Thomas Miller Sr (abt. 1609 - 1680)

Born about 7 Nov 1609 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Isabel (Unknown) Miller — married about 1630 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Sarah (Nettleton) Harris — married 6 Jun 1666 in Middletown, Hartford, Colony of Connecticut

Descendants

Died 14 Aug 1680 at about age 70 in Middletown, Hartford, Colony of Connecticut

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Thomas Miller Sr migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 228) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Parentage An article published in 2007 in NEHGR Vol 161, page 280 (cited by Anderson in The Great Migration Directory for Thomas Miller, page 228), gives evidence that John Miller and Mary Pylston were not the parents of Thomas Miller of Middletown. For this reason they have been detached as parents despite earlier research^[1] showing them as parents. They should not be reattached without discussion with the Puritan Great Migration Project. See Disputed Parents and Child in Research Notes below.

Biography

Thomas Miller, a carpenter,^[2] emigrated from England To Rowley, Massachussetts Bay before August 24, 1640.^[3] In 1643 he had 1 1/2 acres and a house lot in Rowley and was licensed to "draw wine" in 1647 for which he yearly paid 15 shillings.^[4]

He removed to Middletown, Connecticut by 1651^[1] as one of the original twenty-three settlers of Middletown. His name is on the plaque at Founder's Rock, located at the entrance to Riverside Cemetery.^[1]

At a town meeting in 1652, he was appointed Surveyor of Highways and later appointed Townsman.^[2] In 1655, the town authorities made an agreement with him regarding the building of a grist mill, which he was to have charge of when completed, and, in 1671, the town released him from paying taxes so long as he owned and ran the mill.^[2]

In late 1665, scandal visited the family when Thomas impregnated his then servant Sarah Nettleton. Sarah gave birth to their son on 6 May 1666 and a few days later Thomas' wife Isabel died. Very shortly after Isabel's death, Thomas married Sarah Nettleton but was still imprisoned for adultery. The couple was fortunate to avoid the standard civil penalty of the day which included the whipping of both or being “burnt on the Forehead with the letter A.” Thomas' home church in Rowley excommunicated him. In 1674, Thomas made his only trip back to Massachusetts to express his repentance and his church membership was restored. Thomas and Sarah Miller had eight children together, the last born after Thomas’s death in 1680, when he was over 70 years old. Sarah married John Harris and lived well into her eighties.^[5] See Hartford County Court Minutes under Research Notes.

Thomas Miller died August 14, 1680 in Middletown, Connecticut.^[2] The location of his grave is unknown.^[1]

Marriages

(1) Isabel (unknown surname) about 1633. It may be read that this was possibly in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England, however, given the research published in 2007 (see Disputed Parents and Child in Research Notes) this location is without foundation.

(2) Sarah Nettleton June 6, 1666, Middletown, Connecticut.^[6]

Research Notes

Disputed Parents and Child

An article published by William Wyman Fiske in 2007 in The New England Historical and genealogical Register, Vol 161, page 280, (cited for Thomas Miller by Anderson in The Great Migration Directory page 228) shows that contrary to previous estimations, Thomas Miller the immigrant of Middletown, Connecticut was not the son of John and Mary (Pilston) Miller of Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire.^[7] (They did have a son Thomas baptized 7 Nov 1609, however he was buried 23 April 1614, at which point his mother was probably past child bearing age.)^[7] Additionally, William Fiske shows that the will of Joan (____) (Wylley) Pilston is evidence that she was the mother of Mary Pilston (and not Agnes (Eliot) Pilston. Thomas Miller needs to be disconnected as son of John and Mary (Pilston) Miller AND Joan (____) (Wylley) Pilston needs to replace Agnes (Eliot) Pilston as the mother of Mary Pilston.

