Andrew P. Miller/Riner was the son of Miss Catherine Miller. Andrew's mother's (presumed) sister was Mary Miller b.1790 who was, at the time Andrew was born, married to Abraham Snyder b.1763. Abraham's first wife was Sarah Chidester b.1780 who gave him four children, about one per year. Sarah died in 1806 and Abraham married Mary Snyder on April 18, 1807. Mary gave him two known children, in abt 1806 and April 22, 1811. (There may have been a third child Ann?) Mary didn't appear to have any more children that lived, anyway, and supposedly died in 1818.
Andrew's mother Miss Catherine Miller married her dead sister's husband Abraham Snyder on January 20, 1819. Though her son Andrew had been entered into her Bible record as Andrew Miller, by the time she wrote her Will the winter before she died, Catherine referred to him as "my son Andrew Riner". When he married his wife Hester Everhart, it was as Andrew Riner.
It was speculated by one researcher that perhaps he "came of age" or otherwise found out who his father was, and decided to take his name. That sounded like a plausible theory at the time, and many Family Files put it down as fact.. The suggestion was that Andrew's father may have been Jacob Riner b.1767, because Jacob was one of the Riner men who still lived in the area; Jacob's wife was a sister of Abraham Snyder, and Andrew had named his first son Jacob.
People felt comfortable with this explanation for many years, and in some cases even adjusted their genealogies to make Andrew a legitimate son of Jacob, with Jacob's wife Hannah Snyder (sister of Abraham, Catherine's husband) being his mother. Tidy.
Then came the age of DNA genealogy research, and a multitude of people entering their lines to genealogy sites along with their DNA. Inconveniently for the speculators, the matches that came up for Andrew were all of the lines of Jacob Ludwig Snider and his wife Margaret Mary Studebaker. These two happen to be the parents of both Abraham Snyder who married Andrew's mother Catherine, and Hannah Snyder that married Jacob Riner. They would be Andrew Riner's grandparents, according to the DNA. (One person suggested the frequency of Snyder DNA pairings would be from the descendants of the 1/2 siblings of Andrew that were legal descendants of Abraham Snyder. We don't have time or space to explain how that would not show extremely high Snyder DNA pairings in the direct descendants of Andrew...
Intrigued, several of Andrew P. Miller/Riner's descendants started comparing matches for the ANCESTORS PRIOR TO Andrew's generation, and found that all of the apparent Riner DNA matches happened to have had a Snyder ancestor that was married to a Riner, thus the Riner surname. There were many other Snyder/Snider matches that had moved out of state and were nowhere near those Riners. There were also matches that were strictly of that maternal Studebaker grandmother's line.
One could suggest that because about seven years passed from the time we see Mary Miller Snyder's last known child with Abraham born, to when she finally died at 28 years old, perhaps she was sick or otherwise indisposed for her husband that had formerly had about a child a year, Her younger sister Catherine may have even lived with them, taking care of Mary and her two living children when the child Andrew was born in April 1817. We don't find her living elsewhere.
This community was very religious and strict about rules for divorce and when couples were allowed to marry, but we weren't there, and have no knowledge of what arrangements may have been made.
Because Andrew was of an age to become a young man first perhaps working on his own and then preparing to marry and migrate from there, it seems quite plausible to me that he received much-needed help from someone other than the (step-father) who never gave him his name, and perhaps his uncle, Jacob Riner did just that - to the point he not only took his name {because he was leaving that community anyway), but also named his first son after Jacob.
All that we have these many years afterward, are speculations and likely stories. But what we do KNOW, is that his mother Catherine Miller Snyder listed him in her Bible with her maiden name Miller, even when he was 18 (copyright year of her Bible) and that even though he took the name Riner at some point afterwards, that his DNA is open for interpretation of who the donor was, but the DNA in itself does not lie. And some of the samples matched are QUITE high, indicating a close family member.
20-30 DNA matches with living descendants were analyzed before this scenario was even suggested. There is no telling how many more are now available, and should be a lively topic of debate for years to come.
Interestingly, one of the highest levels of DNA matches of a forefather's line to Andrew's is that of Abraham Snyder and sister Hannah Snyder Riner's youngest brother William Snyder, who reportedly died in December 1815 in Montgomery, Ohio! If the timing was right, we would certainly suspect him as the father of Andrew! But if his death date is correct, that would not be possible. I would bet that the two at least had a lot of similar features...
