Category Archives: Martin Miller

My Top 3 Most Wanted Ancestors x 2 in 2021

We often hear that it’s not good to repeat research that we’ve already done, but I think that statement isn’t so true anymore. That’s because of the flood of records becoming digitally available online with each succeeding year.

I have been quite successful identifying a number of new leaves on the family trees by revisiting branches that have been sitting dormant for years.

I’ve decided it is time to give a serious new look to several more of those ancestral leaves and see if I can find some new blooms of information.

I don’t want to identify these ancestors as brick walls. To me, a brick wall is when I don’t have a new avenue to pursue. As you will see, there are clues for these Most Wanted.

I’ve chosen three ancestors from Dave’s tree and three from mine.

The lucky winners are – from the Stufflebean tree:

1. Parents of Jacob Miller. I know a lot about Jacob, as he was a Revolutionary War pensioner and served from Northampton County, Pennsylvania. I suspect his father might be one Henry Miller who died in the 1760s, when Jacob was just a child. I’ve made tentative searches in the past, but dropped them as I don’t find Pennsylvania to be a very researcher-friendly state. It’s time I really made the effort and dug around for more information about Henry and/or other potential parents for Jacob Miller.

2. Parents of Zadock Jarvis. Zadock also had military service during the American Revolution when he lived in Maryland. I’ve seen references that his father was James Jarvis. I also thought that Zadock probably died in North Carolina in the early 1800s, as he was quite elderly – 80ish – at his final census appearance. I figured he had died before the following census (I think it was the 1830), but another researcher claimed that Zadock died in Indiana, where he lived with his son. I checked the census and was I surprised to see a 90 year old male in that home. Therefore, I have Maryland and Indiana records that need to be combed for Jarvis clues.

3. Family of Rebecca (MNU) Alberty, wife of Henry Alberty of Surry County, North Carolina and Washington County, Arkansas. I’ve seen statements that her maiden name was Bryant, or possibly Bryan, without even a hint of a source for that. However, it’s a clue to be followed if I can find some crumbs of a trail. This is Dave’s maternal line and the family always claimed a Cherokee ancestor. Rebecca could possibly be it, as Henry lived in North Carolina, Georgia and Arkansas, all areas with ties to the Trail of Tears. Bryant is a name among Cherokees and, perhaps most importantly, Henry’s half brother, Moses Alberty, has family members documented on the Dawes Rolls.

I actually had a much harder time picking three most wanted from my own tree. My dad’s side is out of the picture, as there are no records in the village in Slovakia to tell me any more than I, or anyone else, knows.

The winners in the Sabo family tree are:

1. Robert Wilson, born c1730, of Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. I knew that Robert was said to have come from the Boston, Massachusetts area after first arriving in the colonies, but there are new clues out there pointing to Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

2. Mary Woodward, wife of Robert Wilson, above. If this proves to be the correct couple, there will possibly be an entirely new branch on my family tree.

3. Jonathan Parker, of Campobello Island, c1788, Loyalist. There are lists of his children out there with marriages and then descendants. I hope Parker relatives on Campobello Island (and there are many) have correctly pieced together his family, with a possible wife! Jonathan’s son, Benjamin, married Robert and Mary Wilson’s granddaughter, Maria Wilson, which is my direct line.

We will see how much success I have in documenting any of these clues. I might be wildly successful or it just might be many cases of non-researchers copying, pasting and spreading wishful thinking!

Parents of Jacob Miller, #10 of the Ten Biggest Genealogical Mysteries

It took me years to prove that Jacob Miller of Northampton County, Pennsylvania was the father of Martin Miller of Muhlenburg County, Kentucky. However, finding that Jacob hailed from Northampton County has not opened a floodgate of Miller information, to say the least.

Even during the Revolutionary War era, Jacob Miller/Muller was an extremely common name and there were multiple Miller/Muller families living in Northampton County, Pennsylvania at that time. The 1790 census includes 73 Millers, of whom 7 are Jacob Miller. It is also possible that “my” Jacob Miller removed to Virginia before this census and that none of the seven residing there in 1790 is the right one.

I have not done a lot of research in Pennsylvania, but a preliminary jump into the records did not turn up any Miller information that immediately appeared to relate to “my” Jacob.

The most promising lead appears to be a land deed of Jacob Miller, deceased, filed by Philip Odenwelder the Elder of Forks Twp., Northampton County and wife Susannah, formerly married to Henry Miller of Williams Twp., yeoman.

Those mentioned in the deed, and likely children of Henry and Susannah Miller are:

John Shaffer of Mt. Bethel, weaver and Anne May, his wife
Jacob Miller of Plainfield, joiner
Andrew Miller of Mt. Bethel, cordwainer
Phillip Miller of Forks Twp.
John Miller of Forks Twp.

who are all now 21, plus daughter Elizabeth who is under 21 and son Henry, deceased, who leaves sons Peter and Henry and daughter Catherine.

The land was originally purchased by Henry Miller on 11 Aug 1760 and was purchased by Henry’s son, John Miller, on 7 Apr 1787 for L40.

Jacob Miller has been added to my December research list in Salt Lake City. I am hoping that this brick wall will soon tumble down!

Results of my Sturgell and Miller research will be blogged about in December when I get back from my trip.

 

 

Top 10 Brick Walls, Resolved and Unsolved

My husband and I have just returned from a month of short cruises. While gone, I had limited internet access, but did notice a new trend towards writing about My Top 10 Genealogy Mysteries. Although I hadn’t named my brick wall stories with the format of a list, it fits well with my desire to share brick wall successes so I, too, will finish off my list of Top 10 Mysteries.

I have already blogged about several of them, listed in no particular order:

1. My 3x great grandfather, Johannes Jensen, career soldier in Copenhagen, Denmark and how I found his 27 Apr 1810 birth record and parents.

2. My husband’s 2x great grandfather, Isaac Sturgell and his first wife, Mary Bandy.

3. Finding the Kucharik family of my paternal grandfather, George Kucharik, aka George Sabo.

4. Parents of my 3x great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Astle who married Thomas Coleman.

5. Parents of my husband’s 4x great grandfather, Martin Miller.

6. Parents of my 4x great grandfather, Joseph Coleman.

7. Uncovering the maiden name of Mary, wife of Oliver Shepley,  both of whom died in Pepperell, MA in 1757.

The above seven items have been resolved with great success.  The three items below remain brick walls:

8. Uncovering the maiden name of Catherine, wife of Johannes/John Whitmer. The link provides all the clues I have about Catherine and her possible family, so nothing further will be written for a while. This brick wall is on my “to do” list when I visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City next month.

Items 9 and 10 will be the subjects of my next few posts. Both are also on my Salt Lake list, as neither brick wall has more than a small chink in it.

9. Proving the parentage of Isaac Sturgell, the same man listed in item #2 and proving his lineage beyond his parents.

10. Proving the parentage of Jacob Miller, father of Martin Miller, listed in item #5 and his lineage beyond his parents.