The goal of this web site is to help those researching the Millard family who came to Pennsylvania in the 1680s and initially settled outside Philadelphia in what was then Chester County, and later became both Berks County and Chester County.  New information is continually added, edited, and corrected, and it is a work in progress. 
 

PEOPLE 
Thomas Millard family and  William Penn | Contemporaries of Thomas Millard |  Joseph Millard and Hannah Lincoln / Mary Garratt |  Millard and Lincoln family | Contemporaries of Joseph Millard | Joseph Millard and Hannah Hugh Wynn |  | Revolutionary War & Six Millards |  Mordecai Millard | Benjamin (Mordecai's son) wounded in War of 1812) | Samuel (Mordecai's youngest son) missed Lewis & Clark, but stayed two years with Daniel Boone | Jonathan, Joseph and Thomas Millard of Chester County | Samuel Millard |  John Millard& Sarah Stoneback left Hopewell Furnace for Kansas in 1878 | Benjamin Millard (1823-1901) and Lavinia Bechtel, daughter of Evan Bechtel | Bentley Millard (1868-?) | FrederickMillard (1842-1915) | Evan Luther Millard (1862-1927) | Julian Millard | Other surnames related to Millards from Berks County: Bechtel, Blood, Bowne, Cookson, Chestnutwood, Cutler, Garratt, Hale, Harris, Harvout, Irwin, Keinard, Kirst, Lincoln, Livergood, Lykens, Moore, Palsgrove, Pratt, Parry, Prigg, Rittenhouse, Salter, Stoneback, Swinehart, Wynn, Yarnell  | Other Millards are listed or linked throughout the text of the site |

PLACES IN BERKS COUNTY and CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 
Exeter Friends Meeting  | Thomas Millard's Land in Berks and Chester County  |  Hopewell Furnace:  where Mordecai, Thomas, Joseph, John Millard worked | Hopewell Landing on the Schuykill Canal  | Churches to which Millards belonged:  St. Gabriel's Church and cemetary | St. Mary's Church, Warwick (Chester County) and Millards in St. Mary's cemetery | St. John's United Church of Christ, Gibralter | Robeson (Plow) Church, Plowville |  1876 Map of Robeson Township in Berks County marked with B. Millard land | Goodwill Church, Chester County | Fairview Church, Chester County |St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Birdsboro  | Private family graveyards:  on private land that was Joseph Millard farm in Elverson, PA in Chester County, and on private land near Douglassville, PA listed in the book EPITAPHS  |  Town of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania  |

PHOTOGRAPHS 
Hopewell Furnace photographs:  Field and Ironmaster's house | Thomas Millard 600 acres and houses near Douglassville in Berks County  | Exeter Friends Meeting exteriors | Exeter Friends Meeting interior view | Mordecai Lincoln house and marker | St. Gabriel's Church | St. Michael's Church (link to image) | Lithograph of Birdsboro in 1890 (link to image)|  Millard house Chester County in family for 150 years   | Information about photographs |  many more photos throughout...

RESOURCES 
Millard bible from Illinois | Finding Millard genealogical information |  To order Berks County Millard wills | Ships passengers lists for Chester County, PA | General genealogical sites |  Berks County township maps online from 1876 Atlas of Berks County:  B. Millard | For more Berks County Genealogy information | Historical Society of Berks County - Library and Museum | Distribution of Millard surnames in 1880 | Bibliography |  More...

 Hopewell Furnace

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site where Thomas, Joseph,  Mordecai and John Millard  worked in the 18th &  19th centuries. 
 

Thomas Millard:  The first Millard in Pennsylvania

The first Millard to settle in Pennsylvania in what later  became Berks County was Thomas Millard, who was born in 1648 in Birmingham, England,  came to America at the time of William Penn, and later died in Berks County.  He had two sons who were, Henry and Thomas 1669-1761, who traveled to Pennsylvania from Birmingham, Great Britain with he and his wife.   Son Thomas Millard (1669-1761), was 12 years old when he traveled with his family to Pennsylvania in 1681 in one of the ships arranged by William Penn.   Thomas Millard first settled in an area outside of Philadelphia, and later he and his son Thomas and Thomas's children purchased land in what was then Chester County and also what later became Berks County.

Millard family bible indicates Thomas Millard came with William Penn's ships: 
The history below is from a handwritten transcription sent by the Illinois owner of a  family bible and is in the Millard files of the library of the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania:

"History of the Millard family from their first emigration from Great Brittain to America.  In the year of our Lord & saviour Jesus Christ 1681 Thomas Millard a native citizen of the City of Birmingham in the Kingdom of Great Brittain left that place and came to America in the same fleet of ships that transported Governor Wm Penn thither.  But not being in the same vefsel he arove at the place where Philade now stands when there was not a house at that place or any shelter out of the vefsels save a cabbin made of boards sawed with whip saws.  It appears by tradition that the said Thomas Millard pofsefsing rare mechanical genius was selected and prevailed upon by the governor to accompany him and afsist in forming a settlement.  He brought with him his son Thomas then a lad 12 years of age.  The last named Thomas Millard left Philadelphia and settled on the southwest bank of the Schuylkill river about 15 miles below Reading in Berks as it afterwards became where his son Joseph was born who was said to be the first white child born on the Schuylkill.  In 1743 Joseph Millard son of the last named Joseph Millard was born who on the 15 of Augt 1778 was married to Hannah Hugh daughter of Jonathan Wynn and Ann his wife who emmigrated from Wales in Brittain about the time of the first settling of Chester County."

In the autumn of 1681 three ships were sent by William Penn with his commissioners:  the John and Sarah from London, under Captain Henry Smith; and the Bristol Factor from Bristol, under Roger Drew which arrived at Upland (now Chester) on December 11, 1681. A third ship, the Amity of London, under Captain Dimon did not arrive until the Spring of 1682.  William  Penn arrived in New Castle, Delaware on October 27, 1682.   A hundred families were to have come on these ships.

It appears that William Penn arranged for 23 ships to come to Pennsylvania (landing in Delaware, Chester, or Philadelphia). It is not known at this time on which ship Thomas Millard arrived. (Further research may indicate on which ship Thomas Millard arrived.  Passenger listings from some ships which landed in Chester County in the 1680s are maintained and updated online on the Chester County Ships Listings.)  These excepts are from a letter from William Penn written on December 29, 1682 (December was called the "tenth month" then) was written to a friend on the day Penn returned to Chester, PA from Maryland.  It gives a feeling for the times during which Thomas Millard arrived:

"I bless the Lord I am very well....As to the outward things, we are satisfied;  the land is good, the air clear and sweet, the springs plentiful and provision good....Blessed be the Lord, that of 23 ships none miscarried, only two or three had the small-pox, else healthy and swift passages generally, such as have not been known;  some but 28 days, and few longer than six weeks...."

    [From The Life of William Penn; with selections from His Correspondence and Autobiography by Samuel M. Janney, Philadelphia, Hogan, Perkins, & Co., 1852, p. 213].

An unusual listing of Thomas Millard as a contemporary of William Penn occurrs in the report in the Pennsylvania Archives of a witch trial held in 1683 in Philadelphia accusing two Finnish women of being bewitched by cows.  (The result was that the husbands of both women were fined 50 pounds!) 
William Penn and Thomas Millard both appear in the document excerpted below.

Att a Councill held at Philadelphia ye 27th 12th mo., 1683. 
PRESENT: 
Wm. PENN, Propor and Govr. 
four others listed... 
Margaret Mattson and Yeshro Hendrickson, Examined and About to be 
proved Witches; whereupon, this board Ordered that Neels Matson should 
Enter into a recognizance of fifty pounds for his Wife's appearance 
before this board the 27th Instant, Hendrick Jacobson doth the same 
for his Wife. 
The Grand Jury names are as followed: (21 names in list including Millard) 
Thos: Millard

To see the full report on "Pennsylvania Witches" go to this web site by a professor of English and American Studies at Penn State at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~jup/witches/qa/q31.html 
  
  
  
 

THE FIRST MILLARDS BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA:  Thomas Millard and his children

Thomas married Barbara about 1699, and died in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1761.  Their children were all born in Pennsylvania and included: 
1.   Thomas (1700-1764)who married Lydia 
2.    Timothy (1702-1764) who married Ann Prigg 
3. Joseph(1711-1781) who first Hannah Lincoln (daughter of Mordecai Lincoln) and then later married Mary Garrattwhen Hannah died in Berks County 
4. Benjamin(1714-1757) who married Jane 
5.    Jonathan(1715/16-?) who married Mary 
6.    Mary (born 7 July 1704 in Pennsylvania) 
7.    Ann   (born 16 July 1706 in Pennsylvania) 
8.  Elizabeth(1708-1750) who married Samuel Harris 
9.    Martha (born 1 Jan 1715/1 in Pennsylvania) 
10.  Hannah (born 25 May 1718 in Pennsylvania) 
11.  Sarah  (born 25 May 1718 in Pennsylvania) 
12.  Barbara. (born 21 June 1721 in Pennsylvania)

Millards first lived near Philadelphia and soon moved to what is now Berks County.  Sections of what is now Berks County were also part of  Chester County, Philadelphia County and Lancaster County until Berks County was created in 1752.   Within Berks County, Millards are most associated with Union Township, Amity Township,  Alsace Township, Exeter Township and  RobesonTownships.

Thomas Millard's Lands in Berks County

Thomas Millard owned large tracts of land and in what was Chester County and what later became Berks County, Pennsylvania when Berks County was formed in 1752.   Thomas Millard's lands were mentioned in a 1909 paper about the ancestry of Abraham Lincoln read before the Historical Society of Berks County by Louis Richards.  Thomas Millard was a contemporary of Mordecai Lincoln, the great great grandfather of Abraham Lincoln and his son Joseph Millard later married Mordecai Lincoln's daughter Hannah.

"May 10, 1732, he [Mordecai Lincoln] obtained a conveyance of one thousand acres in Amity Township, now in Exeter Township, Berks County, from Thomas Millard of Coventry, part of a tract of sixteen hunred acres formerly belonging to Andrew Robeson."    p. 371 Transactions of the Historical Society of Berks County, Vol. 2.

According to Julian Millard in his publication The Millard Family of Pennsylvania (1933), in 1722 Thomas (born in 1669) secured 1000 acres on the west bank of the Schuylkill  in what became Berks County through Thomas Fairman, Surveyor-General of Philadelphia, a friend of his father.  The voluminous records related to lands acquired by Thomas Millard have been best described in extensive research by James Landis into the lands and deeds held by Thomas Millard who lived from 1669-1761.  Thomas Millard owned extensive lands in Philadelphia County, Chester County, and what became Berks County in 1752.

The Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania has in their collection the printed volume created by James C. Landis in 1995 entitled:  A Report on the Lands of Thomas Millard and Miscellaneous Records of the Millard Family.   The introduction to Landis' work states that the objectives of his research were to identify lands owned by Thomas Millard (c.1670-c.1761), locate and verify early chains of title, document Millard family milling operations, and to lay a foundation for future research.  Landis' work includes copies of land records, source documents, tax record extracts, and significant secondary sources.  The information about Thomas Millard's lands below is from James C. Landis' research.  It is reasonable to assume that certain documents which refer to "Thomas Miller" are actually Thomas Millard, who was also a miller.

 Thomas Millard purchased 150 acres of land from Edward Farmer of Whitemarsh in 1699 in Philadelphia County.  It is not known when this was sold.  In 1711, Thomas Millard took up residence and built a grist mill on a 1000 acre tract of land in what was then Coventry Township, Chester County, and later called the "Union Tract" by Landis because it became Union Township when Berks County was established in 1752.  It is here in 1711 that Joseph Millard was born, across from Douglassville. Thomas Millard (Thomas Miller/millwright) also purchased and a 200 acre tract near Oley in 1719, referred to by Landis as the "Manatawny tract," on which Thomas Millard never lived, but later sold to Robert Stapleton of Philadelphia in 1735.  Some land were  purchased through land agents of William Penn such as Thomas Fairman. Thomas Millard also bought what Landis refers to as the "Robeson tract"  of 1,000 acres in October 7, 1729 owned by Jonathan and Elizabeth Robeson (son of Andrew Robeson) and  Mordecai Lincoln.  Three years later, on May 10, 1732,  Mordecai Lincoln purchased the 1,000 acre property back from Thomas and Barbara Millard for a purchase price of 395 pounds.  Mordecai Lincoln settled in Berks County, built a house on that land in 1733, which is still a private home today.

