BOYD MILLER
The history shown here is from family legends and notes, family Bibles, and County records. This list of descendants of Boyd Miller is being compiled now with the hope that researchers in other areas may be able tomake additions and corrections and help establish the ancestors of the man who settled with his family in Moniteau County, Missouri, where he died about 1824 --- the man known to us as Boyd Miller.
Family legend is that twin brothers, Boyd (?) and John Miller, were sons of ________ Miller and Elizabeth Boyd Miller; the twins served in the Revolutionary War, were separated and each thought the other killed. John settled after the War in South Carolina and Boyd in the part of Virginia that is now Greenbrier County, West Virginia. A passing stranger told Boyd of seeing a John Miller in Carolina who looked as much like him as"my two thumbs are alike". So the brothers were reunited; each raised a large family and lived to an old age, dying on the same day. The story of the separated twins, with slight variations, has been a legend in different branches of the family in several parts of the country. One version states that Boyd came to Missouri and that his twin brother stayed in the east; each died on the same day. There are at least two sets of twin boys named Boyd and John, or Jonathon, and many other sets of twins, in the descendants of Boyd Miller.
One of his grandsons stated that Boyd, who died in Missouri, served in the War of 1812. Proof of army service for him or for the twin brothers has not been established. It is possible that the Rev. War twin was not named "Boyd" but another given name and he is the one who married Elizabeth Boyd and they were the parents of the Boyd Miller who came to Missouri.
Notes from family history told by Mulkey Miller, grandson of Boyd, say that the two Miller brothers came to the United States from Saxony but no dates are given.
There seems to be a connection between this Miller family and the John Miller who became the fourth governor of Missouri; the biographies and notes of several in the family state that Governor Miller was a cousin. Research into the ancestry of Gov. Miller, who was born in Berkeley County, (West) Virginia, may reveal a relationship and shed some light on the ancestors of Boyd Miller.
There also seems to be a connection with the James Miller who was one of the leaders of the Tennessee Colony who settled in 1818 in the area now Moniteau County, Mo., along the Missouri and Moniteau Rivers. Could James have been an uncle or brother of Boyd? Family histories written by members of this family say that the John Miller, listed as a son of James in his Will, is the John Miller (1770-1847) who had married Hannah Young in Greenbrier County, Va., and settled in this area. John and Hannah Young Miller died in Montgomery County, Mo., but many of their children lived in Moniteau Co. His children and grandchildren have many of the same given names as those of descendants of Boyd Miller. Mrs. E. O. Gerster is a descendant of John and Hannah (Young) Miller and she has shared with us the information she has of her family. John and Hannah' s daughter, Mary, married Jacob Miller, son of Boyd; they moved to Oregon. John and Hannah had a son named Boyd; he moved first to Cedar County, Mo., then to Oregon; he is probably the Boyd Miller who signed the affidavit in 1853 for his brother-in-law's (Jacob's) Oregon Land Grant. John and Hannah's daughter, Jane, married Joseph Inglish and they moved to Cedar County and then bac kto Moniteau County. They have descendants with the given name Boyd; Joseph and Jane's grandchildren visited in the homes of the Miller County Miller families as "cousins" -- this is remembered by Delpha Jemphrey, great-granddaughter of Boyd.
We believe Boyd Miller had these brothers and sisters whose marriages are on record in Greenbrier County, W. Va., ( probably had more) - Hannah Miller married Griffith Garton on 19 Sept 1181; Ann Miller married Patrick Murpha on 8 Mar 1191; Jacob Miller married Mary Stephenson on 2 July1802 (she was the daughter of James and Ann Stephenson and probably sister of Elizabeth Stephenson who married Boyd Miller); Hugh Miller who married Nancy Stephenson. A William Miller signed as witness to the Consent to Marry for Jacob and Mary so he was evidently connected with the family.
There are many Millers mentioned in early court and land records of Greenbrier, Monroe and Augusta Counties in Virginia. But the earliest mention we have found of a Boyd Miller is for "our" Boyd's marriage record -on 1 Dec 1191 to Mary Story; they were married by John Alderson, Minister of the Baptist Church. A land grant for Boyd Miller is recorded in1791 for 80 acres on Wolf (or Wulff) Creek in Greenbrier county. Since we have not found a Boyd Miller in records earlier than this it is possible that the Rev. War twin had a given name other than Boyd.
One history of the Boone family states that Daniel Boone's father moved from Pennsylvania to (West) Virginia with his cousin, Henry Miller, who established an iron foundry in (West) Virginia. This gives credence to the story told by Boyd's children in Missouri that they were "some kind of kin" to Daniel Boone. Boyd' s son, William, told his children that he visited in the home of Daniel Boone's son and saw Daniel, who was a "cousin," when Daniel was a real old man. We have not found any records in Virginia to indicate that Henry Miller had a son named Boyd. However, Mrs. Edward E. Stephenson, who shared Stephenson family information with us, wrote that J.C. Stephenson in his book "The Stephenson Family" states "there were 5 Stephenson sisters, daughters of James and Ann Garner Stephenson, who married Miller brothers, sons of Henry Miller who had one of the first iron furnaces in this county". Her Miller-Stephenson notes list two of these marriages as ~ Miller to Nancy Stephenson, and Boyd Miller to Mary Stephenson. This is evidently an error as the marriage of Jacob Miller and Mary Stephenson is a matter of record in Virginia, and we know that Boyd and Elizabeth Stephenson Miller were married when they came to Missouri. Since the Will of James Stephenson, on record in Greenbrier County VA1. Virginia, does not list his daughters by name, just "my four daughters" it is possible that he had a fifth daughter who was already deceased who had married Miller brother but left no heirs to share her father's estate. The Stephenson Family Book also states that Stinson was the Scottish spelling of the name and some members of the family used that form.
