James Milk
{{Short description|American ship carpenter (1710–1772)}}
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| name = James Milk
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| birth_date = January 31, 1710
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| death_date = {{death date and age|1772|11|19|1710|1|31}}
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| known_for = Shipbuilding
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James Milk (January 31, 1710 – November 19, 1772) was an American deacon and ship's carpenter in colonial New England. He also served as a town selectman for sixteen years. Milk Street, in the Old Port of Portland, Maine, is now named for him.
Early life
Milk was born in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1710. By the time he reached adulthood, Milk had relocated to Falmouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay (today's Portland, Maine).
Career
Milk apprenticed under James Gooding, who had also moved north from Boston, where he was among the earliest shipbuilders.{{Cite book |last=Willis |first=William |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_Portland_from_1632_to_186/tffBtJBkRG8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA920&printsec=frontcover |title=The History of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: With a Notice of Previous Settlements, Colonial Grants, and Changes of Government in Maine |date=1865 |publisher=Bailey & Noyes |pages=452 |language=en}} Milk's shop was located near the foot of Exchange Street, in the heart of today's Old Port of Portland, Maine, where he worked with his son-in-law, Nathaniel.{{Cite book |last=Willis |first=William |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_Portland_from_1632_to_186/tffBtJBkRG8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA920&printsec=frontcover |title=The History of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: With a Notice of Previous Settlements, Colonial Grants, and Changes of Government in Maine |date=1865 |publisher=Bailey & Noyes |pages=465 |language=en}} He later worked on Fish Street.{{Cite book |last=Elwell |first=Edward Henry |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Successful_Business_Houses_of_Portla/pgEZAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA177&printsec=frontcover |title=The Successful Business Houses of Portland |date=1875 |publisher=W. S. Jones |pages=177 |language=en}} He was also a tanner, possibly earlier in his life.
Personal life
Milk was first married to Sarah Brown, daughter of John and Elizabeth. In 1735, he remarried, to Anna Dunn Deering,{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chamber_of_Commerce_Journal_of_Maine/2gJQAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA179&printsec=frontcover |title=Chamber of Commerce Journal of Maine |date=1912 |pages=181 |language=en}} a widow after the death of her first husband, John Deering Jr.{{Cite book |last=Little |first=George Thomas |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Genealogical_and_Family_History_of_the_S/lZSBJAqv9V8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA831&printsec=frontcover |title=Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine |date=1909 |publisher=Lewis historical publishing Company |pages=831 |language=en}} His daughter, Mary, married her cousin, Moses Little.{{Cite book |last=Little |first=George Thomas |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Descendants_of_George_Little/A1oAqZlsSksC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA68&printsec=frontcover |title=The Descendants of George Little: Who Came to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1640 |date=1882 |publisher=The author |pages=68 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Willis |first=William |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_Portland_from_1632_to_186/tffBtJBkRG8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA920&printsec=frontcover |title=The History of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: With a Notice of Previous Settlements, Colonial Grants, and Changes of Government in Maine |date=1865 |publisher=Bailey & Noyes |pages=431 |language=en}} Another daughter, Dorcas, married Milk's son-in-law Nathaniel Deering.{{Cite book |last=Preble |first=George Henry |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Genealogical_Sketch_of_the_First_Three_G/H94UAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA162&printsec=frontcover |title=Genealogical Sketch of the First Three Generations of Prebles in America: With an Account of Abraham Preble the Emigrant, Their Common Ancestor, and of His Grandson Brigadier General Jedediah Preble, and His Descendants |date=1868 |publisher=family circulation, D. Clapp and Son |pages=162 |language=en}} A third daughter, Eunice, married Deering's brother, John III. Milk's son, James, married Mary, a sister of the Deerings, in 1763.{{Cite book |last=Willis |first=William |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_Portland_from_1632_to_186/tffBtJBkRG8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+portland+maine&pg=PA920&printsec=frontcover |title=The History of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: With a Notice of Previous Settlements, Colonial Grants, and Changes of Government in Maine |date=1865 |publisher=Bailey & Noyes |pages=466 |language=en}}
Death
Milk died in 1772, aged 62, having fallen ill two days earlier. He was interred in Portland's Eastern Cemetery,{{Cite book |last=Goold |first=William |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Portland_in_the_past_with_historical_not/xory9ZfXvFAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=deacon+james+milk+died+in+1772&pg=PA515&printsec=frontcover |title=Portland in the past, with historical notes of old Falmouth |date=1886 |publisher=Thurston |pages=515 |language=en}} where his two wives are also buried.
Milk's son-in-law, Nathaniel, inherited his "considerable estate", which included a large section of the eastern side of Exchange Street in Portland.
Portland's Milk Street, which connects Exchange Street in the west to Pearl Street in the east, is named for the deacon.[https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=books_documents The Origins of the Street Names of the City of Portland, Maine as of 1995] – Norm and Althea Green, Portland Public Library (1995)
References
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Category:People from Portland, Maine
Category:Burials at Eastern Cemetery
Category:Selectmen in Massachusetts
Category:American shipbuilders
Category:People from colonial Massachusetts
Category:People from pre-statehood Maine