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Levi Alfred
Miner |
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| Levi Alfred Miner |
Levi Albert (or "Alfred") Miner was born on April 5, 1854 at Mauch Chunk (Jim Thorpe), Carbon County, PA, the son of Levi and Catherine (Kiefer) Miner. He parlayed a successful newspaper publishing career in Philadelphia into a life of publishing and public service as a legislator in Milwaukee.
At the age of 10, Levi "felt that he was old enough to warrant effort on this part to earn his own living, and accordingly he left the parental roof and went to Philadelphia, where he secured employment in various newspaper offices, as a printer," said the 1900 book Freemasonry in Wisconsin, in which he was featured in a full-page profile.
With the experience he received at the case," in the Quake City, he started out as a traveling journeyman, and secured employment in various cities. The printing office is a good school for young men, and when the instruction received therein is supplemented by a knowledge of locations and of men and events, secured by travel and through employment along the route, the result is an education of a practice nature that broadens the mind and makes men more useful than they would otherwise have been, wherever they finally locate. Many a "jour." printer who traveled through the country in early manhood settled down in after years and became a conspicuous member of the community in which he finally made his home.
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| Historical Record of Wyoming Valley |
There, he "entered a newspaper office in Philadelphia, where he learned all branches of the printing craft...," said the South Milwaukee Journal. In the late 1870s, he founded his own newspaper known as the White Haven Journal. Circa 1883, he was employed as manager of the Bryn Mawr News in Montgomery County, PA, with Frank A. Hower as editor. According to an advertisement the News ran in the American Newspaper Catalogue that year, its circulation was "guaranteed to be larger than any other newspaper published on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Philadelphia to Lancaster... devoted to first-class home, literature, local, and general news, agriculture, etc."
After "some time spent as a traveling journeyman, he located in Milwaukee in 1884 and accepted a position in the mechanical department on the Evening Wisconsin. He was also foreman of Yenowin's News of the same city, for about five years."
In Hillsboro, Montgomery County, IL, at the age of 31, Levi married Sallie Evelyn Russell ( ? - ? ), daughter of T.J. Russell. The wedding took place on June 23, 1885.
They apparently did not reproduce.
The couple immediately established their home in Milwaukee, remaining there for seven years, until moving to South Milwaukee in January 1893.
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| Wisconsin Blue Book, 1901 |
Levi and his father in law founded their own newspaper in January 1893. They named it the South Milwaukee Journal, and ran it under the company name of "Russell & Miner." Said the Journal, "From the first Journal, under the able management and judicious editorial work of the proprietors, has been a recognized influence for the public welfare of the city. Mr. Miner never hesitated to take a decisive stand on the side which he believed to be right and the paper has contributed in no small degree to the prosperity of the city...." Added the Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin, Levi's "push and persistent efforts have made it one of the liveliest semi-weekly papers in Wisconsin. His efforts have also had much influence in making the young city solidly Republican."
He was a member of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias lodges as well as the Milwaukee Typographical Union No. 23 and the Wisconsin State Press Association.
As a strong Republican, Levi was named chairman in 1899 of the Republican City Committee of South Milwaukee. The following year, he was elected as a representative of the Third Assembly District. He received 2,363 votes against his nearest opponent's 1,590 votes, said to have been the largest majority ever received for a political candidate in that jurisdiction. Said the Journal, he "served as a worthy member to the entire satisfaction of his constituents." A short biography and photograph were published in the 1901 edition of the Wisconsin Blue Book.
In late April 1904, Levi developed a boil on his body which led to a deeper, more serious infection. It "was extremely painful and confined him to the house" of his sister Mary Beidleman, said the Journal. "Other complications set in, and, notwithstanding the best medical care and the constant attendance of his wife and sister and a trained nurse his spirit took its flight...."
His remains were laid to rest following a funeral held in the First Congregational Church of South Milwaukee. His obituary originally was published in his own newspaper, the South Milwaukee Journal, and then reprinted in the Wilkes-Barre (PA) Daily Record. The obituary was reproduced in the 1905 book, The Historical Record of Wyoming Valley (PA), Vol. XIII, edited by F.C. Johnson.
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Copyright © 2011-2012, 2016 Eugene F. Podraza and Mark A. Miner. |