Person:Thomas Miller (46)

Thomas Miller's Adultery

After [Thomas Miller] had been in the [Middletown], for about twelve years, he became the father of an illegitimate son, born 6 May 1666, about which time his wife Isabel died. A month after this son's birth, the obstacle to the marriage being removed by Isabel's death, Thomas married the young mother and legitimised his son. As he was still a member of Rowley Church and not of Middletown, he was tried for his offence in Rowley. The church adjudged him guilty and the order for his excommunication was publicly read, 6 Oct. 1667:

"Afterwad pray^r was made that God would ratify the sentence & let loose Satan on Him" (Rowley Ch. Recds.)

This sentence of excommunication was a very hard one in those days, Thomas was barred from civil as well as religious rights, his children could not be baptised, and that was a great burden. After Isabel Miller's death, the matter of inheritance of her only child, Anne, wife of Nathaniel Bacon, with whom Isabel had evidently been making her home, was brought into Court. It seems apparent that she was possessed of property of her own:

"9 May 1666: This Court considering the Estate of Thomas Miller, Inventoried, and the desire of his wife, lately deceased, in reference to the wrongs done her by his notorious uncleanness, that y^e Court would State Some Considerable part of y^e Estate of the said Miller upon her child the wife of Nathaniel Bacon, doe therefore see just Cause to allow Nathaniel Bacon, husband to Anne Bacon (daughter to y^e sd. Thomas and Isabel Miller), all y^e wearing Apparell, linin and woolen, with those other small things mentioned in y^e inventory £5-05-00; also the Cow and Calf in Bacon's custody; also y^e warming pan and great Bible, £5-05-00, to Anne Bacon, in ye old Trunk. And out of y^e Estate thirty pounds (£80) more to be paid unto y^e said Nathaniel Bacon by the 25th of March next ensueing, in Current Corne, Beef, or Porke, or otherwise to Nathaniel Bacons Content. This being discharged by Thomas Miller, it is to be a final issue of all demands that Nathaniel Bacon may make for charges in Keeping Isabel Miller, or for her burial, or upon any other account for things past. The Lands of Thomas Miller Stand as Security. The pillion is granted to Mary Ward." (* Mary Ward was apparently Mary (Harris) Ward, wife of John Ward and dau. of William Harris. William Harris was another Rowley settler who removed to Middletown. His son, Thomas Harris, is the one who is supposed to have been Sarah (Nettleton) Miller's 2d husband. Just why Mary was given the pillion is not clear, but it is possible that Isabel was her sister, or the sister of Mary's husband.) (Manwaring's Hartford Probate, 1:220.)

Thomas Miller submitted to the decision of the Court. He, however, filed a petition in Court to prevent Nathaniel Bacon from securing any further portion of the property:

10 May 1666, "In answer to Thomas Miller's Petition - That if Nathaniel Bacon have any claime to make for himself or his children to make to any part of Thomas Miller's estate, besides what he hath ordered to him by the last Court, he shall make it out and prosecute it to effect [at] the County Court or elce the claime is to remaine of noe force and virtue." (Col. Recds. of Conn., 2:35.)"^[3]

Thomas Miller's Probate

"Probete Records, Vol. IV, 1677-1687. Page 51.

Miller, Thomas, Middletown. Invt. £486-04-00. Taken 10 September, 1680, by Thomas Wettmore, James Tappine, Richard Hall & William Cheeny. The children: Thomas age 14 years, Samuel 12, Joseph 10, Benjamin 8, Margaret 4, Sarah one year old. Will dated 11 August, 1680.

The last Will & Testament of Thomas Miller of Middletown, in the County of Hartford, being something about 70 years of age, not knowing the day of my death, is as followeth: After my committing of my Spirit to God who gave it, & my Body to a decent Burial, I do dispose of that portion of worldly Goods as followeth: Imprimis: My Will is that my Estate shall be divided equally amongst all my sons after my wives decease, they paying my daughters out of it half so much apeice as any of their portions, my wife injoying the Use of my House & Lands & Stock for her Life time. The other Lands which are not fit for Improvement at present, nor under fence, may be divided to them as part of their portions as they come to age. As respecting my daughter Bacon, I have already paid her her full portion before her death, & therefore do not see Cause to do anything now to my son-in-law Nathaniel Bacon, & making my loving wife Sarah Miller sole Executrix.

Thomas X Miller Sen.

Witness: William Cheeny, John Hall.

Court Record, Page 32 - 2 December, 1680: Will exhibited by the Relict and proven.

Page 192 - (Vol. X) 7 May, 1728: Whereas Thomas Miller, formerly of Middletown, in & by his last Will & Testament did appoint his wife Sarah executrix and impowered her to set out of his Estate to the Children their portion in sd. Will, and the sd. Executrix being lately deceased, not having fully dist. sd. Estate according to the sd. Will, this Court do appoint & impower Messrs. Samuel Hall, Solomon Adkins & Samuel Frary, of Middletown, or any two of them, to Dist. the Estate of sd. Decd, not before proportioned to & amongst the Heirs of the sd. Decd.

Dist. on File: 10 December, 1728: To the Heirs of Thomas Miller (eldest son), to Samuel Miller, to the Heirs of Joseph Miller, to Benjamin Miller (4th son), to John Miller (youngest son), and to Isaac Johnson in Right of his wife Margaret Miller, to George Hubbard in Right of his wife Mehetabell Miller, to Smith Johnson in Right of his wife Sarah Miller. By Samuel Frary, Solom Adkins & William Rockwell.

George Hubbard, who married Mehetabell, one of the daughters of the deceased, desired an Appeal from the Judgement of this Court in accepting the aforesd. Dist., to the Superior Court. Granted.

