Ezra Miller

Ezra Miller (May 12, 1812 – July 9, 1885) was an American inventor and politician from New Jersey. He is best known as the inventor of the Miller platform, a safety innovation designed to prevent telescoping in railroad collisions. As a Democratic politician, he also served two years in the Wisconsin Senate (1853, 1854), and later served the last two years of his life in the New Jersey Senate (1884, 1885). In historical documents, he was often referred to with the honorific "colonel", due to his service in the Wisconsin militia in the 1850s.

Biography

Miller was born in Bergen County, New Jersey.

In 1833, he joined the 2nd New York Militia. Miller married his wife, Amanda, in May 1841. They had three children and moved to Magnolia, Wisconsin. In 1851, he was commissioned a colonel in the 8th Wisconsin Militia.

In 1863, he was granted the first in a series of patents for railroad couplers which came to be known as the Miller platform.

Miller died on July 9, 1885, in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Political career Miller was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from the 17th district from 1853 to 1854. Additionally, he was a justice of the peace in Magnolia and Postmaster of Janesville, Wisconsin. Miller joined the New Jersey Senate in 1884. He was a Democrat.