Person Record

Metadata

Name

Miller, Mary

Born

10/20/1886

Birthplace

Owen Sound, Grey County

Places of residence

1584 7th Ave. East, Owen Sound (place of residence)

Titles & honors

Mary Miller Park (Brooke area of Owen Sound)

Father

Thomas B. Miller

Mother

Emma Miller (nee Lister)

Nationality

Canadian

Notes

Mary Miller worked as a kindergarten teacher in Owen Sound. She taught at Dufferin School for a while. In the early 1920s, she worked at Alexandra School. Teacher's wages were not very good in Owen Sound at that time, and she was one of the speakers at a 1920s event discussing this.
Mary was also interested in athletic pursuits. She was a tennis player c. 1924, and also served as Secretary for the tennis association at Owen Sound. She also directed girl's baseball clubs in town, e.g. Circle Bar, Victoria, Chair Factory, O'Say's, and Wawanekas. She also helped organize a track and field competition. She also helped ladies' softball leagues in town that were church-based. She managed the Church of Christ Disciples team.

The Wawanekas (also known as the "Wawas") was a female softball team. Mrs. Helen Knaggs (nee ____ ) was a member), as was Bunny Clark (Alice Leone Clark, nee Keeling). The Wawas came within a game of almost clinching the all-Ontario championship in 1929.

In the 1920s, Mary Miller was part of an orchaestra. In 1919, she had joined a women's Mandolin & Guitar Club that started up in June of that year. She also was involved with a Young People's Society at the Church of Christ Disciples church.

Miss Miller for many years, along with Miss Frances Fleming, another teacher, would visit the children's ward of the Owen Sound General & Marine Hospital and entertained the children there. In 1956, she was an appointed member of the Board of Trustees for the hospital, representing the Local Council of Women.

At the end of the Second World War, the O.S.C.V.I. War Memorial Fund Committee was set up. It was a committee of five: (Mrs. Nora Merritt of the Owen Sound Board of Education), Miss Mary Miller, Bill Dane, C.C. Middlebro and John M. Hinchley (an OSCVI teacher).

"Mary Miller Park" in the Brooke area of Owen Sound is named after her.

Her paternal grandfather, George Scott Miller, moved to Owen Sound, Canada West in 1856. His wife was Eliza. They were formerly at Niagara-on-the-Lake. He became Owen Sound's Harbour Master.
Her grandfather's residence (George S. Miller) is described in Ruth Cathcart's book about local architecture. It was a cottage-style building, constructed in the 1850s. When she was young, Mary resided there. Her grandmother, Eliza Miller (nee Stephens) had passed away in 1890. In the 1901 census of Owen Sound, the family is listed:
George S. Miller, b. April 22, 1812, 88 years old, emigrated in 1819 from Ireland, Presbyterian.
Thomas B. Miller, born Sept. 3, 1840 at Michigan, Disciples Church member
Emma Miller (wife of Thomas), b. May 17, 1850 in Ontario, of English origin
Herman Miller (son), born Sept. 2, 1873, age 27
Fred Miller (son), b. Dec. 29, 1884, age 16
Mary Miller (daughter), b. Oct. 20, 1886, age 14
Kenneth Miller (son), b. March 17, 1891, age 10.

Mary's maternal grandparents were Rev. Charles J. and ____ Lister. Rev. Lister was a Church of Disciples clergyman, who often was a circuit rider. The Listers resided at Owen Sound as well.

Occupation

Kindergarten Teacher / Schoolteacher / Educator
Tennis Athlete
Supporter of sports teams
Musician
Local Council of Women (c. 1956)

Publications

Cathcart, Ruth, HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION (shows the Miller house)
Croft, Melba, THE HISTORY OF OWEN SOUND 1921, pp. 37, 50, 83, 107
Croft, Melba, GROWTH OF A COUNTY TOWN (mentions Mary Miller working at Dufferin School, p. 156, p. __mentions Mandolin & Guitar club)
Croft, Melba, RENEWAL OF A CANADIAN PORT (OWEN SOUND ON THE GEORGIAN BAY), 1993, pp. 27, 33, 52, 129, 212, 214, 325, 326.

Relationships

Paternal grandparents: Mr. and Mrs. George S. and Eliza Miller
Maternal grandparents: Rev. and Mrs. Charles J. Lister.
Brother: Herman Miller
Brother: Fred Miller
Brother: Kenneth Miller