Charles D. Miles

Charles Dalles Miles, born in Ohio, July 1852, is the father of Frank O. Miles, and grandfather of Mary Miles, who is the wife of Robert (Bob) Van Huss.

Charles, like the majority of males in the United States in the second half of the 19th century, was a farmer. He first tried his luck in the Dakota territory around 1890, then, sometime later, moved on to Oklahoma, first near Stillwater and Payne County, then near Morrison, Autry Township, Noble County. He then moved to Arkansas before returning to Oklahoma, to be near his daughter Hattie. He and his wife Fannie May (Brewster) Miles are buried in the nearby Morrison cemetery.


Little is known of Charles other than the few facts that can be gleaned from the four US census records where his name appears. These records are from the following decades: 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 (the records of 1890 were destroyed in a fire). Even though Fannie died in 1935 and Charles in 1943, I have found no other records for them.

1880

The census record of 1880 reveals that Charles, then aged 27 and his wife, Fannie M., 5 years his junior, were living in the territory of Dakota. Statehood would not come until 1889. The census records the location as Virginia Township, Union County. The location is just north of Sioux City, Iowa and near the present town of  Hawarden, South Dakota. See Map. Charles and Fannie had, at the time, one daughter, Hattie F., who was then only one year old. Charles farmed while Fannie kept the house.

The other few tantalizing facts revealed by the census include Charles' place of birth, Ohio, and those of his father and mother, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Fannie's place of birth was Kansas, and those of her father and mother, both of New York.

US Census 1880 for Frank and Fannie Miles

The young Miles family had to endure the Hard Winter of 1880-1881. Snow fell in October and over the succeeding months, accumulated to over ten feet. When  a late spring finally arrived, the snows melted turning the flat prairie into a giant lake.

There are too many coincidence of name to mention them all. But, it seems appropriate to say a little about General Nelson Miles. As Nelson Miles was originally from Massachusettes, it is unlikely that there is any direct family connection.

Following General Armstrong Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, General Nelson Miles was dispatched to track down Sitting Bull. The cause of all the trouble was the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of the Dakota territory. The Sioux naturally resisted the white man's incursions and war followed. The area where Charles and Fannie settled was the historic home of the Yankton Sioux.


1900

The census of 1900 places the family in Stillwater, Okalahoma, in Payne County. Frank and Fannie are now 47 and 42 years old, and one son, Frank O. Miles, age 16, born in Iowa, lives with them. (Note, the census record incorrectly lists Charles' father as being born in Ohio.)  Eleven year old Hattie is missing from the census. Son, Charles is helping on the farm. Charles owns his farm, but it is mortgaged to the bank.

US Census 1900, Frank and Fannie Miles

1910

Ten years later, when the census of 1910 is taken, the Miles family has moved to Noble County and Autry Township. Charles and Fannie are now aged 52 and 47; and, the household has again changed. Both children, Hattie and Frank are now gone. But there is the mysterious appearance of four new individuals. These are daughter, Elsie M. Duree, age 28, divorced;  granddaughters Alpha A. and Hattie O., ages 7 and 5, and a hired-man, Sirie Crits, age 21.

Now I said that both Hattie and Frank had left the household, but then, who is Elsie M. Duree?  And how is it that the 1910 census says that Charles and Fannie are only 5 years older than the 1900 census? Shouldn't they be 57 and 47, respectively?

One has to be mindful that census recorders can err. Then too, we all like to lie about our age, and shaving five years off is not an uncommon thing.

The bigger mystery for me is, "Who is Elsie M. Duree?"

Hattie, Charles and Fannie's daughter, was 31 years old in 1910. She appears on another 1910 census record, and married to Allison (A) A. Hileman. Hattie died and was buried in the Morrison cemetery in Oklahoma alongside her husband.

[Charles Dallas Miles and Frances May Miles are also buried in the Morrison cemetery.]

Could it be that Elsie is a third child?

The 1910 census records that Fannie had four children, three of whom were living at the time the 1910 census was taken. Don't know, but this is the first and last time Elsie's name appears. Need more research.

