06/25/2026
Did you know that John Philip Sousa, composer of Star & Stripes Forever, has a connection to Harrison County, Texas? Let's set the stage...
Gustavus Adolphus Miller was born in Whitfield County near Dalton, Georgia on February 18, 1860, son of Carl Gotthold Miller and Henrietta Caroline Setzfandt-Miller who came to America from Kelbra, Germany in 1849 first settling in Georgia.
During the Civil War, a 4 year old Gustavus was sent from Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee with his eight year old brother Heinrick to carry supplies to their father. En route, the boys crossed through battle lines of both the North and South in a battle forming at Chickamauga Creek.
When the children were old enough to go to school, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and rented a home from Alphonso Taft, father of William Howard Taft, whom the Miller children attended school with. Gustavus was swimming with a group of boys in the Ohio River when one boy went under. Gustavus dove in and rescued the young boy from Akron, Ohio – Mister John Phillip Sousa.
At age 24, Gustavus married Fannie Medora Nichols of Georgia and to this union were born 14 children. After the fifth child was born, they sold their farm in Georgia and moved to Collin County, Texas. They later moved to Whitewright, Texas then in 1904 to the Noonday community four miles north of Hallsville, Texas.
Gustavus would have missed his childhood friend by only a few years as Sousa performed in Marshall in 1899 at the City Opera House. This building site would later become City Hall and is now Memorial City Hall Performance Center.
Gustavus was a carpenter by trade and built many homes in Hallsville. He also built the First Baptist Church which was later torn down when the membership increased and a larger building was needed.
The attached picture of the Millers and some of their children (Asbury, Otto, Thomas, Fay, Anna, Gus, Troy, Beulah, Blanche and Winnie). It is a part of the collection at the Inez Hatley Hughes Research Center and Library in Marshall. Also included in this post are photo of Sousa, a piece of his sheet music and newspaper announcements of his performance here.
Much more of our shared history can be found inside the historic 1901 Harrison County Courthouse at our main exhibits, the Memorial City Hall building with our Service & Sacrifice military exhibits and our pop-up exhibit at the North Gallery inside the Joe Weisman Building at 211 North Washington where Marshall Floral and High Horse 1898 eatery are located.
Join everyone downtown at Freedom Fest 250 to celebrate and commemorate America's 250th Anniversary by building awareness of Texas's role in the nation's formation, connecting the past to the present and the future.
https://harrisontx250.com/
