The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: NC
Qualifying Service: Captain / Patriotic Service
located on Private Property on west side of Broad River Road, and about one mile north of Parr Road
Author: Frederick Arnold Weyler
James Miller. of Irish descent, was a native of Pennsylvania. He married his cousin, Agnes Miller. James Miller owned property on Cleghorn Creek south of Rutherfordton NC. Miller did much service of note during the Revolution. He was a signer of the Tryon resolves. In 1776, NC commissioned him a militia captain. In 1778 James was elected sheriff of Tryon County, the last before the county was subdivided. He was made colonel in 1781, repressing the Tories, and commanded the Rutherford county troops against the Cherokees in the fall of 1782. (Draper's, Kings Mountain and its Heroes) Miller was a member of the state senate from Rutherford County, in 1782, 1784, 1785 and 1787. He died while on a trip to Charleston, SC, about 1812, at Cross Anchor, SC.
In September 1780, James Miller’s Rutherford County militia company under Andrew Hampton retreated across the mountains to the Watauga River for refuge from Patrick Ferguson’s forces. The Metcalf brothers and John McClure (said 80 retreated) were with Captain Miller. James Miller’s company fought with Andrew Hampton and Joseph McDowell’s patriots at Kings Mountain on Saturday 07Oct1780.
________________ By John Panhorst
General James Miller, who was born in 1743, married his cousin, Agnes Miller born in 1735. They both were born and then married in 1767, in Ireland. They came to America about 1768 and settled in Rutherfordton, Rutherford County, NC, where they had two daughters; Sarah, born 20 Jun 1769, married Colonel Richard Lewis and Mary "Polly", born 13 Mar 1773, married James Erwin.
From DAR American Revolution Patriot Index, p 2027. "He was a Captain of North Carolina Militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain that helped turn around the War in the South and led to Lord Cornwallis going to Yorktown, VA. He was promoted to Colonel for bravery. He was wounded at the Siege of Augusta. He commanded the Rutherford troops on the Expedition against the Cherokees in 1782. After the War he represented Rutherford County, NC in the State Legislature as Senator in 1782-1784 and 1785-1787."
The US Census of 1790 and 1800 both place him in Rutherford County, North Carolina. His tombstone located three miles east of Pomaria, Newberry County, SC reads: "In memory of Gen James Miller who departed this life in the 72 years of his age and for many years a respectable citizen of Rutherford County N. Carolina." Several sources state he died 35 miles north of this small grave yard at Cross Anchor, Spartanburg County, South Carolina.
He is buried in the Mayer & Gen James Miller Cemetery. The cemetery is located on Private Property on west side of Broad River Road, and about one mile north of Parr Road. The cemetery has been trashed and that is being very nice about its condition! The few tombstones that are visable are extremely hard to read. Sep 2012.
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Additional Information:
RC notes that his spouse - Agnes Miller - was his cousin