Hartford County Court Minutes

^[8]

March 1, 1665-6, p. 47:

"This court doth adjuge Thomas Miller for his notorious wickedness in comitting uncleaness with Sarah Nettleton his servant who saith (to which he ascenteth) she is with child by him. to be kept in safe Custody in the Goale until the next Lecture day at Hartford and then to be brought forth and to suffer Corporall punishment by whipping upon his naked body to ye number of twenty stripes at least. and further the said Miller is either to pay five pounds as a fine to ye Public Treasury or to suffer corporall punishment by whipping on the naked body three months hence. and he is disenfranchised according to law. Sarah Nettleton for her actual uncleanes with Thomas Miller is sentenced by this Court to suffer corporal punishment by whipping on her naked body after she is dilivered of her child or she pay a fine of 10 pounds to ye public treasury."

p. 49

"Upen ye request of some of ye inhabitants of MiddleTown to ye end that ye wife of Thomas Miller and Sarah Nettleton may be provided for This Court doth order the Constable and Nathaniel Bacon of MiddleTown to secure Millers estate until futher order be taken by this court"

p.51

"this Court considering the Estate of Thomas Miller, inventoried, and the desire of his wife, lately deceased, in reference to the wrongs done to her by his notorious uncleanes, that ye court would state some considerable part of ye estate of the said Miller upon her child(Ann) the wife of Nathaniel Bacon, does therfore see just cause to allow to Nathaniel bacon, husband to Ann Bacon daughter to the said Thomas & Isabel Miller All ye wearing Apparel linnen and Woolen with those other small things mentioned in the Inventory amounting to five pounds, five shillings. Also the cow and calf in Bacons custody also ye warming pan and great Bible five pounds five shillings. To Anna Bacon Junr. ye old trunk. And out of ye Estate Thirty pounds more to be paid unto yo said N. bacon by the 25th of March next ensueinge in Currant Corne Beef or Porke or otherwise to N. Bacon content. This being discharged by Thomas Miller, it is to be the finall issue of all demands the N. Bacon may make for charge in keeping Isabel Miller or of her buriall or upon and account for things past. The Land of Thomas Miller stands security for payment of ye said summ."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Bacon, Reginald W., Early Families of Middletown, Connecticut, Volume 1: 1650 - 1654. Newburyport, MA: Variety Arts Press, pp. 5, 61-63, 99.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Thomas Miller, pdf by RW Bacon, Ed. "The Middler", pages 1 - 3, citing Frank Farnsworth Starr, "the Settlers of Mattabeseck 1650 - 1660"
3. ↑ Lechford: Note-book Kept by Thomas Lechford, Esq., lawyer, in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, from June 27, 1638 to July 29, 1641. p. 289.see at archive.org
4. ↑ Early settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts: a genealogical record of the families who settled in Rowley before 1700" George B. Blodgette. pub by Rowley, Mass: 1633. p. 242.see at archive.org
5. ↑ Middlesex County Historical Society, Stories of English Settlers, please note this compiled information is not sourced to primary documents although court records are found on this profile.
6. ↑ Torrey, "New England Marriages" Vol. 2, p. 1040. New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Transcript: MILLER, Thomas (1610-1680) & 2/wf Sarah NETTLETON (1642-1728) m/2 [Thomas] HARRIS; 6 Jun 1666; Middletown, CT.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Joan (____) (Wylley) Pilston of Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire], by William Wyman Fiske, NEHGR Vol 161 (2207) page 280
8. ↑ Hartford County (Connecticut) Court Minutes, Vols 3 & 4

See Also:

• Louis Effingham De Forest. "Moore and Allied Families; the ancestry of William Henry Moore" The De Forest Publishing Company, New York, N. Y. (1938). p. 176 ff.see at archive.org
• A Compilation of The Society of Middletown First Settlers Descendants pdf by RW Bacon, Ed. "The Middler", Thomas Miller, pages 1 - 3
• Jacobus, Donald Lines. "The Nettletons in America", The Connecticut Quarterly (Hartford, Conn., 1908) Vol. 11, Pt. 2, Page 492 see at one click to hathitrust
• Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.)V. 18, p. 29.link for subscribers
• Manwaring, Charles William. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records (R. S. Peck & Co., 1904) Vol. 1, Page 334.
• *White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1034/images/VBMDUSACT1634_0027-0075?treeid=173862278&personid=242256537636&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=181657