Isaac MILLER Sr. (1748 – 1773) was Alex’s 5th Great Grandfather; one of 64 in this generation.

Isaac Miller Sr. was born about 1748 in Holland.  He married Deborah NEWCOMB on 22 May 1766 in Kings County, Nova Scotia.      Isaac died on 30 Sep 1773 in Cornwallis (Google Maps), Nova Scotia, Canada.  Alternatively, Isaac died in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Isaac and Deborah were married in Kings County, Nova Scotia

According to a letter by his grandson John Allan Miller on 8 Aug 1908, Isaac Miller was born in Holland.  In this letter written to Herbert Miller in Admire, Kansas, by his uncle, John Allan Miller, from Thomas (near Seattle), Washington, Isaac’s family as he knew them is discussed in depth. He says his grandfather, Issac, “was imported stock, not exported as many of the ancestors of the FFV’s (First Families of Virginia) were. He was imported from Holland.

Alternatively, Isaac was born about 1740 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut and married Deborah on 22 May 1766 in Kent,  CT.   However, Deborah’s brothers Benjamin, Oliver and sister Submit had already moved to Nova Scotia and it appears that her father emigrated to Cornwallis Township in Kings County, Nova Scotia in 1760.  It would make more sense that Isaac emigrated from Holland to Canada if Deborah and Isaac married in Nova Scotia than if they married in Kent CT and later moved with Deborah’s family

Deborah Newcomb was born 25 Mar 1744 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut.  Her parents were Benjamin NEWCOMB and Hannah CLARK.     After Isaac died, Deborah married her first cousin John Newcomb Jr. on 13 Feb 1777.   John Newcomb Jr died a year later and Deborah married a third time to Nathaniel Gallop about 1780 when she was about 40 years old.  She  may have followed her father and her brother, Benjamin, to St. John, New Brunswick, and up the St. John River as they moved north to Waterborough (now Canning), Sunbury Co. New Brunswick. Deborah died in 1815 in Sheffield, Sunbury, New Brunswick. (Google Maps)

John Newcomb Jr was born 23 Oct 1720 in Lebanon, New London, CT. His parents were Deacon John Newcomb and Alice Lombard. His grandparents were Simon NEWCOMB and Deborah LATHROP.  He first married  15 Jul 1747 Plymouth, Plymouth, Mass. to Mercy Barnaby (b. 1730 in Provincetown, Barnstable, Mass. – d. 27 Mar 1776 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia).  Her parents were Timothy Barnaby (1706 – 1762) and Martha [__?__] (1706 – 1738).  John died Death 13 Apr 1778 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

Nathaniel Gallup was born in 1734 in Boston, Mass.   His parents were Nathaniel Gallop (1707 – 1744) and Dorcas Collins (1713 – 1749). He first married before 1760 to Hannah Parent (b. 1739 in Mass – d. 1780 in Truro, Nova Scotia.) Nathaniel died about 1820 in Sheffield, York, New Brunswick, Canada.  Nathaniel wasn’t a Loyalist, he was a New England Planter.  See my post New England Planters in New Brunswick for their historical story.

Children of Isaac and Deborah:

From the book, “Planters and Pioneers”,(Pre-loyalist settlers of Nova Scotia) by Esther Clark Wright

Newcomb,John Jr. immigrated to Cornwallis, 1761

b.July 20,1720,Lebanon,Conn., son of Deacon John and Alice Lumbert Newcomb, d. 13 April. 1778. M. 15 July 1747, Mercy, Dau. of Timothy and Martha Barnaby, d. 27 Mar 1776. M.(2) 13 Feb 1777, Mrs. Deborah Miller.

