Family History General

Henry Miller… What’s Your Name?

Henry Miller

We usually think of a name as a genealogical “solid.” Once we locate a name for an ancestor, we hold on tight, don’t let go, and miss out on a lot of information about our family. If we are researching from more recently in time to further back in time (proceeding in an order; not jumping around) we typically find an ancestor’s parents on a death record or a probate record of a more recent ancestor.

For example, I have been looking for (but have not yet found) the death record for Henry’s daughter: Ruth Elizabeth Miller Reed. Ruth is my Great-Grandmother. She died in 1953 and finding her death record would typically have her parents listed. But even if I do find this record it will only list Henry as his name was correctly or incorrectly remembered.

So how do I know Henry even existed? My Father told me stories about Henry Miller. These were stories he was told. My Father was born after Henry died. These stories included the name that was remembered for Henry.

Henry has a pretty good “run” in the United States census records. He clearly appears in the1880, (his family was counted twice), 1900, 1910 and 1930 censuses. He appears as good old “Henry Miller.” He married later in life so he lived with his parents and appears with them longer than most folks. He and his family lived in St. Louis, Missouri and moved as houses were inherited. I know his parents immigrated from Germany.

So why doesn’t Henry appear in the 1920 census? He probably does as a boarder in an apartment after his wife died. But why doesn’t he show in the 1860 or 1850 censuses? There is no record or story of Henry ever having a middle name. (All of his siblings do.) Often first and middle names were interchangeable. Many times children had the same first names as living relatives and were called by their middle or “pet” names to avoid confusion. Middle names were often recorded (instead of first names) by census takers.

I understood that Henry’s last name would have been Muller or Mueller at birth (no birth records were kept in 1848 in St. Louis) and that his father Johannes, Johann, John, Michael (take your pick) used all forms of Miller during his life. It wasn’t until I thought about “Henry” that I was able to find him in earlier census records. I asked myself if he had been living in Germany what would his name have been. Heinrich. But I still couldn’t find him. Census takers were infamous for abbreviations. Henry appears in the 1850 United States Census as Heinr. Mueller. (A transcription error was fixed and he now appears in the 1860 census, too.)

Have fun finding your ancestors.

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