Nationality American | Siblings Edward T. Miller Name Clell Miller | |
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Cause of death Killed by townspeople while taking part in a robbery Other names Cleland D. MillerClenand MillerMcClelland Miller Criminal penalty Gratiot Street Prison (October 1864 - April 1865) Allegiance Bloody Bill Anderson (1864)Pinkerton Detective Agency (1871-1876) Died September 7, 1876, Northfield, Minnesota, United States | ||
Criminal charge Organised crime, Murder Resting place Northfield, Kearney | ||
Clell Miller (1849 or 1850 - September 7, 1876) (also known as Cleland D. Miller or Clenand Miller or McClelland Miller) was an outlaw with the James-Younger Gang who was killed during the gang's robbery at Northfield, Minnesota.
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Miller was born on either January 9, 1850 (the date on his tombstone) or December 15, 1849 in Kearney, Missouri. His younger brother Edward T. Miller also joined the gang and was allegedly killed by Jesse James in 1881.
Guerilla career
At the age of just 14, Clell Miller joined Bloody Bill Anderson's guerrillas during the American Civil War. He was captured during the skirmish in which Anderson was killed on October 26, 1864. This was Miller's first and only war time combat, and he was lucky not to have been executed by his captors. However, because of his youth he was sent to St. Louis, Missouri at the Gratiot Street Prison.
His father obtained his release in April 1865, perjuring himself by saying the family had always been Union supporters. Miller was described as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, with dark reddish auburn hair.
Outlaw career
The following James gang events were allegedly attributed to Miller:
Death
On September 7, 1876 Miller was shot and killed by townspeople in the robbery attempt on the First National Bank of Northfield, along with outlaw Bill Chadwell and bank cashier Joseph Lee Heywood and citizen Nicholas Gustavson. Wounded in the fight were Frank James, Charlie Pitts (later killed), Cole Younger, Jim Younger, Bob Younger and Northfield citizen Alonzo E. Bunker.
Miller's body was photographed and then buried in Northfield. However, his father claimed the body and Miller was buried at Muddy Fork Cemetery in Kearney.
NOTE: Both of the bodies of Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell were exhumed the following night and were put into wooden barrels. The barrels were shipped to the medical school in Ann Arbor, Michigan on September 9, 1876 labeled as "Paint". The 22 year old medical student, Henry M. Wheeler, used them as cadavers and displayed the skeleton of Clell Miller in his office in Grand Forks, North Dakota until his death.
Cultural depictions
Television and film depictions of Clell Miller include: