Gustavus Hindman Miller

Born in Texas in 1857, Gustavus Hindman Miller grew up in difficult circumstances after his father died during the Civil War. He later made his name in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he became known as a merchant, manufacturer, financier, and civic-minded businessman.

Miller was one of the founders of the Miller Brothers department store business, and his work extended into banking and large-scale farming as well. That mix of business ambition and everyday observation helps explain the tone of his writing: organized, confident, and aimed at ordinary readers rather than specialists.

Today he is remembered most as the author of Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, a hugely popular reference book that gathered dream symbols and meanings into an easy-to-browse form. The book helped secure his lasting place in popular culture, even as his wider career reflected the energy of a fast-growing Southern city in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.