William and Elizabeth Miller

Miller/Spencer/Cornwall 

We will be a day late in lieu of Halloween!!

Margaret Miller Spencer - Daughter of William & Elizabeth Miller

William Miller was born April 18, 1803 in Cumberland, England.  Elizabeth Hewet was born in 1797.  They were married on November 3, 1821 in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England.  They had seven children.  The data reveals trial and sadness with the children of William and Elizabeth: Their first born, Mary, died at birth, followed by: Isaac died at birth, John lived one year, William lived to 32, Margaret (our ancestor) was born in 1830 in Whitehaven and lived to 75, Ann died at birth and Joseph lived 6 years.  The Millers apparently joined the Church in 1847 when William was 44 and Elizabeth was 50.  Margaret was baptized at this time, at age 17.  The baptism location is not recorded.

Historical records indicate the family was in England in 1841 when Joseph, their seventh/last died.  There is no known record of the little family of four, crossing the ocean or being part of a pioneer company.   The next available data indicates that Margaret marred Orson Spencer in Salt Lake City in 1949.    Her father - William Miller died that same year in Salt Lake City.

Margaret was the 6th wife of Orson Spencer.  One of Orson's wives died earlier but Margaret was a plural wife.  Orson was her father's age when they married when she was 19.  Was the marriage arranged so she could be cared for since they were new to Salt Lake and her dad had just died?   The only thing fore sure is that Orson died in 1855 while he was serving a mission and without having any children with Margaret.  Margaret re-married Charles Henry Spencer (no known relation to Orson) on March 15, 1857, two years after Orson died.

Margaret and Charles are the parents of nine children, the third of whom is Mary Ellen Spencer, the mother of J. Spencer Cornwall, Grandmother of J. Shirl Cornwall, Great Grandmother of Kent Cornwall.

This story is pieced together from dates via Family Search. Family history is an evolving work. Within the past month  the "preferred" parent of Margaret Miller Spencer has been changed to Elizabeth Watson.  This is based on Maragret's Death certificate in Salt Lake which documents her mother as Elizabeth Watson (not Hewett).  (As can be seen by clicking here.) There are NO records for Elizabeth Watson and the father may be a different William Miller, also for whom there are no records.  So, the story above for William and Elizabeth may or may not be pertinent to our ancestry.  The information from Margaret (our ancestor) and her descendants IS applicable.  Margaret definitely was in Salt Lake as a young woman to marry in 1849, which means the family came to Zion in wagon/pioneer fashion.