Lewis Miller (philanthropist)
Lewis Miller was an Ohio businessman and philanthropist who made a fortune in the late 19th century as inventor of the first combine with the blade mounted efficiently in front of the driver, to the side of the horse, rather than pulled behind. His daughter Mina married fellow Ohio inventor Thomas Alva Edison on Christmas Day 1886.
Miller was born in Greentown, Ohio. He devoted much of his wealth to public service and to charitable causes associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was the inventor of the Akron Plan for Sunday schools, a building layout with a central assembly hall surrounded by small classrooms, a configuration Miller conceived with Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent and architect Jacob Snyder. The arrangement accommodateda collective opening exercise for all the childrensmall radiating classrooms for graded instruction in the uniform lesson of the day anda general closing exercise in the central assembly area.
Source: Wikipedia