(back 12 generations to Switzerland)
(Click on first name for Vitals; spousal surname for associated family)
Christian Miller I (1642- )
Elisabetha Frey ( )
I
Heinrich (Heini, Hans, Heinest, Henry) Miller (1664- )
Unknown ( )
I
Nicholas Miller (1685- )
Unknown ( )
I
Christian Daniel, Sr./Jacob? Miller (1700/8-1777 )
Anna Mishler (1710-1829)**/Barbara Holli? ( )
I
Hannes “Indian John” Miller, Sr.(1724/30-1798)
Magdelena Lehman (1732-1817)
I
Elizabeth Miller~ (1770- )
Joseph Christopher Speicher, (1762/68-1830)
I
Joseph Christopher Speicher II (1797-1862)
Rebecca Musser (1829-1892)
I
Laura Catherine Speicher (1859-1919)
Christian F. Lee (1858-1906)
I
Annie J. Lee (1885-1971)
Charles Frederick Krause (1884-1973)
I
Hilda Elizabeth Krause (1921-1997)
Richard Orville Miller# (1920-2015)
I
Susan Kay Miller (1949- )
Larry Edsel Pearce (1948- )
^
Annie Rebecca Pearce (1971- ) Matthew Carter Pearce (1973- )
*ancestor to southern Somerset County Amish-Mennonites, as suggested in J. Virgil Miller’s John “Hannes” Miller, Sr., history, p.23, although several connections exist with northern Somerset Lutheran Joseph “Yost” Miller, ancestor to Richard Miller#
through the Christian and Abraham Baer Family.
**A later Mishler married into the same line through the Speicher family.
~One source (Brenda Horton) believes that Elizabeth was a half-sister through an earlier marriage by Hannes “Indian John” to a Magdalena Fisher-Yoder (b.1724). this source claims Peter and Christian were later sons through his marriage to Magdalena Leman. Could she just have the last names confused. The Horton source shows this Elizabeth marrying Johannes Schrock, while others do not show her related to “Indian John” at all. This is not the later Elizabeth Miller that married Christian Baer.
DOCUMENTATION:
see “Hannes ‘Indian John’ Miller” and individual Vitals
Last revised 10/16/18
I am writing about about my ancestors, one of them being Miller (Indian John/ Hannes Miller). There has been a lot of controversey about John Miller’s father, Jacob or Christian. In everything I’ve been able to put together, I’ve always leaned more toward it being Christian. Do you have verifiable information that Jacob was his father? I sure could use some help. I hope to finish my book by year’s end. (Am doing four lines: Miller, Farmwald, Nafziger, and Yoder). Plus the story of my grandparents. Thank you in advance for whatever help you can give me.
Hi Sue,
I remember reading about the Jacob/Christian controversy some time ago. Now, in fact, I believe I’ve connected my wife’s paternal Millers to Christian. even though they left the Anabaptists many years ago. Let me check my sources and get back to you. Yes, it’s all very confusing – but rewarding when we find our families with common ancestors and geographical origins, so far back, of course. Please keep me posted on your book.
Larry
Hi again, Sue.
After checking my notes, I found three sources for Christian and father to Indian John, none for Jacob, and several unclear:
Johannes “Indian John” Miller
Father:
Christian http://www.ancestry.chezhorton.com/phpGedView/individual.php?pid=I403&ged=Wawok.ged
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mikesell/gedgen/grpf4844.html
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/h/i/Lisa-A-Shields-PA/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0234.html
Unclear
http://www.personal.psu.edu/ndw1/blogs/musings/2009/03/indian-john-or-wounded-john-mi.html
http://www.oocities.org/medley81/data/D/miller.html
What do you have?
Larry
Hi Larry: I am the son of Noah Guy (Guy N.) Miller, son of Albert Miller, son of Noah P. Miller, son of Peter B. Miller, son of Benedict Miller, son of Jacob Miller, son of Indian John Miller. I was delighted to see your data on the forefathers of Indian John, however I was of the impression that John had his name” Americanized” when he got off of the boat in 1749 from Muller to Miller. Any comment would be appreciated. Don
Hi Don,
I have used the Anglicized “Miller” for simplicity’s sake. As with most surnames there are many spellings and pronunciations between the Old and New Worlds. In the various family trees, I often use asterisks (*) to indicate various spellings. Miller is so common that I didn’t think it necessary. Oh, and by the way, how about all those common given names among our Millers: Peter, Jacob, etc.? Thank heavens for middle initials (at times when available). If you’ve dug deeply enough into my wife’s maternal and paternal lines, you’ll see constant, back and forth intermarriages between families. Even more interesting to me are all the Protestant persuasions represented. Notice in Susan’s grandmother Baer’s ancestors are three different Miller families and four different religious practices in as many generations: Amish-Mennonite, German Baptist (Dunkard), Lutheran, and Methodist (formerly EUB). Glad you were able to read and comment on my information. Please tell others and stay in touch,
Larry
Hi, my family are Brethren from Ivy Farms, Newport News, VA. This Miller history is an awesome story. I’m doing genealogy for my 92-year old Miller grandfather. I decided to search my other grandfather, Lloyd S. Keafer, grandson of Henry Adam Keafer. Without having to pay, Roots web gets me all the way to Henry Adam, but his son Lloyd S. Keafer, Sr. is not listed. However, on Findagrave.com they are, but on a few other sites I can only see a link. Lloyd S. Keafer, Jr. moved from PA to VA after getting a degree in physics from Juniana College. He worked for NASA from 1949-1986. Hard to think he would lie about his grandfather or not know. Any help would be great! Thanks for any help from anyone, Erin
Erin,
I’m so happy that you found our history page and were inspired to do further research. I’m also glad that you found a site to do free genealogy. Try FamilySearch.org, the free Mormon sister site of Ancestry.com. I have indexed many other possibilities, some paid and some free: https://e-gen.info/?page_id=8828. Isn’t FindaGrave.com a wonderful resource? Keep checking back there, as they continue to update. Finally, I doubt that Lloyd would hide anything. My guess is that genealogy just wasn’t his thing back then.
Regards, Larry