The Millikens were among the earliest settlers at the mouth of Soddy Creek. James Milliken was Hamilton County's last survivor of the Mexican War.

Cornelius Milliken arrived here in the early 1820s, and James Milliken was also here in the 1820s. Cornelius witnessed a deed in 1824, then in 1827 he paid Jesse Smith $200 for 50 acres “on the south side of the Valley Road from Washington Courthouse to John Brown's ferry on the Tennessee River.” It was the “William James improvement.” Cornelius was one of the commissioners at the promising town of Dallas on the river in the early 1830s. He was the first county entry taker for property. In one case of a
pension claim by a Revolutionary veteran, the claimant was directed to “prove his service by Cornelius Milliken, Esq.” Cornelius was still in Hamilton County at the time of the 1850 census, but he and his family disappear from the records after that. He was then living with his wife, Luvina, and children, Cornelius Jr., Sarah, James, John, Penelope and Elizabeth.

James Milliken was residing at Soddy when his son, Alexander, was born in the late 1820s. Another son, James, was born in 1827. The elder James Milliken was a commissary agent during the Indian removal and issued rations for the departing Cherokees. This was at the Gardenhire farm near Citico Creek, where the Indians
were placed in a stockade. Young Alex Milliken would go after whiskey for some of the removal soldiers. He got it from Asa Rawlings, who lived on the north side of the river where the Beasons later settled. Alex later remembered witnessing a big ball game between the Indians about 1835. It was out near the later corner of Main Street and Central Avenue. He also saw a “fist-and-skull” fight between Indians and white settlers and remembered that Rattlin' Gourd had taken part. When he first saw Ross's Landing as a young boy, there was a lone cabin occupied by “Old Billy Gentry” at the later Second and Broad streets. Gentry was the ferrykeeper for John Ross. The first store he saw was operated by Shufe Green and was “a few miles out, the other side of the Tennessee River.” Alex said the first “hotel” built here was on lower Market Street. It consisted of six or seven compartments, or “pens,” made with poles that were chinked with mortar and mud. Alex Milliken saw Darlen A. Wilds lead a company of soldiers from Ross's Landing to fight in the Seminole War. When war broke out with Mexico, Alex and the younger James Milliken were among the volunteers.

James fought throughout the Mexican War, and he was in the Union Army in the Civil War. He was a justice of the peace, performing a number of marriages. For the funeral of former governor and senator William B. Bate in 1905, five Mexican War veterans from Hamilton County were chosen to attend. Those were Alex and James Milliken, Joe Rose, J.W. Clift and Absalom Sivley. The Millikens had known Bate from Mexican War days. James and Alex Milliken in 1849 bought 256 acres at Tyner from Lewis Tyner for $250. The Millikens lived many years there. James was 93 when he died in 1915. He left the homeplace “on the north side of the Southern Railway” at Tyner as well as 40 acres in James County.

Alex and his wife, Adelphia, had Mary A., James E., Doctor Milo, Martha R.L., Tennessee and William B. Mary A. was the second wife of Absalom Sivley, though she was young enough to be his daughter. This marriage was in 1869. Sivley had eight children by his first wife, Mary Lyon, and nine by Mary A. Milliken. James E. Milliken married Laura Ruth Sivley, who was from the first set of Absalom Sivley's children.
Martha married John Jones, and Tennessee married Jasper Beavers. Tennessee died at a
young age, and her young daughter died shortly afterward. Doctor Milo Milliken was apparently named for the beloved physician, Dr. Milo Smith, and he was called Dock. Dock Milliken married Martha A. Smith in 1877, and their children were Mamie and Alexander Robertus “Zannie.” Dock was living at 110 Webb St. in East Chattanooga when he died in 1921. Zannie worked for Cavalier Corporation.

The children of James E. Milliken included Charles E., Mary Arena, Edna, Robert T., Carrie, Elizabeth and William A. Charles E. was a well-known Chattanooga barber. He was living with his wife, Melissa Cawood, at 926 Mt. Vernon Ave. when he died in 1950. His daughters were Mrs. E.R. Hale and Mrs. Victor Hill. Mary Arena married Edom Michael Dixon, who was also a barber. Robert T. Milliken was associated with the Chattanooga Transfer Company for a number of years. He was the leader in a number of Masonic organizations. He died in a sanitarium at age 36 in 1928, leaving a son, Raymond. William A. had a career in the Navy and is buried at the National Cemetery.

The Mexican War veteran James Milliken was married three times. His first wife was Angelina Madden. He next married Sarah Sherrill. When Sarah died on Oct. 9, 1883, her last words were: “I do love you so good. I am ready to go.” She is buried at Concord Cemetery. James later married Fannie Stephenson, the daughter of William and Nancy Morrison Stephenson. When Fannie died in 1927 at the age of 84, she was the last of a family of 19.

Children of James Milliken included Richard, James, Julia Adaline “Addie,” William Cornelius, Harrison A., Bell, Sarah, and Perlie J. Addie married Alonzo C. DeCosta, and Sarah married J.B. Gill. The DeCostas lived at 1615 Bailey Ave. When Addie died in 1934, she was called “one of the best-known residents of Highland Park.” The Gills lived at 2110 Camden St. Perlie died in 1898 when she was 12. Harrison A. was a well-known farmer at Tyner when he died in 1898 at age 25.

William C. Milliken was born in the last year of the Civil War. He became a teacher and was principal of the Alton Park School for a number of years. The William C. Milliken home was at the corner of Blount and Forest in Alton Park. He was staying with his brother-in-law, Archie Anderson, in Cincinnati when he died in 1916. He married Emma Anderson, who was also a prominent educator. The daughter of William Audley and Catherine Card Anderson, she met William C. at Sequatchie College, and they were married in 1890. Emma taught in city and county schools almost half a century. She was at Sale Creek, Daisy and South St. Elmo, then was at Alton Park 39 years before retiring in 1943. She lived to be 96. Children of William C. included Harold Anderson and William Sherrill. Another son, Roger, died in 1905 when he was five. Harold married Maude Alice Alverson in 1920.

Their children were Bette Alice who married Robert J. McLean and William Harold who married Sara S. Brown. The Harold Millikens moved to Atlanta in 1936, and Harold worked for the Veterans Administration in the retraining program for veterans. He died in Atlanta in 1981. W. Sherrill Milliken graduated from Central High School in 1922, then played football at the University of Chattanooga. He was later a civic leader, serving as president of the UC Alumni Council, the Kiwanis Club, the Half-Century Club, the TVA Retirees and the Audubon Society. He was head of TVA's personnel department in Chattanooga from 1954-1959, then he spent two years in Iran with the Khazestan Development Service. He also was a representative at TVA's Land Between the Lakes. He married Lucille McGee, and they had a son, W. Sherrill Jr., and a daughter, Connie. W. Sherrill Jr. married Shirley Hodge, and they operated Milliken Hardware Store on Main Street at East Palestine, Ohio.

Some great-great-grandchildren of Alexander Milliken still live here, including an Alex Milliken. He and his brother, David, are sons of David Milliken of Hixson. David was one of the eight children of Zannie and Rena Belcher Milliken. Others are Marguerite who married Ralph Stafford, Helen who married Clark McGee, Kenneth, Jeanette who married Herbert Watts, Ann who married Leonard Denham, Bobby and John. Kenneth has sons David and Ralph K. and daughter Terri. The Dock Milliken home still stands near Bartlebaugh Baptist Church.