Alfred Glenn (Phillips) Miller (1907 - 1976)

Born 17 Aug 1907 in Wallace, Kanawha, West Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 6 Oct 1976 at age 69 in Plainville, Rooks, Kansas, United States

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Biography

Alfred Glen Phillips was born on 17 Aug 1907 in Wallace, Harrison County, West Virginia. His parents were listed on the birth record as Daniel Vern Phillips and Allie Mae Manear. ^[1]

In 1910, Alfred G. Phillips was living with his grandparents. ^[2]

He passed away in 1976.

Burial

Plainville Cemetery; Plot 1949 Section, Block 1, Lot 40, Grave 7, Plainville, Rooks County, Kansas, USA. ^[3]

Alfred Glen “Whitey” Miller (1907–1976)

Find A Grave: Memorial #58419711

Research Notes

Personal family notes:

Alfred Glen Phillips was my grandfather. I met him as a young child, but I have no recollection of that. After divorcing my grandmother, he did not keep in touch with the family. This is a little of his story that I've pieced together.

He was born in to Allie Manear and Daniel Vern Phillips who never married. The 1910 census shows him living with Allie, still at home with her parents (John Blackburn Manear). Later Allie married Arol Levi Miller, adopting Alfred, thus the surname change to "Miller". Alfred Miller, also known as "Whitey" married my grandmother, Elsie McKeehan, and fathered Bobby Miller (my father) and Beverly Miller (my aunt).

HIs birth father (my ggf), Daniel Vern Phillips, is somewhat of a mystery. From a combination of DNA matching and circumstantial evidence, I am 99.9% sure I've connected him to the right Phillips family . That family was from Taylorstown, Pennsylvania where Daniel was born. A house fire took his parents (Henry and Mattie) and several siblings in 1891 at age 8, which is partly why family records are "disconnected" and hard to find. We don't know what happened immediately after the fire, but as a young adult, Daniel crossed the country (to Oregon, then California), before moving to Burma where he married and raised a family. An assortment of census records, passport applications, ship logs and so forth document that journey.

In the meantime, Daniel's brother, Orville G (see 1880 census), who later changed name to Orville G Phelps, moved a couple houses from where Allie Mae grew up (see 1910 census) in West Virginia. I believe Daniel may have visited or lived with Orville about the time my grandfather was conceived. We also know that both Orville's brother and my grandfather were oil drillers, that Orville's first son is named "Daniel" and first daughter is named "Allie".^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "West Virginia Births, 1853-1930," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F1K6-ZJF : 8 March 2018), Alfred Philips, 17 Aug 1907; citing Wallace, Harrison, West Virginia, United States, county courthouses, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 847,188.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPND-4RW : accessed 4 July 2021), Alfred G Phillips in household of John B Manear, Sardis, Harrison, West Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 34, sheet 15A, family 333, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1683; FHL microfilm 1,375,696.
3. ↑ "Find a Grave", database and images accessed 04 July 2021, memorial page for Alfred Glen “Whitey” Miller (1907–1976), Find A Grave: Memorial #58419711, citing Plainville Cemetery, Plainville, Rooks County, Kansas, USA.
4. ↑ From FamilySearch: Collaborate tab for Alfred Glen "Whitey" Phillips