Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 998

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.4 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

G. A. Q. Miller papers, 1841-1985 (bulk: 1871-1892), Ms. Coll. 998, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1841-1895 (inclusive) and 1871-1892 (bulk)

Creator:

Miller, George A. Q.

Form:

Scrapbooks, Correspondence, Notes, and Clippings (information artifacts)

Abstract:

Captain George A. Q. Miller was a Civil War veteran and a special agent in the United States Post Office Department during the 1870s. This collection, consisting of correspondence, a photograph, and a scrapbook of clippings and notes documents Miller's life, his career in the postal service and as an early proponent of the Civil Service Commission, and his uncertain position within the post-Civil War federal government.

Captain George A. Q. Miller was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Related by marriage to Ulysses S. Grant, (his mother was cousin to Grant's wife,) he served under General McClellan during the American Civil War, participating in the Peninsular Campaign where he became very ill. After his recovery, he was appointed purchasing agent for the Mississippi River Squadron (also known as the Western Gunboat Flotilla or the Mississippi Flotilla).

Following the war, he became a postal service worker and was appointed, in 1868, by Grant as special agent of the Fifth division, Post Office Department, which was headquartered in Chicago and consisted of seven western states and the Indian territories. Newspaper clippings of the time state that he was "the originator of the covered mail wagon system," (p. 334), designed to reduce postal theft. He served as special agent from 1869 to 1873. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed Miller's home and his possessions. In 1872, Miller was accused of drunken and disorderly behavior and efforts were made to remove him from his position. In 1873, Senator John A. Logan and Charles B. Farwell, two politicians from Illinois, along with Postmaster General J. H. J. Creswell, "wanted [him] out," and Miller lost his position.

In 1877, he conducted the first-ever "civil service system" examination of applicants for a Postmastership in Victoria, Knox County, Illinois, with questions of his own writing (see folder 3), which resulted in P.A. Robinson being the first postmaster appointed under the rules. According to an interview with Miller (see folder 14), Rutherford B. Hayes "sent for [Miller] after he was inaugurated, and [Miller] went to Washington and stayed there five weeks with the promise of the first appointment in the bureau to be created" for the civil service, but such a position did not materialize. Letters to and from W.K. Rodgers, secretary to Hayes (located in folder 4), document this disappointing turn of events in 1878. Miller remained interested in the civil service examination and commission, collecting information and corresponding with influential citizens regarding the topic.

In 1881, Miller was a candidate for surveyor of the Port of Philadelphia and was serving as secretary of the National Mining Exchange. Prior to 1881, he was one of the five founders of the original Philadelphia Minding Exchange. During the 1880s and into the early 1890s, Miller focused his attentions on acquiring a pension from the government as a result of his illness contracted during his service in the Civil War. He also spent considerable time inquiring in regards to the existence of a patent for the covered mail wagons.

This collection documents G. A. Q. Miller's career in the postal service and as an early proponent of the Civil Service Commission. The collection is arranged in two series, I. Correspondence and photograph and II. Scrapbook (and loose items removed from volume). The correspondence is largely arranged in alphabetical order and includes letters regarding the postal service, letters of recommendation, information about the first civil service examination which was written and administered by Miller, and an expected position with a to-be-created civil service department during the Hayes administration. Three groups of letters, as organized by Miller himself, were retained as units rather than being filed alphabetically by author of the letters. These letters address the existence of a patent for covered mail wagons, the acquisition of a pension for Miller which was necessary because of an illness contracted during his Civil War service that made work in the 1880s impossible, and the Post Office Department's effort to remove him from office in 1872. The letters in this series are often emotional and almost all contain notes in pencil by Miller which comment on the contents of the letters. There is also one cabinet card photograph of Miller in 1894.

The scrapbook which is titled by Miller as "original papers relative to civil service reform and papers and drafts of the original covered mail wagons used by the government of the United States, also original letters of two presidents and other prominent persons," contains mostly newspaper clippings and notes by Miller. The letters from presidents and other prominent persons were presumably removed when the volume was gifted to the University of Pennsylvania and can now be found in the first series. This is apparently the second of Miller's scrapbooks, the first of which was destroyed in the Chicago fire in 1871. As a result, this book largely documents Miller's life and career after that date. Researchers will find a number of clippings that document Miller's career and his interests in the postal service (particularly in relation to theft of mail, "fast mail service," dead letters, and box rents and drawers), gas and fuel burners, politics (particularly in relation to electoral votes), the Civil Service Commission, river and dam improvement, and to a very limited degree, the Civil War, Grant and Lee, and reconstruction. There are also a few miscellaneous clippings that do not seem to relate to Miller's more well-documented interests. Items that were loose in the scrapbook have been removed for preservation and placed in folders following the scrapbook. Of particular interest may be the clipping of the interview with Miller regarding Ulysses S. Grant and his administration as well as the unjust manner in which Miller believes himself to have been treated by the Grant and Hayes administrations (folder 14).

The collection provides a fascinating (albeit one-sided) glimpse into a government worker in the late 1800s, who appears to have felt maligned on many occasions by his colleagues and superiors. Clearly Miller contributed to several important changes in the American federal system, in particular the postal service and the Civil Service Commission; however, it is also clear from the material and especially Miller's penciled notes that he did not feel appreciated for his efforts. Some of his letters and most of his notes are rather antagonistic and bitter, but it is important to note that Miller clearly felt pride in his accomplishments and felt strongly that he had, "through the grace of God been the instrument to do some good to my countrymen," (folder 2).