F. H. Milligan is vice president of the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank and also one of the prominent live-stock dealers of Cedar county. His life history is another proof of the fact that success is not a matter of genius or of fortunate circumstances, as held by some, but is the outcome of clear judgment, experience and carefully directed energy. Recognizing the needs of the growing community, he has cooperated in movements which have met these needs and today his is an honored name not only in financial circles but wherever he is known.
He was born near Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1853, and is a son of Alexander S. and Anna C. (Hawkins) Milligan, who were likewise natives of Pennsylvania, the father having been born on the farm where the birth of F. H. Milligan occurred, while the mother was born on an adjoining farm. Each was the eldest in a family of six children. Mrs. Milligan died January 27, 1857, when the subject of this review was only three years and three months old and the father afterward married again, his second union being with Miss Maggie B. Bishop, a native of Indiana. His children were three in number: F. H.; Anna C., the wife of Charles Crawford, of Crawfordsville, Indiana; and Charles W., who is living near the old home farm in Pennsylvania. The mother, Mrs. Anna C. Milligan, was a daughter of William G. and Margaret (Dillinger) Hawkins, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Philadelphia. They went to Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, soon after their marriage and, although Mr. Hawkins was then the possessor of a capital of only twenty-five dollars, he died a rich man. He was an attorney and for many years continued in the practice of law, also engaging in the real-estate business. He had six children, Anna C., Minerva, James, John, William and Mamie. Of these Anna and William were the only ones who ever married. The latter has been judge of the orphans court of Allegheny county for the past thirty years and is still upon the bench, being the only judge that ever presided over that court.
F. H. Milligan spent the first nine years of his life in the state of his nativity, and in 1862 came to Cedar county, Iowa, with his father. At that time there were no bridges across the Mississippi river and the train was carried across on a ferryboat. The family resided in Tipton until 1865, when they removed to Greencastle, Putnam county, Indiana, where they remained until 1867 and then returned to Pittsburgh. F. H. Milligan acquired his education in the schools of the various places in which the days of his boyhood and youth were passed. Following the return to Pennsylvania in 1867 he was employed upon the farm of his grandfather, Robert Milligan, until 1875. The year 1876 was devoted to railroading.
On the 25th of December, 1877, he was united in marriage to Miss Sadie A. Irvine, who was born near Harrisburg in Perry county, Pennsylvania, on the 2d of October, 1853, and is a daughter of James and Isabelle (Typer) Irvine, who were also natives of Pennsylvania, where they spent their entire lives. In the year following his marriage Mr. Milligan brought his young wife to Cedar county and settled on a farm three and three-fourths miles northeast of Tipton, at what is known as Bunker Grove. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits for twenty years, owning and cultivating a valuable farm of four hundred acres. At one time he owned five hundred and sixty acres and he made the improvements upon it, devoting his land to raising both grain and stock. He brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and in the course of years developed a valuable property. About thirteen years ago he came to Tipton and purchased his present home on Eighth street.
After taking up his abode here he was engaged in the grocery business for two years in connection with J. W. Dean under the firm name of Milligan & Dean. He was afterward connected with no business for a time and then entered the clothing trade in partnership with his son-in-law, Mearl Clark, under the firm style of Milligan & Clark. This association was maintained for two and a half years, at the end of which time Mr. Milligan withdrew. He has since been engaged in feeding cattle and has also figured prominently in banking circles. He became one of the charter members and directors of the old Tipton Savings Bank and upon the death of H. L. Dean, the president, Mr. Milligan succeeded to the presidency and when that bank was merged with the Home Savings Bank under the name of the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank, Mr. Milligan was made vice president, a position which he has since held. The Tipton Savings Bank was organized in 1892 and he has since been engaged in the banking business. He is also a stockholder in the Cedar County State Bank and for several years has been engaged in dealing in Dakota lands. His business interests are capably conducted and his keen insight enables him to so direct his efforts as to attain the highest degree of success possible at a given point.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Milligan have been born five children: Anna C., now the wife of Mearl Clark, a merchant of Tipton; Flora I., the present librarian of the Carnegie Public Library of Tipton; Grace M., who makes her home with an aunt at Crawfordsville, Indiana; Alexander S., a merchant tailor of Cedar Rapids; and Mary, at home. All of the children were born upon the home farm in Cedar county. The daughter Grace and Mr. Milligan’s sister, Mrs. Crawford, belong to the Daughters of the American Revolution, being eligible because of the service of a maternal ancestor, Colonel George Wilson, who became a lieutenant colonel of the Eighth Regiment of the Pennsylvania line in 1776. He marched with his regiment from Kittanning over the mountains, reaching the seat of war in the spring of 1777, and died from exposure at Quibbletown, near Amboy, New Jersey, in April of that year.
In his political views Mr. Milligan is an earnest republican and became the successor to Colonel Rowell in the city council when the latter moved away. At the next regular election he was elected and is now serving on the city board. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the Knights of Pythias, and his life presents many creditable phases, in harmony with his professions. Ever upright and honorable, he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, having worked his way steadily upward by determined and straightforward effort.
