Happy Birthday Rachel!
This week it is Rachel's 200th birthday! I have not been able to locate a birth certificate for Rachel or any other document that states her birthdate, so using the information on her tombstone I calculated her birth date as October 27, 1819. 1819!
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| Memorial for Rachel Ann Biddle Miller, photo by Janet Allen-Barnes, downloaded 2019.10.17 from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68326184 |
The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, at the close of the Revolutionary War, and transferred what was known as the Old Northwest from Great Britain to the newly formed United States. The first colony in the Old Northwest was settled soon after in 1787 and called Marietta in the part of the territory that would later become Ohio. Many of the early settlements in Ohio, like Marietta, were the result of settlers setting off from Pittsburg, PA and traveling on the Ohio River as it flows towards the mighty Mississippi River. The Hocking River branches off of the Ohio River just south of Marietta. Pioneers followed this river inland to settle in the river's basin, forming many early communities in Ohio.
Another route that brought pioneers into Ohio was called Zane’s Trace, the first important road in Ohio. The road was blazed in 1797 by Colonel Ebenezer Zane and at first it was little more than a blazed trail that a rider with a packhorse could travel. Zane knew that the interior of Ohio would rapidly fill up with settlers and that if he personally owned land in the interior he might possibly cash in. In 1795, he petitioned Congress to grant him a contract to open a road through Ohio from Wheeling to Limestone, Kentucky. In payment, he requested 3 square mile tracts of land to be located at the crossings of the Muskingum, the Hocking, and the Scioto Rivers.
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| image downloaded from: http://touringohio.com/history/zane-trace.html |
In my mind I imagine whoever were Rachel's parents making their way into Fairfield County via Zane's Trace. Following this path or trail through the wilderness from Wheeling to locate a new place to settle and raise a family. And remember that Wheeling at this time was part of Virginia, as West Virginia had not split off due to the Civil War. It is also possible that Rachel's parents were born in or brought to Ohio as children.
Rachel met another young pioneer named Henry Miller. Our first official record of Rachel tells us that Rachel married Henry on November 12, 1839. This is in a listing of marriages in Fairfield County, Ohio from 1835-1851. Rachel would have just turned 20 by the time of her marriage. Henry Miller was also born in Ohio per an index of Ohio death records.
Rachel and Henry most likely had a shotgun wedding. Located in the family cemetery is a tombstone for a Sarah Miller. Findagrave.com has a photo of her tombstone. It is only inscribed with: Sarah Miller Daughter of Henry and Rachel Miller. Unfortunately, the tombstone does not have any dates inscribed on it. But the creator of this Findagrave memorial lists Sarah's birth date as March 6, 1840 and her death date as March 18, 1849. The memorial creator does not give any specific reference to how these dates are known for Sarah, but on other memorials she created for those in the Miller family cemetery, she references Hite/Biddle family records. Rachel and Henry were married in November 1839 and Sarah was born in March 1840. You do the math!
Based on information from the Findagrave site for the Miller family cemetery, assuming the Hite/Biddle family records are correct and other civil records, Rachel and Henry had 9 children. Sarah (1840-1849), Lewis (1841-1848), Emily (1844-1918), Noble (1846-1846), Almeda (1849-1920), Michael (1849-1860) Elisabeth (1853-1855), Henry (1855-1932) and Rachel (1857-1946). Remember how I mentioned that I couldn't find any documents confirming who Rachel's parents are? Isn't it interesting that two of Rachel's children are named Sarah and Noble? It may be coincidental, but not proof.
Out of the 9 children they had, Rachel and Henry buried 5 of them at young ages: Sarah (8), Lewis (6), Noble (4 mos.), Michael (10), and Elisabeth (2). At this time I haven't been able to locate land records, but I would assume that this small family cemetery was located on land that Henry and Rachel owned, lived on and farmed at the time.
By January 7, 1860 Rachel passed away and was also buried in the family plot with the children that predeceased her. The 1860 US Mortality Schedule indicates that her cause of death was consumption and she was ill for 5 months. And sadly her son Michael passed away just a day later on January 8. I'm not sure why Michael is not noted on the 1860 US Mortality Schedule. What a hard winter it must have been for Henry and the 4 other children to have lost both just day's apart.
It's hard to know what the family plot looked like in 1860 when Rachel was buried alongside 5 of her children, but it may not have appeared much different than it looks today, as the cemetery plot is located in the middle of a farm field. Can you see the tall memorial in the corn field?
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| Photo downloaded from findagrave.com. Image by: Janet Allen - Barnes |
Update: April 22, 2020: I have created a blog series that this post now belongs to. It is called: The Ohioans! Click HERE to see other related posts in this series.
How I'm "related" to Rachel Ann Biddle Miller:
Henry Miller = Rachel Ann Biddle
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Kinza Belt = Almeda V. Miller
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Alva Carroll Voorhees = Emma Myrtle Belt
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Saunders A. Bagby = Mary Marjorie Voorhees
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Wife's father = Wife's mother
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Me = Wife
Resources:
History of Lancaster: https://www.ci.lancaster.oh.us/394/History-of-Lancaster
http://touringohio.com/history/zane-trace.html
I enjoyed reading this blog. So sad how many children died so young in those days. Makes a person want to go to Ohio to look for land records or deeds!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog!
ReplyDeleteGood blog!
ReplyDelete