Miller Family History, 2nd Generation

January 2012

Johann Michael Miller/Müller (Jr.)² (1692-1771)

11. Johann Michael Miller/Müller (Mueller) (Jr.)², the son of Johann Michael Müller, was born on May 10, 1692, in Steinwenden, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (a region often referred to as the Palatinate*). His mother* died that same year and his father remarried only to die a few years later when Michael was two or three years old.

Michael married Susanna Agnes Berchtoll/Berchtel, a native of Ohmbach or Krottelbach in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, and began a family of 11 or more children in Germany before emigrating to the New World in 1727. After Susanna's death in Maryland around 1752, Michael remarried to Elizabeth Garber/Gerber, the widow of Nicholas Garber/Gerber, around 1753. He and Elizabeth had two more daughters:

Miller Children
	Name	Birth	Death	Age
111.	John Peter Miller	19 Jan 1713-1715	Dec 1794	(80)
(112.)	(Christian Miller)	(1716)	--	--
113.	Hans Jeremiah Miller	1717	1781	(64)
114.	David Miller	(1719)	1785	(66)
115.	Hans Michael Miller (III)*	(1720)	1784	(64)
116.	George Miller (Sr.)	1722	(1796/1798)	(74/76)
117.	Lodowich “Lewis” Miller^Δ	(1724)	(1792)	(68)
118.	Philip Jacob Miller³	1726	Aug-Sep 1799	(73)
119.	Johann Michael Miller (III)*	1728	1792	(64)
11A.	John Miller	1731	1808	(77)
11B.	Barbara Miller	1733	1808	(75)
(11C.)	(Fannie Miller)	(1734)	--	--
(11D.)	(Jacob Miller [Sr.])	1735	28 May 1815	(80)

11E.	Maria Elisabeth Miller	19 Mar 1754	--	--
11F.	Eva Elizabeth Miller	(1756)	--	--

“Pennsylvania Dutch”

After William Penn established the colony of Pennsylvania as a refuge for persecuted Quakers and other religious groups in 1681, a large influx of German immigrants from the Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz [Lower Palatinate] and Oberpfalz of northeast Bavaria [Upper Palatinate]) began after 1710. Among these were Anabaptists (“Re-baptists”) and Pietists, outlawed sects formed by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Bad Burleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 1708. The Neuen Täufer (“New Baptists”) fled to America and founded the Germantown Congregation in northwest Philadelphia on Christmas day in 1723 and became known as the “German Baptist Brethren” (GBB) and colloquially as “Dunkers” or “Tunkers.” These populations of Germans (Deutschlanders), through corruption of English, became known as the “Pennsylvania Dutch”.

The Müller family emigrated to the New World in 1727, setting out from Rotterdam, Netherlands aboard the Adventure Galley by way of Plymouth, arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 2, 1727. Among the 53 Palatinate families aboard the Adventure Galley were Susanna's brother Jacob Berchtol and Michael's stepbrother Jacob Stutzman.

There is also reference to a “Hans Michel Miller” arriving from Rotterdam aboard the Adventurer on September 23, 1732, indicating a possible return trip to Germany by Michael to tend to unfinished business, or, as recently proposed and yet unverified, to attend to family matters following the death of his stepmother Anna in 1732.

The Millers' first known documented purchase of property beyond a likely stay in Germantown was in Coventry Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, south of Pottstown and northwest of Philadelphia. Michael maintained this property through 1740.

Next the Millers, Susanna's brother's family, and the Garbers pushed due west to Rapho Township in Lancaster County, midway between Lancaster and Harrisburg, in 1744. There they joined the Little Conewago Congregation Church.

Not a year later, the Miller's relocated to present-day Maugansville in Prince George's County (later Frederick County and now Washington County), Maryland, and lived and worked plots that were given colorful names such as “Ash Swamp,” “Skipton-on-Craven,” “Miller's Fancy,” and “Resurvey of Well Taught.”

Michael (or son John Peter) purchased the original “Ash Swamp” property in 1745 near Maugansville and later expanded it to 290 acres.

Soon after, Michael purchased a tract near Leitersburg, about 8 miles east of Maugansville, from Maryland pioneer Thomas Cresap, known as “Skipton-on-Craven” (named for Cresap's birthplace in Yorkshire, England) in 1748 or 1749. Judging from his later sale in two pieces of 117 and 163 acres, the tract was as large as 280 acres. At the same time, Michael had a grant of land survey for 36 acres between “Skipton-on-Craven” and “Resurvey of Well Taught,” which was finally granted in 1754 and became known as “Miller's Fancy.”

