Who is Sarah Cobun?

When I first started doing family history research, around 2012, one name stuck out as I was searching through some census records. Sarah Cobun. I had no idea at the time why the name stuck out to me. I had no knowledge of any Cobuns in my family tree, but I felt strongly that she was part of my family. I honestly suspected that she would end up being the spouse of a distant cousin or some great uncle, but the reality was much more interesting.

Fast forward to 2015. I had taken a break from my genealogy research for over a year and decided one day that I needed to get back into it.

Back in 2012, I reached a dead end. Owen Dunn McMillen, my 3rd great grandfather died in Morgantown West Virginia. I found at the time an obituary for him on findagrave.com that stated the following:

Owen Dunn McMillen, son of James and Nancy McMillen was born April 8, 1856, died January 26, 1928, aged 71 years, 9 months and 18 days. He died at the Allegheny General hospital at Pittsburgh. He was born and reared close to Masontown where he spent the most of his life.

He was united in marriage to Sarah Virginia Shaffer in October 1879. To this union was born eleven children, Ross, Clyde, Harvey, Marshall, Lonnie, Herbert and Mrs. Wade Taylor, all living in the nearby vicinity; Vinton N. McMillen, and three infant children preceeded him to his grave several years ago. One brother, Jonah N. McMillen, of Morgantown, survives him. He was a member of the I.O.O.F. lodge of Masontown and a well honored and respected citizen. He leaves 23 grandchildren to mourn their loss. 

However, despite my best attempts, I could NOT find Nancy and James McMillen. West Virginia kept very good records AND has been wonderful about getting those records online for genealogical research. But that didn't matter. I couldn't find them anywhere. At least, not until 2015.

As I was getting back into my research, I found "Owen D. McMillin" in the 1870 census and in the 1860 census, born the same year as on the obituary, with the same brother, Jonah N, in the family. However, the parents were listed as James and Joanna, not James and Nancy. Go figure.  I at least made the connection and was very excited.

I couldn't find any more linking records to figure out who James' parents were. That's when I turned to Google Books.

I've used Google Books to find some really cool stuff before about my ancestors.  From published genealogies to supreme court cases, there are some surprising stories that you can find in Google Books and this was no exception.

In A History of Preston County, West Virginia Part 2, by Owen Frederic Morton, I found a very detailed account of the McMillens who settled there, including this very interesting line:

...William McMillen youngest son of Robert married Sarah Cobun and settled on the McMillen farm one mile north of Masontown where he reared a family and died about fifty years of age.

I was stunned, could James McMillen's mother be Sarah Cobun? The same name that had stuck in my head three years ago? Unfortunately, the book was silent on the issue. I had a strong hunch, that William and Sarah had more than one child, but I had no immediate evidence to back it up.

That's when Ancestry.com came in handy. Using their record hints, I can view the genealogical trees that others have put together and compare. They aren't always very accurate, and sometimes downright goofy, but it is a place to help validate.

Sure enough, James C McMillen was listed on someone else's family tree as a son of William McMillen and Sarah Cobun. This was almost enough to convince me that the connection was real, but to seal the deal, I found the birth certificate of one of James' sons which listed his full name as James Coburn McMillen. James' middle name was his mother's maiden name, which was a fairly common practice to have at least one child bearing the mother's maiden name.

I knew very clearly then, that Sarah Cobun, wasn't just some random cousin, or great aunt, she was my 5th great grandmother. Amazing!