Edwin Lang Miller House - Table of Contents ................................ Nye Park- Table of Contents
History
- Edwin Lang Miller House
175
Nottingham Terrace, Buffalo, NY
1901   Country Club of Buffalo Before 1900 Source: Pan American Magazine "In
1889, the Country Club of Buffalo
was created and a clubhouse (designed
by E.B. Green) immediately constructed. It was a shingle-style
structure sited on land owned by Bronson Rumsey.
Although the CCB was established for broad social and recreational
purposes, it was first used for polo. The Buffalo Polo Club, founded in
1877 by Rumseys, Carys, and Scatcherds, et
al, was absorbed into the CCB at its inception. Other prominent
founders of the CCB included Samuel Spaulding
and Harry Hamlin.
Golf was added in 1894. ... Betweem 1889 and 1899, the clubhouse was a
lively scene of recreational and social acitivities among Buffalo's
elite families."
- Susan Eck, "The
Clubhouse with Three Lives" (online June 2018)
 The 1901 Pan-Am Women's Building Source: C.D.Arnold, the official photographer for the Pan-Am The
Country Club was used was used as the Pan-American Exposition's Women's
Building
 Park Club Source: TBHM publications C.
1905, Park Club members moved
the club - on rollers - to Nottingham
and Lincoln Parkway, the former site of the Pan-Am Honduras
Building. "For golf, the club had 9 holes adjacent to the
clubhouse and used, with maintenance payments to the city, the holes in
Delaware Park. Seven tennis courts were constructed along Nottingham
Terrace." -
Susan Eck, "The
Clubhouse with Three Lives" (online June 2018)
In December, 1928, the Park Club opened its new brick and stone English Gothic clubhouse on property in Williamsville - later called the Grover Cleveland Golf Course. The month before, the Dexter P. Rumsey Co., owners of the Park Club property site in North Buffalo, sold about seven acres to Edwin Lang Miller. He said that he would build a home for a member of his family and subdivide the rest for residential development. The old clubhouse was demolished for construction of the 12,000 square foot Tudor Revival mansion in 1929-33 now called the Miller Mansion. |
|
1929
This imposing
12,000-square-foot Onondaga
limestone mansion with Tudor
Revival details, was erected 1929-1933,
for Annie Lang Miller (1862-1932). She
was the daughter of brewer Gerhard Lang. Her
husband, Edwin George
Simon Miller, who had been president of the Lang Brewery and
the German-American Bank,
had died in 1915. In 2002, Randaccio sold the Miller mansion to Gerald W. Schaffer, Jr., an attorney, and his wife, Natalie who plan to return the building to a family residence. In 2004, the house was sold to Rick Snowden who added a fountain relocated to his front lawn from a Newport, RI mansion and a 3 car garage (Buffalo Rising). Sources:
|
|
On visiting the
birth
place of Mr Edwin Lang Miller of Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States
of America, earlier this Year, I was inspired to research and write an
article on this grand American fancier of yesteryear. Much has been penned on this legend over the years, but there is always something to learn about him that comes together as an in depth piece, creating a full article about the life and times of this great fancier and his birds, to record for and present to the next generation of interested people and fanciers alike. Edwin Lang Miller was the son of two extremely wealthy and leading business families in the City of Buffalo, in the far north- western corner of New York State. Langs The Langs were one of those families and indeed the maternal side of Edwin’s genealogy. The Lang family owned a family Brewery owned by Edwin’s Grand Father, Gerhard Lang. The original owner of the Brewery was Philip Born, and in 1862, Gerhard Lang married Philip’s daughter, Barbara Born and later through this union, took control and ownership of the business. When the Alcohol Prohibition Law arrived, Lang made decided to make cereal beverages and soft drinks, and it was noted that prior to this diversification of products, the Brewery produced on average 300,00 barrels of Beer. The Brewery operated from the 1840’s through till 1949. This was the largest single plant to ever operate in Buffalo’s history. Gerhard Lang was born in 1827 in Baden, Germany and married Barbara Born. Gerhard died in 1892 in Buffalo and his wife Barbara was born in Buffalo in 1843 and died in 1883. Their daughter, Annie Emma Lang also born in Buffalo in 1862 and passed away in 1932, the wife of Edwin G. S. Miller who was a native of Buffalo, born there in 1854 and passed away in 1915. Like the Lang’s, the Miller’s were also very prominent in the German -American citizens of Buffalo. Millers John Miller, a respected Ironware’s dealer came from Bavaria in 1834 and died in Buffalo in 1878, having a family of 4 sons of which Edwin G. S. Miller was one of them. Edwin first started working at the age of 16 as a Book Keeper for S. D. Colie and