Henry Milton was born during the 1720s or 30s. In 1752, his son was baptized in the Albany Dutch church. The child's mother was Jannetie Evans.

Milton was a widower in 1757 when he married Rachel Norton of Albany. By 1776, six of their children had been baptized in the Albany Dutch church. Another child was baptized in St. Peters Anglican church in 1759 where his parents sometimes stood as baptism sponsors.

In 1766 and '67, he was assessed one pound as a resident of the East Manor. He also served as a private in the Rensselaerswyck company of the Albany County Militia.

By 1779, he was paying taxes on a modest house in Albany's second ward. Although he occasioned no notice in the community's record for the war years, after the war he was granted a land bounty right as a member of the Albany regiment of the county militia.

By 1790, he had moved down the hill into the third ward. In 1797, these Miltons were living in a house owned by Walter Quackenbush on Montgomery Street. In August, that home was among those destroyed during Albany's second great fire. Although, a Henry Milton was counted (probably his same-named son) as the head of a third ward household on the census in 1800, Henry the elder's fortunes had deteriotated to where his family frequently received small sums from the Dutch Reformed Church.

Milton helped repay the grants by digging graves and ringing the bell for the church. In 1801, he dug his wife's grave. A year later, his name was added to the city's list of "permanent poor." Henry Milton died in April 1805 and was buried "gratis" from the Albany Dutch church.

first posted: 4/25/02; updated 5/25/11