Mary Trumbull (Milligan) (1790-1850)
By Freda Trumbull
(2nd child of Robert)
born March 12, 1790, Barnet, Vermont
married James Milligan 1820
died May 30, 1850
Children of Mary and James Milligan: Alexander McLeod 1822; Margaret Wylie 1824; James Saurin Turretin 1826; John Calvin Knox 1827; Robert 1833; Artson Rongillwick 1835.
Mary, the eldest daughter in the Robert Trumbull family, was born on March 12, 1790, in Barnet, Vermont, where Robert had taken his family to spend the winter, rather than endure the hardship of remaining in the new settlement where only two other families had decided to stay. His decision had been a wise one; for this winter was very severe, with the snow four feet in depth. The two families that had remained in the settlement barely survived the winter.
It is quite likely the Trumbulls moved into their log cabin when they returned in the spring, and Robert would resume his work of clearing and improving his land. Life would be difficult for Lucy and her two young children: James, three years old; and the baby, only a few weeks old. One can only marvel at the courage of Lucy as she faced the hard reality of life in the wilderness with no comforts of any kind. The babies were evidently as hardy as their parents.
Before Mary had celebrated her second birthday, her sister Nancy was born, to be followed two years later by Clarissa, then two brothers, John and Augustus were added to the family.
There is no record of schools being established early in the new settlement, but since the settlers themselves were an intelligent group, it is quite likely that they would arrange some type of schoolwork for their children, most likely in private homes as no building for educational purposes was erected for a number of years.
If education of the mind was limited, there was plenty of work for the hands. Lucy must have depended greatly on the help of her first-born daughter. How would this child Mary ever have any time to play when there was always a baby to amuse, to feed, or to rock to sleep in its cradle? As she grew older, more difficult chores would be added and she would learn to knit, to sew, to cook, plus all the other tasks required to keep a house in order, and the needs of a large family supplied.
Mary was seventeen when the last child was born into the family, and she was capable of caring for the family until her mother was able to assume her place again. These busy days would prepare Mary for her role in later years as a minister’s wife and the mother of a family almost as large as the one into which she had been born.
In Mary’s twenty-sixth year, a great calamity fell upon the community. A very severe frost occurred on June 9, 1816, followed by a foot of snow. All the crops were killed and the season was too late to replant any of them. Corn sold for three dollars a bushel, an unheard-of price in those days. The winter which followed was a period of extreme hardship. Among those in the settlement who related stories of their suffering, the names of the Babcocks and Trumbulls do not appear. Neither have any stories of that time been handed down to succeeding generations. Either these families bore their suffering in silence or they may have received help from relatives living in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Mary was eighteen in the spring of 1808, when her father and his family became connected with the church at Ryegate, under the pastorate of the Reverend William Gibson. Eight years later, a regularly organized congregation was established in Craftsbury, and Mary’s father and mother, her brother James and sisters Nancy and Clarissa, along with Mary, were among the first members enrolled. However, the church was unable to support a full-time pastor and was dependent on supply preaching by the Ryegate minister. In 1817, the Reverend James Milligan was installed in the Ryegate church and also began a regular preaching mission in Craftsbury, where he became acquainted with Mary and married her three years later.
Mary left her father’s house and moved into the parsonage at Ryegate. Her husband remained in this pastorate for twenty years, and here their six children were born: Alexander McLeod 1822; Margaret Wylie 1824; James Saurin Turretin 1826; John Calvin Knox 1827; Robert 1833; Artson Rongillwick 1835.
The father’s wishes were evidently responsible for the names given to four of the boys. He held the lives of the great reformers of his time in great respect and hoped his sons would follow in their footsteps. The daughter was named for his mother and another noted divine. Mary’s wishes were evidently respected in the naming of the fourth son. When the fifth son arrived, the father must have thought this was his last opportunity to add a distinguished name to the family roster. His granddaughter Mary is responsible for describing the method he used to derive a suitable name for the new baby.
