(Johann Michael Miller Family Tree), Virgil M. KESTER III and others, our MÜLLER(MUELLER)/MILLER family starts out as early as the late 1600s with Johann Michael MÜLLER1, a native of Zollikofen, Bern Canton, Switzerland.
Thanks to research from Tom & Karleen MILLER
His son Johann Michael MÜLLER (MUELLER)/MILLER (Jr.)2 was born in 1692 in Steinwenden, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany and emigrated from Germany to the New World with the migration of "Pennsylvania Dutch" in 1727. Probably starting in Germantown on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the family gradually moved west across Pennsylvania to Coventryville, Rapho/Little Conewago, and Hanover before crossing into Maryland to present-day Maugansville just north of Hagerstown in Washington County, Maryland in 1745.
As the MILLER's expanded in this area they met with the disruptions of the French & Indian War (1754-1763) and the American Revolution (1775-1783). During the Revolution they espoused non-violence as "non-associators," refusing to pay war taxes or to serve in the army. As a result Michael's sons David and Jacob MILLER, as well as members from allied families, lost land claims.
Michael's son Philip Jacob MILLER3 remained in Washington County until 1795 when he moved to Campbell County, Kentucky.
Philip Jacob's two eldest sons, Daniel Sr.4 and David4, both left Washington County in the early 1780s, moving north and across the Allegheny Mountains to Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Around the time of Ohio statehood in 1803, both Daniel Sr. and David resettled in western Ohio in the area of Montgomery and Preble counties near Dayton. They may have made this migration by way of Campbell County, Kentucky which lies to the south.
Daniel Sr.'s son Isaac5 and David's daughter Elizabeth5, first cousins, wed in the Miami/Montgomery counties area of Ohio. After Isaac's death in 1822, Elizabeth remarried and continued westward into Elkhart County, Indiana and on to Johnson County, Iowa by 1840.
Isaac and Elizabeth's son David John MILLER6, born in 1817 in Ohio, and his wife Sarah KESTER started a family in Solon, Johnson County, Iowa around 1841 and had as many as five children: three girls and two boys. The elder boy, Isaac Dennis MILLER7, was born 8 December 1843 and fought with the 24th Iowa Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War where he was wounded on the campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi and again on the road to Winchester, Virginia. After the war Isaac married Candace Mandana ANDREWS and all of the MILLER family, except for the eldest daughter, Finetta, moved west to California about 1870. Isaac's family first settled in the area of Morro Township and Cayucos where his in-laws settled in 1868. It was here that Isaac and Candace's daughter, Cora Ethel MILLER8, was born in 1881.
A few years later Isaac's family moved north to Parkfield in Monterey County but soon returned to San Luis Obispo County where they settled in Arroyo Grande until Isaac's death in 1896. Afterward Cora moved north to Sonoma County where she raised nine children and became the matriarch of the FISHER and WILLIAMS families. Nearly 40 years after her death the families continue to gather each summer for a reunion in the Santa Rosa area.
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The Miller Family History project is researching DNA, specifically Y chromosome mutations, to trace the MILLER family and piece together the many families concentrated in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio between 1790-1840. Backing up from the details, results of the studies show a common membership in Haplogroup R1b that dates back 35,000 years ago and includes "Cro-Magnon Man" in western Europe. Going back to the beginning of the species, "Eurasian Adam" lived as far back as 79,000 years ago in western Africa, in modern day Ethiopia and Sudan. About 45,000 years ago a genetic branch split off in the Middle East (Haplogroup F/M89) and spawned lines in Europe, Asia, and India. 90 to 95 percent of all non-African races (essentially all but Australian aborigines, some Asia-Pacific lines, and one line of Native Americans) carry the M89 marker. From the Middle East a group migrated into the steppes of central Asia and Haplogroups K (M9), P (M45), and R (M173) emerged in succession. These descendants then migrated west and settled in western Europe where Cro-Magon Man (Haplogroup R1b) flourished some 35,000 years ago (loosely some 1,400 generations ago).
The R1b1 (P25) subclade likely resettled in Western Europe after the last glacial age ended some 10,000-12,000 years ago. As such, this widespread haplogroup is noted in 70-90% of the Western European population, and not only encompasses our MILLER ancestors but also my Polish WARGIN ancestors and those of my Italian-Swiss MALUGANI ancestors.
Among this widespread, common Western European ancestry there arose a further off-shoot, the R1b1c (P25+) subclade, which includes our MILLER lineage and my Polish WARGIN ancestors.
Two notes on German naming conventions of the time: some of our earlier German ancestors, although Protestants, continued the Roman Catholic naming convention of prepending a saint's name (most popularly Saint John's) to their sons' names in the hope of gaining the saint's protection for the child. As such, "Johann Micheal MILLER" was called "Michael," not "Johann" (i.e., Michael is his "call name," not a "middle name" as per modern convention.) Variations of Johann (John) include: Johan and Hans. Generally the same saint's name was prepended to all sons names. The names of female saints were similarly prepended to daughters names, although we do not observe this among the MILLER daughters listed here.
Additionally, the suffixes "Sr." and "Jr." are placed in parentheses for clarity of the modern reader but were likely not used by our earlier German ancestors in the same fashion as today. Earlier usage was not strictly paternal and often included denoting a paternal uncle and nephew of the same name. As such, placement of a suffix in parentheses here does not imply the person used that suffix, rather it is there for the reader's understanding.
1. Johann Michael MÜLLER (MUELLER)1 was born about 1655 in Zollikofen, Bern Canton, Switzerland. He married Irene CHARITAS about 1684 and had six children, only one of whom survived to adulthood:
| Johann Nicholas MUELLER | 5 Jun 1685 | 6 Jun 1685 | (1 day) | |
| Johann Abraham MUELLER | 9 Jun 1686 | 1686 | (<7 mos.) | |
| Samuel MUELLER | 30 Apr 1687 | 30 Apr 1687 | (0) | |
| Catherine Barbara MUELLER | 7 Jun 1688 | 21 Jun 1691 | (3) | |
| Eva Catherine MUELLER | 29 Apr 1691 | 29 Jun 1691 | (2 mos.) | 11. | Johann Michael MUELLER/MILLER | 10 May 1692 |
As noted in research by Tom & Karleen MILLER (Johann Michael Miller Family Tree), the MÜLLER (MUELLER) family likely moved from Switzerland following a peasant revolt in 1653 and emigrated to Germany which was recovering from depopulation during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). They settled in Steinwenden, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany probably in the early 1680s and became part of the Steinwenden and Konken German Reformed parish churches.
Irene (CHARITAS) MÜLLER died in 1692, probably in her early 20's. Michael later remarried to Anna Loysa REGINA.
Michael MÜLLER died on 31 January 1695 in Steinwenden at the age of 40.
Michael's widow, Anna, remarried a year and a half later to Hans Jacob STUTZMAN (Jr.) in 1696 and had a son Johann Jacob STUTZMAN.
Some records hold Anna Loysa (REGINA) MÜLLER as Michael's mother. Here I hold her as his step-mother (as many other researchers do) and speculate that Michael was raised by Anna and her second husband, Hans Jacob STUTZMAN (Jr.)
11. Johann Michael MILLER/MÜLLER (MUELLER) (Jr.)2, the son of Johann Michael MÜLLER, was born on 10 May 1692 in Steinwenden, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (a region often referred to as the Palatinate*). His mother died that same year and his father remarried only to die a few years later when Michael was two or three years old.
Some records hold Anna Loysa (REGINA) MÜLLER as Michael's mother. Here I hold her as his step-mother (as many other researchers do) and speculate that Michael was raised by Anna and her second husband, Hans Jacob STUTZMAN (Jr.)
