MILLER

1st Generation

Harrison W. Miller

(1815-1899)

Hannah Beach

(about 1832-before 1898)

NOTE: See the Ancestors of Chester Miller website for further information on this family: www.familytreemaker.com/users/m/i/l/Alinda-M-Miller.

Photo:

Harrison Miller, Hannah Beach Miller & son Lafayette

[Who sent me this picture? Forgive me, but I don't have a record]

Harrison W. Miller was born in about 1815 in Fayette County, Kentucky.[1] I have no information about his parents, but apparently he had a brother William born in 1835 in Harrison Co., KY, according to his great-grandson R.C. Miller.[2]

Hannah Beach was born about 1832 in Indiana, the daughter of Daniel Coleman Beach and his second wife, Abigail Price.[3] (Her sister Julia Ann Beach married Morton Beach—see BEACH .)

Harrison and Hannah were married December 25, 1849, in Gallatin County, Kentucky[4]. They had 10 children[5]:

i. James William Miller b. 9 Jan 1850[6] Gallatin Co., KY. d. 1927

Gallatin Co., KY; m. (1) Sarrah, (2) Sarrah (?)

ii. Richard Coleman Miller[7], b. 9 April 1852 in Grant County,

Kentucky, m. 17 March 1875 Laura Ann Speagle[8], d. 23

March 1888.

iii. Sarah Isabel Miller b. Jul 1854 in KY, m. William Webster

2 Feb 1875 Grant Co., KY

iv. Amanda Augusta Miller b. 1857 in KY, d. 8 Mar 1933 in

Carroll Co., KY, m. Newt Winter.

v. Isaac W. Miller, b. Apr 1860 in Ky; d. 13 Oct 1926,[9] m. (1)

Ella, (2) Ella?

vi. John Miller, b. 1868 in Ky, m. Annie Belf 16 Aug 1894.

vii. Addison Miller, b. 1868.

viii. George Harrison Miller, b. 5 Mar 1871 in Ky, d. 15 Dec.

1944 Owenton, Owen Co., KY, m. Anna Belle Dickerson

7 Mar 1893 Henry Co., KY

ix. Betsie Ann Miller, b. 5 Mar 1871; m. George Furnish.

x. Lafayette Miller b. 1878.

Harrison W. Miller appears on 1848 Grant County tax rolls.[10]

The 1850 Gallatin Co., KY census, p. 194, shows the Coleman Beach family with 8 children including Julia A., 4, and Hannah, 18, and her husband Harrison Miller, 30, who are living with the family. This would have been shortly after their marriage. (If Harrison was 30, his birth year would be 1820.)

Harrison Miller lost the sight of his right eye in 1855 from an explosion while he was working in a well.[11]

The 1860 Grant Co., Ky census, pp. 883-884, shows Harrison Miller age 43, b. KY, Hannah 26 b. IN, James W. 9, Richard C. 7, Sarah I., 5, Amanda A. 3, Isaac W. 4 mos. (If Harrison was 43, his birth year would be 1817.)

In November 1861 Harrison Miller enlisted in Co. B., 18^th Reg. KY Volunteers. In the fall of 1862, he was home on furlough where he claimed to have accidentally shot himself in the hand. The official records state he was counted as deserted from July 1862 until he was captured at home in October 1862 and taken to Camp Wallace in Ohio where he was honorably discharged in November 1862 due to his injured hand.[12] [I have a copy of his military record.]

After his discharge in 1862 Harrison returned to Grant County, KY. He stayed there until the latter part of February 1863 when he moved to Gallatin County, moving back to Grant County in 1865. He moved to Gallatin County in 1868, and Grant County in 1869, and he stayed there until 1887 when he moved to Owen County where he remained until his death in June 1899.[13]

The family appears in the 1880 Grant Co., KY census as follows:

MILLER, H.W. 68 b. KY

Hannah 50, b. IN

Isaac 10

John 12

Adison 12

George H. 9

Betsie Ann 9

Lafayette 2

Hannah died before 1898 in Kentucky and Harrison died June 1899 in Owen County, Kentucky.[14]

2nd Generation

Richard Coleman Miller

(1852-1888)

Laura Ann Speagle Miller

(1859-1933)

Photos:

Laura Speagle Miller 1930s

Laura Speagle Miller & son Ben 1930s

Richard Coleman Miller was born April 9, 1852, in Grant County, Kentucky,[15] the second of ten children of Harrison W. Miller and Hannah Beach Miller. (See BEACH section)

Laura Ann Speagle was born January 24, 1859, in Grant County, Kentucky,[16] the second child[17] of Samuel Speagle and his wife Nancy Vaughn Speagle. (see SPEAGLE and VAUGHN sections)

Coleman, as he was called, and Laura were married March 17, 1875, in Grant County, Kentucky, at the home of her parents.[18]

They had six (possibly seven)[19]children:[20]

i. Ben (1877-1959)[21] m. Ida, 2 children[22]

ii. William b. 1 Apr. 1879, d. 21 Apr. 1879 (lived 20 days)[23]

iii. Archie (1880-1909)

iv. Earl (1882-1955)[24] (called Early)

v. Emma D. (1884-1968) (m. Fred McClure)

vi. Harvey (1887-1947)[25] (called Harve)

The 1880 Grant County census shows R.C. Miller age 28, wife Laura 22, and son Ben 2.

