Milnes was born in
Bradford,
Yorkshire,
England. His parents, Henry and Mary Ann (née Amyss) Milnes joined the
LDS Church and left England with their family in 1854. After a sixty-day voyage from
Liverpool, they arrived in
New Orleans, from which they proceeded by boat to
St. Louis and then to
Kansas City. There, Henry bought a wagon and proceeded overland to
Salt Lake City, via
Fort Kearny,
Fort Laramie, and
Fort Bridger. After sixteen weeks, they reached their destination on September 25, 1854. Two years later, Mary Ann died and Henry moved with the family to
Springville, Utah, and remained there until May 1859. Henry had become disenchanted with the Mormons and sold his property at a great loss in order to leave. They stayed in
Newton, Iowa, for the winter of 1859–1860, and in 1861 arrived in
Coldwater, Michigan, after traveling the entire distance by oxen-drawn wagon. He opened a small store and became a successful merchant. Alfred Milnes was age seventeen upon arriving in Coldwater. He had attended the common schools in Salt Lake City and Newton. In Coldwater, he worked as he was able to during the summer and attended school in the winter. With the outbreak of the
Civil War, Milnes enlisted as a private in Company C, Seventeenth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, June 30, 1862. The forces mustered at
Detroit, and left the state on August 27, 1862, going straight to
Washington, D.C. On September 14, he saw action in the
Battle of South Mountain in
Maryland. Three days later, the regiment was in the
Battle of Antietam, where they lost half their men. Their next engagement was the
Battle of Fredericksburg, after which they were joined with the
9th Army Corps under the overall command of General
Ambrose Burnside, and engaged in the pursuit of Confederate General
John Hunt Morgan to put an end to
Morgan's Raid. After this, his regiment was positioned to serve as rearguard against attack by Confederate General
Joseph E. Johnston at the
Siege of Vicksburg. The regiment then proceeded to
Jackson, Mississippi. The regiment then went to Kentucky and into east Tennessee, where it saw action in the
Battle of Campbell's Station and the
Siege of Knoxville. They then moved to
Annapolis, Maryland, where they were attached to the
Army of the Potomac. The 17th regiment saw heavy losses in the
Battle of the Wilderness, with only 35 of the original 225 remaining. The regiment was discontinued as a military unit and the survivors were taken to the headquarters of General
Orlando B. Willcox, where they served guard duty until the end of the war. After the war, Milnes was 21 years old when he returned to Coldwater. He worked as a clerk in his father's business until 1871, when he formed a mercantile partnership called "Mines & Vanderhoof". The partnership prospered for ten years, after which Milnes sold hist interest and started his own business. On January 6, 1868, Milnes married Lucina E. Hull, the younger child of Cyrus and Eunice (Allen) Hull, who were owned a farm in
Quincy. Alfred and Lucina had three children: Alfred Cyrus, Maude L., and Mabel F. ==Politics==