Rev. John Prior MILLER

  General Notes:

OCCUPATION: Farmer (1850 U.S. Census) and Minister

CHILDREN: John Prior Miller bore 10 children with Mary Shrum before her death in 1851. He then married Margaret Collins in 1852 and bore 4 additional children.
(Caroline Button Miller was probably adopted. In 1850 Census she is named Button. In 1860 Census she is a Miller. Per Ann Gebhard's notes and family bible, Caroline was illegitimate, but was subsequently acknowledged by John Prior Miller. Per "History of Cass County" by Rogers, there were counterfeiters named "Button" on a farm later acquired by John Prior. They fled from the law when raided. The presumption was that Caroline was abandoned. Caroline's husband and child are from the 1870 Census. They are living next door to John Prior, so the supposition is that it is the same Caroline. Also, her age is close enough to fit.)

NOTES: John Prior Miller was a pioneer Jefferson County minister. He came to Michigan in 1830 with his father from Franklin County, Ohio. The last 4 children were listed in his will dated January 6, 1876. He was the first owner of government lands in Sec 21, Twn 7 S, Rge 15 W per " Michigan Tract Books". For 20 years or more, he divided his time between the pulpit and the plow, preaching and exhorting, first as a Baptist, then as a member of the Christian Church. He was a man kind of heart, of generous impulses, and faithful in the discharge of every duty. He is buried in Reames and Norton Cemetery, located in the SE corner of the SW 1/4 of Section 12, Jefferson Township. The Cemetery is located near the junction of Cemetery Street and Robinson Road.

NOTES (alternate version): Died at his residence in Jefferson Township on the 28th of September in the 80th year of his age. REV. MILLER was born in Pennsylvania 18 FEB 1809 and with his parents some years afterward settled in Franklin County, Ohio. He came to Michigan in 1830 with his father, the REV. ADAM MILLER that celebrated Baptist Clergymen who afterwards rendered his name famous in Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana by his earnest church work. History tells us that ADAM was a seventh son of a seventh son, and that he himself had seven sons of whom REV. JOHN PRIOR MILLER was the eldest. As early as 1831, JOHN PRIOR MILLER moved upon lands in Jefferson Township and commenced preparing arranging and cultivating the farm, on which he lived and remained up to the time of his death. A portion of each of his earlier years on the farm were spent in church work, preaching and exhorting, first as a Baptist then as a member of the Christian Church. For 20 years or more he divided his time between the pulpit and the plow, in a manner acceptable to his religious adherents and satisfactory to those who had claims upon him as the head of a growing family. He had twice been married, first to MARY SHRUM in 1828 who died in 1851, and afterwards to MARGARET COLLINS who survives him. 16 children were born to them, 11 of whom we are informed are now living; among the latter most of citizens will recollect MRS. SARAH OREN and OLIVER P. MILLER, living west of this place Leander and CHARLES MILLER, of Jefferson, and MRS. LYDIA WEAVER of Northern Michigan. REV. JOHN PRIOR MILLER was a man of kind heart, of generous impulses, and faithful in the discharge of every duty. He retained his mental faculties unimpaired until within a few years of his death. A large circle of relatives will mourn his taking and many friends and acquaintances in Cass and Berrien Counties will kindly cherish a recollection of his sturdy efforts to do good in his day and generation.

  Research Notes:

-- 1880 U.S. Census (Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana; Roll: 275; Family History Film: 1254275; Page: 409D; Enumeration District: 038; Image: 0640)
-- Michigan, Deaths and Burials Index, 1867-1995
-- Find A Grave, Memorial # 81638189
-- Cass County MIGenWeb, part of The USGenWeb Project (www.migenweb.org/cass)
-- Photo courtesy of Cass County, Michigan Genealogy MIGenWeb, part of the USGenWeb Project (www.migenweb.org/cass/photos/photosMtoN.htm)

John married Mary Jane SHRUM, daughter of Joseph SHRUM and Elizabeth McGRANAHAN, on 8 Sep 1828 in Franklin County, Ohio. (Mary Jane SHRUM was born on 27 Sep 1809 in Franklin County, Ohio, died on 7 Jan 1851 in Jefferson Township, Cass County, Michigan and was buried in Reames-Norton Cemetery, Cassopolis, Cass County, Michigan.)

John next married Margaret Liggett COLLINS on 8 Sep 1828 in Franklin County, Ohio. (Margaret Liggett COLLINS was born on 5 Dec 1818 in Warren County, Ohio and died on 21 May 1896 in Jefferson Township, Cass County, Michigan.)