#52 Ancestor Challenge, Week 52, Resolution is a Miller Gene

#52 Ancestor Weeks Challenge, Week # 52
Prompt: Resolution

Resolve is a Miller Gene

 The  Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

Resolution(noun) is a firm decision to do or not do something. 

By the winter of 1864-65 Arkansas had lost 10,000 sons in the War Between the States; it was the worst disaster in its history from which it never recovered.  One by one, except one, the Miller sons returned home to Arkansas. The news of the War was forever grim and grimmer; and every day the John Miller family resolutely awaited news of the fate of the remaining son, the first-born, James Monroe Miller.  Where could he be? 

Five years earlier, the John and Nancy Miller family along with their son James, and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine (nee Killian), with three children, William Samuel ‘Quillan’, Nancy Elizabeth, and the newborn, John ‘Nelson,’ sold their properties in Rising Fawn, Dade County, Georgia.  They likely traveled north into Tennessee, then west on the Long Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail Trail to move to Texas.  No doubt, the beautiful Ouachita Mountains of Western Arkansas felt like home because they determined to stay in Polk County, Arkansas and not continue on to Texas.   

The Millers settled near Dallas, Arkansas, an unincorporated town that had an abundance of wild game and rich timber resources.  They bought small farms and grew subsistence crops and cotton.  

 War came to Arkansas.  The state seceded from the Union, 6 May 1861.  Arkansas lawmakers voted 65-5 to be the ninth of 11 Southern states to join the Confederate States of America.  The Millers, although they were not slave owners, supported the Cause and enlisted;  John Thornton Miller returned to Dade County to enlist.  Joseph Wilson Miller and George Russell Miller had not yet left Dade County, and they enlisted there;  William Anderson Miller and James Monroe Miller enlisted in Arkansas.  James enlisted as 3^rdlieutenant with Williams Arkansas Cavalry; he was fighting in the War when his fourth child, Robert Morgan Miller was born 14 March 1863.  

By the winter of 1864-65, Arkansas was defeated.  James Monroe Miller, father, and husband, had not returned home.  His wife, 30-year-old, Elizabeth Catherine born 11 April 1834, decided to find him herself.  Enlisting the aid of her 26-year-old sister-in-law, Mary Jane Miller, the duo set off on horseback to find James, leaving the children in the care of James’ parents.

We don’t know where Elizabeth and Mary Jane searched.  We don’t know how far they traveled, who fed them, or where they stayed.  We only know the winter was harsh.  Elizabeth and Mary Jane returned home when Elizabeth became ill with pneumonia and tuberculosis.   21 March 1865, Elizabeth died, apparently not knowing James was dead.

Only later did the family learn that James Monroe Miller had died the previous October in Johnson Island Prison Camp near Sandusky, Ohio.  According to an email to Cynthia Forde,  (25 November 2004) from Edith Benson, James' grave number is 194. The source is the Ohio Genealogical Society complied by the Franklin County Chapter of the Confederate Cemeteries in Ohio.  

And that would be the tragic end of their story except for the resolution of James Miller’s fourth child, Robert Morgan Miller, whose life was indeed well lived. 

OBITUARIES

Robert Morgan Miller was born at Dallas, Arkansas, March 14, 1863. His father, a soldier in the confederate army, died a year later, and his mother died from hardships of the Civil War.

He came to Montana in 1884 with a trail herd from Texas and he engaged in ranching which occupation he followed nearly all his life except for a few years when he worked on construction work for the Great Northern Railway, and at lumbering near Helena.  He was married to Josephine Evans of Highwood in 1901, and to this union were born three children, Robert, Nelson, and Gladys now Mrs. Wm. Harmon, these with 10 grandchildren survive.

They came to Bainville in 1903.  and lived on a ranch at Red Banks Creek most of the time and part of the time in town. He was esteemed by all who knew him, and he devoted much attention to the education of his children.  Of an active disposition, he kept busy even with the advancing years and never considered himself retired.  During the past month his health failed rapidly and just before the final crisis he went to Helena to the home of his son Robert for the medical attention where he passed away June 30, 1937, aged 75 years three months and 16 days. His passing comes as a distinct loss to his family and also to the larger circle of his friends and acquaintances by whom he was universally loved and respected.  He was a regular attendant of the Methodist church and was deeply interested in Bible Study and the things of the spiritual life.

Funeral Services were held at the Harmon Home on Sunday afternoon, conducted by Rev. F. W. Age of the Methodist Church who spoke on the subject, "Light at Evening."  A quartette composed of Mrs. Chas. Johnson, and others.  At his personal request, he was laid to rest in a private burial lot on the Harmon Ranch SE of town where he was laid to rest beside the body of his grandchild, Lauren Harmon who died of drowning three years to the day of his funeral.

Bob Miller Dies in Helena at Home of Son

Mr. Miller was known and esteemed by a great many friends, not only in Roosevelt County but in all parts of the state where he had resided during the last half-century.

Robert Morgan Miller was born 14 March1863 in Dallas, Arkansas, the fourth and youngest child of his parents.  His father, James Monroe Miller, a 3rd Lieutenant in Williamson's Arkansas Cavalry in the Confederate Army died in captivity at Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio 1 October 1864; his mother, Elizabeth Killian Miller died of pneumonia and tuberculosis 24 February 1865 just before Robert turned two, without knowing of the death of her husband.

Robert was raised by his grandparents, John and Nancy Miller, and his Aunt Mary Jane until his sister Nancy married the Reverend John Wesley Vantrease in 1871. Nannie took him with her to her new home, and he lived with them until he was 15.  At age 15, he went to Texas and worked there on a ranch.  At age 21 he came up the Chisholm Trail with the first herd of the O (Circle) Ranch cattle outfit to come to Montana.  Some of the old ranch buildings, where the town of Circle now stands, and which he helped to build are still in use.  He was later employed on the construction of the Great Northern Railroad through Montana and then worked for a while in the woods near Helena.

About 1899 or 1900 he homesteaded in upper Sand Coulee, Montana near Evans Post Office. There, he met and married Josephine Evans of Lower Highwood March 17, 1901.  In 1903, he traded his farm for cattle, and with his family, drove them to Culbertson.   He worked for a year or so for J.S. Day, across the Missouri River from Culbertson, then he and his wife filed on 'desert' claims on Red Bank Creek 10 miles northeast of what is now Bainville.

The first winter most of the cattle died and he turned to farm with somewhat primitive equipment.  Later, he mostly raised horses.  He resided on the ranch for 35 years, in a constant battle with drought and debt. He died 1 July 1937, while visiting at the home of his son, Robert, in Helena, Montana

(Written by his son, Robert E. Miller, father of Gladys "Dinah" Miller Tillotson)

The History of Johnson’s Island 

Johnson's Island was a Union prison for Confederate officers during the American Civil War. It was located in Sandusky Bay of Lake Erie, near Sandusky, Ohio. The prison was built on this island for several reasons. Because of the island's isolated location, it would be very difficult for prisoners to escape. At the same time, the island was near several important Ohio cities and lines of road, rail and water transportation. It was relatively easy to acquire building supplies to construct the prison, as well as to secure food to feed the inmates.

Federal officials intended to house nearly three thousand prisoners at any one time. Twelve buildings housed the prison population, while a thirteenth structure served as a camp hospital. Each building was approximately 130 feet by twenty-four feet and was two stories high. Several latrines and two mess halls were built for the prisoners. A sutler's store also operated within the prison camp and sold items to the prisoners. Some prisoners received money from family members and friends. Additional buildings associated with the prison were built on the island, but they were located outside of the confines of the prison camp. These structures included barracks for the 128^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who served as guards for most of the war. Other buildings included various barns, stables, and an arsenal. There were at least two forts - Forts Johnson and Hill. 

The prison at Johnson's Island opened in April 1862. It continued to house prisoners until September 1865. Estimates vary on the number of prisoners who spent time at Johnson's Island, but it is likely at least ten thousand men spent time there. Of those men, approximately three hundred died at the camp. Most of these men died from diseases common in military camps during the Civil War. Additional men perished trying to escape from the camp or from the harsh winters on Lake Erie. While life was hard at Johnson's Island, it is important to note that the conditions here were better than those at other Northern and Southern military prisons were. One of the main reasons for this was the type of prisoners -- officers -- housed there. Many of these men came from wealthier backgrounds and received financial assistance from their loved ones. Northern officials also believed officers were deserving of kinder treatment than enlisted men because of the officers' standing in society. Federal officials removed Johnson's Island's original warden, former Sandusky mayor William Pierson, for abusing prisoners in January 1864.

Conditions at Camp Chase, a military prison in Columbus, Ohio, deteriorated greatly once Confederate officers were sent to Johnson's Island. The death rate was significantly higher at Camp Chase than at Johnson's Island..

The Johnson's Island prison was the site for one of the most elaborately planned prison escape attempts of the Civil War. Confederate Captains Charles Cole and John Yates Beall hoped to free the prisoners at Johnson's Island. They then would form an army from these inmates and travel to Columbus to free the prisoners at Camp Chase. After freeing these men, this newly formed Confederate army would operate across Ohio and create havoc in the heart of the North. The planners believed that Northern officials would have to dispatch Union soldiers currently operating in the Confederacy to deal with this new threat. With fewer soldiers now facing them, Confederate forces might be able to defeat the Northern armies in the South.

The plan began during the early summer of 1864 when Charles Cole arrived in Sandusky. He was working as a representative of the Mount Hope Oil Company of Pennsylvania. Cole used this position to win the trust of some of Sandusky's prominent residents and a number of Union army officers. Cole succeeded in having ten Confederates enlisted in the 128^th Ohio Infantry. These ten men were stationed at Johnson's Island and would assist in the plot. John Beall and a group of Confederates would seize control of the Philo Parsons, a passenger steamship operating on Lake Erie. Beall would sail the Philo Parsons to Sandusky Bay, where the Confederates onboard would sail beside Michigan, the only Union gunboat on Lake Erie. The Confederates would jump to the Union vessel and secure control of it. With Southerners in control of the Michigan, Cole, and Beall were certain that the Northern guards at Johnson's Island would immediately surrender. 

On September 19, 1864, Beall and twenty-five men seized control of the Philo Parsons. The men then headed the ship towards Sandusky Bay. They anchored the ship outside of the bay and waited for a signal from Cole. Cole had planned a dinner party on board Michigan for the ship's officers on September 20. He and a few other men planned to drug the officers. Before Cole could carry out his plot, an officer from Johnson's Island arrived with an arrest warrant. A telegram had arrived earlier that day ordering Cole's arrest for spying. On the same evening on the Philo Parsons, seventeen of Beall's men staged a mutiny and forced Beall to abandon his plan. Cole remained in prison for the duration of the war, while Beall was executed for spying for the Confederacy on February 24, 1865. As a result of this plot, Union officers ordered the construction of Forts Johnson and Hill during the winter of 1864-1865.

Following the Civil War, federal officials sold the prison's buildings and land. Most of the island became farmland. By the 1950s, Johnson's Island became a residential community and a popular vacation spot.