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Biography of Victor Cornelius Miller Transcribed by: Kim Torp Source: ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933
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VICTOR CORNELIUS MILLER State's Attorney of Clark County, won reputation and success very soon after his admission to the bar. He is a man of exceptional energy, talented, aggressive, admired for his integrity of character and the honorable course he has taken in all the relationships of a brief career. Mr. Miller was born at Kempton, Ohio, July 3, 1902. His parents were John W. and Ida M. (Shaffer) Miller. His paternal grand father, W. C. D. Miller, is now eighty-four years of age and still looks after his farming interests. He was born in Ohio and lived at Tippecanoe City in that state. John W. Miller was born in Ohio. As a youth he took up telegraphy and that was his profession and business all his life. His business required his moving about the country a great deal and in 1916 he was transferred to Illinois, and lived at Martinsville. He died October 21, 1928. He always interested himself in the civic and welfare projects of any com munity where he lived. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife, Ida M. Shaffer, was born at Bobo, Indiana, and survives him. Her father, Almond Shaffer, was born in Wilshire, Ohio, and was about five years of age when the family moved to Indiana. In Indiana the Shaffers were pioneers, carving their homes from the woods and going through the hard ships of early day life. Almond Shaffer spent his life as a farmer. He died December 21, 1926. The Shaffers came west from Vermont, where they were early settlers. The Miller family came from Pennsylvania and were a mixture of Pennsylvania Dutch and German ancestry. Victor C. Miller had his first schooling at Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, where he attended four years. He was in the grade and high schools of Pittsburgh and in 1920 graduated from the high school of Martinsville, Illinois. While he had the law in mind, it was a goal somewhat remote and he had to achieve it by earning and paying his way. His first occupation after leaving high school was in the plant of the General Electric Company at Fort Wayne, Indiana. For six months he was at Charleston, studying photography. At Martinsville he opened a gallery and made a splendid success of this business. However, it was only a stepping stone to the law. In 1921 he entered the University of Illinois, and completed six years of work in five years, graduating from the academic department in 1926, with the Bachelor of Science degree, and in 1927 took his law degree. Mr. Miller in February, 1928, was admitted to the Illinois bar. He opened his law office at Marshall in March of the same year and just thirty days later, on April 17, 1928, was appointed state's attorney of Clark County, to fill the place of Everett Connelly, deceased. In November, 1928, he was elected for the full term, which expires in the fall of 1932. As state's attorney he has exhibited a vigor which has won his administration many high commendations. Mr. Miller while in the State University was a member of the Cadets, was commissioned a second lieutenant and then promoted to major and finally to lieutenant-colonel. He is now a lieutenant in the United States Reserve Corps. He is a member of the Scabbard and Blade honorary military fraternity, the Alpha Alpha Alpha legal pre-fraternity, the Phi Alpha Delta, the Masons and Improved Order of Red Men. He has done considerable speaking in Republican campaigns and is a member of the Church of God at Martinsville. Mr. Miller married, July 3, 1929, Miss Alice Spotts of Marshall, daughter of Walker S. and Anna (Houk) Spotts. She belongs to an old and respected family of this section of Illinois. Her parents live at Marshall, where her father is in the meat business. Mrs. Miller attended the grammar and high schools of Marshall and the Indiana State Teachers College at Terre Haute. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is a popular member of the younger social groups of Marshall. They have one child, Ida Ann, born July 4, 1930.
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