History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/William E. Miller
WILLIAM E. MILLER was born near Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1823. He was reared on a farm, attending the district school winters. In 1846 he began to study law and in 1852 removed to Iowa, taking up his residence at Iowa City where he engaged in newspaper business. In 1853 he was admitted to the bar and began practice. In 1854 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney. In 1857 he was the Republican candidate for Representative in the Legislature but was defeated. The following year he was elected judge of the Eighth District for four years. In 1862 he resigned to accept a commission as colonel of the Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. After a year's service his health failed and he resigned, returning to the practice of law. In 1864 he began to prepare a Treatise on Pleadings which was published in 1868. In the same year he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court. In 1870 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy. At the following election he was chosen for a full term of six years and in 1874 became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1871 he succeeded Judge Wright as Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law in the State University. In 1873 he compiled a Revision of the Laws of Iowa and also a work on Highways. He was engaged on another legal work at the time of his death which occurred November 7, 1896.