The Lost Years of David Miller: What I Learned About Mary Miller Harrison's Father

 

  This is a picture of David John Miller and Mary Hamilton.  They were the parents of David Miller.  According to Grandpa Harrison, there are no existing pictures of his grandfather because it was lost in a house fire.

For many years, our family knew only fragments about the father of Mary Miller Harrison, the mother of Grandpa Albert Harrison. We knew his name was David Miller. We knew he was born in Scotland. We knew that Mary’s mother died when Mary was a little girl, and that Mary was then raised partly by relatives and partly by other families. We also knew that later in life Mary warned her son (Grandpa Harrison) about alcohol because of the example of her father.

Beyond that, David Miller was mostly a mystery.

Recently, through census records, death records, and old newspapers, a fuller and more human story has begun to emerge.

A Young Family from Scotland

David Miller was born in Scotland, likely in Beith, Ayrshire, though later records list other places such as Glasgow or Aberdeen. Like many in our family lines, the Millers joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and emigrated to Utah.

David and his wife Jennie (Jeanette/Janet, sometimes recorded as Jane) Bailey Miller settled in Salt Lake City. Their daughter Mary Miller was born in 1873, and a son, Moroni David Miller, was born in November 1878.

At that time, David worked as a baker, reportedly at the Deseret Bakery.

The Tragedy That Changed Everything

Just weeks after Moroni was born, disaster struck.

Newspaper accounts from late December 1878 reported a “mysterious poisoning” in the Miller household in Salt Lake City’s 15th Ward. David had been working overnight at the bakery. When he returned home, he found his wife, a young hired girl, and the children overcome and unconscious.

Later reports concluded that Jennie Miller died from arsenical poisoning caused by gases from burning impure coal.

Mary, then a small child, survived. Baby Moroni survived. But the family was shattered.

Mary’s Childhood

After her mother’s death, Mary went first to live with her grandmother in Willard, Utah. Later she lived with another family in Salt Lake City, and then spent nine years with Joseph and Helen Argyle in Bountiful, Utah.

There she eventually met William Harrison, whom she married.

This helps explain the family stories that Mary had been “raised by strangers.” Like many children of that era who lost a parent, she was cared for in several homes.

What Happened to David?

For a long time, David Miller seemed to disappear.

We now know that he lived on, but under difficult circumstances. By the 1890s he was in Montana. Newspaper accounts from Butte, Montana, in February 1898 tell the story of his final days.

David had been working as a cook for a construction company at the Big Hole dam. He became seriously ill and tried to return to Butte for treatment. He was so weak that he could not continue traveling from Silver Bow Junction. A deputy sheriff named Gavin helped him, even taking him into his own home temporarily before bringing him into town.

Officials attempted to send David to the county hospital (sometimes called the poor farm), but he died before help could arrive.

Reports describe him as poorly dressed, carrying only $5.90 and some horehound cough candy. The official cause of death was given as bronchitis or pneumonia.

He Was Not Forgotten

At first, authorities did not know where his family was. Newspapers printed notices asking for help locating relatives in Utah.

Soon afterward, an undertaker in Butte received a telegram from David’s brother in Salt Lake City, who said he would come and arrange the funeral. Reports also noted that David’s mother was living in Willard, Utah.

Though David’s life seems to have become difficult and unsettled, he was not entirely forgotten. In the end, family came for him.

A More Complete Story

It would be easy to reduce David Miller to only his failures or hardships. But records now show a more complicated life:

• A Scottish immigrant who came west with hope
• A baker supporting a young family in Salt Lake City
• A husband who lost his wife suddenly in a terrible accident
• A father whose children were scattered after tragedy
• A man who continued working for years afterward
• A sick laborer who died far from home, but whose family still answered the call

His daughter Mary went on to build a family of her own and became the ancestor through whom we descend.

Why This Matters

Family history is rarely simple. Sometimes people who seemed to vanish were carrying burdens we never knew about. Sometimes a person remembered only as a cautionary tale had also known grief, hard work, endurance, and loss.

David Miller’s story reminds us that our ancestors were not legends or labels. They were real people, with broken places and redeeming ones too.

