William Franklin Miller was born in Watauga County, North Carolina, on July 12, 1876. Miller was co-owner of the Henry-Miller shoe store in North Wilkesboro (Wilkes County), which opened in 1913 and was in business through the 1920s. By 1930, Miller had moved back to Boone (Watauga County), where he died on December 9, 1937.