Master
Carpenter From Waterloo
Put Wright Brothers In the Air
By ART FERGUSON,
Tribune Staff Writer
I.R. September 20, 1970
When the famous Wright brothers - Orville and Wilbur – agreed
to perform at a country fair near their Kitty Hawk, N.C. airplane
testing grounds a year after their first flight in 1903, they
didn't know that a man who now resides near Waterloo would play a
major role in their earning $300.
Elias Reeves Miller, 85, of Hall Hollow Rd., remembers the day
that his supervisor in a woodworking mill at North Wilkesboro
assigned him to repair the wing of the Wright Brothers' plane
which had been crushed when it hit the fairgrounds' fence.
The Wrights had been offered $300 by the fair board if they
would make three flights over the grounds. But the first takeoff,
negotiated as was the custom then from a hill, failed to clear the
fence and the wing was damaged.
A search was made for a qualified carpenter who could repair
the wing. The nearby mill was the best place to ask for there,
furniture, mill wheels, and other wooden equipment were built.
When the supervisor learned of the delicate craftsmanship needed,
he sent Miller to the brothers.
The damaged wing of the crude bi-plane was repaired after
Miller worked through the evening and night and to 3 p.m. the next
day. The wooden frame was covered with canvas. A section of
fairgound fence was removed to allow the plane to be pushed out.
It was positioned again for the take-off, and with curious
crowds watching, it lifted into the air. It not only circled the
fair, but also flew over the nearby cities of Wilkesboro and North
Wilkesboro, giving the area a bonus performance for the $300.
Miller recalls the plane flew from there back to Kitty Hawk, an
unusual overland feat in those days.
Although Miller has worked at several vocations,
woodworking is his profession and love. He still practices it and
has his own planing machine which he built of odds and ends of
metal and wheels for about $300. He said some years ago he needed
a planer and that the selling price was $10,000. So he built his
own which can plane a plank on all four sides at once.
His home, which he built with his wife's help, shows the
craftsmanship of the master carpenter. All lumber was cut from the
local forest and dressed for special use in the house. A recently
laid floor of oak, dressed and placed by Miller, looks like a
factory-made job.
As a boy at Jeffersonville, N.C., Miller worked in a blacksmith
shop and proved his carpentry ability by building a buggy. After
leaving his job at North Wilkesboro, he went to Montana, then came
to the Waterloo area (Rt. 1 Patriot, Ohio) in December of 1916. He
left for Kansas in 1920 and lived there before returning here in
1940.
While in Kansas he continued working with wood, and also did
ironwork. He ran thrashing machines for a living during much of
the time spent in the plains state. He also continued to build
houses, barns and other farm buildings.
Although in semi-retirement, Miller keeps busy at home with
land to tend, wood to work with, and advice to give to saw mill
operators who seek him out. He said every few days he is called
upon to line up somebody's sawmill. His crafts-manship includes
the building of arched rafters and the design is becoming more in
demand, Miller says. Many barns were once made with the curved
rafters, but now the design is used in modern church buildings. He
said he occasionally serves as a consultant on such jobs.
Despite the years, Mr. And Mrs. Miller continue to be active.
They maintain their two-story house, do the chores, and Mrs.
Miller enjoys quilting just as her husband sticks to woodwork. Six
of the eight children are still living. They have 20 grandchildren
and 13 great-grandchildren. Mrs. Miller says she keeps better
count on the great-grandchildren than of the grandchildren.
Their sons are Bart Miller of Willowood, Carl and Arthur of
Kansas. The daughters are Johncie Miller (who married a Miller),
Hazel Dunca, and Nellie Myers of Vinton.
