What Great Great Great Grandpa Milner Was Doing on June 24, 1875

(Image courtesy Graphics Fairy)

Through the amazing resources at Google Books, I was able to determine exactly what my Great Great Great Grandfather, Henry Milner, was doing on June 24, 1875! According to page 238 of Volume 30 of the Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, on June 24, 1875, Henry Milner was trying to save an ailing potato crop. The report from the Committee of Farms, Erie County Agricultural Society, puts it ever so eloquently:









By looking at a slang dictionary online, I learned that "Irish lemons" used to be a slang term for potatoes. Yet another search at Google Books led me to learn that Paris green and plaster was a remedy used on potatoes to kill the potato beetle, a pest that was harmful to potatoes.

The Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture summarized the activities of the summer farm tour undertaken by the Committee on Farms, on which O.C. Tillinghast, Jr., Samuel Nims, and George B. Richmond served. They visited several farms in Erie County, and though Henry Milner was busy tending to his crops that day, the committee concluded about the Milner farm that:

...the right man is in the right place, presiding over the best managed and most prosperous county fair in the State of Ohio.














Henry Milner was the president of the Erie County Agricultural Society in 1875, which conducted the Erie County Fair.

As was explained in a previous blog post, Henry and Huldah Milner were the adoptive parents of Sarah Milner Steen. To my knowledge, I have no Milner DNA in my blood, but the strong family ties passed on to Sarah from Henry and Huldah Milner, and then passed on to my Great Grandmother Ada Steen Parker, who passed them on to my mother Joyce Parker Orshoski, are still alive and well in this present generation! I have no idea what Henry and Huldah Milner looked like, but I am so thankful that family heritage was so very important to them. What a delight it was for me to read about the potato crop on the Milner farm of 1875!

The Complicated Parentage of Sarah Nodine Milner Steen

My great great grandmother, Sarah Nodine Milner Steen, seen on the far left of the Steen family picture above, has a complicated situation concerning her parents. Her date of birth, as listed on her death certificate, was on November 13, 1850 in Michigan. The death certificate listed Sarah's parents as Henry Milner and Huldah Westfall Milner. However, an obituary from volume 14 of the Firelands Pioneer states that the daughter of Henry and Huldah Westfall Milner was adopted.























In 1990, my mother and I were curious about Great Great Grandma Sarah. We contacted Erie County Probate Court, to see if we could find out more information. The staff from Probate Court stated that in Erie County Court records, Sarah's twin daughters Ada Parker and Alpha Steen, give their mother's name as Sarah Milner, and Sarah had been born in Hastings, Michigan. Yet another birth record of an infant born to Sarah and Charles F. Steen, who died young, stated that the Sarah's maiden name was Nodine.

So...next we contacted Probate Court in Barry County, Michigan, which was in Hastings, Michigan. The Probate Register of Barry County Probate Court did not have on file a birth certificate for Sarah Nodine, because their records did not begin until 1863. However, she looked through some microfilm records, and found that Wheeler Nodine died in February, 1872, and one of his heirs was named Sarah, and was residing in Ohio at that time. Records also hinted that Eliza Jane was the mother of some of the children of Wheeler Nodine, but it did not definitively state that Sarah's mother was Eliza Jane Westfall.

When I was first becoming familiar with computers and email correspondence, another researcher from the West coast (who sadly has since passed away) told me that her ancestor Julia Nodine was also the daughter of Wheeler Nodine and his wife Eliza Jane Westfall. We made a conjecture that for reasons unknown, Wheeler and Eliza Jane Westfall Nodine gave their infant daughter, Sarah Nodine, to Eliza Jane's sister Huldah Westfall Milner, living in Erie County, Ohio.

Though the total story is not told, our hypothesis seems to be correct. A third cousin who lives nearby, allowed me to photocopy this page of birth records from the Milner family Bible. She said that the Bible originally belonged to Huldah Milner, then was passed down to Sarah Nodine Milner Steen, and then was kept up to date by my great grandmother Ada Steen Parker. Whoever filled out the births included both the biological parents of Sarah, who were Wheeler Nodine and Eliza Jane Westfall, as well as the adoptive parents of Sarah, Henry Milner and Hulday Westfall. The sisters were only about two years apart in age. We may never know why Sarah was adopted by the Milner's, and that was their only child. Wheeler Nodine and Eliza Jane Westfall Nodine had several other children, and Eliza appears to have been married three times.




















The birth records state that Sarah Nodine Milner was born in Ohio, but all other records indicate that she was born in Hastings, Michigan. At the very bottom of the page of birth listings are the names of several of Sarah's biological brothers and sisters.

Sarah married Charles F. Steen in March, 1875, and she died on March 6, 1939. She had four children, including Harry, who died young, twins Ada and Alpha, and another son Rollin. She was a lifelong member of the Perkins Grange, having been a charter member of that organization in 1874. Reading between the lines, I think that Sarah cherished her family. She had a lot of photographs taken of her children, and according to Great Grandma Ada's scrapbooks of clippings, she attended countless family dinners, parties, and family reunions. Though her past is somewhat mysterious and we do not know the reasons why she was adopted, she had a rich life, and I am thankful that she kept a record of so many of her family connections.

