Barry Miller (December 25, 1864 – June 20, 1933) was a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

state legislator and

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1925 to 1931 serving under Governors

Miriam A. Ferguson Miriam Amanda Wallace "Ma" Ferguson (June 13, 1875 – June 25, 1961) was an American politician who served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Texas: from 1925 to 1927, and from 1933 to 1935. She was the first female governor of Texas, ...

and

Dan Moody Daniel James Moody Jr. (June 1, 1893May 22, 1966), was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. Originally from Taylor, Texas, he served as the 30th governor of Texas between 1927 and 1931. At the age of 33, he was elected and took offic ...

Early life

Miller was born on December 25, 1864, in

Barnwell, South Carolina Barnwell is a city in and county seat of Barnwell County, South Carolina, United States, located along U.S. Route 278. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census. Geography Barnwell is located east of the center of Barnwell County at (33.244 ...

, the son of Dr. Thomas Johnson Miller and Rachel Barry. After his father, a physician educated at the Medical College of Philadelphia and a medical officer in the Carolina Dragoons, was killed in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Miller left for Washington, D.C. As a young boy, Miller worked there as a printer's devil for the ''Washington Post'', and later worked as a page in the United States Senate, meeting many national leaders of the era. Eventually, Miller traveled west to Dallas, where he studied law in the firm of Robertson & Coke. Miller met Minerva Hortense Miller, daughter of prominent early Dallasite William Brown Miller, at Dallas' inaugural debutante ball, the Idlewild Ball, in 1883. Barry Miller married Minnie Miller (no relation) in 1885, eventually residing at his wife's family home, now called Millermore.

Political career

Miller was a lawyer and was elected as a Democratic Texas state Senator in 1899 representing Dallas County. He served four terms and was chosen President Pro Tempore of the Senate in the Twenty-seventh Legislature. Miller served as campaign manager for U.S. Senator Charles A. Culberson, and was elected to the Texas Senate in 1898 to support Culberson's candidacy. As a State Senator in 1901, Miller authored and sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, which made the bluebonnet the Texas State flower. He did so as a gesture of respect to the wife of longtime Texas lawyer, Sawnie Robertson, in whose firm Miller read law when he first came to Texas. Mrs. Robertson had always remarked that the bluebonnet was her favorite flower. In 1911, he was appointed a Judge of the Criminal District Court in Dallas County and Miller was reelected in 1915. In 1916, Miller was elected to a vacant State Representative seat in Dallas as a Democrat. Miller was a vocal opponent of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. He was also an early opponent of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in Texas. However, he changed his mind when the

Dallas Equal Suffrage Association The Dallas Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) was an organization formed in Dallas, Texas in 1913 to support the cause of women's suffrage in Texas. DESA was different from many other suffrage organizations in the United States in that it adopted ...

(DESA) provided over 10,000 signatures from Dallas women supporting suffrage. He even became the chair of the woman suffrage caucus. Defeated for reelection in 1922, Miller ran for Lieutenant Governor along with other Anti-Klan candidates,

for Governor and

for Attorney General in 1924 and the ticket was overwhelmingly elected in the Democratic Party primary run-off. Miller was re-elected as Lieutenant Governor in 1926 and 1928, and to date, is one of only three men to ever be elected to three terms as Lieutenant Governor of Texas. In 1930, Miller was unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Texas, losing the Democratic nomination in a very crowded field to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

oilman Ross Sterling. Miller died on June 20, 1933, at Millermore in Dallas County, and is buried in the Miller family cemetery in Dallas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Barry 1864 births 1933 deaths People from Barnwell, South Carolina People from Dallas County, Texas Texas lawyers Texas state court judges Lieutenant Governors of Texas Democratic Party Texas state senators Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives