Rev. James E. Milligan

 

Milligan Road in Idaho Falls runs south along the west bank of the Snake River starting near Buffalo Wild Wings and McKenzie River Pizza.[1] 

The G. H. Milligan family moved to Idaho from Iowa sometime between 1895 and 1900.[2]  The father, George Haven Milligan, was a farmer.  George, with his first wife Eunice, who died in 1892, had three sons and three daughters.  George remarried in 1894, to Martha Breckenridge, and he gained a stepson and four stepdaughters,[3] and about a year later another daughter.  Out of these twelve children, the oldest being 19 and youngest 6 in 1900, the census that year of Idaho Falls and vicinity shows nine.[4]  One other daughter, Adeline (or Addie), was brought up in the home of her aunt in Iowa but sometime prior to 1910 moved to Idaho Falls.[5]  Adeline married in Idaho Falls in 1912, to William A. Wilson, and was active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Methodist Church in Idaho Falls until the mid-1940’s when she and her husband moved to Oregon.

The above information is included just to point out that ten of the twelve children and step-children of George Milligan resided at least for a time Idaho Falls.  Three lived all or most of their lives in Idaho Falls.[24]  One of these was Robert, who came to Idaho Falls as a teenager and lived nearly all the rest of his life in Idaho Falls, as did one of his sons. 

One of George’s daughters, who did not live in Idaho Falls but who was raised in the family of an aunt in Spokane, served as a missionary in China for at least 16 years.[25]

George’s son James is shown in 1900 U.S. census records of Idaho Falls as being 19 years old, living in the household of Thomas and Blanche Harris, and his relationship to the head of the family is shown as “servant,’ while his occupation is listed as “at school.”[6]  In 1948 when he was the guest speaker at worship services in Idaho Falls during Holy Week, the newspaper reported, “His preaching days go back to the early part of this century when he obtained his first license to preach from Trinity church in Idaho Falls.”[7]  An article written in 1961 reported, “He left an Idaho farm with a license to preach 60 years ago."[13]  Thus apparently he received his call to the ministry while living in Idaho Falls.

In 1905 he enrolled at the College of Puget Sound, working in a greenhouse to finance his education while also holding the pastorate of Wesley Methodist Church in Tacoma.[8, 9, 13]  The Idaho Falls Times on July 14, 1908 reported,

James E. Milligan, who lived in this city several years ago, was married on the 25^th in Tacoma to Miss Lois Rutledge of Tacoma.  Mr. Milligan has been the pastor of a Methodist church in the suburbs of Tacoma for several years and graduated from the University of Puget Sound in June with the highest standing of his class.[10]

Rev. Milligan served in the ministry for 54 years – 38 as a pastor, then 6 as District Superintendent of the Methodist Church of the Puget Sound District, and then 10 more years again in pastoral roles.  Most of those years of ministry were in the Seattle-Tacoma area,[14] six in Corvallis, Oregon (1928-1934), five in Salem, Oregon (1934-1939), followed by four in Bellingham, Washington (1939-1943).  These assignments utilized his ability to connect with college students, as reported by the Post Register:[7]

He has distinguished himself in the past as an outstanding preacher, said Rev. Mr. Johnson, appealing particularly to young people, he has served such college churches at Corvallis, Oregon, First Church, Salem, Oregon and Garden Street Church, Bellingham, Washington.

In 1943 he was appointed as Superintendent of the Methodist Church of the Puget Sound District, and served in this position for six years.  Then after a 3-year pastorate at Grace Church in Seattle, he retired in 1952,[11]  but that same year became interim executive secretary of the Tacoma Council of Churches.[15] Three years later came out of retirement to serve seven more years as associate pastor of the University Methodist Temple in Seattle.[12, 13]  Most of his time spent in that final pastorate was visiting patients at hospitals and with shut-ins, although he also helped raise funds for the church building expansion.[13]  When he retired the second time at age 81 in 1961, he said, “I will be available for anything or anybody who wants me.”[13]

Idaho Falls newspapers reported a number of times Rev. James Milligan came to visit his parents, brothers and sister here.[16] The Idaho Falls Ministerial Association invited him to come to Idaho Falls in 1948 to speak at four Union services during Holy Week.  His topics were “A Mighty God,” “A Great Faith,” “For the Sake of Others,’ and “Are Ye Able?” [17]  In addition that week he conducted devotional services for several YMCA youth groups,[18] was the principal speaker at the luncheon meeting of the Idaho Falls Rotary club,[19] and also spoke at a luncheon of the Kiwanis club.[20]

In his sermon on faith, Rev. Milligan said,

“Real faith is reason which has grown courageous.  Without faith, nothing can or ever has been accomplished by men.  This faith is like a great electric magnet swinging over a load of steel, lifting tons if the current is on, but dropping it quickly when the current is turned off.  We cannot reach out into thin air and have faith.  A close study of the Bible will help greatly.  Religion is no longer a side issue of civilization.  In order for civilization to endure, religion must be the main issue…”[21]

To the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, Rev. Milligan urged the men present to cultivate meaningful hobbies,[20,22] a practice that was true in his own life. After a period when his health suffered from overwork, he began working with wood, stones and yarn to craft objects of beauty and value. Mostly from local myrtle wood, he made flower vases, lamps, tables, chests, benches, altars and crosses – more than 100 crosses, which he sometimes presented to comfort those near death.  One cross he made and gave to a church stood 11 feet tall.  He also cut and polished stones, agates, jasper, petrified wood, and quartz crystals.  And he made rugs, selecting the wool, spinning the yarn and weaving the rugs on a hand loom.

