A great-great-great-great-great grandfather in German is:
Urururururgrossvater.
Stacking five "Ur's" together can be confusing, so Germans will sometimes say, "Grossvater mit fünfmal Ur" (grandfather with five Ur's).
As you know, my German Urururururgrossvater was David Miller, who along with his wife Catherine emigrated from Germany to Western Maryland in the 1760s. Together they established the first store in the town of Sharpsburg. Writes one historian, "In 1768 the first store was formally established in the new town by David B. Miller. Up to this time the inhabitants had done without, made their own, or traded for needed goods at the Old Trading Post. Mr. Miller brought in yard goods -- calicoes at $.50 a yard and muslin at $1.00 per yard. He would go to Baltimore on horseback loading up a pair of saddlebags with dry goods and groceries. Roads were still almost non-existent and horses were about the only convenient means of travel."
According to my calculations, the distance between Sharpsburg and Baltimore would have been about 72 miles. In Colonial America, the average rate of travel by horseback was about 4 miles per hour. You could probably travel about 30-40 miles a day, although you and your mount would be exhausted by the time you reached your destination. Ideally you would want to travel about 20 miles a day, giving both horse and rider enough rest each day to continue on the next. David Miller's business trip to and from Baltimore would have lasted at least a week. Today it's a mere hour and 20 minute drive each way!
David's son John (my great-great-great-great grandfather) followed in his father's entrepreneurial footsteps. He operated not only the store but the town post office, a hotel, a gristmill, and also owned several farms. During the War of 1812, John was a colonel in the 10th regiment of the Maryland militia and continued to be referred to as "Colonel" Miller. He helped establish his sons on farms throughout the Sharpsburg area. This included his son David's farm. (David's brother John was my great-great-great-great grandfather.) David and his wife Margaret had 7 children and worked hard to harvest their crops that fall. Near the westside barn a number of haystacks stood, and the garden was "sprawling with pumpkins, potatoes. and beans." Just to the south of the farm was their 24-acre cornfield with "stalks higher than a man's head" standing ready to harvest. After the battle, when David and his family returned home, not a single stalk was left standing.
During the fighting, Union casualties were gathered at the farmstead. The days following the battle, Union burial details swept across the Miller farm to bury their dead. The barn roof can be seen on the far right of this photo.
Surprisingly, there was very little damage to the Miller house and barn. Only the blacksmith shop was destroyed. Miller filed a claim of $1,237.75 for damages from the Federal government. He received $995.00. David Miller and his family continued to live and work on the farm for the next 20 years. How odd to think that today I own a farm and one of my sons (along with his wife and 7 children) make their living from farming.
I am so proud and thankful for my German heritage. It's like working on a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle where the picture that's emerging is the most wonderful of surprises. You can't rest until you work it all out on your own.
Sorry if this is TMI!