Centre County Library & Historical Museum - Autobiography of Colonel Samuel Miles

As Captain Lieutenant of a company, Samuel Miles faced a mutiny due to lack of pay for their service in the march to Fort Loudon in 1758. One man refused to march. They fought. He with his sword and the other man with his musket. Samuel Miles notes that his 'passion was raised to that degree, that I did not recollect what passed afterwards, untill [sic] I found myself beating him with my fist, as he lay upon the ground'. The man appeared dead for a while but ultimately came to and survived. Samuel Miles had pierced his breast with his sword. According to Samuel Miles 'this settled the business perfectly with the other men, who proceeded on their march without further disturbance'. Samuel Miles was wounded in the foot by a spent ball while at Fort Ligonier in 1758. Samuel Miles left Fort Ligonier on March 7, 1759 for Fort Pitt.

Samuel Miles tells a story of a French Canadian officer who came to see him in Philadelphia after the French and Indian War. This man while commanding parties of Indians saw Samuel Miles many times at Fort Ligonier in 1759 and could have shot him once three times in one day however it would have given him no advantage. Samuel Miles actually picked up and kept a handkerchief belonging to and lost by the French Canadian officer in a very close encounter. Samuel Miles was promoted to Captain at the age of 21 years in 1760.

In 1760, Samuel Miles and his militia company made their way to Fort Presque Isle on Lake Erie and returned to Fort Pitt in Dec. 1760 via a partially frozen Allegheny River. From Dec. 1760 - Jan. 1761, Samuel Miles returned to Philadelphia with his company and discharged them. Samuel Miles got married on Feb. 16, 1761 and started a business dealing in rum and wine and dry goods. In 1766 he was elected as a warden of Philadelphia and then in 1769 as a commissioner for the city and county of Philadelphia.

In 1772 Samuel Miles was elected a member of the General Assembly (Pennsylvania). In 1774 Samuel Miles 'retired to the Country' after he purchased a plantation in 1773. But Samuel Miles was opposed to the acts created by the British Parliament and raised a company of militia in Whitemarsh Township. Samuel Miles was later elected to be colonel in command of the militia raised in Whitemarsh, Plymouth, and Germantown townships. In 1775 Samuel Miles again served in the General Assembly (Pennsylvania) until the spring of 1776 when he was given command of the Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment.

Samuel Miles continues his detailed explanation of his actions on Aug. 27, 1776 that ultimately lead to his capture. Samuel Miles was a British prisoner for 21 months until he was exchanged in April 1778. While he was appointed Brigadier General by the Pennsylvania Council of Safety in Dec. 1776 he was not able to accept this rank given the conditions of his release. So Samuel Miles retired to his farm but in 1779 was nominated and approved to be the Deputy Quartermaster of the State of Pennsylvania for which he served until 1782 after which he retired again. However in 1783 he was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Errors & Appeals, and in 1784 he was elected as a member of the Council of Censors for the city of Philadelphia.

Samuel Miles was accused by John Nickolson (then Comptroller General of Pennsylvania) of fraud and perjury in settling his accounts as an officer of the army. He was acquitted and ultimately won a judgement of 90 pounds from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He resigned all his offices due to lack of action by the Pennsylvania legislature on John Nicholson. However he later accepted positions in the Philadelphia city government including Executive Council (1788), Alderman (1789), and Mayor (1790). He declined a second term of office as mayor in 1791. For the initial Executive Council position, he accepted it 'rather than to put the Citizens to the trouble and expense of another ellection [election]'.

Samuel Miles was elected to be an elector for Pennsylvania under the Federalist Party banner for the presidential election in 1796. John Adams (Federalist) and Thomas Jefferson (Democrat) were running. Samuel Miles against the wishes of his party selected Thomas Jefferson because in his mind the Jefferson administration 'would prove most likely to settle the difference with france [France]'.

Samuel Miles lists the 'offices & phases of trust held by S. Miles'. Francis Potts Green added the last entry of 'Col. Samuel Miles Died 1805'.