Michael married Susanna Agnes BERCHTOLL/BERCHTEL, a native of Ohmbach or Krottelbach in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, and began a family of as many as 13 children in Germany before emigrating to the New World in 1727. After Susanna's death in Maryland around 1752 Johann remarried to Elizabeth, the widow of Nicholas GARBER, around 1753. He and Elizabeth had two more daughters:
| 11A. | John Peter MILLER | 19 Jan 1713-1715 | Dec 1794 | (80) |
| (11B.) | (Christian MILLER) | (1716) | ||
| 11C. | Hans Jeremiah MILLER | 1717 | 1781 | (64) |
| 11D. | David MILLER | (1719) | 1785 | (66) |
| 11E. | Hans Michael MILLER | (1720) | 1784 | (64) |
| 11F. | George MILLER | 1722 | (1796/1798) | (74/76) |
| 11G. | Lodowich "Lewis" MILLER | (1724) | (1792) | (68) |
| 11H. | Philip Jacob MILLER3 | 1726 | Aug-Sep 1799 | (73) |
| 11I. | Johann Michael MILLER (III) | 1728 | 1792 | (64) |
| 11J. | John MILLER | 1731 | 1808 | (77) |
| 11K. | Barbara MILLER | 1733 | 1808 | (75) |
| (11L.) | (Fannie MILLER) | (1734) | ||
| 11M. | Jacob MILLER | 1735 | 28 May 1815 | (80) |
| 11N. | Maria Elisabeth MILLER | 19 Mar 1754 | ||
| 11O. | Eva Elizabeth MILLER | (1756) | ||
The MUELLER family emigrated to the New World in 1727, setting out from Rotterdam, Netherlands aboard the Adventure Galley by way of Plymouth, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 2 October 1727. Among the 53 Palatinate families aboard the Adventure Galley were Susanna's brother Jacob BERCHTOLL and Johann's step-brother Johann/Hans Jacob STUTZMAN.
After William PENN established the colony of Pennsylvania as a refuge for persecuted Quakers and other religious groups in 1681, a large influx of German immigrants from the Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz [Lower Palatinate] and Oberpfalz of northeast Bavaria [Upper Palatinate]) began after 1710. Among these were Anabaptists ("Re-baptists") and Pietists, outlawed sects formed by Alexander MACK in Schwarzenau, Bad Burleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 1708. The Neuen Täufer ("New Baptists") fled to America and founded the Germantown Congregation in northwest Philadelphia on Christmas day in 1723 and became known as the "German Baptist Brethren" (GBB) and colloquially as "Dunkers" or "Tunkers." These populations of Germans (Deutschlanders), through corruption of English, became known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch".
There is also reference to a Hans Michel MILLER arriving from Rotterdam aboard the
The MILLERs first known documented purchase of property beyond a likely stay in Germantown was in Coventry Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, south of Pottstown and northwest of Philadelphia. Michael maintained this property through 1740.
Next the MILLERs, Susanna's brother's family, and the GARBERs pushed due west to Rapho Township in Lancaster County, midway between Lancaster and Harrisburg, in 1744. There they joined the Little Conewago Congregation Church.
Not a year later, the MILLER's relocated to present-day Maugansville in Prince George's County (later Frederick County and now Washington County), Maryland and lived and worked plots which were given colorful names such as "Ash Swamp," "Skipton-on-Craven," "Miller's Fancy," and "Resurvey of Well Taught."
See MILLER Property Summary for a chronology of MILLER property holdings in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Michael (or son John Peter) purchased the original "Ash Swamp" property in 1745 near Maugansville and later expanded it to 290 acres.
Soon after, Michael purchased a tract near Leitersburg, about 8 miles east of Maugansville, from Colonel Thomas CRESAP, known as "Skipton-on-Craven" in 1748 or 1749. Judging from his later sale in two pieces of 117 and 163 acres, the tract was as large as 280 acres. At the same time, Michael had a grant of land survey for 36 acres between "Skipton-on-Craven" and "Resurvey of Well Taught," which was finally granted in 1754 and became known as "Miller's Fancy."
About the same time, son Lodowich purchased 150 acres adjacent to "Ash Swamp" in 1751, which became known as "Tom's Chance." The next year, sons Lodowich and Philip Jacob resurveyed "Ash Swamp" in 1752 and apparently took possession of it.
I have seen one reference to "Ash Swamp" originally being purchased by son John Peter -- was it originally bought by Michael or Peter? And what exactly took placed during the 1752 resurvey with regard to the three brothers?
About 1752 Michael's wife, Susanna Agnes (BERCHTOLL) MILLER, died in Washington County, Maryland. She was about 64 years old.
Not long after Susanna's death, Michael remarried to Elizabeth GARBER, the widow of Nicholas GARBER, close family friends. Elizabeth had five children of her own and went on to give Michael two more daughters.
After the "Miller's Fancy" grant came through in 1754, Michael continued to increase his land holding in 1755 with the purchase of 409 acres from George POE. This tract, known as "Resurvey of Well Taught" lie with "Miller's Fancy" between it and "Ash Swamp." The same year, son Lodowich sold "Tom's Choice," adjacent to "Ash Swamp" and moved southwest of Hagerstown to the Beaver Creek area.
