Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-01-07

~ohE FONTS N THE CAREER or POOR BOY.
WAC BECA"E TIE MOST SUCCESSFUL MONEY
GerEEa ~ rHg Old JOHNSTON.
/ /, yl,hh,lrg Coz r',il.2el,,i,ia Pes
! sF. i'asliu's gallery OF misery and miliiouares
contained no more eccentric and extraordinary
! character than The one native of Virginia VINO
/ made More than three million dollars in Viz
! :raja during his life. The name Of this unique
/ Virginia snanciai prosii.y was the late Samuel
/ Miller of canphell ccunty-a man 50 remarka-
be that the ieiipeaco Of exception and Of dis
! tinction survived him, aad ciarac. crized his
post-mostela ~ vel. "a his mundane experience
one 81 lie nloSt singular of these incidenrs WAS
/ the execution OF faithful and striking portrait
! If hiIa 10, an artist VIII" never saw him but once
curing lie. AID who painted the likeness in
tniope, almost wholly Ieiying on descriptions
given bt 1ieudS, and GA measurements made
! "o the cNhaned body. a I" the shape OF the
skua and features II is said that This WAS a
i"aI altogether without parallel Or precedent in
ai: aud tile hoa,d al directors Of the Miller rp-
u,se ORPHAN Asylum of Lynchburg gave - coo
f"f The work. u tilc artist. Mr. L. J. Fisher lat.
! "t Munich and Paris but native Of Tennessee
; The elevation NJ tHiS UNIQUE aad stately Dor
tia!tufe Iii the chapel OF the Asylum during the
lti>! iew days has revived many memories con-
! he"t*tl with the founder OF the Asylum of a
character I" interest any student of the pecu-
ifaf 'iS bt vigorous natures.
contest with adverse fates.
Mr.. Miller Was bonn in the county of Abe
marie. ia The Year 1875. aud there was that in
! ms Ft n;isi Tim person his sandy hair and mas
s.Ve brow that served tn confirm q rrlmor which
assigned MS unknown paren,a.'e To the greatest
3 Democrat virginia ever produced. the wise
friend Of education and of religious freedom
/ Little samuel. thOuph this were the case-and
nobntiy can prove or diSprove it-inbertet 10
advantages from the connection besides Those
at n!ind and spirit. He Was self-tauyht aud self
made. and ia,orcd to the last dav OF his lif,
under that shyness. reserve and occasional alter
nations Of llauteur which are often the pen
allies OF loose birth or proud and sensitive
disposition.
But neither reserve nor shvness. nor any
other iiiligmi;, nor combination oi isadvanta@es
kept bac, The young Miller iuny from the great
: career OF Success which fortune was holding for
him His first education WAS i'm the great
branches Of health and longeyity-So little
taught in our iastitutiGHs-and here his instruc-
tors We're tire pICw-handierS and the hearty Ia
h0rs'rs 81 the harvest field. But while vet Young
ana rustic the future millionaire made his home
! III t.ynchburg. bringing to that city no other
capital than TWO eyes that saw several inches
further INTO Nirginia than any SPECTATOR before
him or s,nce, and spirit that did not shrink from
any venture his calculations commended. To-
bacco. OF course, was his main material of in
ycstluent. varied with willing. and perhars an
occasional incursion into the then fascinating
F. eaces OF bankruptcy Mr. Miller underwent in the
course of tins introduction into commercial
! arcana. But he wasn't OF the kind that STAY
down when ovcrborte in tie hard encounters
Of ltfes tournament. Yet was he always in
failure as iii fortune distinguished for a vigor-
Gus Integrity Notwithstanding between the
advantages afforded by superior sarewdness
and those which deception and disguise may
"iMr-kept tie even tenor of his way under
every temptation Of dishonest rain.
E..ta iIRn mott y,i,,
cate millionaire lie Was when death overlook
him. Mi Miller left Lync,iiurr about thilty
wears before his decease. and maie his home in
! Campbell county. some six miles away from the
city. Here he lived fog more than a quarter of a
century III the heart Of the woods, with no near
nci2ibors and attended only by a housekeeper.
! whose SONS. alas made ~ooG their claim to a
! largc part Of his posse SsiOns. lie did not seek
company. bat DID Not repei If: ne was always
courteous 10 guest and no i,utteruut rustic in
al the iuts Of the Blue Rid rc had less the ap-
pearance % Il commercial Napoleon. Here by
+. processes easy ia understand in these times of
Geographic cables. he accumulated money by
hundreds of thousands aS II by tie insD ration
/ ~ intuition. And Vet The means we're those of
strict science a:id study. he took all the papers;
he studied the currents of demand and of value:
/ ite Knew when Hour. Tor eAalnIti. WAS going TO
. he scarce and when the crop 0f cotton would be
! short. Then he bought in the cheapest and sold
| III the dearest market. Simple enough, surely
! bat there are people who 10 not live i'm the
| bowels of the country and who can talk by tcle-
! graph any time with the ends of the earth who
do not make three millions oi dollars. But this
; old gentleman did; and how much more no.
| BODY KNOWS but those who viii never tell.
a man with million or two million dollars Is
| apt In have anecdotes related about him. Mr.
. Miller did net escape these, and most of them
were of flavor. He was a rare compound of
| generous ard close. and this story is told about
! him. One of his nearest neighbors and best
| friends was Dr. T.. who also attended him pro-
ieSsol;illy. for the millionaire was a desperate
dysreltic. In a settlement between them on
ohe occasion. DR.. L. could not make change Dy
| five cents. but went his way and forget ali
about it. Next time he saw Mr.. Miller. the
! latter sought occasion to say that there was a
little balance IN his favor, in the last settlement
/ OF their accounts.
| nr. 7. said he did not remember it,
Don't you remember that YOU owed me five
cents:" said Mr. Miller grayely: and then the
/ Doctor did remember and paid the balance
| But the next dS returning home. he found
! his wheat cut in the field. stacked. capped and
! the rest of it as a wheat field ought to be i'm a
| fairy tale. And of course Mr. Miller had had it
done. and of course Mr.. Miller wouldn't take
any pay for it. There are many such anecdotes
as this about millioRaires. but this one is true
! For MI. Miller was indeed. largely generous,
| though in this. tGo he was provincial and SPAS
modic. A humble woman who lived near him
! being sick the millionaire. becoming Interested
sent his doctor to attend her. AS she didn't
| get better. he employed the best skill in Lynch
burg to consult. 1t cost him 500, and no scan
| dial either.
| Bat he would not subscribe to the proposed
college at Lynchburg. taking the ground that
there was plenty of rascaHty in the town already
without any addition of college boys.
| During Hunters invasion of Virginia. Mr..
Miller. though Union man. had visit from
rowing band, which he had sad reason to remem-
ber His stocks. bonds. letters ane account
books were thrown around with lavish hand.
and hundreds Of thousands of securities taken
away. Fortunately for him. the ravagers did
not know the full value uf these papers but
one Of them did recognize the glimIuer of old
| gold in the artificial teeth of the virginian.
Get out them teeth" casually remark ed the
| warrior. with a bavORet handy to back the an
! peal And Mr.. Miller. like prudent man. got
Out his teeth and Jared On soft diet for some time
to come.
But. i'm fact. he hardly ever ate anything any,
how. His indigestion was Of that kind that
made him loathe food; and he never had any
particular tooth for strong drink. And SO in
1864. in the midst of all his treasures. and de-
spite the skill of the best doctors of the Pied
mont, the old gentleman died of gangTele the
result OF abstinence and hamilton
The first thing that befell after his death was
IA all fh.ac b..<