Wells Waite Miller Overview

In June 2018, I decided to pick a forgotten Civil War soldier, doing so pretty randomly, and then try to reconstruct his life and his world as fully as possible. Wells Waite Miller came from a farming background and attended Oberlin Preparatory School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in the spring of 1861 in response to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for men. He fought in the heat of the battle at Antietam without injury and was badly wounded at Gettysburg during what’s now called “Pickett’s Charge.” He went on to become a noted agriculturalist and businessman, serving as the secretary of the Ohio Secretary of Agriculture (1894-1906) and of the Ohio Antietam Battlefield Commission. He helped with monument placement in Antietam and likely in Gettysburg, and there was talk about his running for governor and for Congress although neither took place.

I’d like to share my research about Wells Waite Miller from Castalia, Ohio with you.

Blog posts I’ve written on the subject so far include:

• Wells Waite Miller’s America
• Marching Towards Gettysburg
• Great Puritan Migration
• Scandal in the Colonies
• Calm in the Eye of the Storm
• Grandparents, Parents, and Siblings
• Ohio Bound
• Castalia Massacre
• Pickett’s Charge and 43 Bonus Years
• Glory Days to Invalid Corps
• Oberlin Years: Fierce Debates About Abolitionism
• A Look at Lodowick G. Miller 
• Calvin Caswell
• Ohio Antietam Battlefield Commission
• Erie County, Ohio for Congress!
• Obed Caswell And Walter Caswell: Story Of Brothers
• “Speaking the Names: A Tale of Two Brothers” at Ashland University’s Black Fork Review

Wells Waite Miller: Exploration of His Life and Times

I invite you to become part of this journey, sharing my posts with people who enjoy reading historical biographies.

If you read this material and have additional information that’s directly tied to Miller or sets context about his life—or you’ve spotted errors—please email me at kbsagert@aol.com.