Daniel Miller is thought to have emigrated from the Pfalz-Zweibruken area of the upper Rhine River Valley near the Allais Lorraine district, Germany, close to the French border. Family stories tell of a father, mother, and three sons named Miller (or Mueller) sailing from Germany to America. The father and mother both died in passage and were buried at sea. The three sons arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. A son of one of these left five children. That son is believed to be Daniel Miller. This family story may or may not be correct but its all thats available at this point. Daniel was probably born around 1710 in Germany, and he died between 1789 and 1792 in Carter County, Tennessee.

Living in Virginia, Daniel met and married Maria Beeler. The date of their marriage is unknown but was likely 1745 or 1746 given that their first child Henry was born in 1747. Maria was the daughter of German immigrants and birth dates for her vary widely among sources (1708-1712, 1731, and 1738). Given the birth dates of her children, the 1731 date seems to be the best fit.

The historical records are sketchy but Daniel and Maria (Beeler) Miller may have had at least 5 of the following nine children that have been attributed to them in various sources (not necessarily listed in order of birth):

1) Henry Miller (1747-1819) m: Catharine Ely

2) John Miller (1753-1814) m: Mary Keen

3) Conrad Miller (1756-?) m: Susannah (he died in Revolutionary War)

4) Christopher (Chrisly or Chrisley) Miller (1759-?)

5) Alsie Miller m: Daniel Petrie

6) Daniel Miller (1762-?)

7) Margaret Catherine Miller (1768-1835) m: Philip Mulkey

8) Jacob Miller (1770-1849) m: Nancy Oakes

9) Susannah Miller (1778-?) m: (1808) Daniel Shelly

Only four of the above children (Henry, John, Jacob, and Margaret) are well documented and supported by DNA evidence. In addition, several sources mention Conrad, his wife Susannah, and his death in a battle during the Revolutionary War.

In addition to the five children that are well supported, there is a quit claim land deed that appears to support the existence of the four remaining children listed above (Chrisley/Christopher, Alsie, Daniel, and Susannah): "17 AUG 1798 Carter Co., Tennessee Land formerly belonging to Daniel Miller Sr., deceased. Quit claim in favor of John Miller, signed by Crisly Miller, Daniel Miller, Daniel Petree, Philip Mulkey, Jacob Miller, Elizabeth Miller (wife) and Susanah Miller." Although, as discussed in one of the attachments provided below, some of these signatories may have been John's grandchildren rather than his own children. Henry Miller had sons named Christopher and Daniel. In addition, the Susannah listed as his last child may be the Susannah that was the wife of Conrad who was killed in the Revolutionary War.

===== DNA Evidence =========

Daniel Miller was one of my sixty-four 5th great grandfathers. I am descended from him through John Miller. Using the ThruLines program on Ancestry.com I can provide evidence for four of the children of Daniel Miller. That does not mean that the others are incorrect. They may not have had children such as Conrad who died in the Revolutionary War or they may just not have any descendants alive today that have taken the Ancestry.com DNA test and provided sufficient family tree information to Ancestry for them to be matched to me. Here are my ThruLine results:

Henry Miller - 16 DNA Matches

John Miller - 71 DNA Matches

Margaret Catherine (Miller) Mulkey - 5 DNA Matches

Jacob Miller - 2 DNA Matches

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A record sent to Mary Hannah Dunbar Sidener:

JOHN MILLER THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER

In 1680 a father, mother, and three sons named Miller (or Mueller) left Germany for America. The father and mother both died in passage and were buried at sea. The three sons arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. A son of one of these left five children, as:

1. Susan m. Shelly

2. Ailsie m. Petrie

3. Conrad killed in the Revolution

4. Katherine m. Mulkey

5. John m. Catherine Warren

John Miller, b. in Virginia 1753. Died on the farm entered by his son-in-law, Samuel Stover, on Whitewater River in Union County, Indiana, in 1814. Mary Keene, whom he married in Virginia in 1782, died in 1822. Both buried on the Stover farm. In 1900 Mary Hannah (Dunbar) Sidener, of Silver City, Iowa, her sister, Mrs. Lavonia Kennedy, of Liberty, Indiana and a daughter of Mrs. Kennedy's visited the family burial plot of John and Mary Miller on the former Stover farm and took a picture of the rude stone marker. Stones marking the graves were put there by John's sons, who brought them from the Whitewater River, just before their departure for Montgomery County in the western part of the state in 1822 or after their mother's death. Phillip Miller, George's son by his first wife, Lydia, is accredited with carving the initials on the stones, as later in his Oregon home, he made several grave markers.

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Recollections of Lucinda (Miller) Earl (John Miller's grand niece through his brother Isaac), are that our great great grandfather Miller started from Germany to America and died at sea. His family consisted of three sons and one daughter. They continued their trip and landed in America settling in Virginia, but the Christian names of the father and the three sons were unknown to her, the year they started from Germany she did not know. One of these three sons married and raised a family of five or six children whose names were John, Conrad, Susan (Miller) Shelly, Ailsie (Miller) Petrie, and Katherine (Miller) Mulkey, and a slight recollection exists that there was another son whose name she does not recollect.

