Starting Sept. 30, 2014, Genealogy.com will be making a big change. GenForum message boards, Family Tree Maker homepages, and the most popular articles will be preserved in a read-only format, while several other features will no longer be available, including member subscriptions and the Shop.
 
Learn more


Home Page |Surname List |Index of Individuals |InterneTree |Sources


View Tree for John MillerJohn Miller (b. Bef. 1610, d. date unknown)

John Miller was born Bef. 1610 in Craigmiller, Scotland350, and died date unknown. He married Mary Pierson, daughter of Abraham Pierson.

 Includes NotesNotes for John Miller:
The jokes are always made about the Smiths or the hard-to-keep-up-with Joneses. Actually, there are more Millers in the telephone books than all the Smith and Joneses put together. In the East Hampton genealogies, the Millers take up the most space, with the Edwards family a close second.
------------------------
In 1936 there was a moving picture, "Ah Wilderness," about a typical American family named Miller. When it came to East Hampton any man or woman bearing the surname Miller was admitted free, with the proviso that a non-Miller friend was brought along.
------------------------
East Hampton has always had Millers. They owned placed at Jericho, Apaquogue, on what is now Jeffreys Lane, Woods Land, Main Street, Three Mile Harbor, Fire Place, The Springs and Amagansett. They have been heroes in war and peace. A Miller moved away served as Surrogate of New York County. Five generations of Millers who moved upstate to Utica, served as State Assemblymen; and former Governor Nathan L. Miller of New York State was descended from East Hampton Millers.
------------------------
The Miller family came to East Hampton from New England. The first to come here was John Miller. He is said to have come by way of Lynn and Salem, Mass. about 1643, stopping in Southampton before settling in East Hampton in 1649-50. Some historians say that John Miller came from Maidstone England while others say that he came from Craig Miller, Scotland. Old family tradition gives the line as Scotch in origin.

In 1648, Governor Eaton bought the land from the Indians to be conveyed to the settlers in the spring of 1651. In the list of names on the conveyance is John Miller. The remaining land was purchased in 1660. The list then includes John Miller and George Miller. John is mentioned in 1655 and in 1656 an entry in the Town Records states that "John Miller, Andrew Miller and George Miller are added to our Combination." This was an association of the early settlers of the town. some believe this was the first John. If so, he could not have been the father of George and Andrew. If there were an earlier John, as historians say, he must have died soon after coming here, for he is not mentioned in later records.

John and Andrew are known to be brothers. They are so mentioned in the early records. Andrew lived in East Hampton until 1670-1, at which time he left town and settled at Miller's Place, Long Island.

William Miller is believed by some authorities to be brother of John and Andrew. He may possibly have been Andrew's eldest son. William and his wife Hannah sold all their property in East Hampton in 1693 and moved to Elizabethtown, New jersey. Closely connected with this family were the children of a John Miller from Long Island. These two families were among the founders of Elizabeth and Westfield, N.J.
---------------------------
According to family tradition, in the 1680's there were two separate families of Millers - the dark haired and the light haired Millers. The dark haired Millers were tall, angular and muscular, and of Scotch descent. The light haired Millers were short and stocky, and of English descent. They believed George 2 [b. 1630 d. 1668] to be unrelated to John and Andrew. They believed that Eleazer Miller, the Assemblyman, and the other descendants of George 2 were not related to the dark haired descendants of Daniel 4 [b. 1680]. I believe great confusion exists across this line. As further example, the Genealogy of Southern New York states that John Myller [sic] and his wife Mary came from Craig Miller, Scotland, and that George Myller [sic] their son, came with them. However, they list the allotments of John2 for this John and describe the activities of John 2. The author has confused the two Johns as well as George's descendants.

