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Everett
Jones Miller 1916 - 2004
by Michael Salvatore, from the Jan. 2000 South Windsor
Lifestyles
If your family has lived in north-central
Connecticut for more than three generations, there’s a fairly
good chance that you’re related to Everett J. Miller of South
Windsor.
The 84-year-old local man is founder and coordinator of Ye
Society of Genealogy, which meets the third Tuesday of each
month at the South Windsor Community Center. He has been tracing
his own roots for more than a dozen years, and started the group
to help others in their searches.
“We discuss our research problems, share information, and help
each other get and trace new leads,” Miller says of the informal
group, which may have from one to 15 in attendance at the 1 p.m.
sessions. “We chose Tuesdays because that seemed to have the
fewest conflicts,” he explains, “but there’s always plenty going
on. Right now, a few regulars have gone South for a while.”
Most of the members are senior citizens, and meetings are held
right after lunch at the Nevers Road center. But, anyone is
welcome to drop in at any time. One of the members, Richard
Karpinski of Manchester, has been tracing the roots of his
Polish ancestors and discovered a great deal of help from the
Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut, headquartered in New
Britain.
Miller has prepared a thick packet for newcomers, including
information about the earliest settlers of Hartford,
Wethersfield and Windsor; area sources of genealogical material,
family charts, computer and Internet aids, and other tips.
Although some members use computers extensively, Miller prefers
index cards. He says, “The cards work better for me. They’re
easier to cross check, and I like to finger through them- it
gives me more of a feel of the people. I know some people who
lost all their information with computer problems.”
When he comes across a new name, he starts a new card reference.
He estimates he has about 80,000 of them. Some are filed at Wood
Memorial Library, where Director Virginia Macro says people
often come on genealogical quests. “Everett has helped organize
some of our materials,” she says, “and his cards have been
helpful to some people.”
Although he’s always been interested in local history, Miller
says his serious pursuit of genealogy began in the 1980's when
his brother hired a professional to do some research on their
mother’s family. Lena Miller was the sister of noted South
Windsor artist Albertus E. Jones, and the family lived on
historic Main Street.
In tracing his American ancestors back to 1670, Miller found
that 11 were among the first settlers in Hartford. And, one of
them, Nathaniel Foote, is considered the very first settler of
Wethersfield and possibly of the Connecticut Valley. He says
those first settlers were Adventurers. “They were the younger
sons of landed or wealthy families,” he says. “They bought land
in Hartford, but wintered in Springfield at the start.”
A later ancestor, John Pantry Jones was a ship’s chandler who
also lived in Hartford, but came to South Windsor in 1847 and
developed broadleaf tobacco from seeds given to him by his
captain. Miller says, “A lot of the Hartford people summered in
the South Windsor area and farmed here.”
In the 1850's, the Jones brothers’ farm near Main Street and
Governor’s Highway was producing 2,200 to 2,800 pounds of
tobacco per acre. “That was a great yield at the time,” says
Miller. In 1907, Nathaniel Jones experimented with Havanna seed
for a year. “You can’t separate history from genealogy,” Miller
says.
He adds, “I’m finding new cousins all the time. One was Aaron
Burr, the third U. S. vice president. Another married Eli
Whitney. John Watson was a local shipbuilder and successful sea
merchant. Two others- Eli Terry and Timothy Edwards- have
schools here named after them.”
Miller’s most important advice for those researching their
families is to keep good track of their sources. “There are a
lot of errors in genealogy that keep getting passed along,” he
warns. “When you come across information, write the source so it
can be double checked for accuracy.”
“Even in Stiles, there are mistakes,” Miller says, referring to
“The History of Ancient Windsor,” one of the prime sources for
information of this area. “There are things like a 9-year-old
boy listed as a father, a l-year-old girl as a mother, a man
marrying two different women on the same day. You have to double
check everything.”
Miller has also been encouraging other towns to start similar
groups and share information to make it even more available and
meaningful. Another of his projects is drafting bylaws for the
local society.
If you’d like to check on your family’s history, stop and visit
Ye Society of Genealogy. You’re sure to find some relatives
there.
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