At one point in 1760, Michael served as constable of "Upper Antietam Hundred" township in Washington County.
In 1765, Michael sold "Skipton-on-Craven" in two partitions: 117 acres to John REIFF, husband of his step-daughter Anna GARBER, and 163 acres to Jacob GOOD, husband of his step-daughter Elizabeth GARBER.
Michael MILLER died in 1771 in Conococheague, Washington County, Maryland, west of Hagerstown.
Exceprt from "The Brethren Encyclopedia" Entry on Jacob MILLER (1735-1815)
"The Michael MILLER family were early settlers of Washington and Frederick Cos., MD. It is believed that Michael was born Johann Michael MULLER on May 10, 1692, in Steinwenden, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, the son of Johann Michael MULLER. The father was born 1655 in Switzerland, moved to Germany ca. 1685, and died on Jan. 31, 1695, a member of the Steinwenden German Reformed Church. Michael was married to Susanna BERCHTOL (BECKTEL) and is believed to have immigrated in the 1720s to America, where he settled in Rapho Twp., Lancaster Co., PA. He moved to Hanover, PA (York Co.) area in 1744 to the Little Conewago congregation. From 1745 to his death in 1771 he lived in Washington Co., MD. His children include George (PA), Jeremiah (PA), John (Washington Co., MD), Lodowich (Taneytown, MD), Michael (Taneytown, MD), Hans Michael (MD), Philip Jacob (MD), and Barbara (PA). In 1796 Philip J. moved to Campbell Co., KY, where he died in 1799. Members of his family were charter members of the Stonelick, OH, congregation in 1802. Later some family members (Daniel and David) moved into Montgomery Co., OH. Philip's daughter Magdalene married Daniel CRIPE, who was a leader in the southern Ohio church and later established the congregation in Elkhart Co., IN (1829)."
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See "Johann Michael Mueller, Jr." for more details
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The earlist land grants in Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland were to English-speaking Marylanders in 1732, but as early as 1729 immigrants from the German Palatines (who became erroneously known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch") migrated from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, many on their way to settlements in Virginia. The principal route from Lancaster was across the Susquehanna River at Wright's Ferry (modern-day Columbia) and via a pack horse or Indian road that crossed the present Pennsylvania counties of York and Adams to the Monocacy Road where it passed into Maryland (roughly the route that modern-day Route 194 runs). Once in Maryland, the road passed through Crampton's Gap and crossed the Potomac at several fords. The first German settlement in the area near Washington County was as early as 1729 in the village of Monocacy in Frederick County, which was the first village beyond the lower part of Montgomery County in Western Maryland.
* Frederick County was established in 1748 from parts of Prince Georges and Baltimore counties. In 1776 it was divided into three parts: Frederick, Washington, and Montgomery counties.
| 11AA. | Mary MILLER | 1753 | (1822) | (69) |
| 11AB. | Daniel MILLER | (<1758) | ||
| 11AC. | John MILLER | (1758) | ||
| 11AD. | Elizabeth MILLER | (1758) | ||
| 11AE. | Catherine MILLER | (<1759) | ||
| 11AF. | Susannah MILLER | 1766 | 1834 | (68) |
| 11AG. | David MILLER | (1773-1778) | ||
| 11AH. | Ludwick MILLER | (1774-1778) | ||
| 11AI. | Michael MILLER | (<1790) | (<1799) |
Per German naming conventions, "John Peter" will here be referred to as "Peter".
In 1745, Peter (and/or his father, Michael) bought a 150-acre parcel of land called "Ash Swamp," then located in Prince George's County, Maryland, (later under Frederick County and now part of Washington County) from John George ARNOLD.
In 1752 this land was added to and resurveyed by his younger brother Philip Jacob MILLER on the authority of Lodowich MILLER, another younger brother.
I'm still a bit unclear about the original ownership of "Ash Swamp" and how it came about in 1752 that Lodowich and Philip Jacob took possession of it. See MILLER Property Summary for a chronology of MILLER property holdings in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
In December 1783, and about four years after his father's death, brother Lodowich, who had earlier moved southeast of Hagerstown, conveyed 220 acres of "Ash Swamp" to brother Philip Jacob for 5 shillings. Philip Jacob turned around and conveyed 144 acres to John Peter, again for 5 shillings "and brotherly affection." This plot is said to have had a small cemetery on it which is no longer in existence.