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Nathiel Kraemer's summary of the information she collected:

In John Glenn Miller's "History of the Miller family", he states that a George Miller, b. 1705 and his wife, Sarah Oliver, were parents of: John; Conrad: Susan; Ailsie; Isaac; Nancy; and Henry Miller and that George Miller was the son of the immigrant, Jacob Mueller. Another account states, that these children were the children of a son of one of the sons of the immigrant ancestor. Differences such as this may never be straightened out. John Glenn Miller is said to have gotten his information from an old family Bible, which is not available to us today. Mrs. Coffey believes that the three sons were indeed, Daniel, Thomas and George Miller. The following Land Record would seem to indicate that the group of children John Glenn Miller gives to George and Sarah (Oliver) Miller, were in fact the children of a Daniel Miller or at least the probable heirs of Daniel Miller.

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CARTER COUNTY, TENNESSEE, Deed Bock B, Vol. A, p. 168:

Know all men by these presents that we the undersigned subscribers hereby give up all out right title and claim of the land formerly belonging to Daniel Miller, Deceased, with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging to John Miller to be holey at his disposal and in case anyone of us ever claim any part of said land by any claims here we acknowledge ourselves to be indebted to John Miller and his heirs the sum of one thousand pounds, as witness our hands & seals this 28th of January 1795.

Carter County, Tennessee, May Term, 1738, Registered August 17, 1798.

Chrisley Miller

Daniel Miller

Daniel Petrie

Phillip Mulkey

Jacob Miller

Elizabeth Miller (wife)

Susannah Miller

The names on this Deed might seem to add more children to the list of children given by John Glenn Miller, Ginevra Kennedy and Lucinda Earl. Unless we could assume, as Mrs. Coffey has and I tend to agree with her, that there were more than one generation signing the Deed.

Everyone who reads these lists will probably have their own idea of a summary to offer, but it seems very likely, that for some reason, the heirs were giving up the property into the hands of just one of the heirs. Possibly so they could realize their monetary share of the estate. Conrad, of course, does not sign, for he is said to have died in the Revolutionary War; Susan (Miller) Shelly does not sign, nor does her husband, they could be far away or deceased; Daniel Petrie (son of Adam Petrie) signs for his wife, Ailsie; Phillip Mulkey signs for his wife, Katherine; for some reason Isaac does not sign, nor does Nancy or her husband; I have reason to believe that Henry was living, but his whereabouts in 1795 is unknown. He had been living in Sullivan County Tennessee, but sold his land there in 1793. He shows up with these families in Tax Lists later and may be the Henry Miller who takes up land in Wayne (Union) County, Indiana in 1807. Henry Miller probably had sons Christian (Chrisley-Christopher), Jacob and Daniel. It has occurred to me, that the Chrisley, Jacob and Daniel, who signed on the Deed, might be grandsons of Daniel and sons of Henry, who sign for their father in his absence. It is thought that Elizabeth was most likely the widow of Daniel deceased and Susannah likely the widow of the fallen Conrad.

The foregoing summary is only my own theory and as a researcher who MUST have documentation to truly "BELIEVE", the only real documentation that I realize here, is that the persons named on the Deed were the probable heirs of Daniel Miller deceased and is apparently the same family that John Glenn Miller gives to George and Sarah (Oliver) Miller, and that what Lucinda Earl and Ginevra Kennedy said were the children of one of the sons of the immigrant or the children of a son of one of the sons of the immigrant ancestor.

Nathiel Kramer 1982

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Potential land records for Daniel Miller include:

Land Purchase: 1 APR 1768 Dunmore Co., Virginia Sale of 127 Acres by Lord Fairfax to Daniel Miller. Land Purchase 23OCT 1782 Sullivan Co. North Carolina Sale by State of North Carolina, now in Tennessee.

Land Sale: 1789 Doe River, Crab Orchard, Washington Co., Tennessee. Filed 23 Feb 1791. Purchased from William Sharp 127 acres of land in Dunmore Co., Virginia to William Smith by Daniel Miller and wife Elizabeth. 10 MAR 1788 Sullivan Co. North Carolina

Quit Claim: 17 AUG 1798 Carter Co., Tennessee Land formerly belonging to Daniel Miller Sr., deceased. Quit claim in favor of John Miller, signed by Crisly Miller, Daniel Miller, Daniel Petree, Philip Mulkey, Jacob Miller, Elizabeth Miller (wife) and Susanah Miller.

Land Purchase: Nov., 1784, Daniel (also called David) held land on the Little Limestone in Washington County. People mentioned by Daniel Miller as living nearby include: Samuel Hains, Aaron Burleson, John Pinson, George Brackley, and Joshua Green.

An earlier transaction (Grant 43/600 acres on Oct. 23rd, 1780, in Sullivan Co. Book 15/reel 1013322) shows Daniel Miller in a transaction with John Belor. Mentioned in the papers are Evan Shelby

Land Grant: Daniel granted 600 acres on Beaver Creek on Oct. 23rd, 1782. (B1-30). This was granted by the state of North Carolina.

On the 7th of March, Daniel Miller enters 300 acres on the north side of Holston River on the waters of Sinking Creek, joining John Laughlen, John Gilbert, and Col. Shelby.

In Washington Co., Tennessee, on "The Entry Taker's Report", Daniel is shown to have 300 acres in Sept. 16th of 1779. #1654. Also on this same date are recorded the names of John Shelby, Joseph Bealor, Woollery Bealor, John Bealer. Daniel is listed for March 9th of 1780...# 264.