Guide to the John Franklin Miller Papers,
1848-1890
Processed by Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Patricia White
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
Phone: (650) 725-1022
Email: speccollref@stanford.edu
URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/
© 1997
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the John Franklin Miller Papers,
1848-1890
Collection number: M059
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, California
Contact Information
- Department of Special Collections
- Green Library
- Stanford University Libraries
- Stanford, CA 94305-6004
- Phone: (650) 725-1022
- Email: speccoll@sulmail.stanford.edu
- URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/
- Processed by:
- Special Collections staff
- Date Completed:
- September 1963
- Encoded by:
- Patricia White
© 1997 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: John Franklin Miller Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1848-1890
Collection number: Special Collections M059
Creator: Miller, John Franklin
Extent:
2 linear ft.
Repository:
Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions:
None.
Publication Rights:
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.
Provenance:
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Cecil, 1955
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of item] John Franklin Miller Papers, M059, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
BIOGRAPHY
John Franklin Miller, the eldest of William and Mary Miller's five children, was born in South Bend, Indiana on November 21,
1831. Young Miller attended a local academy and in 1848 entered the Hatheway Mathematical and Classical School in Chicago.
After a year, he returned to South Bend and studied in the law office of Judge Elisha Egbert. In 1852 Miller received his
LL.B. from the State and National Law School at Ballston Spa, New York.
Upon completing his education, John Miller returned to South Bend to open his practice with a Joseph Defrees. This partnership
lasted only a few months because illness forced Miller to look for a different climate. He joined a group of emigrants headed
for California by way of Nicaragua and arrived in Napa in March of 1853. There, he went into partnership with Judge Currey
of San Francisco and also served as county treasurer for two years.
In 1855 illness again necessitated a change of climate and Miller returned to South Bend to work with a new partner, Norman
Eddy. Shortly after his return Miller met Miss Mary Chess of Monongahela, Pennsylvania, whom he married in 1857. A daughter,
Eudora, was born in 1859, and a son, John, some years later. Apparently the boy died while still quite young for references
to him suddenly stop after 1876.
John Miller entered the Indiana Senate in 1861 as a Republican. With the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services
to the Union cause and served with distinction until his retirement from the military in 1865. He was originally commissioned
a colonel of the 29th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served under various commanders including Sherman, Buell,
Rosecrans, and Thomas. In 1862 Miller was put in command of Headquarters at Nashville, Tennessee. On December 31, 1862 he
was wounded in the neck at the Battle of Stone River or Murfreesboro and on March 31, 1863 he lost an eye at the Battle of
Liberty Gap. For his bravery in this last engagement, Miller was made a brigadier general of volunteers. At the Battle of
Nashville in 1864 he was in command of a brigade and on March 13, 1865, he was brevetted a major general.
On September 25, 1865, John F. Miller resigned from the army and moved his family to San Francisco. There, by appointment
of President Johnson, he served as collector of the port for four years. During this time the family lived at the Palace Hotel
in San Francisco and some years later moved to Napa.
At some time during his tenure as collector to the port Miller became interested in the seal hunting possibilities in Alaska.
There is a story to the effect that a sea captain talked him into backing one such venture that was highly successful. At
any rate, in 1869, Miller became president on the Alaska Seal Company, a post he held for twelve years. It was a very lucrative
business for all concerned, especially since it held the United States monopoly for this type of enterprise.
In 1872 and 1876 Miller was the Republican candidate for Presidential elector, and a delegate to the second State Constitutional
Convention of 1878-79. On March 4, 1881, he became U.S. Senator from California and served until his death on March 8, 1886.
As one of the wealthiest members of that body, he belonged to its "Millionaires Club." While in the Senate he was chairman
of the Foreign Relations Committee, supported free labor, and took an active part in anti-Chinese legislation including the
modification of the Burlingame Treaty with China and the Exclusion Bill of 1882.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The John Franklin Miller Papers consist of personal and military correspondence, business, financial, and legal papers, official
documents, calling cards, clippings and photographs, and some printed matter covering almost forty years, 1848-1886. The bulk
of the material is dated between 1848 and 1865 and deals with Miller's early legal career and his military service during
the Civil War.
