Elijah Miles (January 16, 1753 – May 26, 1831) was a merchant, farmer, land owner and political figure in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. He represented

Sunbury County Sunbury County (2021 population 27,864) is located in central New Brunswick, Canada. A large military base (CFB Gagetown) is located in the western part of the county south of the town of Oromocto. The county also hosts forestry and mixed farm ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

from 1803 to 1809 and from 1816 to 1827. He was born in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the Vill ...

, the son of Justus Miles and Hannah Olmstead, and was educated there. Miles served in a loyalist unit during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and came to New Brunswick after the war, settling in

Maugerville Maugerville ( ) is a New Brunswick unincorporated community located on the east bank of the Saint John River in Maugerville Parish, Sunbury County, in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The settlement is located on provincial Route 105, 16 ...

. In 1779, he married Frances Cornwell, a descendant of Thomas Cornell.Cornell, John. Genealogy of the Cornell family : being an account of the descendants of Thomas Cornell. 1904, page 195. Miles was a captain in the King's New Brunswick Regiment from 1793 to 1802. He married Elizabeth Harding in 1800 after the death of his first wife. He was elected to the provincial assembly in 1802 after a number of voters who had voted for

Samuel Denny Street Samuel Denny Street (May 16, 1752 – December 11, 1830) was an English-born lawyer and political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Sunbury County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1795 to 1802 and from 1809 to 1816. Career ...

were found to be ineligible by the sheriff. Miles was an unsuccessful candidate in 1809 but was elected in the three elections that followed. During his time in the assembly, Miles never opposed measures introduced by the government. He was a magistrate for Sunbury County and served as a justice for the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. Miles died in Maugerville at the age of 78. His son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

also represented the county in the provincial assembly. Although Miles himself was a member of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, his son Frederick William Miles became a Baptist minister and was president of the first Baptist seminary in the province. Elija was the great-great-great-grandfather of Richard Miles who served as MLA for Fredericton Silverwood in the province of NB elected in 2006.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1753 births 1831 deaths People from Milford, Connecticut 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Colony of New Brunswick people United Empire Loyalists Loyalist military personnel of the American Revolutionary War American emigrants to pre-Confederation New Brunswick Loyalists in the American Revolution from Connecticut Canadian magistrates 18th-century Canadian merchants {{NewBrunswick-MLA-stub