William Miller's Ancestors From Ballindrait, County Donegal, Ireland!

In the last post we read that William Miller's grandfather (and Abraham's father) was David Miller who had studied under the tutelage of William Trail of Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland.


The following excerpt from an article entitled "From Lifford to Chesapeake; The Advent of the Scotch -Irish in America" by John F. Polk, Ph.D., Havre de Grace, Maryland, pinpoints exactly where Rev. Trail's first assignment was...just about 3 miles away in the little village where our Miller's no doubt lived:  "William Trail moved to Ireland and was finally ordained in 1673 at Lifford ["county seat" of County Donegal, Northern Ireland]. He served as minister in Ballindrait until his departure for America a decade later." (http://www.mdgenweb.org/somerset/history/scotch-irish.htm)

A lovely garden in Ballindrait
(Picture courtesy of: http://donegalcottageholidays.com/images/properties/janescottage-ballindrait)

Ballindrait is a small, peaceful village nestled in the rolling countryside. There are a handful of tiny villages all from 1 to 2 miles away, including Baile an Droichnid, Gortin, Rossgeir, Brownfield, Killindarragh and Ardnaglass, but an online search reveals that Ballindrait was home to the only Presbyterian Church in this area. As this is the church we know our Miller's attended, if they weren't from Ballindrait, they were no doubt from one of these surrounding villages.  

Wouldn't it be lovely to visit this beautiful countryside in Ireland and know we might be walking where they walked?! More on this wonderful story in our next post.

Our Miller's of Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland

RIVER COTTAGES, LIFFORD
(Source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
~fantham/lifford_hall.jpg)

Below is a copy of an actual 1706 document held at the Public Records Office of Ireland (PRONI) and graciously made available through the Ulster Ancestry organization.  

This letter actually lists David Miller, the grandfather of our William Miller and father of Abraham Miller. David was living in Newcastle County, Pennsylvania [later Delaware], and apparently he, his family and friends were appealing to Presbytery in Scotland, their "mother church," for aid in building their congregation there in America.

This is a critical document because it contains the "motherlode" of all genealogical research--the identification of where our immigrant ancestors came from! We read that "...the greatest number of us [were] born and educated in (sic) Irland under the ministry of one William Traill, a (sic) presbiterian minister formerly of Lifford, Co. Donegal [Ireland]..." We not only learn that the Miller's were from Northern Ireland, thus being part of the Scots-Irish Ulster plantations, but we can actually pinpoint the town they hailed from in Ireland! Jackpot!

As you examine the signers of this letter, you find not only the name of our ancestor, David Miller, but also his brother, Alexander Miller, as well as Abraham Emott (a brother-in-law of David and Alexander, having married their sister, Jane), and Abraham's brother, John Emott.

So our Miller ancestors came from Lifford in County Donegal, Northern Ireland! For more information about their connection to the Reverend Traill, enter "Traill" in the search box of this blog.

Here is a youtube video that will give you a taste of what this village looks like now! Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to visit there in person? Someday... (it might not come through as a hot link, so you''ll have to cut and paste this website address into your server's address box):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-0OjxxnID8

USGenWeb - An Indispensable Site to All Family Historians

Kudos to the USGenWeb creators and volunteers who have kept this amazing and free genealogy website going all these years. 

18th Century Buildings in Elkton, Cecil County, MD
(source: http://cecilcounty.wordpress.com/2012/03/17

The site includes records from all over the United States, land records, tax records, vital records, cemetery records to name just a few. 