Page 210-2 January, 1728-9: Report of the Dist."^[4]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   3:211.

   Miller, Thomas, Middletown, an early sett. from Rowley, by w. Isabel, wh. d. 1666, had Ann, that m. a. 1653, Nathaniel Bacon; and when above 56 yrs. old, took, 6 June, 1666, sec. w. Sarah, d. of Samuel Nettleton, of Branford, a girl prob. not older than his d. Ann; had Thomas, b. 6 May, 1666, w. date proves that some interfer. of a judicial kind had been invok. or was aft.; Samuel, 1 Apr. 1668; Joseph, 21 Aug. 1670; Benjamin, 10 or 20 July, 1672; John, 10 Mar. 1674, Margaret, 1 Sept. 1676; Sarah, 7 Jan. 1679; and Mehitable, posthum. 28 Mar. 1681. He d. 14 Aug. 1680, and in his will, three days bef. calls hims. above 70. In the rec. Sept. foll. these ch. on the div. of est. are nam. Thomas, aged 14; Samuel, 12; Joseph, 10; Benjamin, 8; Margaret, 4; and Sarah, 1. His wid. m. a Harris, perhaps Thomas; and Sarah m. Smith Johnson of Woodstock.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 129. Thomas Miller, in Jewett, Amos Everett, [Editor], and George Brainard [Compiler] Blodgette. Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts: A Genealogical Record of the Families who Settled in Rowley before 1700 with Several Generations of their Descendants. (Rowley, Mass.: Amos Everett Jewett (Newcomb & Gauss Co., Printers, Salem, Mass.), 1933)
   242.

   Thomas¹ Miller had an acre and half house lot, 1643; was licensed to draw wine, 1647, paying fifteen shillings annually. In Rowley, he had his wife Isabel. He was a carpenter. They moved to Middletown, Conn., about 1651, where he died 14 Aug., 1680, and in his will, made three days before, calls himself 70 years old (Savage). His letter of dismission from the church in Rowley to the church in Middletown was not given until 6 Sept. 1674. Lechford, in his Note-book, 24 Aug., 1640, mentions Thomas Miller and his wife, Isabel. In 1666 although living in Middletown, he was placed on trial before the church in Rowley, wherein he still retained membership, for an offence committed in Middletown. The church adjudged him guilty and ordered him ex-communicated, which order was publicly read, 6 Oct. 1667. "Afterward pray^r was made that God would ratify the sentence & let loose Satan on him" (Ch. R.). Rowley-242.

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} The Miller Line, in Holman, Mary Lovering; Winifred Lovering Holman; and Helen Pendleton Winston Pillsbury. Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife, Frances Helen Miller: Compiled for Helen Pendleton (Winston) Pillsbury. (Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press, 1948, 1952)
   301-04.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} Thomas Miller, in Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06)
   1:334-35.
5. ↑ Spencer Miller, "The Millers of Bishop's Stortford, co. Hets, England,", in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. (New York, New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society)
   Part1: 70:139-50, Part2 70:242-52 Part3 70:345-52 Part4 (1940):71:43-50 There is a good summary at 70:143-44.

   The author discusses the English Origins of Thomas Miller and the relationship of the Millers to other New England Families such as the Chandlers, Johnsons, Heaths, Jacobs and other families. This article has been cited and further information provided by William Wyman Fiske in TAG 79:6 (chart) and by Douglas Richardson in TAG 73:57. This information was not presented by Jewett, Holman or Savage. Thomas Miller, the immigrant, was bp 7 Nov 1609 in Bishop's Stortford one of 11 children of John and Mary (Pylston) Miller. His father married second to Agnes widow of Henry Chandler. One of Agnes' children was William Chandler who married Alice Thorowgood of Farnham and second to Annis Bayford and immigrated to Roxbury, MA. The author traces several generations of the family in England. relatives, the Denisons, had been residents of Roxbury, Mass., for two years. William Denison of Stortford married Margaret Chandler (bapt. 1577), a daughter of Tobias and Joane (Momford) Chandler, an own cousin of William Chandler, a stepbrother of Thomas Miller. Elizabeth (Miller) Heath of Roxbury after 1635 was a second cousin of Thomas Miller, son of "Long John" Miller (Father of Thomas Miller). That there was a close relation between Capt. Isaac Johnson of Roxbury and the Millers of Stortford and Roxbury is proven in the wills of both Elizabeth (Miller) Heath r664, and Margaret (Miller) Waterman in 1670. Both called Capt. Johnson, " my cousin." Some years later two granddaughters and one grandson of Capt. Isaac Johnson (children of Nathaniel) married two sons and one daughter of Thomas Miller of Middletown.

6. ↑ William Wyman Fiske, The Probable English Origins of George1 Jacob(s) of Salem, Massachusetts, in The American Genealogist (TAG). (Donald Lines Jacobus, et.al.)
   79:3+Chart@6, 2004.

   link

7. ↑ Douglas Richardson, New Light on the English Ancestry of William¹ Chandler and of his cousins Margaret Chandler, Wife of William¹ Dennison both of Roxbury, Massachusetts, in The American Genealogist (TAG). (Donald Lines Jacobus, et.al.)
   73:50-57@57, 1998.

   link Henry^A Chandler m Anne/Agnes ___. She m (2) Bishop's Stortford 8 Jul 1622 (as his 2nd wife), John Miller of Bishop's Stortford, the son William Miller of same. His first wife was Mary Plyston. Richardson cited the NYGBR above for this family being the origins of both William¹ Chandler of Roxbury, MA and Thomas¹ Miller of Middletown, Connecticut.