Killian Miller

Killian Miller (July 30, 1785 – January 9, 1859) was a U.S. Representative from New York.

Killian Miller
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 12th district
In office
March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857
Preceded byIsaac Teller
Succeeded byJohn Thompson
Personal details
Born(1785-07-30)July 30, 1785
Claverack, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 9, 1859(1859-01-09) (aged 73)
Hudson, New York, U.S.
Resting placeHudson City Cemetery, Hudson, New York, U.S.
Political partyOpposition
Other political
affiliations

Early life

Born in Claverack, New York on July 30, 1785, Miller attended Washington Seminary. He then studied law with Jacob R. Van Rensselaer, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Livingston, New York in 1806.[1]

Start of career

Miller became active in politics as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and was a Justice of the Peace from 1804 to 1808.[2]

Military service

During the War of 1812 and the years immediately after, Miller served in the New York Militia, first as a Captain of Cavalry in 1st Squadron, 4th Regiment, 3rd Brigade and later as a Major in the 5th Cavalry Regiment.[3][4]

Later career

During the early 1820s Miller held the position of Master in Chancery, a judicial position in the New York Court of Chancery.[5] In addition, he served as Livingston's Postmaster.[6][7]

He served as Livingston's Town Clerk from 1823 to 1828,[8] and Town Supervisor from 1829 to 1830.[9]

Miller served as member of the New York State Assembly in 1825 and 1828 and was a member of the National Republican Party, the faction of former Democratic-Republicans who supported John Quincy Adams and opposed Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.[10][11] He moved to Hudson, New York in 1833 and continued the practice of law. Miller became a Whig when the party was founded in the 1830s.[12][13]

Miller served as Columbia County Clerk from 1837 to 1840.[14] He was Secretary of the Columbia County Board of Canvassers from 1838 to 1840.[15] (The Board of Canvassers was the body responsible for overseeing the conduct of elections and counting of ballots.)

In 1841 Miller ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Senate, losing to Erastus Corning.[16] From 1845 to 1846 he was one of Hudson's representatives on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors.[17]

Miller was also active in several businesses, including serving on the board of directors of the Hudson and Boston Railroad.[18]

Congressional career

He was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the 34th Congress (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). Miller was elected as an opponent of extending slavery. Serving in Congress at the end of the Whig Party and the founding of the Republican Party, Miller often sided with opponents of the Franklin Pierce administration, including old-line Whigs, newly-identified Republicans, and the Know Nothing movement.[19][20] He did not run for reelection in 1856 and resumed his law practice.

Death and burial

Miller died in Hudson, New York on January 11, 1859[21] and was interred in Hudson City Cemetery.[22]

References
  1. Everts & Ensign (Philadelphia), History of Columbia County, New York, 1878, page 110
  2. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 118
  3. Council of Appointment of the State of New York, Military Minutes of the Council of Appointment of the State of New York, Volume 2, 1901, page 1343
  4. Council of Appointment of the State of New York, Military Minutes of the Council of Appointment of the State of New York, Volume 3, 1901, page 1915
  5. The Plough Boy: And Journal of the Board of Agriculture, Appointments by the Hon. The Council of Appointment, Volume 7, July 17, 1819, page 55
  6. United States Post Office Department, List of Post-Offices in the United States, 1823, page 65
  7. United States Department of State, Register of All Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, 1830, page 59
  8. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 118
  9. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 117
  10. Hudson Gazette, Columbia County at the End of the Century, 1900, page 113
  11. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 36
  12. William Henry Seward, Frederick William Seward, William H. Seward: 1831-1846, 1891, page 569
  13. Horace Greeley, Park Benjamin, The New-Yorker, Volume 3, 1837, page 475
  14. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 52
  15. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 149
  16. Horace Greeley, editor, The Tribune Almanac and Political Register, Volume 1, 1868, page 39
  17. R. M. Terry and J. W. Prentiss, Civil List of Columbia County and Official Hand-Book, 1786-1886, 1885, page 110
  18. New York State Engineer and Surveyor, Annual Report on the Railroads of the State of New York, 1859, page 105
  19. Horace Greeley, editor, The Tribune Almanac: House of Representatives, XXXIVth Congress, 1856, page 17
  20. William E. Gienapp, The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856, 1987, page 229
  21. Janet Wethy Foley, Early Settlers of New York State: Their Ancestors and Descendants, Volume 1, 1934, page 544
  22. Thomas E. Spencer, Where They're Buried, 1998, page 246
  • United States Congress. "Killian Miller (id: M000744)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • Killian Miller at Find a Grave

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