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John William "Will" Miller was born in Washington Co, Pennsylvania according to the birth certificate of his son Loyal. Although John William Miller's mother was from near Oakland, Md, his mother, Lydia Haun had John William while staying at the home of her brother's family in Pennsylvania when she would have been only about 14 years old. Apparently, John William did not immediately take the name of Miller.
He was raised by his mother's family (the Haun's), but as a granddaughter, I remember thinking that the wonderful Wensell family farm that we visited in Oakland, was his homeplace. The Wensell family was actually the home of Lydia's sister and her family which may explain that he lived with various family members. As grandchildren, our father always visited the Wensell farm as well as Aunt Florence Durst and Aunt Ada Orndorff who we thought of as his sisters when we visited Oakland, Garrett, Maryland. These were obviously his cousins. His mother was married about 1885 when John was about 10 years old to George W.Poland. The marriage to Poland ended in divorce since George Poland was listed as divorced when he remarried. John William Miller last saw his mother when he was a young man when he put her on a train going west.
He had a photograph of his mother which he kept all his life, but it was not until his mother's West Coast family shared information with the East Coast family that we ever knew that there were other family members besides him. Family lore stated that his mother, Lydia, left with a drummer and was never seen again. However, John William and his future wife, Sarah Eunice Wotring were photographed at George W. Poland's second marriage so obviously, John William still maintained a relationship with his mother's first husband.
Actually, his mother. Lydia, was listed in her mother's obituary with the name Lydia Polan(d). Soon thereafter, she was married to James Wallace Miller and was living in Iowa where they had two children and later moved to Kirkland, Washington where she had a daughter.
It appears, that John must have taken the name of Miller prior to him marrying Sarah Eunice Wotring.
John William Miller's death certificate states that the name of his father was Samuel J. Miller - I have not been able to prove this. It may be that he claimed the Miller name since he may have known his mother had married a Miller and a family member claims that his 4 sons did not know or could not remember who their father's father was.
John William Miller was a large framed handsome man with huge hands and a sweet disposition and a contagious chuckle that everyone who knew him loved. He was also very gifted in creating small pieces of wood carvings. In his senior years, he whittled wooden butter paddles, wooden combs, and wooden knives, forks, and spoons. He loved to tell ghost stories, but I don't recall him ever mentioning his mother or anything about his father.
Besides farming, he had been a lumberman and also was at some point a coal miner when he joined his mother's brother's family in Alabama.
When he married Sarah Eunice Wotring, daughter of Benjamin Eugene Wotring and Margaret Elizabeth Crabill, they moved to Shenandoah County on farm land that had been a part of the estate of Sarah "Eunice's" grandfather's estate, Jonathan Stribling Crabill. "Will" then became a farmer and this is where a daughter and four sons were born. They were members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Toms Brook, VA and all of their children was baptized there.
Will and Eunice made their home on this farm for the rest of their lives, but none of their children had an interest in farming so the farm was sold to the next door neighbor.
John William "Will" Miller was born in Washington Co, Pennsylvania according to the birth certificate of his son Loyal. Although John William Miller's mother was from near Oakland, Md, his mother, Lydia Haun had John William while staying at the home of her brother's family in Pennsylvania when she would have been only about 14 years old. Apparently, John William did not immediately take the name of Miller.
He was raised by his mother's family (the Haun's), but as a granddaughter, I remember thinking that the wonderful Wensell family farm that we visited in Oakland, was his homeplace. The Wensell family was actually the home of Lydia's sister and her family which may explain that he lived with various family members. As grandchildren, our father always visited the Wensell farm as well as Aunt Florence Durst and Aunt Ada Orndorff who we thought of as his sisters when we visited Oakland, Garrett, Maryland. These were obviously his cousins. His mother was married about 1885 when John was about 10 years old to George W.Poland. The marriage to Poland ended in divorce since George Poland was listed as divorced when he remarried. John William Miller last saw his mother when he was a young man when he put her on a train going west.
