Mary A. Miller

Mary A. Miller (née, Davis; pen name, various; September 18, 1837 – September 23, 1925) was an American editor and publisher of missionary periodicals from Pennsylvania. She was also the author of History of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Protestant Church, 1896. Miller's name appeared as missionary editor of the woman's department in the Methodist Recorder, published in Pittsburgh, and since 1885, as editor and publisher at the Woman's Missionary Record, organ of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Protestant Church (WFMS; organized in 1879). She was the first editor of the Woman's Missionary Record, serving in that role for ten years. Miller served as corresponding secretary of the society for six years, represented the society in a number of the annual conferences of the church, in two general conferences, and in 1888, was a delegate to the World's Missionary Conference in London, England.

Early life and education Mary A. Davis was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1837. She was the second daughter of David Davis.

Until the age of seventeen, she studied in the schools of her native city, her higher education being received in the Allegheny College for Young Ladies, in the same town.

Career Choosing the profession of teacher, she taught for five years, until she married William Miller, of Allegheny. Her first public literary work was done in 1858, being poems and short stories, the latter of which were continued with more or less intermission, under a pen name, until 1874, when the death of her husband and the business cares consequently caused an interruption. Her natural timidity, in her early efforts, caused her frequently to change her pen name, so that it often occurred in the household that her stories were read without a suspicion of the author's presence. Her first literary work over her own name was in 1878, being a series of letters descriptive of a western trip from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Montana by rail and stage, from Montana to Utah, and from Utah to New Mexico.

Miller was a founding member of the WFMS of the Methodist Protestant Church, having been appointed to sign its Charter, along with Mrs. John Scott, Mrs. Susan E. Anderson, Mrs. J. H. Claney, and Mrs. James I. Bennett. During the Second Annual Meeting of the WFMS, held in Pittsburgh, 1881, Miller was elected editor of the "Methodist Recorder", which place she filled until the Society's official organ was started, when she became its editor.

In 1907, she accompanied Marietta Louise Gibson Stephens and Julia Hickey to Japan to visit the mission stations of that country.

Death Miller died September 23, 1925, and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Dunmore, Pennsylvania.

Selected works History of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Protestant Church, 1896