Lewis Miller (July 24, 1829 – February 17, 1899) was an American businessman and philanthropist who made a fortune in the late 19th century as inventor of the first combine (harvester-reaper machine) with the blade mounted efficiently in front of the driver, to the side of the horse(s), rather than pulled behind. His daughter Mina (1865–1947) married fellow Ohio inventor

Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

on February 24, 1886.

Biography

Miller was born in

Greentown, Ohio Greentown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census. It is part of the '' Canton-Massillon, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area''. History Greentown was platted in 1816. T ...

. He devoted much of his wealth to public service and to charitable causes associated with the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

, and was the inventor of the "

Akron Plan The Akron Plan was a scheme for the design of churches and other religious buildings that housed Sunday schools. It was characterized by a set of wedge-shaped classrooms that radiated from the direction of a central superintendent's platform. D ...

" for Sunday schools, a building layout with a central assembly hall surrounded by small classrooms, a configuration Miller conceived with Methodist minister

John Heyl Vincent John Heyl Vincent (February 23, 1832 – May 9, 1920) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and was educated at Lewisburg (Pa.) Academy and at Wesleyan Institute, Newark, N. J. He ent ...

and architect

Jacob Snyder Jacob Snyder (March 12, 1823 – December 29, 1890) American architect best known as a designer of churches as well as one of the inventors of the Akron Plan. Early years Born in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Snyder learned the basics of ...

. The arrangement accommodated 1) a collective opening exercise for all the children; 2) small radiating classrooms for graded instruction in the uniform lesson of the day; and 3) a general closing exercise in the central assembly area.

collaborating was baptist layman B.F. Jacobs devised a system to encourage Sunday school work, and a committee was established to provide the International Uniform Lesson Curriculum, also known as the "Uniform Lesson Plan". By the 1800s, 80% of all new members were introduced to the church through Sunday school. In 1874, interested in improving the training of Sunday school teachers for the Uniform Lesson Plan, Miller and Vincent worked together again to found what is now the

Chautauqua Institution The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown in the Western Southern Tier of New York State. Established in 1874, the ...

on the shores of Chautauqua Lake, New York. Miller died in 1899 of

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

and was buried in Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio.Vigil, Vicki Blum (2007). ''Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio: Stones, Symbols & Stories''. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers.

References

External links

*
Biography at National Inventors Hall of Fame
*
1899 film of a ''Buckeye Mower (Reaper)'' harvesting wheat in Queensland Australia
(link appears inactive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Lewis 1829 births 1899 deaths 19th-century American inventors 19th-century American philanthropists People from Stark County, Ohio Chautauqua Institution Methodists from Ohio Edison family Burials at Glendale Cemetery, Akron Philanthropists from Ohio Methodists from New York (state)

Biography

References

Further reading

External links