Boyer, Helen King, 1919-

Born in Miamisburg, Ohio, Z. T. Miller (1847-1913) entered the Union army at age 15 as a musician early in the American Civil War. Becoming attached to the 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, he participated in training at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio; in the Virginia theater of war in places such as Moorefield, Fairfax Court House, Stafford Court, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville; in the march towards Gettysburg; and in the Atlanta campaign. For a time during the war, Miller was a clerk for General Carl Schurz. After the war, Miller became a telegraph operator, working in Dayton and then Cleveland, Ohio. In 1873, he married Katherine (Kate) King. Embarking upon a medical career, Miller received homeopathic medical training at the New York Medical College and the Philadelphia Medical College. He worked for more than 30 years as a homeopathic physician in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was a faculty member of the School of Applied Design at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Artist and designer Louise Rivé-King Miller Boyer (1890-1976), was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Oct. 30, 1890, the daughter of Z. T. Miller and Katherine (King) Miller. Having painted as early as age seven, she eventually received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1913. On Jan. 22, 1914, she married architect Ernest Wilson Boyer, with whom she had two children: Taylor Miller Boyer and Helen King Boyer. In 1918, Louise worked as a screenwriter for Metro Pictures Corporation in New York City. She later became a free lance designer and graphic artist. Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and others. She was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists and the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and served as a trustee of the Charles and Martin Leisser Fund. Louise M. Boyer died on Dec. 6, 1976.

Architect and printmaker Ernest W. Boyer (1885-1949), a native of Tamaqua, Pa., was associated with the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Pittsburgh Board of Education. He planned and designed many buildings in the Pittsburgh area, including the South Hills Country Club and his one-time home in Brentwood, Pa., as well as structures in other parts of the country. Boyer was architect of the Pennsylvania Building at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco. He was for a long time secretary of the Pittsburgh Architectural Club and member of the American Institute of Architects. Ernest W. Boyer died at age 64 in 1949.

American concert pianist, teacher, and composer Julie Rivé-King was born on Oct. 30, 1854 in Cincinnati, Ohio. After receiving primary music instruction from her mother, she studied with William Mason in New York and then with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig. For a time she studied with Franz Liszt. At her American debut on April 24, 1875, she performed Liszt's Piano concerto no. 1 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. A prolific musician, she gave some 4000 concerts during her career and taught piano at Bush Conservatory in Chicago from 1905 to 1936. She married Frank King of Milwaukee, Wis., in 1876. Her piano pieces include Impromptu, Polonaise heroique, and Bubbling springs. Julie Rivé-King died on July 24, 1937.

Nathaniel B. Boileau (1763-1850), public official, attorney, radical Jeffersonian, and farmer, was born in Moreland Township in the part of Philadelphia County that is now Montgomery County, Pa. His father, Isaac Billew, owned land in the vicinity of Hatboro. In 1781, upon turning age 18, Nathaniel volunteered for a Philadelphia County militia group, serving until the defeat of Cornwallis. He graduated from Princeton College. After studying law and being admitted to the bar, Boileau practiced law in Montgomery County. He won a seat in the Pennsylvania House in 1797 and served there off and on throughout the first decade of the 1800s, eventually becoming speaker. His 1807 bid for election as a U.S. Senator failed. In 1808, 1811, and 1814, he was named Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but his candidacy for the state's governorship failed in 1817.

Artist and designer Helen King Boyer (b. 1919), daughter of Ernest W. Boyer and Louise Rivé-King (Miller) Boyer was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., where she was educated privately in fine arts and crafts. From 1943 to 1945, she worked for the advertising art department of the Pittsburgh Sun-telegraph. From 1949 to 1954, she was a free lance designer. For decades thereafter she designed home patterns, toys, and art. Her work is represented in many permanent collections, including the Library of Congress, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Georgetown University Fine Prints Collection, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. She has been a member of numerous art organizations and the recipient of many art prizes.

From the description of Helen King Boyer collection, 1800-2001 (bulk 1860-1976). (Georgetown University). WorldCat record id: 82503021