User:William Milam

The author is a retired physician and a descendant of Thomas Mylam (earliest record 1738). He became interested in researching the life and times of the early Milams in Virginia after moving to the state. His sister, Carol Milam–Ogden, was interested in the family’s genealogy for more than 25 years and successfully completed the family tree back to this Thomas Mylam of Orange County. She learned that they were descendants of his youngest son, Rush, who had fought in the Revolutionary War.

After moving to Virginia, the author gathered documents for his daughters to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. In the process, he discovered the extensive resources of the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. On his first visit to the Records Center of the Library he had a unique experience: having requested the earliest records of Bedford County (1754), the very first folder he examined contained a solitary scrap of paper (image) with words "John Milam Constable....". On another visit to the Records Center, he had the good fortune to meet Robert Vernon who had prepared a map of the earliest land grants along the Robinson River in present day Madison County. Bob is a computer scientist, historian, cartographer and a true Renaissance man. He began his work on these land grants and plats in the early 1990s and first published his findings in How Land was Granted in Colonial Virginia. [21] Bob's extensive knowledge of these grants and the genealogy of these early families helped him immensely and the author is indebted to him.

The author is most interested in what life was like for the early Milams - to add flesh and sinew to the dates and places. His primary technique is to read microfilm of county court records and to search for orignal records in the Library's Record Center which have not been put on microfilm. His Website is his attempt to learn about the earliest Milams' life experiences and to place their lives in historical and cultural context. http://www.milaminvirginia.com/default.html