About the same time, son Lodowich purchased 150 acres adjacent to “Ash Swamp” in 1751, which became known as “Tom's Chance.” The next year, sons Lodowich and Philip Jacob resurveyed “Ash Swamp” in 1752 and apparently took possession of it.

About 1752 Michael's wife, Susanna Agnes (Berchtoll) Miller, died in Washington County, Maryland. She was about 64 years old.

Remarriage

Not long after Susanna's death, Michael remarried to Elizabeth Garber/Gerber, the widow of Nicholas Garber/Gerber, close family friends around 1753. Elizabeth had three children of her own, Johannes “Hans” (1717-1787), Anna (1722-<1761), and Elizabeth (1720s-1782), and went on to give Michael two more daughters, while apparently in her 50s.

After the “Miller's Fancy” grant came through in 1754, Michael continued to increase his land holdings in 1755 with the purchase of 409 acres from George Poe. This tract, known as “Resurvey of Well Taught” lay with “Miller's Fancy” between it and “Ash Swamp.” The same year, son Lodowich sold “Tom's Choice,” adjacent to “Ash Swamp” and moved southwest of Hagerstown to the Beaver Creek area.

At one point in 1760, Michael served as constable of “Upper Antietam Hundred” township in Washington County.

In 1765, Michael sold “Skipton-on-Craven” in two partitions: 117 acres to John Reiff, husband of his stepdaughter Anna Garber, and 163 acres to Jacob Good (1722-1797), husband of his stepdaughter Elizabeth Garber.

Johann Michael Miller died in 1771 in Washington County, Maryland, west of Hagerstown.

“The Brethren Encyclopedia” Entry on Michael Miller

“The Michael Miller family were early settlers of Washington and Frederick Cos., MD. It is believed that Michael was born Johann Michael Muller on May 10, 1692, in Steinwenden, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, the son of Johann Michael MULLER. The father was born 1655 in Switzerland, moved to Germany ca. 1685, and died on Jan. 31, 1695, a member of the Steinwenden German Reformed Church. Michael was married to Susanna Berchtol (Becktel) and is believed to have immigrated in the 1720s to America, where he settled in Rapho Twp., Lancaster Co., PA. He moved to Hanover, PA (York Co.) area in 1744 to the Little Conewago congregation. From 1745 to his death in 1771 he lived in Washington Co., MD. His children include George (PA), Jeremiah (PA), John (Washington Co., MD), Lodowich (Taneytown, MD), Michael (Taneytown, MD), Hans Michael (MD), Philip Jacob (MD), and Barbara (PA). In 1796 Philip J. moved to Campbell Co., KY, where he died in 1799. Members of his family were charter members of the Stonelick, OH, congregation in 1802. Later some family members (Daniel and David) moved into Montgomery Co., OH. Philip's daughter Magdalene married Daniel Cripe, who was a leader in the southern Ohio church and later established the congregation in Elkhart Co., IN (1829).”

Summary of Miller Property Holdings, Pennsylvania and Maryland

See “Johann Michael Mueller, Jr.” for more details

1732-1740, Coventry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
1737, 200 acres but no patent obtained
7 Feb 1744, 400 acres northeast of Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, with Nicholas Garber, Samuel Berchtol, and Jacob Berchtol
1744, Rapho Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

“Ash Swamp,” (Maugansville) 1745: Michael (and/or son John Peter?) purchased 150 acres near Maugansville in present-day Washington County, Maryland, from John George Arnold
- (1748: Frederick County formed from parts of Prince Georges and Baltimore counties)
- 1752, upon becoming part of the new Frederick County, son John Peter Miller, on son Lodowich's authority, added to and resurveyed “Ash Swamp;” (this may represent the transfer of ownership from Michael to his three sons, John Peter, Lodowich, and Philip Jacob)
- “Ash Swamp” later expanded to 290 acres
- (1776: Frederick County split into present-day Frederick, Washington, and Montgomery counties)
- 9 Dec 1783, 220 acres conveyed by Lodowich Miller to his younger brother Philip Jacob Miller for 5 shillings (Washington County land records, Book C, pages 563-47); note: Michael died in 1771
- 26 Dec 1783, Philip Jacob Miller conveyed 144 acres to his eldest brother John Peter Miller for 5 shillings “and brotherly affection” (Book C, pages 260-2); this plot allegedly had a small cemetery on it which is now lost
- John Peter Miller died in December 1794
- 26 Apr 1795, 143½ acres sold by John Peter Miller's estate to John Schnebly (Deed Book I, pages 584)
- 25 Sep 1795, “Ash Swamp” sold by Philip Jacob Miller to John Schnebly (Deed Book I, pages 360)
“Skipton-on-Craven,” (Leitersburg) 1748: Michael purchased tract near Leitersburg from Colonel Thomas Cresap; original tract appears to have been as large as 280 acres (117+163)
- 1765, Michael sold 117 acres of “Skipton-on-Craven” to John Reiff, Michael's stepson-in-law
- 1765, Michael sold 163 acres of “Skipton-on-Craven” to Jacob Good, Michael's stepson-in-law
“Tom's Chance,” (Maugansville) 1751: son Lodowich purchased 150 acres adjacent to “Ash Swamp” and east of the Salem Reformed Church
- 1755, “Tom's Chance” sold by Lodowich to Peter Tysher; Lodowich then likely moved to the Beaver Creek/“Chestnut Level” property
“Miller's Fancy,” (Leitersburg) 1754: originally surveyed for grant in 1749, Michael purchased 36 acres between “Skipton-on-Craven” and “Resurvey of Well Taught” (purchased 1755)
1754, Lodowich purchased land near Beaver Creek from Walter Funderburg; Beaver Creek runs along the west side of the Catoctin Mountains, southeast of Hagerstown
Lodowich also owned a plot called “Chestnut Level,” possibly near Woodsboro or Beaver Creek, Maryland
“Resurvey of Well Taught,” (Leitersburg) 1755: Michael purchased 409 acres from George POE
Michael allegedly owned as much as 700 acres southwest of Leitersburg, present-day Washington County, Maryland and later (date unknown) divided among the Ziegler, Hartle, and Stockslager farms; this reference likely includes the above referenced tracts

“Pennsylvania Dutch” Migration

The earliest land grants in Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland were to English-speaking Marylanders in 1732, but as early as 1729, immigrants from the German Palatines (who became erroneously known as the “Pennsylvania Dutch”) migrated from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, many on their way to settlements in Virginia. The principal route from Lancaster was across the Susquehanna River at Wright's Ferry (modern-day Columbia) and via a pack horse or Indian road that crossed the present Pennsylvania counties of York and Adams to the Monocacy Road where it passed into Maryland (roughly the route that modern-day Route 194 runs). Once in Maryland, the road passed through Crampton's Gap and crossed the Potomac at several fords. The first German settlement in the area near Washington County was as early as 1729 in the village of Monocacy in Frederick County, which was the first village beyond the lower part of Montgomery County in Western Maryland.

Johann Jacob Stutzman (III) (1705-1775)

--. Johann/Hans Jacob Stutzman (III) was born on January 1, 1705, allegedly at Weilacher Hof, presumably near Hardenburg, in the modern German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. He is believed to be the stepbrother of Johann Michael Müller² and immigrated to Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, with Michael aboard the Adventure Galley, arriving in October 1727. He is believed to have married Magdalena Maudin Steck, a native of Switzerland, about 1731 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. They reportedly had as many as six children:

Stutzman Children
	Name	Birth	Death	Age
--	Christian Stutzman	(1730-1732)	(1772)	(41)
--	David Stutzman (Sr.)	14 Jun 1742	14 Jun 1822	(80)
--	Plantina Stutzman	(1744-1748)	--	--
--	Jacob Stutzman (IV)	(1746)	(1816-1818)	(71)
--	Hannah Stutzman	(1748)	(1821)	(73)
--	Abraham Stutzman	1755	1832	(77)

By 1742, Jacob acquired land in the Cumberland Valley in modern-day Adams County, Pennsylvania, where in 1742 he warranted a portion to Stephen Ulrich (II)³ (~1710-1785). He retained some of that property through at least 1754.

Magdalena Maudin (Steck) Stutzman died about 1760 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was about 50 years old.

Jacob Stutzman and Stephen Ulrich (II)³ are said to have been naturalized in 1767.^{[Heiss 1979]}

Johann Jacob Stutzman (III) died on February 3, 1775, likely in Peters or Washington Township, then in Cumberland County and later in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He was 70 years old.

After Jacob's death, many of his children, David, Plantina, and Jacob (IV) moved west to “Woodberry” Township, straddling present-day Bedford and Blair counties, and Elk Lick Township, in modern-day Somerset County, in the 1780s.^{[Tax 1779-1788]} Later, David, Plantina, Jacob (IV), Abraham, and perhaps Hannah, moved west to Montgomery County, Ohio, beginning around 1809. Jacob's step-nephew, Philip Jacob Miller, purchased land in Clermont and Warren counties in the late 1790s and then his two eldest sons continued north to Montgomery and Preble counties around 1802.