William Milnes Jr.

William Milnes Jr. was a nineteenth-century congressman and industrialist from Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Formative years

Born in Yorkshire, England on December 8, 1827, Milnes immigrated to the United States with his family in 1829, settling in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He attended public schools as a child, and went on to learn a machinery trade.

Milnes engaged in mining and coal shipping before moving to Shenandoah, Virginia in 1865. While there, he engaged in the iron business.
A member of the Virginia [House of Delegates] in 1870 and 1871, Milnes was subsequently elected as a Conservative Party of [Virginia (1867)|Conservative] to the United States House of Representatives in 1869, serving from 1870 to 1871.
Afterwards, he resumed work in the iron business, and continued in that industry until his death.

Milnes ran unopposed and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1869.

Milnes died in Shenandoah, Virginia on August 14, 1889. He was interred in the family plot in the Methodist Church Cemetery in Shenandoah.