One of the properties identified as being owned by Thomas Millard is across from Douglassville, Pennsylvania in Berks County that today is south of the Schuylkill River and bordered by state Route 724, Red Corner Road, Black Matt Road and Sycamore Road, and is crossed by what was once the Schuylkill Canal.    It is on the tract referred to by Landis as the "Union tract" near Douglassville that Thomas Millard is thought to have constructed one of his mills, and it is this land that was later divided among his sons.  Thomas Millard purchased the land very early in the 1700s.  He had to have it re-warranted in the 1730s because of a dispute about the ability of the person he originally purchased the land from to sell it. The 1876 map of Union Township in Berks County is available on the web. Note the location of "Mounce Jones" house across the Schuylkill River.

Today these 600 acres are  still rolling green hills adjacent to the Schuylkill River across from Douglassville off Route 724 in Berks County that contain a golf course, the dry beds of   waterways.  A  dozen old stone houses on private property on this land still exist that may have been owned by Millard family members and  descendants. (Images are below) 
1 2 
  1.Blackwood Golf Course, 510 Red Corner Rd Douglassville   2.Dry beds of mill or water races near Sycamore Road

3  4  5 
3 "Hopewell Landing" near golf course  4.  Built in 1771      5.  Covatta's Brinton Lodge on Rt. 724 
(STONE HOUSES ON THOMAS MILLARD TRACT:  1, 2, 3, 4  are private homes. 5. is a restaurant)

It is believed by some Millard researchers that Covatta's Brinton Lodge Restaurant on Route 724 in Douglassville (see photo #5 above) in Berks County, Pennsylvania may have been the original Thomas Millard house built in 1709 or earlier when Thomas Millard lived on these lands, and had a prominent mill.   This house and land was part of the 1,000 acre tract belonging to Thomas Millard, who was a contemporary of Mouns Jones, whose early home is across the Schuylkill River.  At the time it was built this land was in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  Berks County was carved from Chester County and other counties in 1752.

Perhaps one or more of these houses above were also built by Thomas Millard or his descendants.  The research into the original ownership would have to be done to confirm this. Parts of this property were given to his sons with affection during his life. The last tract to be owned by Millards was sold to Jacob Kerlin at the time of Joseph Millard's son, Mordecai Millard's death in 1796.  A drive around this 600 acre square land still shows several 18th century stone houses, not all of which are pictured here, and the dry beds of what appear to be part of the Mill Creek and raceway to provide water,  and also the Schuylkill Canal.

Some members of the Millard family who began with Thomas Millard in the early 1700s,  lived near by and worked in the iron industry at Hopewell Furnace (near Hopewell Lake) southwest of Douglassville in the late 18th and 19th century.  Mordecai Millard had a business that hauled iron for Hopewell Furnace in the early 1800s.  Iron was hauled by teamsters from Hopewell Furnace to the Schuylkill Canal to Hopewell Landing according the Joseph Walker book on Hopewell Village.  Perhaps this house was owned by Millards at one time.   Some Millards have lived in this area of Berks County and just across the border in Chester County in locations within a few miles of each other for 300 years.  All these locations are quite close to each other.    See the map

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Contemporaries of Thomas Millard 
Thomas Millard's neighbors and contemporaries were other large landowners including Mons Jones (also spelled Mouns Jones) and Matthew Brooke and others.

In 1709, a dozen men petitioned the County of Philadelphia to build a road to Manatawny including Thomas Millard, Matthew Brook and Mons Jones.   The text of this petition is from The Perkiomen Region:  Past and Present, Volumes I, II, and III (September 1894 - April 1901) p. 249.

Petition for a Road to Manatawny 
         The following petition for a road from Perkiomen Bridge to Pottstown in the Court House at Philadelphia.  It is endorsed "March 1709."

                To her Majesties Justices of the Peace of the County of Philadelphia, Now Sitting in Quarter Sessions in Philadelphia in the Said County. 
                The Peticon of John Henry Spreogle and MOns Jones in behalfe of themselves and Divers other freeholders of sd County of Philadelphia. 
                Humbly Sheweth 
                That your Peticoners Haveing Plantacons lying Very Remote in the Country & In the Edge or Outskirts of Any Inhabitants of this County, And it being Very Difficult for them to pass & Repass unto their Said Plantacons by Reason there is No Publick Road Laid Out far Enough to Reach to their said Plantacons. 
                Your Peticoners, Therefore pray this Court Would be pleased to Order Six House Keepers of the Neighborhood to view and Allot Some Convenient Place for Laying Out A Road fromthe Late House of Edward Lane Deceased being onthe Queens High Way unto Maunitania.  According to An Act of Assembly in the Case Made & Provided. 
                And your Peticoners shall pray, 
                                                            John Henry Sprogell 
                            this is 
               the marck M I of Mons Jones 
               Walter  U Newman 
                the marck of John ++ Justus 
                John Newman 
                Joshua Robinson 
                the marck of John + Jones 
                Tho. Millard 
                the marck of Andrew A Leickan 
                Matthew Brooke 
                Robt. Billings 
                Thos. McCarty 
                Henry Parker 
                Hubert Hubertzen

                Order'd that Mouns Jones Walter Newman Matthew Brooke Andrew Lycon John Justus & James Brooks or Some four 'm do lay out the Sd Road & report at next Sess.

Benjamin Millard, son of Thomas Millard (the following links are to the ALBERT FAMILY TREE dates 2003 and no longer on the web and are possibly outdated and/or no citations)
Benjamin Millard, son of Thomas and Barbara Millard, was born on Christmas, on December 25, 1714, was married in 1738, and died on March 1, 1757.  He was born, married and died in Union Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Benjamin married Jane who lived until 1786.  Benjamin and Jane had five children:

1.    Anna Millard who married Amos Richardson and had a son Benjamin Richardson 
2.    Eleanor Millard who married Peter Thomas 
3.    Jane Millardwho married John Ingalls and had a daughter Anna Ingalls 
4.    Samuel Millard who married Abagail Hughes in Newberry Townshipand whose children were: 
                    Jonathan Millard whose spouse was Phebe Millard 
                    Benjamin Millard whose spouse was Elizabeth Millard 
                    Issac Millard whose spouses wereElizabeth Werts and then Mary Orris 
5.  Thomas Millard (1739-1817)

Joseph Millard, son of Thomas Millard

Joseph Millard (1711-1781), one of the sons of Thomas Millard (1669-1761) was born in Amity Township,  Berks County, on November 2, 1711 and died in Union Township, Berks County, in 1781.

Joseph Millard's first wife:  Hannah Lincoln

Joseph Millard ,  married Hannah Lincoln the daugher of Mordecai Lincoln and his first wife Hanna Salter, in what was Chester County and what in 1752 became Berks County, Pennsylvania.  (Mordecai Lincoln is President Abraham Lincoln's great great grandfather).  Hannah Lincoln's mother Hannah Salter, was the daugher of Richard Salter and Sarah Boone.  (After Mordecai Lincoln's first wife Hannah Salter died, he married Mary Robeson).

After his first wife Hannah Lincoln died, Joseph Millard (1711-1781) married his second wife, Mary Pratt, who was a widow.  (Mary Pratt's maiden name was Mary Garratt.)

Joseph Millard and Hannah Lincoln had seven children: 
1.    MordecaiMillard (24 April 1736-3 Sept 1794) who married Francis Cookson in 1759 and had 8 sons and 4 daughters. 
2.    Thomas Millard  (18 Sept 1738 - 3 Nov 1780) 
3.    Samuel Millard   ( 2 April 1741-1750) 
4. Joseph Millard (6 June 1743-11 Nov 1817) of West Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania,  married Hannah Hugh Wynn and had sons Thomas  (1780-1855), Jonathan (1783-1868) and Joseph (1788-1850).  [A headstone for Joseph 1743-1817 and wife Hannah Hugh Wynn is in the St. Mary's Episcopal Church graveyard in Warwick, PA in Chester County, and also headstones exist on the private farm that was once owned by Joseph Millard near Elverson] 
More information on these sons of Joseph Millard and Hannah Hugh Wynn: 
Thomas Millard (1780-1855) was mentioned first in the will of Joseph in Chester County File#6516 May 1815 and may have been the eldest son.  Thomas was a  minister in the Methodist Church, donated land to the Goodwill Church in Elverson PA and migrated to Crawford County Ohio, with his wife Jane Higgins and his 8 children.  Several other Chester co families went with them ( Wynns, Lincolns, Trego and Irwin.)   Thomas once again donated land for a Goodwill church there and a graveyard contains he and Jane and many of their children. His daughter Hannah who married Israel Irwin. 
         Jonathan, Millard (1783-1868), brother of Thomas,  lived to be 85 years old, and married first Ann Roberts (1781-1813) and then Sarah (1780-1851).  Jonathan, Ann Roberts, and Sarah are buried in St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Warwick PA (Chester County). 
         Joseph Millard (1788-1850)

5.    James Millard  (born 30 August 1746) 
6.    Barbara Millard (born  25 March 1749) 
7.    Hannah Millard (born 26 October 1751 - died 22 August 1769)

                               CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THESE CHESTER COUNTY MILLARDS 
 

           Samuel Millard (1741-1750) 
           Thomas Millard (1738-1780) 
           James Millard born 1746 
           Barbara Millard born 1749 
           Hannah Millard (1751-1769)

Joseph Millard's second wife:   widow Mary Garratt Pratt: 
When Hannah died, Joseph Millard married widow Mary Garratt Pratt (born 9 June 1726 - 27 Aug 1804)

The children of Joseph Millard and Mary Garratt Pratt were: 
Ann Millard born 1761 
Elizabeth Millard born 1763 
Timothy Millardborn 1766 who married Mary and moved to Newmarket, Ontario Canada 
Martha Millard born 1768 
Benjamin Millard born 1770, died 1771. 
 

Joseph Millard was elected Assessor in 1753 according to the Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper of October 5, 1753:  [the "Province" mentioned is Pennsylvania]:

[In a report of].. the Anniversary Election throughout the Province for Representatives, Sheriffs, Coroners, &c. the following Gentlemen were chosen...For Berks County...Assessors, Abraham Levan, Nathan Evans, Thomas Wright, Jacob Warren,  Joseph Millard, Michael Read."

One note on the web in a family genealogy letter claims that Joseph Millard was among  "the Literary citizens who assembled at the Widow Drury's Tavern in February, 1767, to found the first Reading library" in Berks County, Pennsylvania.  This needs to be confirmed in future research.

Joseph Millard was a Quaker who belonged to the Exeter Community Meeting, as did members of the Boone family and Lincoln family.  ( The historical records confirming Joseph Millard's membership in the Exeter Community Meeting of the 18th century are held by the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.) 
  
 

Exeter Friends Meeting (Quakers), where Joseph Millard was a member

A view of the burial grounds at the Exeter Friends Meeting. 
The Exeter Friends Meeting house in Berks County near Oley is still in use today.   The historic burial grounds from 1736 are surrounded by a stone wall which is adjacent to the Exeter Meeting house.   No tombstones were used, but records show that members of families from the Boones, Lincolns, and Webbs are buried there.  Records of the Exeter Friends Meeting burial ground at the Berks County Historical Society records show that Rachel Millard is buried in this cemetery.

Joseph Millard, 1711-1781, was accepted as a member on January 1, 1748, after his marriage to Hannah Lincoln on December 15, 1742.   Hannah Lincoln Millard was born in 1719 and died at the age of 38 on January 15, 1757.  Joseph and Hannah had seven children.   Joseph Millard married his second wife Mary Garratt Pratt, 1726-1784, widow of John Pratt who had also been  a member of Exeter Friends Meeting.  The first of five children of Joseph Millard and Mary Garratt Pratt Millard was born in 1761.

 
Interior of the Exeter Friends Meeting House in Berks County. 
  
 

The Millard family and the Lincoln family:

Joseph Millard (1711-1781), the son of Thomas Millard,  married  Hannah Lincoln (1719-1757) who was Mordecai Lincoln's daughter in Berks County, Pennsylvania.  (Joseph Millard is the great great uncle of President Abraham Lincoln.)

Mordecai Lincoln, the great great grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln, purchased 1,000 acres on which he built his house in 1733 from Thomas Millard.  This house still stands today.  Thomas Millard's son Joseph Millard married Hannah Lincoln, the eldest daughter of Mordecai Lincoln and Hannah Salter.

