Captain Ed Miller

In 1892, a journalist for the Seattle Press Times wrote, "Captain Miller of the tug Biz and owner of that antediluvian ark the Ajax, is one of the old landmarks on the waterfront, weighs something over 200 pounds, and is short, exceedingly short.

A better-hearted man never lived, and if he does run slightly to flesh, he is one of the keenest and most pleasant tugboat men on the Sound. He is always in a rush and his short and heavy legs carry him over the ground in remarkably quick time. He is always ready, like the typical sea captain, to spin a yarn and as he mops the perspiration from his brow, he will, as he recovers his wind, tell some of the most remarkable stories about heavy weather and narrow escapes.

His expletives are few, but his resonant voice clips over the crest of the waves, reaches the shores of West Seattle, and echoes back with wonderful distinctness. He is every man's friend and has not an enemy on the docks."

Edward Miller was born in Syracuse, New York, in May 1832 and came to the Pacific coast, sailing around Cape Horn, in 1853. On June 18, 1863, he filed a homestead claim on about 160 acres of land on the Agate side of what was then called Big Skookum Bay, now Hammersley Inlet, and settled down to farming. As his acres and orchards grew and logging increased along the bays, he realized the need to be able to market his produce and tow logs to the mills, and he acquired the sloop "Wanderer," which he operated throughout Puget Sound, picking up and delivering just about anything that needed to be transported.

His daughter Nettie remembered that her father had the tugboat Biz built in 1884.

"It was built on the home place by Chasty and Bly - the first steamer built in Big Skookum. The engine came from Oakland, California. It was something us children would never forget, to see how that boat was put together." Wanderer and Biz were just two of the boats Captain Miller owned over a period of about 41 years.

One 15-day trip began March 6, 1867, when Miller loaded 40 boxes of apples and sailed as far as the Squaxin Reservation, where he anchored for the night. He arrived at Steilacoom at 7 a.m. the next day, left there at 4 p.m. and anchored near Vashon Island for the night. For the next 13 days his stops included Port Orchard, Port Blakely, Port Gamble and Seabeck (where he "took on board furniture and tools for Willy," who had a mill at Oakland).

He laid up all day at Port Madison, due to a strong north wind, where he sold all the apples. On March 19, he "got a tow" from a boat called Resolute from Vashon Island to Steilacoom (possibly due to becoming stuck when the boat's anchor "dragged off in the night") where he laid up all night. He arrived at Oakland at 6 p.m. the next day, discharged cargo, spent the night at William Walter's place, then took 10 boxes of apples from there to Seattle.

When he wasn't at sea, Captain Miller worked hard on his land. According to his diaries, for much of the months of June and July 1867, he spent his time working among his trees, cleaning out the well, scrubbing the outhouse, hauling hay, making currant jelly, putting up a shed, making fence rails and clearing land.

In 1951, Eva Kiddell Wivell wrote of her trip as a 4-year-old girl, accompanying her aunt Sarah Shephard to Puget Sound, where Sarah was to marry Captain Ed Miller. Eva's father had died when she was an infant and her mother had to "go out to work," so Eva was cared for by her grandmother. "My aunt Sarah came from New York to Chicago to spend time at my grandmother's while she made and assembled her trousseau. When that was done she was ready to start her long journey to Puget Sound, where she was to meet her bridegroom.

Captain Miller had a boat and traded down the Sound. Since his work kept him away from home a good deal, he was fearful that his bride might find it lonely, so he wrote and suggested that she bring someone with her who would be company at such a time. A family consultation was held and it was decided that I should be that someone."

The pair left Chicago in late October 1870, traveling by train to San Francisco, then by steamer to Victoria, British Columbia, where they were met by Captain Miller. He and Sarah were married Nov. 11, and the three of them traveled by boat to "the wilderness of Mason County." Ed and Sarah had two children - a girl, Nettie, born in October 1871, and a boy, Joseph, born in October 1872. In 1878, Miller built a one-room schoolhouse at the edge of his hay field for his children, Eva (who had been boarding and attending school at Oakland), and the children of three other families in the area.

Captain Ed Miller died "from the disabilities of old age" in October 1913. His obituary included the information that he had carried the mail for several years, rowing to Olympia to pick it up, then delivering it by boat and horseback to Arcada, Oakland, Union City and Seabeck; had served as a county commissioner for more than 20 years; spent several summers prospecting in Alaska; and owned some valuable marble claims near Fort Wrangle. Miller's funeral service was at the Agate Grange Hall and he was buried in the little cemetery at Agate for which he had donated land many years earlier.

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."