George Washington Miller, who owns and operates a fine ranch of eighty-five acres four miles west of Beaverton, located in Washington county twenty-two years ago. He was born in North Carolina in 1859, and is a son of Wesley and Minerva (Deal) Miller, also natives of North Carolina, while the grandparents on both lines were from Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were married in their native state and there the father engaged in farming until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted and went to the front, where he was killed. The mother survived him for many years, her death occurring in 1907 at the age of seventy-four years. Four children were born to this worthy couple, our subject being the third in order of birth. The others are as follows: Martha, the wife of Adolph Punch of North Carolina; Andrew, who is living in Hillsboro, Oregon; and Sarah, the youngest member of the family, who married Alonzo Williams of North Carolina.

     As he was only a small lad when his father died, George Washington Miller was reared by his mother, with whom he remained until he was eighteen years of age, obtaining his education in the common schools. While mastering the common branches of English learning he was also becoming familiar with the practical methods of cultivating the fields and caring for the crops and when he left home was well qualified to engage in agricultural pursuits. In 1878 he engaged in farming for his own account and for eleven years thereafter followed the vocation in North Carolina. In 1889, with his wife and family, he came west, locating in this county where for eight years he worked as a farm hand. At the end of that time he rented the place he now owns and after operating it for four years had accumulated sufficient means to purchase it, acquiring the title in 1901. He now owns eighty-five acres of improved land, sixty of which is under high cultivation. Mr. Miller has met with gratifying success in the operation of his ranch but his returns have only been commensurate with energy expended and the intelligence manifested in the direction of his efforts. He is a strong believer in intensive rather than extensive farming and he gives his personal supervision to every detail connected with the cultivation of his land. He is a man of progressive ideas and is constantly striving to improve the standard of his products, realizing that quality is more essential for success in agriculture than quantity.

     On the 6th of January, 1877, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Alice Smith, whose birth occurred in North Carolina on the 26th of September, 1858. Mrs. Miller is a daughter of Daniel and Eliza (Goens) Smith, both whom were natives of North Carolina, but of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, the grandparents having moved from the Keystone state to North Carolina. The father is now deceased, having passed away in 1863, but the mother, who has attained the venerable age of seventy-eight, has been making her home in Oregon with Mrs. Miller since 1891. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith were born three children of whom Mrs. Miller is the eldest. Lulu, the youngest daughter, died at the age of twenty-one, and Laura, the other member of the family, is the widow of Fielding Baker of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of six daughters and four sons: Emma, who was born on the 23rd of February, 1879, the wife of George Taylor, of Portland Oregon; Dora L., born September 18, 1882, now Mrs. Alois Gassner, of Reedville, Oregon; Laura, whose birth occurred on 9th of May, 1885, the wife of William Guy* of Portland; Mary R. born on the 18th of November, 1887, now Mrs. Herbert Ulry, of Hillsboro, Oregon; Georgie A., born on July 23, 1890, the wife of Alfred Minell**, of this county; Jakey, who died in infancy; Thomas A., born on the 7th of May 1895; Edward H., born on the 27th of August, 1896; John W., born in March, 1898; and Martha A., whose birth occurred in February, 1905. The four last named are all at home. Mr. Miller, fully appreciating the value of a well trained mind in the pursuit of any vocation, has given his children the advantages of a business education.

     Fraternally Mr. Miller is a member of the Modern Woodman of America, belonging to Reedville Camp, No. 8193, while in politics he is a democrat. Public affairs have never engaged his attention to any marked extent his energies always having been devoted to the development of his personal affairs. Mr. Miller is one of the industrious and enterprising ranchmen of Washington county, where he is regarded as a most desirable citizen and is held in high esteem by all who know him.