Miller Pontius

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1891–1960)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Miller Pontius

| image = Miller Pontius.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Pontius cropped from 1912 Michigan football team photograph

| sport =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|4|17}}

| birth_place = Circleville, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1960|11|5|1891|4|17}}

| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

| alma_mater = University of Michigan

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1911–1913

| player_team2 = Michigan

| player_sport3 = Baseball

| player_years4 = 1913

| player_team4 = Michigan

| player_positions = End, tackle (football)
First baseman (baseball)

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1914–1915

| coach_team2 = Tennessee (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 1916

| coach_team3 = Michigan (assistant)

| overall_record =

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

Consensus All-American (1913)
Consensus first-team All-Western (1912)

| coaching_records =

}}

Miller Hall Pontius (April 17, 1891 – November 5, 1960) was an American football player and investment banker.

A native of Circleville, Ohio, Pontius played college football as a tackle and end for coach Fielding H. Yost's Michigan Wolverines from 1911 to 1913. He was selected as a consensus first-team tackle on the 1913 College Football All-America Team. He also played baseball at Michigan under head coach Branch Rickey.

Pontius later served as an assistant football coach the University of Tennessee from 1914 to 1915 and at Michigan in 1916. He served in the United States Army during World War I. In later years, he was an investment banker with F. Eberstadt and Co. from 1938 until his death in 1960.

Early years

Pontius was born in Circleville, Ohio, 1891. He was the son of Judge George Pontius and Ora Pontius.{{cite news|title=Cupid Works Rapidly As Business Beckons|publisher=Akron (OH) Beacon Journal|date=November 7, 1922|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10555832/cupid_works_rapidly_as_business_beckons/}} He attended Everts High School in Circleville where he played for the football, basketball and baseball teams and was captain of the football team in 1907. He graduated in 1908. He next attended preparatory school at the Detroit University School where he starred at the fullback position on the football team.{{cite news|title=Playing Fullback Position Is Nothing Strange to Pontius; Was Star on D.U.S. When Red and Blue School Was Scourge to Prep. Teams of Middle West|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 16, 1913|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10572334/playing_fullback_position_is_nothing/}} After Detroit University School. Pontius attended Kenyon College for one year.

University of Michigan

In 1910, Pontius enrolled at the University of Michigan. While attending Michigan, Pontius was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, Barristers, Michigammua, and The Friars. He became known as an outstanding athlete at Michigan, playing for the football and baseball teams and also developing a reputation as an excellent boxer.

=Football=

He played at the fullback position for the freshman football team in 1910. As a sophomore, he weighed approximately 200 pounds and played at the end and tackle positions for the 1911 team.{{cite news|title=Pontius|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=November 18, 1911|page=7|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755644/167}}{{cite web| title=University of Michigan Football All-American: Miller Pontius, Tackle|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fballam/aapontiu.htm|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|accessdate=December 13, 2007}} Years later, Pontius was remembered as a "slashing tackle."{{cite news|author=Harry Grayson|author-link=Harry Grayson|title=By Harry Grayson (columnist)|publisher=Arizona Republic|date=November 30, 1936|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554098/by_harry_grayson/}}

==1912 season==

Pontius was stricken by typhoid fever during the summer of 1912. After a period of convalescing at his home in Ohio, Pontius was sent "west to the mountains for his health."{{cite news|title=Crack Player Does Not Display Form|publisher=The Evening Telegram (Elyria, Ohio)|date=September 21, 1912|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554180/crack_player_does_not_display_form/}} When he arrived in Ann Arbor in September, he was "not in condition to stand the grueling work of a football season." After a promising showing by Pontius in 1911, his loss reportedly cost coach Yost "much worry and sleep."

Despite the illness, Pontius managed to get into shape and played several games in 1912. In November 1912, Yost announced that he was moving Pontius from right end to right tackle. One reporter noted that Pontius was "a medium end," but "a crackerjack tackle."{{cite news|title=Pontius Making Good at Tackle|publisher=The Fort Wayne News|date=November 2, 1912|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554241/pontius_making_good_at_tackle/}} At the end of the 1912 season, Pontius received first team All-Western honors from Chicago football writer George W. Axelson,{{cite news|title=Chicago Football Man Selects Two All-Star Elevens|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=November 26, 1912|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5230666/chicago_football_man_selects_two/}} E. C. Patterson for Collier's Weekly{{cite news|title=Collier's All-Western Football Team|author=E. C. Patterson|publisher=Collier's|date=December 7, 1912|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXcjAQAAMAAJ}} Fielding H. Yost in the Detroit Free Press,{{cite news|title=Six Michigan Players in Yost's All-Western Team: Torbet, Quinn, Pontius, Paterson, Craig and Thomson Earn Places on Mythical Eleven--"Hurry-Up" Thinks Michigan Superior of Conference Outfits|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=November 28, 1912|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10568761/six_michigan_players_in_yosts/}} and Walter Eckersall for the Chicago Tribune.{{cite news|author=Walter H. Eckersall|title=Eckersall Picks Western Eleven|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 1, 1912|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1912/12/01/page/27/article/eckersall-picks-western-eleven}} Pontius was nominated to be captain of the 1913 team, but lost the vote to George C. Paterson.{{cite news|title=Paterson To Be Varsity Captain|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=December 3, 1912|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755669/229}}

