Henry and Priscilla Miller
Henry was born Abt. 1792 in Maryland, USA and died in May of 1869, Sullivan Township, Grey, Ontario, Canada
Henry’s wife, Priscilla Miller – Born Abt. 1789 in Maryland, USA – Died Abt. 1865 in Sullivan Township, Grey, Ontario, Canada
Farm - Conc 1, Part 1, Lot 22, Sullivan Township, Grey, Ontario, Canada
Henry Miller was born abt. 1792 on a plantation in Maryland, USA. As Miller family folklore goes, his wife Priscilla was free but there arose such grave circumstances that the family felt they needed to flee north. He and Priscilla found a safe haven here in Ontario along with their son Thomas Henry, two daughters Catherine and Rachel, and young grandson Thomas Henry Jr. in the spring of 1836 settling in Toronto for a time. We know from the information from Henry’s 13 Sept 1843 Naturalization Registration that he was residing in the Township of York as of 10 Feb 1841. Upon hearing about the newly surveyed Sullivan Tsp, Henry, and two Toronto friends William Gordon and William Woods received location tickets and headed north with their families.
According to the History of Sullivan Township on page 8, Henry is listed as one of the earliest settlers, having established himself on Con 1, Part 1 of Lot 22 as of 21 Oct 1842 which is located on the west side of the Garafraxa where a Creek now known as Negro Creek, intersects the road.
1851 Canada Census - Henry Miller, Sullivan Township, Grey County
According to the 1851 Canada Census, Henry had built a log cabin to house himself, his wife Priscilla, their daughter Catherine, her husband, Isaiah Chuckee, their young sons William and John, and his grandson Thomas Henry Jr. Henry and his family had been busy ensuring that their farm was productive. The Agricultural Schedule of that census shows that Henry had cleared 10 acres of land with 3 acres under pasture and 7 acres planted with crops. He had planted 1 acre of wheat producing 3 bushels, 1 acre of peas which produced 15 bushels, 2 acres of oats produced 20 bushels, 20 pounds of maple sugar (560 litres of maple sap is needed to make 14L of syrup, which makes around 20 lbs sugar), and 2 tons of hay. He also had a milking cow, an ox/bull, and 4 pigs.
On 17 August 1859 Henry petitioned the Gov. General requesting that he receive the patent/deed (at a fair market price of £7.6 per acre), for the 50-acre lot across the road on the east side of the Garafraxa on Con 1, 1 Div., Lot 22. in Holland Tsp. His son Thomas Henry Miller had received the original location ticket for this lot and Henry reasoned that since he had spent the last six years clearing, planting, and working the land, and was willing to pay for the lot, he alone should be permitted to buy it. Even William Jackson the Commissioner Land Agent tried to assist Henry in securing the land, along with his friend and neighbour Gasaway Ross and his son Thomas Miller, who all wrote affidavits in his favour. However, the Gov. General declined his petition and awarded the patent to Joseph Byers and an Irish immigrant on 23 April 1862. NOTE: Joseph Byers also received the patent for the lot next door – 2 Div., Lot 22 on 11 Oct 1869.
As noted in the Agricultural Schedule of 1861, Henry had now cleared eighteen acres of his land, with 15 of them under crops and had increased his crop production immensely. And according to the personal census of that year, his daughter Catherine Chuckee who now had four children was still residing with him and Priscilla on their farm along with their grandson Thomas Henry. Catherine’s husband, Isaiah Chuckee was no longer listed as residing with the family. NOTE: Thomas Henry Jr. was also listed as living with his father Thomas Henry Miller and his wife Sarah and their children in the town of Owen Sound in this census.
Henry was obviously no stranger to arduous work. He not only managed to build a working farm that supported not only himself and his wife Priscilla but also his daughter and her children. Before his death, in the spring of 1869, Henry had acquired six park lots in Beatty’s subdivisions situated on the west side of Poulett Street in the town of Owen Sound.
According to the last update of Henry’s Last Will and Testament dated 3 May 1869 and witnessed by Jeremiah Cousby of Owen Sound and then ordered and registered on 3 June 1869, in Owen Sound[xi]. He bequeathed the farm and all its contents to his son Thomas. He then gave his daughter Catherine Park Lot #45 Beatty’s subdivision in Owen Sound, with the other 5 Park Lots spread amongst some of his grandchildren. There was a stipulation, however, that the farm was not to be sold during his son Thomas’ life and that after his death the east half was to go to his grandchildren Joshua and Julia Miller and the west half to be split among his daughter Rachel and his great-grandchildren James and Mary Miller (children of his grandson Thomas Henry Miller Jr.) After the 17 Oct 1911 death of his son Thomas, Joshua and Julia sold their half of the farm on 24 Oct 1911 for $282.50 to James Allen and on 24 Nov 1911 by order of Queen’s Council, his daughter Rachel’s daughter Nancy Alvina Miller (who was married to Joshua Miller), also sold the west half on 24 Nov 1911 to James Allen for $50.00. That transaction ended more than sixty-nine years of the Miller family’s presence in the Negro Creek area. Although branches of the Miller family continue to reside in the Owen Sound area to this day.
Henry’s wife Priscilla must have died sometime after the 1861 census but before his original last will and testament which was dated May 1868. To date, I have not found any death registrations for either Henry or Priscilla, nor have we found their names listed in any of the local area cemetery internment lists. My belief is that they were most likely buried in the Negro Creek Burial Ground which has disappeared from the landscape of the area.
Written and researched by Nancy M. Lee
painting by Tony K. Miller - A direct descendant of Henry and Priscilla Miller https://blissstudio.info/bio
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Library and Archives Canada, Naturalization Records, 1828-1850, Upper Canada and Canada West, RG 5 B 47, File #7, Vol. 7, Microfilm Reel #C-15693, Item #2472
Year: 1851; Census Place: Grey, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C-11723; Page: 5; Line: 47
Year: 1851; Census Place: Grey, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C-11723; Page: 23; Line: 37
Thank you to Guylaine Petrin who sent me copies of file #L 1415-71, in the Numerical land Files RG 1-246 at the Archives of Ontario. The file contains documents detailing the various attempts by Henry Miller who offered a fair price to buy Con 1, 1st Div., Lot 22 in Holland Tsp.
Certain Lands on Garafraxa Road, 1844-1845, RG 1 A—VI-16, Vol.3
Abstract index books, ca. 1832-1958, Holland Township, v. 1-2 ca. 1847-1958, page 9, Film #008199329, microfilm page 12
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLG-LQ2L-3?i=11&cat=330982
Abstract index books, ca. 1832-1958, Holland Township, v. 1-2 ca. 1847-1958, page 181, Film #008199329, microfilm page 98
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLG-LQ2N-M?i=97&cat=330982
Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1028-1029, page 62 Line 19, microfilm page 914
Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1028-1029, page 17, Lines 26-33, microfilm page 719
Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1027-1028, page 35, Line36, microfilm page 662
Grey Roots Museum and Archives, Grey County Land Records, Sullivan Township, Book #41, Instrument #203, page 464
Abstract index books, ca. 1832-1958, Sullivan Township, v. 1-2 ca. 1847-1958, Book 1, 121 – see book 242, Instrument #8544
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVG-GSJQ-P?i=69&cat=330982, Film # 008129790, microfilm page 70