The formal name of the Martin Reunion is Martin Luther Miller Historical Society, which is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The program consists of an evening meeting that convenes at 6 pm at the Golden Corral Buffet on Clinton Highway at Knoxville. The Saturday, July 21, 2018 annual meeting and luncheon takes place at the Sharps Chapel Senior Center beginning at 11 am. Local attendees are asked to bring a covered dish. Plates, cups, napkins, flatware and drinks will be provided. This group of descendants of Martin Luther Miller, extended family and friends gather for the opportunity to meet other descendants and to share materials and research until about 4 pm.

Glen Miller will be coming from Colorado. He knows Norris Lake like the back of his hand; and, assuming there are enough people who want to make the trip, he will pilot a pontoon boat down the lake to Martin’s home site and point out other places of interest and Miller family significance. Generally, there are Miller kin from Washington State, California and places in between.

I’ll be there to sign copies of my new book, More Tales from the Hills and Hollows of East Tennessee.

For those of you that haven’t heard the story:

MARTIN LUTHER MILLER was born 1758 in Heidelberg, Germany, and died August 29, 1838 in Sharp's Chapel, Claiborne Co., TN. He married (1) SARAH "SALLIE" ANN RITCHIE Before 1778. He married (2) ELIZABETH "BETTY" GIDDENS February 05, 1798 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, daughter of EDWARD GIDDENS and ELIZABETH _____..

Martin emigrated with his parents from Heidelberg, Germany sometime before the Revolutionary War. They settled on the Haws River in Alamance County. [Orange County], North Carolina near Mebane. Martin Miller served in the Revolutionary War. He was a resident of Granville Co., NC when he enlisted on December 22, 1776. He served as a private and musician, was in Capt. Cook's company of the Ninth North Carolina Regiment. He was engaged at the battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania, under Col. Clark and Captain Alexander Mebane. He was stationed under Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge on the River Schuylkill. He was discharged in 1780. In 1807 for his War services, he received a Land Bounty from North Carolina, comprising a large section of land along Big Hunting Creek and extending into Sharps Chapel (Tennessee). He built his home near the creek which was once called Harbisons Cross Road. In 1831, he was given a pension of $80 in Claiborne Co., TN. In 1850, at the age of 70, his widow Elizabeth received a pension. After the death of his first wife Sallie, Martin had moved to Sharps Chapel, Claiborne Co., Tennessee. His land is now under water a part of Norris Reservoir (TVA). All four of the children from first wife ended up living in Putnam Co., Indiana. Martin's grave and marker were relocated by TVA to Skaggs Cemetery in Maynardville, TN.