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Archives Spotlight: History mystery solved!
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It took us some time, but we managed to put a name to this portrait photo from state archives, solving last week's mystery.
We'd been unable to identify its subject from its original caption of "Unidentified Representative" and description of its subject as a former Washington legislator at the time Vibert Jeffers took the picture in 1939.
Scott Sackett of the Central Regional Branch of the State Archives in Ellensburg solved the mystery. The gentleman pictured is Frank O. Miller, who represented two Lewis County districts in the House in the 1920s and '30s.
Miller was a Republican and World War I Army veteran, and he lived in Chehalis all his life. He was a Washington State Grange executive committeeman, and he won the 1967 Grange leadership award.
One more interesting historical item about Miller came to light after we learned his identity.
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According to the March 26, 1969, edition of The (Centralia) Daily Chronicle, Miller's end came suddenly. He died at age 76 during a government meeting in the Lewis County Courthouse about a Newaukum Valley bridge.
He's interred in Claquato Cemetery in Chehalis.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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