John Miller

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REVEREND JOHN MILLER (bp. 1604–1663)

LYDIA UNKNOWN (d. 1658)

John, the son of Martin Miller and Susan Hicks, was baptized on 21 October 1604 in Ashford, co. Kent. [1][2] He died on 14 June 1663 in Groton. [1][3] He married Lydia Unknown. He is probably the John Miller who married [second] Mary (Ward) Cutting. [4]

Lydia died on 7 August 1658 at home of Thomas Bumstead in Boston. [5, citing Boston records]

The Wikitree entry "John Miller (1604 - 1663)" contains discussions and links to articles.

English Family of Reverend John Miller [1][2]

Martin Miller, weaver, was buried on 4 August 1625 in Ashford, Kent. He married Susan Hicks on 12 May 1598.

Children of Martin Miller and Susan Hicks: All baptisms in Ashford

i. Anna Miller was baptized on 13 May 1599.

ii. Elizabeth Miller was baptized on 21 September 1600.

iii. Samuel Miller was baptized on 20 December 1601. Samuel Miller, weaver, was buried on 4 December 1640 in Ashford.

iv. Stephen Miller was baptized on 20 March 1602/3. He married Ursela Bret on 2 November 1627 in Ashford.

v. John Miller was baptized on 21 October 1604.

vi. Mary Miller was baptized on 9 February 1605/6.

vii. Martha Miller was baptized on 14 January 1609.

viii. Matthias Miller was buried on 29 November 1610 in Ashford.

viii. Deborah Miller was baptized on 17 April 1614 in Ashford.

John was admitted sizar (a student with financial aid) at Caius College, University of Cambridge on 20 May 1624, age 18. [1] He received his BA in 1627/8. [1]

John emigrated to New England in 1638. [1] He was an assistant to Reverend Ezekiel Rogers at Rowley from 1639 to 1641 and also town clerk. [5]

He was the pastor at Yarmouth from 1647 to 1652. [1] He was the first pastor at Groton and served there from 1662 until his death. [1][3]

There was some controversy with John's ministry in Yarmouth. On 4 March 1650/1 Robert Allen was presented at the court for vilifying Mr. John Miller's ministry. [6, 2: 165] On 3 June 1652 the court heard evidence of a scandal that Mr. Miller of Yarmouth publicly laid on the government. Some members of the jury, however, found the evidence to be insufficient. [6, 3: 10]

The will of John Miller's sister Susanna (Miller) White begins: [7]

The last will and testament of Susanna White widow of Charlestown made the 25th day of the month of May in the year 1681. ...
It. My will is and I hereby declare that thirty six pounds given by my late husband Thomas White unto his grandchildren being the children of Jno. White surviving that the sd 36£ be paid unto them according to the will of the Donr. and no other wife.
It. I give unto my cosen Jacob Ewens the Elder of Dorchester to him I give the sume of forty shillings.
It. I give unto my cozen John Miller of Yarmo. the sume of fifty shill.
It. I give unto my cozen Mehabell Crow the sume of forty shill.
It. I give unto her little daughtr. Susanna Crow sum ten shill.
It. I give unto Lydia Fish Senr. of Sandwich the sume of two Pounds ten shill.
It. I give unto Faith Winslow of Marshfield sume twenty shillings.
It. I give unto Eliza. ffrost wife to Saml. ffrost of Bilerica the sume of twenty shillings.
It. I give unto my cozen Mary Whittamore wife to Jno. Whittamore two pounds ten shill. and a little flock bed.
It. I give unto my six first cozens all my wearing apparell both woolen and linnen Clothes to be equally divided between them six women all sisters.

She also mentions the family of Hannah Miller, who was apparently deceased:

It. I give my little farme ... unto the three eldest daughters of Joseph ffrost ...
It. I give unto Joseph and Stephen ffrost joyntly the sons of Joseph ffrost ten pounds that is to say five pounds apiece
.
.
.
It. I hereby make & declare my loving cozens Joseph ffrost my joynt execrs...

Note Susanna's baptism is not recorded in Ashford.