John Peter MILLER died in Washington County about December 1794 at about the age of 80. He made his last will and testiment on December 13, 1794 and named eldest son Daniel and his daughter Catherine's husband, John FISHER, as his executors. The will was probated on December 26, 1794. (Washington County Will Records, book A, pages 318-319)
As no wife (or wives) was named, she is presumed to have died before 1794.
Peter named 11 children in his will. The last three sons, Ludwick, David and Michael, being under the age of 21. On 6 April, 1795, the executors of Peter's estate sold the "Ash Swamp" land, 143½ acres, to John SCHNEBLY (Deed book I, page 584). On September 25, 1795, John SCHNEBLY, also bought adjoining "Ash Swamp" land from Philip Jacob MILLER (deed book I, page 360). Philip Jacob MILLER, then moved to Kentucky.
On 9 April, 1799, the executors of Peter's estate made distribution of 2,070 pounds in equal parts, to his 10 remaining children (Book I, page 80), all apparently now 21. The order of the named heirs is basically the same as in the will. Michael, the last named in the will, is missing in the distribution list.
11C. Hans Jacob MILLER was born about 1717, likely in Rheinland, Preussen (Preußen), Germany. He emigrated to America in 1727. He married Magdalena about 1742 in Hagerstown, then in Frederick County, now in Washington County, Maryland. They had at least four children:
| 11C1. | John MILLER | (1743) | ||
| 11C2. | Abraham MILLER | (1745) | ||
| 11C3. | Susanna MILLER | (1747) | ||
| 11C4. | Elizabeth MILLER | (1749) |
Hans Jeremiah MILLER died in 1781 in Hagerstown, Maryland. He was about 64 years old.
| 11E1. | John MILLER | (1749) | 1821 | (72) |
| 11E2. | Christina Susanna MILLER | 1750 | (1820-1825) | (73) |
| 11E3. | Rebecca MILLER | (1751) | ||
| 11E4. | Hannah MILLER | (1753) | ||
| 11E5. | Mary Ann MILLER | (1755) | ||
| 11E6. | Susannah MILLER | (1757) | ||
| 11E7. | Michael MILLER | (1759) | ||
| 11E8. | Daniel MILLER | (1761) |
Hans Michael owned land in Franklin County, Pennsylvania; Frederick County, Maryland (present-day Washington County); and Hampshire County, Virginia (present-day Mineral County, West Virginia).
After Hans Michael's death in 1784, Elizabeth moved to a farm on the Conococheague, near Williamsport, Maryland with her eldest son John. She died about 1798 in Washington County and willed part of her estate to her "society" at the Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren.
| 11FA. | Abraham MILLER | (1748) | ||
| 11FB. | George MILLER (Jr.) | (1750) | ||
| 11FC. | Barbara MILLER | (1752) | ||
| 11FD. | Eve MILLER | (1754) | ||
| 11FE. | Elizabeth MILLER | (1756) | ||
| 11FF. | Catherine MILLER | (1758) | ||
| 11FG. | Marie MILLER | (1760) | ||
| 11FH. | Magdalena MILLER | (1762) | ||
| 11FI. | Fannie MILLER | (1764) | ||
| 11FJ. | Henry MILLER | (1766) |
"Elder" George was said to be the first preacher at the Big Swatara Church of the Brethren in Swatara Township near Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennysylvania.
He died about 1796-1798 in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He was about about 75 years old.
Entry from the "The Brethren Encyclopedia:"
"George MILLER (1722-1798) was born in Switzerland and immigrated to America in his youth. He settled in Lancaster Co., PA, and joined the Brethren in 1753. He was one of the ministers at Big Swatara, PA. He was the father of ten children: Abraham (Mifflin Co., PA), George (Erie Co., PA), Henry (m. Elizabeth KLEIN, granddaughter of Elder George KLEIN), Barbara (m. Jacob SMITH), Eve (m. Daniel KEEFER), Elizabeth (m Valentine BALSBAUGH), Catharine (m. George MINNICH), Maria (m. George FACKLER), Magdalena (m. Abraham SNYDER), and Fanny. All of these families except George Jr.'s remained Brethren."