Mordecai Lincoln House,  Berks County Pennsylvania

The house Mordecai Lincoln built in 1733  on land purchased from Thomas Millard, is pictured below and is a private home today. 

 A stone historical marker pictured above was erected on the street  outside  the Mordecai Lincoln house and reads: 
       "House built around 1733 by Mordecai Lincoln, Gr- Gr- Grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln.  Erected by the Berks Count Historical Society, 1915." 
 

A bit about the Lincoln ancestry from which some Millards are descended: 
Mordecai Lincoln was the great great grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln.  President Abraham Lincoln's paternal ancestry has been traced to Samuel Lincoln, a weaver's apprentice from Hingham, England, who settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1637. From him the line of descent came down through Mordecai Lincoln of Massachusetts.    Mordecai Lincoln was born on April 24, 1686 in Hingham, Massachusetts, married Hannah Salter in 1714 in Monmouth, New Jersey. 
Hannah Salter was born in Freehold, Monmouth County, and was the daughter of Richard Salter and Sarah Bowne. Hannah was at once the daughter, the niece, and the granddaughter of members of the New Jersey assembly and the niece of the acting royal governor of that colony (according to the book Lincoln published in 1999 by David Herbert Donald.   Donald spells Hannah's maiden name as Slater instead of Salter--which is an alternate spelling according to some sources).  A full excerpt from the book is on Washington Post online on the web at: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/lincoln.htm

For more on Richard Salter and Sarah Bowne go to:  http://www.ptsi.net/user/umschab/des/de2G939.htm 
Mordecai Millard owned land with the son of Andrew Robeson in Berks County, and sold it to Thomas Millard.  Then three years later Thomas Millard sold 1,000 acres of his land back to Mordecai Lincoln in Berks County.  Mordecai Lincoln died in 1736 in Amity, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The house he built in 1733 still stands today.  In 1742, six years after Mordecai Lincoln died, Joseph Millard, who was Thomas Millard's son, married Hannah Lincoln, Mordecai Lincoln's eldest daughter.

Mordecai Lincoln and Hannah Salter's children included: 
John Lincoln born in 1716 who married Rebecca Flowers.  Their son Abraham (1744-1786) married 
    Bathsheba Herring and had a child Thomas Lincoln, who was the father of President Abraham Lincoln. 
Hannah Lincoln born in 1719 who married Joseph Millard. (After Hannah died in 1757, 
    Joseph married Mary Garratt). 
Deborah Lincoln who was born in 1717 or 1718 and died before 1720.  A photo of the stone grave marker 
    for Deborah Lincoln can be found on the online photo gallery of Myatt Lipscomb at 
    http://myattphoto.com/page5.html 
    Deborah died May 15, 1720, Age 3 years and 4 months. 
    Buried in "Yea Old Robinson Burial Ground Since 1695" near Robbinsville and Allentown, New Jersey. 
Anne Lincoln born in 1724 or 1725 who married William Tallman.   A web site listing descendants of 
    William Tallman and Anne Lincoln can be found at: http://www.ptsi.net/user/umschab/des/de2G246.htm 
Sarah Lincoln born in 1727 who married William Boone who was a first cousin of Daniel Boone. 
    (William Boone's father George Boone IV,  was the brother of Squire Boone, Sr, father of Daniel Boone). 
    The Daniel Boone Homestead where Daniel Boone spent his first 15 years,  is in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. 
    More about the Boone genealogy can be found at the "Boone Ancestors and Descendants" web page: 
    http://booneinfo.com/ 
    Included on the Boone web is information related to the marriage of Abraham Lincoln, the son of Mordecai Lincoln 
     and his second wife Mary to Anne Boone, a daughter of James Boone and Mary Foulke who was born on 
      03 April 1737 (O.S.) and died on 04 April 1807 
Mary Lincoln who was born in 1719 and married Frances Yarnell.

A genealogical web site about the descendants of Mordecai Lincoln and Hannah Salter can be found at: 
http://www.ptsi.net/user/umschab/des/de2G477.htm 
For more on Mordecai Lincoln, click HERE. (http://members.aol.com/genmillard/MLincoln.htm 
 

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Contemporaries of Joseph Millard in the 1750s 
Joseph Millard, 1711-1781, was a contemporary of Marcus Huling, who owned the White Horse Tavern, and who was the son-in-law of Mouns Jones.  Both Mouns Jones house and the White Horse Tavern stand today and are managed by the 
Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County.   When Marcus Huling wrote his will in 1757, the three witnesses were his neighbors, Peter Yocum, John Kirlin and Joseph Millard.

Millards from Berks County in the Revolutionary War 
Six members of the Millard family of Berks County, Pennsylvania served in the Revolutionary War according to the following published sources:

Sources: 
(1)   MONTGOMERY 
Montgomery, Morton Luther. History of Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the Revolution, from 1774 to      1783. Reading, Pa., C. F. Haage, printer, 1894.

(2)  MAUER 
Berks County Soldiers who fought in The American Revolution 1775-1784 
                Compiled by Mrs. Harry Maurer, Regent, Berks County Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 
                1932.   [From the collection of the Historical Society of Berks County in Pennsylvania]  Much of 
                this information was found and cited by Mrs. Mauer from the publication Pennsylvania Archives.

Benjamin Millard 
Mauer listing:  p. 355, Pa. Arch, 3rd ser, vol. 23, Rangers from Berks Co. on Frontier 1778-1783, Pa. Arch, 5th ser, vol. 5, p. 282, Oct. 1-18, 1781, Cap. Robinson's Co. (2)

More about this Benjamin Millard: 
    Benjamin Millard was also a a member of one of the Friends meetings in Berks County--possibly the Exeter Meeting, but that is not a certain. In a description of taverns  in Reading, Kathy Scogna in her book The Ford at the Schuylkill writes on p. 77: 
    "Every tavern had a large room and the proprietor encouraged parties to assemble for dancing.  A good fiddler was in great demand.  Outside the many taverns, shooting matches were sometimes held, resulting in some accidential killings. 
    The Friends admonished Benjamin Millard for attending such a shooting match at a tavern.  He was later to enlist as a soldier and was written out of the Friends community altogether."

James Millard 
Mauer listing:  Pa. Arch, 3rd ser, vol. 6, p. 287, Cap. John Bishop's Co. 
James Millard is also listed as soldiers in the Revolutionary War from Berks County, Pennsylvania who were members of 5th Battalion 1777,1778,1779,  Capt. Bishop's Company, which included 37 men on the Web at: 
http://www.rootsweb.com/~paberks/berksjn2.htm 
James Millard is believed to have been a furniture maker in Chester County later in 1800,  because he is referred to as a "joiner" in  the Chester County deed book S-2, p. 322  which says:  "On March 10, 1800 Valentine Saylor blacksmith, and wife Elizabeth of Coventry township, sold to James Millard, joiner, of Coventry Township, a messuage and tract in Coventry township consisting of thirteen acres and four perches."  [Coventry Township in Chester County is very near the border with Berks County]

Jonathan Millard 
Mauer listing:  p. 355, Pa. Arch, 3rd ser, vol. 23, Rangers from Berks Co., on Frontier 1778-1783 Robinson's Co. Pa. Arch, 3rd ser, vol. 6, p.s 288, Cap. Bishop's Co.  (the name Robinson was sometimes used for Robeson)

John Millard 
Mauer listing:  Pa. Arch, 5th ser, vol. 5, p. 282, in service Oct. 1-18, 1781, Cap. Robinson's

Richard Millard 
 Mongomery listing:  Richard Millard in the 5th Battalion from Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War (1) 
 Mauer listing:          Lt. Richard Millard  - 2nd Co. 5th Batt. Pa. Arch. 5th ser, vol. 5, p. 214, Cap. Lewis's Co. (2) 
(likely the Richard Millard, 1750-1844, who was the son of Timothy Millard andAnn Prigg) 
Richard Millard was married to Martha Millard.  Martha Millard is buried in the cemetery of St. John's United Church of Christ in Gibralter near Birdsboro in Berks County.  Her tombstone inscription is:

Thomas Millard 
Mauer listing:  Pa. Arch, 5th ser, vol. 5, p. 264, Substitute during Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.1777, Cap Geo. Growl's Co.

"Captain Thomas Millard, Revolutionary patriot, Columbian Centinel, died in Philadelphia at the age of 67, on August 19,1818" according to the online file from the Pennsylvania Archives - Series 2: Obituaries of Pennsylvania Revolutionary Veterans  From Newspaper Files 1790 to 1855.

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Jonathan Millard, of Chester County, son of Joseph Millard and Hannah Hugh Wynn

Jonathan, Millard  (19 Feb 1783 -1868) of Chester County, Pennsylvania, is the son of JosephMillard (1743-1817) who married Hannah Hugh Wynn. Hannah Hugh Wynn was born in Pennsyvlania 25 February 1743/44 and died on 1 March 1826 at the age of 83.  She was the daughter of  Jonathan and Ann Wynn and was born on Feb. 25, 1743.

Jonathan Millard (1783-1868)was  the brother of Thomas Millard.  This ThomasMillard ( 1780-1855), also a son of Joseph and Hannah, was born on Aug 29, 1780,married Jane Hoggins (1767-1852) on 1 September 1797 and he died in Ohio in 1855.  Jonathan was also the brother of Joseph Millard (1788-March 8, 1850).  Jonathan was a child when his parents moved to a farm in West Nantmeal Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, just across the border from Berks County, in 1787. (Several years after the farm was acquired, the farm was deeded to Jonathan in 1793).   Jonathan Millard (1783-1868) lived to be 85 years old, and married first wife Ann Roberts (1781-1813) and then  in 1814 married his second wife Sarah Harvout (1780-1851).  Jonathan, Ann Roberts, and Sarah are buried in St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Warwick PA (Chester County).

The Chester County farm was in the Millard family from the time Joseph Millard and Hannah Hugh Wynn lived there in 1787 until well into the 20th century.   On hill at the rear of the farm property is a private family cemetery containing the graves of Joseph and Hannah Hugh Wynn Millard.  One descendant, Thomas Kelso Millard, died in 1931. [Kelso was also the surname of a neighbor of the earlier Thomas Millard in Berks County near Douglassville]. A Millard family researcher visited the farm and noted that the the barn on the former Millard farm has a date stone that has on it:    J. S. M.  1851  which could refer to Jonathan.  Images of the farm are below. 
 

Jonathan had two sons by his first wife Ann Roberts, David R. born January 26, 1809, who died in infancy on January 6, 1810, and Joseph born in August 6, 1811.    (Ann Roberts was the daughter of David and Elizabeth Roberts, born Jan. 13, 1781).   The farm is the location of a private family cemetery containing the original headstones and graves of Joseph and Hannah Hugh Wynn Millard shown in the photos below:

   In memory of  JOSEPH MILLARD who departed this life November 11, 1817 Aged 74 years, 10 months and 14 days. 
   In memory of HANNAH  wife of Joseph Millard who departed this life March 1, 1826, Aged 83 years and 4 days.

Headstones of Joseph Milllard and Hannah Millard

Jonathan had two children by his second wife Sarah Harvout, a daughter Rebecca who died in infancy and a son, Thomas, (1816-1906).  (Sarah Harvuot, daughter of William and Rebekah Harvuot, was born on July 7, 1779).

[Jonathan Wynn, son of James and Susanna Wynn b. Feb. 2, 1824 (his father and mother both died when he was a child and Jonathan Millard took him to raise) 
 

Thomas Millard of Chester County, son of Jonathan and Sarah Harvout 
Thomas Millard (August 14, 1816-February 15, 1906) married Jane Cutler (1813-1890).  He was a surveyor and a farmer.  He was a School Director for nineteen years, and a Director of the Downingtown and Lancaster Railroad, formerly the East Brandywine and Waynesburg Railroad, serving six years as secretary of its board.  He was one of the managers of the Penn Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chester County.  In 1868 he helped organize the Honey Brook National Bank and was a Director.

The Chester County Historical Society contains records of  over 100 years of newspaper clippings arranged by family name from Chester County newspapers. The following two articles about Thomas Millard who lived on the family farm pictured above, appeared in Chester County newspapers:

May 20, 1905 - Chester County newspaper article about the politics of Thomas Millard 
        Loag, this county, boasts of one of the oldest Republicans in this section of the State and if possible he will attend the demonstration here next fall.  It is claimed he is the oldest in active life in the county.  He is Thomas Millard and will be 89 yeasr old if he survives until August. 
        Mr. Millard was a Whig in his early days.  He voted with that party until the Republican party was formed, when he united with it.  His first vote was cast in 1837 but his first Presidential vote was for President William Henry Harrison, in 1840.  Hi is still hale and hearty at his age.  Mr. Millard was a Director of the Poor for a number of yeasr in this county.

