The Story of Alice & Dolly Miller
Updated
24 July 2001
The
recent rediscovery of Margaret Alexander’s own efforts at finding her
natural parents has filled in many of the missing gaps in the story how
Dolly Miller came to be Margaret Alexander Kennedy.
The birth mother of Dolly Miller was Alice Miller and her
father was likely Ralph William Miller. She was born about 1905, most
likely in the area of Knoxville, Tennessee. No birth certificate has been
found for her in the records of Knox County, TN although they were being
maintained by that city by that time.
Alice Miller was 17 years old when she died in the Knoxville
General Hospital on December 16, 1906 of Puerile Sepsis, a blood infection
related to childbirth. The attending physician is listed as Dr. J.B.
Johnson, an intern. From the
genealogical work of Margaret Alexander Kennedy (Dolly Miller) conducted
in the early 1960’s, we know that her mother was born Alice Rebecca Haws
on 7 February 1889. She
married Ralph William Miller in Knoxville, TN on 26 December 1901 (Rev.
Samuel Ringgold officiating.) (Note 1)
Prior to her death, Alice Miller befriended Ella Schroeder
Johnson in Knoxville, TN. Mrs.
Johnson, a native of Nashville, is thought to have been temporarily living
in Eastern Tennessee related to her husband’s work as a Railroad Bridge
Builder. John W. Johnson is
reported to have been a principle in the construction of the Tennessee
Chattanooga Railroad Bridge in Nashville.
According to Jessie Schroeder, sister in law to Ella Johnson, Alice
Miller knowing that her death was imminent, requested Ella Johnson care
for her baby daughter, Dolly Miller.
(Note 2)
Shortly after the death of Alice Miller, a court appointed
executor, Miss Mary McCaleb arranged for the adoption to occur. (Note
3)
On 12 February 1907, John W. and Ella May Johnson petitioned
the County Court for Knoxville Tennessee to adopt Dolly Miller, "an
infant of about 2-1/2 years of age" who had been placed in their home
about 4 weeks earlier and living with them since. Mr. Johnson is noted by
occupation to be employed as a structural ironworker.
The court granted this request and also the desire of the Johnson
Family that Alice Miller’s name be changed to Viola Henrietta Johnson.
Sometime in the Spring of 1908, Ella Johnson left Dolly
Miller with a longtime friend of the Schroeder Family, Mrs. Cora Bruce in
Nashville. On 22 June 1908,
Mrs. Bruce brought Dolly to live with Mr. & Mrs. A. I. Alexander with
the understanding that they would adopt her as their own daughter.
Apparently, the itinerant nature of Mr. Johnson’s profession had
made keeping the baby very difficult.
On 10 August 1908, Archibald and Clara Alexander petitioned
the County Court in Nashville, TN to wit, "they have in their care
and possession a female infant three years of age, turned over to the
petitioners by her adopted mother, Mrs. Ella Johnson, the said child,
Viola Johnson, having been adopted to J.W. Johnson and wife Ella Johnson,
in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the age of one year and nine months, bearing
the name of Dollie Miller and being the infant daughter of Mrs. Alice
Miller who died in a Hospital in Knoxville during the year 1906, and the
adopted parents not being at present properly situated to properly rear
said infant, deem it to the best interest of said child that it be adopted
to the petitioners…"
Attached was the affidavit of Mrs. Johnson indicating her
desire that the child be placed with the Alexander’s and a notarized
statement from Mr. Johnson recorded in Shelby County, Alabama giving his
consent. (Note
4)
In granting the Alexander’s petition, the court stated that
"that the said child is hereby adopted to the said petitioners A. I.
Alexander and wife Clara Alexander as a child of their own, to inherit and
succeed to their estates as though she had been born to them in lawful
wedlock, and that she may bear the name of Margaret Alexander."
The grave of Alice Miller lies about 20 feet from the road
about two-thirds up the hillside that holds the Woodlawn Cemetery in
Knoxville, Tennessee. There is a very large and majestic magnolia tree
nearby just below the grave. The plot was purchased by the "Do
Something Society, an organization of Christian Women". (Note
5) Alice Miller’s grave is currently unmarked but can be readily
located using the Plat Map of the graves (Lot 124, Section R). At her
side, is the grave of E. Miller, likewise unmarked. At her feet is the
grave of a small child, Lulu May Miller that is marked with a stone. (Note
6)
Thus far, I have not been able to determine if E. Miller and
Ralph William Miller are the same person or not although it would seem
possible. Likewise, the exact
relationship of the child, Lula May Miller to either Alice Miller and/or
E. Miller is not identified although it would seem that there must be one.
As an adult in the 1950’s, Margaret Alexander Kennedy
searched to find out what she could about her birth parents. She traveled
from her home in Nashville to Knoxville on at least one occasion looking
for information about her birth family.
Her adopted Mother, Clara Wood was greatly upset about this fearing
that this would somehow diminish her relationship with Margaret’s
children. After Clara Alexander’s death in 1958, Margaret Alexander
intensified her search and made significant progress, the results of which
have been summarized here.
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Note
Note
1: The
Marriage License issued in Knox County, TN on 24 December 1901 indicates
that Alice Rebecca Haws was 26 years of age and that Ralph William Miller
was 30 years of age. This is
not consistent with the Knox County General Hospital Death Record for
Alice Miller and the research of Margaret Kennedy. Of course, if her
reported birth date of 7
February 1889 is correct then she was not quite 13 years old when she was
married.
