Photographic Treasure

Love it when I find an unexpected treasure! This store was owned by Ephraim Miller and his brother, George. In the 1880 Census, George, our great-great-grandfather, is listed as being a store clerk, which give us some idea of the age of this photograph.

Look at the boy riding the calf on the lower left of the photograph.  He has a dog riding behind him. There's the treasure!

George, Tamsey, and Baby Ethyl Miller

The George Miller family consisted of 9 children with our great grandmother, Ethyl, being the first born, April 16,1882. At the time of Ethyl's birth, George and Ephraim were storekeepers, living close to Coopersville, which explains the multiple marriages over the years between the Cooper and Miller families.

It's one thing to dig vertically to find information regarding our direct lineage. It's another to research horizontally, looking at the lives of our great-great aunts and uncles.  In expanding the view for the Miller family, I learned that both George and Tamsey died in the early 1900s, leaving 6 dependent children alone. The children were then separated from one another reportedly living either with relatives or as servants. (I found documents verifying that two of the children were servants during their teenage years.  I have not found proof that relatives took any of the children in.)

Most of the Miller children ultimately migrated west, making lives for themselves in Wyoming, Montana, or Oklahoma.  There was only one child who lived to an old age in Wayne County.

The Miller family is the line I have been working diligently on to establish our connection with another Revolutionary War patriot, Frederick Miller.  I hope to visit East Kentucky before the end of the year, gathering the final proof needed to document our descendancy.

Barrier, KY is 2 miles from Coopersville.