Stephen Boyd Miles

Colonel Stephen Boyd Miles (January 9, 1822 – October 30, 1898) was a frontiersman, stagecoach magnate, cattle rancher, banker and philanthropist in Nebraska and the greater American Midwest. His obituary in the Falls City Journal stated, "Mr. Miles was a man of great business ability and accumulated much of this world's goods, and left a fortune gained by hard effort, much of it literally dug in the sweat of his brow from the virgin soil of a new country."

Early life He was born in Delta, Pennsylvania, on January 9, 1822. He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Boyd Miles. Stephen's grandfather, Joseph Miles, had immigrated to the American colonies from Liverpool, England, in 1732, and fought during the American Revolution.

Miles was raised on the family farm. When he was sixteen, he went to work for his uncle, Stephen Boyd, in Boyd's mail contract business. By the age of 22, Miles was able to secure his own mail contract to transport mail between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. In 1845, Miles married Hannah Scarborough. To that union, four children were born: Caroline, Victorine, Joseph, and Samuel. Miles held the Baltimore – Washington, D.C. mail contract for 10 years, until 1854. During this time, he also transported mail in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

There were many dangers and hardships associated with stagecoach travel. The rugged terrain, unpredictable weather, and the possibilities of attack by bandits or Native Americans were just some of the dangers. Despite the difficulties, Miles made many of the trips himself. In addition to his main mail route, Miles started branch stage lines in southern Nebraska, northern Kansas, central Missouri, and Iowa. As partial payment for his services, the Colonel accepted "mail grant land". This consisted of a section of land at intervals, which he was later able to sell to expand the Miles Ranch and finance his other businesses.

Miles died on October 30, 1898, at the age of 76. He died a millionaire and one of the wealthiest men in the state of Nebraska. The exact cause of death was unknown.