Alfred Milnes Alfred Milnes ( May 28 , 1844 – January 15 , 1916 ) was a politician from the U . S . state of Michigan . Early life . Milnes was born in Bradford , Yorkshire , 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 . 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 Senate , 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 . After the political career . Alfred Milnes engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Coldwater until his death . He was interred there in Oak Grove Cemetery .