calsfoundation@cals.org
March 3, 1819
James Miller was appointed to serve as first governor of the Arkansas Territory. Miller, who had distinguished himself in the War of 1812, resigned his position in the army but did not arrive in the territory until almost nine months after his appointment and then spent a great deal of time back in New Hampshire, where the weather was more amenable. During his tenure, the capital was moved from Arkansas Post to Little Rock, where a number of influential men had bought property. Miller resigned his post as governor in December 1824 and returned to New Hampshire, where he became collector for the port of Salem, Massachusetts. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne devoted a section of “The Custom-House” chapter of The Scarlet Letter to Miller, whom Hawthorne served alongside for a time at the Salem port.