Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/416

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MILTON


MINOR


member of the Sous of the American Revolution. He wiis married, Nov. 23. 1893, to Sarah Smith Baker.

MILTON, William Henry, jurist, was born at Milton Plantation, Louisville, Ga., Dec. 4, 1829; son of Gov. John (q.v.) and Susan Amanda (Cobb) Milton. He attended a Catholic school in Mobile and was graduated at the University of Georgia in 1849. He was married, Dec. 8, 1857, to Lucy Hall Hearn. He served in the Confede- rate army first as private, then as adjutant-gen- eral of Florida, 1861 ; as captain of a cavalry corps in 1862, and as major of cavalry, 1863-65. He practised law in Marianna, Fla., after 1865 ; was chairman of the Democratic county executive committee, a member of the state executive com- tnittee, and of the first congressional district com- mittee. He was judge of probate, 1874-76 ; state attorney of Florida, 1877-98 ; representative in the state legislature, 1881-83, and a member of the constitutional convention of 1885. He died ill Marianna, Fla., Aug. 6, 1900.

MINER, Alonzo Ames, educator and clergy- man, wiis lK)rn in Lempster, N.H., Aug. 17, 1814; son of Benajah Ames and Amanda (Carey) Miner, grandson of Charles Miner, and a descendant of Thomas Miner, of England, who came to Boston

with Elder Winthrop in 1630, and settled in Connecticut in 16- 43. Alonzo attended and taught the pub- lic school, was associ- ate principal of the academy at Caven- dish, Vt., 1834-35, and principal of the scientific and military school at Unity, N.H., 1835-39. He was married, Aug. 24, 1836, to Maria S., daughter of Capt. Edmund and Sarah (Bailey) Perley of Lempster, N.H. He was received into the fellowship of the Universal- is! church in June, 18118, was ordained in June, 1839, and was pastor at Methuen, Mass., 1839-42 ; at Lowell. Mass., 1842-48 ; colleague of the Rev. Hosea Ballou at Boston, Mass., succeeding E. H. Chapin, and full pastor. 1852-95. He was president of Tufts college and professor of ethics and political economy, 1862-75. He found the trea.sury empty when he entered upon his duties, but when he resigned the assets of the college wore nearly $1,000,000. He was the Fourth of July niunicipnl orator in 1855 : chaplain of the Massachusetts senate in 1864. and preacher of the last election sermon before the general court in


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1884. He was a member of the state board of education, 1869-93 ; the projector of the Univer- salist publishing house and president of its board of trustees ; chairman of the executive commit- tee of Tufts college and of the American Peace society which he represented at the International Peace congress at Paris in 1889. He was a mem- ber of the American Academy of Arts and Sci- ences, and of the National Reform association. He was Prohibition candidate for governor of Mas- sachusetts, 1878, and for mayor of Boston, 1893 ; president of the Massachusetts Temi)erance alliance, and an overseer of Harvard college, 1861-67. In 1891 he gave $40,000 to Tufts college to build Miner Theological Hall. He received the honorary degree A.M. from Tufts in 1861 ; S.T.D. from Harvard in 1863, and LL.D. from Tufts in 1875. He edited The Star of Bethleliem, Lowell, Mass., and is the author of: Bible Exercises (1854 and 1884); and Old Forts Taken (1878 and 1885). He died in Boston, Mass., June 14, 1895.

MINER, Charles, representative, was born in Norwich, Conn., Feb. 1, 1780 ; son of Seth and Anna (Charlton) Miner ; grandson of Hugh Miner, and a descendant of Thomas Miner the emigrant, 1630. Seth Miner was a printer ; a commissioned officer in the Connecticut militia, and a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Charles attended school in Norwich, served part of an apprentice- ship as a printer in New London, Conn., and in 1799 removed to the Wyoming Valley to take charge of his father's lands held under the Con- necticut claim. He removed to Wilkesbarre, Pa., in 1802, and joined his brother Asher in publish- ing the Luzerne County Federalist, afterward The Gleaner, establislied in 1801. In 1804 he l)e- came sole proprietor. He represented Luzerne county in the Pennsylvania legislature in 1807-08. He was assistant editor of the Political and Com- mercial Register of Philadelphia for a time, and removed to West Chester, Pa., in 1816, where he established the Village Record, which he edited for several years. He was a Federalist repre- sentative in the 19th and 20th congresses, 1825- 29, and declined re-election. While in congress he opposed slavery, took an active interest in agriculture, and in silk culture, and he was the author of the report submitted by the chairman of the committee on agriculture. In 1834 he sold his paper and returned to Wilkesbarre, Pa. His wife was Letitia, daughter of Joseph Wright. He is the author of : History of Wyoming (1845); Essays from the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe, and the ballad " James Bird." He died at Wilkesbarre, Pa., Oct. 26. 1865.

MINOR, Benjamin Blake, educator, was born at Tappahannock, Essex county, Va., Oct. 21, 1818; son of Dr. Hubbard Taylor and Jane (Blake) Minor, grandson of Col. Thomas and Elizabeth