The correspondence and other papers relating to the Civil War are the most important and significant part of the collection.
Miller wrote almost daily to his wife between 1862 and 1865, except when she was with him in Nashville and Murfreesboro. These
letters describe men and conditions in military camps, skirmishes, and the battles of Liberty Gap and Stone River and others.
They also give accounts of conversations which sometimes include plans and strategy. There are also letters to Miller by men
of military and political importance in Tennessee and nationally. In this category are letters from Andrew Johnson, Schuyler
Colfax, Mrs. James K. Polk, and General Rosecrans. The letters of Henry M. Cist, Miller's aide and later on the staff of General
Thomas, give long and detailed accounts of troop movements. Various other military correspondents describe recruiting procedures
and problems as well as troop movements and battles.
From 1865 to 1886 the correspondence is much slimmer, but contains many names of political importance including Cabinet officers
and Miller's Senatorial colleagues. There are also some papers and clippings dealing with seal hunting in Alaska and two letters
from the Alaska Commercial Company of which Miller was president.
Included in the Miller papers are several folders of letters to Miller's daughter Eudora from her husband, naval officer Richardson
Clover. There are some sketchy descriptions of an expedition to Alaska, but most of the correspondence is purely personal.
Note
In the front part of many of the folders are handwritten lists of correspondents with short notes as to contents.
CONTAINER LIST
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence: Incoming A-B
Box 1, Folder 2
Correspondence: Incoming C-Cob
Box 1, Folder 3
Correspondence: Incoming Col-Cur
Box 1, Folder 4
Correspondence: Incoming D-E
Box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence: Incoming F-G
Box 1, Folder 6
Correspondence: Incoming H
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence: Incoming J-Mic
Box 1, Folder 8
Correspondence: Incoming Miller, B.F. - Miller, Martha
Box 1, Folder 9
Correspondence: Incoming Miller, Mary Chess (wife)
Box 2, Folder 10
Correspondence: Incoming Miller, Milton - MiIler, Will
Box 2, Folder 11
Correspondence: Incoming Miller, William (father)
1853-77
Box 2, Folder 12
Correspondence: Incoming Mills - P
Box 2, Folder 13
Correspondence: Incoming R
Box 2, Folder 14
Correspondence: Incoming S
Box 2, Folder 15
Correspondence: Incoming T-W
Box 2, Folder 16
Correspondence: Incoming Illegible, unsigned, or fragments
Box 2, Folder 17-19
Correspondence: Outgoing
1853-July 6, 1861
Box 3, Folder 20-24
Correspondence: Outgoing
Aug. 16, 1861-Oct. 14, 1865
Box 3, Folder 25
Correspondence: Outgoing
1874-1879 and undated
Box 3, Folder 26
Correspondence: Outgoing undated fragments
Box 3, Folder 27-29
Correspondence: General A-S
Box 4, Folder 30
Correspondence: General T-Y
Box 4, Folder 31
Correspondence: General Condolence
1886
Box 4, Folder 32
Correspondence: General undated fragments
Box 4, Folder 33-37
Legal and Business:
1849-1856
Box 4, Folder 39
Legal and Business: Alaska Commercial Co.
1882 & 1884
Box 4, Folder 40
Legal and Business: Treasurer, Napa County, Ca.
1853-1854
Box 4, Folder 41
Legal and Business: undated
Box 4, Folder 42
Affidavits and Appointments
Box 5, Folder 43
Calling cards, passes, certificates, tickets, etc.
Box 5, Folder 46
Personal business and finance
Box 5, Folder 47
Clippings and photographs
Box 5, Folder 49-54
Correspondence: Clover, Richardson to Eudora Miller Clover,
1890 and undated
