Willis D. Miller
| Willis D. Miller | |
|---|---|
| Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia | |
|
In office November 17, 1947 – December 20, 1960 |
|
| Appointed by | William M. Tuck |
| Preceded by | George L. Browning |
| Succeeded by | Harry L. Carrico |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Willis Dance Miller January 30, 1893 Powhatan, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | December 20, 1960 (aged 67) Virginia, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Eliza Ingram |
| Alma mater |
Richmond College Washington and Lee University |
Willis Dance Miller (January 30, 1893 – December 20, 1960) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia from 1947 until hours before his death in 1960.
Miller was born in Powhatan County, Virginia to Thomas M. Miller (1846-1902), a Confederate veteran and judge for Powhaton and Cumberland Counties, and his wife Anne Harris Pattison (1857-1957). He attended public schools in Powhatan County, then Randolph Macon Academy in Bedford, graduating in 1909. Later, he attended Richmond College, Washington and Lee University and the University of Richmond School of Law, receiving his law degree in 1914.
Justice Miller was the fifth generation in the direct male line of lawyers in his family, and sired the sixth generation. He married the former Eliza Ingram (1893-1967) of Richmond in December 1919. The first Virginia lawyer in the family line, Thomas M. Miller, received his license to practice from George Wythe and John Randolph in 1763, during the time of the French and Indian War. The Justice's only child, also named Thomas M. Miller, was also a lawyer and had become a member of the State Corporation Commission shortly before his father's death. Miller's brother Thomas Royall Miller (1897-1980) played professional baseball for the Boston Braves.
After admission to the Virginia bar in 1914, Miller established a private legal practice in Richmond, where he practiced until 1935. He was reviser of the Richmond City Code in 1924. From 1925 to 1936, he was Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Richmond. In that position, he prosecuted all criminal cases arising on the south side of the James River. These cases were heard in the Manchester Courthouse. (As a result of the agreement by which the cities of Manchester and Richmond merged in 1910, the merged city of Richmond maintained two courthouses until 2007.)
With the endorsement of the bar of the City of Richmond (where he had served as president), he was selected by the Virginia General Assembly to serve as the judge of the Law and Equity Court of Richmond, succeeding Judge Robert N. Pollard, who had been appointed to the United States District Court. He rendered some 6000 decisions as judge of that court, and was reversed in only six.
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