Joseph A. Miller (1823 - 1864)

Born 28 Dec 1823 in Stark County, Ohio

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy Margaret (Runser) Miller — married 3 Dec 1848 in Hardin County, Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Nov 1864 at age 40 in Andersonville Military Prison, Sumter County, Georgia

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Biography

Joseph A. Miller was born on December 28, 1823 in Stark County, Ohio. He was the son of Jonathan D. Miller and Sarah Newstetter, and grew up with four brothers and one sister.

On December 3, 1848, Joseph married Nancy Runser.^[1][2] Her brother Sebastian said the marriage was held in "the old cabin," possibly the home that the Runsers had lived in when they first arrived in Hardin County.^[3]

Joseph enlisted in Company I of the 135th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, part of the Union Army, on May 6, 1864 with his brother-in-law John Runser, according to Sebastian. The regiment left Ohio for Cumberland, Maryland on May 11, where it was assigned to duty as railroad guard on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at North Mountain, Opequan Station, and Martinsburg until July 3. At North Mountain, a portion of the regiment was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison. It participated in operations around Harpers Ferry and Maryland Heights from July 3 to 7.^[4]

Joseph was captured by Confederate traitors at Maryland Heights on July 6, 1864 and imprisoned at Andersonville Military Prison in Sumter County, Georgia.^[5] Conditions at Andersonville were terrible. Prisoners were taken to Andersonville packed into box cars, and once they arrived they were essentially left in an open-air stockade, where they had to fashion their own shelter. A dirty creek ran through the area for water. Food was scarce for the Confederate Army at this time and much scarcer for their prisoners, and many men starved in the prison camp. Joseph died of malnutrition and related illnesses just four months after he was captured, on Nov. 6, 1864.^[6][7]

Sebastian wrote:

... Miller was taken prisoner by the enemy and taken to Andersonville prison and there left to starve to death and be burried in a strange land. The reason we know what became of him is his name is mentioned in a history of the Ohio soldiers.

Joseph and Nancy had seven children. Nancy never remarried after his death. Although Joseph is buried at Andersonville National Cemetery in Georgia, his name and service are included on a monument at Nancy's gravesite in Woodlawn Cemetery in Ada, Ohio.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ "Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD6R-JYD : 25 March 2020), Joseph Miller, 1848.
2. ↑ "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDPX-KRX : 26 August 2019), Joseph Miller and Nancy Runser, 03 Dec 1848; citing Marriage, Hardin, Ohio, United States, p 216, Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, Columbus; FHL microfilm.
3. ↑ Runser, Sebastian. "Autobiography." Nov 1891. Transcribed and shared by Jerry Carter and Jonathan Runser. https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Space:Sebastian_Runser%27s_Autobiography
4. ↑ New York Times. Up on Maryland Heights above Harpers Ferry. https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/20/archives/up-on-maryland-heights-above-harpers-ferry.html
5. ↑ Miller, Joseph. Prisoner Details. The Civil War by the National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-prisoners-andersonville-detail.htm?prisonerId=F031E564-B6D6-49F5-96C0-12DA6B6E42E1
6. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVK3-QZZF : 17 December 2018), null, ; Burial, Andersonville National Historic Site, Macon, Georgia, United States of America, Andersonville National Cemetery; citing record ID 32832444, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
7. ↑ National Cemetery Administration. U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
8. ↑ FindAGrave.com #52258394

See also:

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXQZ-KG7 : 4 April 2020), Joseph Miller, Findlay, Hancock, Ohio, United States; citing family 54, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC21-956 : 19 March 2020), Joseph Miller, 1860.
• "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZRJ-BSS : 26 August 2019), Miller in entry for Wesley W. Lappin and Sarah Miller, 21 Oct 1900; citing Marriage, Hardin, Ohio, United States, P260, Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, Columbus; FHL microfilm.
• "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X694-7QB : 15 August 2019), Joseph Miller in entry for Minerva Viola Klinkler, 30 Aug 1924; citing Paulding Co., Paulding Township, Ohio, reference fn 46495; FHL microfilm 1,992,602.
• "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8VN-DHK : 15 August 2019), Joseph Miller in entry for Sarah Lappin, 12 Apr 1918; citing Lima, Allen, Ohio, reference fn 21365; FHL microfilm 1,984,347.
• "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8J8-W4H : 15 August 2019), Joseph Miller in entry for Jonathan Marion Miller, 22 Jul 1917; citing Malta Township, Morgan, Ohio, reference fn 47738; FHL microfilm 1,984,103.
• "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8YQ-5FQ : 15 August 2019), Joseph Miller in entry for Harriet Armeda Miller, 21 Nov 1923; citing Tuscarawas, Stark, Ohio, reference fn 68330; FHL microfilm 1,992,396.