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Thieron Banks Miller

Thieron circa 1910

(standing next to father Frank, mother Iva holding Arthur)

First name alternately spelled Theron, Thieron and Theiron

 

Born: 31 Oct 1906, Fort Atkinson, WI

 

Parents: Frank D. Miller and Iva M. Banks

 

Siblings: Arthur Lee,  Nelly Mae,  Ira,  Alice L.

 

Marriage: 3/19/1925 to Gwendolyn Sweeney

 

Children: Jacquelyn Ann and Theiron Gerald (Gerald William)

 

Death: 29 Aug 1930 Janesville, WI in an airplane crash. Buried Oakhill Cemetary, Janesville, WI Plot 309-09-4

 

Newspaper article about the crash:

From the Janesville Gazette Saturday, August 30th, 1930:
“PLANE CRASHES”
Student Pilot and Pal Die; Trapped as Machine Burns

An airplane crash in a corn field four miles north of the city on Hwy 26 early Friday night, resulted in the death of an unlicensed pilot and his friend and the total destruction of a borrowed plane.
The dead are: William E. Hinkle, 28, student pilot, 923 North Bluff St, an employee of the Wisconsin Power and Light Company, a widower who leaves an eight year-old son.
Thieron Miller, 23, 921 Benton Ave, an employee of the Wisconsin Electric Sales Company, who leaves a wife and two small children.
The plane, a Velie Monocoupe, was owned by Harold Van Slyck, an employee of the Fisher Body Corporation and a local pilot.
From the time Hinkle took off from the Janesville City Airport shortly after 6 p.m. until the fatal crash about 7 o’clock, he had been seen flying low, eye witnesses stated.
                    “Motor Had Dead Sound”
After taking off, the plane had been flown as far north as Milton where many residents had been attracted by the hum of the motor. It described several curves over the village and then returned to the vicintiy of the airport. A short distance from the scene of the fatal crash, witnesses said, the motor appeared to have a “strangely  dead” sound and a few minutes later they saw it reel to the earth.
Hinkle at the controls had circled over the airport and flown north to the fork in the Milton road when he attempted to make a turn. The ship failed to straighten out as it made the bank and nose-dived to the ground plunging into a corn field on the Taylor farm occupied by Walter Cullen.

         “Bursts into Flames”
Horror-stricken at the sight of the falling plane farmers and motorists who saw the sickening spectacle hurried to the scene of the crash as soon as they realized what had happened. the plane burst into flames before anyone could reach it.
A fire extinguisher in the barn on the farm was dragged to the burning plane and a little stream of chemical was futilely played into the blazing mass by Ward Cullen, son of the occupant of the farm. Attempts were made to throw dirt on the ship but as no shovels were available the attempt to smother the fire by hand was unsuccessful. Attempts of spectators to pull the tail of the ship over so as to enable them to get at the bodies likewise were in vain.

In the early twilight only one of the bodies was discernible in the wreckage but as the intensity of the fire subsided the second could be seen.

          “Lights Play on Wreckage”
  In response to a call, the new fire truck and a squad of firemen of the Janesville fire department under the command of Capt. Frank Murphy arrived and the blaze was extinguished just as darkness fell. Under the search lights of the fire department, the two bodies were clearly visible in the wreckage. One was at the bottom on the ground while the other lay on top with the legs and arms extended as if the victim had tried to back out of the door of the cabin.
  The plane itself was a badly twisted charred hulk. Everything inflammable had burned and the framework had nothing of the appearance of a plane. The ship did not bury itself in the ground to any great extent.
 Not notified until some time after the crash, Sheriff Charles R. Garey and Coroner Lynn Whaley arrived at the Taylor farm shortly after the fire had been extinguished. Bolt cutters, hack saws and other tools were necessary to get the charred bodies from the wreckage. The bodies of the occupants of the plane immediatley were taken to a Janesville undertaker.

