Orlo Miller fonds, 1854-1994, n.d.

Orlo Miller was born in London, Ontario, in 1911. He began his career as a journalist for the London Free Press in 1932, beginning as a correspondent. He joined the staff in 1940, working as night telegraph editor, science editor, and beat reporter. Miller also produced programs for a local radio station. In 1944, he did some freelancing work for the CBC. His career in media continued for almost another 25 years, as he sold plays, stories and documentaries to television networks in Canada, the United States, and Britain. At the age of 52, he became an Anglican priest and served the communities of Point Edward and Mitchell in Ontario. His most well-known work was The Donnellys Must Die (1962), a history of the murder of the Donnelly family in the township of Biddulph in 1880. This was followed by a fictionalized account of the family published in 1975, Death to the Donnellys. He wrote several other books on various topics, including several books on the history of London, Ontario, and Raiders of the Mohawk: the story of Butler’s Rangers. In addition to this book, he compiled a roster of John Butler’s Corps of Rangers, which was published in Families, a publication of the Ontario Genealogical Society. He was also a professional genealogist and heritage activist who worked to preserve local landmarks. He died in 1993.Fonds consists of research material related to Butler’s Rangers. The material was compiled by Orlo Miller in the course of his research for the book Raiders of the Mohawk: the story of Butler’s Rangers, as well as an article, A New Roster of Lieut.-Colonel John Butler’s Corps of Rangers. A significant portion of the fonds contains correspondence from genealogists addressed to Miller after the publication of this article. An unpublished and unfinished manuscript providing a historical account of Butler’s Rangers titled A Lion at the Door is also included. Three small boxes holding index cards contain notes on the members of Butler’s Rangers, and are filed alphabetically by surname