ANDREW MILLER, a farmer of Mt. Pleasant township, is a native of the same, having been born there July 17, 1828, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Washington county. James Miller (his grandfather) was born in Ireland, and coming to Lancaster county, Penn., just before the Revolution, served five years in the war. In 1782 he was married to Margaret Shearer, afterward serving one year more as a soldier. In 1786 he returned to his wife, settling on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township, this county, and followed agricultural pursuits. He and his wife were members of the Seceder Church. Thomas Miller, a son of James and Margaret Miller, was born in 1783, in Mt. Pleasant township, Washington county. In 1806 he bought the farm now owned by his son, Andrew, and in the spring of 1812 was united in marriage with Sarah Miller, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Miller, also natives of Ireland. The latter had emigrated from their native country, and, coming to Washington county, settled in Mt. Pleasant township, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father dying in his eighty-seventh year. They were both members of the Seceder Church at Hickory. After his marriage Thomas Miller settled on the home farm, and there passed his life, combining agricultural duties with carpentry, having erected the first house in Claysville. He was a worker in the Democratic party, and in religious connection he and his wife were both members of the Seceder Church at Hickory. He died in 1859, being followed in 1865 by his wife, who had borne him children as follows: James (deceased at the age of twenty-three years), Margaret, Catherine, Mary, Sarah, Ann, Thomas, Elizabeth (deceased at the age of seven years) and Andrew (subject of this sketch), all now deceased except the last-mentioned son. Andrew Miller was reared on the home farm, receiving a subscription-school education. On March 11, 1852, he was married to Sarah Stewart (a native of Chartiers township), daughter of Archibald and Rebecca (Reed) Stewart. Archibald Stewart was a blacksmith, and passed his entire life in Chartiers township, where both he and his wife died some years ago. After their marriage Andrew and Sarah (Stewart) Miller settled on the home farm aud reared the following children: Thomas, Archibald S. (a merchant, living in Washington, Penn., married to Miss Susannah Espy), James B., John N. (a physician of Dorseyville, Penn., married to Maggie Weber, he is an elder in the U. P. church), Andrew Reed (an attorney of Steubenville, Ohio), W. W. (a physician and surgeon at Bakerstown, Penn.), David M. (a physician and surgeon at Pittsburgh, Penn.), Alvin and Rebecca Jane. Andrew Miller has a good coal land farm of 212 acres, upon which is a pleasant and comfortable residence and barn, with many other improvements. He is not an active politician, but has held some township offices. He and his wife are members of the Cross Roads United Presbyterian Church. Many changes have been wrought since the ancestors first settled on the old farm. The grandfather, James Miller, used to make the trip by boat to New Orleans, returning home on foot through miles of unbroken wilderness, where now the locomotive sweeps by with a scream and pleasant homes dot the grassy hills and valleys.

Text taken from page 1203 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]