W. H. H. Miller, November 5, 1840-June 18, 1913. Nannie Gibson Miller, December 19, 1840-January 24, 1908. Machpelah Cemetery, Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky
An old stone, over one hundred years old, stands in the Machpelah Cemetery in the small town of Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, in remembrance of William Henry Harrison Miller and wife Nannie Gibson Miller. William Henry Harrison, obviously named for our ninth president, Old Tippecanoe, was born November 5th of the election year 1840. Nannie Gibson was born the same year as her husband, on December 19th.
In the 1850 and 1860 census records for Montgomery County we find both the Miller and Gibson families.
William Miller was the son of William J. Miller and Elizabeth Redmon. In 1850 William and Elizabeth were both 38. Their children were F. A., 13f; R. H., 13m; W. H. H., 10m; Ann E., 7; and Nancy Jane, 4. Ten years later Charlotte is listed as the elder William’s wife; evidently Elizabeth Redmon Miller died before that date. In addition to the younger children, a son, James, 1, is also in the family – child of the second wife.
Nancy Gibson was the daughter of James Gibson and Gillian Peyton. Between the two census dates the Gibson family had ten children – eight girls and two boys – Salina, 14; Elizabeth, 12; Nancy, 10; Sarah Jane, 7; Amanda, 4; Campbell, 3m; and Ann, 1. Three children were added in the 1860 census – Ella, 8; Caroline, 6; and Daniel, 3.
William Henry Harrison Miller and Nannie Gibson were married September 19, 1866, the bond written September 17th. The groom was 25, the bride 24. The marriage was performed by J. Rand at James Gibson’s, witnesses James W. Redmon and W. H. Redmon.
I have found a 1870 census record from Sangamon County, Illinois, with a William H. Miller, 29, a farm laborer, and wife Nannie, also 29. They were born in Kentucky. Could this be our couple? However, in 1880 they are living in Montgomery County, at the age of 39, with son Oliver Clay, 4, and daughter Sallie V., 1. Both children were born in Kentucky, so by 1876 IF William and Nannie lived in Illinois for a time, they had returned to Kentucky before the children were born.
Daughter Sallie died December 29, 1878 at the age of 5. She was buried in Gibson Cemetery in Montgomery County, in the Jeffersonville area. In the census record the Miller family lived in the Camargo Precinct, just south of the city of Mt. Sterling on Hwy 460. Jeffersonville is south of Camargo on the same road. The Gibson Cemetery is on Gibson Lane, off Hwy 460, before you arrive at Jeffersonville; it is at the top of the knob. James Gibson, Nannie’s father, is also buried in this cemetery, and probably his wife Elizabeth Redmon Gibson.
During the census records William H. H. is listed as a farmer, his son Clay is a printer, in which profession he continues until his death in 1952.
Nannie Gibson Miller died January 24, 1908, after 42 years of marriage. William Henry Harrison Miller passed away five years later, June 28, 1913. I could find no obituaries, just the following thank you put in the paper by son Clay after his father’s death.
The Mt. Sterling Advocate, Montgomery County, Kentucky
Wednesday, July 9, 1913
Categories: Family Stories
