Killian Miller

Killian Miller (July 30, 1785 – January 9, 1859) was an American politician, attorney, and militia officer who served one term as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1855 to 1857. Born in Claverack, Columbia County, New York, on July 30, 1785, he was raised in the Hudson Valley during the early national period of the United States. He attended Washington Seminary, a local institution that provided him with a classical education suitable for entry into the legal profession and public life.

After completing his preparatory studies, Miller read law in the office of Jacob R. Van Rensselaer, a prominent attorney and political figure in New York. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Livingston, New York, in 1806. Even before his formal admission to the bar, he had entered public service as a Justice of the Peace, holding that office from 1804 to 1808. In these early years he became active in politics as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, aligning himself with the dominant political organization in New York and the nation during the Jeffersonian and Madisonian eras.

Miller’s public service extended into military affairs during the War of 1812 and the years immediately following. He served in the New York Militia, first as a captain of cavalry in the 1st Squadron, 4th Regiment, 3rd Brigade, and later as a major in the 5th Cavalry Regiment. His militia service reflected the reliance on citizen-soldiers for national defense during the conflict with Great Britain and helped establish his standing as a local leader in Columbia County.

In the 1820s Miller combined legal, judicial, and administrative responsibilities. He held the position of master in chancery in the New York Court of Chancery, a judicial office that involved taking testimony, overseeing certain equity proceedings, and assisting the chancellor in the administration of justice. At the same time, he served as postmaster of Livingston, managing the community’s mail and communications. He was Livingston’s town clerk from 1823 to 1828 and town supervisor from 1829 to 1830, positions that placed him at the center of local governance, record-keeping, and fiscal oversight.

Miller’s legislative career began at the state level. He served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1825 and again in 1828. By this period he had moved from his original Democratic-Republican affiliation into the National Republican Party, the faction of former Democratic-Republicans that supported President John Quincy Adams and opposed the rising influence of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. In 1833 he relocated to Hudson, New York, where he continued to practice law. When the Whig Party emerged in the 1830s as the principal opposition to Jacksonian Democracy, Miller became a Whig, reflecting his consistent alignment with anti-Jackson and later anti-slavery elements in American politics.

In Columbia County, Miller held a series of important administrative and electoral posts. He served as Columbia County clerk from 1837 to 1840, overseeing county records and legal documents. From 1838 to 1840 he was secretary of the Columbia County Board of Canvassers, the body responsible for supervising elections and counting ballots, a role that placed him at the heart of the county’s electoral process. In 1841 he ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Senate, losing to Erastus Corning. He continued his involvement in local government as one of Hudson’s representatives on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors from 1845 to 1846. Beyond public office, Miller was active in regional economic development, serving on the board of directors of the Hudson and Boston Railroad, an enterprise that contributed to the growth of transportation and commerce in upstate New York.

Miller’s long political evolution culminated in his election to the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857. In the existing congressional records he is also identified as a member of the Independent Party representing New York, reflecting the fluid and transitional nature of party labels in the mid-1850s. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, at the end of the Whig Party and the founding of the Republican Party, amid intensifying national conflict over the extension of slavery. Miller was elected as an opponent of extending slavery and, during his term, often sided with opponents of the Franklin Pierce administration, including old-line Whigs, newly identified Republicans, and members of the Know Nothing movement. He participated in the legislative process during this turbulent era, representing the interests of his New York constituents as part of a broader coalition resisting pro-slavery policies. He did not run for reelection in 1856 and resumed his law practice after leaving Congress.

In his later years, Miller continued to reside in Hudson, where he remained a respected figure in legal and civic affairs. He died in Hudson, New York, on January 11, 1859, and was interred in Hudson City Cemetery. His career, spanning local, state, and national service, reflected the shifting political alignments of the early and mid-nineteenth century and the growing sectional tensions that preceded the Civil War.