Gerrit Smith Miller: Biography, Facts and Career

Gerrit Smith Miller (January 30, 1845 – March 10, 1937), commonly called Gat, was an American businessman, farmer, sportsman and politician regarded as "the father of football in the United States" as the founder of Oneida Football Club, considered the first organized team to play any form of football in the country. The Oneida Club established informal rules which came to be known as the "Boston game" and are considered the first step to the codification of rules for association football, rugby football, or American football. Miller was the namesake of his grandfather, the famous abolitionist, businessman, and philanthropist Gerrit Smith. His parents were Smith's daughter, Elizabeth Smith Miller, and her husband Charles Dudley Miller. He grew up on the family's estate in Peterboro, New York, helping his grandfather by hiding escaped slaves in a barn or attic. Starting in October 1860 he attended the school of Epes Sargent Dixwell in Boston, and in 1867 married Dixwell's daughter Susan Hunt Dixwell. (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., married a sister.) He enrolled in Harvard in 1865, but set back by health problems, left before graduating; in 1924 the university awarded him an honorary Master of Arts degree.

Quick facts about Gerrit Smith Miller

• Full name: Gerrit Smith Miller
• Born: 1845-01-30
• Known as: Creator
• Wikidata ID: Q113518756

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