On their home page we read:  "Welcome to The USGenWeb Project! We are a group of volunteers working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone." (source:  http://usgenweb.org)

An example of one of their thousands of records that are available free and online is the following Cecil County, Maryland 1783 tax record for residents in and around the town of Elkton (where William and Rebecca lived). Here is an excerpt:

Maryland State Archives
MARYLAND INDEXES
(Assessment of 1783, Index)
1783
Cecil County
MSA S 1437

Andrew Miller. Three Bohemia Sisters, pt, 55 acres. CE 2nd District, p. 10. MSA S 1161-3-8    1/4/5/46
Andrew Miller. 55 acres. CE 2nd District, p. 5. MSA S 1161-3-8    1/4/5/46
Benjamin Miller. Sims Forest, pt, 380 acres. CE 2nd District, p. 12. MSA S 1161-3-8    1/4/5/46
Benjamin Miller. Sims Forest, pt, 20 acres. Notes: and Richard B. Ford of John. CE 2nd District, p. 12. MSA S 1161-3-8    1/4/5/46
Benjamin Miller. 390 acres. CE 2nd District, p. 5. MSA S 1161-3-8    1/4/5/46
Samuel Miller. CE 2nd District, p. 6. MSA S 1161-3-8    1/4/5/46

Source:  http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/stagser/s1400/s1437/html/1437ce.html

This is of great value to our Miller-Bradford research. Here's how:  We have been unable to exactly pintpoint when William and Rebecca packed up their children and belongings and left Cecil County for good, traveling "out west" to the wilds of southwestern Pennsylvania (Fayette County). Research indicated that it was probably around 1782 or 1782, but we haven't been able to prove it. 

While several of the above-mentioned Miller's are no doubt related, we can easily see that William is no longer a taxpayer in Cecil County in 1783, making a strong case for he and his family having moved earlier in the year or in 1782. And again, this record was completely free and took me about 2 minutes to find vai my online search just now.

In addition to USGenWeb's wonderful collection of U.S. records, they have started genealogical special projects that might be of interest to you either for research purposes or to volunteer!

For instance, you might balk at the thought of walking through a cemetery, but it's actually a

 great experience!  It gets you out in the fresh air, you will probably find, as my family and I have, that reading the tombstones is fascinating, and your findings could be invaluable to another family historian. Check out this opportunity:  

"The USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project was started to encourage people to walk cemeteries and donate copies of the surveys to The USGW Archives. Many transcriptions are already available online and more are added daily. The Project also provides links to cemetery transcriptions that are not archived in The USGenWeb Archives. These include transcriptions on County web sites and on independent web sites." 
(source:  http://usgenweb.org/projects/index.shtml )

Please visit them at the the above website address for a full list of projects. 

And why don't we all write them a heartfelt thanks for their great service, and maybe even become a volunteer. Contact USGenWeb at:  webmanager@usgenweb.org 

Rebecca Bradford Miller, Her Parents and Maternal Grandparents

Now and then I will get back to the basics and post general information about our ancestors:

REBECCA BRADFORD, HER PARENTS AND MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

Husband:   WILLIAM MILLER

b.   22 Feb 1732, New Castle County, Delaware

m. 13 June 1778, Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland

d.  1814, Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

bur. Hill Grove Cemetery, Fayette County, PA (location C-116)           

Father:  Abraham Miller                                Mother:  Rosannah Roddy

Wife:           REBECCA BRADFORD  (“Rebeckah” in William's military record)

b.  1760 (probably in New Castle County, Delaware, or Cecil County, Maryland)

d.  18 March 1835, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

bur. Hill Grove Cemetery, Fayette County, Pennsylvania (location C-116)

Father:  Samuel Bradford                             Mother: Sarah nee Bradford

Children: 

1.        William Miller            b. 20 Aug 1779         m. Gracy Gallaher

2.        James Miller             b. 21 June 1781        m. Mary Dawson

3.        Samuel Miller            b. 1 May 1783           m. Rachel Dawson

4.        Abraham Miller         b. 4 Nov. 1785           m. (1) Nancy Blackburn  (2) Ann Early

5.        Jesse Miller               b. 7 Aug. 1787           m. Martha Allen

6.        Stephen Miller           b. 1790                       not married 

7.        Rebecca Miller          b. 21 July 1792          m. Josiah Allen

8.        David Miller                b. 9 October 1794     m. Susanna Warne

____________________________________________________________

Rebecca Bradford Miller’s parents:

