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Genealogy: Finding Your Folks

The Milam family of Fife and Bethany

By Judy Fowler Kilgore

As we continue to examine and explore the genealogies of families buried at historic Bethany United Methodist Church, we’ll turn this week to the Milam family, a well known family in Fayette and Campbell (now South Fulton) County.

Records show that the Milams, like the Harpers, Rivers, Boyds and many other families who settled around Bethany, moved to Fayette from Pike County, but the Milams came slightly earlier — between 1840 and 1850.

The records also show that, according to the names of neighbors in 1830 and 1840 in Pike County, the Milams were in the first district (northwestern Pike) which abuts Meriwether and present-day Spalding counties. There appears to be a large migration of many families in that area who went northward to Fayette and Campbell and westward to Carroll and parts of eastern Alabama between 1840 and 1860.

This week’s family history on the Milam family of Bethany was submitted by Sally Summers Chapman (Gammy1@peoplepc.com) who lives in South Fulton County. Sally writes:

“The earliest Milam (Mileham) is found in Lancaster County, Va. Samuel Mileham (Milam) married Martha Gardner in 1724. They had three sons: John, b. 1725 married Judith Bartlett Cole; Thomas b. 1727, d. 1775, married Mary Rush Adams; and Archibald, b. 1729.

“John Milam, son of Samuel, married Judith Bartlett Cole. They had seven sons: John, Jr. b. Jun 12, 1753 in Brunswick County, Va.; Bartlett; Samuel; Benjamin; Thomas; James; and Madison.

“John Jr., son of John and Judith Milam, married (1) Nancy Clardy and (2) Polly (Mary ?) Allison of Laurens County, S.C. in 1813. John died in Madison County, Ala. John, Jr. had 12 children: John; William Bartlett; Wiley; Mary (Polly); Jane; Dicey; Cindrella; Nancy; Loucinda; two other daughters; and Ferrall.

“Wiley Milam, son of John Jr., was born circa 1796 in Laurens County, S.C. and died circa 1858 in Campbell County, Ga. He married (1) Martha (Patsy) Walker before 1818 in South Carolina and (2) Mourning Touchstone in Pike County, Ga. in 1839. He had five children by (his) first wife: William; John (Jack); Elizabeth; Deborah Ann; and Jane; and 11 children by (his ) second wife: Susan; America; Louise Frances; Wiley, Jr.; Katherine Marie; Bethania; James Nolan; Dennis; Mary Adaline; Queen Victoria; and Robert Jefferson.

“William Milam, son of Wiley and Martha Walker Milam, was born July 29, 1818, in Laurens County, SC. He died in Fayette County, Ga. Dec. 25, 1901. William married Emily J. Patton on May 3, 1838 in Pike County. They both are buried in Bethany Cemetery in Fayette County. (Some of Emily J.’s siblings are buried at Bethany also.) They had 14 children: Martha Walker (Mat) who is buried at Bethany; James W. (Jim); Caroline Matilda Thayer; John Robert (buried at Bethany); Clark Middleton (buried at Bethany); Jane Rebecca; Espie Elizabeth; William Franklin; Solomon Matthew (Mat); Amanda Ann Eliza (Mittie); Walter Henry; Charles Brannon (Charlie) who is buried at Bethany; Thomas Goodman; and Susan Ozella.

“Walter Henry Milam, son of William and Emily J. Patton Milam, was born on May 8, 1860 in Fayette County and died April 1, 1933 in Fayette County. He married Mary Frances Stephens on Nov. 4, 1883, in Fayette County. They both are buried in Bethany Cemetery. They had nine children: Nola Estelle; John William (Will); Bluma Erma; Walter James (Jim); Estis Lydell; Lula Jackson (Jay); Ruby Crystal; Loy Wiley; and Evelyn Lorraine. Nola is my grandmother who married Richard Henry McLarin.

“The William Milam property was on present day Milam Road near Bethany Church.”

Sally gives her sources of information as: “Our Boyd Family, Allied Families, deGraffenried, Tidwell, Milam, Patton” by George Hugh and Rosalie Brown Boyd; Fayette County census records; Fayette County marriages; Pike County marriages; Campbell County land records; and cemetery records, Fayette County, Ga.

There is more detail on this Milam family in the above referenced book located at the Fayette County Library in Fayetteville and at the Coweta Genealogy Library in Grantville.

As of 1977, the Milam family was represented in the Bethany UMC cemetery with 21 graves.

Just a research tip here ... remember, when you are looking for these Bethany families, you may find them either in Campbell County (merged with Fulton County in 1932) or Fayette County, since Bethany is just a few miles from the present Fulton County line. I have been told that the county line in that area was constantly changing. Even today, some people in north Fayette receive their mail through the Fairburn post office.

I really appreciate Sally’s sharing her family history on the Milam family and hope you will contact her if you are connected. I’d like to hear from you also.

But I need your stories of Bethany families, too. I encourage all of you to send your genealogies on those buried at Bethany so that we can honor these families on the church’s upcoming 150th anniversary. I recently received a letter from Nita McFarlin who related some interesting facts about the Tarpley family of Bethany and noted that she was also a Boyd. (I think we may be cousins, Nita.) The Tarpley family is definitely on my "families to find" list.

I welcome all letters and e-mails about genealogy and info on south metro Atlanta families. Send them to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Any letters and/or e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.

Until next week, happy hunting!