 William G. Miley 1802-1862
Died: April 1, 1862 |  Emmaline Oentz Miley 1814-1907
Died: December 11, 1907 "Wife of W.G. Miley" |
| The Mileys got land patents # 640 and # 1850 in Section 14 Township 28 south Range 20 East for about 70 total acres. This lies on the southwest corner of Lake Thonotosassa. The family is listed in the 1850 census. | |
By Spessard Stone William G. Miley, a pioneer settler of Thonotosassa, Florida, was a farmer and stockman. William Goodman Miley, of Scottish ancestry, was born August 3, 1802 in South Carolina. He was married twice. The name of his first wife is unknown. After her death, in Augusta, Georgia on December 25, 1833, he married (2) Emmaline Ouentz (or Oentz), born August 16, 1814 in South Carolina. Her parents had relocated from Europe to Charleston, South Carolina. Emmaline was a Jew and had married William after extracting his promise that he would sell his slaves and buy no more. After living for a time in Montgomery, Alabama the Miley family settled in Thonotosassa, Hillsborough County, Florida about 1847. Emiline Miley Giddens in 1909 in her widow's Confederate pension stated she had continuously resided in Florida since February 9, 1847. As recounted in Leland Hawes' "Jewish Pioneers" in The Tampa Tribune-Times of January 10, 1999: "With Seminole Indians still occupying a camp in the area, relations could be tense on occasion. The Miley family took refuge at Fort Brooke several times, but in 1847, when there were reports of a possible Indian raid, it was impossible to make the dash to Tampa. Descendant Martha Parr told the story: "My great-great-grandmother was expecting a child. They gathered the children in the cabin and hovered in fear. During the night, an Indian woman, who was also expecting a child, wandered up to their cabin and was taken in. By morning, both women had delivered a son. Presumably because the Indian woman was treated kindly by the Mileys, the Indians grudgingly became friendly." The Mileys were active in their community and appeared in several contemporary records. William G. Miley and William Miley served in Capt. John Parker's Company, organized July 23, 1849, during the Indian trouble of 1849. William G. Miley, a farmer and stockman, on January 12, 1853 in Hillsborough County registered his mark and brand: crop & underhalf crop in each. The family, consisting of William G. "Myley," "Emiline," Samuel, David, Malias, Martin, Jacob, Florida, Martha, Henry, was listed in household # 21/16 in the 1860 census of Hillsborough County. Neighbors included the families of: William H. and Mary Fanning, J. T. and Susan Dishong Fanning, Thomas and Elisabeth Mitchell, John B. Mobley, G. W. and Caroline Smith, George and Lavenia Franklin, Thomas and Emiline Pollock, A. J. and Mary Hopson. The Miley, Franklin, Stephens, Wilder, Sparkman and Gallagher families in 1854 organized the Thonotosassa Baptist Church under a live oak tree at South Lake, Thonotosassa, at what is now a bridge but was then a ford. The church members had first met under a brush arbor until a log church was built in 1856. William Goodman Miley died April 1, 1862 and was buried in Thonotosassa Cemetery. His will, dated January 1, 1860, was probated May 3, 1862. Those mentioned in his will included: his wife, Emmaline Miley; sons, Daniel R. Miley and David Montgomery Miley; daughter Elizabeth Johnson. Executor was William Goodman Miley, Jr. Witnesses were Baxter M. Smith, Francis M. Mitchell, William W. Smith. "Emiline" Miley was enumerated in household # 40 in the 1870 of Hillsborough County. Her occupation was given as a farmer. Living within her household were: Florida Smith, her 18-year-old daughter; Menoni Smith, age 1, Florida's child; and Emmaline's unmarried children, Martha Miley, age 16; Harney Miley, age 13; Sula Miley, age 9. Emmaline Miley died December 11, 1887 and was buried beside William G. Miley in Thonotosassa Cemetery.  Emmaline Ouentz Miley, from page 9 of Canter Brown, Jr.'s Jewish Pioneers Of The Tampa Bay, 1999 William Goodman Miley had the following known children, of which the first three are not necessarily in chronological order and the mother being uncertain; children # 4-13 were born to Emmaline Miley: 1. William Goodman Miley, Jr., born ca. 1830, Ala.; married in Hillsborough Co. on Sept. 20, 1860 Elizabeth Deshong. He died while imprisoned in a Union detention center in New Orleans. Note: He was a private in Company B 7th Florida Infantry. 2. Elizabeth Miley, born ____; married ______ Johnson. 3. Daniel R. Miley. Although named in his father's will, this writer was unable to find him in either the 1860 or 1870 censuses of Hillsborough County. 4. Emiline Miley, born Jan. 16, 1837, Ala.; died April 24, 1925; buried Antioch Cemetery; married (1) on Feb. 19, 1857 Thomas Pollock; (2) Mar. 26, 1868 Dennis Adams; (3) April 3, 1870 George W. Giddens. 5. Samuel Augustine Miley, born April 23, 1840, Ala.; died July 16, 1920; buried Antioch Cemetery; married (1) Sept. 20, 1860 Mary Keen; (2) June 15, 1865 Lizzie Fleming; (3) Dec. 7, 1882 Elisa Simpson. He served in the CSA, was captured Jan. 1863 in Tenn., and was a prisoner of war. 6. David Montgomery Miley, born 1842, Ala.; died Oct. 1863 at Petersburg, Va. while serving in the CSA; married on Oct. 15, 1860 Martha Ann Keen. Martha married (2) Nov. 2, 1866 John Starling, son of Levi & Jane Starling. 7. Malias (Loven?) Miley, born 1846, Ala. 8. Martin Marion Miley, born Dec. 7, 1847, Fla.; died Sept. 11, 1928; buried Thonotosassa Cemetery; married Julia Adams. 9. Jacob Miley, born 1851. 10. Florida Miley, born ca. 1852; married on Oct. 10, 1867 Thomas J. Smith. 11. Martha Miley, born ca. 1854; married on July 21, 1870 Thomas Fountain. 12. Henry Harney Miley, born Feb. 6, 1857; died June 15, 1924; buried Antioch Cemetery; married on April 20, 1876 Lugenia Lyn. 13. Ursula Ann "Sula" Miley, born Oct. 20, 1860; died Oct. 31, 1938; buried Thonotosassa Cemetery; married on May 25, 1876 Marshall Melton "Met" Davis. References: Bernice Pollock Roberts; Antioch and Thonotosassa cemeteries; Leland Hawes, "Jewish Pioneers," The Tampa Tribune-Times, January 10, 1999; Canter Brown, Jr., Florida’s Peace River Frontier , 1991, 359, and Jewish Pioneers Of The Tampa Bay Frontier, 1999, 8-11; "Hillsborough County: Early Marks & Brands" and "Hillsborough County: Old Wills," respectively South Florida Pioneers 8 (April 1976), 13, 15/16 (Jan./April 1978) 53. This profile is adapted from the author's "Thonotosassa Pioneers" (1985). | |
