Greetings,
On the 1850 census for Fayette Co., IN, Amos Milner lists his birthplace as Virginia NOT Pennsylvania. When Amos Milner was in what became Washington Co., PA -after- the revolution, it was claimed also by Virginia. This is a very common misunderstanding of the facts about Amos Milner. Anyone researching Amos Milner must research southwestern PA before the revolution and must look at all the sources. Most people who research him do not research any Virginia sources and this is a mistake. The question regarding the connection between Amos Milner and Isaac Milner is not one with a simple answer and most people are not willing to do the research necessary to arrive at the answers they are "looking for."
Researchers of Edward and Joseph Milner of Loudoun Co., VA did not mention a father for either one before 1980. As evidence, contributions for these two lines (Joseph and Edward Milner) were made by family researchers to Virginia Sharpe Hershey for her book Those Southern Milners and no father was ever mentioned. Also, she cited no records herself for Isaac Milner in the Loudoun County either. Her sources for her book were multiple researchers of different Milner lines and these lines (Edward and Joseph) were not her own. She did a great service to Milner research by publishing Milner records from all over the South in one place. But I believe she would tell you herself (and I was in contact with her in the 1990's and own a copy of her book) that her research was not complete and that if the lines weren't her own then she was relying on other Milner researchers for her facts. So her records represent the extent of knowledge of these Milner lines at that time (unless someone can prove otherwise).
In the 1990's I found records which suggested a tie between multiple Milner lines which I sent out in a newsletter at that time. I did a YDNA test -afterward- in which I matched a descendant of Edward which confirmed -my- research. This same descendant of Edward went online and posted these facts which he got from me through another person (who had received my newsletter) as his own. I can prove all this. This was very hurtful to me because I did the research at that time, which was not as easy as it is now through digital sources. Many, many people today copy and recopy trees from sources like Ancestry and never look at any original source material. They post queries online hoping someone else will give them the answer. But there is no easy way to learn anything new by accessing only what other people already have. One must look at all the previous facts but you also have to tie things together or make new discoveries by looking at new sources...
I possess records which I can use to construct a timeline for my Amos Milner lines starting in Virginia. Because the DAR and subsequently the SAR decided to close Amos Milner's line, I have spent my time trying to get his line reopened. I am using the same records I mentioned and I am currently waiting for a response from the corrections genealogist at the DAR. Some of the records I possess I have never seen cited any where else. But unless someone can show me otherwise, I was the first to make the suggestion for this relationship back in the 1990's based on sources I have cited and can cite.
Best Regards,
Mike Milner
Dallas, Texas
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