The theme for this week is "Bachelor Uncle"! And, all of my uncles and great uncles married. Not all of them had children, but they did marry, so they don't qualify as "Bachelor"! So, I had to go up another generation to my mother's mother's mother's brothers to find one that qualifies! Whew!!
I don't know a lot about Joe Miller, but I am convinced that he never married! He was the middle son, and 4th child to be born to Richard "Dick" and Margaret Denton Miller on November 8, 1867 in Cannon County, Tennessee. His older sister, Virginia Katherine "Jennie" Miller Spurlock, was my great, great grandmother.
On the 1870 census, "Joseph" is living with his 4 siblings and mother and father in the Woodbury area of Cannon County.
By 1880, older brother, Tom, is no longer in the home, and there seems to be only 1 Thomas Miller in the county. It seems that this "other" Thomas Miller married in 1881 to Edna Gann, and they appear in this story later. Joe is 12 years old, working on his father's farm and going to school.
There is no 1890 federal census that still exists today, but there was an 1891 Tennessee Voters List containing the names of males over the age of 21. On this list, in District 7, there is listed Dick and Joe Miller. They are the only Millers listed in this District and I assume this is father and son of this family. So, I am confident that Joe was still living with or near his parents in 1891. By 1900, Joe is found living in District 7 as a boarder, with his widowed mother, Margaret, in the home of widow, Sallie Evans and her son.
It seems that Margaret likely died before the next census, as we find Joe still living in District 7, but now with the J D Elkins family in 1910 as a hired man at age 50.
"Joseph" continues to live with yet another family in 1920. He is listed separately, not as a boarder, but when you look at the Farm numbers in the left column, he appears to be living with the the John Walkup family on farm number 207, but as a new household.
It seems that he may have stayed with this same family a while as we find him in a Walkup family again in 1930.
By 1935 and 1940, Joe is still in District 7 living with the Joe Bailey family. He continues to be a "lodger" and working on the farm. Here, he is 73 years old.
I wish I had a photo of Joe to share, but I only have photos of his sister, Jennie who moved in 1891 with her husband, John Wesley Spurlock to southern Illinois and then on to Texas. Joe died April 30, 1948 in the Gassaway Community in his home county.
He is buried in the Sugar Tree Knob Cemetery, Woodbury, Cannon County, Tennessee. The informant on his Death Certificate is Edna Bogle. After a little more research, I learned that Edna was the daughter of Thomas Miller who was the son of Elihue and Elizabeth (Lowe) Miller. It is possible that Elihue Miller was a brother to Joe's father. But, that has yet to be proven.
A Memorial at FindaGrave has some information, including a transcribed death certificate and a photo of Joe's grave marker. You can see those here, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94671699/john-joe-miller.
The only story passed down by the family concerning Joe, was that he and his older brother, Tom, never married. I have not been able to find much information on Tom. It is possible that he died before the 1880 census, but I guess that will have to be "proven" later!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
Updated/Corrected November 7, 2019
I don't know a lot about Joe Miller, but I am convinced that he never married! He was the middle son, and 4th child to be born to Richard "Dick" and Margaret Denton Miller on November 8, 1867 in Cannon County, Tennessee. His older sister, Virginia Katherine "Jennie" Miller Spurlock, was my great, great grandmother.
On the 1870 census, "Joseph" is living with his 4 siblings and mother and father in the Woodbury area of Cannon County.
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| Year: 1870; Census Place: District 5, Cannon, Tennessee; Roll: M593_1516; Page: 155A; Family History Library Film: 553015 |
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| Year: 1880; Census Place: District 8, Cannon, Tennessee; Roll: 1246; Family History Film: 1255246; Page: 526D; Enumeration District: 023 |
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| Year: 1900; Census Place: Civil District 7, Cannon, Tennessee; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 1241560 |
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| Year: 1910; Census Place: Civil District 7, Cannon, Tennessee; Roll: T624_1492; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0030; FHL microfilm: 1375505 |
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| Year: 1920; Census Place: Civil District 6, Cannon, Tennessee; Roll: T625_1730;Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 29 |
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| Year: 1930; Census Place: District 6, Cannon, Tennessee; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0007; FHL microfilm: 2341969 |
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| Year: 1940; Census Place: Cannon, Tennessee; Roll: m-t0627-03877; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 8-8 |
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| "Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NS6S-QY2 : 11 October 2018), John Joe Miller, 30 Apr 1948; Death, Gassaway, Cannon, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. |
A Memorial at FindaGrave has some information, including a transcribed death certificate and a photo of Joe's grave marker. You can see those here, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94671699/john-joe-miller.
The only story passed down by the family concerning Joe, was that he and his older brother, Tom, never married. I have not been able to find much information on Tom. It is possible that he died before the 1880 census, but I guess that will have to be "proven" later!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
Updated/Corrected November 7, 2019
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