Captain James Blaine Miller was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, on the 30th October 1883, the son of Thomas Cassius and Emma Jane Miller (née Lewis). His father was an attorney-at-law in Erie and the family home was at 9, Penn Buildings, there.
James Miller graduated from Oberlin College, Ohio, in June 1903, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and on 18th June 1903, he was appointed an aid in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. He was promoted to Assistant, on 1st September 1906, and during 12 years of service thereafter, he was employed chiefly on hydrographic and leveling work in various localities.
In 1904, he was engaged in surveys in Puerto Rico, in 1906. he was in command of the steamship Endeavor in the survey of Chesapeake Bay, and in the same year he
commanded the steamship Research in the Philippine Islands. In 1909, he was transferred to the command of the survey ship Fathomer, and in 1911, he returned to the United States of America to take command of the Patterson for surveying work in the Hawaiian Islands, and on the coast of Alaska. He remained in command of the Patterson until March 1915, after which he was granted leave to take a vacation in Europe, where he intended studying engineering at the University of Glasgow.
For his trans-Atlantic journey, he had booked passage on the Anchor Liner the S.S. Cameronia from New York to Glasgow, and leaving the headquarters of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington D.C. on 28th April 1915, he arrived by rail, in New York in time for her sailing to Liverpool. However, the liner was requisitioned by the British Admiralty at the last moment for war service, and her passengers and some of her crew were transferred to the Lusitania instead. Captain Miller was allocated a saloon room - with ticket No. 13431 - and once on board, he was escorted to room A33 which was under the personal supervision of First Class Bedroom Steward Charles Randall, who came from Gateacre, on the outskirts of Liverpool.
The Lusitania left her berth at Pier 54 in New York, just after mid-day on 1st May, following a delay from her original 10.00 a.m. schedule so that she could take on board passengers, cargo and some of the crew from the Anchor Lines vessel the S.S. Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had taken up from trade as a troop ship. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May 1915, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port. James Miller was one of its casualties of this action.
Bedroom Steward Charles Randall stated that a few minutes before the vessel sank, he observed Captain Miller divesting himself of his coat and vest and putting on his life jacket. He last saw Captain Miller going out on deck.
Immediately after the sinking, nothing having been heard of his death or survival, on 23rd May, the Cunard office in Queenstown received a letter from New York which simply asked: -
Lusitania: were remains saloon Captain James B Miller recovered?
At that time they were not, however, and it was not until July 1915, that his body was recovered from the sea, having been washed up at Rineen in County Clare, about 200 miles around the coast from The Old Head of Kinsale, where the liner had foundered. As his was the 13th body recovered in that area, it was given number 13 as a reference number. It was badly decomposed, as can be imagined after two month’s immersion in the sea and there was no flesh left on the face, arms or legs! On 22nd July 1915, the body was buried in Ennistymon Workhouse Cemetery, in County Clare, as an unidentified person.
Before burial, however, documents were recovered from it, including a notebook with the address of a Mr. R. Harrington, of the Navy Pay Office in San Francisco, written inside. In reply to an enquiry from Cunard, Mr. Harrington, living at Shelbyville, Kentucky, was able state positively that the body found must have been that of James Miller, as he remembered the latter entering his own name and address in his notebook, shortly before
recognise another address in the book and identify some of the contents of the dead man’s pockets!
Following this identification, instructions were given to disinter what was left of James Miller’s corpse and on 4th December 1915, it was put on board the White Star liner Cymric for dispatch to his father in Erie. It was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Fairview, in Erie County, at a later date, where it lies today. The property taken from the corpse had already been sent to Mr. Miller on 11th October, having been put on board the Cunarder Saxonia, bound for New York, on 28th September. The property included a note book containing names and addresses, a whistle and six keys on a ring.
A contemporary report just after the sinking stated: -
Mr. Miller was one of the most active and efficient young officers of the Survey. Last summer he was in command of the Survey Steamer PATTERSON on the coast of Alaska which made a remarkable voyage of 1,600 miles to the rescue of the crew of the Revenue Cutter TAHOMA, wrecked on a hidden reef in the Behring (sic) Sea. The PATTERSON was the first vessel to start to the rescue of the TAHOMA, although two other vessels, the CORDOVA and the KODIAK, arrived at about the same time. For this service he was presented with a handsome medal by the rescued officers and crew of the TAHOMA. This voyage, undertaken late in the season, was attended with considerable risk, the PATTERSON being one of the old vessels that the Survey is now trying to replace. .....
He was a hard and indefatigable worker, devoted to his profession and during his 12 years of service completed a large amount of valuable work. His reports and descriptions were remarkably full, clear and concise. He maintained excellent discipline on the vessels under his command. Of a quiet and reserved disposition, he was much liked by those who knew him best. .....
A passenger on the LUSITANIA who survived was talking to Captain Miller when the torpedo struck the vessel. They had been looking at the shore of Ireland; both saw the torpedo, and when the shock came went to secure life belts. Miller remarked that the situation seemed desperate, and requested if he should not survive that his sister in Chicago be notified. They were separated in the confusion and shortly afterwards the vessel went down.
As well as his sister in Chicago, Mrs. Adena Miller Rich, James Miller also had a brother, Thomas C. Miller Jr., who in 1915 was a cadet in the service of The Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
The U.S. Consul at Queenstown, Wesley Frost, was personally acquainted with Captain Miller, and took particular interest in his case.
Bedroom Steward Charles Randall, who had looked after James Miller in saloon room A33, did survive the sinking and eventually made it back to his Gateacre home.
His parents later filed a claim for the loss of their son and his personal possessions in the sinking. They argued that, whereas James was not contributing to their support at the time of his death, he was planning to do so in the future. The Mixed Claims Commission agreed with their submission and awarded his parents, jointly, the sum of $15,000.00 for the loss of their son, and an additional sum of $3,650.00 for the loss of his personal belongings.
1900 U.S. Federal Census, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 236, Find a Grave, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/6-2, UniLiv D92/2/172, UniLiv. PR13/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Denise Deighton, James Maggs, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.