Capt. Merritt Sexton and Sarah Milner Sexton

A biographical sketch of Merritt Sexton is found in HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, by Harriet Taylor Upton. Merritt Sexton was the son of Martin Sexton and Lorenda Stevens Sexton, born in Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio on February 1, 1838. In 1861, Merritt Sexton enlisted in Company G of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Merritt was seriously wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, but he recovered, and he was eventually commissioned as Captain of Company F. of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

In 1866, Merritt Sexton married Sarah Milner, a daughter of Thomas and Ann Bowser Milner. Mr. and Mrs. Sexton farmed for many years, and then Merritt worked for the gas company for thirty-three years. Merritt Sexton was a member of the G.A.R., and Sarah Milner Sexton was a member of the Woman's Relief Corps. Merritt Sexton died on June 30, 1912. Mrs. Sarah Milner Sexton died on November 10, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Sexton are buried in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

Thomas and Ann Bowser Milner

Erie County Census Records for 1860 indicate that Thomas Milner was born in England about 1797. THE HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, states that Thomas Milner and his wife, the former Ann Bowser, took their family from Yorkshire, England to Canada in 1829. The Milner family moved to Erie County in 1836. Thomas and Ann had a family of nine children, but only five children were living in 1889: Henry, Thomas, John, Mary A., and Sarah Jane.

Thomas Milner died on March 8, 1877. He is buried in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Ann Bowser Milner died on February 21, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Milner's son Henry married Huldah Westfall. Henry Milner was one of the organizers of the county mutual insurance company. Henry and Huldah Milner were the parents of one adopted daughter, Sarah, who became the wife of Charles F. Steen.

Milner Monument

The Milner monument in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery honors the memory of Henry and Thomas Milner and their wives. Thomas and Henry Milner were born in England in the 1820's to Thomas and Ann (Bowser) Milner. The Milner family emigrated to the United States, and settled in Erie County, Ohio. By 1880 both Thomas and Henry Milner and their families were living on farms in Perkins Township, close to the Columbus Pike. The first Mrs. Thomas Milner, nee Francis Bennett, died of consumption in 1879. Thomas Milner married Clarinda Downs in 1883.

Henry Milner died on October 22, 1889. His funeral cortege to the grave numbered over one hundred vehicles. The October 25, 1889 "Sandusky Register" reprinted the tribute to Mr.Milner from the Erie County Board of Agriculture. The resolution read in part: "Mr. Milner was one of the few men who not only gave of his time and his means freely but repeatedly lent his personal credit for the maintenance and advancement of the society during its most critical period...we have lost not only a true-hearted friend but an adviser to whom we have looked for guidance in our deliberations..." Henry Milner was married to Huldah Westfall Milner, and they raised an adopted daughter, Sarah Milner Steen. Both Henry and Huldah Milner were pioneer members of the Perkins Grange. Mrs. Milner died on May 12, 1901. She had been known fondly as "Aunt Huldah" by her large circle of family and friends in Perkins Township.

Below is an image of the home and farm of Henry Milner, as it appeared in the 1874 Erie County Atlas, published by Stewart & Page. Click on the image for a larger view.



Sadly, Thomas Milner took his own life on October 20, 1899, following several months of failing health. The October 23, 1899 "Sandusky Register" reported that Thomas Milner was "one who had proved himself a faithful friend, a loving, judicious husband and father, a wise counsellor and a just man." After Thomas Milner's death, Clarinda Milner moved to Columbus, Ohio. She was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Erie County after her death in January 1921.

Harry Milner Steen

Harry Milner Steen was the oldest child of Charles F. and Sarah Steen, born on May 6, 1876.His middle name was the surname of Sarah's adoptive parents, Henry and Huldah Milner. Harry M. Steen is pictured with his identical twin sisters, Ada and Alpha Steen, about 1883. The Steen family lived on a farm in Perkins Township.


Harry died when he was only eight years old, on March 26, 1884. He is buried near his parents' graves in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery. Alpha Steen Martin would later name her first son Harry, after her beloved brother who died so young.



An obituary for young Harry Steen appeared in the March 30, 1885 issue of the Sandusky Register:

The death of Master Harry Steen, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Steen, occured Thursday. The funeral took place at the family residence of the grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Milner, on Saturday at 2 p.m. The attendance at the services and to Oakland Cemetery was very large. The services were conducted by Rev. S. Z. Kauffman. Harry was a bright, winsome lad of nine years, and well known among those who knew him as one precocious beyond his years. The sympathy of a very large circle of relatives and friends is extended to this household in this hour of their very deep sorrow and and bereavement.


A "Card of Thanks" from the Steen and Milner families appeared in the the March 31, 1885 Sandusky Register:

Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Steen and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Milner, of Perkins, desire to express their heartfelt thanks to those friends and neighbors who extended so many acts of kindness, assistance and sympathy in the family's recent great bereavement. Toward one and all a gratitude that words fail to express is cherished and the bonds of freindship made the stronger and sweeter.

Charles and Sarah Steen

Charles F. Steen was born in Erie County, Ohio, in 1857. His father was an Irish immigrant who died when Charles was an infant. (He was murdered by bandits, and his body was found in Sandusky Bay.) His mother, Lorenda Stevens, was the daughter of one of Erie County’s first teachers, Charles Stevens.

In 1874, Charles Steen married Sarah Milner. Sarah had been born in Michigan, but was adopted by Henry and Huldah Westfall Milner when she was quite young. Charles and Sarah had a farm in Perkins Township, where they were charter members of the Perkins Grange. They were very active in the Methodist Church, known as the “red brick church.” Mr. Steen also served as President of the Erie County Agricultural Association.


Mr. and Mrs. Steen had four children, Harry, who died young; twins Ada and Alpha; and Rollin Steen. Ada Steen married Leroy Parker, a farmer and concessionaire at Cedar Point. Alpha marred Fred Martin, a local candy manufacturer who had been born in Belgium. Rollin married Mildred Brooks, and he had a long career as an educator in Ohio.To the right is an image of Mr. and Mrs. Steen in their later years. Pictured below are Charles and Sarah Steen, with their daughters Ada and Alpha and son Rollin, in the early 1900's.




Charles Steen died in 1933, and Sarah Steen died in 1939. Both are buried in the North Ridge section of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.