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A Condensed History of Our Branch of The Miller Family in America

The author of this record is unknown. It's probably a Miller ancestor or a sibling of, but I'll never know. Inaccurate information is noted with a number between parentheses and explained after the account of the document. The spelling and punctuation or lack thereof, is as written. See Sources listing below.

Except for the part about Joseph Miller which leads off the "Condensed History..." most of the first few paragraphs are copied nearly word for word from Charles Bradbury's History of Kennebunkport, Maine, available for download at archive.org in a number of file formats, including PDF. See Sources for a link.


Joseph Miller came to Boston in the "Hopewell" Septermber 15, 1635(1). His son, Richard Miller, born 1620, came with him. They brought certificates of conformity to the Church of England. Richard Miller settled in Kittery, Maine, 1640. He married Grace Rogers, 2nd wife. He died in Kittery in 1693(2).

John Miller, his son, born in Kittery, 1647, married a daughter of Dennis Donney(3), was a proprietor in Arundel, Kennebunkport, in 1669, was on the jury there in 1670, submitted to the government of Mass. in 1680(4). In 1881 he had 100 acres of laid out to him on the south side of the Dencot Marshes (5); was chosen one of the selectmen of Saco in 1688, the next year was elected to that office in Cape Porpoise (6).

In 1690 of that year, the inhabitants of the town were driven into the fort on Stage Island (7) by the Indians and defended it until their ammunition was mostly expended and then withdrew to the southern tip of the island where they could not be surrounded and were exposed only on one side; they defended themselves until they were destitute pf provisions and were rescued by a vessle from Portsmouth just as their last charge of ammunition was in their guns, at the last they had been obliged to cut up their bullets to make them hold out.(8)

The inhabitants of the town were unable to return for ten years until the Indian war was over. John Miller after being carried to Portsmouth settled in Newington, N.H. where he soon after died(9).

John Miller Jr., his son, born in 1660 (10), was on the voting list at Kennebunkport in 1681. His daughter, Susannah, married John Donney Jr (11) in 1683. he also removed to Newington (NH) when the town was evacuated and returned to Kennebunkport in 1721.

He was appointed Capt. of the troops raised by the town, the first to hold that rank. Jeremiah Miller, son of John Miller Jr., born in Newington, N.H. June 23, 1711, came to Kennebunkport in 1737 and that year married Elizabeth Lassel. Their children were Andrew, Elizabeth, Jeremiah Jr., Mary, John Benjamin, Lemuel (he served as an officer in the 12th Mass Reg. (Col. Brewer) through the Revolution.), Joseph, Hannah and Lydia.

Jeremiah Miller Jr. born March 1, 1743, (13) married Mary Walker, their children were John, Sarah, Polly, Esther (died in infancy), Susan, Daniel and Esther.

John Miller, born Sept. 28, 1764, died Feb. 27, 1847. Married in Kittery, Maine, Love Kingsbury, March 9, 1794. She died Feb.5, 1854 (14). Their children were Sarah, Cynthia, Jeremiah (Jeremiah G., see below)(15),Mary, Alpheus,Daniel, Joseph Kingsbury, Milbrey Walker and Clarissa.

Jeremiah Miller (AKA Jeremiah G. Miller(15)), born October 27, 1798, died Dec. 9, 1836. Married first, Mary Green, daughter of Eliphalet Green of Andover, N.H. Oct. 12, 1823. She was born Sept. 2, 1799, died Dec. 8, 1825. Second, married Jane Green (16), daughter of Eliphalet Green, born Feb. 6, 1803, died Sept. 29,1868. She had two sons, Charles Carroll, born in Kennebunkport, Maine, March 11, 1830, died in Cadillac, Michigan, March 28, 1914 (17). They were the parents of eight children, of whom six attained mmaturity. The second son, Jere Judson, was born in Kennebunkport, Maine, April 5, 1836, died January 22, 1914, in Worcester, Mass.

  • Explanations, Conclusions
  • (1) - There is no record of any Joseph Miller connected with the rest of our Millers listed in multiple history articles of the family in the area now known as Kennebunkport and Arundel, Maine. Also, there is no known arrival of the ship Hopewell mentioned on that date in 1635 and there is nobody named Miller in any passenger list on any of the Hopewell's voyages in 1635.

    (2) - **There is some mention of a Richard Miller in Kittery, Maine, more research is required.

    (3) - There is mention in Charles Bradbury's History of Kennebunkport of a Captain John Downing's daughter having a father-in-law named John Miller.

    (4) - Not sure what "submitted to the government of Massachusetts" means. Declared their support or allegiance? More research.

    (5) - A lady from the Kennebunkport Historical Society replied that she had never heard of Dencot Marshes. She stated that there are plenty of marshes in that area and also stated that "The 17th Century John Miller lived near where the Clock Farm is, just inland from Goose Rocks Beach in 1681." "Cape Porpoise" and an alternate spelling, "Cape Porpus," is the original name of Kennebunkport, Maine.

    (6) - "Kennebunkport was first incorporated in 1663 as Cape Porpus..." Source

    (7) - Stage Island on Google Maps off the coast of present-day Cape Porpoise, several miles north of K'port.

