Ware-Bulloch County GaArchives Biographies.....Miller, David Jesse 1847 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 18, 2004, 9:25 am

Author: William Harden
p. 762-763

   REV. DAVID JESSE MILLER. Coming from pioneer and Revolutionary stock, Rev.
David Jesse Miller is distinguished not only for the honored ancestry from which
he is descended, but for his own good life and works, having been intimately
associated with the development and advancement of the agricultural and
industrial prosperity of Ware county, and being now a member of the board of
county commissioners, and an esteemed resident of Waycross. A son of Capt. David
J. Miller, he was born, November 11, 1847, near Waresboro, Georgia. His
greatgrandfather, William Miller, presumably a native of South Carolina, served
as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and afterwards settled in Georgia,
becoming a pioneer of Bulloch county, where he spent his closing years of life.

   Henry Miller, Mr. Miller's grandfather, spent his early life in Bulloch
county, Georgia. Subsequently locating, in pioneer times in Ware county, he
bought land near Waresboro, and on the farm which he cleared and improved
resided until his death, at, the advanced age of eighty-three years, his body
being then laid to rest in Kettle Creek cemetery, beside that of his wife. He
reared four sons, William, Stephen, Henry, and David J., and two daughters,
Nancy and Susan.

   Capt. David J. Miller was born on the home farm in Bulloch county, Georgia,
being there reared amid pioneer scenes, for in the days of his youth Ware county
was a frontier region, over which the Indians roamed at will, frequently proving
very troublesome to the white settlers. Joining the militia when young, he was
made captain of a company, which he led against the savages. There were then two
forts in this vicinity, one being located at Waresboro, and the other on the
present site of Waycross, and whenever the Indians were on the war path the
women and children took refuge in these forts, while the men pursued and fought
the redskins. During all of his earlier life there were no railroads in the
state, and he used to market his cotton and surplus farm products in Centerville
and Saint Marys, fifty miles away, journeying there and back with teams, on his
return trip being loaded with whatever merchandise was needed for family use,
and for which he had invested the proceeds received from his cotton and other
farm productions. He was quite successful as an agriculturist, and resided on
his homestead until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. He married
Loanza Dyer, who was born in Tattnall county, Georgia, and died in Bulloch
county, when sixty-seven years old. The union of Captain and Mrs. Miller was
blessed by the birth of twelve children, as follows: William, Henry, Thomas,
James, David J., Stephen F., Nancy, Mary, Caroline, Susan, Serena, and Anna.

   Leaving home at the age of twenty-one years, David Jesse Miller purchased
land in Ware county, near Waycross, and for a few years successfully carried on
general farming. While thus occupied he became interested in the turpentine
industry, which was one of great importance and value, and, having removed to
Waycross, was engaged in the manufacture of turpentine for ten years. Of late,
however, Mr. Miller has devoted his time and energies to his official duties,
since 1908 having rendered efficient service as county commissioner, and to his
ministerial work, in which he has been actively engaged for upwards of thirty
years. Mr. Miller united with the Methodist Episcopal church as a youth, and in
1879 was licensed as a local preacher, and has since preached in various places
in Ware and near-by counties, being an effective and popular speaker.

   Rev. Mr. Miller married, in 1869, Serena C. Sweat, who was born, in October,
1847, on a farm near Waycross, being a daughter of James and Mary (Blackburn)
Sweat. Mrs. Miller passed to the life beyond in February, 1910, leaving five
children, namely: Mollie, who married J. L. Stephens, and has eight children;
Cora, wife of A. J. Williams, has seven children; Lovina married J. P. Lide, and
they are the parents of five children; Delia, wife of W. W. Webster, has four
children; and James T., the only son, married Minnie Davidson, and they have
eight children.



Additional Comments:
From:

A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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