Administration on John's estate was granted to his son John on 3 July 1663. [3][8] He made oath to the inventory on 4 October 1663. It amounted to £64-04-03. John owned books valued at over six pounds. [8]

Children of Reverend John Miller and Lydia Unknown (if she was his first wife):

i. John Miller was born on 2 March 1631 in England. [9] He died on 9 June 1711 in Yarmouth. [10, 132] He married first Margaret Winslow, the daughter of Josiah and Margaret (Bourne) Winslow and niece of Governor Edward Winslow, on 24 December 1659. [5] She died on 26 October 1698 in Yarmouth. [10, 130] He married second Sarah ( ___ ) Crosby of Harwich. [10, 136].

ii. Daniel Miller, the son of Mr. John Miller, minister, was buried on 30 March 1638 in Ashford. [2]

iii. Mehitable Miller was born 13 July 1638 in Roxbury. She died in 1715. She married John Crowe.

iv. Lydia Miller (daughter of John and Lydia) was born on 2 February 1640/1 in Rowley. [11] She married as his second wife Nathaniel Fish. [12]

v. Faith Miller was born about 1645. She died on ( November 1729, age 84. [13] She married Nathaniel Winslow on 3 August 1664 in Marshfield. [13] Nathaniel was the son of Kenelm Winslow and Ellen Newton. [13] He died on 1 December 1719, age 80. [13] Nathaniel and Faith are buried in the Old Winslow Burying Ground in Marshfield. [13]

vi. Hannah Miller married Joseph Frost on 22 May 1666 in Charlestown. [14] She apparently died by 25 May 1681. Joseph, the son of Edmund Frost and Thomasine Clench, was born on 13 January 1639 in Cambridge. [14]

vii. Susanna (Susan) Miller was born on 24 August 1647 in Roxbury. [15] She probably died by 25 May 1681 when she was not named in her aunt's will.

viii. Elizabeth Miller was born on 13 October 1649. [16] She married [apparently as his second wife] Samuel Frost in 1669 in Billerica. [16] Samuel, the brother of Joseph, was born in 1638 [16] Samuel married Mary Cole on 12 October 1663. [14]

ix. Mary Miller was born about 1653. She died on 28 May 1731, age 78, in Watertown. [17] She married as his second wife John Whittemore on 8 November 1677 in Charlestown. [17] John, the son of Thomas Whittemore, was baptized on 11 February 1638 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, [17] He died on 8 December 1694 in Cambridge. [17] He married first Mary, the daughter of Reverend John and Elizabeth Upham, on 12 March 1661 in Charlestown. [17] She died on 27 June 1677.

References:

1. John and J.A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigiences, Part I, volume 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1924): 189.

2. "Ashford, Kent - Index of all Known Births, Marriages and Burials From c.1570 – Late 1800's," Kent Archaeological Society (http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/01/ASH/01/00m.htm : accessed 21 November 2022).

3. Samuel A. Green, Early Church Records of Groton, Massachusetts (Groton: n.p., 1896), 186–7.

4. Leslie Mahler, "The English Origins of Nathaniel Ward of Hartford, Connecticut ...., " The American Genealogist 83 (2008): 13–18.

5. Mrs. William Sumner Crosby, One Line of Descendants from Dolar Davis and Richard Everett (Boston: Geo. H. Ellis Co., 1911), 55–56.

6. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668, vol. 5, 1668–1678, vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866).

7. "Susanna (Miller) White (abt. 1589–1687)," Wikitree, accessed 21 November 2022, images and transcription.

8. "Probate Records 1648–1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts)," microfilm of original records in the Middlesex County Courthouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts, FamilySearch, case 15194.

9. William R. Cutter, "Miller, Cook, Clark, Hall, Crosby and Smith, "New England Historical and Genealogical Register 51 (1897): 4.

10. Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Camden, ME: Picton Press, 1993).

11. Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, vol. 1 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1928), 138.

12. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), 1: 544.

13. Lucius R. Paige, "The Winslow Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 25 (1871): 357.

14. "Great Migration 1634–1635, C–F," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume II, C–F (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001), 593–7.

15. Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1925), vol. 1: 244–5.

16. Records of Littleton, Massachusetts: Births and Deaths (Littleton: Littleton, 1900), 517.

17. Bradford Adams Whittemore and Edgar Whittemore, "The Whittemore Family in America," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 106 (1952): 89.

©a. buiter

26-Dec-2022