John Turner Milner (1826 - 1898)

Born 29 Sep 1826 in Hannel, Pike, Georgia, United States

Ancestors

Died 18 Aug 1898 at age 71 in Greenville, Butler, Alabama, United States

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Biography

^[1]John T. Miliner Mentioned in the Record of Florence Milner Weatherly (John T. Miliner's Daughter) Name John T. Miliner Birthplace Ala. Sex M John T. Miliner's Spouses and Children Florence Milner Weatherly Daughter F 62 Alabama Name Florence Milner Weatherly Name Note Mrs. Sex Female Age 62 Residence Place B'ham, Ala Address Marie Aparts Burial Date 4 Sep 1926 Burial Place Elmwood Death Age 62y Birth Date May 0019 Birth Year (Estimated) 1864 Birthplace Alabama Marital Status Married Occupation At Home Race White Ethnicity American Father's Name John T. Miliner Father's Sex Male Father's Birthplace Ala. Mother's Name Flora Caldwell Mother's Sex Female Mother's Birthplace Ala. Spouse's Name Jas Weatherly Event Type Death Event Date 2 Sep 1926 Event Place Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama, United States Event Place (Original) Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama Source Details rn 21587 Additional Relatives X Flora Caldwell Wife F Ala. Other People on This Record Jas Weatherly

^[2]John T. Milner Census • United States Census, 1880 Name John T. Milner Sex Male Age 53 Birth Year (Estimated) 1827 Birthplace Georgia, United States Marital Status Married Occupation Civil Engineer Race White Relationship to Head of Household Self Relationship Code Head Father's Birthplace Georgia, United States Mother's Birthplace North Carolina, United States Event Type Census Event Date 1880 Event Place Jefferson, Alabama, United States Event Place (Original) Township 16 Range 2 West, ED 69, Jefferson, AL, United States Household Identifier 11837358 Person Number 0 Sheet Letter C Sheet Number 371 Sheet Number and Letter 371C Volume 1 Affiliate Film Number 0017 Affiliate Line Number 00033 Affiliate Publication Number T9 Affiliate Name The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) John T. Milner's Spouses and Children Florrie I. Milner Wife F 41 Alabama, United States Elizabeth Milner Daughter F 19 Alabama, United States Lilian C. Milner Daughter F 18 Alabama, United States Henry W. Milner Son M 22 Alabama, United States Florence I. Milner Daughter F 16 Alabama, United States Mollie Cooper Daughter F 20 Alabama, United States

^[3]Jno T Milner Census • United States Census, 1870 Name Jno T Milner Sex Male Age 43 Birth Year (Estimated) 1827 Birthplace Georgia Race White Relationship Code Head Event Type Census Event Date 1870 Event Place Greenville, Butler, Alabama, United States Page Number 14 Other People on This Record Flora Milner F 30 Alabama Henry Milner M 12 Alabama Bessie Milner F 9 Alabama Lillian Milner F 8 Alabama Flora Milner F 6 Alabama Florence Gafford F 19 Alabama

^[4]John T. Millner Vital • Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957 Name John T. Millner Sex Male Spouse's Name Flora J. Caldwell Spouse's Sex Female Event Type Marriage Event Date 30 Dec 1855 Event Place Butler, Alabama, United States John T. Millner's Spouses and Children Flora J. Caldwell Wife F

^[5]"White Men of Alabama Stand Together, 1860 and 1890" by Senator John T. Milner. Description In the pamphlet Milner gives a "testimony" to argue against giving African American political power, and he blames the Republican Party for discord in the state: "There has not been a moment of peace in Alabama, since the black Republican party was organized at Chicago in June, 1860...and there never will be, as long as the Republicens [sic] control the Government of the United States. They will continue to utilize the negro as lubricant for their party machinery as long as there is any grease left in him, or until he becomes like a squeezed lemon, and has no juice left in him, and just so long will there be unrest among the white people in Alabama." He stresses the need for solidarity among white voters and for commitment to the Democratic Party: "If let alone the whites can, and will, control, manage, and steer the unevenly freighted ship of State of Alabama proudly and grandly down the stream of Time. But if...the negro again should rule here, it would be better, as suggested by the great English historian, Froude, in reference to the English West Indies, if left in control of their negroes, that Alabama with her freighted cargo should sink beneath the waves and be forever lost." Date 1890 Sort Date 1890 Time Period 1890-1899 Subject Milner, John Turner, 1826-1898 African Americans--Alabama African Americans--Politics and government--Alabama Alabama--Politics and government--1865-1950 Alabama--Race relations Democratic Party (Ala.) Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)--Alabama Republican Party (Ala.)

