52 Ancestors: #44, Johann Wilhelm Müller, Toddler Immigrant to Broad Bay

My 4x-great-grandfather Johann Wilhelm Müller is, technically speaking, my immigrant ancestor in the Miller line. However, considering that he was under two years old at the time, it could hardly have been his conscious decision to emigrate, so perhaps his father should take the honors!

Location of Herborn³

Wilhelm (these Germans typically went by their middle names¹) was born 29 January 1752 in the community of Hörbach in Herborn, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, and was baptized eight days later in Herborn Parish. His parents were Johann Peter and Anna Catharina (Lang) Müller, and his grandfather, Johann Henrich Müller, had been a forester and the mayor of his native community of Guntersdorf, also part of Herborn.²

In 1753, Peter and his wife boarded the ship Elizabeth, with Wilhelm and his 12-year-old brother Jost Henrich, bound for the Broad Bay colony in the wilds of the Waldo Patent on the Maine coast. The Elizabeth arrived at Broad Bay about 9 October 1753, where the Müllers joined the growing community of German immigrants and eventually Anglicized the family name to Miller. It is believed that they had four more children – three boys and a girl – in Broad Bay over the next ten years.⁴

Wilhelm – now known as William Miller – married Eve ______ around 1774, probably either in Waldoboro (Broad Bay had incorporated as Waldoboro in 1773) or in the adjacent town, then called Meduncook Plantation (incorporated as Friendship in 1807).⁵

Known and tentative children of William and Eve Miller (all born in Meduncook):

1. Mary "Polly" Miller, b. 1775, married Robert Suckforth
2. John Miller (tentative), b. say 1779, possibly married Asenath Morton
3. Catharine Miller, b. 1784, married Ira/Ary Simmons
4. Peter Miller (tentative), b. say 1785-89, married Sally Alston
5. William Miller Jr., b. say 1794, married ______ ______
6. Nancy Miller, b. say 1795-98, married William R. Willisee [?]
7. Charles Miller, b. ca 1799, married Eleanor Saunders

In addition, from census records it appears they may have had four additional children, yet to be identified.⁶

My Miller line here presents another case of pedigree collapse: Polly Miller's son Simon Sukeforth married William Jr.'s daughter Jane Miller. So, Simon and Jane's daughter Sarah Sukeforth (my great-grandmother) had only six great-grandparents instead of eight, just like my great-great-grandfather Nahum Rand.

William (Sr.) fought in the Revolutionary War; he was a private in Captain Jacob Ludwig's company in Machias in 1777.⁷ It appears that his wife Eve died, and William remarried, sometime between 1802 and 1810. In 1802, when William Sr. deeded land to John Miller (most likely his son), "Eve Miller wife to the said William" released her dower rights. But in 1810, when he deeded land to Peter Miller (again, most likely his son), it was his wife "Margaret Miller" releasing dower.⁸

William died apparently around mid-1817, as both he and William Jr. appear on an 1817 list of "rateable polls" in Friendship,⁹ while administration of his estate was granted in September 1817.¹⁰ His second wife Margaret, though only a year younger, outlived him by more than 30 years; in 1850 she was enumerated in the household of Robert Sukeforth, her step-son-in-law, at the ripe old age of 97.¹¹

My descent from Johann Peter Müller (Peter Miller) and his son Johann Wilhelm Müller (William Miller):

Johann Peter Müller + Anna Catharina Lang
  |
Johann Wilhelm Müller + Eve ______
  |________________________________________
  |                                       |
Polly Miller + Robert Suckforth         William Miller Jr. + ______ ______
  |                                       |
Simon Sukeforth ---------- + ---------- Jane Miller
  |
Sarah Sukeforth + Silas Kirk
  |
Chester Kirk + Mary Hodsdon (my paternal grandparents)

(Note: This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge at No Story Too Small.)

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SOURCES

1. Which was a good thing, considering that about every third guy had Johann for his first name.
2. Wilford W. Whitaker and Gary T. Horlacher, Broad Bay Pioneers (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1998), pp. 408-411.
3. Map of Herborn (Hesse), Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herborn_(Hesse) : accessed 1 Nov 2014).
4. Whitaker and Horlacher, pp. 408-11.
5. Marshall K. Kirk, “Miller: Waldoboro & Friendship, Maine,” undated typescript of unpublished research notes, Marshall K. Kirk Research Files; privately held by the author, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
6. For Mary "Polly" and Catherine, see Whitaker and Horlacher, p. 410. Evidence for the other five is presented in Kirk, "Miller: Waldoboro & Friendship, Maine," though some is still circumstantial and tentative. The 1790-1820 U.S. censuses for Meduncook/Friendship imply a total of 11 children.
7. Whitaker and Horlacher, p. 410.
8. Kirk, "Miller: Waldoboro & Friendship, Maine." Margaret Miller is probably Margaret Hilt, daughter of Johannes Hilt and Anna Elisabetha Möhlin (Whitaker and Horlacher, p. 410). Whitaker and Horlacher give Margaret as William's only wife and mother of Polly and Catherine, but the dower releases on the two deeds appear to refute that.
9. Belvin Thomas Williston, “List of Polls in Friendship, Me., 1817,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1929), vol. 83, p. 375; database and digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, AmericanAncestors.org (http://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 25 Oct 2014); citing papers found in house owned by grandfather of Mrs. W. J. Whitney of Friendship.
10. Kirk, "Miller: Waldoboro & Friendship, Maine."
11. 1850 U.S. Census, Lincoln County, Maine, Washington, p. 580 (penned), dwelling 307, family 307, Robert Suckforth household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Jun 2012).

52 Ancestors: #20, Catherine (Newbert) Sukeforth: Broad Bay Pioneer Daughter

Three months ago I related the tale of my ex-Hessian mercenary four times great grandfather, Andreas Suchfort (Andrew Sukeforth). Andreas provided only part of my one-eighth German heritage; his wife, Catherine Newbert (Neubert, Newbit), was also of German extraction, but by a very different route.

Beginning in 1742, several groups of German immigrants settled in the so-called Waldo Patent in Maine, forming a colony known as Broad Bay (later incorporated as the town of Waldoboro in 1773). The immigrant families who arrived aboard the ship Elizabeth in 1753 included 13-year-old Johannes (John) Neubert (born 1740, Froestockheim, Unterfranken, Bayern [Bavaria], Germany)¹ and 8-year-old Maria Elisabetha Benner (born 1744, Herbornseelbach, Hessen-Nassau, Germany)². About 1761 they married, and had eleven or twelve children.

The third of these was Catherine, born about 1764 in Broad Bay, Lincoln County, Maine.³ Catherine married, about 1778, Andreas Suchfort,⁴ a Hessian mercenary taken prisoner after the Battles of Saratoga.

Catherine and Andreas apparently had at least eight children:

1. John Suckforth, b. 1783, married Hannah P. Maddocks
2. Robert Suckforth, b. ca 1780-88, married 1) Mary "Polly" Miller, 2) Jane _____
3. Sally Suckforth, b. ca 1789, never married
4. Margaret Suckforth, b. 1792, married Waterman T. Newbert
5. Philip Suckforth, b. 1793, married Thankful Robinson
6. Love Suckforth, b. 1804, married Alden T. Newbert
7. Henry Suckforth,⁵ b. ca 1806-07, married 1) Hepsibah C. Ripley, 2) Mary C. Seavey
8. Ebenezer Suckforth,⁶ b. ca 1812-13, married Elizabeth "Betsey" Rokes

Catherine never appeared by name in a U.S. census, but we can infer her presence in Andrew's household from 1790 to 1830 and, probably, in son Philip's household in 1840:

• 1790, Barrettstown: one of two females in the household⁷
• 1800, Barrettstown Plantation: one female age 26-44 (Catherine would be 36)⁸
• 1810, Hope: one female 45 & up (Catherine would be 46)⁹
• 1820, Hope: one female 45 & up (Catherine would be 56)¹⁰
• 1830, Hope: one female 60-69 (Catherine would be 66)¹¹
• 1840, Hope: one female 70-79 (Catherine would be 76)¹²

Catherine does not appear in the 1850 census (nor does Andreas), so we can assume ahe died between 1840 and 1850. She was probably buried in Hope but there is no record of the location.

My descent from Catherine Newbert:

• Catherine Newbert and Andreas Suchfort (Andrew Sukeforth)
• Robert Suckforth (Sukeforth) and Polly Miller
• Simon Sukeforth and Jane Miller
• Sarah C. Sukeforth and Silas Kirk
• Chester F. Kirk and Mary M. Hodsdon (my paternal grandparents)

(Note: This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge at No Story Too Small.)

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SOURCES

1. Wilford W. Whitaker and Gary T. Horlacher, Broad Bay Pioneers (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1998), p. 489.
2. Ibid., p. 354.
3. Ibid., p. 490.
4. Ibid., p. 603. I'm suspicious of Whitaker & Horlacher's marriage date estimate of 1778, because (a) Catherine would have been only 14 (assuming that her birth year is correct), and (b) they also claim that Andreas came to Waldoboro "after 1778" (my emphasis). The date may have been chosen to accommodate the questionable 1780 birthdate for Robert. A birthdate of 1785 for him is more compatible with the census records, and would mean John was the oldest child, born 1783, allowing a marriage in 1782 at a more reasonable age of 18.
5. The assignment of Henry as Andreas's son is tentative. (The family did include a son of about this age, but it could conceivably be an Andrew Jr., ca 1808-1836, currently assigned to Robert's family.) In the 1840 census, Henry's household included one male 80-89, probably Andreas (who would have been about 85) who was no longer a head of household. This, in tandem with additional evidence provided by land deeds, seems a likely indication of a father-son relationship.
6. It seems highly questionable that Ebenezer could be Catherine's son, as she would have been at least 48 at his birth. Whitaker & Horlacher give Ebenezer's birth as 1802, but no source is indicated, and the available census records and his gravestone all point to 1812-13.
7. 1790 U.S. Census, Maine, Barrettstown, p. 107, Andrass Suchfort household; database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Dec 2012).
8. 1800 U.S. Census, Maine, Barrettstown Plantation, p. 662, unnumbered 4th line, Andrew Sukforth [sic] household; digital images, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 14 Apr 2012).
9. 1810 U.S. Census, Maine, Hope, unnumbered 9th line, Andrew Suchfort household; digital image, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 14 Apr 2012).
10. 1820 U.S. Census, Maine, Hope, p. 279 (penned), col. 1, unnumbered line 19, Andw Suckforth household; digital image, ProQuest, HeritageQuest Online (access through participating libraries : accessed 14 Apr 2012).
11. 1830 U.S. Census, Maine, Hope, p. 508 (penned), unnumbered line 4, Andrew Suckforth household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun 2012).
12. 1840 U.S. Census, Waldo County, Maine, Hope, p. 316 (stamped), unnumbered line 27, Philip Suckforth household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun 2012).