Alfred Milnes
Encyclopedia
Alfred Milnes was a politician from the U.S. state
of Michigan
.
, England
. His parents, Henry and Mary Ann (née Amyss) Milnes joined the LDS Church and left England with their family in 1854. After a sixty day voyage from Liverpool
, they arrived in New Orleans
, from which they proceeded by boat to St. Louis
and then to Kansas City
. There, Henry bought a wagon and proceeded overland to Salt Lake City
, via Fort Kearny
, Fort Laramie, and Fort Bridger
. After sixteen weeks, they reached their destination on September 25, 1854. Two years later, Mary Ann died and Henry moved with the family to Springville, Utah
, and remained there until May 1859. Henry had become disenchanted with the Mormons and sold his property at a great loss in order to leave. They stayed in Newton, Iowa
, for the winter of 1859-1860, and in 1861 arrived in Coldwater, Michigan
, after traveling the entire distance by oxen-drawn wagon. He opened a small store and became a successful merchant.
Alfred Milnes was age seventeen upon arriving in Coldwater. He had attended the common schools in Salt Lake City and Newton. In Coldwater, he worked as he was able to during the summer and attended school in the winter.
With the outbreak of the Civil War
, Milnes enlisted as a private in Company C, Seventeenth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, June 30, 1862. The forces mustered at Detroit
, and left the state on August 27, 1862, going straight to Washington, D.C.
. On September 14, he saw action in the Battle of South Mountain
in Maryland
. Three days later, the regiment was in the Battle of Antietam
, where they lost half their men. Their next engagement was the Battle of Fredericksburg
, after which they were joined with the 9th Army Corps
under the overall command of General Ambrose Burnside
, and engaged in the pursuit of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan
to put an end to Morgan's Raid
. After this, his regiment was positioned to serve as rearguard against attack by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston
at the Siege of Vicksburg. The regiment then proceeded to Jackson, Mississippi
. The regiment then went to Kentucky and into east Tennessee, where it saw action in the Battle of Campbell's Station
and the Siege of Knoxville. They then moved to Annapolis, Maryland
, where they were attached to the Army of the Potomac
. The 17th regiment saw heavy losses in the Battle of the Wilderness
, with only 35 of the original 225 remaining. The regiment was discontinued as a military unit and the survivors were taken to the headquarters of General Orlando B. Willcox
, where they served guard duty until the end of the war.
After the war, Milnes was 21 years old when he returned to Coldwater. He worked as a clerk in his father's business until 1871, when he formed a mercantile partnership called "Mines & Vanderhoof". The partnership prospered for ten years, after which Milnes sold hist interest and started his own business. On January 6, 1868, Milnes married Lucina E. Hull, the younger child of Cyrus and Eunice (Allen) Hull, who were owned a farm in Quincy
. Alfred and Lucina had three children: Alfred Cyrus, born December 12, 1868 and died August 12, 1882; Maude L., born December 18, 1871; and Mabel F., born December 4, 1879.
, 1888-1890. He was elected the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
in 1894 and served under Governor
John T. Rich until his resignation June 1, 1895.
Milnes was chosen from a special election in April 1895 as a Republican
from Michigan's 3rd congressional district
to the 54th Congress
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Julius C. Burrows
. Milnes served from December 2, 1895, to March 3, 1897. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress and was appointed postmaster of Coldwater in 1898 and served until 1902. He was also a delegate to the Michigan constitutional convention of 1907 and 1908.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Early life
Milnes was born in Bradford, YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His parents, Henry and Mary Ann (née Amyss) Milnes joined the LDS Church and left England with their family in 1854. After a sixty day voyage from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, they arrived in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, from which they proceeded by boat to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
and then to Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. There, Henry bought a wagon and proceeded overland to Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, via Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny
Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort .-Origins and various missions of the...
, Fort Laramie, and Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
. After sixteen weeks, they reached their destination on September 25, 1854. Two years later, Mary Ann died and Henry moved with the family to Springville, Utah
Springville, Utah
Springville is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 20,424 at the 2000 census, while the 2008 estimates placed it at 28,520. Just minutes south of Provo, Springville is a bedroom community for...
, and remained there until May 1859. Henry had become disenchanted with the Mormons and sold his property at a great loss in order to leave. They stayed in Newton, Iowa
Newton, Iowa
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Jasper County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,254. It is the home of Maytag Dairy Farms and was formerly home to the Maytag Corporation's corporate headquarters until the Whirlpool Corporation acquired it in 2006...
, for the winter of 1859-1860, and in 1861 arrived in Coldwater, Michigan
Coldwater, Michigan
Coldwater is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County....