February 23, 1906 - Chester County newspaper article about Thomas Millard published a week after he died 
        A correspondent writes:  Any one passing along the Conestoga Road in West Nantmeal township almost any clear day last summer might have seen an old man somewhere about the Millard property, working like a man of sixty years would work, yet he could add to the sixty, almost half as many more.  No garden looked neater, no flowers kept better, no fence was in better order, for day by day Mr. Thomas Millard would attend to his self-imposed chores, and do them well too.   Had you stopped to watch him, you would have seen a man who must have been far above the ordinary height when in his prime, but now was slightly stooped and spare of flesh.    Had you spoken to him you would have found him a gentleman, with the manners and courtesy of a courtier.   He was a gentleman born and bred.  And how interesting he could be.  Age had touched his memory but lightly and not at all concerning events of many years past, and he was ready to lay aside his trowel or hammer and chat with you. 
        His was an interesting career.  He was born and died on a place from which is grandfather purchased from a man who had bought it from Penn.  That purchase was in 1784, when Joseph Millard, of good Quaker stock, left England and settled upon this property.  It still remains the Millard homestead.  It was in August 1816 that Thomas was born and it was on Wednesday, the 15 day of the present month that he died. 
        Some old people outlive their generation, and are followed to the grave by but few mourners.  Not so Thomas Millard, for a large gathering of relatives and friends attended the funeral services at his late residence on Wednesday the 21st, inst.  The funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Dean N. Dobson, pastor of the Fairview Presbyterian Church, and was an appropriate and forceful address upon the necessity of overcoming in order to win the heavenly reward.  The Rev. T. Edwin Redding, pastor of Good Will M.E. Church, assisted, and music was rendered by members of the choir of the Fairview Church.  In the cemetary of the latter church the remains were laid away, borne by six pall bearers--Henr;y Ames, John Eyrick, Horace Handwork, Charles Henderson, James Livingood and Henry Baldwin. 
        Mr. Millard's life was long and eventful.  He was a willing worker and always took an active part in publica affairs.  He served repeatedly as Auditor, and was one of the couty Poor Directors for nine years.  Three times he was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, but on each occasion refused to qualify.  For nineteen years he filled hte position of director of public schools.  He became one of the managers of the Penn Mutual Fire Insurance Company and held the position for a long time.  In 1868 he helped to organize the Honeybrook National Bank and was chosen a director, which position he continued to fill until his death.  For many years he was a director of the Downingtown & Lancaster Railroad, when it was known as the East Brandywine and Waynesburg Railroad, and for six yeasr he was secretary of the Board of Directors.  For twenty years he was a surveyor and conveyancer and settled up many of the estates of his neighbors. 
        Two sons survive--Jonathan Millard, whose residence is upon the original estate, and Howard Millard, residing at Loag. 
 

Thomas Millard and Jane Cutler had three sons,  Jonathan (born October 8, 1839, died 1916), William Howard ("Howard") Millard born on Feb. 25, 1844, and James Cutler Millard, son of Thomas and Jane Millard, who was born on March 24, 1841 and who was later was killed in a hunting accident as a young man.  Thomas Millard lived on his farm which had been in the possession of the Millard family since 1787 and no deeds had been made for it since 1793, since it was passed by descent. He repeated served as auditor Thomas Millard followed surveying and conveyancing until his health and other growing family business cares forced him to quit. Thomas Millard's son Howard was in the three month's State service when Lee made his raid into the state in 1863.  Jonathan Millard is buried in the Fairview Church Cemetary. 

Jonathan Millard                                        Fairview Church

Sources of Chester County Millard information and photo above:: History of Chester County Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches by J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope (Philadelphia:  Louis H. Everts:  1881)

1824 Millard family bible from descendants of William Howard "Howard" Millard and Ella Hale Millard of Pennsylvania.

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Millards worked at Hopewell Furnace in Berks County

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site  (photos by creator of this web site)

Millard family members worked at the Hopewell Furnace, near Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, the early iron making furnace in Berks County in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Hopewell Furnace (also referred to as Hopewell Village) was built by Mark Bird in 1771 in what became Birdsboro.  It provided cannon and shot to the Continental Army and Navy.  But Mark Bird was forced to but Hopewell up for sale.  It was purchased by Matthew and Thomas Brooke and brother in law Daniel Buckley in 1800.  The furnace closed again in 1808.  It began again in 1816, and was brought to the peak of prosperity under the leadership of a partner's son, Clement Brooke, who was the resident manager of the furnace from 1816 to 1831.  Hopewell produced iron castings, stove plates including a popular Hopewell Furnace stove manufactured until 1844.  Hopewell Furnace was run by generations of the Brooke family until 1883.  Later generations of the Brooke family owned and operated what became Birdsboro Steel, and later generations of Millards worked at Birdsboro Steel.  Hopewell Furnace was sold in 1935 by Louise Clingan Brooke to the U.S. Government, who three years later designated it a National Historic Site. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site was restored to the iron plantation period of 1820-1840.  It is open today as Hopewell Plantation National Historic Site, and includes presentations about the life of the people who lived and worked there in Hopewell Plantation Through the Years, including  special days such as the Iron Plantation Christmas celebration. Many records are available for research at the Hopewell Furnace Library. (For complete history see Joseph E. Walker's book)

The Union Township tax records of 1779 include a Mordecai Millard,  Joseph Millard , and a Thomas Millard.   According to Joseph E. Walker, author of Hopewell Village:  The Dynamics of a Nineteenth Century Iron-Making Community, generations of Millards worked at Hopewell Furnace.  There is a Hopewell Furnace Historical Database which documents the lives of 4,000 individuals working and doing business with Hopewell Furnace from c. 1780 to 1900. At present, the furnace ledgers have provided much of the initial raw data for this database (for example, name, sex, occupation, and dates associated with furnace).  Those who would like to examine the original materials, photographs, objects, or use the database should contact the Park Ranger (Cultural Resources) at (610)582-8773 at least one week in advance for an appointment. More information is on the web page: 
Hopewell Furnace Historical Database      http://www.nps.gov/hofu/newweb/databse.html

Another Hopewell Furnace connection also exists.  A later Millard descendant, Evan Luther Millard was married to Emma Laura Swinehart.  More information about these descendants including her grandfather and great uncle John Swinehart and Henry Swinehart and their connection to Hopewell Furnace is listed on a related web site: 
Click here for more on Swinehart/Millard information.

For more information, read the book Hopewell Village:  The Dynamics of a Nineteenth Century Iron-Making Community by Joseph E. Walker (1966 University of Pennsylvania Press) for references to Millards on pp. 218, 275, 366 ff. Excerpts of text of these passages mentioning Millards are listed below.

Hopewell Furnace  (1784 to 1898) National Historic Site 
Birdsboro, Pennsylvania 
http://www.nps.gov/hofu/

Hopewell Furnace Historical Database information 
Information is available at Hopewell about the families that lived there, includes records and diaries. 
http://www.nps.gov/hofu/newweb/databse.html

Hopewell Village: The Dynamics of a Nineteenth Century Iron-Making Community by Joseph E. Walker,  mentions Millard names on three pages of this book published in 1966 by University of Pennsylvania Press. (Hopewell Furnace bookstore is presently sold out of this out of print work but the volume is available in libraries).

Mordecai Millard mentioned in Hopewell Village: 
p. 218   (in a paragraph describing the use of canal boats on the Schuylkill River to transport iron from the Hopewell Furnace) 
        "Early in the nineteenth century there were many tons of iron carried for Buckley and Brooke on a boat operated by Mordecai Millard.  He hauled iron, stoves and hollow ware to Sweedsford, Phoenixville and Valley Forge."

Schuylkill Navigation System Collection:  For more general information about the boats like those of Mordecai Lincoln that traveled the Schuylkill Canal and related canal information, see the collection including images of maps and drawings of boats available via the Web from Reading Area Community College Library.  The Schuylkill Navigation System Collection is at: 
http://www.racc.edu/Library/canal/index.html

In the early nineteenth century, iron was hauled by teamsters by horse and wagon from Hopewell Furnace to Hopewell Landing where the iron was loaded onto boats like that used by Mordecai Millard.

For more information about the Union Canal see: HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF BERKS COUNTY 
DEPOSIT of RECORDS OF THE UNION CANAL COMPANY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
1792-1885 in the Pennsylvania Archives. 
 

Joseph Millard, Mordecai Millard, Thomas Millard mentioned in Hopewell Village: 
p. 275: 
     "Hopewell Furnace counted upon permanent residents of the village to furnish a considerable share of its work force.  Many families provided laborers for several generations:  sons grew up to follow their fathers as Furnace employees.  The Union Township tax returns for 1779 included the names of many men, and one woman, whose families would be associated with the Furnace for much of its history: Edward Dehaven, Evan Evans, John Gray, Thomas Hughs, Edward Hughs, Geo. Kirst, Stanley Kirby, Cath. Kramp, Evan Lewis, Joseph Millard, Mordecai Millard, Thomas Millard, James Roberts, John Sands, John Umstead, Peter Wampser, William Wampser, William Williams and Martin Wirt."

John Millard worked at Hopewell Furnace in the 1870s , then married Sarah Stoneback.  Later Sarah Stoneback Millard and either her husband John or her brother John  moved to Kansas in 1878 
John Millard married Sarah Stoneback, the daughter of George and Anne Stoneback.  Sarah also had a brother John. It is believed that John Millard or John Stoneback  and his sister Sarah Millard moved to Mulberry Creek Kansas in 1878, and purchased a 140 acre farm for $900.  It is documented that a John and Sarah left on April 2, 1878.  A party was held at the Bethesda Church near Hopewell Village for them prior to their leaving. The three Stoneback brothers (John Jr.,  Jacob and Samuel)  had worked at the Hopewell Furnace as had John Millard. A few days later 30 people including Samuel & Jacob Stoneback, the brothers of John Jr., loaded two boxcars which were part of the mail train, and headed to the same location in Kansas. The two brothers purchased each a 160 acre  farm within sight of John and Sarah's farm. 
SOURCE:    http://www.familytreemaker.com    [then search for page entitled:   Descendants of Frederick Houck, Sr.]

Other names mentioned as Hopewell families in Joseph E. Walker's book who married Millards include: 
Kirst and Swinehart. 
BenjaminMillard's son Samuel Millard married Eleanor Kirst at St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church near Hopewell Village in 1812.   Evan Luther Millard married Emma Laura Swinehart, daughter of John Swinehart and niece of Henry Swinehart of Robeson Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.  When Emma Laura Swinehart's father John died when he drowned in the canal when she was 14, Effinger Dengler of Berks County was appointed her guardian, and her sister Mary Swinehart Bland witnessed the guardianship papers.

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Churches of Millards in Berks and Chester County

 Exeter Friends Meeting (Quaker)

St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church, Douglassville, PA where Millards are mentioned in Joseph E. Walker's book about Hopewell Village 
 
St. Gabriel's Episcopal Chapel in Douglassville, Pennsylvania in Berks County was built in 1801 is in the photos above.  It stands next to the larger church built in later years, and both are still used today.  The church is located  located 2 miles West of the Berks/Chester County line on Route 422 in Douglassville, Pennsylvania.   CLICK HERE FOR MAP

History of St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church ( <-- Click here for current St. Gabriel's Church web site)

St. Gabriel's Church, Douglassville (first known as Morlatton), Pennsylvania, is the oldest church in Berks County and was incorporated in the year 1720.  Services were first held here in 1708 by the Reverend Andrew Sandel.    For some years there was no other English service held within a circuit of eight miles except the meetings of Friends in Exeter and Pottstown, and as a result, English-speaking people from all neighboring places and the surrounding country attended church services at Morlatton.  Worshippers and attendants then came from the townships of Amity, Exeter, Robeson, and Union.   The first Swedish church was built in 1735 of logs hewn from the neighboring woods, and continued in use until 1801 when a new stone edifice was erected.  The log church continued to serve as a school until the winter of 1831-1832 when it was destroyed by fire.  The 1801 stone building served as a church until 1884, when the current church building was completed.

