Hon. Chester F. Miller is judge of the superior court of the district which embraces Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties of Washington. He resides in Dayton and is one of the honored and distinguished residents of the southeastern part of the state. He has lived in the same voting precinct for fifty-seven years and has thus been closely associated with the development and progress of his section of the state from pioneer times to the present. Nature endowed him with keen intellect and he has constantly developed his powers until he is recognized as the peer of the ablest jurists who have sat upon the bench of the superior court in the northwest. He was born in Linn county, Oregon, January 6, 1860, a son of George W. and Sarah E. (Ping) Miller, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father was born in Crawfordsville, that state, on the 6th of April, 1830, and was a son of John Miller, a native of Tennessee, who in turn was a son of John Miller, a Revolutionary war soldier. George W. Miller crossed the plains with his parents to Oregon in 1851, the journey being made with ox teams and wagon. The family home was established on a donation claim in Linn county and George W. Miller also took up a claim near Albany, where the parents settled. He served in the Indian wars of 1855 and in 1860 he came to Washington, taking up a homestead where the city of Dayton now stands. Later he sold that property and removed to Garfield county. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah E. Ping, crossed the plains with her parents in 1852, the Ping family settling in Linn county, Oregon.
CHESTER F. MILLER
Judge Chester Franklin Miller was an infant of but six months when his parents arrived at what is now Dayton. He acquired his early education in the district school, being a pupil in the little old schoolhouse on the hill, and he attributes much of his later success in life to the thoroughness of his instruction at that period, his teacher being the Hon. Oliver C. White, who was then a country school teacher. Subsequently Judge Miller attended a private school in Dayton for two years and there prepared for college under the preceptorship of the Hon. J. E. Edmiston, who was at that time one of the instructors in the Dayton College. Mr. Edmiston and Judge Miller were afterward law partners, their association being maintained for nine years. In 1878 Judge Miller entered the Willamette University at Salem, Oregon, where he continued his studies for a year and still later became a student in the Oregon State University, from which he was graduated with honors in the class of 1882. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Following his graduation he returned to Dayton and while acting as deputy clerk of the district court he read law under the direction of Colonel Wyatt A. George, the nestor of the Columbia county bar, who was known as "Old Equity" by his fellow practitioners.
In 1886 Judge Miller was admitted to the bar by Judge Langford on the recommendation of T. J. Anders, D. J. Crowley and R. F. Sturdevant, his examining committee, and soon afterward entered the office of M. A. Baker and commenced the practice of law. In 1889 he formed a law partnership with the Hon. J. E. Edmiston, which continued until the close of the year 1890, when Mr. Edmiston was elected prosecuting attorney. Judge Miller and his brother-in-law, Charles R. Dorr, then became partners and in 1892, upon the death of Mr. Dorr, Judge Miller again entered into partnership relations with Mr. Edmiston, with whom he continued to practice until the latter's death in 1900. No dreary novitiate awaited Judge Miller. Almost from the onset he was accorded a liberal practice which constantly grew in volume and importance as the years went on. He won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods which he followed. He has remarkable powers of concentration and application and his retentive mind has often excited the surprise of his professional colleagues. As an orator he ranks high, especially in the discussion of legal matters before the court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the law is manifest and his application of legal principles demonstrates the wide range of his professional acquirements. It was but natural that the ability which he displayed in his profession should win for him the recognition that demanded his service in public office. In 1893 he was elected mayor of Dayton and he served at different periods as city attorney and clerk of the city of Dayton. In 1900 he was elected to the office of superior judge and was reelected to that position in 1904 by a greatly increased majority. Reelection has since continued him upon the bench of the superior court, where he has displayed a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution. Moreover, his decisions indicate strong mentality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of the law and an unbiased judgment.
On the 24th of May, 1888, Judge Miller was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Dorr, a daughter of Dr. J. C. and Ellen R. Dorr, who were among the earliest settlers of California, and in 1879 came to Columbia county, Washington. The father was a member of the California Legislature of 1864 and later became recognized as one of the prominent and distinguished citizens of this state. Judge and Mrs. Miller are the parents of six daughters, namely: Haidee, Sarah, Hilda, Conchita, Luneta and Alice.
There is an interesting military chapter in the life record of Judge Miller, who was captain of Company F of the First Washington Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American war, being mustered into the United States service with his company on the 11th of May, 1898. He sailed with his regiment for the Philippines in October of that year and there acquitted himself with credit until incapacitated by illness, when he was sent home and on the 12th of May, 1899, was honorably discharged from the service. Judge Miller is a past commander of Dayton Lodge, No. 3, K. P.; a past master of Dayton Lodge, No. 53, F. & A. M.; a past high priest of Dayton Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.; a past grand of Patit Lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. F.; a past chief patriarch of Franklin Encampment, No. 13, I. O. O. F.; and past grand master of the grand lodge of Odd Fellows of the state of Washington. He also has membership with the Woodmen, the Workmen, the Eastern Star, the Rebekahs and the Rathbone Sisters. Such in brief is the record of Judge Miller, one of the oldest of the pioneer settlers of Columbia county who can claim to be a native son, one of the most progressive citizens and one of the most eminent jurists of southeastern Washington. His name is written high on the roll of honor in Columbia county and his seventeen years' service on the bench indicates that he possesses the broad-mindedness which not only comprehends the details of a situation quickly but also which insures a complete self-control under even the most exasperating conditions. He has made a splendid record in the discharge of his multitudinous, often delicate, duties and is spoken of by his colleagues and contemporaries as a man of well rounded character, finely balanced mind and of splendid intellectual attainments.