History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1480

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

born January 17, 1867, a son of Anthony D. and Amanda (Taylor)
Burnell.
Anthony Burnell was born in Germany, but left the Fatherland in
young manhood and on coming to the United States settled in Genesee
county, Michigan, where he passed his life in mercantile pursuits, principally in the village of Otisville. His death occurred in Genesee county,
Michigan, in I907, aged sixty-seven years. Mrs. Burnell was born in New
York State, and was still a child when brought to Michigan by her parents,
who were engaged in agricultural pursuits in the vicinity of Pine Run.
Mrs. Burnell is still living, at the age of seventy-one years, and divides
her time between living in Flint and in Genesee county with her daughter. Four children have been born to her, of whom Dr. Burnell is the
second in order of birth.
Byron E. Burnell secured his early education in the schools of Genesee
county, in the meantime assisting his father in the work of the home
place. Succeeding this, he entered high school, and then adopted the
profession of educator, which he followed for some eleven years, advancing
in that calling until he was made principal of the schools at Flower Lake,
Columbiaville and other points. It had always been his ambition, however,
to enter the medical profession, and after these eleven years of earnest
endeavor he found himself in a position to enter the Detroit College of
Medicine, where he received his degree in I901. He immediately engaged
in practice at Flint, and this city has continued to be his field of practice,
he now having offices at No. 518 South Saginaw street. Doctor Burnell
is in full possession of the youth and vigor which act as a stimulus to
great and far-reaching accomplishments in the profession to which he is
devoted, and his energy, second only to his native ability, enables him to
find time to devote to study and research. He belongs to the American
Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical Society, and the Genesee
County Medical Society, and for two years was secretary of the county
organization. In political matters he is a Republican, but public life has
played but little part in his career, which has been almost entirely devoted
to his calling. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and the Masons, and his religious belief that of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
In I891 Doctor Burnell was married at Columbiaville, Michigan, to
Miss Blanche Hollenbeck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Manley Hollenbeck.
One son has been born to Doctor and Mrs. Burnell: Max, born at Metamora, Michigan, in 1893, and now attending college at Albion.
JOHN LAWSON MILLER. A Detroit architect who in ten years has
made a name and gained a successful position, John Lawson Miller
represents one of the pioneer families of southeastern Michigan, and as
a result of his individual career is well entitled to a place in the history
of the state's leading architects.
John Lawson Miller was born at Lake Orion in Oakland county,
Michigan, March 27, I878. He is a son of Seymour B. and Hannah
(Woodley) Miller. His father was born in Michigan and his mother in
Ontario, Canada. Grandfather Nicholas B. Miller, who came to Oakland
county when that section was in the woods, was a blacksmith and a cabinet
maker by trade, and at Lake Orion established a pioneer shop for work
both in wood and iron, and performed a useful service to the early settlers
of the community. At the same time his business enterprise led him to
make acquisitions of land in the county, and for many years he was a
prosperous and influential citizen. Seymour B. Miller was born in the
old Miller home at Lake Orion in I85O. Early in his life he learned the
trade of miller, and subsequently for years operated what were known