Miller was born on March 16, 1799, in
Miller Place, New York, the son of Timothy Miller and Mehetabel Brown. Miller attended the Clinton Academy in East Hampton. He initially studied law under
Selah B. Strong, later with
Caleb S. Woodhull of
New York City. In 1825, he moved to
Riverhead and opened a law office there. He later took
James H. Tuthill as a law partner. He and a few associates purchased an entire township of valuable timberland in Maine, which turned out to involve defective titles and led to a number of suits. He was also involved in a long contest with New York City
Griswold merchants over the ownership of some lots in the
Brooklyn Atlantic Dock. He was a supporter of the
Maine law. In 1853, he was elected to the
New York State Assembly as a
Whig, representing the Suffolk County 1st District. He served in the Assembly in
1854, introducing a bill that would incorporate the Riverhead Canal and Mill Company. In 1857, he was appointed
County Judge and Surrogate following the resignation of Abraham T. Rose. He lost the election for the position later that year to
J. Lawrence Smith. He became
district attorney of Suffolk County in 1858, and in the election that he ran as a
Republican and won. Miller supported and helped establish the
Congregational Church in Riverhead. In around 1836, he married Eliza Leonard of Massachusetts, who worked as a teacher in Riverhead Academy for many years. He was buried in Riverhead Cemetery. == References ==