Genealogy Story – The Men in Margaret Miller’s Life

Recently I was contacted by a lady from NC who had read some of my blogs on the Pierpont Family Association Facebook page and who had some materials from old PFA meetings 80 or so years ago. I asked her to send them to me so I could donate them to the PFA at our next meeting (which will be delayed this year due to the Corona virus).

Two pictures that she sent me were from the 50^th anniversary of Mary Ann [Pierpont} and Charles Somers Miller. There were two things about the picture that intrigued me. First, the location of that anniversary picture was in the Mill Plain Union Church in Waterbury, CT – the same room where my parents had their wedding day picture taken in 1946. Second, while one of the pictures was of just the honored couple and their descendants, the other with extended family included my grandfather, Harold Granger Pierpont, standing right behind Mary Ann. (I believe that my grandmother is also in the picture with just the top part of her face showing in the back.)

One of the other documents in the envelope was the dedication of the 1941 PFA meeting to Mary Ann as she had died in 1938. This noted that she and Charles were “the first couple to be married in the Chapel.” And that “She was a member of the Second Congregational Church in Waterbury, but directed most of her efforts to the work of the struggling Chapel.”

Apart from my grandparents, there is one other person in the picture whom I knew when growing up – Margaret [Miller] [Northrop] Hall (1889-1987) (on the left without a hat and with bangs, glancing sideways at her parents). She lived in my hometown, Wolcott, and she and her extended family were people whom I also knew. As I looked at some of the things that I knew about her, I decided to concentrate on the men in Margaret’s life and all the ways she was related to me through them. Here are the things I found.

Margaret’s Father (and Mother)

The most obvious connection is through Margaret’s mother, Mary Ann [Pierpont]. Through this connection, my grandfather is Margaret’s first cousin. So besides being from the same part of Waterbury and attending the same chapel/church, it’s obvious that he was invited to Mary Ann and Charles’ anniversary as he was Mary Ann’s nephew. But are there any other connections through Charles himself?

As noted in the Pierpont genealogies, Charles’ grandmother was Almira Frisbie. But there are Frisbies in the Pierpont line as well through my grandfather’s mother. Thus, Charles is a 4^th cousin of my grandfather (by blood) as well as being my grandfather’s cousin (by marriage).

Margaret’s First Husband

Margaret first married Clifford Wesley Northrop (1875-1936). There are two of my family lines that also have Northrop’s in them. On my father’s side, my great-grandmother was Caroline Northrop, and on my mother’s side one of my great*5 grandmothers is Sarah Northrop/Northrup. These two lines converge, but the ancestral line of Clifford Northrop also merges with it. So, Clifford is my 5^th cousin, giving me two more connections to Margaret.

Margaret’s Second Husband

Following Clifford’s death in 1936, Margaret married a second time to George Ransom Hall in 1939. But this created yet another connection as George’s parents were Ransom Hall (1852-1889) and Anna [Root] Hall (1853-1938). My great-grandfather, Wilson Pierpont, became widowed in 1898 when his wife passed away just a few days after my grandfather was born. He then married the widow Anna [Root] Hall, combining their two families. Thus, George Hall is a step-brother to my grandfather. It also meant that Margaret was marrying her step-first cousin – but a legal marriage since there was not a blood connection!

Margaret’s Pastor

There is an interesting comment in the Pierpont genealogies that noted that Margaret was married in the Mill Plain Chapel by Rev. Davenport. That name looked familiar so I needed to do some further checking.

According to the history of the Mill Plain Union Church (https://millplainunionchurch.com/our-history/), the Saw Mill Plain Schoolhouse was built in 1833 where Chase School now stands. Their first pastor was Rev. Alfred Northrop [yes, he is also part of the extended Northrop family mentioned above]. The Rev. Davenport mentioned was Dr. John [Gaylord] Davenport who was the minister of the Second Congregational Church and who walked to Mill Plain to conduct services. (The Second Congregational Church connection of Mary Ann is probably the reason for he being invited to conduct Margaret’s marriage ceremony.)

The original Mill Plain Chapel was built in 1883 and temporary ministers came from other churches in Waterbury until 1921 when they had their first permanent minister. Mary Ann [Pierpont] and Charles Somers Miller were the first couple married in this building and Margaret was also married there in 1910. (Note that this was not the current stone church. A first stone church was built in 1928, then when it burned down in 1947, it was rebuilt.)

But what is the Davenport connection? Those knowledgeable with Pierpont genealogy will recall that one of the original settlers of the New Haven Colony was Rev. John Davenport (1597-1670) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Davenport_(minister)). When Rev. James Pierpont came to New Haven as the new minister, he was taking on the mantle of Rev. Davenport. This was made stronger when he married Abigail Davenport, a granddaughter of Rev. John Davenport. (She passed away after the birth of their first child – it was Rev. James’ third wife who is the ancestor of al the other Pierponts in this story.)

The family line from Rev. John Davenport was as follows:

Rev. John

-> John Davenport II (1635-1677) [m. Abigail Pierson]

-> John Davenport III (1668-1731) [brother of Abigail Davenport who married Rev. James Pierpont]

-> John Davenport IV (1698-1742) [m. Sarah Bishop]

-> Deodate Davenport (1730-1808) [m. Lydia Reed]

-> Deodate Davenport (1766-1839) [m. Abigail Hanford]

-> Samuel Davenport (1789-1853) [m. Susan Betts]

-> Charles Augustus Davenport (1812-1853) [m. Sarah Maria Gaylord]

-> Rev. John Gaylord Davenport (1840-1922) [m. Alice Westcott]

Thus Rev. John Gaylord Davenport was the step 6^th cousin, once removed, of Margaret Miller.

Oh, what a tangled web of connections! But through these connections I and my third cousin, Bob Kraft are currently the co-historians of the Pierpont Family Association, and Catherine Sangüeza, who donated this material, is also my third cousin and a second cousin of Bob.