American politician
James Milnor (June 20, 1773Philadelphia – April 8, 1845Manhattan, New York ) was a member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania for two years (1811–1813), a lawyer for 16 years (1794 to 1810), and an Episcopal priest for29+ 1 ⁄2 years (from mid-1814 to 1845).
Education and career [ edit ] Milnor attended public grammar school inPhiladelphia and theUniversity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, but initially did not graduate. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1794 and commenced practice inNorristown, Pennsylvania . He moved to Philadelphia in 1797 and continued the practice of his profession. He was a member of thePhiladelphia Common Council in 1800, a member of the Select Council from 1805 to 1810 and served as president in 1808 and 1809. On July 29, 1819, theUniversity of Pennsylvania conferred on Milnor the degree ofDoctor of Divinity .[ 1] Bishop William White while inWashington, D.C. [ 2]
In October 1810, Milnor, aFederalist , was elected to represent the First Congressional District of Pennsylvania, in theTwelfth Congress . After his time in Congress, he studiedtheology and was ordained as a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1814 he was appointed assistant minister ofSt. Peter's Church inPhiladelphia and in 1816, he was elected rector ofSt. George's Chapel inNew York City , a capacity he served in until his death inNew York City in 1845.[ 3] [ 4] Mary Simpson , an African-American grocer who lived on John Street. Milnor wasinterred inGreenwood Cemetery ,Brooklyn, New York .
In 1798, Milnor had been an officer ofPennsylvania Society , which at the time, was waging a movement to abolish slavery.[ 5]
Milnor was a freemason and served asgrand master of theGrand Lodge of Pennsylvania from 1806 to 1813.[ 6]
In 1829 he began his tenure as President of theNew York Institution for the Deaf .[ 7]
James Milnor was married, on 28 February 1799, to Eleanor Pawling, daughter of Henry Pawling and Rebecca Bull.[ 8] William Milnor , also a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
General references
Biography at www.freemason.com The Political Graveyard Documents by and about James Milnor fromProject Canterbury Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, six volumes (Milnor is in vol. 4), edited byJames Grant Wilson &John Fiske , New York:D. Appleton & Company , 1888–1889OCLC 420563 Biographical Directory of the American Congress , 1774–1971, The Continental Congress (September 5, 1774 to October 21, 1788), and the Congress of the United States (from the first through the ninety- first Congress March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1971, inclusive),U.S. Government Printing Office (1971)OCLC 2779857 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress , 1774-1989. The Continental Congress, September 5, 1774 to October 21, 1788 and the Congress of the United States from the first through the one hundredth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1989, inclusive. Bicentennial Edition,U.S. Government Printing Office (1989)OCLC 18497652 United States Congress."James Milnor (id: M000785)" .Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography ,James T. White & Co. (1898)The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, 10 volumes, edited byRossiter Johnson , Boston: The Biographical Society (1904)OCLC 441092 Who Was Who in America , A Component Volume of Who's Who in American History, Historical Volume, 1607–1896,Marquis Who's Who (1967)OCLC 22665911 A Critical Dictionary of English Literature, three volumes, bySamuel Austin Allibone , Philadelphia:J. B. Lippincott & Co. (1858–1871)OCLC 325569806 Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States, During its First Century; From Original and Official Sources, byCharles Lanman (1819–1895), Washington, D.C.: James Anglim (1876)OCLC 437825019 Dictionary of American Biography, by Francis S. Drake. Boston:James R. Osgood & Co. (1872)OCLC 891866 Inline citations
^ University of Pennsylvania, Franklin Gazette (historic Philadelphia newspaper), Vol III, Issue 452, pg. 2, August 9, 1989^ A memoir of the life of James Milnor, D.D. : late Rector of St. George's Church, New York ,American Tract Society (1848)OCLC 3859645 ^ Obituary:Died (Rev. James Milnor,D.D. ), New-York Spectator (historical newspaper, not connected with Columbia University's paper by the same name), Vol. XLVIII (48), April 12, 1845, pg. 4OCLC 192107445 ^ Obituary:Rev. James Milnor , Schenectady NY Cabinet (historic newspaper), April 14, 1845, col. 4 OCLC 9954193 ^ Slavery: Society of Friends, Meeting House , Universal Gazette (historical Philadelphia newspaper), Vol. I, Issue IX, pg 3, January 11, 1798^ "Past Grand Masters" .Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania . December 11, 2017. Archived fromthe original on January 3, 2018. RetrievedDecember 31, 2017 .^ Assembly, New York (State) Legislature (1844).Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York ^ Leach, Josiah Granville (March 1918). "Some Account of the Pawling Family of New York and Pennsylvania".Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania .VII (1):21– 22. Biographical note
Many biographical sources wrongly state that Milnor died in 1844, an error that has been widely replicated. With the advent of digitization of historical newspapers, we now know that he died on the same date, but in 1845.
International National People Other
