The family last discussed, John Frederick Miller's, had a son Haman. All of the surviving children of John Frederick were born in Virginia. Haman was born ca 1739, to judge by his age at death. John Frederick's family appeared in Lunenberg County in 1748, when Haman was approaching the age for some serious chores on the farm.
Haman served in the French and Indian War, which started in 1754, so he would have been quite young at the time. In 1759, a receipt signed by John Frederick acknowledges receipt of three pounds earned by Haman for his services in the war. When the family moved to Halifax Co. (as it exists now), Haman went with the rest of the family and purchased 220 acres on the north side of the Dan River. This was not far from the present community of Pace, which is close to the North Carolina border.
Haman married Frances Roberts. Six children are known:
On 19 Feb 1778, Haman sold his land for one thousand pounds, which reflects the severe inflation caused by the Revolutionary War. Haman then moved southwest about one hundred miles into North Carolina in the Piedmont region. He appears in the 1779 tax list for Randolph, the first list for the newly created county where he purchased land. Later, there were grants from North Carolina for 1,342 acres, but some of these acres might have been to Haman, Jr. Wherever Haman's name appears in the land records, the name of this father-in-law, William Roberts, is apt to be found also.
A little later, he had permission to build a mill on his own land. He might have had a mill already by the time that he had permission. He died in 1814 at his residence in Randolph County in his 77th year. A newspaper account of the time, describes him as a Patriot of the American Revolution. His wife and sons (Haman and James) were executors of his will. The will mentioned six children and two grandchildren. Before he died, he had deeded 1,376 acres to five of his children. There were sixteen slaves in the estate.
Descendants are spread across the U.S., with a few still living in Randolph County, NC.
(24 Dec 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.