John Miller is my 6th great-grandfather, and the common GedMatch ancestor for most people on my paternal side. He was born in 1771 in Augusta, Bath County, Virginia.

When John was 9, he appears on the 1780 Census for Albemarle County, Virginia. His residence is again listed as Augusta, Virginia beginning in 1785 (age 14). It was here that 20 year-old John was married, on May 17, 1791, to Eva Burns (b. 1772 – d. 1853). The Rev. John Montgomery officiated the wedding.

On November 1, 1796, John’s daughter Sarah Belle Miller was born. (*Note: She is the direct ancestor of Charles Lowther, GedMatch Kit A017832). On April 23, 1799, John welcomed son John Miller, Jr. Then in March of 1802, John had son Thomas Jefferson Miller (my grandfather).

John and Eva Miller acquired 100 acres from Paschal Davis along the Bullpasture River in 1803. They sold the land on 30 Nov 1805 and settled on 300 acres in what is now Webster County, West Virginia. He was called “John the Pioneer” in some accounts. According to tax tickets, he later owned 2200 acres in Braxton and Randolph Counties, West Virginia, four miles on both sides of the Back Fork River.

The 1810 Federal Census confirms John’s location in Augusta, Virginia. He was age 39.

In July 1812, John lost his father James Miller (b. 1738 – d. 1812) and his mother Fanny Lindon Powers (b. 1738 – d. 1812).

The 1820 Census shows John (now age 49) living in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia.

The 1830 Census shows John (now 59) in Northern District, Augusta, Virginia.

John is again documented on the 1840 August Co Census, age 69.

In 1841, John died age 70 at Back Fork Elk River, Nicholas, Virginia (now Webster County, WV).

There is a somewhat contested story that suggests John Miller was the “first white man to visit Webster County” (Source: Annals of Webster Co. WVA before and since Organization, 1860 by Sampson Newton Miller)

Miller Family

John Miller of Bath Co. VA was the first white man to visit what is now Webster Springs in Sept. 1784. He came down the Elk River and tomahawked rights to a tract of land a part of which is known as Miller Bottom (is nearly 6 mi. east of Webster Springs.) on the Elk. The other boundry was on the Back Fork of Elk, both sides of the river – in 1968 most of this is owned by Senator Hans McCourt.

1John Miller – the Scotchman d. abt. 1786
children
2James Miller- nicknamed “Pluggy Jim”
2 Sarah Miller b 1795 Bath Co. Va m John Clifton
2 Elizabeth Miller b 1797 m David Hamrick