Josiah Miller

By Megan
Fisher Jr/Sr High School



Included in this biography:


-Josiah Miller's life before and after the Civil War
-Josiah Miller's military experiences
-How I think the Civil War affected Josiah Miller
-A typical soldier's life during the Civil War
-Acknowledgements
-Biography

Josiah Miller before the Civil War:

Josiah Miller was born on March 9, 1941 in Mercer County, Ohio. His family lived on a farm until 1859 when his family moved to Illinois. His family probably came to Illinois looking for better soil and land, because when in Champaign County, the Millers continued farming. Josiah was 5'10, brown or black hair, blue eyes, and had a dark complexion, most likely due to his farming career. Josiah Miller was married to Fanny Harper, yet I am unaware of when or how long they were married. To my knowledge, they had no children.

Josiah Miller's Military Experiences:

On August 11, 1862, Josiah Miller was enlisted as private for the Company F at age 22. Josiah was a component of the 125th Illinois Infantry. Miller served in the war for three years until he was mustered out on June 9, 1865. Josiah Miller fought in the battle of Chickamauga. There, with Company F, he fought to save the Union. He was not wounded during this battle.

How I think the Civil War affected Josiah Miller:

Josiah Miller most likely had horrific nightmares of the battles he fought. He probably had flashbacks of dead soldiers with severed body parts for the rest of his life. His health declined after the war, and I believe this was probably due to the poor conditions that soldiers of both armies had to go through. His health became worse throughout his life and eventually led to his death.

Josiah Miller's Life after the Civil War:

After the war, Josiah Miller returned to being a farmer. Due to his absent-mind and declining health, he worked as a barber in Rantoul, IL, yet kept his farm estate in Fisher. Soon after he gave up farming, his nephews, Thomas and Albert Miller went to court and petitioned for Josiah to give up his land. As stated in the petition, "Josiah Miller is a distracted and feeble minded person…. through the effect of severe illness." Afterwards, Albert and Thomas got their uncles' estate that he was unable to take care of. Short after he was forced to give up his land, Josiah Miller died at age 75 on January 19, 1915, and was buried in Maplewood Cemetery near Rantoul.

Life of Soldiers in the Civil War:

Life was hard for soldiers of both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War. Vermin was one of the many tortures soldiers faced, along with illnesses and diseases. Not much food was available to soldiers, yet still it was considered an abundant allowance of rations. Soldiers stole pigs, fowls, fruits, etc., from civilians who lived near the camps or along their marching route. Civil War soldiers uniforms consisted of caps, wool jackets, trousers, shirts, drawers, shoes, socks, and an overcoat. Imagine marching for miles on a hot day with all that clothing on. There was a limited supply of medical tools available, so soldiers who got badly wounded would most likely die.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank my teachers for letting us have time spending on these projects. My teachers were great deals of help, answering all my questions and guiding me trough this proposition. Also, my teammates, John and Dan, for aiding me in finding more information on Josiah Miller at the library. Without John, I would have no clue how to do the web page, and without Dan, well, this project would be pretty boring. Lastly, the Urbana Free Library staff for assisting me with my awful research skills. The staff helped me in finding a lot of information and perfected my research skills.