==1913 season==

Before the 1913 season, Pontius was expected to be a star.{{cite news|title=Calls Players to be Ready Sept. 15|publisher=The Waterloo Times-Tribune|date=August 23, 1913}} He helped lead the 1913 Wolverines to a 6–1, outscoring opponents, 175 to 21. The only loss was to Michigan Agricultural College (later known as Michigan State), 12–7. They beat Vanderbilt, 33–2, Syracuse, 43–7, Cornell, 17–0, and Penn, 13–0.{{cite web|title=1913 Football Team|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1913fbt.htm|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|accessdate=December 13, 2007}}

Pontius played his last game as a Wolverine on November 15, 1913, against Penn. Collier's Weekly wrote the following of his performance in that game: "He was aggressive against Pennsylvania, playing both end and tackle. He showed a thorough knowledge of the game and always crashed into the point of rival attacks."

At the end of the 1913 season, Pontius was a consensus first-team tackle on the 1913 College Football All-America Team,{{cite web|title=Football Award Winners|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)|year=2016|accessdate=April 24, 2017|pages=6|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2016/Awards.pdf}} receiving first-team honors from, among others, Grantland Rice,{{cite news|title=Rice Is Strong for Westerners|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=December 7, 1913|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755651/259}} Frank G. Menke, Tom Thorp,{{cite news|title=New York Critics Pick Two 'M' Men|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=December 4, 1913|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755651/247}} and Fielding H.Yost.{{cite news|title=Yost Picks Hughitt, Pontius and Craig on All-American|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=December 3, 1913|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755651/243}}

=Baseball=

Pontius was also a standout baseball player at Michigan, where he played for coach Branch Rickey and alongside George Sisler—both of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1913, he was the first baseman for Rickey's best team at Michigan, a squad that went 21–4–1. It was the first Michigan baseball team to win 20 games.{{cite news|author=Madej, Bruce|title=Michigan: Champions of the West, p. 34|publisher=Sport Publishing|year=1997|isbn=9781571671158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fd87BHQ4VrkC&q=%22miller+pontius%22+michigan&pg=PT49|accessdate=December 13, 2007}}

At the end of the 1913 baseball season, Pontius was elected to serve as captain of the 1914 Michigan baseball team.{{cite news|title=Choose Pontius Captain: Senior Student at Michigan Will Lead 1914 Baseball Team|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 26, 1913|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554422/choose_pontius_captain/}} However, in February 1914, Pontius announced that he would not play baseball that spring "as a result of scholastic difficulties."{{cite news|title=Pontius Will Be Unable To Play Baseball|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=February 22, 1914|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755651/423}}{{cite news|title=Brute Pontius Quits as Leader of Michigan Baseball Nine; Is Forced to Give Time to Studies|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=February 22, 1914|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10572210/brute_pontius_quits_as_leader_of/}} George Sisler was chosen to succeed Pontius as the team's captain.{{cite news|title=Michigan Selects Captain|publisher=The Indianapolis Star|date=February 25, 1914|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554453/michigan_selects_captain/}}

Coaching career and military service

In June 1914, Pontius graduated from the law department at Michigan.{{cite news| title=In Years Gone By: 15 Years Ago|publisher=Circleville Herald|date=March 9, 1928}} He was admitted to practice law in both Michigan and Ohio. Upon graduating, he became an assistant football coach under Zora G. Clevenger at the University of Tennessee.{{cite news|title=Looking Back in Pickaway County:25 Years Ago|publisher=Circleville Herald|date=June 19, 1939| page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554564/25_years_ago/}} He introduced the "Yost-Michigan system" at Tennessee, and the 1915 Tennessee Volunteers football team responded with a perfect 9-0 record and the program's first Southern championship.{{cite news|title=Pontius' Coaching Successful: Former Varsity Linesman Employs Yost-Michigan System|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=November 14, 1914|page=3|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755677/209}}

Pontius returned to Tennessee in 1915,{{cite news|title="Brute" Pontius Again To Coach Tennessee's Eleven|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=July 24, 1915|page=4|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071756857/58}} but he decided in January 1916 not to return to Tennessee "because of private business interests."{{cite news|title=Shaughnessy to Coach Tennessee|publisher=The Tennessean|date=January 25, 1916|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10554633/shaughnessy_to_coach_tennessee/}}

