After the close of the revolution, James Miller, born in county Antrim, Ireland, in 1781, of Scotch-Irish parentage, came to America and settled in Argyle, New York, where he married Catherine Batey, who bore him two children, Martha and David. After two years they removed to the town of Whitehall, New York, where Nancy, John, Ann C., and Catherine, were born. Losing his wife at this time, he returned to Argyle and worked at his trade of shoemaker for Timothy Allen, of Hartford, where he married Mr. Allen's eldest daughter. They removed to Fair Haven, Vermont, in February, 1818, where he became senior partner of the firm of Miller, Allen & Dobbin, in which Ira Allen and David Dobbin were associated with him in tanning and currying leather, manufacturing boots and shoes. They were also engaged in the lumber business. In February, 1824, they purchased of Chauncey Goodrich, ten acres of land, with privilege of dam to raise water to operate a bark mill. He also went into the business of boating on the Champlain canal, with Eleazer Goodrich. They ran a line of passenger day boats between Whitehall and Troy, New York, in 1836 and 1837, but the enterprise was not profitable and they gave it up. He married (second) Anna, eldest daughter of Timothy (2) Allen, son of Timothy (1) Allen, of Woodbury, Connecticut. The Allens were people of business and social prominence. Timothy (1) Allen was a cousin of General Ethan Allen, and served in the revolution. Timothy (2) Allen was an early settler of Bristol, but removed to Hartford, New York, in 1814, where he was in business. He had children:
- Rufus;
- Richard;
- Anna (Mrs. James Miller);
- Timothy (3);
- Abigail;
- Ira, a tanner, and later in business with James Miller;
- Barna, a Baptist minister;
- Alanson, a merchant, manufacturer, politician, and soldier. He served in the Vermont senate in 1842-43-54-55; assistant judge of the county court 1860-61-62; two years assistant assessor of internal revenue. While a resident of New York state he was successively sergeant, captain, major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the One Hundred Seventy-fifth regiment, Tenth division of the New York state militia. He was colonel in 1833-34, when he resigned, as he was removing to Vermont.
The youngest child of this family was Justus.
James and Anna (Allen) Miller, were parents of eight children, the first born in Hartford, New York, the others in Fair Haven, Vermont:
- William, born September 6, 1817, was drowned at about the age of ten.
- Timothy, married Susan Brown.
- Abigail A., died about 1865.
- John, married Betsey Martin.
- Margaret, married I. H. Allard.
- James, married Ann Dowd.
- Justus, see forward.
- William, married (first) Mary Shaw; (second) Mary Foster.
(II) Justus, son of James and Anna (Allen) Miller, was born in Fair Haven, Vermont, November 9, 1825, died in Troy, 1897. He was educated in the common schools, and learned the trade of blacksmith, which he did not long continue. In 1853 he began buying and shipping produce in association with a New York commission house. He continued this line until 1866, when he removed to Troy where he established the firm of Hamlin, Miller & Company, and began in the collar manufacturing business that made his name famous and firmly established his fortunes. There were several changes in the firm as the years passed, but Mr. Miller always retained an active and principal interest. He was one of the first to manufacture shirts in Troy. He was one of the pioneers of the cuff and collar business, and although starting with little capital in 1866, his untiring energy and intense application placed him in the front rank. He was a man of strictest integrity and honor, his word needing no bond to strengthen it. The style of the company at his death was Miller, Hall & Hartwell, one of the largest concerns in the cuff, collar and shirt trade in the world. They had an immense factory in Troy, with branch factories at Hoosick Falls and Mechanicville. Their roll of employees in their several departments ran into the thousands. This has all grown from the small collar and cuff factory established by Mr. Miller with his two associates in 1866. He had a large interest in the Central National Bank of Troy, and was president. Politically he was a Prohibitionist. For years he was one of the leading temperance and prohibition workers in the state, and in 1892 was the Prohibition candidate for governor. The good he accomplished in his temperance work and for the cause of humanity cannot be overestimated. At the age of twenty-five he joined the Baptist church at Hartford, Washington county, New York, and on removing to Troy united with the Fifth Avenue Church of that denomination, serving as deacon and trustee for several years. He supported liberally every church activity, and was in every sense a valuable citizen. He married (first) in Hartford, New York, Eliza, daughter of Caliph Brayton. She died in 1864, leaving two sons, George and Frank, and a daughter Eliza. He married (second) in Schaghticoke, New York, Elizabeth A., daughter of George W. Baucus, of that town. The Baucus ancestry is German, on both maternal and paternal lines. The ancestor settled at an early date in Dutchess county, New York, from there the family moved north, where they located in Rensselaer county. The family were always prominent in Schaghticoke, where many of the name still reside. Mrs. Elizabeth A. (Baucus) Miller survives her husband and resides in Troy, New York.