History of Burnside, (Ascension Parish) Louisiana United States of America

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William Porcher Miles, representative, was born in Charleston, S.C., July 4, 1822; son of James and Sarah Miles. He attended Wellington school, Charleston; graduated at the College of Charleston (valedictorian), A.B., 1842, A.M., 1845, and remained there as assistant professor of mathematics. He was married June 2, 1846, to Betty, daughter of Oliver and Melinda (Caperton) Beirne, of Virginia. He was subsequently admitted to the bar, and practised in Charleston. As mayor of Charleston, 1856-57, he introduced an improved police system, and a system of tidal drains for the city. He was a state rights Democratic representative in the 35th and 36th congresses, 1857-60, and resigned in 1860 with the other representatives from South Carolina, and was a member of the South Carolina convention that adopted the ordinance of secession, Dec. 20, 1860; a deputy from South Carolina to the Provisional congress at Montgomery, Ala., in February, 1861, and a representative from South Carolina in the 1st and 2d Confederate congresses, serving from Feb. 22, 1862, to March, 1864, when he resigned to accept a position of colonel on the staff of Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard. He was president of the College of South Carolina, 1880-82, resigning in 1882 to take charge of sugar plantations in Louisiana which his wife had inherited. He died at Burnside, La., May 11, 1899.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Burnside, (Ascension Parish) Louisiana

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