He had a photograph of his mother which he kept all his life, but it was not until his mother's West Coast family shared information with the East Coast family that we ever knew that there were other family members besides him. Family lore stated that his mother, Lydia, left with a drummer and was never seen again. However, John William and his future wife, Sarah Eunice Wotring were photographed at George W. Poland's second marriage so obviously, John William still maintained a relationship with his mother's first husband.
Actually, his mother. Lydia, was listed in her mother's obituary with the name Lydia Polan(d). Soon thereafter, she was married to James Wallace Miller and was living in Iowa where they had two children and later moved to Kirkland, Washington where she had a daughter.
It appears, that John must have taken the name of Miller prior to him marrying Sarah Eunice Wotring.
John William Miller's death certificate states that the name of his father was Samuel J. Miller - I have not been able to prove this. It may be that he claimed the Miller name since he may have known his mother had married a Miller and a family member claims that his 4 sons did not know or could not remember who their father's father was.
John William Miller was a large framed handsome man with huge hands and a sweet disposition and a contagious chuckle that everyone who knew him loved. He was also very gifted in creating small pieces of wood carvings. In his senior years, he whittled wooden butter paddles, wooden combs, and wooden knives, forks, and spoons. He loved to tell ghost stories, but I don't recall him ever mentioning his mother or anything about his father.
Besides farming, he had been a lumberman and also was at some point a coal miner when he joined his mother's brother's family in Alabama.
When he married Sarah Eunice Wotring, daughter of Benjamin Eugene Wotring and Margaret Elizabeth Crabill, they moved to Shenandoah County on farm land that had been a part of the estate of Sarah "Eunice's" grandfather's estate, Jonathan Stribling Crabill. "Will" then became a farmer and this is where a daughter and four sons were born. They were members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Toms Brook, VA and all of their children was baptized there.
Will and Eunice made their home on this farm for the rest of their lives, but none of their children had an interest in farming so the farm was sold to the next door neighbor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John William "Will" Miller was born in Washington Co, Pennsylvania according to the birth certificate of his son Loyal. Although John William Miller's mother was from near Oakland, Md, his mother, Lydia Haun had John William while staying at the home of her brother's family in Pennsylvania when she would have been only about 14 years old. Apparently, John William did not immediately take the name of Miller.
He was raised by his mother's family (the Haun's), but as a granddaughter, I remember thinking that the wonderful Wensell family farm that we visited in Oakland, was his homeplace. The Wensell family was actually the home of Lydia's sister and her family which may explain that he lived with various family members. As grandchildren, our father always visited the Wensell farm as well as Aunt Florence Durst and Aunt Ada Orndorff who we thought of as his sisters when we visited Oakland, Garrett, Maryland. These were obviously his cousins. His mother was married about 1885 when John was about 10 years old to George W.Poland. The marriage to Poland ended in divorce since George Poland was listed as divorced when he remarried. John William Miller last saw his mother when he was a young man when he put her on a train going west.
He had a photograph of his mother which he kept all his life, but it was not until his mother's West Coast family shared information with the East Coast family that we ever knew that there were other family members besides him. Family lore stated that his mother, Lydia, left with a drummer and was never seen again. However, John William and his future wife, Sarah Eunice Wotring were photographed at George W. Poland's second marriage so obviously, John William still maintained a relationship with his mother's first husband.
Actually, his mother. Lydia, was listed in her mother's obituary with the name Lydia Polan(d). Soon thereafter, she was married to James Wallace Miller and was living in Iowa where they had two children and later moved to Kirkland, Washington where she had a daughter.
It appears, that John must have taken the name of Miller prior to him marrying Sarah Eunice Wotring.
John William Miller's death certificate states that the name of his father was Samuel J. Miller - I have not been able to prove this. It may be that he claimed the Miller name since he may have known his mother had married a Miller and a family member claims that his 4 sons did not know or could not remember who their father's father was.
