Richard Pius Miles

Richard Pius Miles (May 17, 1791 – February 21, 1860) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Nashville from 1838 until his death in 1860.

Early life Richard Miles was born on May 17, 1791, in Prince George's County, Maryland. He was the son of Nicholas and Ann (née Blacklock) Miles. In the 1790 United States census, his father was noted as the owner of eight enslaved people. In his 1823 will, he bequeathed several slaves to his children, except Richard, to whom he gave $500 (equivalent to over $15,000 in 2025).

As a young child, Miles moved with his family to Nelson County, Kentucky. He received his early education from Dominican missionaries, and became one of the first students at St. Rose Priory when it opened in 1806. He received the Dominican habit in 1808 or 1809, at which time he took the name religious name Pius after the Dominican pope Pius V. He made his religious profession on May 13, 1810.

Priesthood On September 21, 1816, Miles was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, the Bishop of Bardstown. He then taught at St. Thomas College, a preparatory school attached to St. Rose Priory. During this time, one of the students at St. Thomas was a young Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederate States. When the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary Magdalene were established in Kentucky in 1822, Miles served as their chaplain and spiritual director.

In 1828, Miles was made pastor of St. John the Baptist Church (now St. Thomas Aquinas Church) in Zanesville, Ohio. At the time, the parish covered all of Muskingum, Coshocton, Guernsey, and Noble counties with parts of Licking and Morgan counties. As pastor, Miles built a rectory, bell tower, and parochial school.

Miles then returned to Kentucky, serving as prior of St. Rose Priory (1833–1836). When his term expired, he became prior of St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio. In April 1837, he was elected provincial superior of the Province of St. Joseph, effectively becoming head of the Dominican Order in the United States.

Bishop of Nashville On July 28, 1837, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Nashville and appointed Miles as its first bishop. As such, Miles did not receive his episcopal consecration until more than a year after his appointment. He was consecrated on September 16, 1838, by Bishop Joseph Rosati, with Bishops Simon Bruté and Guy Ignatius Chabrat serving as co-consecrators. In a March 1840 pastoral letter, Miles wrote:

In November 1842, Miles ordained Father John O'Dowd, the first Catholic priest ordained in Tennessee. In 1843, after Nashville was named the state capital, Miles began construction on a new cathedral. He laid the cornerstone of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin of the Seven Sorrows on June 6, 1844, and dedicated it on October 31, 1847.

As his health began to decline, Miles received his fellow Dominican, James Whelan, as a coadjutor bishop in May 1859. By the time of his death nine months later, the Diocese of Nashville contained 13 priests, 14 churches, and nine parochial schools to serve a Catholic population of 12,000. He was then reinterred in a smaller chapel within the church.