• Born: 31 Mar 1828, Wallingford CT
• Marriage (1): Elizabeth Jane Norton about 1849
• Died: 25 Jul 1872, Wallingford CT

  General notes:

Pewtersmith and silverplater

  Events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1850 census taken at Wallingford CT, listed as a buffer.

• He appeared on the 1860 census taken at Wallingford CT, listed as a button manufacturer.

• He was a partner in 1866 with Samuel Simpson, Almer Ives Hall, Gurdon W. Hull, and Charles Dwight Yale in Wallingford CT as SIMPSON, HALL, MILLER & Co. Became, in 1898, one of the founding members of International Silver. ¹²

• He appeared on the 1870 census taken at Wallingford CT, listed as a britannia manufacturer.

• He was issued design patent number 118,630 on 29 Aug 1871
  
  FRIEND MILLER, OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNEE TO SIMPSON, HALL, MILLER & CO., OF SAME PLAGE.
  
  IMPROVEMENT IN ICE-PITCHERS.
  
  Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,630, dated August 29, 1871.
  
  To all whom it may concern:
  Be it known that I, FRIEND MILLER, of Wallingford, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Ice-Pitcher; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawing constitutes a part of this specification, and represents, in—
  Figure 1, a vertical central section; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the pitcher detached from its support; Fig. 3, the frame which supports the pitcher; and in Fig. 4, the slop-pan detached. This invention relates to an improvement in the manner of supporting ice-pitchers, so that they may be tilted without resting upon the bottom or compelling the person using the pitcher to lift the same, and also to attach to the supporting device a pan into which the slops may be emptied from the goblets. The invention consists in the arrangement of a frame with a crossbar, the pitcher attached to the said bar by arms extending to the front, so that the support of the pitcher when tilted is in front of the body of the pitcher; also, in the arrangement of a pan beneath the pitcher, the said pan provided with a spout or projecting mouth, the said spout or mouth affording a recess into which the slop may be poured, passing from the said mouth into the pan.
  A is the pitcher, of any desirable style or form and of common construction. On the body of the pitcher, near the front, are arranged two projecting hooked arms, B B, as seen in Fig. 2. C C are two posts of a frame, provided at the top with. a bar. The said bar may extend from one post to the other, or only project a short distance from each. E is the upper part of the base or frame, supported from the lower part F, substantially as seen in Fig. 3. The relative positions of the hooks B B on the pitcher are such that they will hook onto the bar or projection D and rest upon the base E; therefore, when desired to tilt the pitcher for the purpose of pouring, the person takes hold of the handle and raises it, the pitcher turning upon the rod D in front, as denoted in Fig. 1.
  This invention possesses advantages over the usual manner of hanging similar vessels by trunnions in the center, because of the bearings upon which the pitcher turns being so far to the front that the whole pitcher rises, whereas being hung in the center, the lower edge at the front necessarily falls in tilting; and, further, that there is no liability to swing when the pitcher is moved, as is the case when hung upon central trunnions. It being desirable to have, in connection with the pitcher, a device for receiving the slops from the goblets, I construct a pan, P, so as to set into the frame or base; but as this would be covered by the pitcher, and thereby not afford the desired convenience for emptying the slops, I form upon one side of the pan a spout or mouth, S, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4, which is open when the pitcher is resting upon the base, so that the slops may be emptied into this mouth, and, by an opening T, pass into the pan. By preference, I arrange this spout at the front so that the water which would drop from the spout will fall into the said spout.
  It will be understood that, instead of being provided with hooks, the arms B B may each have a projecting pivot thereon, and the post provided with slots, and produce the same results. I do not wish to be understood as broadly claiming a pitcher constructed and arranged upon a frame so as to be tilted without removal therefrom ; but
  I do claim—
  1. The arms B B, arranged upon the pitcher and combined with the supports C, so that the bearing upon which the pitcher turns is at the front of the body of the pitcher, substantially as herein described.
  2. The pan P, constructed with the projecting mouth S, and arranged in the base of the pitcher, so that the said mouth is open while the pitcher rests thereon, substantially as set forth.
  
  Friend Miller
  
  Witnesses:
  John E. Earle
  John H. Shumway

Friend married Elizabeth Jane Norton about 1849. (Elizabeth Jane Norton was born on 25 Feb 1829 in Guilford CT.)