John William Miller was a large framed handsome man with huge hands and a sweet disposition and a contagious chuckle that everyone who knew him loved. He was also very gifted in creating small pieces of wood carvings. In his senior years, he whittled wooden butter paddles, wooden combs, and wooden knives, forks, and spoons. He loved to tell ghost stories, but I don't recall him ever mentioning his mother or anything about his father.
Besides farming, he had been a lumberman and also was at some point a coal miner when he joined his mother's brother's family in Alabama.
When he married Sarah Eunice Wotring, daughter of Benjamin Eugene Wotring and Margaret Elizabeth Crabill, they moved to Shenandoah County on farm land that had been a part of the estate of Sarah "Eunice's" grandfather's estate, Jonathan Stribling Crabill. "Will" then became a farmer and this is where a daughter and four sons were born. They were members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Toms Brook, VA and all of their children was baptized there.
Will and Eunice made their home on this farm for the rest of their lives, but none of their children had an interest in farming so the farm was sold to the next door neighbor.
John William "Will" Miller was born in Washington Co, Pennsylvania according to the birth certificate of his son Loyal. Although John William Miller's mother was from near Oakland, Md, his mother, Lydia Haun had John William while staying at the home of her brother's family in Pennsylvania when she would have been only about 14 years old. Apparently, John William did not immediately take the name of Miller.
He was raised by his mother's family (the Haun's), but as a granddaughter, I remember thinking that the wonderful Wensell family farm that we visited in Oakland, was his homeplace. The Wensell family was actually the home of Lydia's sister and her family which may explain that he lived with various family members. As grandchildren, our father always visited the Wensell farm as well as Aunt Florence Durst and Aunt Ada Orndorff who we thought of as his sisters when we visited Oakland, Garrett, Maryland. These were obviously his cousins. His mother was married about 1885 when John was about 10 years old to George W.Poland. The marriage to Poland ended in divorce since George Poland was listed as divorced when he remarried. John William Miller last saw his mother when he was a young man when he put her on a train going west.
He had a photograph of his mother which he kept all his life, but it was not until his mother's West Coast family shared information with the East Coast family that we ever knew that there were other family members besides him. Family lore stated that his mother, Lydia, left with a drummer and was never seen again. However, John William and his future wife, Sarah Eunice Wotring were photographed at George W. Poland's second marriage so obviously, John William still maintained a relationship with his mother's first husband.
Actually, his mother. Lydia, was listed in her mother's obituary with the name Lydia Polan(d). Soon thereafter, she was married to James Wallace Miller and was living in Iowa where they had two children and later moved to Kirkland, Washington where she had a daughter.
It appears, that John must have taken the name of Miller prior to him marrying Sarah Eunice Wotring.
John William Miller's death certificate states that the name of his father was Samuel J. Miller - I have not been able to prove this. It may be that he claimed the Miller name since he may have known his mother had married a Miller and a family member claims that his 4 sons did not know or could not remember who their father's father was.
John William Miller was a large framed handsome man with huge hands and a sweet disposition and a contagious chuckle that everyone who knew him loved. He was also very gifted in creating small pieces of wood carvings. In his senior years, he whittled wooden butter paddles, wooden combs, and wooden knives, forks, and spoons. He loved to tell ghost stories, but I don't recall him ever mentioning his mother or anything about his father.
Besides farming, he had been a lumberman and also was at some point a coal miner when he joined his mother's brother's family in Alabama.
When he married Sarah Eunice Wotring, daughter of Benjamin Eugene Wotring and Margaret Elizabeth Crabill, they moved to Shenandoah County on farm land that had been a part of the estate of Sarah "Eunice's" grandfather's estate, Jonathan Stribling Crabill. "Will" then became a farmer and this is where a daughter and four sons were born. They were members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Toms Brook, VA and all of their children was baptized there.
Will and Eunice made their home on this farm for the rest of their lives, but none of their children had an interest in farming so the farm was sold to the next door neighbor.
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