The Miller Farm Cemetery
… Most of them recorded nothing else of the buried person, but that he was born upon one day, and died upon another; the whole history of his life being comprehended in those two circumstances that are common to all mankind.
—Joseph Addison, essay in the Spectator, 30 March 1711, as copied from page 68 of the Oxford Book of London, Paul Bailey, editor, 1996, Oxford University Press, 377 pages.
Several of our Fleming–line ancestors are buried in an old previously untended cemetery known as the Miller Farm Cemetery (see Map 2). The cemetery is located on a wooded hillside a short distance from the dirt road leading to Oil Creek, but not visible from either the road or the Creek. When we visited the cemetery in 1963, hemlocks shaded most of the cemetery. It was a quiet, secluded area. Many headstone were in a state of disrepair and several were so badly weathered that we could not read the inscriptions. Fortunately, Mrs. Alice E. Morrison, Venango County genealogist, copied the inscriptions of the 44 headstone remaining in 1958.
The first burial in the cemetery was apparently that of Sarah Fleming, (wife of John Fleming, #1) in 1812 or 1813. There is an 1865 photograph of Miller Farm Cemetery on page 115 in Venango County Panorama. A Salute to Its People. A Pictorial History of Venango County, Pennsylvania. Walsworth Publications, Marcene, Missouri. This photograph shows the cemetery neatly cared for and enclosed by a wooden fence. One stone was monument size, about 10 feet in height, and there were several other large stones. Certainly at that time, there were many more than 44 stones. One can only speculate about what happened to these large stones and the names that were on them.
There are at least 32 of our ancestors and relatives by marriage known to have been buried in the Miller Farm Cemetery (not all names are listed as they might appear on the stones). Not all death dates were taken from stones.
Andrew Fleming (#2), died 14 October 1832—son of John and Sarah Reed Fleming.Ann (Fleming) Dale (#22), died 27 February 1848—daughter of Samuel and Jane (McClintock) Fleming, and wife of John L. Dale.
Claude Everette Fleming (#114), died 19 January 1862—son of John S. and Hannah (Jamison) Fleming. Apparently re–interred in Fairview Cemetery, Pleasantville, Pennsylvania.
Hugh Fleming (#8), died 6 June 1837—son of Andrew and Ann (McClintock) Fleming.
Joseph Jamison Fleming (#116), died 19 August 1864—son of John S. and Hannah (Jamison) Fleming. Apparently re–interred in Fairview Cemetery, Pleasantville, Pennsylvania.
Lucinda (Fleming) Solley (#25), died 1862 or 1863—daughter of Samuel and Jane (McClintock) Fleming, and wife of James Solley.
Mary Fleming (#21), died 2 March 1847—daughter of Samuel and Jane (McClintock) Fleming.
Matilda (Fleming) Clark (#29), died 6 November 1865—daughter of Samuel and Jane (McClintock) Fleming, and wife of Chilon Clark.
Samuel Fleming (#4), died 19 October 1859—son of John and Sarah (Reed) Fleming.
Sarah Reed (#1), died 1812 (wife of John Fleming).
Maria Louisa Henderson (#74 of “Hendersons”), died 13 April 1843—daughter of William M. and Rachel (Fleming) Henderson #10).
Mary Jane (Brawley) Henderson, died 5 May 1854—second wife of William M. Henderson, #21 of “Hendersons,” who was a nephew of Margaret (Henderson) Watson.
Rachel (Fleming) Henderson (#10), died 4 September 1843—a daughter of Andrew and Ann (McClintock) Fleming and the first wife of William M. Henderson.
Samuel Franklin Henderson, died 20 February 1853—son of William M. and Mary Jane (Brawley) Henderson, #76 of “Hendersons."
William Lytle (#13 of “Lytles”), died 12 November 1865—son of John and Sarah (Morrison) Lytle, and husband of Sarah Fleming, who was a daughter of Samuel and Jane (McClintock) Fleming.
James Miller (#40 of “McFates”), died 10 April 1828—husband of Jane (McFate) Miller who was a daughter of Robert and our Jane (Culbertson) McFate.
Jane Miller (#40 of “McFates”), died 1872—daughter of Robert and our Jane (Culbertson) McFate.
Mary Miller (#85 of “McFates,” in volume 2 of Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 27 August 1847—daughter of James and Jane (McFate) Miller.
Robert Miller (#81 of “McFates,” in volume 2 of Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 14 December 1890—son of James and Jane (McFate) Miller.
Elizabeth (Henderson) Poor (#22 of “Hendersons,” died 3 March 1882—daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Mitchell) Henderson, and wife of Alonzo Poor.
