My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Jesse Miller. Prominent among the leading men of Maxey Township, and among those deserving special recognition for their long residence in the State, stands the name of Hon. Jesse Miller, who was born in Nashville, Tenn., January 7, 1803, and is the son of Simon and Elizabeth (Reed) Miller, who were of French and English extraction, respectively. The parents were married in Richmond, Va., and there passed their early lives. Later they moved to Nashville, Tenn., from there near the St. Francis River, in the Territory of Arkansas, and after remaining here about three years moved to Lawrence County, and thence to Batesville, Independence County. As before mentioned, Jesse Miller’s birth occurred in Nashville, Tenn., and the log house in which he was born is still standing, and is a good state of preservation. He remained with his parents until about 1818, when he went to Mulberry, Franklin Co., Ark., with a family by the name of Bean, here lived with an Indian, cleared ten acres of land and raised a crop. Here he was joined by his father, after the Indians has been removed to their present Territory, who settled where our subject now resides, where he bought a claim of 160 acres, and died in 1834. The mother had received her final summons about five years previous. Jesse Miller, previous to his immigration to Franklin County, Ark., clerked for about a year in a wholesale dry goods and grocery house, after which he sold goods for another firm, and at the call of Gen. Jackson, he was elected commander of militia for the Territory of Arkansas. He was elected sheriff of Crawford County, Ark., in 1833, and served two years. In 1835 he was elected to the Legislature on the old-line Whig ticket, served two years with honor to himself and to the electors, and was then elected to the State Senate in 1852, filling that position until 1861. He had become acquainted with many of the leading men of the State, while at the post at Arkansas, in 1818, and was prominent among them. He was married in this county, in 1835, to Miss Amanda Whitsome, who was born in Tennessee in 1820, and who bore him eleven children, three now living: Jesse Jr., of Oregon City; Lucy N., wife of Judge Wilson, of Ozark, and Anna N., wife C. A. Wells, and the mother of three children: Miller, Stuart and Esther. Mrs. Miller died in 1873, leaving a large circle of friends to mourn her loss. Mr. Miller is the owner of 200 acres of land, is a member of the Baptist Church, and was a member of the Masonic fraternity, but was honorably demitted. He has been a man of unusual energy and perseverance, and by his good management and close attention to business has amassed quite a fortune, which will render the sunset of his life happy and comfortable. He has donated liberally all his life to charitable institutions, and has the confidence and esteem of all his acquaintances.