Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller was born May 15, 1786, in Greenbrier Couny, Virginia, in what was still Colonial America; the Constitution wasn't ratified until 1789, after all. But was he Andrew Jackson Miller, or Andrew J. Miller, or Andrew Isaac Miller? Or just plain Andrew Miller? And especially, was his wife Nancy a Cherokee?

Early life: Virginia and Tennessee

Few records exist from Andrew's youth in Virginia or Tennessee, where his father, James Miller, Junior, brought the family sometime after 1800. Tennessee was still wild at the time, "Indian country": It wasn't one of the original Thirteen Colonies, and Daniel Boone had only just blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky and Northern Tennessee in 1775. The Miller’s followed Boone’s footsteps sometimes between 1800 and 1810 and were early pioneers of East Tennessee, settling in Powell’s Valley.

Andrew likely met and married his wife, Nancy, around 1808 in Powell's Valley. The couple raised several children there, first Elizabeth in 1809, then Rebecca in 1812, and then Isaac N in 1814. Andrew is in the 1818 tax list, but not any deed books: This family of five must have lived under his father's roof. Andrew Miller Senior and his five hearty sons must have built a sizeable farmhouse on their pastoral land.

But who Nancy? There is no record of their marriage in any county marriage book, hence no way to glean her maiden name. (To be fair, there aren’t marriage records for his brother James, circa 1811, or his sister Jane, circa 1812.) so who was Nancy?

The two Nancys

Historians connect two story lines with Andrew Miller; neither is plausible. In the first, he married a woman named Nancy Mitchell in Rockbridge, Virginia, on June 10, 1806. Yet the Millers lived in Greenbrier, not Rockbridge. And on the marriage bond, the groom clearly signs his name Henry Miller.

The other story connects Andrew with Nancy Brown, the daughter of Chief Red Feather Brown Maghpiway Lenape of the Cherokee Nation. That marriage would have taken place correctly in Tennessee, rather than Virginia. But Nancy Brown lived a century earlier. The confusion likely arose because an "Andrew Miller" can be found in the 1817 Cherokee reservation list, which notes his inclusion in the tribe "by right of wife” — a different Andrew Miller, unfortunately.

The historical records are yet more complicated: An Andrew Miller (another? Well there were quite a few) married a woman named Nancy Miller on January 11, 1825, in Washington, Tennessee, as well. His uncle, perhaps? But why would she have the maiden name Miller? They weren't related, were they? Nancy remains a mystery.

Move to Missouri

James Miller and his five sons -- James Jr. (1784), Andrew (1786), Thomas (1792), Richard (1798), and John (1808) -- "joined the Tennessee colony in 1815-1816, at the mouth of the Moniteau," according to a history book published in 1889. The date is likely mid-1817 instead, but they were nonetheless pioneers of Missouri, and some of the earliest settlers in the area.

Along with the rest of his family, Andrew Miller can be found (at last!) in Cole county (which was freshy carved from Cooper a decade earlier) in the 1830 Census and Platte county in the 1840 census. Residence in Cooper County is supported by a statement from a family friend, John Franklin Hardcastle, to the Office of Commission on Citizenship from 1888. For what it's worth, Hardcastle's move to Missouri is documented to 1820.

The three deaths of Andrew Miller

Cats have nine lives. Andrew Miller had three deaths. He "removed himself to Platte," as John Hardcastle put it, around 1835, and died in Platte County on July 22, 1847. The Annals of Platte County note his family, including widow Nancy, daughter Sarah Pauley, and so on. Extensive probate records detail the value and contents of his estate and is disbursement.

Meanwhile, an "Andrew J. Miller" died intestate in Moniteau county, Missouri, one year earlier on Nov. 14, 1846 -- the sole record that mentions a person with this middle initial. This was our Andrew's nephew, the son of his brother, John. His estate was administered by William Miller, John's eldest son.

Unbelievably, a third Andrew Miller died intestate in Moniteau on March 30, 1846; his estate was handled by "John Miller" according to that record. No mention is made of Nancy, Sarah, or any of Andrew's children.

So … Cherokee Nation?

In the late 1880s, decades after his death, Andrew’s daughter Margaret Jane George sued for membership in the Cherokee Nation. She claimed Andrew was a Cherokee by blood, who lived in Tennessee among the Cherokee Nation. George and her family themselves lived for years in Indian Territory, and some testimony in her claim is believable -- notably John Hardcastle, a neighbor and family friend who said Andy Miller wore "Indian" garb and spoke Cherokee.

The testimony of Andrew's granddaughter, Evaline Boatright, is particularly interesting: "When my father and mother were married, my mother's father objected to mother marrying an Indian, and they did not let us children know that he was Indian. They just said that he was dark." Hardcastle offered similar testimony.

Marriage records for Evaline's father, Isaac Newton Miller, do not exist.

George's case before the Dawes Commission was rejected.