OUR HISTORY
THE LEGACY OF WILLIAM H. MINER
William Henry Miner was born in Juneau, Wisconsin in 1862. His mother died in 1867, his father in 1873, at which point he moved to Chazy, NY to live with his Uncle John and Aunt Huldah Miner. The 144-acre Chazy farm had been purchased by William’s grandfather Clement Miner in 1820.
In 1880, following an encouraging letter from his brother-in-law John Mitchell, William Miner headed west to start a career in the railroad industry.
In the early 1890s, William Miner met Alice Trainer. They were married on June 10, 1895. Their only child, William Henry Miner, Jr. was born in 1902 and died a mere two weeks later. In 1903, William and Alice came to Chazy and began building Heart’s Delight Farm.
William Miner is well known not only for his contributions to the railroad industry – the railroad appliance company he founded in 1902 is still operational today and based in Geneva, Illinois. His philanthropy also included the establishment of the Chazy Central Rural School in 1916, Physician’s Hospital which opened in 1926, and a non-profit educational organization devoted to teaching scientific and environmentally sound agricultural practices.
In late 1923, William Miner signed a document creating The William H. Miner Charitable trust which was later renamed The William H. Miner Foundation. The foundation provided a permanent endowment for three institutions that Miner created: Physicians’ Hospital in Plattsburgh, Chazy Central Rural School (CCRS), and an agricultural experimental college built at Heart’s Delight Farm in Chazy which became the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute.
“The college shall embody in its curriculum courses on both practical and theoretical farming and provide opportunities for experimental and research work to train worthy young men and women to advance the science of agriculture.”
- Miner Foundation Trust, 1923
William Henry Miner, Age 45
"William H. Miner has become a North Country Legend, for his legacy suggests a man bigger than life. He could claim many titles: businessman, builder, engineer, entrepreneur, educator, agriculturist, philanthropist, and visionary. He had a Jeffersonian distrust of urban life and a love of rural living, combined with a Hamiltonian belief in the benefits of business and manufacturing. He made his money in the bustling metropolis of Chicago, but put his heart in the rural life of New York’s North Country."
- EXERPT FROM A PAPER BY JOAN T. AND JOSEPH C. BURKE
"When I named the farm I could not think of anything which would express my feelings towards this particular spot on the earth's surface more correctly than the phrase 'Heart's Delight', and it certainly is my heart's delight every time I am permitted to enjoy the beautiful things which the Creator has showered upon us with such a lavish hand... It is an expression of the great joy reflected to me by the farm and the beautiful country round about.”
- WILLIAM H. MINER
HEART'S DELIGHT FARM
Development of this gentleman's farm was made possible by the fortune Mr. Miner earned from his mechanical inventions for rail transportation. Miner’s most famous invention is the tandem rigging draft. Patented in 1891, this gear was installed in more than 10,000 cars within a decade and is credited with making Miner a millionaire.
“To this end my invention consists of a draw-bar having springs arranged tandem between the draw-timbers and through which the strains and shocks, either pulling or buffing, are gradually absorbed and transmitted to the draft-timbers.”
– William H. Miner, 1891
Heart's Delight Farm was developed on William Henry Miner's family homestead in Chazy beginning in 1903. By 1918, the farm had grown to 12,000 acres - 4,000 acres of tillable land, 2,000 acres of pasture and 6,000 acres of woodland. Within the cropland, 450 acres were devoted to growing corn and 600 acres to small grains. There was a wide variety of animals on the farm including beef and dairy cattle, mules, draft horses, purebred horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, pheasants and brook trout. More than 300 structures were built during that time including a dairy barn with its own creamery, box factory, ice house, greenhouses, grist mill, and numerous hydroelectric dams. The farm employed 800 workers who lived locally or in boarding houses constructed on the farm. For visitors, Harmony Hall was a 20-bedroom guesthouse which included an auditorium that could accommodate 300 people complete with a stage and philharmonic organ.
The farm continued to thrive during Mr. Miner's lifetime as he divided his time between the farm and his company, Miner, Inc., based in Chicago.
MINER INSTITUTE
The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute is the present-day manifestation of the philosophy and principles once embodied by William Miner on Heart's Delight Farm. Since its creation in 1951, the principal function has been, and continues to be, the economic improvement of agricultural operations through research, education, and demonstration. Miner Institute conducts integrated, cutting-edge education, research, and demonstration programs that optimize the biological and economic relationships among forage-crop production, dairy and equine management, and environmental stewardship.
