Notes for WALTER HOYT MILLIGAN

THE REYNOLDS COLLECTION
A list of relatives both near and far!

Notes for WALTER HOYT MILLIGAN

Walter was listed in the 1881 Census as a "Lodger" which was a common
term for Orphans, Adopted Children, or Welfare children. He was the son of Robert Milligan and Jane Hoyt Milligan. His parents both died before he as 5 and he is believed to have gone to live with his Uncle James and Aunt Sarah Elizabeth.

Following is a story of his life as told to his son Walter.

"Walter Hoyt said when he was 5 years old he was told his mother and father were both dead and buried before he was 5. He said he lived with his uncle and his bed was in the barn. He took care of the animals. Food was brought out to him except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, when he came in the house and ate at a table set aside. One of the girls in the family brought him goodies from food in the house and clothing as well. He went to school and finished the 5th reader. At 12 years old, a circus came to town and he went and helped set up the tents and tear them down. They liked his work and invited him to come along, so he went home and packed and on the way out the door grabbed a picture of his mother (Jane Hoyt Milligan), and went with the circus till he was 16 or 17. The circus ultimately went to Montana, and along the way he met Buffalo Bill Cody and Harry Houdini. He went from there to Salt Lake City, where he signed up for the draft. He was working as a hod carrier, and work got slow, so he went to Boise, Idaho, where he met and married Evelyn(Eva) Hooper. He changed occupations to a roustabout in the logging camps. It got slow there, so they moved to Coos Bay, Oregon, where the children were born. He wound up leaving Evelyn and moved to Stockton, California. He worked for Holtz Manufacturing, where they made heavy machinery. About 1923, he met and married Norma Brandt. In 1933 they moved to Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California."

We now have documented proof that he married first in New Brunswick in 1905 when he lived in Green Lake, NB. This further adds to the confusion as to where and how he spent his younger years.

According to the 1901 NB Census he may have been living as a boarder with Charles Simmons in Dumfries, York County, New Brunswick
According to his marriage certificate, he was born in Bailey (Baillie), Charlotte County, New Brunswick