Historic cabin was built after 1835

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To the editor:

As someone who has long studied and written about historic DeKalb County architecture, I was pleased to learn early last month that the William Miller log cabin would be finding a new home just a few miles from where it was originally built. The 1833 date attributed to the structure is in error, however.

The first permanent white settler in DeKalb County was John Sebree, in Squaw Grove Township near present-day Hinckley, in the fall of 1834. The Millers arrived in Kingston Township in the spring of 1835.

Henry L. Boies, in his 1868 “History of DeKalb County, Illinois,” indicated that 1835 was indeed when the Millers settled here. Although William Miller died in 1888, his biographical sketch in 1907’s “Past And Present of DeKalb County, Illinois” also included the year of his arrival as 1835. His daughter – Mrs. Isaac Ellwood – may well have provided the information contained in that history.

While the Nelsons have lived on and managed the Miller Farm for nearly 100 years, actual ownership of the property has been held continuously by the Miller, Ellwood and Towle families for five generations and 175 years.

Stephen J. Bigolin
DeKalb