Samuel Millikan

Samuel>William Sr.>William Jr.>Solomon>Jesse>Henry>Emma Jane Millikan

From the book "Posterity of William Millikan" by G. T. Ridlon, PREAMBLE: "Three pioneers of the Milliken family sat down in North Carolina. We are not dependent upon tradition for our knowledge of their existence there. Old documents, public and personal, mark their footprints upon the sands of time. Letters containing many names written by the pioneers, yellowed with age and stained with tears and finger-marks, have been preserved with sacred care; letters of considerable length pregnant with particulars relating to removals and settlements, with dates, which establish genealogical connections. Several early wills made by heads of families contain many names of children and of those who intermarried. Extensive research, however, in Pennsylvania and North Carolina fails to reveal any information relating to the ancestry of the heads of the three great families. The tax-lists of Chester county--some are missing--show that from 1739 to 1763, seven persons who bore the Milliken name owned estates there; and we naturally inquire how did it happen that so many Millikens--the surname was spelt in a variety of forms--should have appeared in this Quaker neighborhood contemporaneously? Some mutual interest must have brought them together, and we reasonably assume that they were relatives who had removed from some distant locality.

All had attained their majority and were Yoemen. As some were designated "unmarried", we suppose they were young men. One only, Richard Milliken, was called a "Renter". Another, George Milliken, was styled "Inmate". The name Patrick is a hint that points to Ireland as his place of nativity, or the home of his ancestors. The name Moses which appears on the tax-list from 1753 to 1763, is not common in the Milliken families; it is of frequent occurrence, however, in the branch settled in Brunswick Co., NC., but an intelligent old lady down there assumes, without any doubt or hesitancy, that her grandfather and granduncle were from Maryland.

The most singular circumstance concerning this group of Millikens in Chester Co. was their disappearance from the locality almost simultaneously. Whither did they journey; where pitch their moving tents? Examination of the county records of more recent dates fails to reveal the names of their posterity. Like a flock of birds they seem to have risen with one accord and flown away. One only has been traced with certainty. We know that during the great Quaker migration to the South, William Millikan and his family went to Rowan, now Randolph Co., NC. Numerous letters written by him have been found, but not in one instance does he mention any Millikans save his own son, and we have no evidence of the removal with him of any person bearing the name. His descendants have been traced. We find the name of James Milliken on the Chester county tax-list in 1753 and 1754. Knowing that a person of this name removed from Chester to Westmoreland county about this time, we imagine that they were identical, but we have no proof. The name of George Millikan designated "of Kennet, Inmate," appears on the tax list in 1763. The George Milligan who had a grant of land on Chartier's Creek, Washington Co., PA, in 1786, called Milligan's Brewery, may have been the same; but proof is wanting.

It is not reasonable to suppose that these seven men, having reached their majority and had acquired estates upon which they paid taxes for twenty years, all died issueless; and we have no hesitancy in assuming that they had families whose descendants are now living somewhere within our broad domain.

Turning our attention again to North Carolina, we shall find that William Millikan and Charles Millikan were living in Chatham and Randolph counties, adjoining, as no distant neighbors, side-by-side, as many as sixteen years. Shall we believe that their settlement so near each other was accidental? Family tradition says that they were intimate in association and that their descendants claimed to be relatives. They certainly must have been acquainted, as William Millikan was a land surveyor and well known in several counties where he served under the agent Lord Granville. They may have been brothers who had emigrated from Ireland at different times and were separated for some years until they settled near each other in North Carolina. We must leave the family history somewhat in obscurity. The citations of evidence as presented seems worth preserving and we record it for what it signifies.

From an extensive correspondence extending to every known family of the name, and a study of their temperaments, habits, physical types, business methods, etc., I am more and more impressed with the strong resemblance between the descendants of William Millikan who settled in Randolph Co., NC., and the families settled in Washington, Westmoreland, Huntington, Mercer and Juniata counties of Pennsylvania. The majority of the men, especially of the earlier generations, have been tall, rawboned, muscular and of fair and medium complexion. They were men of motive temperaments and many possessed great natural mechanical ability. Not many of the pioneers were educated, but all were fond of reading and were well informed. They have not taken kindly to the pen."

Note** William Millikan of Miami Co., KS, about the year 1848, assisted in driving a herd of cattle over the mountains from Ohio to Philadelphia, and when passing through Lancaster, PA., he met a Millikin from Washington Co., PA., and discussed with him family tradition. On returning home William's mother told him that his grandfather (meaning his great-grandfather probably) had come over from Ireland with a brother both of whom first settled in Pennsylvania; but they were separated and William Millikan removed to North Carolina. There may be truth in this tradition, for we know that Thomas and James Millikan, brothers, who settled in Westmoreland and Juniata Co.'s, Pa., removed from Chester Co., PA

Children of Samuel Millikan:

William Millikan 1720-1804

Source: "Posterity of William Millikan" by G. T. Ridlon, PREAMBLE: