My Genealogy Hound

JOHN W. MILLIGAN, clerk, Swissvale, is a native of Allegheny county, born May 15, 1838. David Milligan, a son of Samuel and Susan Milligan, and a native of Pennsylvania, came from Perry county to this county, and in 1813 purchased 150 acres of land near the Monongahela river, moving thereon with his family in 1814, where he remained till his death, in 1820. He married, in 1794, Sarah Wallace, who bore him five sons and four daughters, and of these Robert, the third child and second son, was born Oct. 29, 1800, in Perry county, Pa. He (Robert) married, in 1829, Mary, daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Owen) Shortess, of Perry county, and four sons and two daughters were born to them: Alexander Shortess, Thomas A., Emeline Ellen, John Wesley (our subject), Mary Margaretta and Joseph Robert, of whom the youngest four are now living. Robert, the father of these children, a farmer by occupation, owned the property purchased by his father, David, up to his death; he died in 1887, aged eighty-eight years; his widow is now living at the age of eighty-eight years. John Wesley Milligan was born and reared on the farm purchased by his grandfather, and which he now owns. He was educated at the public schools and Wilkinsburg Academy, graduating from Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, in 1862. He then commenced the study of law, was admitted to the bar at Pittsburgh in 1865, and followed his profession ten years. He then entered the employ of the Edgar Thomson Steel-works, at Bessemer, as a clerk, which position he now holds. He also superintends the work on his farm of 120 acres. Mr. Milligan was married, in 1867, to Mary E., daughter of Smith and Mary Agnew, of Cumberland county, Pa., and seven children have been born to them, five now living: Robert, Joseph F., Mary Graham, Matilda C. and James Carothers. Mr. Milligan is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a republican.