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Below is a family biography included in The History of Polk County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Col. Sterling Brown Miles, who may be mentioned as one of the prosperous farmers and stockmen of Polk County, Mo., was born in Wilson County, Tenn., February 5, 1822, being a son of Thomas and Margaret (Smith) Miles, who were born in Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. The former was a farmer and trader by occupation and a son of a Revolutionary War soldier, who settled in Rutherford County, Tenn., and died there at the ripe old age of ninety-eight, his wife dying at the age of 104. The Miles family are of English descent, men of medium stature, of strong physique, and long lived. They were Methodist in religious belief. Margaret Smith was a daughter of John Smith, an Englishman. In 1840 Thomas Miles came to Missouri and made a settlement in Hickory County, where he lived until his death in 1862, at the age of eighty-four, his wife dying in 1864 at the age of eighty years. In 1850 Sterling Brown Miles went to California and spent one year in the mines of that State, and saved considerable money, which he brought back with him to Hickory County, Mo., and invested in property in Hickory County. During the war he moved to Kansas in 1863, but in 1867 he returned to Missouri and bought property in Polk County, where he has farmed ever since. While a resident of Hickory County he was married in 1847 to Miss Mary Lane Montgomery, a native of Tennessee, a daughter of Judge Joseph C. Montgomery, whose sketch appears in this work. By her he became the father of five sons and three daughters; Thomas C., of Livingston, Mont.; Lafayette Montgomery, also of Livingston, Mont., both being engaged in the livery and grain business and wealthy men; Almira, whom they buried at the untimely age of seventeen years in 1869; James Livingston, of Polk County, Mo., who is a prosperous farmer; Adella and Isabella (twin daughters); Lynn Boyd and Dr. Edward Doak, of Brownington, Henry County, Mo. Previous to the war Mr. Miles was colonel under the old militia system, and during the war, while a resident of Kansas, was captain of a company of militia. In 1878-79 he represented Polk County in the Legislative Assembly, being elected as a Democrat in a county strongly Republican, but notwithstanding this he has always felt averse to holding public office. He is a Mason, and he and wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He owns a finely improved and well stocked farm of 400 acres.

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This family biography is one of 132 biographies included in The History of Polk County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Polk County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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