My Miller Mystery

My surname is Miller. It is believed my great-grandfather was known by the surname Müller at least until he came to the United States. We have reason to believe one of his brothers went by the surname of Müller even after he came to America. In my experience looking through the record books of Catholic churches in a few villages in Germany, it appears that Müller is essentially just an alternate spelling of Mueller and Miller. It doesn't appear there was any intentional or accidental name change when my great-grandfather, Charles Miller (aka Karl Müller) came to America. It is my belief that he just started spelling it this way and that's the way his children ended up spelling it. Regardless, I'm sure that should we find his baptismal record in Germany in any of these spellings, I know I'll recognize the family.

Charles and Philomena Bixenman Miller ca1900

Charles Miller was extremely secretive about where he came from. He said he was on the run from the German military and if they tracked him down, he would be treated as a deserter. Grandpa Leo H. Miller Sr. said he was confident he had relatives in Germany but he had no idea where.

Highlights from a Genealogy Class

From my years of at least weekly visits to my local Family History Center, many members of The local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) have come to know me and respect my knowledge of genealogy research. Because of this, the Bishopric of the local church asked me to teach a weekly genealogy class for their members. The class ultimately was more of a workshop with me helping about six people interested in their genealogy with online research. Let me tell you, the fact that every person's genealogy research is going to be completely different makes it quite a challenge to help six different people get started with online research. I essentially had to make five people wait while explaining how the first user should start, then move on to the second. When I was about halfway through helping the second person, the first person had found that he didn't find anything on his initial search. It was a pretty hectic hour but I hope that I helped everyone there at least a little bit. We'll find out next week with the next class.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City

In March, I made my first trip to Salt Lake City and, as you might expect, I spent most of my time at the Family History Library. Are you planning a trip there or thinking of going? If so, this article is for you.

First if you are considering a trip there, are you sure it would be worthwhile for you? I made good use of my time there but I'd imagine that some people, had they known what was available in their hometown, would have realized they could have done the same research in the hometown at a much lower cost. Before considering a trip to Salt Lake City, pay a visit to your local Family History Center. I will be detailing this in a post in the near future but much of what is available in Salt Lake City is also available at the Family History Centers across the country. If all you need is to examine a handful of microfilm rolls, do it locally for $7.50 per roll. Yes, you can view an unlimited number in SLC for free but don't forget to add the cost of gas or airfare along with the cost of a hotel room and eating out. If, on the other hand, you need to view books that are not available locally, or you need to search through dozens of microfilm rolls, it may make sense to take a trip to SLC.

Menke and Related Families in Hanover, Germany

Jim Menke did extensive research of the Menke family, which he spelled out in his "Menkes of Schwagstorf" booklet. In it, he outlined the Menke family in and around Schwagstorf, Furstenau, Hanover, Germany. His was one of the first family histories that I added to my genealogy database years ago. I didn't have access to the original documentation but he provided the information he obtained from it.

During my trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, I was able to look at microfilm of some of the church records that he looked at. A helpful staff member was also able to help me narrow down where families that seemed to be related to the Menkes would be from.


First, here is the baptismal record for my great-grandfather, Johan Anton "August" Menke:

yDNA Test Results for Miller/Müller Surname

I purchased a yDNA-37 marker test from Family Tree DNA in the hopes of finding where my Miller/Müller line, which is my direct paternal line, came from in Germany. I hoped that another male descendant from the same Miller line, although connected further back than my great-grandfather, would have also taken the test and had some genealogy research showing where his ancestors were from in Germany.

Charles Miller (aka Karl Müller) is in the front middle. We don't
know who is who among the rest but their names are: Gottlieb,
Annie Quenzer, Rika Susenberger, Sophia Schmalzl
and an uknown brother. 

Bixenman Church Records

This is my second post regarding information I found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. This information could also be found by going to your local Family History Center and ordering a microfilm in for you to look at locally.

Previously, when it came to my Bixenman ancestry, I just relied on Sister Catherine Seemann's research in the books she wrote and published back in 1999:
The Bixenman Family - Volume 1 and Bixenman Family Tree - Volume 2

Since I was at the Family History Library, I figured I'd take a look at the church records for two reasons. First, I always want to have copies of the original documentation for any of my ancestors that I can find. That way I know for certain I have the correct information. Second, I figured that in the 15 years since Sister Catherine did her research, more information might have become available and it's possible, however unlikely, that she may have missed a tidbit of information that might open us up for finding new information. I did get the original documentation and I'm happy to have it, and it appears Sister Catherine did a very thorough job of research. I think I see all of the information available from the German church records for this family. Here's what I found:

St. Patrick's Day - Hugh Kelly

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, this post is what I discovered about my great-great-grandfather, Hugh Kelly, while at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

When it comes to my Irish ancestors, I expected to find nothing about Hugh and loads about Catherine Murphy and Thomas Doran. Of course, just the opposite happened. The Dorans and the Murphys are as elusive as ever but I'm following an interesting trail to find Hugh Kelly's family and it's quite surprising where it leads. Keep in mind that what you see matches what we already knew about Hugh Kelly, but it is not conclusive proof that we've found the right family. If you have information that helps support this conclusion or disproves it, I'm very interested in hearing about what you have. Let me know!