From the book Hopewell Village:  The Dynamics of a Nineteenth Century Iron-Making Community (Walker) 
p. 366 
        St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church at Douglassville [Pennsylvania] was the earliest regular center for the worship of Furnace people.... Many other Hopewell families were among the communicants and officers of St. Gabriel's Church in the nineteenth century.  Prominent among them were Umstead, Kirlin, Jones, Sands, Trago, Millard, Yocom, Bannan, McKinty Donehower, Bunn, Wamsher, Dehaven, Chestnutwood, Pierce and Evans. 
       St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church is still active today. Although the remaining tombstones do not include Millard names, Millard's were active in and married in this church. The footnote to the Walker excerpt says that the historical information is from the St. Gabriel's Church Records, pp. 65, 70 which are at the Berks County Historical Society Society.  The Society web page is at:http://www.berksweb.com/histsoc/

The records of St. Gabriel's Church cemetary show that one Millard is buried there. 
The tombstone no longer exists:

            Millard         B. L., Lieut.           Mar 3, 1808     May 17, 1885

(This name is incorrectly listed as "Sein Millard" in some printed sources because Lieut. was misread as "Sein.")

Samuel Millard married Eleanor Kirst in St. Gabriel's Church in 1812.    Samuel Millard was born in 1796, and was the son of Benjamin Millard (1772-1816) and the grandson of Mordecai Millard (1736-1794) and Francis Cookson. 
 

St. Mary's Church, Warwick, Pennsylvania  in Chester County, Pennsylvania 
St. Mary's Episcopal cemetery 
Morningside Rd and Mine Hole Rd., Warwick 19520 
Located in the village of St. Mary's on Warwick Road off Route 345 North from Route 23. 
In northern Chester County, PA, about a mile from Hopewell Furnace and the Berks County line.

From the book Hopewell Village:  The Dynamics of a Nineteenth Century Iron-Making Community (Walker) 
p. 367: 
     "At St. Mary's [Episcopal Church at Warwick] many Hopewell families were communicants: Ubel, Goheen, Chestnutwood, Painter, Richards, Mervine, Danahower, Yocum, Templin, Kaler, Filman, Pawling, Millard, Thomas, Bingaman, Hare, Dampman, Mengel, Lloyd, Mee, Care, Sheeler, Landis, Palsgrove, Wamsher, Dehaven, Hartenstine, Gilmore, Kephart and North were among them."..."In 1843 St. Mary's Church was closed..."

One known member of the Millard family buried at St. Mary's Church according to church records is the daughter of Margaret Millard and Joseph Palsgrove:  Mary E. Clemons who was born in 1859 and died in 1945.    She was married to Hashabiah Clemons, Jr.

The cemetery at St. Mary's Episcopal Church also contains headstones of 12 Millards:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
NAME                          RELATIONSHIP              BIRTH/DEATH ON HEADSTONE 
Millard, Ann Roberts          wife of Jonathan                          1781-1813

Millard, Christy Ann            wife of Philip                                1807-1866

Millard, Florrie                    child of Henry and Fannie             died 1885 Age 12

Millard, Hannah                  wife of Joseph                              1743-1826 
                                          ( Hannah Hugh Wynn )

Millard, Henry M.              brother of Mordecai                       died 1879 Age 39

Millard, Jonathan          son of Joseph Millard                       died 1868 Age 85 
                                         and first wife Hannah Hugh Wynn 
                                         husband of Ann Roberts 
                                         husband of Sarah Harvout 
                                         father of Thomas Millard (1816-1906) who married Jane Cutler 
 

Millard, Joseph            husband of Hannah Hugh Wynn         1743-1817 
                                        son of Joseph Millard and Hannah Lincoln

Millard, Mordecai             husband of Rebecca                            died 1878 
                                        and son of Philip and Christy Ann 
                                        and brother of Henry M.

Millard, Philip                   husband of Christy Ann                        died 1886 Age 80

Millard, Rebecca              wife of Mordecai                                  died 1884

Millard, Sarah                   wife of Jonathan                                  died 1851 Age 71

Millard, Margaret E.         daughter of Mordecai and Rebecca     died 1870 Age 7 
 

St. John's Church of Christ, Robeson Township, near Gibralter, Berks County, Pennsylvania

According to the book History of Robeson Township, (Bicentennial Edition, 1976, compiled and edited by Shirley Shirey and Paul F. Seidel) the earliest St. John's church was a small log structure that stood in full view of the Schuylkill River.  It was replaced with a small plain stone structure in 1809.  But before any church was built, a burial ground did exist on the land, and tombstones record deaths dating back to 1762.  In the latter 18th century, the area was sometimes called "Radcay's Burying Ground."

A visit to the buried grounds showed that the following Millards are buried in what is now St. John's Church of Christ:

Martha Millard:  Her tombstone inscription is:  "Memory of Martha Millard, Wife of Richard Millard, Who departed this life, 7th of August 1784, Age 30 years, 4 months, 5 days."

Ernest D. Millard  1890-1918 
his wife:  Rosa Keinard 1888-1962

A prominent person of the day also buried in St. John's Church burial ground is Matthew Brooke, who owned Hopewell Furnace. (1762-1821). 
 

Robeson (Plow) Church, Plowville, Berks County, Pennsylvania

According to the book History of Robeson Township, (Bicentennial Edition, 1976, compiled and edited by Shirley Shirey and Paul F. Seidel) Robeson Church, in Plowville, was the second church to be build in the Robeson District of Berks County. 
Situated high atop Plow Hill (on Route 10) it is the third structure to exist in that location.  The land was originally deeded by William Penn, and the first church to be built there was an eight-cornered structure called "The Forest."  Later the church was referred to as Plow Church, which is a name still used. (Perhaps the name "Plow Church" is derived from the fact that the sign given to Chester County by the newly formed council in Pennsylvania in the 1680's was the "plow", just as the sign for Philadelphia was the "anchor."  Berks County was derived in 1752 from what earlier was Chester, Philadelphia and Lancaster Counties.) A congregation existed as early as 1767.  The present church was completed in 1889.

A visit to the Plow Church found the following Millard's in the old burial grounds:

Mordecai Millard    1836-1902 
Catherine Millard     1840-1886 
Benjamin F. Millard  1869-1927 
Charles I. Millard  1878-1930

Fairview Church, Chester County 
Many Millard family members were buried in this cemetary.  A partial list is below: 
 
Jonathan Millard,  1839-1916 and Mary M. his wife, 1839-1923 
Thomas K. Millard, 1865-1931 
Mark J. Millard, Dec. 28, 1892-Aug. 31,1973 
  
 

St. Michael's Episcopal Church,  Birdsboro, Berks County PA

St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church,  Birdsboro PA was built in 1851 with funds and land donated by the Brooke family and one of the few existing structures designed by noted Philadelphia architect Frank Furness.   The Brooke family operated Hopewell Furnace and then later Birdsboro Steel. (In 1888 Edward Brook arranged for Frank Furness to design the home he   for his wife Ann Louise Clingan, which is the Brooke Mansion Victorian Bed and Breakfast. )

Click here for image of the 1886 interior of St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church,  Birdsboro; 1886.   The church also included stained glass windows the largest of which was made by Tiffany Studios and donated in memory of Edward Brooke who died Christmas Day 1878.

Many years ago, the Episcopal Church turned over this cemetary to the municipality of Birdsboro, and it is also now referred to as Birdsboro Cemetary.   St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church had a very small congregegation in recent years, and was closed in 2002 by a decision of the central office of the Episcopal Church Diocese located in Allentown, PA.

For more information read The History of St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, Birdsboro Pennsylvania, In Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary 1851-1951: available at the Historical Society of Berks County Library.

Many members of the Millard family are buried in St. Michael's Cemetary in Birdsboro.   A partial list grouped by location of headstones is below:

Evan Luther Millard, 1862-1927 and his wife Emma Laura Swinehart Millard, 1866-1938 
Luther Evan Millard, 1888-1937 [son of Evan Luther and Emma] 
Lulu Violet Millard Smith, 1886-1964 [daugher of Evan Luther and Emma] 
Evan Joseph Millard, 1917-1994 [son of Luther Evan Millard]

Frederick H. Millard,  August 21, 1842 - August 25, 1915.  His Civil War service is also indicated on his headstone, and is listed as Cor. Bat. M. 5 Art.  (According to his obituary he was part of Battery M of the Artillery in the Civil War). 
Phoebe Millard, wife of Frederick Millard, November 22, 1847 d. November 5, 1937 
Also buried with Frederick and Phoebe are Roszell Millard (May 18, 1875-October 30, 1944) and L. Viola Care (February 16, 1884-April 10, 1948).

The Birdsboro Cemetary names and dates below are from this site: 
http://www.rootsweb.com/~paberks/familyfolder/millard.html 
William H. Millard 1905-1965 
Helen M. Millard 1890-1953

William H. Millard � born 3-29-1867 died 11-22-1936 
Martha A. Millard � 12-26-1869 died 3-11-1907 
Lillie M. Millard 1893-1903?? This is a very smallwhite stone. Death date is hard to read.

Father� Jonathan B. Millard - Died 2-27-1903 
Mother � Mary R. Millard - Died 12-14-1909

Frank L. Millard 1889-1960 PVT. Co. M.9 Inf WWI 
Elizabeth E. Millard 1904-1954

Hunter Millard 1905-1967 
Mary L. Millard 1914- NO DATE

Mary Ann Millard 10-3-1936 Nee Doaty 
Roy O. Millard, Jr. 11-8-1930 � SGT US Army Korean Conflict 
Stone says in the middle: Together forever

Goodwill United Methodist Church,Elverson, West Nantmeal Township, Chester Co. PA

The Goodwill United Methodist Church was founded in 1832 by Rev. Thomas Millard, and remodeled in 1877. 
 
Nearby private family graveyard: 
The farm of Joseph Millard (1743-1817) is located a half mile from the Goodwill Methodist Church, in Elverson, West Nantmeal Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and contains, on private property the headstones of  Joseph and Hannah Hugh Wynn Millard. The inscriptions on the headstones were copied by a Millard family researcher in 1999 with the permission of the owner and are as follows:

IN / memory of / JOSEPH MILLARD / who departed this life / November 11th 
1817 / Aged 73 Years 10 mo / and 14 days. [ born 28 Dec. 1743 ]

IN / memory of / HANNAH, wife of / Joseph Millard, / who departed this life 
/ March 1st 1826, Aged / 83 Years and 4 days. [ born 25 Feb. 1743 ]

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Mordecai Millard(1736-1794), Frances Cookson and children 
Mordecai Millard was the son of Joseph Millard (1711-1781) and Hannah Lincoln.  According to Julian Millard's The Millard Family in Pennsylvania (1933), "Mordecai was taxed in Union Township, Berks County from 1767 to 1785 on a grist mill, saw mill, and 180 acres of the 620 acre tract patented by his grandfather Thomas.  Mordecai was a carpenter and millwright, miller, lumberman and farmer."  (According to Julian Millard's book, Mordecai's family bible was in the possession of William Henry Millard of Cherokee, Iowa in 1915.)   Mordecai Millard's handwritten will is extensive and includes a long inventory of belongings.  A photocopy of the will can be purchased from the Berks County [Pennsylvania] Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphan's Court.

Children of Mordecai Millard and Frances Cookson:

Samuel Millard    (1760-1769) 
Joseph Millard    (1763-1844) married Phoebe John (1769-1826 in Berks County, then Elizabeth Hughes in Columbia County, PA)  Joseph Millard bought a tract of land consisting of over  500 acres along a river in Columbia County, PA. 
Joseph and Phoebe' two sons  married two sisters from Philadelphia:   Reese Millard (1789-1833) married Catherine Rittenhouse 
        who died    in 1824.  Reese then married Elizabeth Hortonand had four children in Centre Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, before Reese died in 1833. Elizabeth Horton Millard died in 1852. 
The children of Reese Millard and Elizabeth Horton Millard were: 
                    Mary Bowman Millard, Francis Lewis Millard,  Reese John Millard, and Mordecai Millard.

More below on Mordecai Millard, son of Reese and Elizabeth Millard, (grandson of Joseph and Phoebe John, and great-grandson of Mordecai Millard and Frances Cookson), from 1887 History of Columbia and Mountour Counties...

MORDECAI MILLARD, farmer, P. O. Willow Spring, was born in Centre Township, this county, in the house he now lives in, 
April 7, 1831, son of Reese and Elizabeth MILLARD. Joseph MILLARD, his grandfather, was one of the old settlers, moving 
into the county some time before 1800. He bought a tract of land consisting of something over 500 acres. Joseph MILLARD was 
a Quaker and was regular in his attendance at meeting twice a week. He moved into this county from Berks County, Penn., 
settling upon land along the river now occupied by John C. CRYDER, and within sight of where Mordecai now lives. Here he 
lived and died. Reese MILLARD, father of Mordecai, was born and reared in this county. He was twice married, first to 
Catherine RITTENHOUSE, and they were the parents of six children, four living; William, in Illinois; Joseph B., in Kalamazoo, 
Mich.; Rebecca, wife of Col. James TUBBS, in Shickshinny, Penn.; Catherine, widow of Isaiah CONNER, in Orangeville, this 
county. The mother of this family died in about 1818, and is buried at Berwick, this county; and Mr. MILLARD afterward 
married Elizabeth HORTON, by whom he had four children; Mary B., deceased wife of D. K. SLOAN, of Orangeville, this 
county; Frances L., married to Jesse HOFFMAN, residing in this township; Mordecai; and Reese, who married Jane FOWLER, 
now residing in Morris County, Kas. (He was captain in the One Hundred and Twelfth Artillery.) Reese MILLARD, father of the 
above, died in 1833, and his widow survived him until 1852. Mordecai MILLARD, subject of this sketch, in 1867 received the 
nomination of the Democratic party for the office of sheriff of Columbia County, and removed to Bloomsburg, to reside there 
during his term of office. After serving his term as sheriff he was appointed steward of the State Normal University at 
Bloomsburg, and served in that capacity one year. The office was then vacated for the time being. He received the appointment of 
doorkeeper of the State Senate for the session of 1871-72, and served in that position throughout that session. He resided in 
Bloomsburg until 1875, when he returned to his farm and has since conducted it. He was married in this county December 1, 
1852, to Miss Sarah J. HOFFMAN, a native of this county, and daughter of William and Annie (DIETRICH) HOFFMAN. Mr. 
and Mrs. MILLARD are the parents of nine children, of whom four are living; William H., Annie E., Mary I. and Ernest S.; the 
deceased are John L., Reese M., Fannie H., Charles B. and Hattie L. The family are members of the Methodist Church. 
(from  History of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania, Battle, 1887, Centre Township pg. 424) 
link to Index page of History...

 Mordecai Millard married Anne Rittenhouse. 
          Joseph and Phoebe's daughter Ann married Mahlon Hicks. 
Hannah Millard   (1765-?) married Daniel Livergood (or Levengood) 
Jane Millard        (1768-1803) married Brown 
ElizabethMillard (1770-1803) married David Perry (or likely David Parry as per signature on Mordecai Millard's will) 
BenjaminMillard *(1772-1816)  married Rebecca and moved to Catawissa, Columbia County, PA. 
Mordecai Millard (1774-1850) married Catherine Evans of Exeter Meeting of Friends, and moved in 1818 to Waynesville, Ohio** 
Samuel Millard*** (1784-1862) married Sarah Bowman in Briar Creek Township, Pennsylvania.

 *Benjamin Millard was wounded in the War of 1812. Benjamin, son of Mordecai Millard and Francis Cookson,  was born in Berks County, PA in 1772. On  Jan.8, 1793, he married Rebecca Chestnutwood, (daughter Elizabeth Harris Chestnutwood and Abraham Chestnutwood who  fought in the Revolutionary War and served in the Fifth Company, Amity, under Capt. Jacob Rhoads as a member of the Berks  County, PA Militia.) After their marriage, Benjamin and Rebecca moved to Catawisa, Columbia County, PA. Benjamin was  wounded in the War of 1812 as a Private in the New York  He and Rebecca had 9 children.  SOURCE: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/8502/geobook.html    (then use EDIT  to FIND IN PAGE: Millard).

**Mordecai Millard (March 31, 1774-March 9, 1850) was the son of Mordecai Millard (1736-1794)  and Frances Cookson, and was born in Berks County, PA,  and ultimately died in Indiana. Mordecai Millard (1774-1851) married Catherine Evans, a native of Pennsylvania, and they came to Ohio in August, 1817, settling near Springboro, Warren County. Here Mr. Millard built a saw and grist mill in about 1818, and conducted this business about thirty years. Mrs. Millard died in February, 1849 aged seventy-seven years. Their children were: Mary, born Aug. 23, 1796, married. John Heirgood; Thomas, born Sept. 2, 1798, was married twice and lived in Iowa; Frances, born Oct. 18, 1800, married Elisha Cockefair; Susanna, born April 7, 1803, married William Gregg; Elizabeth, born June 20, 1805, married Aaron Gregg; Catherine, born Oct. 2, 1807, died unmarried; Rebecca, born Nov. 13, 1809, died unmarried; Hannah and Margaret (twins), born Feb. 23, 1812, both died young. Susanna Millard born in 1803, daughter of Mordecai and Catherine Millard,  was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania on April 7, 1803.  Susanna Millard married William Gregg, and their daughter Amanda E. Gregg, was born in Warren county, Ohio, on her father�s farm, May 3, 1833.    Amanda E. Gregg married James Robinson Silver on May 20, 1851, when James was aged twenty-four years, in Springboro, Ohio.  Amanda and James (Mr. and Mrs. James R. Silver) celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage on May 20, 1901, and on May 20, 1906, celebrated the fifty-fifth anniversary.  The information about Mordecai Millard above is paraphrased from: 
"Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent Representative Men of Indianapolis and Vicinity 
containing Biographical Sketches of Business and Professional Men and of Many of the Early Settled 
Families";  J.H.Beers & Co.;  Chicago, 1908 :

More on Mordecai Millard (1774-1850) below: 
Excerpted from:  "Paths Through The Wilderness"  by Don Ross 
Stories from the Springboro (Ohio) area 
http://www.ci.springboro.oh.us/history.html#ff

MORDECAI MILLARD: 
SPRINGBORO MAN INVENTED THE SUPERIOR WATER WHEEL 
Mordecai Millard III knew that there had to be a better way as he studied the water wheel on his gristmill. 
The Springboro merchant watched as the water hit the wheel horizontally at the halfway point, the same method in use since the 100s B.C. In fact, the water wheel had been the major source of power until the invention of the stean engine in the 1700s.  The horizontal method caused the water to be carried nearly a quarter of the wheels circumference before it obtained its maximum power.

Mordecai had come to Springboro at the age of four. The Millards had emigrated from Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of ten children, all of whom were born before the move from Pennsylvania. It was the death of his sisters--twins, a year older than he-- which prompted the family to look for a new home.  In 1818 his father, Mordecai II, built a saw and grist mill along Clear Creek.The Millards prospered in the young Warren County village. Mordecai II did well in competition with the other mills springing up along Clear Creek and Twin Creek.

His daughter Susannah married William Gregg in 1822. William and Susannah Millard Gregg lost two sons in the Civil War. William Jr. was killed near Atlanta in October of 1864 by Southern guerrillas while carrying a dispatch from Colonel Smith at the Chattahootchie River bridge. He was trying to reach Colonel Dustin in Atlanta. His body was found with two bullet wounds, which were probably not fatal. There were also two bayonet slashes in his chest, leading to the theory that he was bayoneted to death after he had fallen. He was buried on a hill within the fortification at Atlanta, near the river.  His brother George, 21, had been killed exactly three months before near Fayetteville, West Virginia.  The remains of both were later brought home to Springboro and buried in the Universalist Cemetery.

Mordecai II's daughter Elizabeth married Aaron Gregg.  At the age of 15, Mordecai III began working in his father's mill. In 1836 he married Ann Hudson, and in 1844 he assumed control of the mill when his father retired. 
The new owner pondered the water wheel operation. It might be possible to take water via a chute to drop it vertically onto the wheel. Variations of that had been tried in the East with mixed results; none had ever been patented.  Mordecai built four models and tested them before he installed the system on his own mill. 
Two different methods of water delivery were subsequently perfected.  In the "overshot," the water was delivered to the top of the wheel, and splashed directly, to cause a clockwise turn.  In the "undershot" method, water was dropped to the bottom of the back of the wheel. This method was eventually discarded because of low efficiency. 
Mordecai Millard was granted a patent for his invention under the name of the "superior water wheel." 
In the History of Warren County, he is credited with the only substantial invention by a county resident up to 1865. Several years later, of course, Tommy Miller of Springboro invented the wagon jack, and then the oil can and holder.  Mordecai and Ann had eight children. Two sons, Elishia and Charles, served with distinction in the Civil War.  The patriarch, Mordecai II, died in 1850.  The inventor of the improved water wheel died on August 7, 1882, and is buried in the Springboro Cemetery. 
 

***Samuel Millard missed Lewis & Clark, then spent 1805-06 with Daniel Boone 
According to Julian Millard's 1933 history, Samuel Millard (1784-1862), youngest son of Mordecai Millard and Francis Cookson of Berks County, "was ten years old when his father died.  At 17 he was apprenticed to a carpenter and cabinet maker and at 21, in 1805, finding himself foot loose and possessed of $300 Mexican, he walked from his home on the Schuylkill to Pittsburgh, where he heard of the proposed Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis for the exploration of the far north west.  In the hope of joining this expedition he walked across what are now southern Ohio, southern Indiana, and southern Illinois, 12 days journey, with seeing a human habitation.  Unfortunately he arrived at St. Louis two weeks after the expedition had left. for some unknown reason he went by boat up the Mississippi, but returned in the fall to Missouri and spent the winter of 1805 and 1806 with Daniel Boone, probably a former neighbor in Berks County.  In the next spring he returned to Pennsylvania afoot through northern Ohio.  The next we hear of him he purchased in 1807, 150 acres of land from his brother Joseph, in the hilly part of a 500 acre tract in Columbia County, Pa., upon which Joseph had settled after administering the division of Mordecai's estate." 
    It is possible that Julian Millard extrapolated the date of 1805 from Samuel's age of 21.  The keel boat that carried Lewis and Clark was constructed in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1803 and then taken down the Ohio River to St. Louis.  Lewis and Clark set off upstream from St. Louis, Missouri from Camp Dubois with nearly four dozen men (the precise number is unknown) on May 14, 1804 after recruiting men from many states and backgrounds, carpenters, soldiers, tailors and others.  For more about the timeline of the Lewis and Clark expedition click HERE.

Samuel Millard (1796 - ?) , son of Benjamin Millard

One son of Benjamin (1772-1816) and Rebecca was Samuel Millard,  who married Eleanor Kirst in St. Gabriel's Church in Douglassville, Pennsylvania in Berks County in 1812.

Samuel and Eleanor had five sons and two daughters: 
    George Millard    (1821 - ?) 
    Mary Millard      (1824 - ?) 
    Rebecca  Millard (1826 - ?) 
    Samuel Millard    (1828 - ?) 
    Jacob                  (1830 - ?) 
    Jeremiah              (1832 - ?) 
    William                (1837 - ?)

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Birdsboro, Pennsylvania

Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, is located  in Berks County, Pennsylvania, 10 miles from Reading and a mile north of Rt 422.  (Click HERE for location on contemporary map with driving directions.) Birdsboro is very near Douglassville and is 5 miles from Hopewell Furnace in Berks County, Pennsylvania.  Birdsboro is named for the Bird family.  William Bird (1706-1761) established himself first at Pine Forge working for ironmaster Thomas Rutter. Sometime before 1740 Bird bought a tract of land lying along Hay Creek, where it empties into the Schuylkill River, the site of present day Birdsboro. By 1756 Bird's land holdings had increased to 2997 acres as he continued to buy tracts in Amity, Union and Heidelberg Townships. The deed conveys the property to Bird from Caleb Harrison, its original owner, who purchased it from the proprietors John, Thomas and Richard Penn.  Bird built his first iron forge in 1740 which later developed into what became Hopewell Furnace, which operated until 1883. 
 
The Bird Mansion, as it was called, was built by the iron master in 1751 and added to possibly before his death. It faced the Schuylkill River.   The old mansion saw the courting of Rachel Bird, daughter of William, and James Wilson, later a signer of the Declaration of Independence and also a Supreme Court Justice. It was there that they were married.  In 1922, the historic Bird Mansion became the YMCA in the town of Birdsboro.

