Did you know that Port Byron has a connection to one of the last six surviving soldiers of the Revolutionary War?
Photo of Alexander Millener
The fifth oldest survivor was Alexander Millener, a drummer boy in the Revolution and some of his children moved to Port Byron where they were boat builders.
Alexander Millener was born in 1761 at Quebec, Canada. His mother had married a second time to Florence Maroney, a Sergeant in the Life Guard of General Philip Schyuler. It was claimed that Alexander was to young to serve in the troops, so his stepfather enlisted him under the name Maroney as a drummer boy. There was also a claim that Alexander was of a young age when discharged because his discharge was issued to his stepfather Florence Maroney.
The only muster rolls I could find was for Alexander’s service with the 1st NY Continental Line. However, his pension says that he served about 3 ½ years in Capt. Grahm’s, Col. Peter Gavensvort’s NY Regiment. He then transferred into the 1st NY Continental Line in Capt. Cornelius Johnson, Col. Goose Van Schaick’s Regiment. When looking closely at these muster rolls, it is clear that Alexander served several Captains within Van Schaick’s Regiment. During the period of August to December 1780 he served in both Capt. Nicholas Van Renssalaer and Capt. Benjamin Hick’s Companies and was discharged in 1781. However, he had witness testimony that he served as late as 1783.
Alexander is on record describing his time at Valley Forge, having met General George Washington as well as “Lady Washington”. Valley Forge served as Washington’s Headquarters during his winter encampment from Dec 1777 to June 1778. The website valleyforgemusterroll.org has an Alexander Milliner stationed there for the entire winter encampment period, serving from the State of PA. However, the 1st NY Cont Line served in the Second Division, 1st PA Brigade at Valley Forge, having arrived in June 1778. This Alexander Milliner was a drummer, so this is likely the service record of the same soldier.
I can add from my own ancestor that many soldiers of Col. Goose Van Schaick’s Regiment served at Valley Forge. Joseph Rooker was in Capt. John Copp’s company and his muster roll shows he was in the Hospital at Valley Forge, having recently been promoted to Fife. It would be a romantic notion to think that perhaps these two soldiers met while stationed at Valley Forge, but we may never know, but chances are good that the musicians knew one another.
One interesting thing to note is that Alexander’s step father also collected Alexander’s wages during the time he served with Van Schaick, which by 1780, he would have been 19 years of age. Why his stepfather was collecting his military pay is not known but it is unlikely because of Alexander’s age as other soldiers of that age received their wages directly. It is obvious that Alexander had a long period of service as a drummer in the Revolutionary War.
In 1855 Alexander applied for bounty land while a resident of Homer in Cortland County, NY. At that time he was listed as being 94 years of age, giving him a consistent birth year of 1761. He was awarded 160 acres in Cayuga County. His son James Millener provided testimony. Another unexpected name in the file was Porter Wethey of Port Byron.
You can read more about Alexander’s history from the following articles:
Last Surviving Soldiers of the Revolutionary War
Alexander's Obituary
Alexander is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY
Story to be continued....
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Genealogy and DNA
The field of genealogy is reaching new heights. The quest to search and find your roots is reported by some magazines as the second most popular hobby in the United States, just behind gardening. Many people who follow the hobby will be the first to tell you that it is addictive. There is so much to discover and learn. Eventually most families will find events in their background that coincide with National History. However, for many the trail grows cold and can often be an undertaking to make the link from one generation to another. Many are turning to DNA testing in the hopes of unlocking their past.
I was leery of the idea when I first learned that DNA was being used for this purpose. I already have a pretty good handle on my origins, granted there are always branches to be researched as every generation introduces a new set of surnames and each of them had parents. Thus the addiction, the job is never done but it is a very enjoyable pastime.
Even with years of experience as a genealogist, I questioned if DNA would have anything significant to offer someone like myself, considering the number of years I had already been researching. Little did I realize that I would have the shock of my life ahead of me!
Eventually I took the plunge and found a reputable lab to proceed. The results were astonishing, revealing my deep maternal ancestry. The test revealed that my maternal ancestor was a genetic cousin to Oetzi the Iceman. Oetzi, his name representing the mountain range where he was found, was determined to be about 5000 years old. When he died, he was frozen in time providing a glimpse into the past. What is unique about Oetzi is that he was found in the same state in which he died, having never been buried. He was simply frozen in time. He is the oldest complete mummy to be preserved by ice.
