My 64 ~ Researching My 4th Great Grandparents : Daniel Miller and Patience Stevens of Limington, Denmark and Bridgton, Maine

Daniel Miller, my 4th great grandfather, was born about 1788, according to his gravestone in the West Bridgton Cemetery, stating he was 74 years old when he died.  The Faylene Hutton Cemetery Collection record (available on familysearch.org) was dated July 1989. By the time the Bridgton Historical Society added his memorial to findagrave.com, in 2012, the gravestone had sunk further into the ground, and it was more difficult to read. They therefore recorded his birthdate as 1798.

The earliest census record that records his birthplace, the 1850 U.S. Federal Census for Bridgton, Maine, only records it as Maine. I have no information on his parents.

On October 4, 1812, Daniel and a young woman named Patience Stevens indicated their intention to marry, in Limington Maine.

On November 26th, they were married by an "Elder in the Baptist corporation in Limington and Limerick."

By the time Daniel and Patience were married, they were already parents to the first of eleven children. Son William had been born in January of 1812 in Limerick, Maine. It is William's death record, in 1906, which gives a hint as to his mother's origins. There, Patience's birthplace is recorded as Berwick, Maine.

I came across a burial record in the Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection (available on familysearch.org) which may indicate a connection.

The above Patience (Brown) Stevens was the wife of a Jacob Stevens, and she apparently came from Berwick. She was born around 1778, and could be my 5th great grandmother, given her age (20 years older than my Patience), and having the same first name. Further research, including finding this Stevens Plot, during my next trip to Maine, is definitely in order.

Map of Stevens Plot, courtesy of Steve Dow

1856 Map of Limingon, Maine

All tolled, Daniel and Patience had the following children:

William, b. 1812 in Limerick, d. 1906

Stephen, b. 1814 in Limington, d. ?

Mary, b. 1816 in Limington, d. 1819

 with the following all born in Denmark, Maine

Eunice, b. 1820, d. 1886

Daniel, b. 1823, d. 1882

*Patience S., b. 1825, d. 1887

Lyona, b. 1827, d. 1853

Thomas, b. 1829, d. 1909

David, b. 1830, d. 1831

James O., b. 1832, d. 1916

Mary Jane, b. 1834, d. 1876

*my 3rd great grandmother

Daniel Miller died July 21, 1862, in Bridgton, Maine. His wife Patience passed away on June 6, 1881. They are buried side by side in West Bridgton Cemetery (sometimes referred to as Sawyer Cemetery) on No. High Street, in Bridgton, Maine.

Sources:

1850 U.S. Census; Census Place: Bridgton, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M432_251; Page: 277A; Image: 251.

1860 U.S. Census; Census Place: Bridgton, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M653_437; Page: 2; Image: 691; Family History Library Film: 803437.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Death Records, 1617-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Daniel Miller tombstone,  West Bridgton Cemetery, Bridgton (Cumberland County), Maine; photographed by Pamela Schaffner on 7 July 2013.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  2 March 2016), memorial page for Daniel Miller (1798-1862), Find A Grave Memorial no. 98175991, citing West Bridgton Cemetery, Bridgton, Cumberland County, Maine.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  2 March 2016), memorial page for Patience Stevens Miller (1782-1881), Find A Grave Memorial no. 98176822, citing West Bridgton Cemetery, Bridgton, Cumberland County, Maine.

Lewis Stevens, Vital records of Bridgton, Maine:  (Rockland, Maine:  Picton Press, 2007), pp.118-119.

"Maine, Faylene Hutton Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1990," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-40626-6774-75?cc=2242151 : accessed 13 January 2016), Miller - Moor > image 92 of 3425; Maine State Library, Augusta.

"Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-40627-40428-58?cc=2241461 : accessed 2 March 2016), Stevens, Micajah-Stinson, John F > image 93 of 1531; Maine State Library, Augusta.

"Maine Marriages, 1771-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F46L-Y93 : accessed 14 February 2016), Daniel Miller and Patience Stevens, 04 Oct 1812; citing Limington, York, Maine, reference IN 215 p33; FHL microfilm 11,533.

"Maine Marriages, 1771-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F46L-Y97 : accessed 14 February 2016), Daniel Miller and Patience Stevens, 26 Nov 1812; citing Limington, York, Maine, reference IN 219 p 41; FHL microfilm 11,533.

Map of York County, Maine (https://www.loc.gov/item/2011588007/)

Patience Miller tombstone,  West Bridgton Cemetery, Bridgton (Cumberland County), Maine; photographed by Pamela Schaffner on 7 July 2013.