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What's New?

This is information about what's recently been added to the web site; it is also a place to share new information that is still being sorted out and added.

1/21/08: Updated pictures of grandsons Wyatt and Weston in My Incredible Journey To Alaska (1980) text and My Second Incredible Journey to Alaska (1981) text.

11/17/07: Added a page on Frederic Young Miller, written by his son, David B. Ring.

6/3/07: Added My Second Incredible Journey to Alaska (1981) text. I will add photos to it.

5/25/07: Added photo of Jacob Collings with his great, great grandfather's millstones, now housed at the Elbow Lake, Minnesota, museum to his great grandfather's manuscript.

5/21/07: Added My Incredible Journey To Alaska (1980) text. I will add more photos to it.

5/15/07: A new home page collage incorporating Kathlyn's photo of Dad in Alaska in 1980 and seven more photos from Volume I has been added, thanks to my friend Jim Barr, who suggested it and brought it into being. He has restored many of the photos in this book (the first 10 plates). The new home page offers a taste of what's inside.

4/25/07: Revamped photos on Plate 10.

4/11/07: Added Plates 47-60 plus a "Home Again" page to complete Volume I, at least in temporary form; plates for Volume II are a future project and there is tweaking left to do. Also, most of the plates are temporary, with "placeholder" photos that aren't restored yet.

4/10/07: Added Plates 42-46 (of 60) with "placeholder" photos that aren't restored yet.

4/8/07: Uploaded rest of text pages 34-44, subject to final tweaking, minor formatting, etc. Added Plates 10-41 (of 60) with "placeholder" photos that aren't restored yet.

4/3/07: Revamped photos on Plate 8, added Plate 9.

3/29/07: Added Plates 29-35 with "placeholder" photos that aren't restored yet.

3/21/07: Reworked Home Page, added Viewing Tips page, moved preface to Contents.

3/21/07: Revamped photos on Plate 6, which completes section on Dad's mother's family.

3/17/07: New, permanent address: www.johnson.jlowther.com

3/8/07: Re-posted Plate 5 in new format.

2/27/07: Revamped photos on Plate 2 and Plate 7.

2/21/07: Added Text Pages 30-33 -- which completes Volume I text, subject to tweaking.

2/20/07: Added Text Pages 21-29.

2/13/07: Revamped photos on Plate 3.

2/4/07: Added Text Pages 17, 18, 19 and 20.

1/30/07: Revamped remaining photos on Plate 4. There are more text pages, too.

1/24/07: Moved the site to www.johnson.jlowther.com

1/22/07: Revamped site navigation; added new text pages from original manuscript. Added new Table of Contents for text pages and plates. There are now TWO versions of the book: one is plain text with everything he wrote; the other is photographs with text excerpts.

1/14/07: Revamped Plate 4; made text changes in captions and link info.

1/1/07: Found a Minnesota state map from 1874.

1/1/07: Found Mower County map, Udolpho TWP map, Udolpho TWP index of landowners.

The index says that Francis and Joseph Neller came to Udolpho TWP in 1856.

Also: Link to Mower County Register Newspaper Articles(1869-1871), Mower Co., MN

Added above links to Neller Family history page.

1/1/07: Added an interesting Otter Tail County History link to the About August Miller page.

12/31/06: Added a "What's New?" Link to the Home Page.

12/31/06: Added a new "Neller Family" link to Plate 1.

12/31/06: Added new ancestors of Great Grandma Emma L. Miller to the family tree program.

On May 29, 2007, at 9:37 AM, Ruth Collings wrote:

I've been doing some Neller family research using Ancestry and Family search. I thought you might be interested in what I found. Of course, I haven't had a chance to write for actual documents, so there may be -- and probably are -- errors.

Starting with Emma: her father's name was Joseph Neller (b. 1830) and her mother was Joanna Werner. Joseph's father was named Johannes Stephanus Neller (b. 1805) and his mother was Catharina Mueller. They also had a son, Bernard (b. 1833) who died when he was two years old. Catharina apparently died soon after and Johannes apparently remarried -- Elizabetha Oster.

Johannes had at least three brothers: Johannes Martinus, (b. 1799), Franciscus Antonius (b. 1801) and another Franciscus Antonius (b. 1808). The first Franciscus must have died; giving two children the same name was not uncommon. Bernardo Neller and Magdalenae Naas were the parents of these boys. All of these family members lived in Joehlingen, Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany

It seems that the two brothers, Johannes Stephanus and Franciscus Antonius (1808) may have married sisters because Franciscus' wife was named Madeline Mueller.

The 1860 Fed. Census for Minn. shows that there were three Neller families living next door (or on the same property?) to each other in Udolpho Township in Mower Co.

They were: 1) Francis Neller (1808), Madeline & children: Sebastian, John, Martin, Sophia, & August. 2) Francis, (1827), wife Margaret, & son Albert. They later had another son, Frank. 3) Joseph, Joanna and sons William & Edward.

My guess (and it's just a guess) is that Francis (1827) was Francis' (1808) oldest son. It seems logical that Joseph came to America with his uncle, Francis (1808) and his cousins. The immigration date that I found was 1858.

There are also later census records (1870) and 1900 showing how the families began to prosper, increase in numbers of children and spread apart. John and Francis (1827) both served in the Union army in the Civil War.

The next step would be to send for naturalization papers, military records and property records which I will try to do when I have time.

I hope this isn't too confusing. Please let me know if I'm on the wrong track entirely.

Ruth

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