Husband:  SAMUEL BRADFORD  (middle name may be Robert)

b.   1727, Northern Ireland

m.   (unknown)

d.    1782  (place unknown)

bur.  Unknown

Wife:         SARAH nee BRADFORD  [same last names, but no relation, except by marriage]

b.  abt. 1735

d.  1835

bur. Hill Grove Cemetery, Fayette Co., PA (location C-116)

Father:  Samuel Bradford                               Mother: Margret

Children: 

1.  Rebecca Bradford    b. 1759                 m. William Miller 1778 in Elkton, Cecil Co, MD

2.  David Bradford          b. 1765                 m. Barbara Grimes 1786, Adams Co, OH 

3.  William Bradford        b. 8 Jan. 1770     m. Margaret Parkinson 20 Aug. 1779

4.  Jane                            no other info known

5.  Samuel                       no other info known; died young 

____________________________________________________________

Rebecca Bradford Miller’s Maternal Grandparents

Husband:  SAMUEL BRADFORD   

b.  abt 1710  (placed unknown)

m.  date unknown

d.   20 April 1767, Red Lion Hundred, New Castle Co, Delaware

Parents: Unknown

Wife:           MARGRET

No other info known 

Children:                                                                

William  b. abt 1729

Sarah     b. abt. 1735

Martha    No other info known

Notes:

·         Unknown if this couple had other children unknown. These three were mentioned in their father’s will.

·         More information about son William:  m. Catherine Golden; d. 3 Oct 1795; bur. Old Drawyer’s [Presbyterian] Cemetery, Odessa, New Castle County, Delaware; had a son named Samuel Bradford who would have been Rebecca’s  cousin. This Samuel d. in 1790 and is also buried in the Old Drawyer’s Cemetery). 

 SOURCES: 

• The Allen Family Record, Family History Library, SLC, UT  US/CAN 929.273  Al1  No. 8554
• Will of Samuel Bradford of Red Lion Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware
• Other family records in my possession

 This summary was compiled by Donna Charpier Snider on 14 April 2014

Our Miller's and Bradford's Along the Elk

Elk Landing along Elk River
(Courtesy of http://www.elklanding.org/timeline.htm)

New research consistently attests that our Bradford's and Miller's were in the heart of Scots-Irish territory, just adding to the wealth of evidence that they were indeed from Ulster. Here is another example (search previous posts for their ties to the Elk River):

"A southern stronghold of Presbyterianism was in the neighborhood of Newcastle, Delaware. The narrow tongue of land between the upper shore of Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River is shared by Maryland and Delaware. Maryland s portion includes the Elk River and is known as Cecil County. Delaware's portion is called Newcastle County, with Wilmington, its chief city, at the mouth of Christiana Creek. North of these two counties and across the Pennsylvania line are Lancaster and Chester counties (all known as Chester County from 1682 to 1729), extending from the Delaware River to the Susquehanna River. This territory, south a few miles from Philadelphia, became the mecca for Scotch emigrants from Ireland. These emigrants pushed up through Newcastle County to cross the Pennsylvania line, hoping to escape from Maryland and its tithes. Unfortunately at this very time the exact line of the boundary was in dispute between Lord Baltimore and the heirs of William Penn, and many of the settlers flocked in and preempted land in dispute, without obtaining right or title. To add to the confusion the Penn family were in a state of domestic discord, so that their agent James Logan allowed very few grants in any place after the year 1720. An exception was made however in the case of the Scotch Irish, people who, said Logan, "if kindly used, will I believe be orderly, as they have hitherto been, and easily dealt with; they will also, I expect, be a leading example to others. " These grants were made for a settlement which was called Donegal." (Source: http://www.lynx2ulster.com/ScotchIrishPioneers/014.php

Researching Our Scots-Irish Ancestors

Our ancestors, William Miller and his wife Rebecca Bradford have strong Scots-Irish roots in Northern Ireland ("Ulster") in the late 1600's and early 1700's.  While there are few primary records from this era, a general study of the Scots-Irish has proved invaluable to my research, as these people tended to immigrate to America and settle in groups and in very distinct geographical patterns. I believe further study of Scots-Irish trends will reveal more about our Miller and Bradford ancestors.  Here is a great book that would be of interest to anyone researching Scots-Irish roots:

Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster (by William J Roulston).  Barnes and Noble says of this book:

"One of the greatest frustrations for generations of genealogical researchers has been that reliable guidance on sources for perhaps the most critical period in the establishment of their family’s links with Ulster, the period up to 1800, has proved to be so elusive. Not any more. This book can claim to be the first comprehensive guide for family historians searching for ancestors in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ulster.

"Whether their ancestors are of English, Scottish or Gaelic Irish origin, it will be of enormous value to anyone wishing to conduct research in Ulster prior to 1800. A comprehensive range of sources from the period 1600-1800 are identified and explained in very clear terms. Information on the whereabouts of these records and how they may be accessed is also provided. Equally important, there is guidance on how effectively they might be used.

"The appendices to the book include a full listing of pre-1800 church records for Ulster; a detailed description of nearly 250 collections of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century estate papers; and a summary breakdown of the sources available from this period for each parish in Ulster." (Source: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/researching-scots-irish-ancestors-william-roulston/1102129557?ean=9781903688991

See more great book choices by doing an online search of "Scots-Irish books" and at:
1.    http://www.ancestryireland.com/ 
2.    http://www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/from-ulster-to-america-the-          scotch-irish-heritage-of-american-english-reprint

Stunning News for All Who Love Genealogy!

Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah
(Source: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/church/news/images/VC35228CTR-657.jpg)

Here is an exciting article from Deseret News, a Salt Lake City newspaper, from February 5, 2014 (emphasis added):

SALT LAKE CITY — Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will soon have unprecedented free access to family history records, including obituaries.

Earlier this week, FamilySearch.org announced plans to collaborate with several commercial family history organizations to share records, tools and other resources to allow more people to build, preserve and share their family trees online.

A new part of that agreement was revealed Wednesday night at a media/blogger event in connection with the 2014 RootsTech conference at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

Don Anderson, a senior vice president of patron and partner services at FamilySearch, announced that for the general public, free access would be granted for Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com and MyHeritage.com in

Spring in SLC
(Source: Same as above)

 LDS Church family history centers worldwide.

An additional announcement was made that FamilySearch will begin working with the larger genealogical community to collect, digitize and index millions of obituaries from the United States, with other nations to follow.  Anderson also said that members of the LDS Church will be granted free subscriptions to Ancestry.com (the world edition subscription), MyHeritage.com (plus subscription) and FindMyPast.com (plus subscription), accessible from any location. These sites have between three and four times the number of records FamilySearch has, so it's a substantial amount of both records and technology, Anderson said.

Anderson emphasized that access to these commercial sites will not be granted immediately but will be rolled out over the next several months.

Anderson said a world edition subscription to Ancestry.com is $399 a year and the other two are in the price range of $120-140 each, which is a significant savings for any family historian.

"I think it's extraordinarily significant for several reasons," Anderson said. "One, in total it saves members of the church millions of dollars. Second, for those on the edge of family history, who maybe in the past couldn't afford or it wasn't a high enough priority to spend $400 a year, this means they can have access to all the resources of those sites for free. Not only will it save money, but it will dramatically broaden the number of individuals involved in family history who otherwise wouldn't have gotten involved or found records at these sites because it wasn't in FamilySearch."

(Source:  http://www.libraryvisit.org/uploadedImages/your_library/
Reference/Genealogy/Genealogy%20Logo%20COLOR.jpg)

Ben Bennett, vice president of partner services at FamilySearch, said the goal is to provide church members with as many tools as possible to find their families. The negotiation of these deals spanned most of 2013, Bennett said.

'FamilySearch has been doing this for a long time, but we can't do it alone. We don't have every record. These other sites have invested significantly in other technologies, he said."

For full story and pictures, see:  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/865595778/LDS-Church-members-will-get-free-access-to-more-family-history-records.html

Three cheers to the FamilySearch for making this amazing opportunity possible!!