Miller, Clarissa 1812-1897

MILLER, MONTGOMERY, GRAVES, WALDON, GEE, NICHOLS, MARTIN, MAYES

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 5/9/2005 at 09:47:38

The Newton (IA) Record October 29, 1897
Fifty-one Years In Slavery
Clarissa Miller, Born a Slave,
Dies at the Age of Eighty-five Years

Miller, Clarissa

The death of Grandmother Miller, which occurred at the home of her son, John Miller, in North Newton, Friday evening, October 22nd, was the closing of a long life, so mingled with shadow and sunshine, that if written would make a book every page of which would be of thrilling interest.

Mother Miller was born in slavery, on the 6th of Nov. 1812, in Washington County, Ky. Her first master was a planter named Montgomery. While she was but a child, Montgomery died, and his widow, who inherited Clarissa, married a man by the name of Graves and she became his property. When 16 years of age she married Paulice Waldon, who at that time was owned by a neighboring planter, but was afterward bought by Clarissa’s master. To them were born eleven children, five of whom are still living and were all by the bedside of their aged mother during the closing hours of her life. They are Mrs. Emma Gee of Colorado Springs, Messrs. John and Clem Miller, Mrs. Elizabeth Waldon and Miss Lettie Miller, of this city.

Graves moved from Kentucky to Marysville, Mo., in 1854, taking with him all his slaves. While their master was reasonably kind to them, the fetters of slavery were very galling to father and mother Miller and the bright dream of their life was of a day when they and their children would be free.

When the war broke out they realized that the time of their deliverance was at hand. In 1861 their son John in company with three other young men, Aleck Nichols and Andy and Henderson Hays, stole away from the old plantation, in the darkness of night, and made northward determined on gaining their liberty. They were pursued by the officers with bloodhounds, but managed to evade them. After crossing the Iowa line they found friends to help, but still were compelled to be very cautious, knowing that they were closely followed by the Missouri slave hunters.

Between Winterset and Des Moines they met a lot of copperheads, who were going to a political meeting at the former place, and who suspecting that they were runaway niggers, arrested them and took them and took them to Winterset determined on returning them to their master; but a band of Union men rescued them, and they again struck to the brush. In a few days afterward they arrived in Newton, stopping in front of John Meyer’s grocery, now occupied by J. F. Baker. From there they went north to the College Farm, always a noted station on the Underground Railroad, where they were taken in and kindly cared for for the night by Uncle John King. The next morning they were told that they were perfectly safe, and were persuaded not to make any further attempt to reach Canada, which had previously been the goal for which they were striving.

Accordingly, the next day John Miller hired out to Richard Shearer, Andy Hays to Uncle Tommy Vanatta, Henderson Hays to John R. Clements and Alex Nichols to Mr. Bishop ­ all prominent abolitionists and all except Mr. Vanatta, long since passed to their reward.

In 1862, Alex Nichols returned to Missouri, and piloted Clem, Lettie and Lizzie Miller, (the latter now Mrs. Waldon), Daniel and Ellen Nichols, his half-brother and sister (now Mrs. William Martin) to Iowa, and after a hard journey, finally arrived among their friends at the College Farm.

Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Miller remained with their old master, not knowing anything of their children, only rejoicing that they were free, faithfully trusting in the Lord for their own deliverance. After the war was over John went back to the old home to see his parents, and brought them back with him to enjoy that blessed freedom for which they had so long prayed. The happiness of these old colored people surrounded by their children and grandchildren, no longer bound by the fetters of slavery, could not be expressed, but often found vent in shouts of fervency, so peculiar to their race. Father Miller died just ten years ago.

The funeral services of Mother Miller, who had been a Christian for over seventy years, were held in the M. E. Church on Sunday afternoon, with a very large attendance, many white people being present who had know and loved the old mother in Israel. The pastor, Rev. T. W. Lewis, preached an excellent sermon, and the church choir rendered appropriate music. The pallbearers were her grandsons ­ Paulice, Obie and Jesse Waldon, Fred and Clarence Miller and Louis Mayes.

Originally submitted on Mon Aug 26 16:50:14 2002