MILLER Family

Our surname in various alphabets (courtesy Wycliffe Discovery Center)

Our surname in various alphabets (courtesy Wycliffe Discovery Center) click to enlarge/back to return

Twenty-eight documented and researched roots and branches so far, with 61 related families beyond, and 42 that are as yet unknown. There’s more to come. Stay tuned! This is your chance to help by helping research.

CAUSES OF DEATH: Miller/Krause Families 1906-2015

GO TO TABLE OF CONTENTS: MILLER & FAMILY TREE

DOCUMENTATION (Swedish and German Origins):

Church & Cemetery Records: Friedens & St. James Lutheran, Mt. Tabor, Somerset Co., PA

Family Records & Tradition

Somerset Co. Miller Reunion Speech – based on William H. Miller and John S. Miller’s A Brief History of Yost (Joseph) Miller and Jeremiah Miller and Their Descendants printed in Johnstown, PA, around 1920 by Benshoff Printing Company. The report was given at the first official Yost Miller Reunion held in Somerset, PA, August 26, 1910.

Various US Census Reports: Jenner & Quemahoning Twps., Somerset Co., PA

West VA Pioneers “Joseph Miller” – http://www.wvpioneers.com/getperson.php?personID=I0750&tree=JCPP

Last updated: 23 April 2016

16 Responses to MILLER Family

  1. Shelesa Brew says:

    Hi Miller Cousins,
    I am so happy to find your site. I am particularly excited to find the maiden name of Yost Miller’s wife and her parents and grandparents names. We share Joseph and Mary (Shaffer) Miller as ggg grandparents. I am descended from their son Samuel and his wife Elizabeth Rowley, their son Adam and his 2nd wife Mary Bittner, their son Ernest R. and his wife Carrie Shaulis and their daughter Mary Jane.
    Do you know where in Germany our ggggg granddad Joseph and his sons Yost and Jeremiah emigrated from? What about the family of Yost’s wife Maria, the Langs and the Burgers? Do you know who immigrated and when?
    I notice that you do not have a date of death for Mary Shaffer Miller, wife of Joseph. She and Joseph are buried in Boyt’s Cemetery on Bicycle Rd. The dates on her tombstone are 17 Aug 1782 to 25 May 1851.
    So happy to find you,
    Shelesa

    • admin says:

      Hello, Cousin!
      Thank you for the information. I have updated my tree. My wife and I were just on Bicycle Rd. last week but will return to take a picture of Joseph and Mary’s gravesite. I will try to get answers to your other questions and reply. My contact has provided a number of very good sources. Thanks again for your response, and please send any other information you have,
      Larry

      • Shelesa Brew says:

        Hi Larry & Susan,
        I look forward to info about the origins of Maria Lang Miller’s family in Germany and to anything more specific you might have discovered about where Joseph, Yost and Jeremiah Miller came from. “A Brief History of Yost & Jeremiah Miller” says they sailed on the Lydia from Rotterdam with passengers from Alsace-Lorrain and the Palatinate.
        My husband and I were grave-hunting in Somerset County in Apr 2008 and found and photographed the markers in Boyt’s Cemetery. We were following the directions in Brian Ensley’s “Cemeteries of Somerset and Cambria Counties” and after trespassing all over this farm on Bicycle Rd we returned to the Somerset Historical Society. Mark Ware who was there made a few phone calls and a gentleman named Bob Hay who was farming the property met us and led us to the burial ground. After Geiger Rd deadends into Bicycle, you go about 20yds to the east on Bicycle where you will find a dirt path on your left. We walked up the path through the brush and up into the field. When you can see the house (not sure if the residents are the ones to ask for permission as no one was home when we were there) on your right, look to your left way across the field. You will see a brushy area with tall trees. The graves are located here. This spot is about 250 yds north of where Geiger hits Bicycle. You can see the area on the satelite view of googlemaps.com. There is wooden sign posted, but it has several dates that don’t match the ones on the gravestones. Joseph and Mary Shaffer Miller are buried here with John Miller–Yost’s son and Joseph’s brother who never married. There are some other Millers here but they are from the Adam Miller family—the same Adam whose loghouse is on display at the Historical Society. After corresponding with Neal Umstot in NC who is related to the Adam Millers, I came to the conclusion that Yost’s family and Adam’s family are not related, but just friends and neighbors. I was hoping they were related, because Adam’s stone says he was born in Gerhardsbraumn, Germany. There is also an infant Boyt, but no stones for his parents if they are there, a Jacob Lint, a Harriet Shaffer (related to Mary Shaffer Miller??) and NancyCasebeer Miller Weaver who was a daughter-in-law of Adam Miller. We were there in the early spring before much was growing in the fields and the brush in the cemetery hadn’t grown up after the winter.
        Shelesa

        • admin says:

          Thanks for the reply Shelesa. We haven’t been to the burial site yet but there are photos by the Somerset Co. cemetery project on the Joseph Miller photo page. Unfortunately, it is very overgrown this time of year. I appreciate all your information and will write again after we’ve been to the graveyard. Regards,
          Larry

  2. Robert Miller says:

    I was fascinated when I found your site. It’s been searching my lineage now for some time and have known our line simply must have numerous other off-shoots. We unfortunately knew very little about them. Your site verified some of the records I’ve been looking at on my own. Yost is my 6th Great Grandfather. It appears our lines split from the son’s of Joseph Miller (09/12/1781). My line descends from John Miller (1810-1895). We have settled in Akron Ohio and I have a tree on acestry.com which is public. You can be sure I’ll be stopping into the site regularly to learn as much as I can.