US Census 1910, Frank and Fannie Miles

1920

By 1920, Charles and Fannie, now living alone and listed at the ages of  66 and 62,  have moved on to Esculapia Township, Benton County, Arkansas. Charles is still farming.

US Census 1920, Charles and Fannie Miles

1940

The 1940 census records that Charles Miles, age 86, was living with his daughter Hattie, age 61, and her husband A.A. Hileman in Otoe, Pawnee County, Oklahoma. [I haven't seen the record.] The reference to Otoe, an Indian tribe related to the Sioux, fuels the family lore that the Miles family is part Indian.

Morrison Cemetery

The Morrison cemetery records Fannies's death as 1935 and Charles in 1943.

Hattie Frances Hileman

On the sixth day of Spring, 2012, I visited, on a lark, the cemetery in Morrison, Oklahoma. There is little left of Morrison. The town has been reduced to a train stop and a bank. The farms surrounding Morrison use nearby Perry or Pawnee, Oklahoma for groceries and other needs.

Although I did not know it at the time, my wife's maternal great grandparents Charles Dallas Miles and Fannie Webster Miles are buried in the Morrison cemetery. Charles and Fannie were married in Sioux City, Iowa, homesteaded in Union County, South Dakota, and migrated to Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1900. A year later they moved to a farm near Morrison, Oklahoma.

Also buried in the Morrison cemetery is Hattie Frances (Miles) Hileman, daughter of Charles and Fannie, and sister to Frank Miles. I did find Hattie's marker, but I did not find those of Charles and Fannie.

Morrison Cemetery

From the records of Morrison Cemetery, Morrison, Oklahoma. See also, USGWARArchives.

Charles Dallas Miles, born 11 Jul 1854, died 21 Feb 1943, H. of Fannie Webster Miles Fannie, born May 1964 [sic, Note. the census records state that Fannie was one year younger than Charles, so, presumably, the date should be 1855 or 1856.], died 1935, W. of Charles

Hattie Frances Hileman, born 19 Jul 1878, died 12 Dec 1952 , wife of A. A. Hileman.

Morrison Cemetery, Noble County, Oklahoma

Hattie was the daughter of Charles and Fannie Miles. She was born in South Dakota. She appears in the Census of 1880, Union County, South Dakota. Her younger brother Frank O. Miles was born six years later in 1884.  By the time of the Census of 1900, Payne County, Oklahoma, Hattie was 22 and presumably married, as she was not living at home.

See article on Frank O. Miles.

Frank O. Miles migrated from Oklahoma to the oil fields near El Dorado around 1918. He then went off to Algeria before returning to El Dorado to raise his family. The family consisted of Charles (Charlie Jr.), who was born in Algeria, and later, two daughters Mary and Joan, who were both born in El Dorado. Mary would marry Robert Van Huss and they would have five children, the oldest of which, Robin, is my wife.

I happened to be traveling south this Spring (March 2012) and decided to take the short detour off of I-35 to Perry, Oklahoma. Perry is the county seat for Noble County and, so, is the depository for all land deeds in the county. I was hoping to get lucky and find the transfer of title to Charles Miles, father of Frank.

I didn't, but that wasn't the fault of the court records. From a History of Noble County, I found a reference to Hattie Frances Hileman, born South Dakota, daughter of Charles Miles. Her older brother was Frank O. Miles. She had married A. A. Hileman and their grandson Eugene Webb was deserving of a short bio in the History of Noble County. He was a farmer and rancher of note.

The bio quoted Hattie as relating that her grandfather lived on a ranch two miles east of Morrison, Oklahoma. The only other note was that her grandfather Charles had hand dug a well that was still in use in 1986.

I drove to Morrison. It is 15 miles due east of Perry and right off of the Tulsa Turnpike. Like so many small towns, its glory has long since faded. One mile to the east, just past the Long Branch Creek bridge is the turn off to the cemetery where Hattie is buried. I found the markers for Hattie, but did not see the markers for Charles and Fannie.

The countryside is beautiful in the Spring. The grass has sprouted green, the cattle graze outside the cemetery, and a pond shimmers in the distance. It is a good place to rest.

And, by the way, two miles east of Morrison puts you in Pawnee County. So, that is why Noble County had no land records.