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Alexander Milroy 1846 - 1880

Alexander Milroy of Soquel, Santa Cruz County, California United States was born on July 4, 1846 in Dutchess County, NY to Robert Milroy and Mary (Carmichael) Milroy. He had siblings William C. Milroy, Jane (Milroy) Bowman, Jessie Watt Milroy, James C. Milroy, John Cornelius Milroy, and Lafayette J. Milroy. Alexander Milroy died at age 34 years old on December 28, 1880 in Gilroy, Santa Clara County, CA, and was buried at Oak Hill cemetery in San Jose.

Alexander Milroy

Soquel, Santa Cruz County, California United States

July 4, 1846

Dutchess County, New York, United States

December 28, 1880

Gilroy, Santa Clara County, California, 95020, United States

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Alexander Milroy Alexander Milroy (1846 - 1880)

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Alexander Milroy's History: circa 1846 - circa 1880

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Introduction

From the available evidence, Alexander seems to have run away from home at age 15 or 16 and lied about his age so he could enlist in the Union army in another county. I recently found a grave listing at the Sons of Union Veterans website that might be his in San Jose, California. I would love to know how and why he ended up way out there. The government contract to provide gravestones for Union veterans gives his death date as December 29, 1880. A town register has the following note for Alex: "Deserted, was retaken, and is Still in Service". There are two town registers with entries for Alex. They are apparently for the same individual as they list the same name and same unit. One gives his false birthdate of 1843. The 1880 Federal Census shows him in Soquel, Santa Cruz County, California working as a bar keeper in a hotel kept by a Mr. and Mrs. Evans. The online database for the Sons of Union Veterans at
[external link]
gives his death date as December 17, 1881. Obviously both death dates can't be right, but I think I'll go with the government record of 1880 until I can find further information. The December 1880 death date is confirmed by a death notice (listed below), although the newspaper says December 28 and the government receipt says December 29. I believe that the S.U.V death date is so far off because they confused this Alexander Milroy with another of the same name (also a Union Civil War veteran) who died in Sacramento, California on January 17, 1881. Their burial plot information was also way off according to a volunteer at www.findagrave.com who tried to locate his grave - possibly the S.U.V. also got the two burials mixed up. The government receipt for Alexander's headstone shows his death date as December 29, 1880 and gives burial information as Oak Hill (cemetery), San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. No plot location is listed on this receipt. I can't seem to locate Aleck in the 1870 census. Maybe he was on the move and the census takers didn't catch up with him?
07/4

1846

Birthday

July 4, 1846

Birthdate

Dutchess County, New York United States

Birthplace

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Military Service

Civil War veteran - 20th New York State Militia - also known as the 80th New York Volunteer Infantry
12/28

1880

Death

December 28, 1880

Death date

some sort of lung disease

Cause of death

Gilroy, Santa Clara County, California 95020, United States
Death location

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Gravesite & Burial

mm/dd/yyyy
Funeral date
Oak Hill cemetery in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California United States
Burial location
Obituary

The Rhinebeck Gazette January 8, 1881 page 5 (first part blurry and difficult to make out) The sad intelligence of the sudden death Alexander Milroy in Gilroy, California, on Tuesday night, December 28?, reached us yesterday morning. Deceased was a native of Rhinebeck, and a son of Mr. Robert Milroy, of this village. He had spent many years in California, being engaged in hack driving in San Jose for some time. While there he contracted a cold which resulted in an attack of congestion of the lungs. Last year he came east to visit his parents and endeavor to remedy his failing health. As winter approached he found this climate too severe and returned to California, where he engaged in the saloon business with a partner in Gilroy. A few days before his death he consulted an eminent physician who pronounced his case -- augmented as it was by a second cold -- a serious one, and told him he might live a year or die in his (the physician's) office. He attended to his business up to Tuesday night, when he retired to rest, evidently feeling as well as usual. In the morning he was found dead in bed. Aleck, as he was familiarly known to his acquaintances here, had the rare faculty of speedily making friends wherever known. He was in his thirty-second year at the time of his death. His afflicted parents have the sympathy of a large circle of friends among our townsmen.

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Did you know?

Alexander Milroy lived 40 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 34.

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Did you know?

In 1846, in the year that Alexander Milroy was born, on April 25th, conflict widened in Texas' border disputes with Mexico, following the US annexation of Texas. On May 13th, the United States declared war on Mexico and the Mexican-American War officially began.

Did you know?

In 1851, by the time he was only 5 years old, from May through August, the Midwest was hit with record rain, causing the Great Flood of 1851. Iowa was hardest hit - the town of Des Moines was flooded and mostly destroyed. Many rainfall records held for over 160 years.

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