Freeman Edwin Miller

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Freeman Edwin Miller (May 19, 1864 - July 8, 1951) was a poet, lawyer, newspaper editor, professor, and district court judge.

Early life[edit]

Freeman Edwin Miller was born May 19, 1864 near Newtown, Indiana.[1] He attended DePauw University from 1881 to 1890.[1][2] Miller began teaching at the age of 16 while attending university courses.[1] Upon graduation with his Bachelor of Arts in 1887 he was valedictorian.[1] He received his Master of Arts in 1890, and relocated to Stillwater, Oklahoma.[1]

Writing career[edit]

In 1886 Miller edited the Veedersburg Indiana Courier, and in 1887 he edited the Canadian Texas Crescent.[1] He was the publisher and editor for the Stillwater Advance and Daily Democrat in 1905.[3][4] In 1906 and 1907 was the publisher for the Stillwater Progress.[4] He wrote the column "Oklahoma Sunshine" for the Daily Oklahoman from 1905 to 1917.[4] His 1904-1905 "Oklahoma Sunshine" column from the Stillwater Advance which was later collected into a book of the same title.[5] Miller was an English literature professor from 1894 to 1898 and 1915 to 1916[6] at OSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, then called the Agricultural and Mechanical College.[7] He chaired the English department beginning in 1894.[1] Miller was considered the territorial poet laureate of Oklahoma.[7][8][3] C.W. Moulton published Oklahoma and Other Poems in 1895, [9][10][8] and the Knickerbocker Press published Songs from the Southwest Country in 1898.[11] He performed his poetry at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.[3] His poem "The Builders" was read by the clerk at the Oklahoma state constitutional convention.[4] His epic poem, "Oklahoma: An Ode," was read at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.[12][13]

Legal career[edit]

In 1889 Miller was elected district attorney for Texas' 31st Judicial District in Canadian, Texas.[14][1] Miller filed suit against Payne County for unpaid attorney's fees, and the case was the first to be appealed to the Oklahoma State Supreme Court in 1907.[15][16] A proponent of alcohol prohibition, in 1892 Miller was president of the Stillwater branch of the Christian Temperance Union,[17] and upon statehood helped to write the Oklahoma's Prohibition Enforcement Act.[4] He was the secretary at the 1894 Democratic Statehood Convention of Oklahoma held in Perry, Oklahoma.[18] In 1932 Oklahoma Governor William H. Murray appointed him district judge for Oklahoma's 11th District Court, and he served until 1936.[4]

Personal life[edit]

In 1914 Miller married Ada M. Kelly.[19] He died on July 8, 1951 at the age of 87.[4]

Works[edit]

  • Oklahoma and Other Poems C. W. Moulton. 1895.[20]
  • Songs from the Southwest Country The Knickerbocker Press. 1898.[21]
  • Oklahoma Sunshine The Advance Printing Company. 1905.[5]
  • The Founding of Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College Hinkel & Sons. 1928.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "An Oklahoma promotion". The Perry Daily Times. 22 June 1894. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Democratic announcements". Stillwater Gazette. 9 September 1892. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Oklahoma's Poet Laureate, Lauriger Freeman Miller will recite ode at World's Fair". The Guthrie Daily Leader. 3 September 1904. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Freeman Miller, pioneer editor, poet dies". Sooner State Press. 21 July 1951. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b Miller, Freeman (1905). Oklahoma Sunshine. The Advance Printing Company. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Services are held for Freeman Miller". The Cushing Daily Citizen. 10 July 1951. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Oklahoma's Poet Laureate". The Wichita Eagle. 16 December 1897. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Oklahoma and Other Poems". The Medford Patriot Star. 14 April 1898. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Oklahoma and Other Poems". The Oklahoma A and M College Mirror. 15 May 1895. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  10. ^ https://lccn.loc.gov/33038798 Miller, Freeman E., 1864-1951. Oklahoma, and other poems, by Freeman E. Miller. Buffalo, C. W. Moulton, 1895. vii, [9]-126 p., 1 l. front. (port.) 18 cm. PS3525.I54 O5 1895
  11. ^ https://lccn.loc.gov/12036799 Miller, Freeman E., 1864-1951. Songs from the south-west country, by Freeman E. Miller. New York, The Knickerbocker Press, 1898. 196 p. front. (port.) 20 cm. PS3525.I54 S6 1898
  12. ^ Thoborn, Joseph Bradfield (1916). A Standard History of Oklahoma: An Authentic Narrative of Its Development from the Date of the First European Exploration Down to the Present Time, Including Accounts of the Indian Tribes, Both Civilized and Wild, of the Cattle Range, of the Land Openings and the Achievements of the Most Recent Period, Volume 2. American Historical Society. pp. iii–viii. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  13. ^ "State Poet Shows Pride of Home". The Daily Oklahoman. 14 November 1982. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Local news". The Frisco Herald. 26 December 1889. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Poet Laureate in Court Case". The Daily Oklahoman. 19 November 1907. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Poet Laureate in Court Case". The Stillwater Democrat. 21 November 1907. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Temperance meeting". Stillwater Gazette. 29 July 1892. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Statehood Convention". Kingfisher Reformer. 25 January 1894. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Weds Son's Mother-in-law". The Kansas City Times. 8 August 1914. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  20. ^ Oklahoma and Other Poems. C. W. Moulton. 1895. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  21. ^ Songs from the Southwest Country. The Knickerbocker Press. 1898. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
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