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Lorenzo John and Martha Lois were parents to ten children. The firstborn, Daniel Alexander Miller, was born on June 1, 1853 and died on July 15, 1906. He married Mary Elizabeth Newberry who was born in Jasper County, Missouri on November 14, 1861 and died in Richmond, Virginia on December 19, 1941. Daniel and Elizabeth had eight children: Maggie Pearl, John Robert, Nannie White, Martha Ada, Mary Ella, Elizabeth Hunter, Jessie Estelle, and Jane. Like his father Daniel became a physician. He attended Baltimore Medical College and had an office at Mechanicsburg in Bland County. However, unlike his father he was a Democrat. Daniel was Methodist by faith and was a member of Byrnes Chapel Methodist Church at Mechanicsburg. He and his wife owned a farm on the north side of Walkers Mountain. They built a large frame house to raise their children. The home burned in the early 1990’s. Rex Morehead of Bland now owns the farm. Daniel apparently practiced medicine widely. On making his rounds on horseback he would charge $1.00 per call. One story is told that once he was called to Oceana, West Virginia where he encountered the Guyandot River that was full due to recent rains. The gentleman who had come for him was riding a horse and Dr. Daniel Miller was riding a mule. When they attempted to ford the river the mule went under. The horseman grabbed the mule by the ears and pulled him to the opposite side saving the doctor but his saddlebag containing his instruments was lost to the river. Many years later the saddlebag with medical instruments was found in driftwood further down the river and went on display in a Charleston, West Virginia museum. Dr. Daniel Alexander Miller died at his home on July 15, 1906 of Bright’s Disease, which is an inclusive term for several types of kidney disease, which can lead to kidney failure. He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, are buried at the Mechanicsburg Cemetery.

Burial marker for Daniel Alexander and Mary Elizabeth Newberry Miller

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