George Miller, who is called "Oil" in several records to distinguish him from other George Millers, was born in March 1756. [Bible record.] Where he was born and who his parents were are not known at this time. George died between 15 June and 22 October 1829. On the earlier date he re-purchased land from his son Henry and on the later date his estate was appraised. [Shenandoah County Deeds HH:168; Shenandoah County Wills P:439-441 (inventory and appraisal)]. George married Margaret ____, who probably was born by 1760 and died in the 1840's at the home farm on Little Stony Creek.

When George's personal estate was sold, it included a German Bible printed in Nuremburg, Bavaria, in 1788. George Jr.-called "George Miller, Capon" in the records because of his residence near Lost River of Cacapon-purchased the Bible for $14.00. George Jr. took the Bible back to his home on Kimsey's Run, near Lost River, Hardy County, (West) Virginia. When he died in 1861, the Bible, described as a "Large fam[i]ly Bible" was sold as part of George's personal estate. Henry Funkhouser of Baker, Hardy County, bought the Bible for $7.15. [Shenandoah Co., Va., Wills T:105; Hardy Co., W. Va. Wills 11:125]

The Bible passed to Daisye Funkhouser Purnhagen, a granddaughter of Henry Funkhouser, then to her daughter, Carolyn Duncan, and, in January 2001, came into the possession of Daisye's nephew, Dr. James W. Funkhouser of Dayton, Ohio, a great-grandson of Henry Funkhouser. Dr. Funkhouser provided me with photocopies of the title page and the family record from this Bible and allowed me to photograph the Bible.

The family record is on the front of the last page of the Bible. Writing in German, George recorded his month and year of birth ("so far as I know") and the names and birth dates of his eleven children. George does not mention his wife, Margaret, in this record. There is no variation in the ink or handwriting of the entries, so it appears they were all made at the same time, after the 1802 birth of Joseph. One date and one name are marked through and corrected. On the back of this page, in a different hand and in English, is "Georg Miller his book," probably written by George Jr. after he purchased the Bible at his father's estate sale.

Ten children are named in George's estate settlement and in deeds by his heirs. [Shenandoah County Wills T:119; Shenandoah County Deeds KK:237, MM:11, and MM:136] The ten named in the estate settlement and deeds are: Jacob, Anna Maria, George, Barbara, Elizabeth, Susanna, Henry, Mary, Nancy, and Joseph. One daughter must have died before 1829. Of the daughters, only Anna Maria and Elizabeth, who were widowed, are named in the settlement; the others are "wife of...." Their names were found in the deeds pertaining to George's real estate. Margaret and Magdalene are not in these documents, but there is a "Mary. One of these must be the daughter who died before 1829.

In the estate settlement, the children are listed in the order found in this Bible, except that Margaret is missing and "Mary" is in the place of Magdalene. My inference is that Margaret was the daughter who died and "Mary Magdalene" was the ninth child of George.

Four of George's children are in the baptismal records of the Zion-Pine Church of Stony Creek. [Klaus Wust, ed., Lutheran Zion-Pine Church Records, 1786-1827, 2 vol., Edinburg, Va.: Shenandoah History Publishers, 1985 and Klaus Wust, ed., Reformed Zion-Pine Church Records, 1788-1827 Edinburg, Va.: Shenandoah History Publishers, 1984]

George Miller, Jr. called in George's Bible "Han Georg" and in the baptismal record "Joh. Georg," was born on 16 March 1786 in Shenandoah County and baptized at Zion-Pine Church on 30 July 1786. His godparents were Conrad and Anna Maria Röder. George's baptism is recorded in the Lutheran records. [Bible record; Wust, Lutheran Zion-Pine Church Records, 1:17]

Elizabeth Miller, called in George's Bible "Elisabed," was born 27 January 1790 in Shenandoah County and was baptized 8 August 1790. Her godparents were Wilhelm and Elisabeth Vogel. Her baptism is recorded in the Reformed records. [Bible record; church record has birth date 2 January: Wust, Reformed Zion-Pine Church Records, p. 17]

Susanna Miller, called in George's Bible "Sussan," was born in Shenandoah County on 18 October 1791. She was baptized on 17 May 1792. Her godparents were Anthony and Elvara Rothefer. [Wust, Reformed Zion-Pine Church Records, p.18. On the same day, George and Margaret stood as godparents for the Rothefer's son, Johan Jacob]

Nancy Miller, called in George's Bible and in the church record "Anna," was born 19 September 1798 and baptized on 8 September 1800. Her godparents Anna and Henrich Bauer, Sr. Her baptism is recorded in the Reformed records. [Bible record (the church record has the birth date as 20 September 1798); Wust, Reformed Zion-Pine Church Records, p. 24]

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