The Miller Connection

As a genealogist, solving mysteries is a common theme.  Who were the parents, where did they live, when did they die?  All these questions arise in the search for new family members.  When your direct ancestor is reluctant to divulge answers, using the FAN Club method can be employed.  Friends, Associates, and Neighbors make up your ancestor’s fan club.  These people knew your ancestor well and sometimes clues about their lives can lead to answers about your family.

Sarah Elizabeth Miller is my 2x Great Grandmother.  She was born 24 Jun 1854 in Howell County, Missouri to George W Miller and Rody Randle Miller.  She married James Vance Bodine 25 Sep 1879 in Dunklin County, Missouri and died there in 1934.  Her parents, George and Rody, were married 3 Jan 1833 in Rutherford County, North Carolina.  The Millers left North Carolina about 1845 moving to Hamilton County, Tennessee before moving to Missouri about 1853.  I haven’t been able to identify George or Rody’s parents yet.  I set out to use the FAN club to look for clues.

Two of Sarah’s older brothers, James R Miller and Joseph W Miller, enlisted in the Confederate Army, Company B of the 4^th Missouri Volunteer Infantry on 11 Feb 1862 in West Plains, Missouri.  Neither appeared to survive the conflict, James to disease, and Joseph to wounds inflicted at Vicksburg.  Also enlisting to the same company on that same day was E J Miller.

Who was E J Miller?  He wasn’t a brother to Sarah.  Could he be a cousin, could his parents be clues as to the parents of George Miller?  Time to do some sleuthing.  

I determined from the 1850 and 1860 census that E J stands for Elias Jefferson Miller.   Elias was the son of James H Miller, born 1820 in South Carolina and Nancy, born 1823 in Kentucky.  Elias was born in Monroe County, Illinois in 1845 and appears in later censuses in Texas.  So this Miller family appears to have migrated to Missouri via Kentucky and Illinois. 

So how does this compare to Sarah’s family?  George Miller was born in North Carolina in 1809, so is the same generation as James, they could be brothers or cousins.  Rutherford County borders South Carolina so the family moving back and forth is a possibility.  However their movements to get to Howell County do not match at all.

 

 

So are these two Miller families related at all?  Surnames began to be used in England around the 12^th Century among nobility and landed gentry.  Within a few hundred years everyone adopted them.  Surnames came about in several different manners.

·         Patronymics – George the son of John became George Johnson

·         Place Surnames – George of York became George York

·         Personal Characteristics – George with red hair became George Red

·         Occupation – George the miller became George Miller

 Obviously every man that milled grain was not related.  James H Miller does not appear to have a familial relationship to George Miller.

So how did the Miller boys come to belong to the same company in the Confederate Army?

According to Wikipedia:

The location of West Plains led to nearly constant conflict due to the proximity to what was then the border between the Union and Confederacy. West Plains was largely burned to the ground, and Howell County as a whole was devastated. No major battles occurred in West Plains or Howell County, but much of the devastation came from constant guerrilla warfare.

Confederate Brigadier General James Haggin McBride gave residents an ultimatum to either join the Confederate army or to flee the area. An overwhelming majority of Howell County residents chose to flee, and over 90% of the population had fled by the time the war was over.  Many, however, also chose to fight for the Confederacy, as McBride promised to protect his soldiers' property and loved ones. Men who spoke out against the Confederacy were arrested, as martial law had been declared by McBride. Though Howell County was in Union-controlled Missouri, it was easily within Confederate control due to its position on the Arkansas border.

Did the Millers join because of southern sympathies or under duress?  Neither family appears to own slaves in Missouri (or previously) but their politics is not easily determined.  More likely the recruiter was in town for that day and they all signed up together.

A Case for Revolutionary Fraud

I have written a couple of posts about my 3^rd Great Grandfather, John Price.  I have determined by several sources that his parents were Edward Price and Dedemiah Lowry of Johnston County, North Carolina.  I won’t bore you about how I came to this conclusion other than I found evidence in unlikely places.  This story is about a discovery I made while researching Edward’s parentage.

