Representative Edward Edwin Miller

Edward Edwin Miller (July 22, 1880 – August 1, 1946) was a Republican politician and businessman who served one term as a United States Representative from Illinois. He was born in Creston, Union County, Iowa, on July 22, 1880, and attended the common schools there during his early years. In 1892, as a young boy, he moved with his family to East St. Louis in St. Clair County, Illinois, a growing industrial and transportation center that would remain the focal point of his professional and political life.

After completing his basic education, Miller entered the business world in East St. Louis. In 1900 he began working in the real estate and insurance business, fields in which he would remain active for much of his adult life. His early involvement in local commerce helped establish him as a figure in the community and provided him with practical experience in finance, property, and risk management, skills that later informed his public service at both the state and national levels.

Miller’s political career developed alongside his business pursuits. He served as private secretary to Congressman William A. Rodenberg, a Republican representing an Illinois district, an experience that gave him direct exposure to congressional operations and constituent service. He further deepened his engagement with party politics as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1912, participating in national deliberations during a pivotal period for the Republican Party. Building on this experience, he was elected state treasurer of Illinois, serving from 1921 to 1923. In that statewide office he was responsible for overseeing public funds and financial operations during the early post–World War I years.

On the strength of his statewide service and party involvement, Miller was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-eighth Congress, representing Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1923, to March 3, 1925. His tenure in Congress thus spanned a significant period in American history, during the early 1920s, when the nation was adjusting to postwar economic and social changes. As a member of the House of Representatives, Edward Edwin Miller contributed to the legislative process, participated in the democratic governance of the country, and represented the interests of his Illinois constituents. Although positioned to seek a longer congressional career, he declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1924, thereby limiting his service in Congress to a single term.

After leaving Congress in 1925, Miller returned to East St. Louis and resumed his work in the real estate and insurance business. He continued in these pursuits for many years, maintaining his ties to the local community and the regional economy. His post-congressional career reflected a pattern common among early twentieth-century legislators who alternated between public office and private enterprise, bringing their legislative experience back into the business sector.

With the onset of World War II and the growing demands on civilian and humanitarian organizations, Miller again entered public service in a different capacity. In 1942 he became Director of Transportation for the American Red Cross at St. Louis, Missouri. In that role he was responsible for coordinating transportation-related activities in support of the Red Cross’s wartime and relief missions, contributing to the broader national mobilization effort during a critical period.

Edward Edwin Miller remained in that position until his death in St. Louis on August 1, 1946. He was interred in St. Clair Memorial Park Cemetery in East St. Louis, Illinois, returning in death to the community where he had built his business career and from which he had risen to statewide office and service in the United States Congress.