Henry Clay Miller

Notes:

Said to be buried at the Spears Chapel Cemetery.

Notes:

In "Newton County Nuggets" (Nortex Press, 1986), Dr. Arthur Miller wrote a 3 page history of the Miller family (p. 195-198).

He stated that in 1849, Rev. Robert Marcus Miller and George Miller brought their families to Texas. Rev. Miller, a Baptist Preacher, his wife, Averilla Elizabeth Hare and their son, James Cason, settled in the Spears Chapel settlement, five miles east of Burkeville. They had six more children before Averilla died. Four Hare families, orginally from South Carolina, also camed to Texas. Thomas Cason Hare and his wife Lucretia were probably the parents of Averilla Hare Miller. They are all bured at Tanner Cemetery, about a mile east of Burkeville.

George Miller had married Mary Owens of Florida, and they settled in the Quicksand community about ten miles southeast of Newton. They had three sons: Hamp, Ike and Burl---all of whom had quick tempers and loved a good fight. By contrast, Rev. Marcus's children were docile and easy going.

A neighbor of the Robert Marcus Miller family was Robert Cousins, born in Virginia. He was married to Sarah Jane Jordan, born in Alabama. They had six children before Robert Cousins died.

Another neighbor was Tom Byerly, he had lost his wife Matilda, so Tom and the widowed Sarah Jane Jordan Cousins were married, haviing one son, Caleb (sic) before Tom Byerly died.

Sarah Jane Jordan Cousins Byerly then married the widowed Rev. Robert Marcus Miller, and they proceeded to have six more children to add to their already large family.

Robert married Sarah Jane Jordan after 1861. Sarah was born on 17 Jan 1831 in Neshoba County, Mississippi; died on 11 Mar 1907 in San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in Little Flock Baptist Church Cemetery, San Augustine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Barbara Yancey Dore shows her as a daughter of Henry JORDAN and Mary Ann ROBERTS.

Her gravestone is inscribed Sarah J. Miller Born Jan 17, 1831 Died Mar 11 1907 Aged 76 Years 1 Mo 24 Days.

In "Glimpes of Newton County History" it was written that Sarah had been married twice before when she married as his second wife, Robert Marcus, who was a Baptist minister. Robert also farmed near Burkeville. "Seven children, six step-children and a husband who had to be away on weekends gave Sarah Miller plenty to do. She was a hardy pioneer woman who lived to be in her seventies."




(Research): She had also been married to Tom Byerly, and had one child by him, Claborn "Clay' Harrison Byerly.

Notes:

Married:
Dr. Arthur Miller, in "Newton County Nuggets" states that Sarah and the Rev. Robert Marcus Miller added six more children to their already large families, the oldest George Washington was born in 1862 and the youngest, Levi, was born in 1872, six months after his father had passed away. This left Sarah Jane, widowed three times, with the responsibility for 19 children in total. Dr. Miller recalls that his grandfather, Robert Martin Miller (born to Rev. Miller and Averilla), recalled that life got pretty tough for the large family. One year there was a severe drought and all the crops were lost. The government shipped corn to all the afflicted communities, and it was distributed among the struggling families. That year they lived on corn pone (bread) and even made a coffee substiute, consisting of corn that had been ground, sieved, and where the shaff had been parched. This, and any wild game or hogs off range kept them from starving.

Dr. Arthur A. Miller writes that before her death, Grandma Sarah had been making her home with her youngest child, Levi at Burkeville.