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Note 2: It is also possible that Alice
Miller came to be placed with the Johnson Family for adoption through some
relationship with the Dr. J.B. Johnson, an intern, who was attending Alice
Miller at the time of her death. Although its significance is not known,
almost adjacent to the grave of Alice Miller lie W. Dempster Johnson (22
Sep 1870 – 11 July 1954) and Judith F. Johnson (6 Feb 1870 –9 Sep
1951) indicating another possible linkage.
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Note
3: .
Alice Miller’s life was insured in a policy issued by Metropolitan
Life Insurance Co issued 30 July 1906 and paid 29 December 1906. ).
She is noted to be residing at the address of 109 West Park,
Knoxville, TN. The proceeds
of this policy were used by Miss McCaleb, the court appointed executor to
settle her estate on 12 February 1907 with the following accounting:
1. E.B. Mann,
Undertaker
$138.15
2. By amt, Clerk
Letter
$28.00
3. Mrs Payne,
for care of the child
$40.00
4. Clerk
Settlement
$2.00
5. Allowed
Administrator for Services
$20.00
6. J.C. Ford,
Attorney
$5.00
7. Telephone –
Telegraph Messages
$0.80
8. John W.
Johnson
$35.85
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Note
4: At some later date,
Mrs Ella Johnson married Mr Palmer of the Palmer Roofing Company located
on 5th Ave No, Nashville, TN.
Ironically, this family was known to the Kennedy Family who
operated their business on 3rd Ave at the same time but
didn’t realize the connection.
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Note
5: L.F. Moore is listed in the 1900 Federal Census (Vol 38 ED
70 Sh3 Line 4) living in Knoxville, Knox County, TN as Lazarus F. Moore,
born Jan 1860 in Tennessee. In his home is listed a wife, Dora Moore (born
June 1867 in North Carolina) and a stepdaughter, Della Coram, age 9, born
March 1888 in Tennessee). Presumably this was a second marriage for Dora
Moore.
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Note 6: The inscription on the
gravestone of Lula May Miller reads:
Lula
May Miller
February
10, 1905
August
7, 1906
"Sleep
on Sweet Babe,
and
Take thy rest.
God
called thee home,
He
thought it best"
E. Miller was a man who died in the Knoxville General
Hospital on October 16, 1915. His obituary contains most of the
information that is currently known about him:
MILLER-E. Miller, the
ward of a local committee of Christian women who have provided for him for
over a year, died Saturday night at the Knoxville General Hospital. He had
been a patient of that institution for about one year and was removed
there from the county poor farm for treatment in the hope that he could be
relieved of his suffering, be able to again provide for himself.
Rev.
W.E Parry will conduct the funeral service in the parlor of the Carl R.
Roberts Undertaking Company this afternoon at 2 o’clock. Internment will
follow in the Woodlawn Cemetery, the remains being interred in the Do
Something society plot. Mortimer Thompson, Robin Thompson, Thomas Towry
and R.A Lovell, Carl R. Roberts and Vernon Kaywill act as pall-bearers.
The members of the sympathetic committee, Mrs. C. Mortimer Thompson, Mrs.
Carl R. Roberts, Mrs. L.F. Moore and Mrs. R.C MacKenzie will cast as
honorary pallbearers.
His death certificate adds little more other than that he was
about 36 years old when he died and that he was by occupation a common
laborer. The cause of death is listed as Carcinoma of the Large Intestine
(the same ailment for which Margaret Alexander Kennedy was treated in the
late 1960’s).
Lula May Miller, the baby buried at the feet of Alice Miller
is recorded in the Knoxville Death Record to have died of Infantile
Cholera at 1277 Howard St in Knoxville on 8 August 1906. She is listed as
being 1 year 4 months old. A check of the 1906 Knoxville City Directory
indicates that this was the home of a Lazarus F. Moore. Referring back to
the death notice for E. Miller, we find that one of the ladies of the Do
Something Society who buried him was listed as "Mrs. L.F. Moore"
which would seem to indicate some sort of linkage between the man and the
baby. (Note 5)
Although she celebrated January 6, 1906 as her birthday,
Margaret Alexander readily admitted that she did not know her actual
birthdate. In her February 1907 adoption by the Johnson’s, she is
referred to as being "about 2-1/2 years of age" and then 16
months later in her August 1908 adoption by the Alexander’s, she is
recorded to have been about three years old. In any case, she was almost
certainly born in 1905, possibly early 1905. Supposing that Lula May
Miller was also the child of Alice Miller there is insufficient time for
Dolly and Lula May to have been born is separate pregnancies suggesting
that they were in fact twins.
While E. Miller is linked to the child, Lula May Miller by
Mrs. Moore and of course, their co-location in burial, there is no record
connecting either him or the baby to Alice Miller. It is possible that he
was the husband of Alice Miller and the father of Lula May Miller. If my
theory of Dolly and Lula May being twins is likewise correct, then E.
Miller is obviously the father of Dolly Miller also. Certainly it would
seem that these three Miller’s were buried together by the ladies of the
Do Something Society over the course of 9 years for some reason other than
coincidence.
