Miller, J. Rufus

The following data is extracted from Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma.

     Among the progressive agriculturists of Washington county whose intelligently directed efforts have resulted in the attainment of a substantial degree of success is numbered J. Rufus Miller, who is the owner of a valuable farm situated seven and a half miles northeast of Dewey. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, December 1, 1873, and is a son of W. T. and Fannie Miller, also of the Blue Grass state who took up their residence in Indian Territory in 1878. For several years the father devoted his attention to farming in the vicinity of Tahlequah and is now residing in the town, of which he has been street commissioner for the past eighteen years, his long retention in that office indicating the value of his services and his integrity as a public official. He has reached the age of seventy-two, while his wife is sixty-eight years of age.
     J. Rufus Miller is a self-educated man and has always been connected with farming and stock raising interests. He formerly owned a tract of three hundred and twenty acres near Dewey and on disposing of that property purchased his present place of one hundred and sixty acres on Coon and Cedar creeks, in addition to which he leases and cultivates two hundred acres. He has a fine country home, situated in the midst of a beautiful grove of oak and elm trees, and has erected large and substantial barns and other outbuildings necessary for the shelter of grain and stock. He has brought his land to a high state of development and gathers abundant crops of wheat, oats and Kaffir corn, while he also raises a good grade of horses and cattle. He has that expert knowledge of his occupation which is only acquired through long personal experience and has equipped his place with all of the newest appliances in farm machinery.
     He carries on his labors scientifically, and keeps himself abreast of the times and well informed as to all modern developments relating to his line of work.
     When eighteen years of age Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Allie Elnora Newton, a native of Indian Territory and of Cherokee extraction. Her parents, Benjamin and Laura (Johnson) Newton, were natives of North Carolina and were numbered among the pioneers of Indian Territory. Her father has passed away. Her mother makes her home with her daughter, Allie E., having reached the age of seventy-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have become the parents of eight children: Dora, who became the wife of Joseph Schmidt and passed away, leaving two sons, Crittendon and Lawrence; Will J., who married Emma Johnson, by whom he has a son, Harold; Florence, who is the wife of Neal Brown and the mother of a son, Leonard; Mabel, who married Thomas Gerontakis, by whom she has one child; John, Clarence and Christie Levo, who are yet at home; and Robert, deceased.
     Mr. Miller is numbered among the pioneer settlers of Oklahoma, having resided within its borders for a period of forty-three years, and he has watched with deep interest the growth and up building of the state, in which he has done his full share through the development of its agricultural resources. His life has been an active and useful one, crowned with successful achievement, and his genuine personal worth has won for him the respect and goodwill of an extensive circle of friends.

Source: Muskogee And Northeastern Oklahoma

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