Thomas Ezekiel Miller

Born: June 17, 1849 in Ferrebeeville, South Carolina

Died: April 8, 1938 in Charleston, South Carolina

United States Representative, 1890–1891

Republican from South Carolina

• Thomas Ezekiel Miller was one of the last African American congressmen from South Carolina during the 19th century. 
• Miller was born in Beaufort County, S.C. and raised by Richard and Mary Ferrebee Miller, both former slaves, but his fair skin color caused much speculation about his biological origins. He moved with his parents to Charleston, S.C., in 1851.
• During the Civil War, Miller was conscripted into the military by the Confederate Army until he was freed by Union troops in 1865. He followed them to New York and completed secondary education in Hudson, N.Y. In 1872, he graduated from Lincoln University, a school for African–American students, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and moved to Grahamville, S.C., to serve as school commissioner of Beaufort County. 
• He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1875 and practiced law in Beaufort, S.C. At the same time, he became a member of the State house of representatives in 1874-1880, 1886-1887 and 1894-1896.
• In 1888, Miller entered the race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that was formerly occupied by Black Representative and Civil War hero Robert Smalls. Like Langston, he also had an abbreviated term due to election fraud and only served from September 24, 1890 to March 3, 1891.
• Although he did not get reelected to Congress, he remained active in politics for the next 40 years. He helped establish and was the first president of the State Negro College (now South Carolina State University) from 1896 until 1911.
• Miller died April 8, 1938 in Charleston at the age of 88. 

Thomas Ezekiel Miller

1902

The Negro In Revelation, in History, and In Citizenship Collection

Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division

NYPL Digital Collections: Executive officers of the Negro Department of South Carolina and West Indian Exposition, Charleston, South Carolina, 1901-1902.