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 )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from 1817 to 1819, and as a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

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 e ...

on a platform of abolishing tariffs, he made a speech at

Stateburg, South Carolina Stateburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in the High Hills of Santee in Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,380 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Sumter, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. S ...

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 of th ...

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

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same 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 polic ...

.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 politicians 19th-century American lawyers