Mrs. George Fort Milton with daughter Corinne
photo by Hajos
George Fort Milton Sr.
The Dr. Harvey Oliver Milton family lived on Cypress Street on the side of Cameron Hill, then built a new house a block away on Cedar. Their son became the publisher of the Chattanooga News and their daughter-in-law helped women get the right to vote.
Dr. Milton was born in South Carolina, but he was reared in Georgia. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as an assistant surgeon. He married Sarah Fort at Macon. She was a sister of Tomlinson Fort, another Cameron Hill resident, and the daughter of Dr. Tomlinson Fort, who was an early investor in Ross's Landing real estate.
The Miltons moved to Chattanooga in 1877. The next year he was among the physicians in town dealing with the deadly yellow fever. He was among a group of doctors who early on concluded that there was no yellow fever in town. However, it ended up taking a heavy toll of lives.
The Miltons by 1881 were living on the east side of Cypress Street at the corner of Sixth. They lived here until building a new house at 609 Cedar in 1890.
Their son, George Fort Milton, lived in the Cypress and Cedar street homes, having come to Chattanooga when he was eight. He graduated from Chattanooga High School, then the University of the South. He still lived at the Cedar Street home while he was studying at the Mountain City Business College and had taken a position as bookkeeper for the Peoples Bank.
In June 1895, he took a position with the Knoxville Sentinel and moved to Knoxville. His parents moved along with him, while selling the Cedar Street home. Dr. Milton died at Knoxville in 1897. George Fort Milton eventually owned the Knoxville Sentinel. Then he returned to Chattanooga to operate the News, which was the afternoon paper.
His first wife was Caroline McCall, daughter of James Price McCall. They had a daughter Corinne. Carolina McCall Milton died upon the birth of a son, George Fort Milton Jr. Milton next married Abby Crawford, daughter of Capt. C.T. Crawford of Milledgeville. The Miltons built a columned brick home on Wiehl Street in Fort Wood.
Abby Crawford Milton traveled throughout Tennessee making speeches in support of the right for women to vote. An affirmative vote by the Tennessee Legislature put that movement over the top.
George Fort Milton Jr., who was born at Chattanooga, in 1894, attended the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia before taking reporting positions with the Washington Times and the New York Tribune. He was the national publicity director for the William G. McAdoo presidential campaign of 1923-24. Milton was appointed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull on several foreign missions. He was a contributor to Atlantic, the New Republic and several other publications and was the author of several books on American History. He became the editor of the Chattanooga News in 1924. George Fort Milton married Alice Warner.
J.A. Schrader was one of the last occupants of the 609 Cedar home. He rented out the second floor. R.C. Ferguson was at 610 Cypress, also renting out the upper part. Photos of those homes have not yet been located.