I plan to use this page as a forum for my continuing research into my Milam family roots and as a springboard to feature other Milam family homepages and pages of geneological interest to this group of people.
The spelling of the name, be it Milam or Milum, was derived from the original surname of Mileham.
The Mileham name originated from a large manor located seven miles Northwest of East Dercham, England on the road from Northwich to King's Lynn, England. In this manor are the remains of an ancient castle, and prehistoric mounds with horseshoes outworks, probably Roman.
The name "Mileham" was probably given to this manor by the Anglo Saxons in the 10th Century. The name was probably derived from the Anglo Saxon "Mylen", meaning a mill. Reocrds show that the name Mileham existed in the year 1100. Within this manor was the Mileham castle and a church called "St. John The Baptist".
Records show that in the year 1377 there was anciently a family who took their name from the town. George De Mileham had lands here about the 5th yar of the rein of Edward III. He also had a brother named William. William Mileham left a daughter and heir named Margaret, who married Nicholas Atte-Church.
From many of the old reocrds and oral communication of our ancestors came this caveat of information. One branch of the Mileham clan came from Wales and then migrated to Yorkshire, England to Boston, Massachusetts and then to Virginia. This information is in line with the fact the Mileham heraldry is that of knight or a soldier. Wales was conquered and settled by the English in the 13th and 14th centuries. There were many great castles and garrisons built in Wales to house the English soldiers left to defend the land.
On coming to America the name was shortened to Milam, Milum, and Mylum due to lack of education. In early days written documents frequently were prepared by other individuals who could read and write. As early as 1716 the name Mileham was often shortened to Mileam, Milum, and Mylum. Legal documents would often have last names of brothers spelled differently.
Within the United States today there exists many persons, all related to some degree with the name Mileham, Milum, or Mylum.
When the Milehams came to Virginia, they changed their name to Milam, then they migrated first to Kentucky, then to Indiana. In Indiana, the first settled in a village that they called Carlisle after thier home in England.
The story of my ancestors has not taken me back very far. My elusive Milam ancestors are out there somewhere and I will not rest until I find them.
Okay, that sounds a little extreme but my side line hobby of doing family geneology has become an obsession. I live, eat, and sleep for geneology. I used my research skills in my search for the perfect job. I hopefully have found it in a local insurance agency as a Customer Service Rep. My desire to find my roots is driving me to look harder than ever for the tie that binds my family into what and where it is today.
So ,let me start with the earliest Milam and work forward to the present.
From what I know so far, my great great grandmother was Mary E. Milam. She is listed as being from Vigo County, IN. She married a man by the name of John Moore who is also from Vigo County, IN. I do not have anything on her parents but word through the Milam grapevine suggests she could possibly be the daughter of Willis R Milam and Lucitia Milam. This family is listed on the 1860 census for Honey Creek Township, Vigo County, IN. I plan to follow this up soon.
I do know that Mary and John were married in Vigo County on April 2 1871.
Of this union the following children were born. (I am also listing marriage dates and spouse information where known):
*Herschel Moore no dates known - married Cora Daniels
*Emil Moore born 3-21-1882 married Minnie Ray on December 25, 1907
*Elaxander Moore no dates known married Opal (supposed to have 11 children
*William Moore no dates known and he never married
*George Moore born 3-2-1886 married Myrtle Davis 2-25-1907
*Alice Moore married Joshua Chaney in Parke County, IN on April 9, 1893. (this is my great great grandmother and great great grandfather)
Bette? No information known on this child.
Otto Lloyd Moore married Alberta Henrietta Ippen on November 13, 1909 (there is extensive information on this part of the family. If anyone needs this please let me know)
Ellen Bridgett? nothing known on this daughter.
The union of Alice Moore and Joshua Chaney produced 6 known children. Alice had also been previously married and one child,Thomas Craig, was born of this marriage. Below I have listed the children of Alice and Joshua:
*Imil Otto Moore born 1903
* George Raymond Chaney born 1907 died 1964
* Bertha Mae Chaney born 1907 (George Raymonds' twin)
* Minnie Chaney
* Herschel Edward Chaney born 1895 died 1958. (This is my great grandfather)
Herschel Edward Chaney was born in 1895 somewhere either in Vermillion County or possibly in Illinois. He married the daughter of Allen Francis and Lillis Mae Burns, Louella Mae Burns. Louella was born in Parke County, IN and died shortly after my grandmother was born in 1927 of complications from her pregnancy. Herschel Edward died December 4, 1958 in Terre Haute, IN. There were six children born of the marriage between Hershcel and Louella.
*Alice Mae Chaney born 1916. She married George Blackburn and they had one son named James. Alice unfortunately died shortly after his birth due to complications from the pregnancy in 1933.
