Samuel Miles Samuel Miles ( March 11 , 1740 – December 29 , 1805 ) was an American military officer and politician , active in Pennsylvania before , during , and after the American Revolutionary War . Military career . Born in Montgomery County , Pennsylvania , Miles was the son of James Miles and Hannah Pugh . Miles enlisted in Isaac Wayne ' s company , part of the Pennsylvania militia during the French and Indian War . He was wounded at the Battle of Fort Ligonier ; later commanding the garrison at that fort . He was discharged and then reenlisted in Thomas Lloyd ' s company as a sergeant and was promoted to captain - lieutenant for the expedition to Fort Duquesne . He accepted a commission as captain in 1760 and commanded troops on Presque Isle . After the war ended , he went into business as a wine merchant and married Catherine Wister , daughter of John Wister of Grumblethorpe , Philadelphia , PA . He also entered politics , and was elected to the house of assembly in 1772 . He was an early advocate for American independence . Miles raised a militia company in the early days of the American Revolution . When the war began , he was made colonel of the Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment , a state unit later adopted into the Continental Army . He was taken prisoner by the British at the Battle of Long Island . Miles was released as part of a prisoner exchange in April 1778 that included British Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell . He had been appointed brigadier general of Pennsylvania state troops while a prisoner . Upon his release he served as quartermaster for the State of Pennsylvania serving under Timothy Pickering . In the summer of 1781 General Washington counted on Miles to secure boat transport for the army as it made its way south from New York to Yorktown . After the war . In 1789 Miles was admitted as an honorary member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati . After the war , Miles had a distinguished career as a politician and public servant . He was made judge of the Appeals Court , served as an alderman and mayor of Philadelphia from 1790 to 1791 . He was reelected as mayor but declined . He was elected trustee for the University of Pennsylvania , resigning in 1793 . He was also a member of American Philosophical Society and very active in the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia . The town of Milesburg , Pennsylvania , was laid out by him and is named after him . As a businessman in 1783 he operated an early sugar refinery with Colonel Jacob Morgan at 77 Vine Street in Philadelphia . Joining with financier Robert Morris , he helped underwrite the voyage of the ship - The Empress of China - the first American vessel to visit the Chinese mainland . In 1791 with John Patton he was co - founder of Centre Furnace in State College , Pennsylvania . Miles is also noted as being the first faithless elector , when he was pledged to vote for Federalist presidential candidate John Adams , but voted for Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson . This was the first contested election in USA and an angry voter wrote to the Gazette of the United States , " What ! Do I chuse Samuel Miles to determine for me whether John Adams or Thomas Jefferson shall be President ? No ! I chuse him to act , not to think ! " Miles cast his other presidential vote as pledged for Thomas Pinckney . As a new member of the Democratic - Republican party he ran for Congress twice ( 1798 ) losing to political newcomer Federalist Robert Waln ( 1765 – 1836 ) . His portrait , painted by noted American artist Gilbert Stuart , is housed in the Washington , DC Corcoran Gallery of Art . The portrait of his wife , Catherine Wister Miles , was also completed by Gilbert Stuart . Another portrait of Samuel Miles , completed by Charles Willson Peale , is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art . External links . Samuel Miles ran twice for Congress as a new member of the Democrat - Republican . He was defeated both times by political newcomer Robert Waln ( 1765 – 1836 ) . The prominent issue in the congressional campaign was Federalist President Adams ' support of the Alien and Sedition Act .