Stephen Decatur Miller (May 8, 1787March 8, 1838) was an American politician, who served as the 52nd Governor of South Carolina from 1828 to 1830. He represented

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from 1817 to 1819, and as a

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

from 1831 to 1833.

Life and career

He was born in Waxhaw settlement, South Carolina and graduated from South Carolina College in 1808. After he studied law, he practiced in Sumterville. Stephen Decatur Miller was married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Dick, died in 1819. None of their three children lived to adulthood. Miller remarried in 1821; his second wife was a girl sixteen years his junior, Mary Boykin (1804−1885). They had four children together. Despite the age difference, their marriage was happy and passionate. During his successful campaign for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on a platform of abolishing tariffs, he made a speech at Stateburg, South Carolina in September 1830 where he said, "There are three and only three ways, to reform our congressional legislation. The representative, judicial and belligerent principle alone can be relied on; or as they are more familiarly called, the ballot box, the jury box and the cartouche box." Stephen Miller renounced his political career in 1833 and ventured into farming in Mississippi. He died in

Raymond, Mississippi Raymond is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,933; in 2020, its population was 1,960. Raymond is one of two county seats of Hinds County (along with Jackson) and is the home ...

, in 1838, leaving his wife and children in debt. Their daughter Mary Boykin Miller (1823–86) married James Chesnut, Jr. (1815–85), who later became a U.S. Senator and a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

general. Mary Chesnut became famous for her diary documenting life in South Carolina during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

.NGA Biography of Stephen Decatur Miller

Notes

References

Muhlenfeld, Elisabeth, ''Mary Boykin Chesnut: A Biography'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press 1992).

External links

NGA Biography of Stephen Decatur Miller
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Stephen Decatur 1787 births 1838 deaths University of South Carolina alumni South Carolina lawyers Democratic Party South Carolina state senators Democratic Party governors of South Carolina University of South Carolina trustees United States senators from South Carolina High Hills of Santee Nullifier Party politicians Nullifier Party United States senators Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Nullifier Party state governors of the United States 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly