Please Help Me with My non-Italian Ancestor Search!

[tammara]

Okay all I need your ideas! I am at what seems to be a dead end. I am searching for my relative Obadiah/Obediah Miller who I have located on three censuses (see below). The 1860 and 1870 censuses indicate he was born in New York in 1805. His wife’s name is Mary Whitney (I know her ancestry). I cannot find a marriage record for them in Plymouth ,Vermont or a record of any of their children being born (some born in VT others NY) or even land records. I had the Vermont state archives search for a marriage record and they couldn't find one either.

Census
1840 Plymouth, Vermont
1850 Can’t find him, but his wife and children are in Plymouth, Vermont
1860 Warrensburg, Warren, New York
1870 Northampton, Fulton, New York

From the above census records these are their children:
James Miller b. 1834 Vermont
Mary A Miller b. 1836 Vermont
Angeline Josephine Miller b. 24 JUN 1839 Vermont d. 27 JUN 1891 Reading, Windsor, Vermont,
Samantha Miller b. 1841 Vermont
Emily Miller b. 1841 New York
Lydia Miller b. 1842 New York
Seranda Miller b. 1843 Vermont
Caroline Miller b. 1844 New York
Irene Miller b. 1847 Vermont
George Miller b. 1849 New York
Mary H. Miller b. 1852 New York
Helen Miller b. 1854 New York
Sarah Miller b. 1858

What I would really love to find is a birth record, a death record, of course a marriage record would be great but I suspect they were married in Plymouth, VT and there is no surviving record. Where should I search next? You guys are so wonderful with ideas, and locating info I am really hoping you can help me.

[johnnyonthespot]

Considering the time frame, perhaps there was no official marriage record. A church ceremony not recorded in civil records? Or even a simple "common law" marriage in which there was no ceremony of any kind.

Other users here have learned that many states did not begin recording marriages until relatively recently - the early 1900's for example.

Anyway, just a few thoughts...

[tammara]

You have a good point. I don't think there are any surviving church records from that time period in Plymouth. I have kind of given up on the marriage record but not having a marriage record makes finding the birth record difficult. And that is what I would like to find the most.

[PeterTimber]

Tfry www.familysearch.org under ancestor search for Obadiah Miller and perhaps you can pick something up. =Any profession? =Peter=

[tammara]

Thanks Peter. I did try again and although there are many Obadiah Millers listed on the sight, none appear to be born in NY in 1805. He is listed on both censuses as laborer.

[oilman19]

Hi Tammara,
I did a quick search on the site fultonhistory.com and found a couple of interesting stories about a Obadiah Miller in Saratoga NY. I don't know how to creste a link, but you may wish to go there and see what may be available for newspaper articles of your family.
The site is an index of newspaper articles over the last 150 years primarily in NY. Give it a try and good luck.

Jim

[maestra36]

http://www.fultonhistory.com/fulton.html

The above is a link to the website that Jim mentioned in his reply above.

[tammara]

Jim and maestra36 thanks so much! I've been fooling around with various searches and still haven't come up with the Obadiah Miller you found in Saratoga NY, but I'm having lots of fun! What a great site that is.

[oilman19]

After putting in the name, select "exact phrase". Hope this helps.

Jim