Ch. Joseph, Benjamin, John, Catherine, Martha, Alice, Mercy, Lydia, Ruth, Jonathan, Jacob, (2 d.)? Catherine. Others died young.” (2 d. means child of second marriage)

Children of John Newcomb Jr. and Mercy Barnaby:

i. Joseph Newcomb b. 8 Jul 1751 in Lebanon, New London, CT; d. 17 Apr 1832 in Pereaux, Kings, Nova Scotia

ii. Benjamin Newcomb b. 22 Feb 1753 in Lebanon, New London, CT; d. 6 Aug 1821 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia; m. 6 Jun 1776 Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia to Abigail Sanford (1759 – 1840)

iii. John Newcomb b. 16 Feb 1756 in Lebanon, New London, CT; d. 14 Mar 1832 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

iv. Catherine Newcomb b. 11 Apr 1758 in Lebanon, New London, CT; d. Norwich, New London, CT

v. Martha Newcomb b. 12 Oct 1760 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia; d. 11 Feb 1791 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

vi. Alice Newcomb b. 21 Jan 1763 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia; d. 12 Mar 1791 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

vii. Mary Newcomb b. 12 Apr 1764 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

viii. Lydia Newcomb b. 16 Feb 1766 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

ix. Ruth Newcomb b. 18 Feb 1768 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia; d. 10 Jul 1815 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

x. Jonathan Newcomb b. 5 Nov 1770 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia; d. 11 Jun 1851

xi. Jacob Newcomb b. 6 Jan 1776 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia; d. 4 Aug 1854 in Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia

Children of Nathaniel Gallop and Hannah Parent:

i. Susannah Gallop

ii. Hannah Gallop b. 22 Jan 1760 New Brunswick; d. 15 Sep 1847 Burton, Sunbury, New Brunswick, Canada ; m. 5 Jul 1781 Edward Burpee

iii. Mary Gallop b. 8 Aug 1763  Massachusetts?; d. Mar 1845 in Centreville, New Brunswick, Canada; m. Solomon Farley (1746 – 1819)

iv. Esther Gallop b. 27 Mar 1766

v. Benjamin Gallop b. 12 Apr 1769; d. 09 Jun 1871; m. Elizabeth McDonald; m2. Lydia Shaw

vi. Nathaniel Gallop b. 21 Nov 1771;  d. 1851 in Springhill, New Brunswick, Canada; m. 4 Jan 1797 to Elizabeth Clarke (1778 – 1859)

vii. Dorcas Gallop b. 28 Feb 1774

The British began the Expulsion of the Acadians with the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755). Over the next nine years over 12,000 Acadians were removed from Nova Scotia.  During the various campaigns of the expulsion, the Acadian and Native resistance to the British intensified.  The war ended and Britain had gained control over the entire Maritime region.

Between 1759 and 1768, about 8,000 (roughly 2,000 families) New England Planters  farmers and fishermen, responded to Governor Charles Lawrence‘s request for settlers from the New England colonies.

The farmers settled mainly on the rich farmland of the Annapolis Valley and in the southern counties of what is now New Brunswick but was then part of Nova Scotia. Most of the fishermen went to the South Shore of Nova Scotia, where they got the same amount of land as the farmers did. Many fishermen especially wanted to move there because they were already fishing off the Nova Scotia coast.

The movement of some 2000 families from New England to Nova Scotia in the early 1760s was a small part of the estimated migration of 66,000 people to New York’s Mohawk River valley, to New Hampshire, and to what later became the states of Vermont and Maine. In the year 1760 to 1775, some fifty-four new towns were established in Vermont, 100 in New Hamphsire, ninety-four in Maine, and fourteen in Nova Scotia. Land scarcity was the principal cause, free land the attraction, while the defeat of French power in North America, achieved in 1758-60, explains the timing.

The Planters were the first major group of English-speaking immigrants in Canada who did not come directly from Great Britain. Most of the Planters were Protestant  Congregationalists, in contrast to the largely Roman Catholic Acadians. They were soon joined by Ulster and Yorkshire emigrants from Britain and United Empire Loyalists who left the New England colonies after the American War of Independence in 1783. The latter influxes greatly diminished the Planter political influence in Nova Scotia. However the Planters laid the foundations of a large number of the present day communities of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and their political and religious traditions had important influences on the culture of the region. In Nova Scotia, the New England Planters inspired the provincial nickname of “Bluenoser” as the term was first used to distinguish Planter candidates from Loyalist candidates in elections after the American Revolution.

The Planters have been the subject of considerable scholarly research in recent years, led by a series of Planters Studies conferences at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. They are also commemorated by a Parks Canada exhibit at the Kings County Museum in Kentville, Nova Scotia.

