Martin Vanburen Miller was born on Jan. 13, 1844 in Campell Township, Warrick Co., Indiana. Being the son of Horatio Nelson Miller and Letty McGill of Kentucky, believed to be his mother. If this is true, then Letty died after Jan, 13, 1844 and before his father, Horatio, married a second time on Nov. 22, 1846 to Emeline Condit, the widow of John D. Igleheart. Martin was a younger brother to, Volumnia, Jesse, Sally, Matilda, and James N. at the time of their father's second marriage.

On June 8, 1865 in Greene Co., Indiana, Martin married Louisa Jane Hinman, widow of Jasper Boone Waggoner and mother of Mary Rachel Waggoner. Born in Indiana into this union were, William Smith, Adaline, Edmond Carlton, & Emaline J. born on Sept. 27, 1872. Martin's migrated to Bell Co., Texas with his family before the birth of daughter, Annie Bell, on Feb. 14, 1875. At or about the same time frame, Louisa's parents, Isaac Hudson Hinman & Mary "Polly" Grissom, with their family also migrated to Texas and settled in the Stampede community in Bell Co., TX. A. L. Harris and wife deeded land to Isaac and Mary Hinman on July 16, 1874, Bell Co., TX, Deed Vol. #Y Page #4. This was the "home place" that was sold by Isaac's heirs in Nov. 1904. For some strange reason it seemed that Mary Waggoner remained in the household of her Hinman grandparents.

Martin moved his family to Dallas sometime between 1892 and 1893. He sold his last piece of property in Bell Co. in 1892 and purchased his first property in Dallas in 1893. The 1898-1899 Dallas Street Directory list Martin V. Miller as a blacksmith at 1055 So. Central Ave. and living at 1053 So. Central. The 1901 thru 1904 Dallas Street Directory lists Martin V. Miller as a grocer at 321 Wendelkin St. and Huguley (southwest corner) and living at the same address. The 1905 thru 1906 Dallas Street Directory lists Martin V. Miller as a grocer located at 398 Holmes St. and living in the rear of the store.

Martin had a horse drawn hack that was not only used for transportation for the family but was used of transporting his produce from his garden site located in the Trinity River bottom land area back to his store located in a room in his home. The hack had flaps down each side with benches placed along each side. The flaps could be raised and tied back in order to display his rows of produce on the side benches. Martin would get up early each morning and drive his fully stocked hack to various street corner destination to be there ahead of the other farmers. This was pre-downtown Dallas Farmer's Market. Son, Isaac, would used the family's horse when he drove a horse drawn street car in and around the Dallas area. It was also in Dallas when Isaac was driving a wagon fully loaded with hay when somewhere near downtown Dallas his younger brother, Charley, who was about 11 or 12 years old, fell from the top of the loaded wagon and landed on his head onto the hard street pavement. Charley's fall caused permanent brain damage.

Martin and Louisa were still living in Dallas on Nov. 1904 when papers were witnessed following the death of her father, Isaac Hudson Hinman. Martin owned a number of pieces of property in the Dallas area and several of his children and their families lived in them at one time or another.

On Sept, 1906, Martin purchased a Section of land from the Sanger brothers of Dallas located in Stephens Co., TX off of Hwy. 207 to the south and 717 out of Ranger on the west side of the property & this was located nearest to the La Casa Community. Granddaughter, Lucille Miller O'Brien, daughter of Edmond Carlton, said her family's house was partly in Stephens Co. and the rest was in Eastland Co. Daughter-in-law,Jessie Pearl, wife of Isaac Nelson, said that the families moved onto said property on Jan. 1, 1907. Several of Martin and Louisa's children also made this move to west Texas. I think there might have been a house or two on the property. The family with the most children moved into these houses. The remaining families lived in a great big tent until more houses could be built. Louisa sectioned off the tent so each family would have some privacy. She even went to the trouble of wall papering these tent partitions. It was a weekly chore for the men to load their barrels on the wagon and travel to La Casa to get their drinking water. The property had a well but the water wasn't fit for human consumption but okay for the livestock. The men had returned with the barrels of drinking water when Louisa looked out and noticed that one of the cows had knocked off the lid of one of the barrels and was drinking from it. In total disgust, Louisa said "I just wouldn't care if the whole place burned to the ground". All of the families were settled in their homes with the exception of Martin & Louisa and their son Charlie and Ike & Pearl and their son Hubert. The very next morning, daughter in law, Josie, wife of William Smith, was washing her family's clothes outside at the wash pot site which had a hot roaring fire beneath it. A hard gust of wind came up and blew some hot cinders onto the dry grass and quickly the fire got out of control. Everyone was fighting the fire at the tent when they noticed that the fire had also gotten to the almost completed home of Martin & Louisa. Martin & Louisa's new home would have been finished the very next day. Everything that Martin & Louisa and Ike and Pearl owned burned up along with the tent. All that was left was the clothes on their backs. Pearl said that their 5 gallon sealed buckets of lard was completely gone and the buckets were clean as a whistle. In a few days, several wagon loads of people, food, furniture and building supplies started arriving from out of no where. They had heard of the Miller family's tragedy and they had come to help their neighbor rebuild their home. In no time at all Martin & Louisa's house was rebuilt and ready to move into.

Martin passed away on May 28, 1909 and is buried at Macedonia Cemetery, Lacasa, Stephens Co., TX.