Many Projects - Upcoming Posts

I have many irons in the genealogical fire at the moment. These will end up being posts over the next several weeks. They'll take some time to get the results or just for me to get the information organized. Here's what you can expect:

1. I purchased a yDNA-37 test. I expect this test to help me identify which of the many many Miller families in Germany my great-grandfather was a member of so I can begin the genealogical work on his family. I expect the first result about March 22. I'll be posting as soon as I learn more.

Biography of Franz Joseph Panther

Franz Joseph Panther was born on January 14, 1768 in Stadelhofen, Ortenaukreis, Baden, Germany into the the family of Nicolai Panther and Anna Maria Lümple. At the time of his birth, Nicolai and Anna Maria had one other child, their daughter, Ludgarthis. Two sons had died prior to Franz Joseph being born. The first was also named Franz Joseph. He had been born on May 22, 1758 and died just shy of his second birthday on May 9, 1760. The other was Joannes, born May 26, 1763 and died just after his second birthday on June 2, 1765. Franz Joseph was the last child born into the family so he grew up with only one older sister.

Tracking the Family of Catherine Murphy to Ireland

I'm traveling for work and have a day off in a town I'm really not interested in exploring so what better to do than to dig into whatever genealogy I can work on from my laptop. I went back to an email I received from a distant cousin regarding my great-great-grandmother, Catherine Murphy and what appeared to be the baptismal record for her child, one I already know about named Michael Dee Kelly. These are Irish records that can be found at http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/. I've known about the page for a little while but I didn't realize that they actually have some of the church records available on the web site. Had I realized this, I would have been digging into this information a long time ago.

Here is the evidence and where it led:

The Doran Property - Using Property Records

I got a question from a Miller cousin who asked about Patrick Anthony Miller, the brother of my father who died when he was about two years old. There is some confusion regarding how he died. The Bixenman Family History book notes that he drowned in a pond on the family property. My mother and at least one of my cousins thought that he died of an illness. I decided to see what I could find out about his death.

First, here is his headstone in the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Fort Madison, Lee County, Iowa. He is buried close to his parents and grandparents. 

T. Patrick Headstone in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Fort Madison, Lee County, Iowa

A Couple of Tricks to Find All Ancestors in a Given Census

I encourage all genealogists to do their best to find all of their direct ancestors in every available census. The only way to do this is go have a plan and go at it systematically. Ancestry.com has the 1880 and 1940 US Federal Censuses available to everyone for free. There's no reason not to be sure you have the census images for all the ancestors you can.

What I did was decided I was going to work on the 1880 Census. I pulled up my family tree in pedigree view. This showed me all ancestors back to and including all of my great-great-grandparents. I started a the top of the chart (the direct male line) and figured out which of them would have been alive at the time of the 1880 census and where they were living at the time. If I didn't already have the images of them in the census, I went to Ancestry, brought up the 1880 census and, on the right side of the page, browsed down to the town I expected them to be in.

Moriz Panther Biography

Moriz Panther, my great-great-grandfather, was born in Stadelhofen, A. Achern Ortenaukreis, Baden. His parents, Franz Joseph Panther and Genovefa Schindler, moved the family from Stadelhofen to Mösbach some time after the children were born.

Moriz Panther Baptismal Record

Links to My Family History Pages

Here's a listing of all the web links I have regarding family history research I'm working on:

My main blog page (this page): http://matthewkmiller.blogspot.com. Be sure to bookmark it if you haven't already.

My main link page that links to all the other pages I have going. If you save only one Favorite or Bookmark, make it this one:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~matthewkmiller/

My full family tree on RootsWeb: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=mattmiller

My Lulu storefront selling all family history books I've made available: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/matthewkmiller

Here are the individual books that are available:
Moriz Panther and Elizabeth Birk - Their Descendants and Ancestors: http://www.lulu.com/shop/matthew-k-miller/moriz-panther-and-elizabeth-birk-their-descendants-and-ancestors/hardcover/product-20362436.html

The Bixenman Family - Volume 1 - By Sister Catherine Seemann: http://www.lulu.com/shop/sister-catherine-seemann/the-bixenman-family-volume-1/hardcover/product-20477261.html

Bixenman Family Tree - Volume 2 - By Sister Catherine Seemann: http://www.lulu.com/shop/sister-catherine-seemann/bixenman-family-tree-volume-2/hardcover/product-21234754.html

My YouTube Channel - Most of the videos aren't family history related. They are videos of things I've recorded that I found interesting but should I record anything family history related, it will be here: https://www.youtube.com/user/matthewmille

German Church Record Basics - Part 2 - Latin Records

This is Part 2 of German Church Record Basics - Latin Records. The church record books in Germany prior to about 1800 were typically written in Latin. After about 1800, they were written in German. The part covering the church book records in the German language can be found here: http://matthewkmiller.blogspot.com/2013/12/german-church-record-basics-part-1.html .

Here are a few sample German Church records in Latin:

Latin Birth/Baptismal (Natus/Baptizatus) Record

Latin Marriage (Matrimonius) Record

Latin Death (Mortus) Record

Latin Birth/Baptism (Natus/Baptizatus) Record - The key words you're looking for are: