52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 33

Week 33:

The theme for Week 33 is "Legal Troubles."There’s at least one in every family – that relative who seems to be in trouble more often than not. (Hey, at least they usually leave good records!) Who in your family tree had brushes with the legal system?

Abraham Miller

1812–1856

3rd great-grandfather

Jeremiah W Miller

1846–1890

2nd great-granduncle

I am going to tell you the story of Abraham Miller, my paternal 3rd great-grandfather, and his son Jeremiah Miller, my paternal 2nd great-granduncle. It's a tragic story of murder and suicide. 

Jeremiah never spent any time in prison, taking his life before the authorities could arrest him. Abraham was incarcerated in Carlisle, taking his life in his jail cell. Before their tragic ends, the men were known to the authorities, but never spent any significant time behind bars. 

When Abraham Miller was born on January 1, 1812, in East Pennsboro, Pennsylvania, his father, Nicholas, was 46 and his mother, Catherine, was 27.

He had five sons and six daughters with his wife, Martha B. Rawlins between 1830 and 1853.

In 1856, Miller and a black man known as the "Black Mass" teamed up to commit a robbery that would end in murder. Miller and the Black Mass were arrested and taken to the jail in Carlisle. 

Abraham Miller died on September 7, 1856, in his jail cell in Carlisle at the age of 44 after hanging himself. 

When Jeremiah Miller was born in 1846 in East Pennsboro, Pennsylvania, his father, Abraham, was 34. Jeremiah and his wife would have nine children together before a series of tragic events unfolded. 

On the morning of August 3rd, 1890 Jeremiah shot his wife in a fit of unfounded jealousy in their kitchen. She was holding their infant child when she was hit with the spray of buckshot from Jeremiah's shotgun. Jeremiah gathered the kids, explained that he had killed their mother and was now going to kill himself. He walked outside and shot himself in the stomach. He died quickly, his wife lingered for days, paralyzed, before succumbing to her wounds. 

In a weird coincidence, Jeremiah and his father both committed murder, both died by suicide, and were both 44 at the time of their deaths. 

Jeremiah and Abraham Miller represent a tragic chapter in my family history.