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| The Majestic |
The search for Frederick Milverton was an interesting search, which has taken years although there has been no shortage in records showing his movements and achievements. There were the usual family stories about how he had been involved with the mafia and even something to do with the Ford Company or the President.
Frederick William Milverton was born in 1871 to William Strickland Milverton and Caroline in Middlesex. He was one of eight children by William and Caroline. In the 1881 census he is listed as a scholar age 10, in the household of William Milverton. When the family immigrated to New Zealand in 1886, Frederick did not travel with them. For some reason Fred stayed behind in Middlesex.
Frederick appears on shipping records aboard the Majestic in 1891 sailing from Yorkshire to Ellis Island, New York, arriving 18th March 1891. His age is listed as 25, when he was only 20 years of age. The next time Fred appears on an official record is when he is Naturalised on the 16th of July 1898 in the county of Salt Lake in Utah.
During the 1910 census Frederick is living in Honolulu City, Honolulu in Hawaii and his occupation is an Attorney. In 1913 he travelled from British Columbia, aboard the Umatilla to San Francisco and 1915 from Hawaii to San Francisco. The Bar Association of America lists him as the general council elected member for the Hawaii Territory in 1917 and 1918.
On the 11th of july in 1916 Frederick applies for a passport for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand, Tahiti and Tasmania, Australia for a vacation in October of 1916, leaving from Honolulu on board the SS Makura and he returned aboard the Moana via Tahiti in February of 1917, arriving in San Francisco.
During 1917 Frederick either joined or was drafted into military service during the First World War. His occupation was listed as Attorney at law and his nearest relative was his mother Caroline Milverton of Palmerston North. The location listed to where he was staying was the Fairmont Hotel in California.
When he next appeared was on another shipping record in 1922. This time he had come from San Francisco in California to Ellis Island in New York aboard the Venezuela. The ship had left California on the 15th of March and had arrived in New York on the 17th of April. The shipping record contained two surprises. One was the year and location, where he had been naturalized and the second surprise was he had a wife. Frederick’s wife, Helen J. nee Johnson of North Carolina was actually 25 when he was 45 although he had changed the year he had been born from 1871 to 1877 on all his records for some reason.
After this point in time the only record that could be found was the death of Helen Milverton, Frederick Milverton’s wife. This conundrum changed, while researching in the Palmerston North Archives, amongst my great grandfather’s scrapbook for the PN fire brigade. There was a newspaper article from ‘The Reidsville Review’ about the death of Frederick Milverton, dated March 1926. The newspaper article contained information about his life in America after the First World War.
During the war, Frederick Milverton had volunteered his services when he was called to Washington D.C to serve as a Major Judge advocate. In 1920, he received an honorable discharge from the army, but retained his commission as Major Judge Advocate O.R.C.
He married Helen Johnson in December of 1920. He was a graduate of Georgetown University with a degree of L.L.M and a member of the American Bar Association and of the American Society of International Law. From what I can work out L.L.M. means something like Master of Laws. He died in Washington D.C and his remains were brought to Reidsville, North Carolina, where he was buried at the Greenview Cemetery.
He was a member of the Episcopal Church and ‘lived the golden rule everyday’. His wife Helen Milverton nee Johnson died in April 1972 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her parents were David Woodson Johnson and Lillie Rose Rominger, both of North Carolina. Helen was born in 1898 in Rockingham County, North Carolina.
The sources I have used were
Ancestry.com,
Palmerston North Archives, New Zealand,
LDS film Full transcript from film 1754840, v. 7076-7077 Apr 17 1922 - passenger lists Venezuela April 17 1922,
Free BDM
Naturalisation record located Salt lake city, Utah in March 1898 324 Dist Court
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