Coleman worked as a lumberjack, and was killed in a logging accident on March 23, 1888, at the age of 36.[26] He is buried in the Mt. Zion Cemetery in Grant Co., KY.[27]

Per Bob Miller on June 6, 1996: “Cole liked to fight the bullies. He was a logger by trade. He saw a tree fall towards his sons and ran to stop it. He fell in front of the tree, it rolled over him and he died a few days later. When Cole died, his brother George chopped corn to pay for the violin (made in Germany). After George's death, the violin was given to Joseph Benard. George wanted it because the kids were using it to keep beans in and to play with. William and Benjaman (Richard's children) came to get the violin from George ... ....they had hard feelings over it.”[28]

Laura was 29 at the time, the mother of five young children. To support her family, she did housework and washing in other people’s homes, and when her daughter Emma was old enough (15) she was sent out to work for $11.00 a week, which she gave to her mother.[29]

Laura and her sons continued to work the farm for many years.

The 1900 Grant Co., KY census shows Laura A. Miller, widow, b. Jan. 1858, age 42, Archie 19, Earl 17, Emma D., 15, and Harvey 13.

The 1910 Grant Co., KY census shows Laura Miller, age 52, living with her sons Early 27 and Harve 22.

By 1920, Early had taken over as head of the household. The 1920 Grant Co., KY census shows Early 38, Harve 34, and Laura 62.

The 1930 Grant Co., KY census, p. 2A shows: Miller, Laura 72 widow, Early 47, Harve 43.

Laura died December 20, 1933, in Grant County, Kentucky, and is buried beside her husband at the Mt. Zion Cemetery, Grant County, Kentucky.[30]

After Laura’s death her sons Early and Harve continued to farm the land until their deaths in 1955 and 1946, respectively. They never married.

**End Notes**
[1] Descendants of Beach, p. 22, provided by Mickey Haynes-Connor; Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [2] R. C. Miller: William and Harrison served in the Civil War together; William's pension record states he was born in 1835 in Harrison Co., KY. This RCM is the grandson of Harrison's son George Harrison Miller. [3] Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [4] Gallatin County Marriage bond of Harrison Miller & Hannah Beach [5] Ibid. [6] 1850 is birthdate given in Ancestors of Chester Miller website, but this child does not appear in 1850 census with parents; he does appear in 1860 as age 9, so he was probably born in 1851. Also, the 1850 date would have been just days after his parents' marriage. [7] Grant Co., KY 1860 census, pp. 883-884. [8] Grant Co. marriages online on Grant County website. [9] KY death cert. Vol. 51, No. 25082. [10] Harrison's great-grandson R.C. Miller. [11] Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [12] Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [13] Ibid. Great-grandson R. C. Miller also reported the move to Owen Co. in 1887. [14] Descendants of Beach, p. 22; Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [15] Conversations with and letters from their granddaughter Pricie McClure (1909-2000); Descendants of Beach, p. 22, provided by Mickey Haynes-Connor; Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [16] Ky death certificate of Laura Speagle Miller Vol. 33, #28710. [17] 1860 Grant Co., KY census. [18] Abstracted Court Records of Grant Co., Vol. X, p. 203. Witnesses were Thomas Sturgeon and Will Webster. [19] B. Mashburn adds a daughter Katie born in 1888, giving as her source the LDS records in Salt Lake City. [20] Information on the five children who lived to adulthood provided by their great-granddaughter B. Stacy, from personal knowledge; also Pricie McClure. [21] Ky death certificate, Vol. 59, #04722. [22] 1920 Grant Co., KY census: Ben 42, Ida 40, Hazel 5. [23] Records of Old Lebanon Presbyterian Cemetery gives this child as son of R.C. and L.A. Miller. [24] Ky death certificate, Vol. 55, #22279 [25] Ky death certificate Vol. 46, #21400. [26] Pricie McClure (1909-2000); Ancestors of Chester Miller website. [27] Grant County Cemeteries by Virgil Chandler. [28] Jeannie Gallant [29] Letter from Pricie McClure dated 17 March 1975. [30] Ky death certificate of Laura Speagle Miller, Vol. 33, #28710; Grant County Cemeteries by Virgil Chandler, Sr.

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