*(For anyone who wants to check out the DNA results but does not feel comfortable attaching Andrew to Abraham Snyder/Snider as his parent, I suggest adding (as his parent) an additional child named Unknown SnyderSnider to Jacob Ludwig Snider and Margaret Mary Studebaker, and you will see the same DNA matches start to form, depending on how close of a match your own DNA is initially.)
Of course, I am available for a private discussion.
by Lila Cole
Andrew's mother Miss Catherine Miller married her dead sister's husband Abraham Snyder on January 20, 1819. Though her son Andrew had been entered into her Bible record as Andrew Miller, by the time she wrote her Will the winter before she died, Catherine referred to him as "my son Andrew Riner". When he married his wife Hester Everhart, it was as Andrew Riner.
It was speculated by one researcher that perhaps he "came of age" or otherwise found out who his father was, and decided to take his name. That sounded like a plausible theory at the time, and many Family Files put it down as fact.. The suggestion was that Andrew's father may have been Jacob Riner b.1767, because Jacob was one of the Riner men who still lived in the area; Jacob's wife was a sister of Abraham Snyder, and Andrew had named his first son Jacob.
People felt comfortable with this explanation for many years, and in some cases even adjusted their genealogies to make Andrew a legitimate son of Jacob, with Jacob's wife Hannah Snyder (sister of Abraham, Catherine's husband) being his mother. Tidy.
Then came the age of DNA genealogy research, and a multitude of people entering their lines to genealogy sites along with their DNA. Inconveniently for the speculators, the matches that came up for Andrew were all of the lines of Jacob Ludwig Snider and his wife Margaret Mary Studebaker. These two happen to be the parents of both Abraham Snyder who married Andrew's mother Catherine, and Hannah Snyder that married Jacob Riner. They would be Andrew Riner's grandparents, according to the DNA. (One person suggested the frequency of Snyder DNA pairings would be from the descendants of the 1/2 siblings of Andrew that were legal descendants of Abraham Snyder. We don't have time or space to explain how that would not show extremely high Snyder DNA pairings in the direct descendants of Andrew...
Intrigued, several of Andrew P. Miller/Riner's descendants started comparing matches for the ANCESTORS PRIOR TO Andrew's generation, and found that all of the apparent Riner DNA matches happened to have had a Snyder ancestor that was married to a Riner, thus the Riner surname. There were many other Snyder/Snider matches that had moved out of state and were nowhere near those Riners. There were also matches that were strictly of that maternal Studebaker grandmother's line.
One could suggest that because about seven years passed from the time we see Mary Miller Snyder's last known child with Abraham born, to when she finally died at 28 years old, perhaps she was sick or otherwise indisposed for her husband that had formerly had about a child a year, Her younger sister Catherine may have even lived with them, taking care of Mary and her two living children when the child Andrew was born in April 1817. We don't find her living elsewhere.
This community was very religious and strict about rules for divorce and when couples were allowed to marry, but we weren't there, and have no knowledge of what arrangements may have been made.
Because Andrew was of an age to become a young man first perhaps working on his own and then preparing to marry and migrate from there, it seems quite plausible to me that he received much-needed help from someone other than the (step-father) who never gave him his name, and perhaps his uncle, Jacob Riner did just that - to the point he not only took his name {because he was leaving that community anyway), but also named his first son after Jacob.
All that we have these many years afterward, are speculations and likely stories. But what we do KNOW, is that his mother Catherine Miller Snyder listed him in her Bible with her maiden name Miller, even when he was 18 (copyright year of her Bible) and that even though he took the name Riner at some point afterwards, that his DNA is open for interpretation of who the donor was, but the DNA in itself does not lie. And some of the samples matched are QUITE high, indicating a close family member.
20-30 DNA matches with living descendants were analyzed before this scenario was even suggested. There is no telling how many more are now available, and should be a lively topic of debate for years to come.
Interestingly, one of the highest levels of DNA matches of a forefather's line to Andrew's is that of Abraham Snyder and sister Hannah Snyder Riner's youngest brother William Snyder, who reportedly died in December 1815 in Montgomery, Ohio! If the timing was right, we would certainly suspect him as the father of Andrew! But if his death date is correct, that would not be possible. I would bet that the two at least had a lot of similar features...
*(For anyone who wants to check out the DNA results but does not feel comfortable attaching Andrew to Abraham Snyder/Snider as his parent, I suggest adding (as his parent) an additional child named Unknown SnyderSnider to Jacob Ludwig Snider and Margaret Mary Studebaker, and you will see the same DNA matches start to form, depending on how close of a match your own DNA is initially.)
