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Our earliest proven Miller ancestor was Frederick Miller, Raymon Brothers' great, great grandfather on his mother's side. I heard it from three or four different family cousins that Frederick Miller was a "full blooded German."    I didn't know if he was born in Germany and immigrated to America with his parents, of if he was born here after his parents came. The census record of one of his sons said he was born in Maryland.

We know the dates of birth and death of Frederick and Mary Miller from the tombstones where they were buried on the old home place he owned and where he lived, in White Plains, Hopkins County, KY. The writing on the tombstones is still legible. Frederick Miller was born 13 Oct 1782 and died 30 April 1853. He married Mary Durell in 1808 in Muhlenberg County, KY. She was born 13 April 1789 and died 28 Aug 1854. There are also three unmarked graves there. It is possible that one of them is the grave of Elizabeth Drake, first wife of Fredrick’s son, Stephen. One may be Stephen's second wife, Hester King. And one may be the grave of the infant daughter, Victoria, first born of William Garrett Miller, Stephen's son.

From the tax lists it seems Frederick Miller lived in Muhlenberg County until about 1831. There are land deeds showing he owned land in Ohio County, KY, also. He is shown on the 1840 census of Hopkins County, KY, but he may have moved there a couple of years before, for he and his wife were among the earliest members of the Concord Baptist Church in White Plains. The church was organized the second Sunday of August, 1838% and Frederick and Mary Miller are mentioned in the first minute book in October, 1838. Some of his children were members there in later years, also. That is interesting in light of a comment I read about one of his grandsons who "ran away to get married, probably because his bride's people objected to his Jewish ancestry." Abraham and Jacob are good Jewish names, but there is little evidence these Millers were "practising Jews", at least in Kentucky.

It was on 23 February 1847 Frederick Miller bought 100 acres of land on Drake's Creek for $300 from Dawson Gatlin and his wife, Polly. This land was part of a military survey to Mace Clements. This land was to stay in the Miller family for four generations. Just before Frederick died, he sold his son, Jacob T. Miller, 50 acres of the land. Then, after Mary died, son Stephen, bought the other 50 acres from the other heirs.

Stephen built a large two-story house on the property about 1867. The house is still standing. After Stephen's death, his son, William Garrett Miller bought out the other heirs and lived there. When he died, his children lived there two or three years. Harvey Oglesby and his wife, Gertie, who was William Garrett's daughter, lived there and helped care for the younger children. Lillie May, William Garret's oldest daughter, married Thomas Lee Brothers, and in 1903 he bought the house. His family lived there until 1910, when they moved to Florida. This ended the Miller connection with the land.

Frederick and Mary Miller had a large family. His 10 children were as follows:
[not in order of birth]
1.  Jacob T. Miller
2.  John D. Miller
3.  Stephen Miller
4. Felix Grundy Miller
5. Elizabeth Ann (Miller) Wilcox
6. Lewis Miller
7.  Frederick Wesner Miller
8.  Mary A. (Miller) Sisk
9.  Ephraim Miller
10. Nancy (Miller) Stewart

Four of these, John D., Elizabeth Ann, Felix Grundy, and Frederick Wesner, went to Hopkins County, Texas. Their stories are well documented by their descendants.
The remainder of this Miller history will be concerned with Frederick's son, Stephen, and his descendants, especially the descendants of his son, William Garrett, and William Garrett's daughter, Lillie May, who married Thomas Lee Brothers.

Mary Durell was also called Polly. Her parents were John and Martha Durell. They may have come from Virginia to Muhlenberg County, KY. Descendants of the Durells subsequently changed the name to Duvall. John Durell made a will on 13 May 1808, as he was in very poor health. In it we find the names of all of his children, and Mary was by this time married to Frederick Miller. The inventory of his estate mentioned one negro woman, valued at $333.34. She was named Ambert, and he bequeathed her to his wife, Martha, and after her death, to his heirs.Martha died before the April court term in 1827. During that term, the heirs of John Durell, by a deed, freed a negro woman in possession of John Durell, Jr. This may have been the Ambert mentioned in John Durrell, Sr.'s will.