Edward was born about around 1760.  He first married Mary Jones about 1783.  Mary apparently died young as Edward married second Dedemiah Lowry on 17 Feb 1789 in Johnston County.  Edward died in late 1803 or early 1804 leaving a widow and 7 children, including John, the eldest.  Dedemiah was assigned the estate administrator in February 1804.  Edward did not leave a will but there are several other documents that outline guardians and estate settlements.

Edward was a young man during the Revolutionary War era.  Did he serve?  Although no one has claimed a DAR lineage from Edward, the DAR book of North Carolina Revolutionary War Rosters lists an Edward Price in Captain Walton’s unit serving from 1781 to 1 Jul 1782.  Likely this is my Edward as that unit was from the Johnston County area and later years of the war would be more the correct age for Edward. 

Roster of soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution : with an appendix containing a collection of miscellaneous records.. unknown: The D.A.R., 1932. page 154, cropped

Then came the strange discovery.  A woman named Lucy claimed a widow’s pension for Edward Price of Johnston County North Carolina.

Revolutionary War pensions began in 1790 but in 1832 Congress passed an expansion to allow for widows and orphans to apply for a pension based on the extent of service of the soldier.  Since this was before photo-id’s and fingerprints, a widow had to make what was called ‘a declaration’ under oath before a magistrate in her home county.  She needed to provide documentation about her marriage to the soldier and witnesses (of upstanding citizenship) to back up her claim.

NARA M804. Revolutionary War Pension and
Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files.
Veteran Edward Price
page 9

 

Lucy Price submitted such an application in 1843.  She made her declaration before Josiah O. Watson, a Justice of the Peace.  She cannot remember the exact date of her marriage and is unable to provide documentation but states she was married by William Hackney, now dead.  She states Edward died in 1810.  She provides declarations by 3 witnesses:  Jesse Green, 82, who claims to have known Edward in childhood, Thomas Price (her son), and Josiah O. Watson himself who claims to be a neighbor of the Prices, knowing the parties for nearly 60 years.  Lucy is granted a pension of $30/year.

Now my Edward died in 1804, not 1810.  Were there 2 Edward Prices?  Possibly.  However I could not find any estate records for an Edward Price in 1810 nor any marriage records for an Edward Price marrying a woman named Lucy. 

The solution to the mystery is in page 17 of Lucy’s application.  In 1848 Lucy applied for additional benefits now stating her husband’s name is ETHELRED Price.  A different JP signs off on her affidavit. Ok.  I can find an Ethelred Price marrying a Lucey Bryan 7 Feb 1790 by William Hackney.  Ethelred died in 1810 leaving a will naming wife Luesy and children, including Thomas.  That all fits with Lucy’s initial application.

NARA M804. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files.
Veteran Edward Price, page 17, cropped, emphasis added

But I cannot find Ethelred Price listed in the DAR roster book.

So did Lucy collude with 3 others to fraudulently claim a pension?  In 1843 Dedemiah, Edward’s real widow, has since remarried and is now living in Iowa, a long way from Johnston County.  Lucy claims there is no documentation of her marriage but the marriage record exists to this day.  Thomas, Lucy’s son, testified his father’s name was Edward.  According to the 1850 Census, Thomas was born in 1795 making him 15 when his father died.  Old enough to know his father’s correct name was Ethelred.  Jesse Green, in his affidavit, identifies correctly the military service of Edward Price and says he lives near the Price family.  Jesse also married Mary Price 28 Jan 1825.  I’m not sure how Mary fits in to the Price family but that puts Jesse as an in-law. He should know the difference between Edward and Ethelred. 

North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, FamilySearchMarriage Record for Ethelred Price and Luecy Bryan  7 Feb 1790

 

So then it falls to Josiah O. Watson, the Justice of the Peace that testified and signed all the declarations.  Josiah Watson certainly knew Dedemiah Lowry married Edward Price because Dedemiah was Josiah’s half-sister!  In fact, Josiah was named guardian of Edward’s children in 1822.  He would have been well acquainted with Edward’s service and that Dedemiah was living far away in Iowa.  He also knew very well that Lucy was never married to Edward.

   

 

I’m not a lawyer but I think that is enough circumstantial evidence for a conviction of fraud.  

