James Milnor (June 20, 1773 Philadelphia – April 8, 1845 Manhattan, New York) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania for two years (1811–1813), a lawyer for 16 years (1794 to 1810), and an Episcopal priest for years (from mid-1814 to 1845) and was rector of St. George's Episcopal Church (Manhattan) in New York City.
Education and career
Milnor attended public grammar school in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, but initially did not graduate. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1794 and commenced practice in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He moved to Philadelphia in 1797 and continued the practice of his profession. He was a member of the Philadelphia 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, the University of Pennsylvania conferred on Milnor the degree of Doctor of Divinity.University of Pennsylvania, Franklin Gazette (historic Philadelphia newspaper), Vol III, Issue 452, pg. 2, August 9, 1989 Milnor had begun studying divinity with Bishop William White while in Washington, D.C.A memoir of the life of James Milnor, D.D. : late Rector of St. George's Church, New York, by John Seely Stone, American Tract Society (1848)
In October 1810, Milnor, a Federalist, was elected to represent the First Congressional District of Pennsylvania, in the Twelfth Congress. After his time in Congress, he studied theology and was ordained as a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1814 he was appointed assistant minister of St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia and in 1816, he was elected rector of St. George's Episcopal Church (Manhattan) in New York City, a capacity he served in until his death in New York City in 1845.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. 4 Obituary: Rev. James Milnor, Schenectady NY Cabinet (historic newspaper), April 14, 1845, col. 4 Among his parishioners was Mary Simpson, an African-American grocer who lived on John Street. Milnor was interred in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.
Affiliations In 1798, Milnor had been an officer of Pennsylvania Society, which at the time, was waging a movement to abolish slavery.Slavery: Society of Friends, Meeting House, Universal Gazette (historical Philadelphia newspaper), Vol. I, Issue IX, pg 3, January 11, 1798
Milnor was a freemason and served as grand master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania from 1806 to 1813.
In 1829 he began his tenure as President of the New York Institution for the Deaf.
Family James Milnor, son of William Milnor Sr and Anna Breintnall of Philadelphia, was married, on 28 February 1799, to Eleanor Pawling, daughter of Henry Pawling and Rebecca Bull. James Milnor was the brother of William Milnor Jr, also a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia.
References General references
Inline citations
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.