All In The Family History: Agnes Eliza McCoy Miller

BIRTH 19 DEC 1850 • Monmouth, Wabash, Illinois

DEATH 22 NOV 1921 • Almeda, Mercer, Illinois

MARRIED 1873 • William Campbell Miller

Agnes Eliza McCoy was born in 1850 in Warren County, Illinois, to Eliza Rice Wright and Joseph McCoy. Eliza was born in New York in 1817 and was a widow with 3 children by the time she married Joseph. In “The Past and Present of Warren County” published in 1877, Joseph McCoy is listed as a founding member of the county, having settled there in May of 1838.

Joseph McCoy was born in Xenia, Ohio in 1804. Illinois is the Prairie State, at the time known for farming and coal mining.

Old Settler's of Warren County

Eliza and Joseph were married on 11 Jan 1850 in Warren County, Illinois.

McCoy/Wright marriage record

In 1850, the McCoy/Wright family was living in Warren County, Illinois:

Joseph-47, born in Ohio, Farmer
Eliza-30, born in NY
Albert E Wright -8, born in Pennsylvania
Adeline Wright-6, born in Ohio
Julius Wright-5, born in Ohio

Agnes Eliza was born on 19 Dec 1850. By the 1860 census, the family's home was in Hale, Warren County, Illinois.

The McCoy/Wright family in 1860:

Joseph McCoy-56 Farmer
Eliza McCoy-38
Adeline Wright-16
Julius Wright-14
Agnes Eliza McCoy-9
Sarah Jane McCoy-6
James Scott McCoy-4
Fremont McCoy-2
Lilly Belle McCoy-2 months

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois to become President of the United States. In 1861, the Civil War took 256,297 Illinois men away from their families, over 34,000 were killed or died of disease. Agnes Eliza’s half brother, Julius C Wright, entered the war at the age of 19 and fought for the Union with Company C, 36th Regiment, Illinois Infantry. He mustered in on 18 Mar 1864 as a private and mustered out on 19 Jun 1865 as a corporal. He is described in his military record as being 5’6” with dark hair, brown eyes and dark complexion. The 36th Infantry Regiment fought over 21 battles during his 15 month service, mostly in Georgia and a final few in Tennessee. Our Agnes was only a young teenager when her big brother went off to war, it must have been an anxious time for the entire family.

Cecil Wright's Civil War record

Despite the hardships, life when on as usual. Children still went to school during the war, but often times they had to work to make up for the absence of a father or older brother. Children in the North helped support the Union army by sending packages and letters to the soldiers. Families and church groups gathered to sew clothing and knit socks and mittens. Families were notified of injuries or deaths from War Bulletins, posted outside telegraph offices. I can imagine how elated the McCoys were to have Julius return from the war in the summer of 1865. He would eventually marry, raise a family, and live to the age of 76.

In 1870 the McCoy family was living in the township of Monmouth, in Warren County, Illinois.

Joseph-66, Farmer
Eliza-53, Keeping house
Agnes-19
Sarah-17
James-14
Fremont-12
Lilly Belle-10

Agnes marries William Campbell Miller

William Miller was born about 1845 in Martins Ferry, Belmont County, Ohio, which is located along the Ohio River on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. It is the oldest settlement in Ohio, established in 1779. He was the son of Moses Miller (1821-unk.) and Julia Ann Brown (1822-1895). He had 11 siblings, 4 sisters and 7 brothers. The family lived in Warren, Jefferson County, Ohio during the 1850 and 1860 census. By 1870, William was a farm laborer in Hale, Ohio.

Miller/McCoy marriage record. The Sarah J McCoy listed above is her sister and John C. Miller is William's brother.

William and Agnes married on 2 Oct 1873 in Warren County. She was 21 and he was 26. They made their first home in Oquawka, Henderson, Illinois, which is situated along the Mississippi River. William worked as a laborer while Agnes Eliza kept house.

First home after marriage

William appears in the 1877 voting records of Warren County as ‘Miller, Wm. C. Monmouth City, laborer, dem from Ohio’. The ‘dem’ stands for Democrat.

Agnes & William had six children:

Almeda Miller (1871-1927)
Ona Belle Miller (1875-1938)
Julia Carrie Miller (1879-1931)
Zenas Kimball Miller (1881-1950) my great-grandfather
Hattie Melissa Miller (1884-1978)
Cecil Fremont Miller (1888-unk)

Almeda Miller's birth record is recorded 2 years before the marriage record. If she was in fact born before they were married, I wonder if she was not his daughter but he adopted her. By the 1900 Census, the family had moved to Aledo, Mercer County, Illinois.

William-53, laborer
Agnes-49
Ona-25, teacher
Zenas-18, at school
Hattie-15, at school
Cecil-11, at school

Ten years pass and in the 1910 Census, Agnes is listed as Head of Household, married for 40 years and working as a washerwoman for a private family. Other family members in the household:

Ona-35, Teacher
Hattie-25, Telephone office employee
Cecil-21, Teamster

Mysteriously, William Campbell Miller is absent from this census. I have not been able to find a valid record of his death or whereabouts.

In the 1920 Census, Agnes is listed as a widow and living with her son Cecil. She died on 22 Nov 1921 at the age of 70.

Her son Zenas Kimball Miller would eventually meet and marry Caithryn (Kate) Amelia Carroll, who are the parents of Ardith Lucille Miller (Mimi).