With him were remains of his clothing as well as several of his tools. Of the items found, his copper axe was a surprise. Considering that his age was confirmed using carbon dating, this indicated to scientists that the copper age started much earlier than previously thought. He also had arsenic in his hair follicles, a direct by-product of smelting copper.
The DNA test utilized on Oetzi was a study of the genes that he inherited from his mother, known as Mitochondral DNA, abbreviated mtDNA. This is a series of genes that every human inherits from their mother but only the females pass it on to the next generation.
What the testing does NOT tell you is HOW you are related to your deep ancestor. Therefore, at some point in my distant past, it could have been 500 years ago or 3000 years ago, I had a female grandparent from Italy, who was a relative to Oetzi. Maternal DNA does not change but slight mutations are found and can be traced backwards. Considering that Oetzi is in the neighborhood of 5000 years old, no modern human has an exact DNA match to him as slight mutations have occurred over time.
I will not be devoting much to this site on genetic genealogy but considering family history is one of the most common requests received as a Historian, many may find the story interesting. It is amazing that Central NY has genetic cousins of this ancient and famous mummy. Katie Couric of NBC News is another genetic cousin of Oetzi’s.
National Geographic info on Oetzi
Don Hitchcock's Photo Archive of Oetzi
I was leery of the idea when I first learned that DNA was being used for this purpose. I already have a pretty good handle on my origins, granted there are always branches to be researched as every generation introduces a new set of surnames and each of them had parents. Thus the addiction, the job is never done but it is a very enjoyable pastime.
Even with years of experience as a genealogist, I questioned if DNA would have anything significant to offer someone like myself, considering the number of years I had already been researching. Little did I realize that I would have the shock of my life ahead of me!
Eventually I took the plunge and found a reputable lab to proceed. The results were astonishing, revealing my deep maternal ancestry. The test revealed that my maternal ancestor was a genetic cousin to Oetzi the Iceman. Oetzi, his name representing the mountain range where he was found, was determined to be about 5000 years old. When he died, he was frozen in time providing a glimpse into the past. What is unique about Oetzi is that he was found in the same state in which he died, having never been buried. He was simply frozen in time. He is the oldest complete mummy to be preserved by ice.
With him were remains of his clothing as well as several of his tools. Of the items found, his copper axe was a surprise. Considering that his age was confirmed using carbon dating, this indicated to scientists that the copper age started much earlier than previously thought. He also had arsenic in his hair follicles, a direct by-product of smelting copper.
The DNA test utilized on Oetzi was a study of the genes that he inherited from his mother, known as Mitochondral DNA, abbreviated mtDNA. This is a series of genes that every human inherits from their mother but only the females pass it on to the next generation.
What the testing does NOT tell you is HOW you are related to your deep ancestor. Therefore, at some point in my distant past, it could have been 500 years ago or 3000 years ago, I had a female grandparent from Italy, who was a relative to Oetzi. Maternal DNA does not change but slight mutations are found and can be traced backwards. Considering that Oetzi is in the neighborhood of 5000 years old, no modern human has an exact DNA match to him as slight mutations have occurred over time.
I will not be devoting much to this site on genetic genealogy but considering family history is one of the most common requests received as a Historian, many may find the story interesting. It is amazing that Central NY has genetic cousins of this ancient and famous mummy. Katie Couric of NBC News is another genetic cousin of Oetzi’s.
National Geographic info on Oetzi
Don Hitchcock's Photo Archive of Oetzi
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Student Humor
The Port Byron library has a wonderful Year Book collection in their history room. It is always fun to look back at our school and the many people that would walk our halls. One thing I quickly noticed was that the school colors were not always Maroon & White. In the early years they were Orange and Black. They also did not have an official mascot in the early years. They used the standard education torch as their logo.
In turning the pages, I stumbled across a class history that was so cleverly written, rather than transcribe it; I thought I would post it exactly as it appeared in the yearbook. This is simply a sign that humor has always been alive and well in our students.
Enjoy!
(For enlarged view, click image below)
In turning the pages, I stumbled across a class history that was so cleverly written, rather than transcribe it; I thought I would post it exactly as it appeared in the yearbook. This is simply a sign that humor has always been alive and well in our students.
Enjoy!
(For enlarged view, click image below)
