Lewis Miller

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For the artist by the same name, see Lewis Miller (artist).

Lewis Miller was an Ohio businessman who made a fortune in the late 19th century as inventor of the first combine (harvester-reaper machine) with the blade mounted efficiently in front of the horse rather than pulled behind it. He devoted much of his wealth to charitable causes associated with the Methodist Church, and was the inventor of the "Akron plan" for Sunday schools, a building layout with a central assembly hall surrounded by small classrooms. In 1874, interested in improving the training of Sunday school teachers, he worked with John Heyl Vincent to found what is now the Chautauqua Institution.His daughter Mina married Thomas Alva Edison