| 11GA. | Jacob MILLER | 2 Oct 1748 | 11 Jul 1815 | (66) |
| 11GB. | Ludowich MILLER (Jr.) | 1749 | ||
| 11GC. | Abraham MILLER | 1750 | 1830 | (80) |
| 11GD. | David MILLER | (1751) | 1828 | (77) |
| 11GE. | Daniel MILLER | 13 May 1752 | 16 Mar 1819 | (66) |
| 11GF. | Susannah MILLER | 24 Nov 1754 | 8 Mar 1848 | (93) |
| 11GG. | Christian MILLER | 1755 | ||
| 11GH. | Nancy MILLER | 1756 | 1791 | (35) |
| 11GI. | John MILLER | (1758) | 1791 | (33) |
| 11GJ. | Hannah MILLER | 1759 | 1826 | (67) |
| 11GK. | Elizabeth MILLER | (1760) | ||
| 11GL. | Frances MILLER | (1760) | 1838 | (78) |
After Lodowich's marriage he likely lived on the family estate known as "Ash Swamp" north of Hagerstown. He purchased an adjacent, 150-acre plot to the south and just east of the Salem Reformed Church in 1751 known as "Tom's Chance." In 1752, he and two of his brothers resurveyed (and partitioned) "Ash Swamp".
In 1754 he purchased land from Walter FUNDERBURG near Beaver Creek, east of Hagerstown and sold "Tom's Chance" to Peter TYSHER the following year in 1755, thus signaling a move away from his parents and siblings.
There is some evidence that he moved his family from place to place during the perilous days of the French and Indian War (1754-1763). It is recorded that at the time of the birth of Daniel (1752), he was living in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and land records further state that in 1763 and 1767 he was living in York County, Pennsylvania. Most of the other deeds state that he was living in Frederick County, Maryland, perhaps "Chestnut Level," located near Woodsboro, north of Frederick in Frederick County, or his farm at Beaver Creek in what is today Washington County, Maryland.
One land records states that he was a weaver.
Lodowich sold his remaining 220 acres of "Ash Swamp" to younger brother Philip Jacob on 9 December, 1783 for 5 shillings. Philip Jacob turned around a conveyed 144 acres of the plot to his eldest brother John Peter later that same month for 5 shillings "and brotherly affection."
Lodowich appears to have later moved to Taneytown, further north of Frederick and Woodsboro, in Caroll County during his later years as it is recorded that he died in Taneytown, Maryland in 1792. He was about 78 years old.
Anna Barbara (MEYER) MILLER also died in 1792. She was about 57 years old.
Exceprt from "The Brethren Encyclopedia" Entry on Jacob MILLER (1735-1815)
"Michael MILLER's son Lodowich is believed to be the father of Jacob (b. 1748), Abraham (b. 1750), Daniel (b. 1752), Susanna WINE (b. 1754), Nancy SANGER (b. 1756), and David (b. 1760). These children settled in Virginia in 1783 and are believed to be the ancestors of the Brethren MILLERS in that state. His daughter Barbara is believed to have been the wife of Elder John H. GARBER, who moved to Virginia ca. 1775, establishing the Brethren settlement there."
| 11HA. | Lydia MILLER | 18 Dec 1754 | ||
| 11HB. | Daniel MILLER, Sr.4 | 8 Apr 1755 | 22 Aug 1822 | (67) |
| 11HC. | David MILLER4 | 17 Jan 1758 | 18 Aug 1845 | (87) |
| 11HD. | Susannah MILLER | 2 Mar 1759 | 1831 | (72) |
| 11HE. | Christena MILLER | 4 Dec 1761 | 7 Mar 1815 | (53) |
| 11HF. | Elizabeth MILLER | (1762) | ||
| 11HG. | Abraham MILLER | 28 Apr 1764 | 28 Apr 1859 | (95) |
| 11HH. | Sarah MILLER | (1766) | Bef. 1799 | (<33) |
| 11HI. | Solomon MILLER | 20 Mar 1767 | ||
| 11HJ. | Esther MILLER | 10 Feb 1769 | Bef. 1828 | (<59) |
| 11HK. | Magdelena MILLER | 25 Apr 1770 | 25 May 1842 | (72) |
| 11HL. | Mary MILLER | 1772 | 26 Sep 1863 | (91) |
| 11HM. | Hannah MILLER | 1774 | 1840 | (66) |
The MILLERs owned land north of Hagerstown, then in Frederick County, now Washington County, from 1745. He and two elder brothers resurveyed their father's land known as "Ash Swamp" in 1752. In December 1783 he acquired his brother Lodowich's 220 acres for 5 shillings and turned around and sold 144 acres to his eldest brother John Peter for 5 shillings "and brotherly affection."
