Louie Miller

Notes:

Said to be buried at the Woods Cemetery.

Richard married Flora L. Woods on 9 Oct 1884 in Newton County, Texas. Flora (daughter of Rayford "Rafe" Woods and Elizabeth Jane Jordan) was born on 5 Apr 1870 in Newton County, Texas; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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.

Notes:

Barbara Yancey Dore shows that he married second, Nancy "Nannie" Youngblood, b. 1854 Tx. She had been married first to a DICKERSON. They were married on 5 Dec 1902 in Newton County, Texas.

Rayford married Elizabeth Jane Jordan on 17 Jul 1865 in Newton County, Texas. Elizabeth was born on 15 Sep 1846 in Georgia; died on 12 May 1902 in Newton County, Texas; was buried in Woods Cemetery, Burkeville, Newton County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Seborn Woods was a devout Christian, and was not in Texas long (1844) before he helped to organize a Baptist Church in his home. On Aug. 3, 1850, he helped to organize the Little Flock Baptist Church, the name later being changed to the Sandia Baptist Church. It is the oldest Baptist church in this association. The Woods family was one of the most numerous in Newton County, and all of them being good citizens, were liked and respected. (White and Toole, p 76). White and Toole show him as a son of John Woods and brother to Allen J. Woods.

(Research):

Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, Newton County
Enumerated 25 Oct 1850
80-80
Seabourn Woods 41 M Blacksmith 500 Ga
Nancy Woods 35 F Tenn
Marinda Woods 12 F Miss
Callaway Woods 10 M Miss
Waltin Woods 8 M Tx
Rayford Woods 6 M Tx
Ransom Woods 4 M Tx
Samuel/Lammul Woods 2 M Tx
81-81
Hiram Woods 18 M Laborer Tenn
Charlotte Woods 20 F La
Mathew Marshall 70 M Farmer 70 Ga

1860 Census
Texas, Newton County, PO Newton
Enumerated 7 July 1860
Page 37
236-236
Seaborn Woods 50 M Farmer 1500 1340 Ga
Nancy Woods 46 F Tenn
Rayford Woods 17 M Domestinc Tx
Marinda Woods 22 F Misss
Ransom D Woods 13 M Domestic Tx
Lemuel Woods 12 M Tx
Elizabeth Woods 7 F Tx
Lewis Woods 6 M Tx
Henry Woods 10/12 M Tx

Seborn married Nancy Marshall about 1830. Nancy was born about 1814 in Tennessee; died about 1893. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

At the time of the 1880 census, she was living with her daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and George Woods, in Newton County, Texas. The "Daughters of the Republic Of Texas, Patriot Ancestor Album, Volume 1" states that she was born in McNairy County, Tennessee on 1 May 1814, and that she married Seborn Woods ca 1830, living for a time inYalobusha County, Mississippi in 1840 and settled in what is now Newton County (then Jasper County) Texas.

Notes:

Married:
In the winter of 1840, they came to Texas and settled near Burkville, in Newton County. (White and Toole, p 76).