The Henry Numbering system was used by Floyd R. Mason in his seminal 1993 work on the Miller family, The Michael Miller and Susan Bechtol Family Record, 1993. This system is also updated and used in the Miller Family Outline composed by descendants of the Lemuel Miller & Carrie Caricofe line, and the language here is taken from the note in this work and altered only to preserve the anonymity of currently living family members.

The digits of the number indicate the birth order of the descendant’s line. For example, Lemuel David Miller is number 16534111. Taking the last 4 digits in reverse order, he is the first child of Abraham Martin Miller, who was the first child of John A. Miller, who was the first child of Samuel Miller, who was the fourth Child of Martin Miller, etc. The Mason book traces this line back to Hans Johann Michael Miller, born October 5, 1692, and who lived in Switzerland and Germany [Palatinate] before coming to America in 1727.

We now know, however, that this number system has errors in two locations:

  1. Johann Michael Miller (Jr.) was not the first born of his generation, merely the only one to survive to adulthood. He was, in actuality, the fifth born to his parents.
  2. Jacob Miller (“of 1748”) was not the fifth born, but the first born of his generation.

The revised numbering Johann Michael Miller, Jr. through Lemuel David Miller would thus be: 56134111.

Sources:

  1. Mason, Floyd R., The Michael Miller and Susan Bechtol Family Record, 1993.
  2. Beam, L.; Miller, M. D.; Miller, D. L., “Miller Family Outline”, Unpublished. 2/1993; Rev. 6/2007, 6/2008; Rev. 6/2018.