Biography of 	Miller, Albion K. Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by 	Mike Miller December 1997

**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
**********************************************  

    Capt. Albion Kendall Miller was born at Thomaston, Me., on the banks
of what was then St. Irish descent, whose names have been connected with
the history of New England since the days of the colonial period.  It is
not definitely known, but in all probability the first settlement of the
Miller family in the new world was made in the colony of Massachusetts,
from whence they emigrated to Maine, where we find the first positive
records of the family, and where two brothers, Maj. Noah and Hon. Joel
Miller, became prominent citizens.  Noah Miller served as a major in the
colonial army during the struggle for independence, and the early
records state that it was in his house that Major Burton sought shelter
while escaping from the British in 1781.  Hon. Joel Miller was born in
Lincolnville, Me., about the year 1784.  He served as warden of the
state prison, was a member of the state senate in 1828; judge of probate
in 1836, and died in 1849.  He married Elizabeth Robinson, a descendant
of Dr. Moses Robinson, of whom we speak later, and by her became the
father of nine children.  The third child born to Joel and Elizabeth
Robinson Miller was a son, George.  He received, during his boyhood, a
careful educational training, becoming a careful student and deep
thinker.  He, later, engaged in mercantile pursuits, and, in connection
with his business, also sailed as the commander of a packet schooner
plying between Thomaston, Me., and Richmond, Va.  His death occurred
August 20, 1841.  August 16, 1834, he married Julia Robinson, a native
of Thomaston, Me., born October 23, 1809, died, 1881, the daughter of
Capt. William Robinson, who, at the age of twenty-one years, was captain
of a sea-going vessel, followed the sea for thirty years, and was one of
a family of three sons, all of whom became captains of ocean vessels.
Dr. Moses Robinson, the maternal ancestor of our immediate subject, came
first to what is now Cushing, afterward to Warren, Me., with the first
settlers, where his son, Archibald Robinson, was the first white child
born on the St. George's river.  Thus it will be seen that Captain
Miller can point back with pride to a long line of ancestry, both
paternal and maternal, whose names have become synonymous with the early
history of our country, and who have handed down to their posterity a
record which, thus far, has been neither marred nor tarnished.  To
George and Julia Robinson Miller were born three children, of whom Capt.
Miller is the eldest.  George Edward, the second son, died in 1849, at
the age of eleven years.  Julia, the youngest child and only daughter,
married Charles E. Stearns, and resides in Chelsea, Mass.  Albion
Kendall Miller was but six years of age when his father died, leaving
his family in straitened circumstances.  The widow soon moved to Boston,
while Albion was taken into the home of an uncle.  He remained there but
a short time, however, making his home thereafter among strangers, so
that it may in reality be said that he was thrown upon his own resources
at the tender age of six years, working at choring and such light work
as he could find to do.  Born of a race of seafaring men, and reared
within sight of the sea, picking up pebbles along the coast, or lulled
to sleep by the ceaseless music of the waves as they broke upon the
shore, it was but natural that his childish pride and ambition should
lead him to become a rover upon that mighty deep stretching away in
grandeur before him.  It is not surprising, therefore, that at the age
of thirteen years we find him a cabin boy on the sailing bark "Nimrod,"
commanded by an uncle, Capt. George W. Robinson.  His first voyage was a
lengthy one.  They sailed in December, from Waldoboro, Me., for New
Orleans, when the young mariner saw, for the first time, the city of his
future residence.  The "Nimrod" discharged her cargo there, and, loading
with cotton for European ports started on a trans-Atlantic voyage, and
when, in the July following. she anchored in the harbor of New York, the
cabin boy had become a sailor "before the mast."  With the earnings of
this voyage, which he had carefully hoarded, he entered an academy at
Thomaston, where he diligently pursued his studies until such time as an
exhausted exchequer forced him to leave school.  He then started on a
voyage from New York to Liverpool and return, this time as a sailor on
board the ship "Telamon."  Desiring to return to his home, and in order
that he might save, as far as possible, his meager earnings, he engaged