Of course, I am available for a private discussion.
by Lila Cole
Andrew P. Miller/Riner was the son of Miss Catherine Miller. Andrew's mother's (presumed) sister was Mary Miller b.1790 who was, at the time Andrew was born, married to Abraham Snyder b.1763. Abraham's first wife was Sarah Chidester b.1780 who gave him four children, about one per year. Sarah died in 1806 and Abraham married Mary Snyder on April 18, 1807. Mary gave him two known children, in abt 1806 and April 22, 1811. (There may have been a third child Ann?) Mary didn't appear to have any more children that lived, anyway, and supposedly died in 1818.
Andrew's mother Miss Catherine Miller married her dead sister's husband Abraham Snyder on January 20, 1819. Though her son Andrew had been entered into her Bible record as Andrew Miller, by the time she wrote her Will the winter before she died, Catherine referred to him as "my son Andrew Riner". When he married his wife Hester Everhart, it was as Andrew Riner.
It was speculated by one researcher that perhaps he "came of age" or otherwise found out who his father was, and decided to take his name. That sounded like a plausible theory at the time, and many Family Files put it down as fact.. The suggestion was that Andrew's father may have been Jacob Riner b.1767, because Jacob was one of the Riner men who still lived in the area; Jacob's wife was a sister of Abraham Snyder, and Andrew had named his first son Jacob.
People felt comfortable with this explanation for many years, and in some cases even adjusted their genealogies to make Andrew a legitimate son of Jacob, with Jacob's wife Hannah Snyder (sister of Abraham, Catherine's husband) being his mother. Tidy.
Then came the age of DNA genealogy research, and a multitude of people entering their lines to genealogy sites along with their DNA. Inconveniently for the speculators, the matches that came up for Andrew were all of the lines of Jacob Ludwig Snider and his wife Margaret Mary Studebaker. These two happen to be the parents of both Abraham Snyder who married Andrew's mother Catherine, and Hannah Snyder that married Jacob Riner. They would be Andrew Riner's grandparents, according to the DNA. (One person suggested the frequency of Snyder DNA pairings would be from the descendants of the 1/2 siblings of Andrew that were legal descendants of Abraham Snyder. We don't have time or space to explain how that would not show extremely high Snyder DNA pairings in the direct descendants of Andrew...
Intrigued, several of Andrew P. Miller/Riner's descendants started comparing matches for the ANCESTORS PRIOR TO Andrew's generation, and found that all of the apparent Riner DNA matches happened to have had a Snyder ancestor that was married to a Riner, thus the Riner surname. There were many other Snyder/Snider matches that had moved out of state and were nowhere near those Riners. There were also matches that were strictly of that maternal Studebaker grandmother's line.
One could suggest that because about seven years passed from the time we see Mary Miller Snyder's last known child with Abraham born, to when she finally died at 28 years old, perhaps she was sick or otherwise indisposed for her husband that had formerly had about a child a year, Her younger sister Catherine may have even lived with them, taking care of Mary and her two living children when the child Andrew was born in April 1817. We don't find her living elsewhere.
This community was very religious and strict about rules for divorce and when couples were allowed to marry, but we weren't there, and have no knowledge of what arrangements may have been made.
Because Andrew was of an age to become a young man first perhaps working on his own and then preparing to marry and migrate from there, it seems quite plausible to me that he received much-needed help from someone other than the (step-father) who never gave him his name, and perhaps his uncle, Jacob Riner did just that - to the point he not only took his name {because he was leaving that community anyway), but also named his first son after Jacob.
All that we have these many years afterward, are speculations and likely stories. But what we do KNOW, is that his mother Catherine Miller Snyder listed him in her Bible with her maiden name Miller, even when he was 18 (copyright year of her Bible) and that even though he took the name Riner at some point afterwards, that his DNA is open for interpretation of who the donor was, but the DNA in itself does not lie. And some of the samples matched are QUITE high, indicating a close family member.
20-30 DNA matches with living descendants were analyzed before this scenario was even suggested. There is no telling how many more are now available, and should be a lively topic of debate for years to come.
Interestingly, one of the highest levels of DNA matches of a forefather's line to Andrew's is that of Abraham Snyder and sister Hannah Snyder Riner's youngest brother William Snyder, who reportedly died in December 1815 in Montgomery, Ohio! If the timing was right, we would certainly suspect him as the father of Andrew! But if his death date is correct, that would not be possible. I would bet that the two at least had a lot of similar features...