(Train) Tracking William Taylor Slaughter

My great-grandfather, George B Slaughter, was a railroad man.  His father, William Taylor Slaughter, was a railroad man and his son likely would have been one too had George not died when his son was only 2 months old.

Frisco Watch Inspection Card for
G B Slaughter
(in possession of author)

 William Taylor “WT” Slaughter (1848-1927) has been a difficult ancestor to track.  I know he was married in 1876 in Obion County, Tennessee.  He was in the 1880 Federal census in Weakley County, Tennessee.  By 1900 he had moved to Southeast Missouri where he lived the remainder of his years.  Much circumstantial evidence puts him as born in Meriwether County, Georgia in 1848 and living in Tallapoosa County, Alabama in 1860.  However, he is not with his family in Gadsden, Etowah County, Alabama in 1870 and I have not been able to locate him anywhere in the federal census for that year.

Save for one instance WT declares his occupation as railroad related:

1880 (Federal Census, Weakley TN) – Engineer

1900 (Federal Census, Dunklin MO) – Farmer

1910 (Federal Census, Cape Girardeau MO) – Hostler RR (someone who moves

                                                                    trains around in the train yard)

1912 (City Directory, Cape Girardeau MO) – Fireman

1920 (Federal Census, Scott Co MO) – Engineer, retired

Frisco Rail Yard
Chaffee, MO
c 1914

The Slaughters were employed by the St Louis – San Francisco (Frisco) Railway which ran through southeast Missouri in the early 1900s.  Frisco had a roundhouse in Chaffee, Missouri where the Slaughters lived in 1920 and thereafter.  Though it had lofty goals, the railroad never actually made it to San Francisco concentrating more in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

However, Frisco did not run in Western Tennessee where WT lived before 1900.  So what railroad employed him?  Would that help me find him in 1870?

In 1876 WT married Margaret Neoma Ellis in Obion County, Tennessee.  The Ellis family lived just outside of Union City.  According to Obion History books, Union City was a crossroads of railroads.  The East to West railroad was Nashville, Memphis and St Louis (NC&StL) and North to South the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio (M&O).  WT lived in Greenfield, TN in 1880.  The M&O railroad ran through that town.  So it’s likely WT worked for the M&O railroad as an engineer in 1880.  He could have worked for either line in 1876.  According to the History of Greenfield, the railroad didn’t come through until 1873, the first dwellings built there in 1875 so WT couldn’t have been there in 1870. So where was he?

Railroading has a colored history in the United States.  Many fortunes were made and lost over the years building and operating rail companies.  When our country was first settled by Europeans, rivers were the best means of transport of goods.  The frontier had paths not roads.  It was not until the 1830’s that the railroad industry began to grow.  A small group of investors (usually the community leaders) could pool their resources and build a small rail line to connect with a main system for the sole purpose of moving their own goods to market.  These small companies were often bought by a large railroad or sometimes failed to make a profit and went defunct.  Companies came and went with alarming frequency.

Daily Ohio Statesman
Columbus OH
23 Aug 1867

The Civil War brought havoc to the railroads in the south.  Lines were damaged by both sides in an effort to keep the enemy from shipping supplies.  The M&O was no exception.  After the war, the executives reported the entire line across Tennessee was in need of repair.  However, this also brought opportunity.  Gadsden became an industrial center of Alabama.  A young man, like WT, with some mechanical skills would likely be drawn to the town for work.  Many workers were needed to repair rail lines and this could have taken WT across several states in the 1870’s. One of the railroads thru Gadsden connected with the M&O in Mississippi.   It’s entirely plausible that a migrant worker like this would have been not enumerated at all in the 1870 census.

Memphis (TN) Daily Appeal
23 Oct 1871

Railroad work was difficult and dangerous.  Most people identify train robberies with the Wild West, but they happened in Tennessee as well.  Workers would strike over poor working conditions and this could lead to violence in the railyard.  It’s possible WT moved from company to company, state to state, as jobs started and ended.  Railroad employment records could help me find WT, however not many from the 1870’s still exist.  So discovering which railroad(s) he worked for may be impossible.  

But I haven’t yet given up on finding WT in 1870.  I’m obsessive after all.  

William T Slaughter
M Neoma Slaughter
Fairmount Cemetery, Cape Girardeau MO