See MILLER Property Summary for a chronology of MILLER property holdings in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Following brother John Peter's death in December 1794, John Peter's estate sold off the 143½ acres to John SCHNEBLY in 1795 and Philip turned around and also sold the rest of his "Ash Swamp" property to John SCHNEBLY and moved to Campbell County, Kentucky, opposite Cincinnati, Ohio to the northwest, along with several of his grown children.
Philip also bought 2,000 acres of land that lay along O'Bannon Creek in Warren County, Ohio, northeast of Cincinnati, for $1.10 per acre. After his death, his children made an agreement among themselves to divide this land into ten 200-acre parcels. Magdalena, decided to take her share in cash. The other children drew lots for the 200-acre parcels, but only a few of them ever lived on their land in Warren County, Ohio.
Philip died in Campbell County in August or September 1799. He was about 73 years old.
His widow, Magdalena (ROCHETTE) MILLER also died in in Campbell County nine years later in 1808.
Following Philip Jacob's and Magdalena's deaths, several MILLER children settled in southwest Ohio counties of Warren, Clermont, Montgomery, and Preble. Daughters Susannah and Magdalena migrated into northern Indiana, settling in Elhkart County.
Note that both Daniel Sr. and David MILLER are highlighted as they are both our direct ancestors. Daniel's son Isaac married David's daughter Elizabeth as cousins.
Exceprt from "The Brethren Encyclopedia" Entry on Jacob MILLER (1735-1815)
In 1796 Philip J. moved to Campbell Co., KY, where he died in 1799. Members of his family were charter members of the Stonelick, OH, congregation in 1802. Later some family members (Daniel and David) moved into Montgomery Co., OH. Philip's daughter Magdalene married Daniel CRIPE, who was a leader in the southern Ohio church and later established the congregation in Elkhart Co., IN (1829)."
| 11KA. | Samuel GARBER | (1756) | 1814 | (58) |
| 11KB. | John H. GARBER | 1758 | 1819 | (61) |
| 11KC. | Abraham GARBER | 10 Nov 1760 | 16 Feb 1848 | (87) |
| 11KD. | Martin GARBER | 1761 | 1824 | (63) |
| 11KE. | Anna GARBER | (1762) | 1837 | (75) |
| 11KF. | Jacob GARBER | 1766 | 1836 | (70) |
| 11KG. | Daniel GARBER | 1769 | ||
| 11KH. | Catherine GARBER | 15 Mar 1771 | Sep 1838 | (67) |
| 11KI. | Joseph GARBER | 10 Aug 1773 | 5 Oct 1854 | (81) |
| 11KJ. | Magdalene GARBER | 1774 | 26 Jul 1832 | (58) |
Interestingly, about a year after their marriage, Barbara's widower father Johann Michael and John's widowed mother Elizabeth wed, technically making Barbara and John stepsister and stepbrother.
Johann Hans worked as a farmer, shoemaker, and minister of the German Reform Brethren.
Based on the childrens' birth places, the GARBERs lived in York County, Pennsylvania into the early-mid-1760s. By about 1768 they moved into Washington County, Maryland (then part of Frederick County), and about 1775 into Shenandoah County, Virginia (then part of Rockingham County).
John GARBER died in 1787 in Forestville, Shenandoah County, Virginia. He was about 70 years old.