*(For anyone who wants to check out the DNA results but does not feel comfortable attaching Andrew to Abraham Snyder/Snider as his parent, I suggest adding (as his parent) an additional child named Unknown SnyderSnider to Jacob Ludwig Snider and Margaret Mary Studebaker, and you will see the same DNA matches start to form, depending on how close of a match your own DNA is initially.)
Of course, I am available for a private discussion.
by Lila Cole
Andrew's mother Miss Catherine Miller married her dead sister's husband Abraham Snyder on January 20, 1819. Though her son Andrew had been entered into her Bible record as Andrew Miller, by the time she wrote her Will the winter before she died, Catherine referred to him as "my son Andrew Riner". When he married his wife Hester Everhart, it was as Andrew Riner.
It was speculated by one researcher that perhaps he "came of age" or otherwise found out who his father was, and decided to take his name. That sounded like a plausible theory at the time, and many Family Files put it down as fact.. The suggestion was that Andrew's father may have been Jacob Riner b.1767, because Jacob was one of the Riner men who still lived in the area; Jacob's wife was a sister of Abraham Snyder, and Andrew had named his first son Jacob.
People felt comfortable with this explanation for many years, and in some cases even adjusted their genealogies to make Andrew a legitimate son of Jacob, with Jacob's wife Hannah Snyder (sister of Abraham, Catherine's husband) being his mother. Tidy.
Then came the age of DNA genealogy research, and a multitude of people entering their lines to genealogy sites along with their DNA. Inconveniently for the speculators, the matches that came up for Andrew were all of the lines of Jacob Ludwig Snider and his wife Margaret Mary Studebaker. These two happen to be the parents of both Abraham Snyder who married Andrew's mother Catherine, and Hannah Snyder that married Jacob Riner. They would be Andrew Riner's grandparents, according to the DNA. (One person suggested the frequency of Snyder DNA pairings would be from the descendants of the 1/2 siblings of Andrew that were legal descendants of Abraham Snyder. We don't have time or space to explain how that would not show extremely high Snyder DNA pairings in the direct descendants of Andrew...
Intrigued, several of Andrew P. Miller/Riner's descendants started comparing matches for the ANCESTORS PRIOR TO Andrew's generation, and found that all of the apparent Riner DNA matches happened to have had a Snyder ancestor that was married to a Riner, thus the Riner surname. There were many other Snyder/Snider matches that had moved out of state and were nowhere near those Riners. There were also matches that were strictly of that maternal Studebaker grandmother's line.
One could suggest that because about seven years passed from the time we see Mary Miller Snyder's last known child with Abraham born, to when she finally died at 28 years old, perhaps she was sick or otherwise indisposed for her husband that had formerly had about a child a year, Her younger sister Catherine may have even lived with them, taking care of Mary and her two living children when the child Andrew was born in April 1817. We don't find her living elsewhere.
This community was very religious and strict about rules for divorce and when couples were allowed to marry, but we weren't there, and have no knowledge of what arrangements may have been made.
Because Andrew was of an age to become a young man first perhaps working on his own and then preparing to marry and migrate from there, it seems quite plausible to me that he received much-needed help from someone other than the (step-father) who never gave him his name, and perhaps his uncle, Jacob Riner did just that - to the point he not only took his name {because he was leaving that community anyway), but also named his first son after Jacob.
All that we have these many years afterward, are speculations and likely stories. But what we do KNOW, is that his mother Catherine Miller Snyder listed him in her Bible with her maiden name Miller, even when he was 18 (copyright year of her Bible) and that even though he took the name Riner at some point afterwards, that his DNA is open for interpretation of who the donor was, but the DNA in itself does not lie. And some of the samples matched are QUITE high, indicating a close family member.
20-30 DNA matches with living descendants were analyzed before this scenario was even suggested. There is no telling how many more are now available, and should be a lively topic of debate for years to come.
Interestingly, one of the highest levels of DNA matches of a forefather's line to Andrew's is that of Abraham Snyder and sister Hannah Snyder Riner's youngest brother William Snyder, who reportedly died in December 1815 in Montgomery, Ohio! If the timing was right, we would certainly suspect him as the father of Andrew! But if his death date is correct, that would not be possible. I would bet that the two at least had a lot of similar features...
*(For anyone who wants to check out the DNA results but does not feel comfortable attaching Andrew to Abraham Snyder/Snider as his parent, I suggest adding (as his parent) an additional child named Unknown SnyderSnider to Jacob Ludwig Snider and Margaret Mary Studebaker, and you will see the same DNA matches start to form, depending on how close of a match your own DNA is initially.)
Of course, I am available for a private discussion.
by Lila Cole
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