    • admin says:

      Hi Robert,
      Thanks for responding! I recently made connections with our Miller family in North Royalton, OH. Any relation? At this point I’m trying to find out about Yost and brother Jeremiah’s father, apparently the senior Joseph. Was he left in Germany? We’re pretty sure he didn’t come to Somerset County. We have other questions pertaining to the many families associated with the Millers as well as the other Miller families, mostly from Switzerland (Anabaptist). Please stay in touch,
      Larry

  3. Robert Bredow says:

    Can you please assist me in locating the gravesite of my great great great grandfather Adam Miller? He was born, lived and died in Monroe County WV near the town of Greenville. He was born in 1778 and died in 1844. His wife’s maiden was Letha Canterbury.

    Bob Bredow

    • admin says:

      Thanks for asking, Robert. Of course, I don’t usually serve as a “look up” service, especially since our Millers never ventured into West VA, but I did Google Adam’s name and location and learned a lot about that part of the country. Give it a try. May I suggest contacting the WV Cemetery Preservation Association and/or Find-A Grave with your question? There are several Miller Cemeteries down there, so apparently that name is popular everywhere. Again, thanks for writing,
      Larry

  4. Dennis W Miller says:

    I find a Hostetler as a fourth cousin on Ancestry. I am a Miller. Family originated in eastern Tennessee/Kentucky. I match essentially all the names in Indian John’s family. However, I am having difficulty finding the family path from Somerset to Campbell county Tennessee. Any input is much appreciated. Thank you, Dennis Miller

    • admin says:

      Hello Dennis,
      Ironic that I married a Miller who has Hostetler Amish-Mennonite roots on sides. Of course they are all Swiss-Germans who settled in Berks County, PA. Many of Susan’s transplanted relatives are still here in the mountains of West-central PA, Somerset County, that reminded them so much of their European homeland. I have no specific information on your particular family’s migration west as I do mostly “straight line” genealogy pertaining to our branches. But, you have inspired me to re-check what I have on “Hostetler” and create a Table of Contents, Introduction, and other supporting references. I’ll certainly pass on anything I find regarding Campbell County, TN, and hopefully our readers will too. BTW, I’m Scots-Irish from Pittsburgh’s North Hills and my grandmother was a Campbell. Regards,
      Larry

  5. Libbie Kerr says:

    I an searching for the following who are supposed to have been siblings:
    Abraham Miller (Revolutionary War soldier with Virginia), Bowman,
    Elizabeth (who married Henry Funk, also in the Revolutionary war with Bowman), and
    Rachel (born c.1777 in Virginia and married Elijah Foley, son of Richard Foley who was also in the Revolutionary War with Bowman. Rachel died in Jessamine County, Ky in 1851). All were connected to Bowman’s Station in Kentucky, but I cannot find the parents of the three siblings, Abraham, Elizabeth and Rachel.

    • admin says:

      Hi Libbie,
      Unfortunately, I have nothing on any of these folks with such common names. Also, I’m assuming from your note that Bowman was a brother, although you don’t list him at the bottom as a sibling. It’s ironic that my wife’s Somerset County, PA, Bowmans (surname) married into her Millers who also fought in the Revolutionary War. Input “Bowman” in my Search box. Please keep in touch with anything new that you find. Regards, and thanks for your interest,
      Larry

  6. Jessica Shelton says:

    Hi, I am not a Miller but a Turnipseed. Translated from Rebsamen. Searching for a Jacob Rebsamen/Turnipseed that married an Anna Magdalena Miller. She was born in Berks Co. PA around 1770. It is said her parents are Johannas John Jacob Miller 1728 from Hessen Germany, marrying an Anna Margaretha Shiplinger 1730 Palentine, Germany. Could they be from the same family? Thank you for any information you could provide! Jessica S.

    • admin says:

      Very interesting Jessica. If it’s a Miller from Berks Co. I’m sure you’re related to my wife. Please give me some time to research. Larry

  7. Shelley Lund says:

    Hello! My sister and I are coming to Pennsylvania in July (2023) — We are the great grand-daughters of Muriel Elnora Miller and husband Frank Talmage Miller. From their ancestry we understand we are related to many Miller families in the Millersburg, Hershey and Germantown PA. We would really love to have guidance on how we can explore our ancestry in this part of our country. These are just a few of our ancestors:
    Millers
    Kauffman-Kniessley settlement between Landisville and Lancaster – owned plots by many ancestors
    Germantown PA, (Anna Sibella Leavering, d. 1764, Johann George Au-Miller d. 1719, Magdalen Miller d. 1781 Dr. Johannes/John George Miller, b. 1709 Berks County PA, d. 16 Sep 1755, Montgomery PA
    Hans Heinrich Frey, b.1633, d. 1758 Wigard Levering, d. 4 Oct 1795

    • admin says:

      Hi Shelly,
      While my wife’s Millers landed in those “down Easy” counties, they have long since made the trek up the mountain West to Somerset County. At first glance I can’t help, but keep checking online and with the History Centers in Berks and Lancaster. Larry

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