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Solomon Miller

Photograph of Sol Miller, 1880sNewspaperman. Born: January 22, 1831, Lafayette, Ind.  Married: Mary Kaucher, 1857.  Died: April 17, 1897. 

For 40 years the newspaper editorials of Sol Miller informed, criticized, and sometimes stunned readers.

Born in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1831 and raised in Prable County, Ohio, Solomon Miller came to Kansas Territory and founded the Kansas Chief at White Cloud in 1857. An outspoken and often vitriolic editor, he plunged into the territorial controversies as a Free-State Republican.

Fuzzy thinking politicians - no matter what their party - were often the objects of his comments, as were some of Miller's fellow editors when he disagreed with their logic. He was never profane. He did not need to be because he had so many other epithets he could use for his opposition - dirty dog, skunk, and hare-brained jackass, to name a few. He was colorful; the epitome of the frontier editor and today he would be defending himself from suits of libel and slander.

In 1872 Miller moved the Chief to Troy. There he worked until his death in 1897. In 1904 the Chief was sold and continues to be published today.

Solomon Miller letter to Governor Charles Robinson

Miller served in both the Kansas House and Senate and later made light of his legislative contributions. At one time Horace Greely tried to lure him to New York, but Miller declined. He wrote an autobiographical sketch in which he said "We have always been accused of indulging too much levity and looking at the ridiculous side of everything. Well, there is fun in everything, if it can only be smelted out." It is unlikely that some of the victims of Miller's pen had much fun with his editorials.

Entry: Miller, Solomon

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: June 2003

Date Modified: January 2013

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.