PLEASANT MOORMAN MILLER
was born at Lynchburg, Campbell County, Virginia, in 1773; son of John and Mary (Moorman) Johnson
Miller; exact date of birth and extent of schooling not stated; studied law under judge Archibald Stewart
of Staunton, Virginia. Moved to Rogersville, Hawkins County Tennessee, 1796, thence to Knoxville, Knox County, in 1800.
Married, in April, 1801, to Mary Louisa Blount, daughter of Governor William and Mary (Grainger) Blount of
Knoxville; children-Barbara, Malvina Lowery, Albert S., William Blount, Susan Lynch, and six whose names are
not found. Practiced law successfully at Knoxville. Elected as one of the commissioners governing Knoxville,
1801 and again in 1802; elected to House of Representatives, 11th Congress,
serving from March 4~ 1809, to March 3, 1811. Served in the House, 9th Tennessee
General Assembly, 1 st Sess.,
September 16, to November 21, 1811, resigning to enlist for War of 1812; again elected to House,
12th, 13th, and
14th General Assemblies, 1817-1823; representing Knox County in all Assemblies.
Moved, c.1824, to Madison County, and settled with family upon
farm, “Holly Hill” near Jackson; practiced law giving much time to land litigation and
“amassed a huge estate.”
Elected chancellor of newly created Chancery Division serving from 1836 to 1837. Around 1847,
sold “Holly Hill” farm and moved to a farm which be owned in Gibson County some six miles
from Trenton. In War of 1812; enlisted December 1, 1812, as private in Captain Walker’s Company,
under Colonel John Williams for service in first Seminole War; enlisted again January 10, 1814, for
campaign against Creek Indians, private in Captain Yarnell’s Company, East Tennessee Drafted Militia;
transferred to Captain Gibb’s Company January 13, 1814; transferred again to Captain Duncan’s
Company April 27, 1814; transferred finally September 20, 1814, to Captain Conway’s Company in East
Tennessee Mounted Gunmen. Member Lodge No. 2, Free and Accepted Masons; Deputy Grand Master, 1809-11. Died
at Trenton April 26, 1849; buried at that place. Father of William Blount Miller, sometime member Tennessee
General Assembly.
Sources: Biographical Directory of American Congress, Rothrock, French Broad-Holston Country, 456-57;
Williams, Historic Madison, 63-65; Miller, Official Manuel, 185; information supplied by Mrs. Albert Ewing,
genealogist, Nashville; East Tennessee Historical Society's Publications, No. 17, p. 39; Tennessee Historical
Quarterly, VIII, 271; Armstrong, Notable Southern Families, 1, 36; Hale and Merritt, Tennessee and
Tennesseans, 726; Caldwell, Bench and Bar of Tennessee, 63; Goodspeed, History of Knox County, 385;
War of 1812 file in Tennessee Archives.
_______
Biographical Dictionary of the Tennessee General Assembly, Volume I, 1796-1861 The
Tennessee Historical Commission, Nashville, 1975. pp. 519-520.
PLEASANT MOORMAN
MILLER, a Representative from Tennessee; born in Lynchburg,
Campbell County, Va.; moved to
Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tenn., in 1796, and thence to Knoxville, Knox County, Tenn., in 1800; one of
the commissioners for the government of Knoxville in 1801 and 1802; elected as a Republican to the Eleventh
Congress (March 4, 1809-March 3, 1811); moved to west Tennessee about 1824, and was chancellor of that
division in 1836 and 1837; died in 1849; interment in Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee.
Bibliography
Biographical Dictionary of the American Congress, 1774-1971, Washington, D. C.,
Government Printing Office, 1971.
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