Near the west boundry of the old Elmer Huff propery just a short stroll from Osage Creek in rural Carroll County lies the final resting place of a man who fought in the War of 1812.
"Dr." Hugh Miller, was born in Berkley County, Virginia on November 12, 1774 and made his way to Arkansas via North Carolina and Tenessee,
Drawing his honorary title of "Dr." from members of the Osage tribe that inhabited the land in and around what is now known as Carrolton, Miller, was a "medicine man" of some acclaim in addition to being a soldier and, later, a farmer before his death in 1851.
Miller's father was also named Hugh, who had been born in Ireland, but his mother was the former Elinor Bruce of the Connecticut line.
In addition to a number of his brothers, Hugh Martin Miller served in the Virginia Militia of Chesterfield, Co., in the War of 1812 under Lt James Clarke, Jr. in the 23rd Regiment of the Virginia Militia, and may have well seen action in battle around Britton’s ferry and during machinations in and around the Westham foundry as the American's befuddled and confused the British.
By 1802, Hugh had made his way through North Carolina (via Roane County) and settled in Overton County, Tennesse, where the first of his children in his second marriage were born.
The family stayed in Tennesee for the next thirty-eight before westward expansion landed Hugh and part of his extended family in northern Arkansas .
Other brothers stayed in Tennesee and North Carolina with Hugh being the lone Miller of his generation that eventually transplanted to Arkansas
When they arrived in Carroll County 1838 they estblished their home at the headwaters of the Osage in an area which is located in present-day Newton County.
Hugh Miller was well known for his cures and remedies and he helped the Osage Indians who became sick at that time. They were thankful that he cured them and they made him an honorary Chief/Medicine Man - and that is how he became "an Indian".
With some decendants of this Miller clan there may have been marriage with women who had Indian blood, but Hugh did not. Curiously, on the strength of the old family stories about Hugh being a medicine man, some family members were able to petition the Indian Board and obtain Indian rights..
By the 1850 census, Miller, age was 76, widowed, and living with his daughter Nancy, and her husband Thomas Sisco and their family.
He died in the spring after the 1850 census was taken and was buried in the Huff Family Cemetery next to his second wife, Mary Long Miller.
The cemetery is located on private property about 1 1/2 miles southeast of State Highway 412 and about 1000 yards east of County Road 931 in extreme rual Carroll County.
