William Edward Miller (October 18, 1823 – November 8, 1897)Chief Justice Miller Dead
, ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

'' (November 10, 1897), p. 1. was a justice of the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 E ...

from September 14, 1870, to December 31, 1875, having been appointed from

Johnson County, Iowa Johnson County is located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 152,854, making it the fourth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa. Johnson County is included ...

Early life, education, and career

Born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Miller studied law in 1846 while working as molder in his father's foundry to support his family. In 1850, he was elected a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and in 1852 he moved to

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

. There he became a reporter and continued his studies, gaining

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1853. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney for

, the only Republican elected. He served for two terms and then engaged In the general practice of law. He was nominated by the Republican party for a seat in the state legislature in 1857. In the following years he was elected judge of the Eighth district, comprising Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Tama counties.

Military service and later judicial service

In 1862, Miller retired from the bench to become a colonel in the 28th Iowa Infantry Regiment then organised at Camp Pope, near Iowa City. For two months he was engaged in drilling recruits, and in November of that year marched through Missouri to an encampment at Helena, Arkansas. The regiment engaged in various expeditions, but Miller "contracted a disease which meant death in the South", which forced him to return to Iowa in March 1863. In 1864, Miller began writing law books, beginning with ''A Treatise on Pleading and Practice in Actions and Special Proceedings at Law and Equity in the Court of Iowa Under the Revision of 1860''. He was appointed to a vacancy on the state supreme court in 1869, and elected to the court the following year, serving for part of his term as chief justice. He taught in the law department of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

from 1871 to 1875, relocating to

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, where he remained until his death.

Personal life and death

On August 1, 1844, Miller married Mary Robinson of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, with whom he had eight children. Miller had a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1887, and was an invalid thereafter. He died at the Christian sanitarium in Des Moine at the age of 74, with his wife at his side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, William E. 1823 births 1897 deaths People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania People from Johnson County, Iowa U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Union Army colonels Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court University of Iowa College of Law faculty Iowa Republicans