A Puritan Preacher in Demand — John Miller

B. before 21 Oct 1604 in Ashford, Kent, England¹
M. (1) about 1630 in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England²
Wife: Lydia
M. (2) before 27 May 1662 in Massachusetts³
Wife: Mary Ward
D. 12 Jun 1663 in Groton, Massachusetts⁴

During the 17th century in Puritan New England, communities were spreading out all over the region, each needing a qualified preacher to serve them. And men like John Miller were at a premium.

John came from Ashford, England, a town in Kent that was known for its nonconformism. He was born there, the fifth of nine children, to Martin Miller and Susan Hicks. John was baptized on October 21, 1604,¹ but his exact date of birth is unknown. His father made a living as a weaver,¹ so the family wasn’t wealthy, yet John managed to attend Gonville and Cauis College at Cambridge, receiving a BA in early 1628.⁵

At some point, John broke away from the established church in England, becoming a follower of Puritanism. He settled for a time in Bishop’s Stortford in Herfordshire, where he married a woman named Lydia in about 1630.² This was during a time of religious persecution, and like many others, John made the decision to leave England. John and Lydia sailed to Massachusetts in 1634 along with one young son.⁶ In America, they would add another seven children to their family, all daughters.

The first place John lived in New England was the town of Roxbury and he took on the role of “ruling elder.”⁷ In the hierarchy of the Puritans, a ruling elder ranked below a minister, and was defined as a man who saw to the administrative aspects of the congregation; he made sure everyone attended services, and kept people in line if they were disorderly. In John’s case, he seems to have also done some preaching. His status as a man with a college degree was a rarity in the colony, and this likely made him valuable to the religious leaders.

Sunday worship in Puritan New England was quite different from those of other Christian religions of the time. Rather than being ritual-based, the service centered around two or more sermons, with one session in the morning and another in the afternoon. Sitting in a cold, drafty meetinghouse for that many hours was difficult, and for that reason, having a speaker who could keep the audience engaged was important to the community. 

A typical Puritan meetinghouse was centered on an elevated pulpit where the preacher delivered his sermons.

 

It would seem that John must have been skilled at what he did. By 1639, he served as a preacher and town clerk in the town of Rowley, assisting Reverend Ezekiel Rogers.⁷ Other towns wanted him to come to their congregations to preach; when Woburn asked about his availability, Reverend Rogers was said to have been “loathe to part with him.”⁷ In September 1642, John was “nominated” with two other ministers to preach in a Puritan settlement in Virginia, but he begged off saying he wasn’t physically up to it.⁷

Not long after that, John left Rowley to preach in the Plymouth colony at Sandwich,⁶ and he eventually got assigned to the church at Yarmouth.⁷ He stayed in that post until about 1661, when he became the minister at Groton.⁷ John’s wife Lydia died in Boston on August 7, 1658, and he remarried to a widow named Mary Cutting, whose maiden name was Ward. The wedding took place by May 27, 1662;³ on that date, Mary was identified on a document with the last name Miller.

John was in his late 50s when he died at Groton on June 12, 1663.⁴ He didn’t leave a will, and the inventory of his estate showed he was far from wealthy, his most prized possessions seeming to be his books. One man said of him, “He was a man of low stature, but high literary attainments."⁷ John may have been of “low stature,” but one of his descendants was Sir Winston Churchill. He was also an ancestor of Dick Van Dyke.⁸

Inventory of John's estate in 1663. (Source: FamilySearch.org)

Children (all by Lydia):
1. John Miller — B. 2 Mar 1631, Ashford, Kent, England;⁹ D. 9 Jun 1711, Yarmouth, Massachusetts;¹⁰ M. (1) Margaret Winslow (1640-1698), 24 Dec 1659, Marshfield, Massachusetts;⁹ (2) Sarah ________ (~1635-1719), 28 Apr 1703, Yarmouth, Massachusetts¹⁰

2. Mehitable Miller — B. 12 Jul 1638, Roxbury, Massachusetts;¹¹ D. 23 Feb 1715, Yarmouth, Massachusetts;¹² M. John Crowell (~1639-1689), about 1654, Yarmouth, Massachusetts¹³

3. Lydia Miller — B. 2 Feb 1640, Rowley, Massachusetts;¹⁴ D. about 1729, Sandwich, Massachusetts;¹⁵ M. Nathaniel Fish (1619-1694), about 1656, Sandwich, Massachusetts¹⁵

4. Hannah Miller — B. about 1643, Massachusetts;¹⁶ M. Joseph Frost (1639-1692), 22 May 1666, Charlestown, Massachusetts¹⁷

5. Faith Miller — B. about 1645, Sandwich, Massachusetts;¹⁸ D. 9 Nov 1729, Marshfield, Massachusetts;¹⁹ M. Nathaniel Winslow (1639-1719), 3 Aug 1664, Marshfield, Massachusetts¹⁹

6. Susanna Miller — B. 24 Aug 1647, Roxbury, Massachusetts;²⁰ D. 14 Oct 1669, Charlestown, Massachusetts²¹

7. Elizabeth Miller — B. 13 Oct 1649, Yarmouth, Massachusetts;²² D. before 1718, Billerica, Massachusetts;²³ M. Samuel Frost (1638-1718), before 30 Apr 1674, (probably) Cambridge, Massachusetts²⁴

8. Mary Miller — B. about 1651, Yarmouth, Massachusetts;²⁵ D. 28 Aug 1731, Watertown, Massachusetts;²⁶ M. John Whittemore (1638-1694), 8 Nov 1677, Charlestown, Massachusetts²⁷

Sources:
1    Ashford, Kent – Index of all known births, marriages and burials from c. 1570 - late 1800s (website)  
2    Estimated marriage date of John & Lydia based on age of oldest child
3    Mary first mentioned as the wife of John on a deed dated 27 May 1662, Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986, FamilySearch.org
4    Early Church Records of Groton, Massachusetts, 1761-1830, Samuel Abbott Green, p.186, 1896
5    Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, Part 1, Issue 3, 1924
6    Wikitree listing for John Miller (1604-1663)  
7    New England Historical & Genealogical Register, V. 31, pg. 69-70, 1877
8    FamousKin.com listing for John Miller 
9    “Miller, Cook, Clark, Hall, Crosby and Smith,” New England Historical & Genealogical Register, V. 51, 1897
10  Vital Records of Yarmouth, MA to the year 1850, 1975
11  Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, Vol. 1, 1926
12  Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850, Vol. 1, 1975
13  New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Clarence Almon Torrey
14  Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts to the year 1849, 1928
15  Wikitree listing for Lydia (Miller) Fish (1640 - abt. 1729) 
16  Estimated birth year for Hannah Miller based on age at marriage
17  Marriage record of Joseph Frost and Hannah Miller, Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch.org
18  Estimated birth year for Faith Miller based on age at marriage
19  Vital Records of Marshfield, Massachusetts to the year 1850, 1975
20  Birth record of Susanna Miller, Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915, FamilySearch.org
21  Death record of Susanna Miller, M., T. C., V. and T. R.
22  Birth record of Elizabeth Miller, M. B. and C.
23  Estimated death year for Elizabeth (Miller) Frost based on death of husband on 7 Jan 1718 (he had remarried by time of his death)
24  Estimated marriage date of Samuel Frost and Elizabeth Miller based on birth of their first child, M., T. C., V. and T. R.
25  Estimated birth year of Mary Miller based on age at death
26  Vital Records of Watertown, 1630-1825, Vol. 2, p. 99, 1894-1906
27  Marriage record of John Whittemore and Mary Miller, M., T. C., V. and T. R.