Barbara (MILLER) GARBER died in 1808 in Flat Rock (perhaps referring to the area of Flat Rock Church near Forestville), Shenandoah County, Virginia. She was about 75 years old.
| 11MA. | Mary MILLER | 28 Mar 1764 | 7 Apr 1848 | (84) |
| 11MB. | Anna MILLER | 28 Sep 1765 | 14 Sep 1843 | (77) |
| 11MC. | Eva MILLER | 1767 | 5 May 1843 | (76) |
| 11MD. | John "Potter John" MILLER | 6 Apr 1769 | 9 Nov 1851 | (82) |
| 11ME. | Jacob MILLER (Jr.) | (1770) | 1801 | (31) |
| 11MF. | Tobias MILLER | 17 Mar 1773 | 9 Mar 1856 | (82) |
| 11MG. | Abraham MILLER | 1 Apr 1775 | 4 Jan 1841 | (65) |
| 11MH. | Samuel MILLER | 1776 | 1801 | (25) |
| 11MI. | Daniel MILLER | 6 Sep 1780 | 15 Nov 1858 | (78) |
| 11MJ. | Isaac MILLER | 1781 | 1813 | (32) |
| 11MK. | Aaron MILLER | 8 Apr 1785 | 12 Apr 1839 | (54) |
| 11ML. | David MILLER | 10 Feb 1788 | 1849 | (61) |
The MILLER family started out in Washington County, Pennsylvania and then headed south into Virginia, settling in the part of Bedford County now known as Franklin county by 1765 through at least the 1780s.
Mary Elizabeth (GOODWIN) MILLER died in 1801 at about the age of 64.
Jacob remarried that same year to Barbara LYBROOK and the following year moved west to Ohio, settling in Montgomery County by 1802.
Jacob MILLER died on May 28, 1815 in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. He was about 80 years old.
Entries from "The Brethren Encyclopedia:"
1. "MILLER, Jacob, 1735?-1815, minister. Born of unknown Swiss-German parents in what became Franklin Co., PA, MILLER may have been ordained by William STOVER in the Antietam congregation in 1762. He is said to have lived in the Stony Creek congregation, Somerset Co., PA, and in the Pipe Creek, MD, congregation. The mother of some of MILLER's twleve children may have been named Mary. At his death, MILLER was married to a Barbara B. MILLER.""Sometime before 1775, he moved to Bedford (later Franklin Co.) Co., VA, to the Blackwater River German settlement, where he established the Franklin County congregation. Pleasant Valley, Topeco, Beaver Creek, and Burk's Ford congregations in Floyd Co., VA are outgrowths of his preaching and organizing. William SMITH, an English pacifist baptized by MILLER, traveled and preached in English alongside the German-speaking MILLER. They were instrumental in building such a following that the 1797 Annual Meeting was held in Franklin Co., VA. At this meeting, Brethren were forbidden to own slaves."
"Due to the slavery about him or the lure of rich "Congress lands" in Ohio, MILLER moved his family to the Miami Valley ca. 1800. He left beind in Giles Co., VA, on son, who was the progenitor of the Virginia branch of the family. Jacob MILLER settled near Dayton, OH, where he organized the MILLER-BOWMAN congregations of southern Ohio: Lower Miami, Lower Stillwater, Bear Creek, and Wolf Creek. he also founded the Four Mile Run, IN, congregation. Buried near the future site of the Lower Miami meetinghouse, he is remembered as the first Brethren minister in the Miami Valley and Indiana and one of the first in Ohio and in southern Virginia."
2. "Jacob MILLER (1735-1815) was born in Franklin Co., PA; he migrated first to Virginia, then on to Ohio. His twelve children were all active Brethren with five of his sons serving as ministers. Anna (b. 176) married Philip LYBROOK and moved to Indiana. Mary (b. 1766) married Samuel DARST and moved to Montgomery Co., OH, in 1803. John (b. 1769) married Pheobe MCCLURE and settled in Franklin Co., IN, in 1805. Jacob (m. Sarah CHAPMAN) remained in Virginia. Tobias (b. 1773) married Sarah HENDERSON, moved to Union Co., IN, in 1810 and on to LaPorte Co., IN, in 1831. Abraham (b. 1775) and his wife, Nancy HUSTON, settled in Preble Co., OH, in 1805, then moved to Franklin Co., IN. Samuel died young in Virginia. Daniel (m. Elizabeth SHIDELER) moved first to Montgomery Co., OH, then on to Indiana. Isaac (m. Hannah WEBB) migrated to Greene Co., OH, in 1803 and was killed in the War of 1812. Aaron (b. 1785) and David, both ministers, married sisters Elizabeth and Sarah HARDMAN. They organized the Nettle Creek, IN, congregation and later moved to St. Joseph Co., IN. The descendants of Elder Jacob MILLER number in the thousands and their service to the Brethren churches is inestimable."
Continue on to MILLER Family Book, Part II
