Samuel Almond Miller was born on August 28, 1837, or 1838, in Coolville, Athens, Ohio.

He was a lawyer, amateur naturalist, and author. He studied at the Cincinnati Law College and was admitted to the bar in 1860. He was also involved in publishing. In 1861-1862, he published the Marietta, Ohio, Republican, and in 1874-1875, he was the proprietor of the Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science. He was a founding member of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History and served as its vice-president, president, curator of paleontology, and editor of their journal, in addition to presenting papers at their meetings. The Cincinnati "School" of Paleontology, consisting of local amateur naturalists, flourished until near the end of the 19th century, Miller being its most important "amateur". He collected fossils not only from the Cincinnati region but also from the Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin regions. He willed his fossil collections and his library to the University of Cincinnati. He was also a Civil War Veteran, Ohio 41st Infantry (1861-1864), and was active on the local school board. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ohio University. He produced numerous publications devoted to fossils, e.g., "The American Palaeozoic Fossils" (1877) and "North American Geology and Palæontology for the Use of Amateurs, Students, and Scientists" (1889, with supplements in 1892 and 1897).

He was married to Mary Elizabeth Cole (1832-). He died on December 18, 1897, in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio.