Parents of Freeborn Garrettson Milk/Milks

Question

This "Question" is intended to allow discussion of theories regarding the parents of [[Milk-116|Freeborn Garrettson (Milk) Milks (1797-1878)]]. The intent is to use "Answers" to detail each theory and "Comments" on those Answers to discuss each theory. "Comments" on the Question may be used for more general discussion. If you have a another plausible theory, please feel free to add it as another Answer so it can be discussed.

Answer 1

Theory 1: Parents were [[Milk-35|Job Milk (1748-1836)]] and [[Johnson-139431|Elizabeth (Johnson) Milks (abt.1753-1843)]] as published in [[Space:History_and_Genealogy_of_the_Milk-Milks_Family|History and Genealogy of the Milk-Milks Family]] (Croft et al) and [[Space:THE_MILK_-_MILKS_FAMILY_in_NORTH_AMERICA|THE MILK - MILKS FAMILY in NORTH AMERICA]] (Yorks). However, Croft et al wrote that the list of sons (including FG) were '''probably''' his descendants so even they weren't certain.

Answer 2

Theory 2: Parents were instead [[Milk-36|Benjamin Milk (1750-1813)]] and [[UNKNOWN-272455|Lydia (UNKNOWN) Milk (abt.1753-)]]. Member [[Allen-37926|Dan Allen]] has been exploring this theory using DNA and newly found documents.

Comments

On 8 Jul 2021 Dan Allen wrote on Milk-116:

I'm a DNA match to more than 25 descendants of Freeborn Garrettson Milks, and he was likely my 5th great uncle, so I've been trying for some time to figure out who his parents really were. I think there's a decent chance that they were actually [https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Milk-36 Benjamin Milk] (born 1750) and his wife Lydia. On the 1803 tax roll for Middletown, Delaware Co, NY, Benjamin Milk and the original Freeborn Garrettson (for whom Freeborn Garrettson Milks was named) appear on [https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6771/images/41761_328305-00660?pId=70365/ the same page]. Freeborn G Milks also named a son Benjamin.

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Also from Dan Allen 10 Aug 2023 on FB: Hi Gary, we traded a few notes on Freeborn G Milks' WikiTree page a couple of years back. I've just found some very interesting records that I think lend more substance to the possibility (I believe probability) that Freeborn was the son of Benjamin & Lydia (_) Milk/Milks. In the mortgage books of Ulster County, New York, book 9 page 638, is a record for Reverend Freeborn Garrettson mortgaging land in the town of Woodstock to Benjamin & Lydia Milk on 6 Aug 1803 (see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLG-7ZGG?cat=223871). On 2 Jan 1817, Freeborn Garrettson petitioned to sell the same land because Benjamin & Lydia Milk had defaulted on their mortgage (see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-J3DG-VRWK?i=316&cat=223871). Basically now being homeless, I think it's very possible that Benjamin & Lydia accompanied their son Freeborn G Milks to Canada around this same time.

If Benjamin Milk was Freeborn G Milks' father, there must have been a relationship between Benjamin and the original Freeborn Garrettson prior to 1803, since Freeborn G Milks (his obvious namesake) was born in 1797. But there clearly was a relationship. Benjamin was witness to a land sale by Freeborn Garrettson in 1808 (see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89WR-N942?i=526&cc=2078654), and Benjamin was also one of 5 men who bought land from Freeborn in 1813 for something called the Union Manufacturing Company (see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89WR-N9NY?i=489&cc=2078654).

Benjamin & Lydia Milk were almost certainly my 6th great-grandparents through their daughter Mercy or Mary, who married John Reed. I've found some 30 DNA matches who descend from Freeborn G Milks, a great many of whom also match DNA to my closer relatives on the Reed line. Interestingly (and confusingly for research purposes), I'm also related to Freeborn G Milks' wife Sarah Moore through 2 separate lines on her father's side, to Dorothy wife of Jedediah Moore (I descend from her first marriage to Mark Bignall), and to the Fish family (I descend from Elizabeth Fish, sister of Amie Fish who married Job Milk).

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According to the journal of Sarah's brother (and LDS bishop) David Moore, FG and Sarah also named their second daughter Lydia. They didn't name any of their children Job or Elizabeth. Very circumstantial but supports the argument that FG's parents were Benjamin and Lydia.

Answer 3

Theory 3 (included for completeness): Parents were [[Milk-27|Job Milk Jr. (1725-1804)]] and [[Fish-1606|Amie (Fish) Milk (1729-1804)]]. This theory isn't credible given the ages of Job and Amie when FG was born. Despite a warning by Croft et al against using these parents, many personal trees perpetuate this theory.