as cook on the schooner "Adelaide," bound to Thomaston, and shortly
after his arrival there he shipped, before the mast, on the full rigged
brig "Alida," bound for New Orleans.  In the latter city he was left for
a short time without a situation, but he would not remain idle and
accordingly went to work upon the levee, a position furnishing a great
deal of hard labor and but little pay.  It, however, afforded him an
opportunity to retain his independence.  It is, perhaps, worthy of
particular notice that during his early struggles no position which
afforded the opportunity of earning an honest penny was ever scorned by
Captain Miller, no matter how humble that station might be.  He next
sailed on the ship "John Hancock," for Havre, returning on the same
vessel to New York.  He then became a student at Comer's Commercial
college at Boston, where he pursued a thorough course of instruction
upon the science of navigation, graduating from that institution with
high honors in 1853, after which he returned again to the sea.  After a
trans-Atlantic voyage on the bark "Eglantine," he sailed from Boston on
the ship "Edward Stanley," for New Orleans, Liverpool and New York.
After his arrival in the last mentioned city, he was promoted third
officer of that vessel, and soon sailed for New Orleans, arriving in
that city in September, 1854.  There he was taken sick with the yellow
fever, and for many days lay critically ill of the dread disease.  As
soon as his recovery would permit, he shipped on the bark "William A.
Banks," of Philadelphia, for New York.  He next went to sea as second
officer of the "Georges," bound for Sydney.  The voyage, before it
terminated, took him to Manila, the China Sea, Calcutta and finally to
Boston.  There he accepted a position as first officer of the ship "N.
Boynton," and in that capacity made two voyages to New Orleans and
return.  He was promoted to the command of this vessel, receiving his
commission upon his twenty-third birthday and, until 1862, acted as her
commander.  In the year last mentioned he became the commander of the
ship "John O. Baker," engaged in the East Indian, Pacific and European
trades, and sailed this craft until 1869, when he retired from the sea,
after having spent more than twenty years of his life upon the high
seas, during which time it has been his proud distinction to carry the
banner of the stars and stripes into nearly every seaport of importance
in the civilized world.  Captain Miller became a member of the
commission firm of Ross, Skolfield & Miller, in Liverpool, England,
until 1871, when he came to New Orleans and organized the firm of A. K.
Miller & Co., now known as A. K. Miller, Meletta & Co., the most
extensive ship and steamship agents in this city.  Since his residence
in this city, Mr. Miller has ever been an active worker and hearty
endorser of any and all movements of commercial importance.  He is
president of the New Orleans chamber of commerce, and in 1892, was sent
as the delegate for the united commercial bodies of this city, to the
opening of the chamber of commerce at Boston.  He is a member of the
national board of trade, and at the first meeting of that deliberative
body, he was elected one of the permanent vice-presidents.  He naturally
takes great interest in maritime matters, and is president of the New
Orleans Maritime association; also a member of the National Shipping
League, the object of which is the restoration of the American
mercantile marine to its once proud position among the nations of the
world.  July 2, 1862, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ellen
Leonard, of South Braintree, Mass., the accomplished daughter of
Frederick Leonard, a well-known citizen of that place.  For seven years
following their marriage, Mrs. Miller accompanied her husband upon all
of his voyages, leaving the sea only when he retired therefrom.  Their
union has been blessed by one child, George A., born on board the ship
"John O. Baker," in the Indian Ocean.  During the winter months Captain
Miller and his family reside in their lovely home in New Orleans.  The
Captain has lately erected a handsome cottage on the seashore, about an
hour's travel from Boston, and when, during the summer, the heat becomes
oppressive, he repairs with his family to the coast, there to seek the
cooling breezes of the Atlantic, and perhaps, as he gazes out over the
blue expanse of water, to sail some of his voyages over.  Socially,
Captain Miller is a member of the Pickwick and Commercial clubs, of New
Orleans, and an honorary member of the Continental guards and the
Washington artillery.
 
 From Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, volume 2, pp.
254-255. 
Submitted by Mike Miller