The parents of Henry Miller (b. 1735; d. 1796), ironmaster of Mossy Creek, Augusta Co., VA, have never been positively identified. However, verifiable information from several anecdotes recorded in the Draper Manuscripts supplies the key to this puzzle. Henry Miller grew up in Berks Co., PA, where he and Daniel Boone were best friends as boys and Henry served as apprentice to Squire Boone (Daniel Boone's father) in the blacksmith trade. A letter to Prof. Lyman Draper from Henry Miller's grandson, Dr. W.W. Miller, dated July 29, 1883 (source: Draper Manuscripts, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 20C41), relates the following story: "Daniel Boone and my grandfather were cousins, and were about the same age, and lived in the same neighborhood somewhere in Pa, and at the age of fifteen (my great-grandfather being dead) they started out together hunting and trapping. This they continued until young men, Boone remaining in the woods hunting whilst my grandfather carried the peltry to market. When twenty one they each received their portion coming from their father's estates which they invested in milk cows and drove them to North Carolina. They made several successful trips of this kind…" Although this anecdote cannot be true of Daniel Boone, whose father died when Daniel was 31, it provides a key piece of information for identifying Henry's father, since if the story is true of Henry Miller, then his father would have to have died prior to 1756. A Stephen Miller of Amity Twp., Philadelphia Co. (later part of Berks Co.) died in 1746/7 (Philadelphia Co. Will Book H, 246) leaving a will that named his wife Joane and children Samuel, Stephen, Sarah, Mary, Henry, Elizabeth and Martha. Executors of the will were his wife Joane and George Boone; witnesses: Jacob Waren, Isaac Dilbeck, Isaac Wiseman. In a letter to Professor Draper (source: Draper Manuscripts, 20C26-8), George B. Moffett, M.D., another grandson of Henry Miller, reports the critical clues: "In speaking of Henry Miller, I should have told you that he had two sisters who lived & died in Augusta Co. One married Gillam & the other a Mr. Dold, the father of Capt. Jesse Dold who commanded a company of Cavalry in the War of 12. He [Henry Miller] had a nephew & namesake Capt. Henry Miller Shreeve, of whom you perhaps know something as the 1st steamboat navigator to N. Orleans, the remover of snags from the Missippi, the locator of Shreeveport La, & the one who materially aided Genl. Jackson in gaining the victory at Orleans by conveying ammunition & arms to him from Pittsburg in the dead of winter & reaching there the day before the battle." Records of the Miller-Gillam and Miller-Dold marriages have been located as follows: Elizabeth Miller m. William Gillom, Feb. 3, 1763, St. Gabriel's Church, Douglassville, Berks Co., PA (source: Wright, F. Edward. Berks County Church Records of the Eighteenth Century. Vol. 1. Westminster, MD: Family Line Publications, 1993, p. 30). Martha Miller m. Philip Told, Feb. 24, 1767, New Hanover Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. Co., PA (source: Records of Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810. Vol. I. Excerpted from Pennsylvania Archives Ser. 2, Vols. VIII & IX. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987, p. 638). These marriage records confirm Dr. Moffett's account of the two Miller sisters who married Gillom and Dold. The given names of these sisters to Henry Miller, Elizabeth and Martha, correspond to those of two of the children mentioned in Stephen Miller's will. In addition, the text of the will clearly differentiates between two sets of children, indicating that Stephen Miller had children by two different wives. He willed all his pewter to his wife, Joana, "two basins and one dish excepted which I give to my daughter Sarah that hath her mother's mark." Furthermore, the will stipulates that Henry, who was to inherit his father's 100 acres in Amity Twp. when he reached the age of 21, was to pay 30 pounds each to his sisters Elizabeth and Martha when they reached 18. Dr. Moffett's identification of Henry Miller Shreve as nephew of Henry Miller supplies the decisive clue that ties Henry Miller to Stephen Miller of Amity Twp. The following records confirm the fact that Henry Miller Shreve and Henry Miller were indeed nephew and uncle: Henry Miller Shreve's mother was Mary Cokely (source: Allen, Luther P. The Genealogy and History of the Shreve Family from 1641. Privately published, Greenfield, IL, 1901, p. 346). Mary Cokely married Israel Shreve on May 10, 1773 at Christ Church, Philadelphia (source: Records of Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810). Mary Cokely was the daughter of Johanna and Cornelius Cokely. (Mary b. August 17, 1749 in Amity Twp. per Allen, p. 344). Johanna Cokely was the widow of Stephen Miller, as confirmed by the following recently-located marriage record that explicitly identifies her as his widow: January 16, 1749 - MaCochly, Cornelius m. Parker, Johanna (widow Stephen Muller). Records of Augustus Evangelical Lutheran Church, Trappe, Pennsylvania. Married by Rev. Muhlenberg. (Pennsylvania German Church Records, Vol. 1. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983, p. 434). A Philadelphia Co. Deed (Deed Book G, Vol. 8, p.131), abstracted as follows, further confirms that Stephen Miller's widow Joana was born Joana Parker: Philadelphia Deed Book G, Volume 8, page 131 Grantor: Edward Parker and Mary his wife, Stephen Miller and Joana his wife, Peter Opdegraefe and Jane his wife of Coventry in the County of Chester of the one part. Grantee: Susana Longanacre, widow of the other part. Date: 8 July 1746. Henry Parker died intestate leaving one son and three daughters, "to witt, Edward, Jane, Joana and Mary." By indenture dated 8 July 1746, Edward Parker and Mary his wife, Stephen Miller and Joana his wife, Peter Opdegraefe and Jane his wife, in consideration of the sum of 322 pounds paid by Susana Longanacre, granted a piece of land "lying between the Lambs[sic] late of John Rutter and John Jacob Fullwalder," containing 275 acres. Edward Parker, Stephen Miller and Peter Opdegraefe executors and administrators. Witnesses: George Boone, Nichs Robinson, Margaret Smith 11 July 1746, Susana Longanacre received 322 pounds. Based on the above discoveries, it is reasonable to conclude that: 1) Henry Miller, boyhood best friend of Daniel Boone and founder of Miller's Ironworks at Mossy Creek, Augusta Co., VA, was brother to Martha Miller Dold/Told and Elizabeth Miller Gillom. 2) Henry and his sisters Martha Miller Dold/Told and Elizabeth Miller Gillom were the children of Stephen Miller and Joanna/Johanna Parker. 3) Joanna/Johanna Parker Miller remarried to Cornelius Cokely/MaCochly in 1749 and gave birth to a daughter Mary Cokely who later named her son for her half-brother, Henry Miller. Further recently located information suggests that Stephen Miller was the son of Capt. Jonathan Miller of Bedford, NY. The following marriage record is very likely that of Stephen Miller and his first wife: Warin, Sarah spouse: Miller, Stephen Jun 30, 1724 Source: Records of Prime, Ebenezer (Rev) @ 1st P. Ch., Huntington; He is of Bedford (on Ye Main); She of Oyster Bay (source: Davis, N., Marriage Index of New York). Philadelphia and Bedford land records document the presence of Stephen Miller in both Bedford, NY and Philadelphia through his dealings in both places with the distinctively-named Standish Forde: 19 Mar 1732: Phila. Co., PA (Phila. Deed Book F, Vol. 6, p. 308). Stephen Miller of Limerick Twp., Phila. Co., sold land in Limerick Twp. to John Waren of Amity Twp. Per the deed, this land had been purchased by Stephen Miller from Standish Forde in May of 1731. 25 Aug 1738: Bedford, NY (Westchester Co. Deed Book, Lib. G, p. 332). Standish Forde of Phila. sold to Robert Sturgeon land in Bedford that "the said Forde lately purchased of one Stephen Miller." The above deeds provide strong circumstantial evidence that Stephen Miller of Bedford, NY and Stephen Miller of Limerick Twp., Phila. Co., were one and the same individual. They further link Stephen Miller of Limerick Twp. to Amity Twp. through John Waren of Amity. The Warens migrated to Amity Twp. from Oyster Bay, NY, the home of Stephen Miller's first wife, Sarah Warin. A documented connection between the Bedford, NY Miller family and inhabitants of Amity Twp exists in the marriage of Increase Miller (brother of Stephen of Bedford) and Anna Sadowski, daughter of Antoni Sadowski, one of the founders of Amity and a resident there since 1712 (source: Will of Antoni Sadowskj, Phila. Co. Will Book E, 372, 1735/6; in it he mentions "things…that my daughter Ann Sadowsky gott when she was married to Increase Miller"). Stephen Miller of Bedford, NY was the son of Capt. Jonathan Miller, one of the original settlers of the town (source: Town of Bedford, Westchester Co., New York, Records Vol. IX. Published by Town of Bedford, 1978, pp. 91-92). Although evidence has not been located to prove that Stephen Miller of Limerick Twp. and Stephen Miller of Amity Twp. were the same person, the circumstantial connections strongly suggest that they were. Our investigations show that, contrary to what many of his descendants have thought, Henry Miller does not appear to have been a cousin to Daniel Boone. This misconception can be explained by three circumstances: Henry's strong boyhood friendship with Daniel; the fact that Henry was Squire Boone's apprentice and lived, according to Daniel, "in my father's house" for eight years; and the fact that Henry's wife's mother was a Boone, probably a first cousin of Daniel. We will continue our research on these lines and report new findings as they emerge. Diana Lehman Bob Stewart