(To view image of Birdsboro above in a format that can be enlarge and zoomed in and out, go click HERE to go directly to the image at the Library of Congress).  An extensive genealogical history of William Bird and the Bird family is available at the following web site: 
BIRD ANCESTRY 
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/6164/birdANCESTRY.htm

The Daniel Boone Homestead is in Birdsboro.  It is the birthplace of Daniel Boone who lived in Birdsboro until he was 16 years old.  The site includes the Boone House, Blacksmith Shop, Barn, Bertolet Log House, Sawmill, Visitor Center, picnic area and trails.  It is open Tuesday through Saturday 9-5, and Sunday noon to 5.  It is located at 500 Daniel Boone Rd., Birdsboro, Pennsylvania between Reading and Pottstown near Route 422.  The phone is (610)-582-4900. Records show that Joseph Millard (1711-1781) married Hannah Lincoln, the daughter of Mordecai Lincoln.  Hannah's sister Sarah married William Boone, first cousin of Daniel Boone. The Daniel Boone Homestead is open and operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.  Events can be found at the  web site of the Daniel Boone Homestead at:  http://berksweb.com/boone.html

Birdsboro was the home for the Birdsboro Corporation including Birdsboro Steel for many years, which was owned by the Brooke family, who formerly owned Hopewell Furnace. Before it closed,  Birdsboro Steel was housed in the 300,000 square foot Birdsboro Corporation building at on Rt. 82 & 724.

For more information about Birdsboro, a map of Birdsboro in lithograph form from 1890, is available from the Library of Congress American Memory digital collection.  (Click HERE to view the 1890 map.)  It is possible on this map to zoom in on the details of the drawings of streets and houses.

Several major buildings in Birdsboro were designed by Frank Furness (1839-1912), a major Philadelphia architect of the Victorian era.  Furness also designed the Fisher Fine Arts Library at the University of Pennsylvania, the Perkiomen and Gravers Lane Railroad Stations.  The following buildings in Birdsboro were designed by Frank Furness:

• St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church,  Birdsboro; 1886.  Many members of the Millard family are buried in the cemetery of St. Michael's Church.

• Brooke Mansion Victorian Inn - Bed And Breakfast.Constructed in 1888 as a wedding present for his wife by industrialist Edward Brooke II, the three-story mansion contains 42 rooms, magnificent foyer with grand staircase, stained glass, ironwork, and a circular rosewood library all of which are outstanding examples of Furness's suburban architecture.
• For a history of the Brooke Mansion click here http://www.brookemansion.com/history.html

For a more complete web site on Birdsboro with more images click here or go to: 
http://members.aol.com/genmillard/Birdsboroweb.htm

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Benjamin Millard

Descendants of Benjamin Millard (1823-1901) of Berks County 
[Seeking confirmation of the names of the parents of this Benjamin Millard--please email me at the address at the bottom of this web page if you have information related to this Benjamin Millard and his siblings or children or particularly his parents] 
It is known from the 1901 obituary of Benjamin Millard which is online at the Historical Society of Berks County that Benjamin Millard's surviving brothers at the time were John Millard and  Frederick H. Millard described below who died in 1915.  The death certificate of Frederick H. Millard is listed under "Miller" and lists his parents as (difficult to read the photocopied handwritten form) as either James Miller or Samuel Miller, ( James Millard  or Samuel Millard ) whose wife is listed as what looks like  Nancy Kerst (Nancy may also possibly be a nickname for a longer name).  The 1850 census shows a Ben F. Miller, Frederick and John possibly living with a Charles Kerst/Kurst/Keest and his wife Ann.  Perhaps there is a Millard/Kerst connection.

( Benjamin may possibly be descended from Mordecai Millard, who was a landowner and whose shipping business carried iron on the Schuylkill River from Hopewell Furnace.  Mordecai Millard died in 1796 and his will itemizes many items involved with this boat business.  Joseph Millard, Mordecai's son, then sold the remaining land on the Schuylkill to the Kirlin family).

Benjamin Millard was born in 1823 and died at the age of 78 in 1901, in Birdsboro, Berks County, Pennsylvania. (For more on Birdsboro go to http://members.aol.com/genmillard/Birdsboroweb
Benjamin Millard   (1823-1901) married Lavinia in Berks County, Pennsylvania, near Birdsboro.

Millard and Bechtel connection:  Benjamin Millard was married to Lavinia Bechtel on March 15, 1851.  (Records in the Historical Society of Berks County show a Ben Miller was married to Lavinia Bechtel by Rev. William Betz on that date--Millard is often misspelled Miller in many documents including some census records).

Lavinia Bechtel was the daughter of Evan Bechtel, one of the Bechtels of Caenarvon in Berks County.  Evan Bechtel her father was born on 14 December 1803 in Caenarvon, Berks County and died in 1885 in Elmira, New York.

Lavinia Bechtel ( Lavinia Millard ) likely named one of her sons Evan Luther Millard in honor of her father Evan Bechtel.  Records in the Tri-County Historical Society in Morgantown PA show that Evan Bechtel's first wife was Catherine Mohr and Catherine died in 1823.  Evan Bechtel then married Maria.  The records of Plow Church show that an Evan Bechtel and Maria had a "Levisia" (probably a misspelling of Lavinia) born 28 February 1825, baptised 14 May 1825.  (Lavinia's sponsors were Jacob and Catherin Maurer).  Evan Bechtel married a third time to Clarissa Kinsman in New York, and Evan died in Elmira, New York in 1885.  Evan Bechtel was the son of John Bechtel and Mary.  John Bechtel died in Caenarvon in Berks County in 1831.   John Bechtel was the son of Adam Bechtel.

Benjamin's sons, grandsons, and great grandson all grew up in Birdsboro.  Benjamin's son, grandson, and great grandson all worked for Birdsboro Steel during their lifetimes.  (Birdsboro Steel was owned by the same family, the Brooke family, as was Hopewell Furnace).

Census and Benjamin Millard  / Ben Miller /  Benjamin Miller Census of Caernevon Township of Berks County lists what is certainly Benjamin Millard, but it is mispelled in the 1850, 1860, and  1870 census as Miller.  The names and ages of Benjamin and of Benjamin Millard's brothers' match, and the occupation fits that of Mordecai Millard who had a shipping business shipping iron for Hopewell Furnace on the Schuylkill River:

From 1850 Census: 
    Ben F. Miller, 26, boatman 
    John, 22,  boatman 
    Frederick, 21, boatman 
    Listed as living with Charles Kust/Keest/Kirst/Kerst (not clear), 52 and wife Ann.

From 1860 Census: 
    Ben F. Miller, 34, boatman 
    Levinia, 32 
    Ben, 7 
    Sam, 5 
    Mary, 11 months

From 1870 Census: 
    Ben Miller, 46, Farmer 
    Lavinia, 45 
    Frank, 17 
    Sam, 14 
    Mary, 12 
    Evan, 11 
    Elias, 7 
    Milby, 5 
    Bentley, 3

The 1901 obituary of Benjamin Millard lists surviving family as: 
      Children:   Frank, Samuel, Evan Luther(1862-1927), Bentley (1868-?), Eli, and Mrs. James Blood 
        Siblings:    brothers, Frederick and John Millard, and sisters, Mrs. David Lykens and Mrs. Mary Palsgrove

Benjamin Millard (1823-1901) was listed in a 1901 obituary as the widower of Lavinia Millard.  At the time of his death, he was survived by brothers, Frederick and John Millard, and sisters, Mrs. David Lykens and Mrs. Mary Palsgrove. Benjamin Millard was also survived in 1901 by children Frank, Samuel, Evan Luther, Bentley, Eli, and Mrs. James Blood.

Local church records show that a daughter of a Frank Millard, named Sallie Millard, was baptized about 1898.  (It is unknown if this Frank Millard was one of the sons of Benjamin, but the time and place would have been correct).

Frederick H. Millard  (August 21, 1842- August 25, 1915) , brother of Benjamin Millard

Frederick H. Millard was the brother of Benjarmin Millard and John Millard, and was married to Phoebe Millard (born November 22, 1847 d. November 5, 1937).  Frederick and Phoebe are buried in St. Michael's Cemetary in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, in Berks County. His headstone lists his birth as August 21, 1842 and his death date as August 25, 1915.  His Civil War service is also indicated on his headstone, and is listed as Cor. Bat. M. 5 Art.  which corresponds with his obituary saying he was part of Battery M in the artillery during the Civil War.  The obituary below for Frederick Millard in the family files indicated Frederick died in Birdsboro, PA in his 70s, and is undated, but the reverse side newspaper article mentions the events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915.   Also buried with Frederick and Phoebe are Roszell Millard (May 18, 1875-October 30, 1944) and L. Viola Care (February 16, 1884-April 10, 1948).

The photo of Frederick H. Millard bears resemblance to Abraham Lincoln.

Obituary of Frederick H. Millard from about 1915, Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. 
(Born about 1843 and died about 1915) 
 
 

See "B. Millard"  marked as one of the landowners on the 1876 Atlas of Berks County map of Robeson Township online which includes a B. Millard identified in the southern portion of the Rock School District.   Perhaps B. Millard is Benjamin Millard but this is only speculation.  Robeson was formally settled in 1720, and incorporated  in August 1729, while it was a part of Lancaster County.  This map is part of the Berks County Township maps online on Rootsweb from the 1876 Atlas of Berks County.

Other Millards: 
(Bentley Millard (1868-?), son of Benjamin Millard, was also an iron worker, and  the marriage license he applied for when he married Phoebe Moore when he was 22 in 1890 is on file in the Berks Register of Wills.)   Milby Millard was listed in the Berks County Farm and Business Directory of 1914 as a shoemaker who boarded with Susan Siebel.

Evan Luther Millard (1862-1927)  Birdsboro, PA 
  Son of  Benjamin and Lavinia Millard

Evan Luther Millard  (1862-1927) 
Evan Luther Millard (1862-1927) was the son of Benjamin and Lavinia Millard.    Evan Luther Millard worked at Birdsboro Steel until his death in 1927 at the age of 65.  He is buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Birdsboro, Pa.  Birdsboro Steel was owned by the Brooke family, who had earlier owned Hopewell Furnace, at which earlier generations of the Millard family had worked.  Millard family members remember that Evan was very well liked and respected, and was a manager in the steel company.  Evan Luther Millard married Emma Laura Swinehart.  Their children were Luther Evan Millard (1888-1937)  and Lulu Violet Millard Smith (1886-1964), both of whom are buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Birdsboro.

Emma Laura Swinehart (1866-1938) 
Emma Laura Swinehart was the daughter of John Swinehart who died in 1880.  She was a minor child just over the age of 14 when her father died.  The only other sibling who was a minor child at the time of her father's death was her brother Clarence Swinehart.  Both children were then placed under the legal guardianship of Effenger Dengler.  Her older sister Mary Swinehart Bland, wife of Edward Bland, signed the legal guardian documents as a witness.  Emma Laura Swinehart's grandfather was also named John Swinehart.  Her grandfather and her grandfather's brother Henry Swinehart were from Robeson Township, Berks County.  There are a John Swinehart and Henry Swinehart listed as working at Hopewell Furnace.  Ancesters of these Swineharts were likely John Swinehart and his son and daughter in law Henry and Eliza Swinehart. They lived in West Nantmeal Township and Warwick Township, Chester County, near Elverson just across the border from Berks County.  A photo of their 1817 stone house north of present Route 23 is shown in the Estelle Cremers' book Treasures of the Upper French Creek Valley Warwick Township.

Thus, the Swinehart family from which Emma Laura Swinehart is descended settled in Chester County very close to the Berks County line at least as early as 1817.   More information about the Swinehart family and photos of the Swinehart farm may be found at: 
http://members.aol.com/genmillard/Swinehart.htm 
 

>  Evan Luther Millard (1862-1927), son of Benjamin and Lavenia,  married Emma Laura Swinehart of Berks County.     Emma Laura Swinehart was born in 1866.  Evan Luther Millard worked at Birdsboro Steel. 
 
Evan Luther Millard, 1898       Evan Luther Millard and Emma Laura Swinehart Millard

 
Millard family photo in Birdsboro in the early 1920s including Evan Luther Millard far right, Emma Laura Swinehart likely at far left, and grandson Evan Joseph as a boy standing in front.  Other individuals unknown. 
 

