James Francis Miller - Texas Congressman and Confederate Soldier

Description

1830 -1902) was an American politician who represented Texas in the United States House of Representatives from 1883-1886. Miller was born born in Winnsboro, South Carolina. He moved with his parents to Texas in 1842 where he attended the common schools and Reutersville College. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1857, and commenced practice in Gonzales, Texas. During the American Civil War, Miller enlisted as a private in Company I, Eighth Texas Cavalry, better known as “Terry’s Texas Rangers,” and served throughout the Civil War. After the war, he resumed the practice of law in Gonzales, Texas. In addition, he also engaged in banking and stock raising. Miller was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1887). In Congress, he served as chairman, Committee on Banking and Currency (Forty-ninth Congress). He declined renomination to the Fiftieth Congress. After leaving Congress, he resumed former pursuits. He was elected as first president of the Texas Bankers’ Association in 1885. He died in Gonzales, Texas in 1902 and is buried in Masonic Cemetery.