Son. After this he worked for George Urban and Son, Mill owners. In 1874, he managed to become a partner in this firm. In 1884, Gerhard Lang hired Edwin Miller, as a Brewery Manager and little did Edwin or Gerhard know at this time that they would become family to each other through the Lang & Miller marriage. Edwin G S Miller took over as President of the Brewery after his father in law passed away in 1892. Edwin was an extremely talented and successful businessman, who tripled the Breweries production, three fold. On a personal level the Miller’s were devout Catholics and one of the many Miller homes or should I say mansions, was donated in 1960 to be used as a School for the Sister’s of the Sacred Heart. Named, “Nottingham”, this home was constructed for Annie Emma Lang Miller, and became the possession of her son, Edwin Lang Miller when she passed away. The home is now a private home. It was a massive 12,000 square feet in size, in the old scale. Edwin G S Miller and Annie Emma Lang married and became the parents of our subject and famous Buffalo Socialite, Businessman, Philanthropist and Pigeon Fancier, Mr Edwin Lang Miller. Edwin was born in Buffalo on the 25th of August 1887 and the surnames of both parents combined to form Lang – Miller, through Edwin and his descendants. The apostrophe is however very rarely witnessed. Edwin Lang Miller was educated and graduated from the Georgetown University, with a Bachelor of Arts in 1910 and apart from his studies there, he was also a great athlete, being a member of the track team, basket -ball team and also played Varsity Football. Being from two very successful business families, it was Edwin’s fate to follow on in the business field. As mentioned his mother’s family were Brewing magnates and his father was also a co founder of the Buffalo German -American Bank and in 1917 it became the Liberty Bank. He married Clara Delores Mahony on the 24th of October 1922, the daughter of Daniel Mahony and Annie Jones. Clara was born and died in Buffalo in 1890 and 1973 respectively. Edwin and Clara Lang Miller, had the following children, Edwin Lang Miller Jnr who became a very talented Poet, Donald Francis Miller, Richard Marchal Miller, Robert Jones Miller, Gerard Mahony Miller, Claire Marie Miller. The Miller’s including the young Edwin were greatly admired Citizens of Buffalo and they were wonderful employees to a great many of their Cities residents and were known also for their varied and many charitable donations and Philanthropist works and memberships. The educated, highly intelligent and very successful businessman, E. Lang Miller served many positions throughout his life and only a fraction of these are listed as follows and shows the generous, charitable and social man, Mr Miller was and his talents and tireless efforts to serve his local community are duly noted. He was apart from community minded, one of the leading financiers and industrialists of his time. He also had a great interest in Horses of which he had in his possession, some of the very best bloodlines in America, including two sons of the famous, “Man O’ War”. The roles of which E. Lang Miller had undertaken included; - President of Wright – Hargreaves Gold Miners Ltd.What then did this very busy man do as a hobby in the little precious time he had to spare? The answer was Racing Pigeons. Lang Miller first owned pigeon’s way back in his early years as a young boy aged 12, in 1895. The birds, a tippler and a tumbler started this life long fascination and admiration for pigeons. It was indeed his late father Edwin G. S. Miller who obtained several pairs of Racing Pigeons as a presentation from a Saloon owner, who was associated with Mr Miller, being a Brewery manager. Mr Miller Senior gave the birds to his son, Edwin and so he began breeding from these and commenced racing with one of the local Buffalo Clubs. Edwin waited for a period of two years before he won his first prize diploma in 1902 and then in 1904 he scored 2nd and 4th in the Western New York State Concourse Association Race, which comprised many fanciers and entries from all over the Western New York State area as well as neighbouring Niagara Falls area with its close proximity to Canada. This entrant area encompasses a huge geographic portion of land and he obtained an incredible result in the grand scheme of things, being a lad of hardly any experience at that time. However the case may be with Lang Miller’s early success, he decided he needed better pigeons of long distance winning capabilities and after his graduation, he travelled to Europe and whilst there he met with many pigeon fanciers and visited there lofts. He decided upon purchasing the Wegge Strain, from a source unknown to us. After Lang Miller returned to America he made contact with Mr A.H.Osman of London and he imported birds direct from him, crossing these with his own Wegge birds; he established the foundation of the Lang Miller Strain. |
