“M” is for Miller, Stephen Decatur (1787-1838)

“M” is for Miller, Stephen Decatur (1787-1838). Congressman, governor, U.S. Senator. Miller was born in Lancaster District and graduated from South Carolina College. He read for the law and settled in Stateburg. Miller's public service began in 1816 when he was elected to Congress. From 1822 to 1828 Miller was a member of the South Carolina Senate and an early leader in the movement toward nullification. Between 1828 and 1830 he served as governor. Through his widely reprinted, rousing speeches he helped popularize nullification. Elected to the U.S. Senate, Miller opposed the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, the 1832 Land Bill, and the Tariff of 1832. He was a delegate to the 1832 nullification convention. Stephen Decatur Miller resigned from the Senate in 1833, citing poor health, and retired to land he had purchased in Mississippi.