    (8) - There are some accounts of trouble with the Native Americans, with the Wikipedia article sourced above stating that the town was largely depopulated by 1689. There's likely no way to prove this particular version, since there's no mention of it happening before 1690.

    (9) - Does this indicate John Miller was wounded in the battle with "the Indians?" More research...

    (10)- If John Miller Jr's father was born in 1647 and he was born in 1660, that might be a bit unusual, even for that time period.

    (11)- There's that name error again. "Donney" is DOWNING. I can't imagine how the writer of the "Record" made such an obvious mistake.

    (12)- I haven't found proof yet of the "Capt. of the troops" contention, but that is as Bradbury wrote it. I added a parens after Lemuel's name to make the sentence easier to read. All children Of John Miller Jr. and Elizabeth Lassel are well-documented elsewhere, so Bradbury got it right and whomever wrote the "Condensed History..." didn't make a mistake copying it.

    (14)- Merrill Cemetery in Arundel, Maine, is also the resting place of some of my Millers on this page - Jeremiah Jr, his son, John and John's son Jeremiah G. are there along with Love Kingsbury Miller and Jeremiah G's first wife, Mary Green. Mary may have died in childbirth and I don't believe there are any children of that marriage.

    (14)- The correct birthdate for Jeremiah Jr. is 1 March 1742, by most accounts, a year earlier than this "Record..." notes.

    (15)- The "G" middle name might be Greene. Not sure where it came from, but a possibility is his family's aquaintance with the family Of Eliphalet Green and Jane Cilley. Two of their daughters married Jeremiah G - Mary, whose cause of death is unknown, and her sister, Jane Warren Green (16), who died of Consumption in 1868. Jeremiah G's parents were living in Andover, Massachusetts, when he was born due to the situation with the Native American tribes noted earlier in this article. So they likely knew Mary's and Jane's parents, Eliphalet and Jane Cilley Green, well.

    (17)- Charles Carroll Miller actually died 7 March, 1907, not 1914. His wife, Miriam Cross Dyer Miller, died 31 March 1914, in Cadillac MI. Her brother-in-law, Rev. Jere Judson Miller, passed away 9 days before. Both Miller men were Baptist ministers, fulfilling their mother's desire that they be men of God.

    Additional info - The Reverend C.C. Miller and Miriam C. Dyer Miller's death certificates from the Wexford County Clerk's Office indicate that the Reverend died of "gangrene foot" on 17 August 1907, at the age of 77 years, 5 months, 6 days, and Miriam died of "senility" on 31 March 1914, at the age of 83 years, 8 months, and 22 days. What's interesting is that Ruth Mary Miller Ward, the Reverend's granddaughter, also died from complications of gangrene caused by a blocked femoral artery to the left leg. Her 103rd birthday would have occured in less than 3 months of her April, 1988, death.

    Sources

  • 1. A document titled "A Condensed History of Our Miller Family in America." Author is unknown. Some of its content is taken nearly word for word from source 2.
  • 2. History of Kennebunk Port, from its first discovery by Bartholomew Gosnold, May 14, 1602, to A. D. 1837 Author is Charles Bradbury. It was printed by James K. Remich in 1837. It's available for download in a number of file formats, including PDF.
  • 3. The Ancestry of Sarah Miller, 1755-1840, wife of Lieut. Amos Towne of Arundel (Kennebunkport) Maine, published in 1939 by Walter Goodwin Davis.It's available for download in a number of file formats, including PDF.
  • 5. The helpful ladies at the Kennebunkport Historical Society, which I had the good fortune to visit in October, 2015.

Miller Links

  • Other Miller-related pages in my RootsWeb genealogy site
  • 24 people in a Miller Family photo, about Christmas, 1890.
  • The family of Frank A and Cora A. Fenn Miller and their 4 daughters, about Christmas, 1893.
  • A photo of sisters Nona Frances Miller Eisenlord and Ruth Mary Miller Ward, taken July 4, 1980.
  • More Miller Photos. Another old page done with Microsoft's FrontPage 2000 almost 2 decades ago.
  • Text of a letter from Jeremiah G. Miller to 2nd wife Jane Warren Green Miller.
  • Closely related surnames: Green, FENN, WARD, DYER.
  • Miller Family Photo Album
    Photograph of Rev. Charles Carroll Miller.
    1-Charles Carroll Miller.
    Photograph of Miriam Cross Dyer Miller.
    2-Miriam Cross Dyer Miller.
    Photograph of Rev. Jere Judson Miller.
    3-Rev. Jere Judson Miller.
    Photograph of headstone of Jeremiah Miller Jr.
    4-Jeremiah Miller Jr. headstone
    Photograph of Mary Green.
    5-Headstone of Mary Green, 1st wife of Jeremiah G. Miller
    Photograph of Jeremiah G. Miller.
    6-Jeremiah G. Miller headstone

    Millers in Merrill Cemetery, Arundel, Maine: Jeremiah Miller Jr., John Miller, Jermiah G. Miller, Love Kingsbury Miller and Mary Green Miller. Some think the Mary in the Merrill Cemetery, died Dec. 1825, is Mary Walker Miller, but she passed away in Feb. 1826.

    My rehabbed Green page with new information.