Return to the Land

Lorenzo John became an influential figure in Kimberling Valley and Bland County. He not only practiced medicine but also was a practicing Methodist minister. Records reveal he performed many marriages in Bland, Wythe, Tazewell, and Giles Counties. He was a Republican and held the office of Commissioner of Revenue for Bland County for 18 years. The practice of medicine found him traveling to the southern counties of West Virginia. He was so well respected that the Masonic Lodge of Logan, West Virginia gave him a beautiful horse named Logan which he rode for years.

Dr. Lorenzo John Miller and his wife Martha Lois Bird Miller

One of the more exciting adventures and most enduring tales told about Dr. Lorenzo Miller was when returning home one night through the mountainous terrain of Kimberling, Logan was startled. Dr. Miller was nearly thrown from his horse as a panther sprang at them out of the darkness. The panther first attacked Logan in the hindquarters. Dr. Miller reached into his satchel and withdrew a pistol and shot several times into the darkness. The panther stopped attacking and Great-grandfather hurried on home to tell of his harrowing experience. Several days later travelers on the same trail found a dead panther with several gun shot wounds. West of Lorenzo John and Martha’s home was a small resort called the Kimberling Springs Hotel located in a secluded valley at the headwaters of Kimberling Creek. This hotel attracted people as far away as New York most of which many came for health reasons. Dr. Miller was the keeper of the hotel for a period of time. It is likely he came into this position because of his expertise as a physician. The Kimberling area has a strong sulfur component in the water that was then thought to have curative powers. One of the more serious diseases that has plagued man for centuries is syphilis, a contagious venereal disease. It was thought that sulfur water might have some healing properties conducive to treating syphilis. So people of

35