In March 1916, Pontius was hired as an assistant coach responsible for the lineman on the 1916 Michigan football team.{{cite news|title=Pontius and Douglas Take Place of Schulz|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=March 31, 1916|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755685/779}} He took charge of spring practice in May 1916.{{cite news|title=Pontius to Take Charge of Work|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=May 7, 1916|page=3|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755685/927}} In October 1916, the Syracuse Herald noted that "the line coaching of Miller Pontius has helped remarkably in bolstering up their department, and the back field can bank on much better protection."{{cite news|title=Wolverines Out to Get Revenge on Orange Team: Michigan Line Is Strong While Backs Are Fast|publisher=Syracuse Herald|date=October 23, 1916}} The Michigan Daily also praised Pontius' work in strengthening the line:

Perhaps no single individual deserves any more credit for the showing of the 1916 Michigan Varsity than Line Coach Miller H. Pontius. . . . The former Varsity star took hold with a vengeance . . . and built up a forward wall that was a wonderful improvement upon that of the previous season. . . . Pontius was a star of the first magnitude himself during his college career and he seems to have the gift for imparting to others the knowledge that he learned while actively engaged in mussing up the scenery . . ."{{cite news|title=Star Line Made By Coach Pontius|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=November 28, 1916|page=3|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015094733683/325}}

Pontius signed a contract in January 1917 to return to Michigan's coaching staff.{{cite news|title=Douglass and Pontius Signed as Assistants|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=January 21, 1917|page=3|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015094733683/527}} However, following the United States entry into World War I, he enlisted in the United States Army in August 1917. He served as a second lieutenant in a field artillery unit.{{cite news|title=Catlett Brings Good News Item|newspaper=The Wolverine|date=August 4, 1917|page=1|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071756873/67}}{{cite book|title=Official Army Register|date=December 1, 1918|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=402|via=Ancestry.com}}(entry for Miller H. Pontius, born April 17, 1891, in Ohio)

Business career

File:Miller Pontius with family.png

In 1919, after being discharged from the Army, Pontius sailed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.{{cite news|title=In Years Gone By: Ten Years Ago|publisher=Circleville Herald|date=May 1, 1929|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10555341/in_years_gone_by/}} He spent three years in South America working for the foreign department of the National City Bank.

In 1922, Pontius was working with the foreign department of the Home Insurance Company. He then went into the security business in Chicago in 1925. In 1934, he moved to New York City and was for four years the president of the New York Michigan Club. In 1937, he was a vice president of G.L. Ohrstrom & Co., Inc.,{{cite news|title=Outlook for Investments|work=New York Times|date=January 4, 1937}} an investment banking, brokerage and real estate development firm founded by fellow University of Michigan alumnus, George L. Ohrstrom.{{cite web|title=History of G.L. Ohrstrom & Co.|url=http://glohrstrom.com/|publisher=G.L. Ohrstrom & Co.|accessdate=December 14, 2007}}

In 1938, Pontius was elected vice president of the Touchdown Club in New York City.{{cite news|title=Touchdown Club Trophy Awarded Posthumously to Le Roy N. Mills|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 9, 1938}} Also, in 1938, Pontius was the "toastmaster" at a Michigan Alumni Club dinner in New York in honor of Michigan's new football coach Fritz Crisler. Pontius spoke of "the return of Michigan to its former high estate in the game."{{cite news|title=Alumni Hear Crisler: Football Main topic at Dinner of Michigan Club Here|work=The New York Times|date=December 10, 1938}}

Pontius next joined the Wall Street investment banking firm, F. Eberstadt and Co. He began as its Chicago partner in 1938. He moved to the New York City office in 1943 as syndicate manager and senior vice president. He remained with Eberstadt until his death in 1960.

Family and later years

In 1922, Pontius married Mildred Carrington Taylor of Port Huron, Michigan, in a ceremony at Watertown, New York. Their son, David Taylor Pontius (1924-1992), attended the University of Michigan in the 1940s.{{cite news|title=David Pontius Graduates|newspaper=The Circleville Herald|date=June 10, 1942|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10571941/david_pontius_graduates/}} Pontius and his wife resided in later years in Bronxville, New York.{{cite news|title=Miller Pontius -- Certainly Local Boy Who Made Good|newspaper=The Circleville Herald|author=J. I. Smith|date=May 15, 1958|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10571799/miller_pontius_certainly_local_boy/}}

In 1957, Pontius received a distinguished alumni service medal from the University of Michigan.

Pontius died in 1960 at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan at age 69.{{cite news|title=Miller Pontius, 69, Dies in New York (part 1)|newspaper=The Circleville Herald|date=November 7, 1960|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10551140/miller_pontius_69_dies_in_new_york/}}{{cite news|title=Miller Pontius, 69, Dies in New York (part 2)|newspaper=The Circleville Herald|date=November 7, 1960|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10551167/miller_pontius_part_2/}}

In April 1972, the Miller Hall Pontius Room was dedicated at the Pickaway County Historical Society's Clarke-May Museum in Pontius' hometown of Circleville, Ohio. His widow, son, and grandson (Miller Hall Pontius II) attended the dedication ceremony.{{cite news|title=Miller Hall Pontius Room Dedicated At Museum|newspaper=The Circleville Herald|page=6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10571462/miller_hall_pontius_room_dedicated_at/}}