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North Carolina's Governors
The first governor to live in the original Executive Mansion, William Miller (ca. 1783-1825) was appointed after his term to a diplomatic position in Central America. Born in Warren County, young Miller inherited a plantation of 930 acres. His early education was apparently at Warrenton Male Academy. He enrolled in the University of North Carolina in 1802, but left school prior to graduation. By 1809 he was a resident of Warrenton, engaged in the practice of law. In 1810 Governor David Stone named Miller attorney general. Miller served four terms in the General Assembly, twice as speaker of the House. Although returned for a fifth term, he resigned to become governor upon his election to that office. Miller served three terms as governor, and was the first to occupy the newly completed Executive Mansion at the south end of Raleigh's Fayetteville Street. Miller supported the military policies of President James Madison during the concluding weeks of the War of 1812. He lent his support to the early efforts to establish a system of public education, improve trade and transportation, and reform the penal code and judicial system. In 1817 Miller and Archibald D. Murphey joined forces in an unsuccessful effort to establish an independent supreme court. That effort would come to fruition during the following year under Miller's successor. During Miller's tenure as governor, the Canova statue of George Washington was commissioned. Following several years in Warrenton as a private citizen, Miller returned to Raleigh in 1821 as a member of the state Senate. In 1825 President John Quincy Adams appointed him a diplomatic agent to Guatemala. However he died of yellow fever on December 10, at Key West, en route to assume his new post, and probably was buried at sea.
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