Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/391

 MIFFLIN

MILBURN

and began at once to establish order and place the departnuMit on a business basis. Ue wim coui- niissioned brigadier-general, May 19, 177G, and given coniniaud of Pennsylvania troops in the New York ranii>aign. Ue was stationed at Kings Bridge in August, 1776, and after the dis- astrous battle of Long iHland hu coninianded the rear-guard and was sele^'ted to cover the retreat. He was directed by a special act of congress to re> sunie the duties of quarternmster-general as soon as the army had crossed the river, and he was sent to congress by General Washington with a |)etition for supplies to enable the army to hold its position. lie made an address before con- gress, setting forth the peril of the army and ap- pealing for the means to opi)ose the advance of the enemy. He was retained in Pliiladelphia for consultation, and ujx)!! the appointment of General Putnam to the command in the city, he was placed in command of the war material and stores. He was sent by congress through the state of Pennsylvania to arouse the people, by personal appeals, to recruit the ranks of the Continental army. In January, 1777, he was commissioned major-general, in acknowledgment of his services, and was appointed a meml>er of the board of war. He resigned his commission in the army on account of impaired health, but his resignation was not accepted by congress, consequently his affairs, left largely to his subor- dinates, became involved. In March, 1778, Gen- eral Green was appointed his successor, and with General Gates he was removed from the board of war, and congress ordered an investi- gation of his conduct as quartermaster-general, during the winter the army was encamped at Valley Forge. He at once demanded an exami- nation of his accounts, and congress revoked the decree, and he again resigned his commission in the army, which congress again refused to ac- cept, and at once ordered $1,000,000 to be placed in his hands with which to pay outstanding claims. In January, 1780, he was appointed by congress a member of the " board to examine and devise means for retrenching^the general expenses," and he was tendered a vote of thanks for the '* wise and salutary plans recommended." He was again a delegate to congress, 1783-84, and was elected president of congress, Nov. 3, 1783, and in this capacity replied to General Washington's address upon tendering his resignation as com- mander-in-chief of the army. He was speaker of the state assembly, 1785-88; a member of the constitutional convention of the United States, 1787; a member of the supreme executive coun- cil, and succeeded Benjamin Franklin as presi- dent, serving 1780-90. He was also president of the council of censors to revise the state con- stitution in 1790, and was elected first governor

under the constitution, Dec. 21, 1790, serving till Dec. 17, 1799. During the whisky insurrection he commanded the militia of Pennsylvania, called out to suppress the insurgents. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1799- 1800; a trustee of the University of Pennsylva- nia, 177;i-91, and a member of the American Philosophical society, 1765-99. He died during a session of the house of representatives assem- bled at Lancaster. Pa., Jan. 21, 1800.

MILBURN, William Henry, clergyman, was born in Philadelpliia, Pa., Sept. 26. 1823; son of Nicholas and Ann (Wyeth) Milburn; grandson of Nicholas Milburn, a Revolutionary soldier, and a descendant of the Milburn family of the eastern shore of Maryland. In 1828 by an accident his left eye was destroyed, and in 1830 the sight of the other eye became impaired. He pursued his studies by means of a shade over his eye and with with a finger placed under the eye, thus creating an artificial pupil capable of seeing but one letter at a time. He removed with his father's family to Jacksonville, III., in 1838; at- tended Illinois college, 1841-43, and became a Methodist itinerant preacher in 1843. He was married in 1846 to Cornelia Wilmot of England. He was chaplain of the 29th congress, 1845-47, serving in both houses; was appointed minister in charge of the church at Montgomery, Ala., in 1848, and in 1850 settled at Mobile, Ala., where he was tried for heresy and was appointed to a free church that had a large attendance composed of all classes. In 1853 he was chaplain of the 33d congress; in 1855 he removed to New York, and in 1858 was pastor of the Pacific Street Metli- odist church and subsequently of John Street church. New York city. He lectured in England in 1857. Between 1860 and 1865 he became totally blind. In 1865 he was ordered a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church and in 1866 ordained a priest by Bishop Hopkins of Vermont. He returned to the Methodist church in 1871. He was chaplain of the house of representatives 1885-87, and of the U.S. senate from 1893, being known as the " blind chaplain." He received the hononiry degree of D.D. from Illinois college,. 1894. Having lost all his own children he> adopted two daughters of the Rev. John Gemley of Canada, who became his constant comi)anions and amanuenses. He is the author of: liifle. Axe and Saddlebags, Symbols of Western Charac- ter and Civilization (1856); Ten Years of Preacher Life; Chapters from an Aiitobiogra j)hy (\8^S); TJie Pioneers, Preachers and People of the Missis- sippi Valley, a course of lectures originally de- livered before the Lowell Institute, Boston, Mass., 1855-56; The Lance, Cross and Canoe in the Great Fa//ey (1893); and articles contributed to various periodicals.