Both Alice and her mother are buried in Riverside Cemetery, Clinton, Vermillion County, IN. I am not sure of where as I have been unable to locate their graves.
*Josie Chaney was born in 1918. She was only two years younger than Alice and when she died, Josie married George Blackburn to help raise the young Jimmy Chaney, and raised many children of her own. Josie and George had 10 children together. Josie died in 1995 of cancer.
NOTE: James Chaney died in 1995 and his death is under investigation as he might possibly be a victim of the alleged killer Orville "Terry" Lynn Majors who is standing trial for the murder of 6 patients at the Vermillion County Hospital in Clinton, IN.
*Russell Edward Chaney born 1923 married Dorothy Shannon and had three children. Russell unfortunately committed suicide in 1954. No reason was ever given for his act.
*Juanita Chaney (no information as of yet)
*Fred Chaney (he is still living)
*Flora Belle Chaney born 1927 in Coxville, Parke County, IN. This is my grandmother. She was born at home and as she described it, the house was in the middle of the big hill. Coxville is a very tiny little town if you can even call it that, in central Parke County. Parke County is famous for its Covered Bridges and has a world famous festival every year the second week of October to celebrate. It encompasses most of the county and people from around the world come to it.
Edward Chaney did marry after Louella's death but I do not have any additional information on this marraige and the children born of it yet.
As I mentioned before, Flora Belle Chaney is my maternal grandmother. She grew up being raised by her older sisters until the death of Alice, who she fondly remembers taught her how to cook fried potatoes, and her father remarried. She married a man by the name of Thomas Walker in the late 1940's. I do not know anything about this man but there is a skeleton in this closet. In the early 80's, grandma finally came clean and told my mom that this man, Walker was not her real father. There is a whole story surrounding this deal and it is too much to get into. Here is the information about my mom.....
*Mary Louella Walker born July 13, 1948 in Clinton, Vermillion County, IN. Mom graduated from Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute, IN in 1967. She went into the Marine Corps but due to allergies was not able to complete boot camp. She met my dad as a youngester and these two grew up together.
His name is Thomas Lee Curry and he was born July 12, 1944 in Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN. He was in the Navy during the Vietnam War and stationed aboard the USS Hancock. He and mom were married December 24, 1967 in Reno, NV and lived for a while in Redwood City, California and then later moved back to Indiana, These two had 4 children together.
Like I mentioned, there are four children born of Mary and Tom../FONT>
*Catherine Lyn Curry (This is me) was born December 14, 1968 in Redwood City, Ca. I am a graduate of Terre Haute North Vigo HS (Class of 87) and also spent time in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman Third Class. I am engaged to a wonderful guy, Robert Hall, and we have 3 boys, Darrick 9,, Brandon 7, and Devon 6. I work as a claims analyst for a local insurance agency and Rob is a salesman for a janitorial supply company. Rob was born July 12, 1966 in Terre Haute, IN.
*Michael John Curry was born August 15, 1973 in Lafayette, IN. Mike joined the Army and married a great gal by the name of Aimee Cranshaw. Together they have 3 1/2 children. Alec is 4, Christopher is 2, and Dakota is 1. As if three were not enough, Aimee is very pregnant with hopefully a niece this time and is due in November. I forgot to mention the heroics of my brother. While serving time in Eygpt, there was a traffic accident and he saved two men from the fire. He was awarded the Soldiers Medal, which is the highest peacetime medal given. I am very proud of him and all he has accomplished. Now if he could just get me a niece we will be doing all right. (Just kidding)/FONT>
*Robyn Ann Curry born August 23, 1978 in Terre Haute, IN. Robyn is one of those kids that you just have to shake you head and wonder what happened to the little girl with pretty blond hair. Robyn did her time in the Army and is now settled down (for what that is worth) and married to a man? by the name of Eric Meek. Robyn gave birth to Kevin Lee Meek on January 16, 1998 in Union Hospital, Terre Haute, IN. I was given the opportunity to witness his birth and all I can say is that this is an amazing event. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Thank you Robyn for allowing me to be by your side.
Last but certainly not least is Steven Andrew Curry born April 17, 1985 in Terre Haute, IN. Steven is still in school and has a bright future in front of him. Hopefully he will take to right path and use his smarts to get him further in life.
This is by no means complete for my family and I will continue until I can go no further. I have alot of great leads and and looking forward to meeting cousins somewhere down the line.
The Milam family is pretty well researched and as soon as I can prove where my Milam ancestor fits in I can fill in alot of details. Keep checking back for updates and more Milam information as I get ahold of it. I will be adding Milam researchers web pages as I get them too so you can see what other stuff is out there.
