Emily Huntington Miller

Emily Huntington Miller
A woman of the century
Born	Emily Huntington October 22, 1833 Brooklyn, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	November 2, 1913(1913-11-02) (aged 80) Mexico City Mexico
Resting place	Toledo Ohio
Occupation	author, poet, educator
Language	English
Nationality	American
Citizenship	Senior
Education	None
Spouse	John E. Miller ​ (m. 1860)​

Emily Huntington Miller (October 22, 1833 – November 2, 1913) was an American author, poet, and educator.

Miller was the Assistant Editor of The Little Corporal, a children's magazine; Associate Editor of The Ladies Home Journal; and co-founder of St. Nicholas, a publication for children. She was appointed Dean of Women at Northwestern University in Illinois, September 1891. Miller and Jennie Fowler Willing were involved with organizing a convention in Cleveland in 1874, at which the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed.

Early years

Emily Huntington was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, October 22, 1833. She was the daughter of the Methodist pastor, Thomas Huntington. She received a liberal education and was graduated from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio in 1857.

Career

Emily Huntington Miller

Miller showed her literary ability in her school-days. While yet a girl, she published a number of sketches and stories, which attracted general attention. Thereafter, she was a constant and prolific contributor of sketches, short stories, serials, poems and miscellaneous articles to newspapers and magazines. She earned a reputation by her work on the Little Corporal. She gave much time and work to Sunday-school and missionary interests. She was connected with the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle from its commencement, and served as president of the Chautauqua Woman's Club for four years. She was appointed Dean of Women at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, where she subsequently resided. Her published literary work included 15 volumes, some of which were republished in England, and all of which found wide circles of readers. Her poetical productions were numerous. Over 100 of her poems were set to music, including her 1865 poem Lilly's Secret, which became the basis for the lyrics to the popular Christmas song Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. In her varied career, she was equally successful as writer, educator, temperance-worker, and journalist.

Besides her literary work, Miller prepared and gave lectures on temperance, also on missionary and educational subjects. She was prominently connected with the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a Trustee of Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois.

Personal life

In 1860, she married John E. Miller. Of their children, three sons survived, including George A. Miller; their only daughter died in infancy. She was a grandmother to Emily Huntington Miller Witherow, and great-grandmother to Robert Huntington Witherow. Lewis Miller (philanthropist) was a relation. Mr. and Mrs. Miller moved from Evanston, Illinois, to St. Paul, Minnesota, where the husband died in 1882.

Selected works

Author

• “Kirkwood series”
• “Little Neighbors”
• "Captain Fritz”
• “Fighting the enemy”
• “Highway and Hedges”

Popular music (lyrics only)

• My Good for Nothing
• Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Hymns (lyrics only)

• Beyond the Dark River of Death
• Blessed Are the Children
• Enter Thy Temple, Glorious King
• Father, While the Shadows Fall
• Hark, the Chorus Swelling
• I Love the Name of Jesus
• I Love to Hear the Story
• O, Land of the Blessed!
• O, Realm of Light
• Stay, Trembling Soul, and Do Not Fear
• Tell the blessed Tidings
• Work and Never Weary
• Baby's first Christmas

References

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth (1888). Woman and Temperance: Or, The Work and Workers of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (Public domain ed.). Park Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 701. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Works by or about Emily Huntington Miller at the Internet Archive
• Works by Emily Huntington Miller at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/onthisday/2008/09/sept_1891_mrs_emily_huntington.html
• http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/aww_03/aww_03_00823.html