^[6]John Turner Milner BIRTH 29 Sep 1826 Pike County, Georgia, USA DEATH 18 Aug 1898 (aged 71) Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA BURIAL Oak Hill Cemetery Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA Gravesite Details Clean with easy access. Family Members Parents Willis Joshua Milner 1798–1864 Elizabeth Harrell Turner Milner 1803–1836 Spouse Flora Ida Caldwell Milner 1838–1906 Siblings Benjamin Charles Milner 1832–1902 Miriam Bonita Milner Parker 1833–1910 Half Siblings Sarah Elizabeth Milner Caldwell 1839–1894 Willis Julian Milner 1842–1921 Children Henry Willis Milner 1858–1931 Bessie Milner 1861 – unknown Lillian Milner Orr 1862–1942 Florence Milner Weatherly 1864–1926

Notes

He was a brilliant engineer and entrepreneur but was also the owner of a number of Birmingham ore mines that profited by using convict labor. The living conditions for convicts were wretched. From the book by Douglas Blackman: ( Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War Until World War II: "John T. Milner, one of Birmingham's founding fathers, helped pioneer the use of slaves in industrial settings before and during the Civil War. After the war, Milner became a vocal proponent of white supremacy and a major user of convict labor. Conditions at his company's slave mines at Coalburg, Flat Top and New Castle were even more horrific than those at the Pratt mines, according to Blackmon's book. Contributor: Marjorie Cabaniss (51170390) Railroad engineer, principle player in choosing site of the city of Birmingham, Alabama based on his assessment of the strategic resources and transportation advantages of Jones Valley. JOHN TURNER MILNER, civil engineer, was born September 29 1826 in Pike County, Ga., son of Willis Jay and Mary Ann Turner Milner, brother of Willis Julian Milner. His early education was limited as he went to school and worked alternately. At the age of ten, he learned his first lessons in mining at his father's mines in Lumpkin County, Ga. From his twelfth to his fifteenth year he was engaged in railroad construction under the direction of his father who at that time was a railroad contractor and at the age of seventeen he entered the gold mines near Dahlonega, Ga. He next entered the University of Georgia but was forced to leave at the end of his third year on account of failing health. Returning to his home he became interested in civil engineering working under George H. Hazelhurst, the distinguished civil engineer who at that time was engaged on the Macon and Western railroad. In less than two years, Mr Milner was principal assistant engineer in the construction of the Muscogee road, now a part of the Columbus and Macon railroad. In 1842, he drove an ox team across the plains to Oregon and California and in the latter state was appointed by General Riley, the then provisional governor of California, city surveyor of San Jose the capital of the state. He returned to Georgia in 1852 and shortly afterwards removed to Alabama where he became connected with the Montgomery and West Point railroad at Chehaw, Macon County. Governor Moore commissioned him in 1858 under an act of the legislature to survey and locate a railroad line connecting the navigable waters of the Alabama River with those of the Tennessee. He selected and recommended the line upon which the South and North railroad was built. On November 3, 1858 he was elected chief engineer of the South and North railroad company. He continued in this position until October 1 1872 when the railroad was completed and placed under the control of the Louisville and Nashville system at which time he retired from active service. He founded the sawmills at Boiling and projected the great city of Birmingham. Before Colonel Powell, Josiah Morris or any others thought of such a place he had entered into a written agreement with RC McCalla as the chief engineer and representative of the managers of the Alabama and Chattanooga railroad to buy for their respective companies the land at the crossing of the two roads with the view of building a great industrial city. He purchased about seven thousand acres in Village Creek valley several miles northwest of the present site of Birmingham and extending from a point near Pratt Mines towards the east. The unwarranted withdrawal of the managers for the Alabama and Chattanooga people from their written agreement thwarted him in his purposes. They changed the location of their line and bought the present site of the city of Birmingham but as a matter of precaution not knowing exactly where Mr Milner would cross their line with the South and North they only took sixty day options on the purchases they had made. There was no other available crossing except where Birmingham now is after changing the line from the Village Creek valley to the Elyton valley. Throughout the sixty days he gave no intimation or sign as to where the crossing would be located but had surveys made for crossings at every available point above and below Elyton for miles. At the expiration of the three days of grace allowed in such transactions the dropped or forfeited Stanton options covering the site of the great city were taken up and the money paid for them. Mr Milner faithful to the trust confided in him as engineer of the South and North Alabama railroad had arranged for his company to own half of the great city of the future. After the development of the Coalburg coal property near Birmingham he sold it in May 1883 to the Georgia Pacific railroad company at a profit of over two thousand dollars. He also developed the New Castle coal property about nine miles east of Birmingham was the owner of valuable property in the city of Birmingham and was stockholder in the most important land companies there Author of "Alabama, As It Was, As It Is and As It Will Be". Married December 30 1855 to Flora J., daughter of John C Caldwell of Greenville. He left descendants. Last residence Birmingham. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Volume 4 By Thomas McAdory Owen

Sources

1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDF6-SWG
2. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4JG-WJH
3. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHVR-VWG
4. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQV7-R2W
5. ↑ https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/voices/id/3536/
6. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7026667/john-turner-milner