           “Had Owners Consent”
Only a student flyer was at the airport when Hinkle and Miller took the monocoupe from the hangar. Van Slyck had given Hinkle permission to use the plane in order to get in the necessary hours to obtain a license. The owner, however, was at Delavan visiting friends at the time of the crash and arrived in Janesville when notified. The plane was in excellent condition Friday afternoon, Van Slyck said. It was not insured.
“The plane was flying extremely slow”, said Osborn McDonald, an employee of the Chevrolet Motor company, who was driving near the fork at the time of the accident and who saw the plane fall. ‘they seemed to be going smoothly and had started to make a turn when all of a sudden they started to twist and turn nose-down to the ground.”
  Mr. McDonald together with Mr. Cullen and his son, Elmo McClay, a farm hand, and two Gazette news staff men who likewise saw the plane fall while they were on the Milton road, were among the first to reach the blazing mass.

          “Had Student’s Permit Only”
   Hinkle held a student’s permit, according to Herman Krause, manager of the Janesville City airport from which Hinkle had been doing his flying. Under no consideration is a student pilot allowed to take up passengers, Mr. Krause stated, but at the time the plane was taken up there were no officials at the airport. Mr Krause was forced down near Clinton while on a trip and Chief Pilot Fred Jaberjahn had gone to get him.
   Miller had been in the habit of going to the airport daily, neighbors said Friday night. Before he left Friday, Mrs. Miller pleaded with him not to go up, they stated.

Thieron Miller was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Miller, 623 S. Main St.  He was born Oct 31, 1906 in Fort Atkinson. The family moved to Janesville 12 years ago, and he attended schools here. He was married March 19, 1925 to Miss Gwendolyn Sweeney, Edgerton and they were the parents of two small children, Jacqueline, 3 1/2 and Theiron Gerald, 1 year old. Mr Miller was employed at the Wisconsin Electric Sales for the past six years. Besides his wife and children, he leaves two brothers, Arthur and Ira; and a sister, Alice; and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Miller. Funeral services for Thieron Miller will be held at 2 pm Sunday at the Whaley-Overton funeral home, with the Rev. R. Burton Sheppard of the Methodist church officiating. burial will be in Oakhill cemetery. pallbearers are Frank Kennedy, D.J. Marcus, J.M. Campbell, John King, Paul Sweeney and Gene Harvey.
Death cetificate: #17666 Janesville WI Rock Co.
Thierson Miller, Age 23  Born 10/31/06
Father born in NB
Mother Iva Banks, born WI
Died of 4th degree burns and skull fracture. Buried in Oakhill Cemetery, Janesville, WI (Plot 309-09-4)

 

Census:

1930 WI Census, Rock Co, Janesville: Rented for $30 month. Parents of both husband and wife born in WI. Owned a radio. Current age 23, married at age 19. Worked as an electrician at “Electric Shop”

 

1920 WI Census, Rock Co Janesville, Terrace St.
Frank Miller, head of house, renting, age 40, married, able to read, write and speak English, born Nebraska, Father born Indiana, mother born WI. Employed as cook in cafe.
Iva, wife age 38, able to read, write and speak English. Born in WI, both parents born WI
Theiron, son, age 13, single
Arthur, son, age 10, Nelly, daughter, age 7, Alice, daughter, age 1 9/12, Ira, son, age 3

 

1910 WI Censu, Jefferson Co, Fort Atkinson:
Frank D. Miller, head of house, age 30, born Nebraska, Father born Indiana, mother born Indiana. Tinsmith, renting
Iva May, wife, age 28, born WI
Thieron B ?(not legible), age 3, born WI
Arthur lee, son, age 1 ?14/12, born WI
(note that Ira and Effie Banks lived a few houses down)

 

Misc:

In the Janesville High School Year Book through his freshman year (1923), lilely quit school after that as his name didn’t appear again.

Wife Gwendolyn never forgave Theiron for going up in the airplane after she begged him not to. She never spoke of him again, and changed her young son’s name from Theiron Gerald to Gerald William. Any pictures she may have had were likely destroyed. A picture appeared in the Gazette with his obituary, but was very blury and unreproducible. He did have a very large group picture in the Janesville High School yearbook in the early 20’s but his face was quite small and partially covered by another student.

 

Thieron is buried next to his little sister Nelly and mother Iva

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