My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Samuel A. Miller, attorney at law and senator of the Twenty-fifth Senatorial District of Arkansas, was born in Van Buren, Ark., on November 28, 1857, and is a son of George E. and Mary A. (Shannon) Miller. The father was born in Powhatan, Va., in 1811, and in 1832 located two miles north of Van Buren, in Crawford County. He was a large land owner, having 1,000 acres in all, and for several years during the last part of his life was engaged in the mercantile business at Van Buren. He was assassinated by unknown parties in 1865. The mother was born in Batesville, Ark., in 1822, and was a daughter of William Shannon, whose brother Isaac introduced the “Shannon Apple.” Isaac was one of the first white settlers in Washington County, Ark., and there produced the apple. Mrs. Miller died in 1880, and of her thirteen children nine are now living: Maria J., widow of Gideon Lichlyter; Harriet E., wife of Hugh Morrow; Isabella, wife of Mariman P. Kilgore; William G., butcher; Alice, wife of James b. Johnson; Richard J., merchant; Lenora, wife of John Kilgore; Samuel A. and Lillie E. Samuel first attended the Van Buren schools, and later studied in the State University two years. He taught school two terms in 1875, and in 1879 began to study law under Hon. B. J. Brown, of Van Buren. In 1882 he was admitted to the bar, and he afterward became the partner of Judge William Walker, of Fort Smith, and subsequently of J. R. Reeves, but for the past year has practiced alone. In the fall of 1888 he was elected to represent Crawford and Franklin Counties in the State Senate, by a majority of 1,106. October 12, 1887, he married Miss Virgie Lee Dean, daughter of James M. Dean, and a native of Mississippi. They have one child, Dean M., and are active members in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Miller is one of the rising young attorneys of the county, and has the promise of a bright future before him. He is a member of the K. of P.