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| Alexander Miller with his Model T |
Link to Alexander Miller's birthplace at 15 Cross Street, present day
Per the 1911 Census for the Partick Division of Lanarkshire (Glasgow), Alexander was listed as 7 years old, a "scholar," and living at 13 Thomson St with his parents Alexander (40) and Elspet (41); his sisters Christina (16), Barbara (14), Elspet (12), and Jane (10); and his two brothers William (2), and John, just 3 months old (his brother Andrew was not born yet). His parents and two older sisters were all listed as having been born in Aberdeen, while the rest of the family (including young Alexander) were born in Partick.
A voracious reader later in life, Alexander Miller only attended school until the 6th grade. As the oldest boy in the family, it's likely that he had to work to support the family. The school photo below shows a serious Alexander in the front row, second from the right.
Prior to immigrating to the United States in 1924, Alexander held a variety of jobs in Scotland. In addition to working as a "motor mechanic" as noted on the passenger manifest of the SS Columbia when he immigrated to the US (see document in the "Archives" page), he also worked for his father (Alexander Miller), who was a blacksmith, at one of the local shipyards. In this position one of his duties was to catch in a bucket the hot rivets thrown to him by his father (source: family oral history). In addition to these jobs, Alexander Miller worked on the Isle of Skye in Scotland replacing the mantles on gas street lights (source: family oral history). The reason he went to Skye for this work is because he said "it was cold there" so he thought he might be able to get a job in a place where not many other people wanted to work. According to A History of Street Lighting in the old and new towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site, "Incandescent gas mantles were invented in 1885 and by 1895 were reasonably cheap..." and by 1907 were used "...in all new lamps thereafter." It is assumed that by circa 1920 similar incandescent gas mantles were in use on the Isle of Skye as well. However, he only stayed on Skye for one year because the work was not steady enough (source: family oral history).
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| Alexander Miller in school photo (undated, but probably circa 1914) |
Prior to immigrating to the United States in 1924, Alexander held a variety of jobs in Scotland. In addition to working as a "motor mechanic" as noted on the passenger manifest of the SS Columbia when he immigrated to the US (see document in the "Archives" page), he also worked for his father (Alexander Miller), who was a blacksmith, at one of the local shipyards. In this position one of his duties was to catch in a bucket the hot rivets thrown to him by his father (source: family oral history). In addition to these jobs, Alexander Miller worked on the Isle of Skye in Scotland replacing the mantles on gas street lights (source: family oral history). The reason he went to Skye for this work is because he said "it was cold there" so he thought he might be able to get a job in a place where not many other people wanted to work. According to A History of Street Lighting in the old and new towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site, "Incandescent gas mantles were invented in 1885 and by 1895 were reasonably cheap..." and by 1907 were used "...in all new lamps thereafter." It is assumed that by circa 1920 similar incandescent gas mantles were in use on the Isle of Skye as well. However, he only stayed on Skye for one year because the work was not steady enough (source: family oral history).
Alexander Miller was a fan of "football" (called "soccer" by Americans), and his favorite club was The Partick Thistle, a professional football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The photo below is of Alexander Miller in his football "kit" (uniform). While it's not currently known what club he was playing for at the time or what year the photograph was taken, per oral family history the photograph was taken in Scotland.
Alexander Miller is the handsome chap on the right
The photo was sent to both The Partick Thistle Football Club and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to see if they might recognize the uniform or have a record of Alexander Miller. Robert Reid of the Partick Thistle responded and said that he and his colleagues could not find any record of an Alexander Miller playing for the Thistle, but he did say it's possible he could have played for their "Second Eleven" (junior team), although he also said that the uniform from the photo is "almost certainly not a Thistle one."
Jim Thomson of the Scottish Football Museum responded on behalf of the Scottish Football Association and had this to say about what football club Alexander Miller may have played for based on the photo: "I have checked our senior player database but could not find an Alexander Miller playing for Partick Thistle F.C. or any other senior team. I have also checked our historical football kit database for Partick Thistle and none of their kits look like the ones in the photograph . In Scotland we have a semi-professional grade of football called ironically “Junior “ football and there is a junior team called Ardeer Thistle whose nickname is “The Thistle “and their club badge has some similarities to the ones in your photograph. I know it’s a long shot but maybe he played for them."
According to the much-anticipated 1921 Census for Scotland (which was only just released to the general public in 2022), Alec Miller can be found living with his parents and his six siblings in a three room apartment at 13 Church Street in Partick, Glasgow (nine people in just three rooms!). Alec is listed as being 17 years old and working as a "motor mechanic" for the Paterson Lighting Company. While it is unclear if this job is related to the previously mentioned lamplighter work that he did on the Isle of Skye, it seems unlikely, considering that Alec was listed as living in Glasgow at the time of the census, not Skye. Additionally, as recorded in a Scotland Business Directory from the 1920s, the Paterson Lighting Company was also located in Partick, Glasgow, just over a mile from where Alec lived, a relatively short walk to work. And finally, the 1921 Census lists Alec's occupation as "motor mechanic," not a lamplighter (or "leerie"). All these facts would seem to indicate that Alec Miller was not working as a lamplighter on the Isle of Skye in 1921. But perhaps his position as a motor mechanic with the Paterson Lighting Company did somehow lead him to subsequently finding a job as a lamplighter in Skye. It is difficult to know for sure. Unfortunately, no documents have yet been found to confirm exactly when Alec worked on the Isle of Skye, and it's quite possible that no such documents even exist. But what we do have are the words of Alec Miller himself, and according to his daughter Nancy, Alec did indeed work as a lamplighter on the Isle of Skye, most likely when he was 18 or 19, which would have put it in the year 1922 or 1923.
