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John Derek Miller (Meller)

My 12x Great Grandfather Sir John Derek Miller II (1543–1592) : Honorary Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I and Ancestral link to American Statesmen and Two U.S. Presidents

About the blog

Well hello there!

I’m your host, a U.S. History teacher who traded the sun-drenched Caribbean for…well, whatever delightful meteorological surprise New York has in store today. Yes, I teach the American Revolution by day and chase ancestral ghosts by night (and on weekends, and during the summer holidays… it’s a full-time haunting).

You’d think growing up in the Caribbean, my history lessons would have focused solely on pirates and rum—and don’t get me wrong, those are stellar topics—but my passion lies in untangling the fascinating, messy, and surprisingly interconnected tapestry of American history, all viewed through a unique, island-infused lens.

I’m slightly obsessed with dusty archives, census records, and the thrill of finding a distant cousin I didn’t know I had. This blog is where I share my adventures in history and genealogy, proving that the past isn’t just a list of dates to memorize for a test; it’s a wild, often hilarious, story waiting to be told.

Think of this as history class, but with better anecdotes and significantly fewer pop quizzes.

Grab a coffee (or a rum punch, no judgment here), settle in, and let’s go digging into the past. We might just find some skeletons in the closet… or at least a really interesting old land deed.

Cheers to the past!

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John Derek Miller (Meller)

My 12x Great Grandfather Sir John Derek Miller II (1543–1592) : Honorary Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I and Ancestral link to American Statesmen and Two U.S. Presidents