Miller writes book on ancestry in Wayne County
When Rex Miller travels the country roads of Smithville, where he has farmed all his life, he sees it differently now than before he published his book this August on the history of his ancestry in Wayne County.Whereas before he saw modern farms and businesses, traffic lights and paved roads, now he sees - through nostalgic and enlightened lenses - log cabins, split rail fences, Indians and homesteaders clearing the virgin land for fields and homes.
Instead of seeing cars and trucks whizzing along state Route 585, he sees an old Indian path formerly known as Portage Path. The current Green Township garage, on the southeast corner of Smucker and Egypt roads, blurs to become the No. 6 one-room schoolhouse it once was. And a present day dairy farm along Back Orrville Road reminds Miller that his ancestor, John Smiley, died of a heart attack in that barn in 1879 while “threshing grain” and wasn’t discovered until he failed to show up for dinner later that evening.
These and a host of other stories make Miller’s book, In Search of Obedience, God Brought Me to America, much more than a recitation of facts. “This book includes a lot of stories,” said Miller. “It’s not just a list of names. These stories make these people come alive to readers. It makes real people out of them.”
Miller researched and wrote for two years before his book was printed this summer. A book signing will be held at Smithville Historical Society Oct. 10 and 11. It all began innocently enough. “I didn’t intend to write a book but when I started researching my past, it raised a lot of questions. I thought, hey, I need to write this stuff down. Maybe I’ll write a book someday. I found so many interesting stories and information.”
Miller said he used the Internet, genealogy records, and many personal interviews to gather information.
Miller began his book with an introduction and overview of the Anabaptists, Mennonites and Amish and how these faiths all descended from the state Catholic church in Europe.
He traced their passage from Europe to America and the settling of the “frontier” now known as Wayne County. In doing so, their struggles of faith and settling the frontier rise to the forefront. “I think what really stayed with me was the impact of the struggles and hardships they went through,” said Miller. “I guess I didn’t think of my relatives as being pioneers and having to battle Indians but they were pioneers and frontiersmen just like we read stories about. They came penniless and cut down trees and built cabins.”
Yet, their goals and ambitions weren’t so different from ours today, said Miller. “They became successful and encouraged their children to get an education, just like we do today.”
Woven through the fabric of the book is the story of his ancestors’ faith practices, which brought them through many hardships and eventually “modernized” along with their “cultural life” in the early 1960s. Miller hopes his book, the historical record of his family, will be an inspiration to others. “Only after researching and writing this book did I feel the magnitude, realizing that you and I are beneficiaries of those before us who worked and dreamed,” said Miller. “Just as we followed our fathers, our lives will direct the future of our children. In our search we will find God and America.”
Miller has a degree in agriculture education from Ohio State University and has served on the Ohio Soybean Council and the United Soybean Board. All proceeds from the book, available for a $30 donation, will benefit the Christian Children’s Home of Ohio. Copies can also be obtained by contacting Miller at 8764 Leichty Road, Smithville, or by e-mail at millerex@aol.com.