And continuing to explore the wealth of information contained within the 1921 Scotland Census about the Miller family, we see that Alec's father Alex is 51 years old, is the head of the household, and is employed as a blacksmith for A.H. Smith, Engineers. Elspeth Miller, Alec's mother, is also 51, and her occupation is listed as a "House Domestic." And as noted earlier, Alec's six siblings are all living with him and his parents at the time the Census was conducted on June 19, 1921: the oldest child is Barbara, 24, who worked as a shop assistant for A. Dewar Rattray, a wine merchant; next is Elspeth, 22, employed as a shop assistant for a baker called W. Hubbard Limited; and the 3rd daughter, Jane Ann, 20 years old, was also a shop assistant, working for a news agent called A. Templeton; Alec was the next oldest child at 17, and then came his three younger brothers, all listed as "scholars" (students): William is 12, John is 10, and Andrew is 6. It's also worth noting that the parents and oldest daughter Barbara are listed in the Census as having been born in Aberdeen, while all the other kids were born in Glasgow.
The next we see Alexander Miller in the official records is 29 November 1924 when he boarded the S.S. Columbia and immigrated to the United States, arriving ten days later in Ellis Island on December 9th en route to his final destination in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On the passenger manifest for the S.S. Columbia, Alexander is listed as 20 years old, single, and his occupation is "Motor Mechanic." It also lists his mother, Mrs. Elspet Miller of 13 Church Street in Partick, Glasgow, as "The name and complete address of nearest relative or friend in country from whence alien came." Alexander was also traveling with his sister Christine Alice (Kelso), age 30, and her two children (Alec's niece and nephew) Elsie, age 7, and James, age 3. According to oral family history, when Alec stepped off the ship at Ellis Island and saw snow on the ground he said, "Oh no, what have I done." Also, shown below is a photo of Alec Miller's daughter Sandra in 1994 standing outside Alec's last residence in Scotland (13 Church Street in Glasgow) before he immigrated to the U.S. 70 years earlier.
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| S.S. Columbia ship manifest, November 1924 |
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| Alec's daughter Sandra outside his last residence in Scotland |
At just 26 years old, Alexander was officially head of the Miller family household. According to the 1930 Census, living with Alexander in Cambridge, MA at 174 Putnam Ave were his mother Elspet (60), a widow; two of his sisters, Elspet (30) and Janeann ("Nann") (29), both single; and his three younger brothers William (21), John (19), and Andrew (10), all single. The family was paying $35 per month in rent, and they had a radio set (that was one of the census questions). Alexander's occupation was listed as "mechanic," and the industry in which he worked was "automobile" (per oral family history, Alexander's first job in the US was with Mack Truck). His two sisters were "cementers" working in a rubber factory, while his brother William was a "plumber's helper" working in a plumber's shop, and John worked as a "machinist" in a rubber factory. One of the questions on the census was whether a person "Attended school or college any time since Sept 1, 1929." And while it's not surprising that the response for Andrew (10 years old) was 'yes,' it's curious that the responses for both Alexander (26) and his brother William (21) were also 'yes.'
The "rubber factory" mentioned in the 1930 census that Alexander's siblings Elspet, Janeann, and John worked for was the Hood Rubber Company in Watertown, MA (source: oral family history). The Hood Company produced rubber footwear, gloves, floor tiles, battery boxes, and a variety of hard rubber and plastic-coated products. By the 1920s, the Hood Rubber Company employed 10,000 men and women, and the tire division was making 35,000 tires a day and the footwear division over 70,000 pairs of shoes daily -- ranked first in New England and third in the United States (source: Massachusetts Collection Online). Photos from the old Hood Rubber Company in Watertown MA can be found at this link:
Hood Rubber Company
The 1930 census also asked if a person had immigrated to the United States, and if so, what their naturalization status was. There were 4 different codes that the census taker could use to fill in this column of the census based on a person's response: Pa, Al, Na, or Nr. "Pa" stands for “papers filed," which means the person had begun the naturalization process; "Al" is an abbreviation for “Alien,” meaning that the individual had not begun the process of naturalization, however, it was not a requirement for an immigrant to naturalize in the United States, and some people never went through the process; "Na" indicates someone who has already been formally “naturalized” and become a US citizen; and finally, "NR" stands for “Not Reported,” meaning the person did not give their naturalization status. For the 1930 census, the Millers responded to the naturalization question as follows: Alexander and his sisters Elspet and Janeann responded as "Pa" which means their naturalization had officially begun, while his mother Elspet and three brothers William, John, and Andrew also were marked as "Ai" which means their naturalization process had not yet begun. The monthly rental cost for their apartment was $35.