He jotted down names of well-known ministers in the church such as Wishart, Willison, Cameron, Cargill, Renwick, and combining the last syllables, contrived the name Artson Rongillwick.
Mary’s father lived to see all of her children and would be aware that they were a gifted group. Under the supervision of their father, the older ones had already begun the study of the Classics.
At the age of two, Artson met a tragic death when he tumbled into a large vessel of very hot water which had been prepared for scrubbing the floor.
Mary was already acquainted with grief, having lost her brother Augustus one year after her marriage. She would feel the death of little Artson all the more keenly since she would feel responsible for his safety. Her husband evidently held her responsible for the death as he berated her soundly. His attitude was revealed by a grand niece, whose dark eyes flashed as she told it. She also went on relate that the Reverend Milligan, when served a boiled egg, ate the shell as well as the contents.
In 1839, Mary’s husband closed his pastorate at Ryegate, having accepted a call to the Reformed Presbyterian church in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania.
Since her father died in 1840, it is likely that Mary never saw him again after she had left Ryegate. The death of his namesake Robert occurred three years later and his body was buried in the churchyard in New Alexandria.
This second pastorate lasted for nine years. There was an interval of six months before the Reverend Milligan was installed as pastor in the Bethel congregation in Sparta, Illinois. This pastorate lasted for seven years, being brought to a close a few weeks before Dr. Milligan’s seventieth birthday.
Mary and her husband moved back to New Alexandria where they would be warmly welcomed into the church which he had once served and where their eldest son was soon to begin his second pastorate, having taken over the pulpit when his father had relinquished it in 1848. He was installed again as pastor on May 6, 1856. Perhaps Mary was unable to attend this installation service; for she died twenty-two days later. It would be gratifying to know that all three minister sons had a part in the funeral services of this mother who had given them so much in looks, in character, and in devotion, through the years of their boyhood and had followed them with her love and prayers as each established his own career in the ministry. Mary’s body was interred in the cemetery at New Alexandria.
Although Mary had experienced much sorrow in her life, she had also received much joy and satisfaction as she saw her four older children complete their formal education, and graduating from college and seminary. The boys all married girls from highly respected families within the church and daughter Margaret married the Reverend James R.W. Sloane D.D., who served as president of Geneva College, Northwood, Ohio, for several years. Margaret was a beloved and respected teacher in the Young Ladies’ Seminary while she lived in Northwood. She died in 1854 and is buried in the Northwood Cemetery along with her baby girl who lived less than a year. These deaths occurred the year before the Milligans left Sparta.
Mary would never have dreamed that she and her husband would be the progenitors of a great number of distinguished descendants, one of whom wrote a family history entitled “The House of Milligan”. The story begins with the union of Mary Trumbull and James Milligan. This book was published in 1930, one hundred and ten years after the marriage of Mary and James. The book mentions one hundred and fifty-four individuals related to the original couple. In November 1966, the author completed a supplemental edition in which three hundred and forty-one names were listed of people who are blood-related to the Milligan family.
