Pleasant Moorman Miller, (unknown birth - 1849) was an American politician who represented

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Biography

Miller was born the son of a tavern owner in Lynchburg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Miller studied law under Judge Archibald Stewart of Staunton before moving to

Rogersville, Tennessee Rogersville is a town in and the county seat of Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers (pioneer), Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest ...

, in 1796. Following his move from Rogersville to

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

in 1800, where he practiced law with Thomas Emmerson, Miller was married to Mary Louisa Blount, daughter of Tennessee statesman

William Blount William Blount ( ; April 6, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American politician, landowner and Founding Father who was one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitution ...

. He became known as one of the best criminal trial lawyers in Tennessee because of his wit and oratorical skills.

Career

Elected chairman, Miller served as one of the commissioners for the government of Knoxville in 1801 and 1802. He was a leader of the Blount-Jackson political faction, and elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the Eleventh Congress, which lasted from March 4, 1809 to March 4, 1811. He moved to

west Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its geography consists ...

in approximately 1824 and was chancellor of that division in 1836 and 1837. In 1811 Miller was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives and helped secure the creation of the Bank of the State of Tennessee. He resigned in 1812 to serve in the first Seminole War and enlisted again in 1814 in the Creek Indian War. Again elected to the Tennessee House from 1817 to 1823, he emerged as a champion of squatter rights, helped secure passage of legislation stabilizing Tennessee banks and currency during the Depression of 1819, and sponsored major judicial reform. In 1822 he introduced the resolution nominating Andrew Jackson for the presidency. To manage his extensive land holdings and law practice, Miller moved to Jackson; became a tireless organizer of the Whig Party, and was elected by the legislature as the first chancellor of West Tennessee in 1836, he served until resigning in 1837 in order to campaign for Whig candidates.

Death

In 1847 Miller moved to Trenton in Gibson County, where he died in 1849, and is interred at

Trenton, Tennessee Trenton is the county seat and fourth largest city of Gibson County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,240. History Trenton was established in 1824 as a county seat for the newly cre ...

References

External links

Tennessee Historical SocietyBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Pleasant Moorman 1849 deaths Year of birth missing Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly