Andrew Miller (North Dakota judge)

Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller (November 16, 1870, Denmark – March 17, 1960, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida), was an attorney and politician in Iowa and North Dakota who served as the North Dakota Attorney General from 1909 to 1914, and thereafter as a United States federal judge.

Early life and Iowa activities

Miller was born in Denmark, emigrating to the United States with his parents when he was two years old. His early boyhood was spent in New York and Vermont. In 1880 he moved to Chickasaw County, Iowa, with his parents, and until 1892 followed the occupation of farming. In the spring of that year he read law in the office of A. C. Ripley, at Garner, Iowa.

He was admitted to the bar in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1894, and in May of that year he opened an office for general practice at Buffalo Center, Iowa. In the fall of 1896 he was elected county attorney for Winnebago County, Iowa, and in January, 1897, moved to Forest City, Iowa, the county seat of Winnebago county. Miller was elected mayor of Forest City in 1898 and re-elected in 1900. In 1903 he made a failed bid for a seat in the Iowa General Assembly.

North Dakota activities

Miller moved to Bismarck, North Dakota in June 1905. He engaged there in the practice of law, and was appointed assistant Attorney General of the state in 1907, and elected Attorney General of North Dakota in 1908 as a Republican. He took office in January 1909, serving until January 1915. In 1914 he challenged incumbent United States Senator Asle Gronna in the Republican primary, but Gronna won and Miller finished third among four candidates. Miller then returned to private practice in Bismarck, North Dakota until 1922.

President Warren G. Harding nominated Miller on December 19, 1921, to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota created by 42 Stat. 66. On February 2, 1922, Miller was confirmed by the United States Senate and received his commission. Among the matters over which Miller presided was a suit alleging fraud against Governor William Langer, in 1934. Langer was convicted and subsequently removed from office.

Miller served actively for nineteen years, and then assumed senior status on March 29, 1941, serving in this capacity until his death.

Personal life

Miller married Ava Mabel Wing of Iowa on May 28, 1896, and they raised four children.

Bibliography

• North Dakota Secretary of State. "North Dakota Blue Book" (1911), pp. 527.

Sources

• Andrew Miller at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links

• Andrew Miller Papers, University of North Dakota