The author of this monumental research (seventeen years) was J.C.K. (Jack) Milligan, a minister in the United Presbyterian Church. He was the grandson of Alexander McLeod Milligan and the great grandson of Mary Trumbull. He died in 1966, one month after he had completed the work on the supplemental booklet. His boy is buried in Highwood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
James Milligan D.D. (Husband of Mary Trumbull, Robert’s oldest daughter)
James, the son of John and Margaret Milliken (Milligan) was born in Dalmellington, Ayershire, Scotland, on August 7, 1785. In early life he had very poor health and was supposed to be in consumption. His parents were members of the Established Church of Scotland, with which he also connected in 1799. His boyhood and youth were spent upon the moor in the duties of a shepherd boy, and he recited the classics to an instructor twice a week. He came to America in 1801 and settled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in selling merchandise. He was not satisfied with other Presbyterian Churches, and after hearing the Reverend John Black preach and explain the principles of the Covenanter Church, he joined this body in 1803. He soon after abandoned secular pursuits and began his classical studies in Jefferson College. In 1806, he opened an academy in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in which he taught but a short time, when he resumed his studies, and graduated with honor from Jefferson College in 1809. He became a teacher of languages in the University of Pennsylvania, and also studied theology in the Philadelphia Seminary, and was licensed by the Northern Presbytery on April 4, 1811. He was ordained by the same presbytery, installed pastor of the congregation of Coldenham, Orange Co, New York, on June 10, 1812, and resigned this charge on April 17, 1817. He was installed pastor of the congregation of Ryegate, Caledonia County, Vermont on September 26, 1817, and resigned the charge on May 17, 1839. He was installed pastor of the congregation of New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, on November 23, 1855. He resided with his sons in Southfield, Michigan, and New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, for several years and made many missionary tours through different parts of the Church. He died at the home of his son J.S.T. Milligan, at Southfield, Michigan, of rheumatic paralysis on January 2, 1862. He had married Miss Mary Trumbull of Ryegate, Vermont in 1820. He was an earnest and practical preacher, a distinguished linguist, a strict disciplinarian, and remarkably gifted in prayer. He was early in the field as a lecturer on slavery and temperance, and with fearlessness and success, defeated the errors in doctrine taught throughout New England during his residence in that section of the country. His labors on behalf of the slaves were not confined to his church, but he travelled all over the East awakening the sympathies of philanthropists and exposing the complicity of the nation in this sin.
He was the first to introduce the office of the deacon and the practice of continuous singing (in contrast to issuing a song one line at a time when there was a scarcity of song books) in the Covenanter Church, which improvements brought him into many sharp controversies with his brethren. He suffered many hardships in dispensing gospel ordinances throughout the New England States and Canada, and made many extended preaching tours on horseback.
Among his publications are: “A Defense of Infant Baptism” 1812; “A Narrative of the Succession Controversy in Vermont” 1923;
“Grace and Free Agency” 1826; “Prospects of a True Christian in a Sinful World” 1827.
He was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by Muskingum College in 1850. He was Moderator of the Synod of 1825.
Alexander McLeod Milligan, D.D.
Alexander, the son of Reverend Dr. James and Mary Trumbull Milligan was born in Ryegate, Vermont, on April 6, 1822. Dedicated from his birth for the work of the gospel ministry, at a very early age he began classical studies under the direction of his father. He entered Craftsbury Academy to prepare for college, but removing with his parents in 1839 to New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, his plans were frustrated, and he began teaching school near Blairsville, Pennsylvania. In 1841, he resumed his studies in the Western University of Pennsylvania and graduated from Duquesne College in 1843. He studied theology at the Allegheny and Cincinnati Seminaries and was licensed by Pittsburgh Presbytery on April 14, 1847. He was ordained by the same Presbytery and installed pastor of the united congregations of New Alexandria and Greensburgh (Westmoreland County) Pennsylvania on November 24, 1848, where he labored as his father’s successor until his resignation on October 4, 1853. He was installed pastor of the Third Congregation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 1853 and resigned this charge on October 14, 1855. He returned to and was installed pastor of the united congregations of New Alexandria, Greensburgh and Clarksburgh (Pennsylvania) on May 6, 1856, and resigned these charges on April 10, 1866. Alexander was installed pastor of the congregation in Pittsburgh on May 14, 1866, where by his rare power as a preacher, he built up one of the largest and most influential congregations in the body, over which he remained pastor until his death.
His life was in jeopardy in 1874, by reason of a dangerous tumor and he was restored from this critical condition in answer to prayer. His health began to fail in the spring of 1884, having spent a part of the previous winter teaching in the Theological Seminary in addition to his pastoral duties. In November, 1884, he went to the milder climate of Southern California to spend the winter. Disappointed in the return of poor health, he turned his face homeward to die among his kindred and friends, but departed this life upon the overland train soon after it entered the wilds of the Wyoming Territory on May 7, 1885. His body was embalmed in Cheyenne, and brought home for burial in the Bellevue Cemetery, Allegheny, in the presence of a concourse of sorrowing people. His death had been caused by Addison’s Disease of the kidneys.