The Newcomb genealogy, “Andrew Newcomb 1648-1686 and His Descendents,” p. 47, lists “Deborah, bapt. 25 Mar. 1744, d. —-; m. first, 22 May 1766, in Kent, Isaac Miller, …… The family home was in Cornwallis, N. S.” Isaac’s children are named with many of the same names as Deborah’s siblings. Thus I believe that Isaac is the son of Isaac and Deborah (Newcomb) Miller who settled in Cornwallis, N. S. in the late 1760’s, joined her father, Benjamin, and many of her family there, and subsequently followed them to St. John, N. B. and north toward Sunbury Co., perhaps after her husband, Isaac, died. That Isaac Miller, son of Isaac and Deborah (Newcomb) Miller, and Isaac Miller, husband of Susannah Gallop, are the same person is not proven. But it appears very probable.

LDS Ancestral file.Family search.org details the Newcomb genealogy, shows Isaac Miller’s date of birth as 1740 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut, date of marriage May 22, 1766, to Deborah Newcomb, born in 1744, also of Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut.

Planters and Pioneers,(Pre-loyalist Settlers of Nova Scotia) by Esther Clark Wright, also lists:Miller, Isaac  Cornwallis  M.22 May 1766, Deborah, dau of Benjamin and Hannah Clark Newcomb, b.1744. Ch: Isaac

Ref: “Andrew Newcomb 1618-1686 and His Descendents,” compiled and revised by Bethuel Merritt Newcomb, pub. by The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co., New Haven, Conn. 1923.

Deborah married second —- Gallop. It would appear that Isaac died when they were in Cornwallis. N. S. and she may have followed her father and her brother, Benjamin, to St. John, N. B., and up the St. John River as they moved north to Waterborough (now Canning), Sunbury Co. N. B. See also the “Gallup Genealogy, p. 28, which shows Nathaniel Gallup married second Deborah ———–. Although no confirming document of this marriage has been found to date, it appears very probable that Deborah’s second husband was Nathaniel Gallup, that they were married after all of Nathaniel’s children by Hannah were born, the last of whom was Susannah, probably born about 1776-78. It is probable the marriage was in Sunbury County after 30 June 1783 when Nathaniel Gallup from Coveget was listed as living on the St. John River with a wife and seven children.

Calvin Miller Notes: From the book, “Planters and Pioneers”,(Pre-loyalist settlers of Nova Scotia) by Esther Clark Wright, The following is noted:

“Newcomb, Benjamin Cornwallis, 1761 St.John River(?)

b.c.1700,Edgartown,Mass. Son of Simon and Deborah Newcomb. M. Hannah Clark ?

Ch. Hannah, Benjamin, Simon, Lydia, William, Bethia, Benjamin, Oliver, Iram, Deborah, Jemima, Submit.”

“Newcomb,John Jr. Cornwallis,1761

b.July 20,1720,Lebanon,Conn., son of Deacon John and Alice Lumbert Newcomb, d. 13 April. 1778. M. 15 July 1747, Mercy, Dau. of Timothy and Martha Barnaby, d. 27 Mar 1776. M.(2) 13 Feb 1777, Mrs. Deborah Miller.

Ch. Joseph, Benjamin, John, Catherine, Martha, Alice, Mercy, Lydia, Ruth, Jonathan, Jacob, (2 d.)? Catherine. Others died young.” (2 d. means child of second marriage)

x

Sources

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/i/l/Calvin-Miller/GENE1-0001.html

http://genealogy.riddel.com/individual.php?pid=I874&ged=riddel.ged

Marriage date: 22 May 1766 from The History of Kings County Nova Scotia, Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, M. A., D. C. L., (The Salem Press Company, Salem, Massachusetts, 1910 Title page also gives ….. Heart of the Acadian Land – Giving a Sketc), p. 761.

SMITH, LEONARD H., JR., and NORMA H. SMITH. Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. 546p.  Page: 186  – Name: Deborah Newcomb Year: 1760  Place: Nova Scotia, Canada Family Members: Son Benjamin; Daughter Deborah; Son Iram; Daughter Jemima; Son Oliver; Daughter Submit; Son William