Alexander Miller was married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Swan, also from Scotland, in 1931 in Cambridge, MA. After only 10 months of marriage Mary Swan (Miller) died on 19 January 1932 (Alexander's 28th birthday) from a "pulmonary embolism" during childbirth "following delivery of a premature living child." That child was his daughter Marilyn. And as often happened during those times for a widower, Marilyn ended up being raised by other family members - Alexander's sisters Nann (Janeann), Elsie, and brother Bill. On 15 March 1935 Alexander Miller, now a widower, married Alma Germaine Tremblay. Alexander and Alma had two daughters, Sandra, and Nancy. As a side note, here is Alexander's and Alma's hotel receipt for $5 at the Statler Hotel in Boston for their honeymoon:
At 95 years old Alexander decided he had finally worked enough in his long life so he retired from his job as the church sexton. And considering that he no longer had a job that he needed to drive to, Alexander voluntarily gave up his driver's license that same year.
The 1930 census also asked if a person had immigrated to the United States, and if so, what their naturalization status was. There were 4 different codes that the census taker could use to fill in this column of the census based on a person's response: Pa, Al, Na, or Nr. "Pa" stands for “papers filed," which means the person had begun the naturalization process; "Al" is an abbreviation for “Alien,” meaning that the individual had not begun the process of naturalization, however, it was not a requirement for an immigrant to naturalize in the United States, and some people never went through the process; "Na" indicates someone who has already been formally “naturalized” and become a US citizen; and finally, "NR" stands for “Not Reported,” meaning the person did not give their naturalization status. For the 1930 census, the Millers responded to the naturalization question as follows: Alexander and his sisters Elspet and Janeann responded as "Pa" which means their naturalization had officially begun, while his mother Elspet and three brothers William, John, and Andrew also were marked as "Ai" which means their naturalization process had not yet begun. The monthly rental cost for their apartment was $35.
Later in that year, on 29 December 1930, Alexander Miller received his US Citizenship. Here is a copy of his certificate:
Alexander Miller was married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Swan, also from Scotland, in 1931 in Cambridge, MA. After only 10 months of marriage Mary Swan (Miller) died on 19 January 1932 (Alexander's 28th birthday) from a "pulmonary embolism" during childbirth "following delivery of a premature living child." That child was his daughter Marilyn. And as often happened during those times for a widower, Marilyn ended up being raised by other family members - Alexander's sisters Nann (Janeann), Elsie, and brother Bill. On 15 March 1935 Alexander Miller, now a widower, married Alma Germaine Tremblay. Alexander and Alma had two daughters, Sandra, and Nancy. As a side note, here is Alexander's and Alma's hotel receipt for $5 at the Statler Hotel in Boston for their honeymoon:
By the 1940 Census (see below), Alexander was 36 years old and living at 23 Columbus Ave in Somerville MA as the head of the household with his wife Alma, age 28, and his daughter Sandra, age 3. The rental cost of their apartment was $32 per month, and Alex is listed as an auto mechanic working for the "Street Railway" (more information about the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway company can be found at this link: Street Railway). The 1940 Census also had a column identifying where the person lived as of 1 April 1935, and it listed Alexander and Alma as having lived in Watertown (daughters Sandra and Nancy hadn't been born yet).
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| 1940 Census for Somerville, MA |
In 1943, Alexander was issued a War Rations card. According to information obtained through a University of Delaware website, the War Ration Book No.3 was distributed nationwide on 20 May 1943 and was valid until September 1943. Per another website called ncpedia.org, these ration books covered all the foods that were being rationed to include sugar, coffee, red meat, dairy products, and fats. And to make sure ration books were not borrowed or sold, each book included the name, age, sex, weight, and height of the person to whom it was issued. Furthermore,to prevent hoarding, ration stamps had expiration dates.
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| War Ration Book issued to Alexander Miller in 1943 |
Alexander eventually left the Street Railway and took a job as a mechanic with the MBTA where he worked until his retirement in the 1960s. For most of his adult life Alexander lived on Columbus Ave in Somerville, which also happened to be a conveniently short walk away from his job at the MBTA. First he and his wife Alma and two daughters Sandra and Nancy lived at #23 Columbus Ave, then #21, next to #19, and finally Alexander and Alma moved across the street to #18 living upstairs from his daughter Nancy and son-in-law Vinny.
Always a dapper dresser, here is a photo of Alexander later in life, taken at his daughter Sandra's and son-in-law Bill's house in Burlington MA in 1994 when he was 90 years old (note the hat at the ready by his left elbow).
At 95 years old Alexander decided he had finally worked enough in his long life so he retired from his job as the church sexton. And considering that he no longer had a job that he needed to drive to, Alexander voluntarily gave up his driver's license that same year.
Alexander 'Alec' Miller passed away on June 5th, 2004 at the age of 100.
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