Ann Miller

• b. 1680, Spotsylvania, Virginia
• d. 1728, Orange, Virginia
• Parents: Thomas Miller, Dorothy

Married

1. 1697 in Gloucester, Virginia to Francis Wisdom  b. 1676, Petsworth, Gloucester, Virginia, USA ,   d. 1750, , Orange, Virginia, USA  

Their children included

1. John, b. 1698, , Orange, Virginia, d. 26 Aug 1762, , Orange, Virginia.
2. Nancy Ann, b. 1714, , Orange, Virginia, USA , d. 1799, , Orange, Virginia. Married John White b.1696 London, Eng. - 1787 Orange, VA. they had 5 children.
3. Francis, (M) b. 1715, Petsworth Parish, Gloucester, Virginia, USA , d. 3 Sep 1794, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA

Disputed Origins

This ancestor has proven an enigma as no "Ann Miller" has been found in existing Virginia birth records for 1680 or vicinity. Yet, she is well documented as having married Francis Winter in 1697 and bearing several of his children. Based on research done by two "family genealogists" (non-professional), I believe this may be the answer.

1). "Ann Miller," b. 1680 in Spotsylvania VA, did not exist. The person described in this profile was born "Ann Collins" in ca. 1680 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, to a William Collins, b. 1615 in England; d. 1687 in Isle of Wight VA; and his wife Ann King (Collins), b. 1650 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. William Collins was one of two men of the same name who emigrated to Virginia in 1635 aboard HMS "the Plain Joan." Apparently both were from Kent, England. One was 20 and the other was 34 years old in 1635. Neither was a "yeoman" or "gentleman" but most likely indentured servants.

One of them (I assume the 20 year old) married Ann King on April 9, 1675, in Isle of Wight County. They were 35 years apart in age and she was probably his second wife. He was her 2d husband; she had been briefly married to Thomas Wild, b. 1620 ?, d. Isle of Wight before 1675.[1] Ann & William Collins had 2 children: John Collins, b. 1676 and Ann Collins, b. ca. 1680.

Ann Collins must have had a brief first marriage to a man named ____?? Miller when she was very young. At that time and place working-class women often married at 14-15 years old. It is likely Mr. Miller was from King & Queen or King William County as those counties were the "parent" counties for Spotsylvania where Ann Miller is said to have been born (she could not have been born in Spotsylvania Co., as it did not exist until 1721). Thus, an "Ann Miller" from what was later Spotsylvania County married Francis Wisdom in 1697 and so on... This is how genealogical mistakes become legends.

2). Just to make this riddle more confusing, another family tree has "Ann Miller" being the daughter of "Joseph Collins" and "Susannah Lewis". In my opinion, this is an amalgam of the Ann Collins, b. ca. 1680, who married Francis Wisdom in 1697 and an Ann Collins, born in 1718, again in Spotsylvania Co. VA, daughter of Joseph Collins, Jr., & Susannah Lewis, who married John Wisdom, son of the Francis Wisdom who married the "original" Ann Collins Miller in 1697. We cannot prove they were kin but if they were, it actually strengthens the "case" for Francis' wife's maiden name being Collins as colonial families often inter-married for two or more generations.[2]

Consequently, while I will not change the established WT "Last name at birth" for this profile to "Collins," without further investigation, I believe it is very probable that Francis Wisdom's wife was "Ann Collins," the widow Miller, born ca. 1680 in Isle of Wight VA to William Collins of Kent, England, and Ann King, said to be daughter of a Robert King & wife Mary, of Isle of Wight County, Virginia.

Sources

• ↑ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=townsendt...
• ↑ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wbbb1&id=... and see WT profile Wisdom-22 .
• ↑ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dalecurly...
• The Dale Curly Tree.
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wbbb1&id=...
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=townsendt...
• http://www.thewiesefamily.net/getperson.php?personID=P2856936326&tr...

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