Background
Oliver Miller was born on April 15, 1824, in Middletown, Connecticut. He was the son of Clarissa Miller.
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Oliver Miller
Edit ProfileEducation
Miller received his elementary education in the public schools of that place and at the age of twelve entered the academy at Frederick, Maryland, of which his brother-in-law, Mr. Converse, was principal. At that time he became closely attached to the Converse family and, in later years, during his sister Emily's widowhood, he supported her as long as he lived and educated her children. In 1845, he entered Dartmouth College, graduating with distinction in 1848. He began reading law in the office of Alexander Randall in Annapolis soon afterward, and in 1850 was admitted to the bar.
Career
Miller's career as a practicing attorney was brief, however, for by nature he preferred more exacting though less remunerative public service. In 1850-51, he reported four volumes of Maryland chancery decisions and mastered the technique of the profession. In 1852, he became a reporter of the court of appeals and, in the following decade, edited volumes III-XVIII of the Maryland Reports, Containing Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of Maryland (1853 - 1862). His peculiar fitness for such tasks now evinced itself, and these Reports, marked by logic, vigorous language, and directness, and still regarded as models, brought him to the favorable attention of lawyers throughout the East. He represented Anne Arundel County in the House of Delegates from 1865 to 1867 and became speaker of that body in the latter year. Political life, with its intrigues and harassments by constituents, proved uncongenial to him, however, and in the election of November 1867, the first held under the constitution of 1867, he became candidate for the position of chief judge of the fifth judicial circuit (Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll counties), which automatically brought membership in the state court of appeals as associate judge. He was an easy victor and, upon the expiration of his term in 1882, was reelected. It was during his quarter of a century on the bench that Miller won lasting distinction. Charles Green of the United States Navy, and opened a second home in Ellicott City, because of its central location on his circuit. In September 1892, while at Ellicott City, Miller was stricken with paralysis and, resigning as of October 1, died three weeks later.
Achievements
Personality
Miller possessed a robust and virile intellect, a coldly analytical mind, an amazing memory, and was a master stylist; his opinions are among the best known in the judicial annals of Maryland and contributed in a marked degree to the high reputation which the decisions of the state court of appeals enjoy throughout the nation. Although he was of stern and forbidding exterior, the justice rendered by him was always tempered with mercy. Dignified, patient, independent, and inflexibly just, he exerted a profound personal influence upon the younger members of the bar, among whom his memory has continued a living force through four decades.
Connections
In 1874, Miller married Adeline Dewees (Piper) Green, widow of Lieut. They had no children. His wife died there in 1890.
