Scott White and Rachel Miller
Scott was born Abt. 1826 in Ohio, USA and his death date is unknown
Rachel Miller – Abt 1825 in Maryland, USA her death was before Oct 1911.
Farm – Con 2, Lot 21, Holland Township, Grey, Ontario, Canada
On Scott White’s 1849 Naturalization Registration, it notes that as of 10 Feb 1841 he was residing in ‘Delaria’, Ohio. I believe the locale was in fact Delaware, Ohio. The registration also tells us that he was residing in Sydenham, Ontario on 13 March 1849 when he swore his oath to the British Crown and signed his declaration in Waterloo County.
The circumstances of how Scott came to know his future wife and her family are unclear. We do know that he met and married Rachel Miller around 1846-47. She was the youngest daughter of Henry and Priscilla Miller who had settled on a Sullivan Township farm in 1842 on the west side of the Garafraxa Road where Negro Creek crosses.
If Scott was interested in starting a farm of his own near his new in-laws, the first thing he needed to do was apply for and receive his British citizenship as that was part of the criteria to be eligible to receive a location ticket for a farm lot of Crown land. By the time Scott received his British Naturalization in March of 1849, he and Rachel had a one-year-old baby daughter named Priscilla.
Per the 1851 census, Scott and Rachel had laid down stakes on a 50-acre farm lot located on the east side of the Garafraxa in Holland Tsp on Con 2, Lot 21. Although the Agricultural Schedule of this census lists Scott’s brother-in-law Thomas Miller as having his own 50-acre farm next door on Lot 22, the personal census shows them residing together in a shanty on Scott’s farm along with a 10-year-old girl named Caroline Parker who is listed as a ‘servant’. The notation on the census states 1 dwelling, and 1 family.
In that first census, Scott had 7 acres under cultivation with 4 under crops. He 2 acres of wheat which produced 20 bushels, ½ acre of barley produced 10 bushels, ½ acre of Indian corn produced 11 bushels, 1 acre of potatoes produced 50 bushels, and 1 acre of turnips that produced 100 bushels. He also had 2 milking cows, 1 calf/heifer, and 1 pig.
According to land registry records Scott White never received a patent for his farm. In the Holland Township Abstract index book 1, the patent was granted to Elizabeth Breese on 20 Nov 1861 for the eastern part of the lot which consisted of 50 acres. However, in Land Registry Book #165 on page 247, Elizabeth was granted her patent on 28 Feb 1868 for the whole lot now consisting of 72 acres[iv]. However, the registrar documented the Crown patent for Con 2, Lot 21, we know that Scott White did not receive it. What we don’t is why.
We have not been able to find Scott, Rachel, and their growing family in the 1861 census. We suspect that the census was taken during the time that they were travelling or had just settled down in their new home and missed the enumerator. We do know that their daughter Nancy Alvina White was born in London, Ontario around 1860, which was noted on her 1891 marriage registration to her cousin Joshua Miller.
The White family was living in London during the 1871 census. Scott is noted as age 61 and married, born in the U.S. was of African origins, and was a ‘Farmer’. His wife Rachel was 37, born in the U.S., and was also of African origins. They had 5 children living in the household, Wesley aged 19, Mary aged 18, Nancy aged 10, Bethema aged 6, and Silas aged 2.
We do know from historical documents that the family stayed in touch with their Miller relatives. As mentioned, their daughter Nancy A. married Rachel’s brother Thomas Henry Millers’ son Joshua in Sept 1891. Nancy Alvina White-Miller is also documented as selling the west half of Henry and Priscilla Miller’s Sullivan Township farm on 24 Nov 1911, (which was bequeathed to her mother Rachel, and cousins James and Mary Miller jointly upon the Oct 1911 death of Thomas Henry Miller), for $50 to James Allen. Thanks to this documented information in Registry book 242, Instrument #8544 regarding the above-mentioned land sale, we know that Rachel Miller-White had already passed away before Oct 1911, unfortunately, we have not uncovered the exact date.
We continue to research the lives of Scott White and Rachel Miller, as we uncover more documented information this site will be updated.
Written and researched by Nancy M. Lee
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Library and Archives Canada, Upper Canada: Naturalization Registers, 1828-50, Microfilm Reel # C-15693, RG5, B 47, vol. 8, Item # 3140
Year: 1851; Census Place: Grey, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C-11723; Page: 13; Line: 16
Abstract index books, ca. 1832-1958, Holland Township, v. 1-2 ca. 1847-1958, Film # 00819932, microfilm page 16, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLG-LQ2T-K?i=15&cat=330982 https://www.onland.ca/ui/16/books/49558/viewer/60436656?page=201, Grey Book (16) Holland Tsp, Con 2, Holland Book 165, microfilm page 201
Year: 1871; Census Place: London, Middlesex East, Ontario; Roll: C-9905; Page: 9; Family No: 32, Lines 12-18.
Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 80