Jeannette Edwards Rattray in "East Hampton History and Genealogies, 1953" states: "The writer is inclined to go along with the majority of historical writers and to credit Daniel Miller 4 as a son to John 3, son of George 2, and to explain the dark strain and the fair strain to a difference, perhaps, on the maternal side generations ago. But that is just one opinion."
---------------------------
There is a tradition that the first settler of this family in East Hampton was John Miller, who died soon after settlement here; that his wife was daughter of Minister Abraham Pierson, and that he left sons John. Andrew and George. All this may be so, and the records show that John and Andrew were brothers. Yet the early history of the Miller family is a dark abyss not fully sounded. The tradition that Eleazar Miller, the Assemblyman, was grandson of John 1 and son of George 2, stated by Thompson and others, is an error. This George 2 died from the kick of a horse, in 1668. Eleazar died in 1788, in the 92d year of his age, so born about 1686 or 7, long after George 2 died. In the Southold Town Records is a notice of a George there, said to have removed to East-Hampton, which may be this George 2. By the will of John Mulford, dated December 4, 1683, proved Nov. 13, 1686, his youngest daughter Mary is named as "wife of Jeremy Miller." The tombstone of Jeremy Miller records him as Lieut. and his death Jan. 2, 1723, and age as 67, so born in 1655, and the tombstone of his widow as dying in 1748, ‘‘ 95, so born about 1653, and the will of this widow names sons Eleazar, Josiah and Jeremiah. Josiah died Oct. 4, 1770, ‘‘ 81; Eleazar died in 1788, ‘‘ 91; Jeremiah died March 15, 1756, ‘‘ 66; and they were born, Josiah in 1689, Jeremiah in 1690 and Eleazar in 1697. This Jeremiah was probably the Yale graduate in 1709, a distinguished citizen of New London, Ct., who married the daughter of Governor Saltonstall, and was father of the eminent Jeremiah of Revolutionary days, both mentioned as men of mark in Calkins' History of New London. The record of titles confirms the belief that we are on solid ground. The Home Lot of George Miller 2 was devised in the will of Josiah 4 to his son Jeremiah 5, and by the will of that Jeremiah 5, dated in 1790, proved in 1794, is devised as "the old lot joining Daniel Hedges southerly," to his son Jeremiah 6, who died June 28, 1803, ‘‘ 55. This same Home Lot sold, and afterwards bought back at a great price by Huntting Miller 6, son of Jeremiah 5, and grandson of Josiah 4, because it was an old family inheritance, marks this line as that of the first George 2, son of John 1. The conclusion seems clear that the line runs thus: John 1, George 2 d. in 1668, Jeremiah 3 d. in 1712 ‘‘ 67, Eleazar 4 d. March 15, 1788 ‘‘ 91, Burnett 5 b. Oct. 15, 1719, Matthias Burnett 6 b. Oct. 15, 1749, Morris S. 7 b. July 31, 1779, d. Nov. 24, 1824, Rutgers B. 8 b. July 28, 1805, d. Nov. 12, 1877, Henry S. 9 b. Sept. 5, 1836, an honored citizen resident in Utica, N. Y., to whom I am indebted for much information regarding this family, who for five generations in this line, beginning with Eleazar 4, have been, as he was, "Assemblymen." The grave of Burnett Miller 5, I am told, is in Plattsburg, N. Y., where he died. His son Matthias Burnett 6 died of yellow fever in Savannah. Morris S. 7 and Rutgers 8 were distinguished citizens of Utica, N. Y. The New-York Civil List and the Records of the Town of East-Hampton, attest the patriotism and worth of this remarkable family. Yale College in Saybrook, Connecticut, in the days of Abraham Pierson its first President, and it may be uncle of the Jeremiah 4, grad. in 1709, was then comparatively easy of access by water to East-Hampton, on which its first rays of light shone with brightness. If the traditionary relationship to the first Yale President be accepted, who can say that the names in the Miller line were unworthy of such high lineage?


Children of John Miller and Mary Pierson are:
  1. +George Miller, b. 1630, d. 1688, Kick of a Horse.
Created with Family Tree Maker


Search for Family - Learn About Genealogy - Helpful Web Sites - Message Boards - Guest Book - Home
© Copyright 1996-99, The Learning Company, Inc., and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 1995-97 by Matthew L. Helm. All Rights Reserved.