas Ewell Crutcher
Publication: Name: Moberly, Missouri - December 22, 1948;
NOTESource Medium: Photograph
Source Quality: Good
Sources Index
Source S454
Author: Mineral County Independent-News staff
Title: Former Senator John H. Millers Grandson Visits Hawthorne
Publication: Name: Mineral County Independent-News; Location: Hawthorne, Nevada, USA; Date: August 19, 2010;
NOTE
FORMER SENATOR JOHN H. MILLERS GRANDSON VISITS HAWTHORNE
Friday, August 13th, was a lucky day for the Mineral County Museum, when John H. Miller II and his wife Carlene traveled from Pasadena, California for a visit to Hawthorne. Miller, 73, is the grandson of Hawthorne pioneer and former State Senator John Harvey Miller, once widely known in his time as "Johnnie Miller."
Senator John H. Miller was born April 11, 1872, in Austin, Nevada, the son of Nicholas and Maria (nee Byrne) Miller. The Miller family, father, mother, daughter Ida and son Monroe, had come West in the 1860's, crossing the great plains in an ox cart where they settled at Austin, as the family continued to grow.
By the time that the new town of Hawthorne was ready to receive its new residents in April of 1881, Mrs. Miller and Owen Crutcher, a local teamster, had been married slightly less than a year. According to all accounts, John Miller and his brother Alvey arrived at the town having taken a steamboat down the length of Walker Lake to get there. Eventually the four Miller brothers resided at Hawthorne Monroe, Bruce, Alvey and John - and, together with their sister Lilly and half brother Walter Crutcher, the Miller and Crutcher children were raised in Hawthorne, attending the first school in the town.
In 1890, at 18 years of age, Johnnie Miller was married to Sadie George, daughter of A. S. George, another pioneer of Nevada. In 1896, Miller was elected to the office of Clerk and Treasurer of Esmeralda County.
As he had grown to manhood, Johnnie Miller had worked for one of the general merchandise stores. In 1897, he and his brother-in-law, J. E. Adams opened their own store, buying out the old store once operated by S. A. Knapp and R. J. Laws as Knapp & Laws. As Adams & Miller General Merchandise the two men had stores in Hawthorne, Mina and Lun-ing.
By the twentieth century, Johnnie Miller had also emerged in the mining world. He became involved with the discovery of the mines of the Lucky Boy group on the old Hawthorne to Bodie Road, south of Hawthorne which helped to bring new life to the old town. The mines at Lucky Boy dominated the news of nearby Hawthorne for the next twenty years.
When Mineral County was created from the northern end of Esmeralda County in 1911, John H. Miller was appointed by the Governor to the first board of county commissioners of the new county. He was elected by the other members to serve as the first chairman of the board of the Mineral County Commissioners.
In 1920, Miller was elected State Senator, succeeding Fred B. Balzar, who had been elected Sheriff and Assessor of the county. In 1922, Miller ran for the office of governor but lost to James G. Scrugham. In 1927, he was appointed State Senator to succeed the then-Senator Fred Fall, who had resigned. John H. Miller served as State Senator until his death in March of 1941.
At the time of his death, Miller was survived by his widow, Sadie, daughter Mrs. Florence Buckingham, of Hawthorne and son Harvey A. Miller, of Pasadena, California, as well as his brother Alvey Miller of Hawthorne and sisters Mrs. Minnie Sloan and Mrs. Lillie Adams, of Los Angeles.
Senator Miller's grandson, John H. Miller II, was only three years old at the time his grandfather died. When Mr. Miller was recently contacted by county museum staff in search of family photos to used in a county history book planned to be published next year, he graciously responded by scheduling a visit to Hawthorne. While Mr. Miller has few personal memories of his grandfather he has an old family photo album which he shared with the Museum for use in the upcoming publication.
While at the museum on Friday, Mr. Miller generously donated the Bible given to Senator Miller and his wife on their wedding day and a stock certificate of the Ashby Mines Company. The Ashby mine was been discovered by the Senators son-in-law, George Ashby, and the company was incorporated by Ashby, Miller, NAD Commander H. S. Babbitt and county pioneer Samuel T. Kelso.
The Millers had come to Hawthorne many years ago and had not been back since. They indicated on Friday that they look forward to returning in the near future to visit the old properties once worked by his grandfather, such as Lucky Boy and Camp Ashby.