George W. Poor (#83 of “Hendersons”), died 5 September 1852—son of Alonzo and Elizabeth (Henderson) Poor.
William Silas Poor, died 18 October 1861 (relationship not yet established, probably a son of Pomeroy and Sarah Poor, who in 1850 were living in Allegheny Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, page 37, where Silas was listed as age 4).
(According to Titusville, Pennsylvania, Returns of Deaths, Alonzo Poor was also buried in Miller Farm Cemetery.)
Andrew Fleming (#45), died 29 December 1838—son of Samuel and Sarah (Fleming) Shreve.
[Sarah?] Ann Shreve (tentative) (#39 of “Notes on Shreves” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 22 September 1886—daughter of George and Margaret (Miller) Shreve.
George Shreve (#15 of “Notes on Shreves” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 16 February 1899—son of James and Catherine (Berry) Shreve, and father of George Shreve, Jr., who married Janette Jamison—#77 of “Jamisons”.
Hannah E. Shreve (#37 of “Notes on Shreves” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), born 18 January 1853, died 16 September 1862—daughter of George and Margaret (Miller) Shreve.
Lucinda F. Shreve (#36 of “Notes on Shreves” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), born 1850, died 1852—daughter of George and Margaret (Miller) Shreve.
Margaret Shreve (#15 of “Notes on Shreves” and #82 of “Notes on McFates,” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 5 August 1904—daughter of James and Jane (McFate) Miller, and wife of George Shreve.
Nancy A. Shreve (#34 of “Notes on Shreves,” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 9 September 1895—daughter of George and Margaret (Miller) Shreve.
Robert T. Shreve (#33 of “Notes on Shreves,” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 2 March 1887 —son of George and Margaret (Miller) Shreve.
Sarah A. Shreve (#19 of “Notes on Shreves,” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), died 18 June 1869—daughter of James and Catherine (Berry) Shreve.
Sarah J. Shreve (#50), died 11 May 1861—daughter of Samuel S. and Sarah Ann (Fleming) Shreve.
(tentative) James Shreve (#10 of “Notes on Shreves” in volume 2 of The Oil Creek Flemings and related families), "Pvt. Army _____ War of 1812" (father of George Shreve and husband of Catherine Berry Shreve). This name was penciled in on a Miller Farm list.
Perhaps others ancestors are also buried in the Miller Farm Cemetery.
In 1972, someone dug into the grave of a David Terrill (died 11 January 1847, aged 21) and vandalized the nail–studded pine coffin.
From the Titusville Herald, 9 June 1972:
MILLER FARM CEMETERY IS TARGET FOR VANDALS. David Terrill died on Jan. 11 1847, at the age of 21 years and eight months.
His body lay undisturbed in the cemetery at Miller Farm, about four miles south of Titusville on Oil Creek, until sometime in the spring of 1972. Then a ghoul dug a barrel–sized hole three feet deep and broke into what was left of Terrill’s nail–studded pine coffin at a point where the head would be.
The vandalism was discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Keyes of Spring Creek Road in May. Their hobby is visiting old cemeteries.
They reported in to The Herald. Park Foreman Russell Reynolds investigated and has a theory as to who did it. He reported the event to state police.
Breaking into a grave and removing any remains is a misdemeanor, punishably a fine not to exceed $1,000 or solitary confinement in prison for a period not to exceed three years.
Miller Farm is important historically as the railroad terminus to which oil was first delivered by pipeline. The line was built in 1865 by Samuel Van Syckie from Pithole to Miller, which was the nearest point on the Oil Creek Railroad.
The farm was once actually a farm, before oil days, and was settled by the Miller family about 1800, shortly after Titusville was founded.
The cemetery contains 44 headstones, which were painstakingly copied by the Venango County historian, Mrs. Alice E. Morrison.
The first burial was that of Sarah Fleming who died Feb. 20, 1812, age 68 years [family records indicate she died 14 February].
The last burial is that of Margaret, wife of George Shreve, who died Aug. 5, 1904. [Margaret Miller Shreve, born circa 1817; her husband was George Shreve, born circa 1816. They were the parents of George Shreve, born circa 1848–1850 who married Elizabeth Janette Jamison, a daughter of Robert Brooks Jamison who was a brother of Hannah Rebecca Jamison [Fleming.]
The headstones bear the names of Miller, Fleming, Franklin, Henderson, Lytle, Poor, Small, Stinson, Watson and others.
The cemetery is on the east side of Oil Creek on a wooded hillside, a considerable distance from the road. A grave robber could work rather securely, unless fishermen heard him—and many fishermen visit Miller Farm.