, after traveling the entire distance by oxen-drawn wagon. He opened a small store and became a successful merchant.
Alfred Milnes was age seventeen upon arriving in Coldwater. He had attended the common schools in Salt Lake City and Newton. In Coldwater, he worked as he was able to during the summer and attended school in the winter.
With the outbreak of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Milnes enlisted as a private in Company C, Seventeenth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, June 30, 1862. The forces mustered at Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, and left the state on August 27, 1862, going straight to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. On September 14, he saw action in the Battle of South Mountain
Battle of South Mountain
The Battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B...
in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. Three days later, the regiment was in the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
, where they lost half their men. Their next engagement was the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
, after which they were joined with the 9th Army Corps
IX Corps (ACW)
IX Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War that distinguished itself in combat in multiple theaters: the Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi.-Formation, Second Bull Run, and Antietam:...
under the overall command of General Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...
, and engaged in the pursuit of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan
John Hunt Morgan
John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate general and cavalry officer in the American Civil War.Morgan is best known for Morgan's Raid when, in 1863, he and his men rode over 1,000 miles covering a region from Tennessee, up through Kentucky, into Indiana and on to southern Ohio...
to put an end to Morgan's Raid
Morgan's Raid
Morgan's Raid was a highly publicized incursion by Confederate cavalry into the Northern states of Indiana and Ohio during the American Civil War. The raid took place from June 11–July 26, 1863, and is named for the commander of the Confederates, Brig. Gen...
. After this, his regiment was positioned to serve as rearguard against attack by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
at the Siege of Vicksburg. The regiment then proceeded to Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
. The regiment then went to Kentucky and into east Tennessee, where it saw action in the Battle of Campbell's Station
Battle of Campbell's Station
The Battle of Campbell's Station was a battle of the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War, occurring on November 16, 1863, at Campbell's Station, , Knox County, Tennessee....
and the Siege of Knoxville. They then moved to Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, where they were attached to the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
. The 17th regiment saw heavy losses in the Battle of the Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
, with only 35 of the original 225 remaining. The regiment was discontinued as a military unit and the survivors were taken to the headquarters of General Orlando B. Willcox
Orlando B. Willcox
Orlando Bolivar Willcox was an American soldier who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, where they served guard duty until the end of the war.
After the war, Milnes was 21 years old when he returned to Coldwater. He worked as a clerk in his father's business until 1871, when he formed a mercantile partnership called "Mines & Vanderhoof". The partnership prospered for ten years, after which Milnes sold hist interest and started his own business. On January 6, 1868, Milnes married Lucina E. Hull, the younger child of Cyrus and Eunice (Allen) Hull, who were owned a farm in Quincy
Quincy, Michigan
Quincy is a village in Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,701 at the 2000 census.The village is located within Quincy Township on U.S. Highway 12. Note: there is also another Quincy Township in Houghton County.-Geography:...
. Alfred and Lucina had three children: Alfred Cyrus, born December 12, 1868 and died August 12, 1882; Maude L., born December 18, 1871; and Mabel F., born December 4, 1879.
Politics
Milnes became a member of the board of aldermen of Coldwater in 1876 and 1877. He was elected mayor of Coldwater in 1885 and 1886 was a member of the Michigan SenateMichigan Senate
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....
, 1888-1890. He was elected the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
The Lieutenant Governor of Michigan is the second-ranking official in U.S. state of Michigan, behind the governor, and one of four great offices of state...
in 1894 and served under Governor
Governor of Michigan
The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. State of Michigan. The current Governor is Rick Snyder, a member of the Republican Party.-Gubernatorial elections and term of office:...
John T. Rich until his resignation June 1, 1895.
Milnes was chosen from a special election in April 1895 as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from Michigan's 3rd congressional district
Michigan's 3rd congressional district
Michigan's 3rd congressional district is a United States Congressional district in Western Michigan. It consists of the counties of Barry, Ionia, and all except the northwest portion of Kent. The district is currently represented by Republican Justin Amash, the second youngest member of the house...
to the 54th Congress
54th United States Congress
- House of Representatives :-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Adlai E. Stevenson * President pro tempore: William P. Frye - Majority leadership :* Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman- Minority leadership :...
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Julius C. Burrows
Julius C. Burrows
Julius Caesar Burrows was a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan.-Early life and education:...
. Milnes served from December 2, 1895, to March 3, 1897. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress and was appointed postmaster of Coldwater in 1898 and served until 1902. He was also a delegate to the Michigan constitutional convention of 1907 and 1908.