Tuesday, March 30, 2010

William Alexander Miller

The following is what I have found so far on the family of William Alexander Miller, father of my Charles Wesley.  The family lived in Mason County, West Virginia, except for the short period of time they spent in Illinois where several of Charles's siblings were born.  I believe they went to Illinois with Elizabeth's parents, Eli and Mary McGuire and her brother, John.   The McGuire's went on to live in Kansas while William and Elizabeth Miller decided to return to West Virginia.  If you would like to know the sources that I used, please let me know and I'll be happy to share them with you.

Name: William Alexander MILLER
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Birth: 1844 Place: Virginia
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Burial: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Father: William N. MILLER (1812-)
Mother: Elizabeth Wright (1825-1898)
Marriage: 1866 Place: Mason, Mason, West Virginia


Spouse: Elizabeth J. McGuire
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Birth: 1846 Place: Virginia
Death: 20 Jul 1895 Place: Point Pleasant, Mason, West Virginia
Burial: 22 Jul 1895 Place: Point Pleasant, Mason, West Virginia
Father: Eli McGuire (1823-1901)
Mother: Mary Knapp (1826-1921)


Children
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1 M: Charles Wesley MILLER
Birth: 1 Dec 1867 Place: Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Death: 21 Sep 1947 Place: Mason County, Kentucky
Spouse: Mary Elzeta COCHRAN
Marriage: 17 Oct 1892 Place: ...................................................


2 M: Richard A. MILLER
Birth: 23 Jul 1869 Place: Mason County, West Virginia
Death: 30 Aug 1924 Place: Charleston, Kanawha, West Virginia
Spouse: Sarah Louise Kapp
Marriage: 1890 Place: Jackson, West Virginia


3 M: John M. MILLER
Birth: 1872 Place: Illinois
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Spouse:
Marriage: ............................. Place: ...................................................


4 F: Mary MILLER
Birth: 1874 Place: Illinois
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Spouse:
Marriage: ............................. Place: ...................................................


5 F: Alice MILLER
Birth: 1876 Place: Illinois
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Spouse:
Marriage: ............................. Place: ...................................................


6 F: Rachel MILLER
Birth: 5 Jan 1878 Place: Mason, Mason, West Virginia
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Spouse:
Marriage: ............................. Place: ...................................................


7 F: unknown MILLER
Birth: 24 May 1889 Place: Mason County, West Virginia
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Spouse:
Marriage: ............................. Place: ...................................................


8 ?: unknown MILLER
Birth: bef 1889 Place: ...................................................
Death: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Spouse:
Marriage: ............................. Place: ...................................................
Status: ............................. Place: ...................................................


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Last Modified: 11 Mar 2010
Created: 30 Mar 2010

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Charles Miller's Father

I would love it if all my ancestors had unique names that stood out in census lists or that a search engine could really sink its teeth into, but...I don't.  Case in particular - the Miller's.  Do you have any idea how many Millers there must be out there?

I knew about Charles Miller, my great-great grandfather from my father.  He remembered visiting with him so he was able to give me some approximate dates and the names of his children.  Then Charles's granddaughter, Elzeta Mitchell Pfeffer, gave me more exact dates to go on, but no one seemed to be able to recall Charles's parents.  They only knew that they had lived in West Virginia.  Well, West Virginia is a big place with many Miller possibilities so I put Charles back in my file drawer where he stayed for a long time!

I brought Charles's file out the other day.  Since I no longer work, I have decided that it would be a good thing if I tried to organize all my family files into binders.  The Miller file was one of the first to be organized probably because it is so thin and the "overwhelm-factor" was low.  I guess Charles was tired of being cooped up in the drawer because, boy, has he led me down a fast road of discovery!

Using the West Virginia Vital Records Project, which wasn't available the last time I researched this family,  I found Charles Wesley Miller's birth record listed in the Mason County records!  Right there on the line next to his birth date of 1 December 1867 were his parent's names, William A. Miller and Lizzie Miller.   You will not guess what else was on that line!  Almost as a reward for my patience, the person listed as reporting the birth was Wm. Miller, grandfather!  Father, mother, grandfather, all in one minute of reading!  Then to top things off, as I looked further on the page, I noticed the same parents listed again!  Sure enough, there was Charles's brother, Richard A. Miller who was born two years later on July 23, 1869.  That explained who the Richard Miller was who lived next door to Charles and his wife in Dover, Kentucky in 1920!

Needless to say, I have taken my new found knowledge and added many names to my family tree which  I'll give you the details of in future postings.  In the meantime, take a lesson from me, sometimes that brick wall just needs to be put in a dark file drawer to rest while the Internet resources take time to grow!