He had been married twice – first to Miss Ellen Snodgrass on June 24, 1847, and second to Miss Belle A. Stewart on August 24, 1871, both of New Alexandria.
Alexander was a great and good man. In personal appearance, he was large and commanding, and his well-cultivated mind was filled with varied and useful knowledge, gathered by close study and careful reading. He was an eloquent and magnetic speaker. His voice was musical, flexible, and powerful, and he often enchained the attention of an audience for hours when he was aroused upon the cause of slaves or the rights of Christ as King of nations.
He was an industrious, prudent, and affectionate pastor, devoted to the spiritual welfare of his flock. He was thoroughly in sympathy with the distinctive principles of the Covenanter Church and fearlessly denounced the evils of society and corruption in high places. He did yeoman service as an abolitionist, received a good share of its reproachful honor,and wrote a consolatory letter to John Brown in 1859, while Brown was in jail at Charleston, Virgina. He was a leader in all reforms, especially the cause of National Reformation, in the interest of which he constantly preached and lectured. He was heard in Church courts with marked attention, and was prominent in the Church’s work in all departments. He was a member of all the Mission Boards as well as of the College and Seminary. The success of the establishement and endowment of Geneva College at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was largely due to his personal exertions. Besides preaching, he also contributed to the pages of the Churche’s publications. He was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by Washington and Jefferson College in 1872, and he was Moderator of Synod in 1863,
James Saurin Turretin Milligan (1826-)
James, the son of Reverend Dr. James and Mary Trumbull Milligan, was born in Ryegate, Vermont, on August 26, 1826. He received his early education in the schools of his native village and in 1839, when his parents removed to New Alexandria (Pennsylvania) he continued his classical studies under the direction of his father. In 1848 he studied theology in the Cincinnati Seminary, and, in 1849, took charge of the Grammar department of Geneva College, graduating from this institution in 1852. At the same time he pursued his theological studies in the Northwood Seminary and was licensed by Lake Presbytery on April 16, 1852. He was ordained by the same presbytery and installed pastor of the congregation of Southfield, Michigan, on November 11, 1853, remaining there until April 11, 1841. On October 8, 1872, he was installed pastor of the congregation of North Cedar, Jackson County, Kansas. On June 16, 1853, he married Miss Jane T. Johnston of Belle Center, Ohio.
In 1855, he was appointed to lecture on “Bible Policies” and spent some time as the first National Reform lecturer. In 1864, he organized the Mission among the contrabands at Washington D.C. He also published many articles in the magazines and papers of the Church.
John Calvin Knox Milligan (1829 –
John, the son of Reverend Dr. James and Mary Trumbull Milligan, was born in Ryegate, Caledonia County, Vermont, on February 1, 1829. In 1839, his parents removed to New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, where he received his early education in the common schools and under the direction of his father. He studied the classics in Allegheny under the care of Mr. William A. Acheson and graduated from the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1848. He studied theology one year in the Cincinnati Seminary and in the spring of 1849, became Principal of Geneva College and Professor of Mathematics. At the same time, he studied theology in the Northwood Seminary and was licensed by Lakes Presbytery on April 16, 1852. He was ordained by the same presbytery at Utica, Ohio on May 12, 1853 and installed co-pastor of the First Miami Congregation, Northwood, Ohio, on July 1, 1853, and resigned the positions in both the congregation and the college on April 20, 1858.
He was installed pastor of the First Congregation of New York, New York, on June 16, 1858. He married Miss Rachael W. Farrington of Newburgh, New York on October 3, 1854. He was connected with the missionary and educational interests of the church and was Chairman of the Board of Superintendents of the Theological Seminary for several years. He established and edited “Our Banner” in 1874, and was moderator of the Synod of 1870.