“I do these things as a means of relaxation, but the work serves as a source of ideas, not only for sermons, but also for plans in the programs of the church.  While at work in my shop I often think of persons with a special talent who can be useful in some department…I also follow these hobbies because I like the symbolism of this work.  It is thrilling to take an unattractive piece of buried wood and by use of saw, chisel and lathe, make of it a thing of beauty.  Similarly, the most unpromising stone often has inside and object of surpassing design.  In my ministry I’ve found dealing with people very similar to work in wood or stone… Seeing [changes] that happen to a man is more thrilling than carving a cross from a piece of myrtle wood or discovering the colors inside a stone. But I continue to work with these objects because in that way I am constantly reminded that there is a jewel in the heart of every man.”[23]

Rev. James E. Milligan died in 1979 at the age of 97 in Seattle.[11]

References and notes 

[1] A great grandson of G. H. Milligan told me the road was named after his family although I’m not sure which specific family or generation.

[2] The Iowa 1895 census shows the family of George H Milligan as residents of Lincoln Township, Madison County, Iowa. [The 1895 census also shows that George and his wife were Methodists.] The 1900 US census shows them farming in the Taylor Precinct of Bingham County, which in 1900 included all of present Bonneville County. The earliest mention I could find of George H. Milligan in Idaho Falls newspapers is dated Feb. 8, 1900, in a list of property owners having delinquent taxes.

[3] No records other than those of birth could be found for a fifth daughter of Martha Breckinridge, Anita, a twin to Francis Adelia, and thus I’ve assumed she died prior to Martha’s marriage to George Milligan.

[4] Seven are shown in the 1900 living with their parents while son James, age 19, is shown as a “servant” in another household and 19-year old step-daughter Grace as a lodger in another Idaho Falls household working as a “domestic.”

[5] The 1910 census of Idaho Falls shows 19-year old Adeline boarding with the William Jackson family and working as a school teacher, her 22-year old brother Perry Milligan is boarding in the same home and working as a carpenter.

[6] U. S. Census, Idaho Falls Precinct, Bingham County, June 17, 1900.

[7] The Post Register, “Holy Week Rites Slated - West Coast Methodist Minister Selected as Main Speaker,’ Feb, 2, 1948, p. 10.

[8] The Seattle Daily Times, Sept. 24, 1906, p. 9.

[9] The Bellingham Herald, June 14, 1943.  

[10] The Idaho Falls Times, July 14, 1908, p. 6.

[11] The Seattle Times, Jan. 27 1979, p. 51.

[12] The Seattle Times, Sept. 26 1965, p. 67

[13] The Seattle Times, May 10, 1961, p. 57.

[14] From Ref. #13: After serving at the Wesley Church he served at McKinley Park Church and Bethany Church, both in Tacoma, then four years in Vashon, then in Orting, then St. Paul’s in Tacoma, then five years in Queen Ann Church in Seattle. He said he went to Vashon, an island in the Puget Sound, “either to die or to get well.  My health had broken down from work and studies.  I fooled them and got well.”

[15] The Seattle Daily Times, Aug. 29, 1952, p. 11.

[16] Idaho Falls Times, Aug. 30, 1917, p. 2; Idaho Falls Times, Aug 7, 1920, p. 5 & Aug 18, 1920 p. 6; Post Register, Sept. 25, 1944, p. 4; Post Register, Sept. 9, 1947.

[17] The Post Register, March 17, 1948, p. 3.

[18] The Post Register, March 17, 1948, p. 7.

[19] The Post Register, March 23, 1948, p. 2.

[20] The Post Register, March 26, 1948, p. 7.

[21] The Post Register, March 23, 1948, p. 3.

[22] The Post Register, March 24, 1948, p. 2.

[23] Seattle Daily Times, Sept. 23, 1951, p. 64.  See also The Bellingham Herald, Nov. 19, 1939.

[24] Robert Milligan lived almost all of his life in Idaho Falls. Addie lived at least 30 years in Idaho Falls. Perry lived in Idaho Falls until entering military service and some period of time after that.  A step-son Wilbur Breckenridge lived in Idaho Falls until he was murdered by robbers in New Sweden in 1916.

[25] Idaho Times Register, May 18, 1924, p. 8  & Idaho Falls Daily Post, May 17, 1924, p 8. These articles state that Bertha, in Idaho Falls after 16 years in China, intended to return to China after a year and a half in the States.  I could find no record that she did, although census records of Brooklyn, New York in 1930 and 1940 still list her occupation as “missionary, foreign country.”