Luther Evan Millard (1888-1937) 
Son of Evan Luther Millard and Emma Laura Swinehart Millard

               >>     Luther Evan Millard (1888-1937), son of Evan Luther Millard and Emma Laura Swinehart 
                        Millard, married Florence Vargas in Boston, and the family returned to Birdsboro before 1920.

                >>    Lulu Violet Millard (1886-1964), daughter of Evan Luther Millard and Emma Laura Swinehart 
                        married Roy Smith in New York City, and lived in Birdsboro.   She was a buyer for a department 
                        store in Reading, Pennsylvania. 
 

Brother and sister in the 1890s:                                           Luther Evan Millard 
Luther Evan Millard and Lulu Violet Millard

Luther Evan Millard marries Florence Vargas in Boston, Massachusetts 
Luther Evan Millard left Berks County Pennsylvania to work in the bronze foundries of Newark, New Jersey and Boston, Masachusetts about 1916.     He met Florence Vargas in Boston.  They married and their son was born in 1917 in Wakefield, Massachusetts and christened Joseph Aloysius Millard.  Aloysius Vargas was either the name of Florences's father or grandfather.  Luther Evan Millard and Florence Vargas Millard moved back to Birdsboro.

Florence Vargas was of Portuguese and Irish descent and she may have been adopted into the Vargas family.   Luther Evan Millard (and possibly Florence Vargas) may have worked at the Clayton Foundry (bronze foundry) in East Boston or Chelsea in Boston, Massachusetts about that time.  Florence's sisters were Madeline Vargas, Sadie Vargus who went to Nova Scotia and married a constable, and Mary Vargas.  Her brothers included William Vargus (Billy Vargas), Edmund Vargas or Edward Vargas, James Vargas    ( Jimmy Vargas), and Harold Vargas the youngest brother.  The Vargas brothers worked in Boston.  Florence Vargas Millard remarried in Boston after Luther Evan Millard died in Birdsboro in 1937, and she and her second husband Joseph had another son Joseph.  She later relocated to California with her second son  and his family, and subsequently died in 1984 at the age of 78.

 
Florence Vargas Millard, wife of Luther Evan Millard, 
and their son in 1917 or 1918 
probably in East Boston or Wakefield, Massachusetts. 
 

 
Lulu Violet Millard                                                                          Luther Evan Millard and son fishing on Perkiomen River in 1920s. 
 

Resources:

Web sites to research names of Millard family members from Berks County:.

The Albert Family Tree  (search under "Surnames", then select "M" and then "Millard")   This family tree currently contains more than 31,000 individuals, in over 10,500 family groups using more than 5,000 surnames, including many Millards. 
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~albert/index.html

Berks County Pennsylvania Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphan's Court web page 
A unique web site that lists 14 Millard names from the 1750's to early 1900's for which estate documents and wills are available for a fee by mail  This site is searchable for certain time periods for names of individuals with wills on file as well as birth, death and marriage records.  Information listed can then be ordered from that office for nominal fees. 
http://www.berksregofwills.com/

BerksWeb Genealogical Links 
http://www.berksweb.com/genealogy.html

Chester County Historical Society 
http://www.chesco.com/~cchs/ 
225 North High Street, West Chester, PA   19380      (610) 692 - 4800

Donna's Berks County Genealogy Page 
http://members.aol.com/Nodoubtay/index.html#Early

EPITAPHS: Publication of the Berks County Association for Graveyard Preservation - Vol. 5 February 1999 
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/3005/epitaphs/epitaphs5.html 
Available at the Berks County Historical Society.  (Lists one headstone in Millard family graveyard near the 600 acre Thomas Millard tract near Douglassville:   "G and S"  Millard   Our Baby  18??")

GENDEX -- WWW Genealogical Index 
http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ 
Click "Access this index" and then go to  "Surname Index" and type in Millard to enter a database with many links to Millard genealogical information collected and posted by others doing research.

GenForum:  Millard Family Genealogy Forum 
This web site includes questions, answers and new information about Millard genealogy. 
http://www.genforum.com/millard/

Historical Society of Berks County - Library and Museum 
http://www.berksweb.com/histsoc/museum.html <--Click here to go the Historical Society's library web site 
A modern, extensive library facility focuses on Berks County history.  The Society's library is acknowledged to be one of the best and most thoroughly indexed collections of county data in Pennsylvania. 
HEADQUARTERS - Historical Society of Berks County, 940 Centre Avenue Reading, Pennsylvania 19601, 
Phone 610 375-4375 - Fax 610 375-4376,  Email: history@berksweb.com

Historical Society of Pennsylvania   Largest independent center for research in Pennsylvania history 
Largest genealogy center in the mid-Atlantic region (see their Family History & Genealogy web page) 
1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699 Voice 215-732-6200 || Fax 215-732-2680 || 
Email hsppr@aol.com 
 

Hopewell Furnace Historical Database     Available for use at Hopewell Furnace 
Web site about the database:        http://www.nps.gov/hofu/newweb/databse.html 
The Hopewell Furnace Historical Database goal is to document the lives of 4,000 individuals working and doing business with Hopewell Furnace from c. 1780 to 1900. At present, the furnace ledgers have provided much of the initial raw data for this database (for example, name, sex, occupation, and dates associated with furnace).  Those who would like to examine the original materials, photographs, objects, or use the database should contact the Park Ranger (Cultural Resources) at (610)582-8773 at least one week in advance for an appointment.

MILLARD Surname Distribution - 1880

Tri County Historical Society, Morgantown, Pennsylvania

Social Security Death Index 
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm 
 

General Online Guides to Genealogy Resources on the Web

Donna's Berks County Genealogy Page 
http://members.aol.com/Nodoubtay/index.html#Early

Chester County Genealogy  (Berks County was part of Chester County before 1752 when Berks County was created) 
http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacheste/chester.htm

Cyndi's List of Genealogical Sites on the Internet 
http://www.CyndisList.com/

The Genealogy Home Page 
http://www.genhomepage.com/

Microsoft TerraServer 
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/default.htm 
A huge repository of aerial photographs and satellite images taken from miles overhead that you can view.  Type in locations   (Birdsboro, Douglassville, Elverson etc) and zoom in to see them from above.

Return to top of web page 
 

Bibliography:  Books  that include some historical mention about Millards in Pennsylvania

Burnside, Don Gilham (1891-1958) and Reynolds, Mary Burnside (compilers) The Ancestry of Our Mother:  Morris, Humphrey and Allied Families.   Privately published family genealogy.  Millard family mentioned in Part I  Paternal descent from David Morris, Pennsylvania, ca. 1682/3  allied families of Lewis, Taylor, West, Pearson, Gilpin, Fulton, Smith, Millard.    [Includes information about Frances Millard, the daughter of Mary and Benjamin Millard (1771-1816), listed as an innkeeper at 164 High Street in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia City Directory of 1811, and who is buried at the Third and Arch St. Church cemetery in Philadelphia].   Francis married David Morris.  Note:  It was Don Gilham Burnside who sent Julian Millard's records on the Millard family to the Pennsylvania Historical Society some years ago.

Cope, Gilbert and Ashmead, Henry Graham.  Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogic and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania.  Volume 1. New York:  Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.

Cremers, Estelle.  Treasures of the Upper French Creek Valley:   Story of Warwick Township (Chester County, PA)  (includes reduced copy of the Witmer map of 1873 that lists the location of the Jn. Millard property in St. Peter's and a photo of the Henry Swinehart house of 1817).  [available from the bookstore of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site].

Croll, P. C. (Philip Columbus)  Annals of the Oley Valley in Berks County, Pa. : over two hundred years of local history of an American Canaan.   Reading, Pa. : Reading Eagle Press, 1926.

Davis, F. A.   Illustrated historical atlas of Berks County, Penna.   Reading, Pa. : Reading Pub. House, 1876.

Futhey, J. Smith and Cope, Gilbert.   History of Chester County Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches   Philadelphia:  Louis H. Everts,  1881.   (includes photograph and history of Thomas Millard 1816-1906)

Landis, James C.  A Report on the Lands of Thomas Millard and Miscellaneous Records of the Millard Family 
Lancaster PA:   1995.  (In the collection of the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania)

Nein, Jacqueline B., Jimenez, Cynthia, and Texter, Joan, compilers for Berks County Association for Graveyard Preservation, Epitaphs:  Handbook of Historic Family Graveyards, Berks County Pennsylvania . More than 200 pages listing over 300 historic family graveyards with locations, pictures, & inscriptions.  Available also at Historical Society of Berks County.   (Lists one headstone in Millard family graveyard near the 600 acre Thomas Millard tract near Douglassville: 
"G and S"  Millard   Our Baby  18??")

Lincoln Lore.   Titles of Bulletins and Indexes for Bulletins ONE to FIFTEEN HUNDRED April 15, 1929 to February 1963.   Published by Lincoln National Life Foundation.  Fort Wayne, Indiana,  1967.   Lists the following numbers referring to issues of Lincoln Lore mentioning Millard in the INDEX TO PERSONS on p. 40:  Millard, Hannah (Lincoln), 37, 258, 291;  Millard, Harrison, 1436;  Millard, Joseph, 37, 258, 1258.

Millard, Julian.  The Millard family in Pennsylvania  [published in Pennsylvania? by Julian Millard],  1933.   53 pages. 
(This typewritten history is available in only a few libraries.)  A photocopy can be purchased from the Allen County Public Library in Indiana, which maintains a large genealogical collection.    Other libraries which have this publication are the Indiana State Library, the Rochester (NY) Public Library, the State Library of Pennsylvania, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
More about Julian Millard, author of The Millard Family in Pennsylvania (1933):   Julian Millard was the first state architect of Pennsylvania.  He was designed the then new Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School at 6th Avenue and 14th Street in Altoon, PA in the 1920s.  The excavation of Roosevelt began in July of 1922. It was followed by the contract for erection by local architect Julian Millard  in October of the same year. Due to his acceptance of the newly created position of state architect at the state capital, Harrisburg, Julian Millard was forced to leaving during the school's construction.  (The new school with its grand pipe organ opened in 1924.  The total bill for the new school which included excavation, foundation, construction, heating, plumbing, and wiring came out to be more than $1 million dollars.)  Information from: Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School 75 Years.

Montgomery, Morton Luther.    Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative  families.  Chicago, J. H. Beers, 1909.  (two volumes)

Montgomery, Morton Luther. History of Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the Revolution, from 1774 to 1783. 
Reading, Pa., C. F. Haage, printer, 1894.

Montgomery, Morton Luther.   Political hand-book of Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1752-1883 /  Reading, Pa. : Press of B. F. Owen, 1883.

Pendleton, Philip E.,  Oley Valley heritage : the colonial years, 1700-1775.   Birdsboro, Pa. : Pennsylvania German Society ; Oley, Pa. :  Oley Valley Heritage Association, 1994.

Richards, Louis.  The Berks County ancestry of Abraham Lincoln.  A paper read before the Historical Society.  March 9, 1909 by Louis Richards, Esq.  Transactions Historical Society of Berks County. Vol. 2.  1905-1910.  [The sale of 1,000 acres by Thomas Millard to Mordecai Lincoln in 1732 described on p. 371.]

Scogna, Kathy M.,  The ford at the Schuykill; a glimpse of early Reading, Pennsylvania from Lenapehoking to frontier outpost.  Published to commemorate the Bicenquinquagenary of the City of Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1748-1998,   1998.  (available at the bookstore of the Historical Society of Berks County)

Shirey, Shirley and Seidel, Paul F. History of Robeson Township, Bicentennial Edition, 1976.

Walker, Joseph E.,   Hopewell Village; a social and economic history of an iron-making community.  Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press,1966.  (available from Willow Bendonline--see info below)

Wright, F. Edward,  Berks County Church Records of the 18th Century (Vol 1-4) Family Line Publications. 
See Willow Bend Books for ordering this and other genealogical publications at http://www.willowbend.net/default.asp 
(Willow Bend merged with Family Line Publications.)

Other Books:

Brooke, G. Clymer: Birdsboro -- company with a past built to last ; New York: 1958. 2nd printing, Pamphlet, 
(Newcomen Society in North America. Newcomen address [617]) Printed at Princeton Univ. Press, Illus. from woodcuts, Birdsboro Steel Foundry.  [does not mention Millards but provides significant information about a company in which Millards worked for several generations.

Send comments or additional information to the Web Master of this site at genmillard@aol.com 
Most photographs within this web site were taken by the Web Master of this site and may be used for personal genealogical use but not commercial use.  This is a work in progress.  New information is welcome.   Last updated January 2003.