Emily Clark Huntington was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, October 22, 1833, the daughter of Methodist pastor Thomas Huntington and Paulina Clark.[3] She received a liberal education and was graduated from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio in 1857.[4][1]
Miller showed her literary ability in her school-days. While yet a girl, she published a number of sketches and stories, which attracted general attention. Thereafter, she was a constant and prolific contributor of sketches, short stories, serials, poems and miscellaneous articles to newspapers and magazines. She earned a reputation by her work on The Little Corporal. She gave much time and work to Sunday-school and missionary interests. She was connected with the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle from its commencement, and served as president of the Chautauqua Woman's Club for four years. She was appointed Dean of Women at Northwestern University,[5]inEvanston, Illinois, where she subsequently resided. Her published literary work included 15 volumes, some of which were republished in England, and all of which found wide circles of readers. Her poetical productions were numerous. Over 100 of her poems were set to music, including her 1865 poem Lilly's Secret, which became the basis for the lyrics to the popular Christmas song Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.[6] In her varied career, she was equally successful as writer, educator, temperance-worker, and journalist.[1]
Besides her literary work, Miller prepared and gave lectures on temperance, also on missionary and educational subjects. She was prominently connected with the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a Trustee of Northwestern UniversityatEvanston, Illinois.[7]
In 1860, she married John E. Miller. Of their children, three sons survived, including George A. Miller;[4] their only daughter died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Miller moved from Evanston, Illinois, to St. Paul, Minnesota, where the husband died in 1882.[1]
^ ab"Fa-la-la-la facts". USPS.com. United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019. The lyrics were adapted from the 1865 poem "Lilly's Secret" by author and poet Emily Huntington Miller.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth (1888). Woman and Temperance: Or, The Work and Workers of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (Public domain ed.). Park Publishing Company.
