Samuel Miller, D.D., 1769-1850

Samuel Miller was born in Dover, Delaware on October 31, 1769. His father was the Rev. John Miller (1722-1791) who started his theological education. Miller attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 1789. He earned his license to preach in 1791, and the University of Pennsylvania awarded him a Doctorate of Divinity degree (D.D.) in 1804. He became a co-worker with Dr. Rodgers and Dr. McKnight in New York in 1792. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1806, and took a keen interest in the establishment of Princeton Seminary, from the time the idea was suggested by Dr. Alexander. From 1813 to 1849, he served as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government at Princeton Theological Seminary.

From the beginning of his career in New York Dr. Miller enjoyed a high reputation. "Besides having the advantage of a remarkably fine person, and most bland and attractive manners, he had, from the beginning, an uncommonly polished style, and there was an air of literary refinement pervading all his performances, that excited general admiration...". He was the author of a great number of works, including A Brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century (1803, 1805), Memoir of the Reverend John Rogers (1813), Letters on Unitarianism (1821), An Essay on the Office of the Ruling Elder (1831), Letters from a Father to a Son in College (1843), and Thoughts on Public Prayer (1849).

Miller passed away in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 7, 1850, leaving behind his wife, Sarah Miller, and his children. One son, Samuel Miller, Jr., undertook to write his father's biography, Life of Samuel Miller D.D., published in 1869.