John Elvis MILLER, Congress, AR (1888-1981)

MILLER, John Elvis, a Representative and a Senator from Arkansas; born in Aid, Stoddard County, Mo., May 15, 1888; attended the public schools, Southeast Missouri State Teachers College at Cape Girardeau, and Valparaiso (Ind.) University; graduated from the law department of the University of Kentucky at Lexington in 1912; admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Searcy, White County, Ark.; also engaged in banking; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1918; served as prosecuting attorney, first judicial circuit of Arkansas, 1919-1922; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1931, to November 14, 1937, when he resigned to become a Senator; elected on October 18, 1937, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph T. Robinson for the term ending January 3, 1943, and served from November 15, 1937, until his resignation effective March 31, 1941, having been appointed United States district judge for the western district of Arkansas; retired as United States district judge in 1967 and became United States senior district judge; resided in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Ark. until his death on January 30, 1981; interment at Forest Park Cemetery.

Bibliography

Ledbetter, Calvin R., Jr. “The Special Senatorial Election of 1937 and Its Legacy for Arkansas Politics.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 63 (Spring 2004): 1-23.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present