Boyd Miller was a witness in 1801 to James Stephenson's signature on his Will and also was one of the bondsmen in 1802 for Ann Stephenson and Samuel Stephenson, Administrators of the estate of James Stephenson. The William Stinson who came to Missouri with Boyd and Elizabeth Miller was her brother; he settled in Washington or Jefferson County, Mo. His daughter, Hannah, married her cousin Jefferson Miller, son of Boyd and Elizabeth. This information is from notes and family lists in the families of Mulkey Miller and his sister, Isabella Miller Atkinson.
Further research may show that one of Henry's sons was our Boyd Miller or Henry may have had twin brothers, one of whom was the father of the four or five boys who married the Stephenson girls.
All branches of the family agree on the story of the move to Missouri and the names of the children of Boyd. Boyd and Mary Story Miller had two daughters and one son before she died. We know the ages of his daughters Peggy and Ann only from census records, but they are evidently daughters of his first wife. Peggy's age on census records indicates she was born about 1795 she may have been born late in 1794. Ann's age on census records indicates she was born in 1796. We do not know the date Mary Story Miller died nor the date Boyd and Elizabeth Stephenson were married; both these dates must have been between 1796 when Ann was born and 1799, as Boyd' s next child, Boyd, Jr., was born 10 June 1800 and his mother was Elizabeth Stephenson Miller.
Boyd Miller and his family moved west from Greenbrier County and lived for a while in Tennessee, where at least two of their children were born. Their great-granddaughter, Delpha Jemphrey, remembers being told that while they lived in Tennessee one son, possibly named Lewis, was lost when 4 or 5 years old. He disappeared from their home and was believed to have been carried away either by Indians or by a bear; and although all the settlers in the area helped search for him no trace was ever found. After this happened they were not happy in this home so they moved on farther west, possibly stopping in Wayne County, Ky. for a while. Then they came to Missouri in a large wagon train of friends and relatives. They crossed the Mississippi River at St. Louis when "St. Louis was still a French village". Boyd stopped just west of St. Louis where he made one crop, then went a little farther west to the Meramec River. This was probably in the Franklin County area as their children Anna and Jefferson were married there. Anna married Thomas Maupin, and they stayed in Franklin County. William later told his children that he left his father and family and went on down the Meramec to a place where an attempt was being made by Mr. Crow to form a settlement. But he was not satisfied there and went up through the area now Miller County and on to the area in Moniteau County where the Tennessee Colony settled. Somewhere along the way William was joined by his brother, Boyd, Jr., as they bought what was known as Johnson's Factory Fort on the Moniteau River. The James Miller previously mentioned and John Mulkey were part of the "Tennessee Colony". It has been suggested that possibly the Boyd Miller family and the John Mulkey family had been neighbors in an earlier home, and William and Boyd did not want to settle too far away from the Mulkey girls: William, Boyd and Samuel Miller married daughters of John Mulkey.
The family did not like the mosquitos and malaria which were present onthe river. William remembered that he had come through an area which was then part of Cole County where there was a beautiful natural valley - so he and Boyd came south to the area now Miller County where they cleared some land and built log houses, near the present town of Spring Garden. William Miller entered the first tract of land in Miller county, this land located in Section 23 Township 42 North and Range 24 West. Boyd Miller entered land near William in l827. Then they brought their familiesfrom Moniteau to live in the new homes.
Boyd Miller died about l824 and is said to have been buried near Marion. We have not found a gravestone for him or any official record of his death. Elizabeth and the unmarried children moved to the Miller County area near the other boys. They are shown in the l830 Federal Census in Cole County (Miller County was not formed from this area until l837):
ELIZABETH MILLER: widow, age 40-50; with males- 1 age 10-15, 1 age 15-20, 1 age 30-40; and females, 1 age 5-10
WILLIAM MILLER- age 30-40; with 1 male age 0-5; and females- 1 age 20-30 and 3 age 5-10
BOYD MILLER- age 20-30; with ma1es- 2 age 0-5; and females- 1 age 20-30, and 1 age 0-5
JEFFERSON MILLER- age 20-30; with females- 1 age 20-30, and 1 age 0-5
JACOB MILLER- age 20-30; with 2 males age 0-5; and female age 20-30
ALIENGOOOE- age 20-30; with 1 male age 0-5; and 1 female age 20-30
The two older daughters, Anna and Peggy, were married and living in other counties. It is possible that the Elizabeth Miller, widow, age 71, in the home next to Anna Miller Maupin' s family in Franklin County at the time of the 1850 census, is Elizabeth Stephenson Miller. We have found no record of the date or place of her death. But her granddaughter, Anna Miller Haynes, stated that she is buried at Spring Garden cemetery in Miller County next to Anna Haynes' other grandmother, Rachel Gartin. There is no gravestone for Elizabeth and that area of the cemetery has many unmarked graves. Notes in the Mulkey Miller family also state that Elizabeth was buried in Spring Garden cemetery but no dates are given. We have found only one official record of Elizabeth in Miller County, other than the 1830 census. Miller Co. land records show that Boyd Miller and Isabella Miller his wife, deeded on 23 Jan 1837 to Elizabeth Miller 40 acres located in sw1/4 of sw1/4 of Section 23 Township 42 Range 14 Miller County (then Co1e) for $50.00. On 29 Jan 1839 Elizabeth Miller deeded this same land for $160.00 to Benjamin Hinds, one of whose sons, Benjamin, Jr., later married Malinda Miller (granddaughter of William) and they raised their family on the farm which had once been owned by Malinda's step-great-grandmother. (5)
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lesliesc&id=I25875
