M.M. Miller and Pleasant Run

M.M. Miller and Pleasant Run. Settled 1852. , Madison Moultrie Miller (1814-1860) came to Texas from Alabama in 1844. Enlisting in the Texas Rangers, he served under W.A.A. (Bigfoot) Wallace until 1846. Examining the Ten Mile Creek area, he selected a homestead and courted and won Mary (Polly) Parks Rawlins, the youngest daughter of Elder Roderick Rawlins. He then returned to Alabama to secure a young son and daughter by a deceased first wife. He and Polly Rawlins were married on April 9, 1846. By 1848 he had relocated his homestead on a tract now a part of North Lancaster, this intersected by Military Road to Preston, on Red River, and a road running west from Trinity River to Johnsons Station (Arlington). Here he erected a fifteen room house and store. Naming his place "Pleasant Run," he secured its designation as a post office on July 20, 1848. Constantly expanding, within a few years the store at Pleasant Run displayed goods in such variety and quanity, for sale at both retail and wholesale, that Miller could advertise a free pair of shoes to any person asking for an item not in stock. Eventually Pleasant Run became a stage stop with eating and sleeping facilities. It also had a blacksmith shop, a tin shop and, finally, a steam powered grist mill. Miller surveyed a townsite about this complex and sold some lots before 1860., An enthusiastic proponent of Trinity River navigation, Miller envisioned a railroad to Dallas County within his lifetime and was an original director of the Galveston and Red River Railway, precursor of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, which did not, in fact, reach Dallas County until 1872., Miller's untimely and unexpected death in 1860 ended the bright promise of Pleasant Run. The store was closed, its merchandise sold off by the representatives of his estate, and the other activities of the place moved to Lancaster. The big house remained until it was razed in the 1950's. A Texas Medallion honors the man and his town.