Aunt Beth: A Life Richer Than Many of Us Knew

 

After Aunt Beth’s passing, I began gathering family memories and searching old records to learn more about her life. What emerged was the story of an accomplished, generous, and remarkable woman whose life reached farther than many of us may have realized.

Aunt Beth was born in Wichita, Kansas, on June 9, 1945, the oldest of three sisters: Aunt Beth, Aunt Jan, and Mom. She grew up in Wichita and showed gifts early in both academics and music.

One especially interesting discovery was a 1954 Wichita newspaper article from the era of the Salk polio vaccine trials. It appears to show eight-year-old Aunt Beth participating in the testing program, calmly giving a blood sample as part of an important moment in American medical history. During a time when polio deeply frightened families, children like Aunt Beth and her parents were willing to participate and helped move the country toward hope and protection.

As a student, Aunt Beth excelled. Newspaper records show her earning honors year after year, scoring 99% on the Merit Test, and being named a National Merit Scholar. She was also deeply involved in music and the arts. Clippings mention piano recitals as a child, organ and piano performances for school events, accompanying choirs, and participation in fine arts programs.

Aunt Beth went on to attend the University of Washington, where she was one of the first three women admitted to the Business School and earned her MBA. This was a pioneering achievement at a time when far fewer women were entering that field.

She built a distinguished banking career in Philadelphia and Chicago, eventually serving as credit administrator for U.S. Bank across five Midwestern states. She also believed in public service and was elected to office in Illinois.

Her life was not limited to work. Aunt Beth was a talented pianist and organist, lived in Spain for a time, and together she and Uncle Frank visited 72 countries. Uncle Frank shared that they had been sweethearts since Aunt Beth was sixteen, and they were married for 56 years.

Uncle Frank also spoke with gratitude about Aunt Beth’s gift for planning and preparing for the future. He said that because she handled so much so well, he was free to simply enjoy life. That may be one of the clearest pictures of who she was. Some people show love through words, while others show it through quiet competence, steady care, and making life better for everyone around them.

That spirit of generosity touched our family as well. When Mom passed away suddenly, Aunt Beth and Uncle Frank quietly paid for her funeral in full, lifting a burden during a very difficult time.

Aunt Beth’s life was full of intelligence, music, leadership, travel, service, and devotion to others. She was a scholar, musician, banker, public servant, beloved wife, and a source of strength in many lives.

Families sometimes know one another in pieces. It has been meaningful to gather more of those pieces and see the fuller picture of Aunt Beth.

She was part of our story, and she leaves an impressive legacy.

Grandpa Barnes and Rocket City

 This week, with all the excitement around Artemis, I’ve been thinking a lot about Grandpa, Orville Curtis Barnes, and his time working for Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama in the 1960s.

I recently tried to find out exactly what he worked on, but Boeing couldn’t provide employee records. However, they did tell me something interesting—Boeing’s Huntsville plant was heavily involved in building the Saturn V rockets. That means if Grandpa was an engineer there at the time, there’s a very good chance he was part of the program that helped send astronauts to the moon.

Huntsville back then wasn’t just a small Southern town—it was becoming “Rocket City.” Engineers from all over the country were working together on something that had never been done before. Boeing alone had thousands of employees there by the mid-1960s, all contributing to the space program.

The Saturn V rocket was enormous and incredibly complex. Boeing’s role focused on the first stage—the massive booster that lifted the rocket off the ground. I can’t help but imagine what Grandpa’s days might have looked like: working through new problems, collaborating with other engineers, and knowing that every detail mattered.

People who lived in Huntsville during that time said the ground would actually shake during rocket tests. Imagine living somewhere where you could feel the power of those engines right through your feet. Grandpa didn’t just work on rockets—he lived in the middle of it.

By the time Apollo 11 launched in 1969, all those years of work had paid off. The Saturn V carried astronauts to the moon, and while we don’t know exactly which pieces Grandpa worked on, we know he was part of something extraordinary.

I wish I could ask him about it now—what he worked on, what he thought about it, and if he realized how important it all was.

But even without those details, I do know this: Grandpa helped build something bigger than himself. He was part of a team that made history—and that’s something I’ll always be proud of.

If you're interested in knowing more about Boeing's contribution to the space program, here is the link they sent me in their reply: 
Boeing Images