Harry (born Hezekiah) Miller was born September 26, 1868, in Alvin, Illinois, the fourth of five children, and the only son of Ambrose and Mary (Ballah) Miller. At the age of 19 he migrated first to Aberdeen, Washington, then to Olympia where he was employed carrying mail on horseback between Olympia and Montesano. Later he came to the Palouse country where he worked on a farm near Colfax until coming to the St. Joe Valley in 1891. In 1898 he married Argenta Scott and the couple moved to Spokane where he worked in the Phoenix Sawmill. In 1903 they returned, with their small daughter, to the St. Joe Valley where they lived for 60 years on a 230 acre ranch. In 1955 infirmities of age forced them to sell the ranch and move into St. Maries where he died on January 22, 1964.
Ada Argenta (Scott) Miller was born October 2, 1878 in Missouri, the fifth of seven children of Francis (Frank) Gale and Amy Jane (Hicks) Scott. When she was three the family traveled first by rail to San Francisco, then by boat to Portland, and finally by wagon to Crescent, near Cheney, Washington. Her father worked at several jobs in the area, then in 1885 he moved the family to the St. Joe Valley where he acquired extensive land holdings. He also built the first log schoolhouse which was located on the bank of the St. Maries River near the junction with the St. Joe. After graduating from this school Argenta obtained a teachers certificate and taught for a time in Harrison, Idaho. On October 12, 1898 she married Harry Miller; they had one daughter. Harry's rheumatism and her lameness as the result of a broken hip in 1955 caused them to sell their ranch on the St. Joe in 1959 and move into St. Maries where she died in 1969.
From the guide to the Papers, 1898-1969, (University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives)
