Born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland to Isabella Sharp and George Henderson. Worked in the Temperance Hotel in Kirkcaldy. Immigrated to Hutchinson, KS, 1891 to marry James Anderson Milne on 02 Jun 1891. They later moved to Guthrie, OK; Chicago, IL; Atchison, KS; and finally Emporia, KS. Mother of Robert, George and Isobel. Two sayings which her grandson can remember her saying are: "It's a braw moonlit nicht the nicht" and "Lang may your lum reek."

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Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 about Isabella Henderson

Name: Isabella Henderson
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 22 Feb 1864
Birth Place: Dysart, Fife, Scotland
Father: George Henderson
Mother: Isabella Sharp
FHL Film Number: 6035516

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The Guthrie Leader, 26 Apr 1915, Monday

Mrs. J. A. Milne and daughter, Isabelle, are preparing to leave the last of the week for their new home in Atchison, Kansas.

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The Guthrie Daily Leader, 01 May 1915, Saturday

AFTERNOON TEA.

Mrs. J. A. Milne was honor guest at a tea given yesterday afternoon by Miss Rosaline Stratton. Mrs. Milne, who leaves tomorrow for Atchison, Kan., was presented with several beautiful gifts. The afternoon was spent with fancy work and tea was served by the hostess, assisted by Miss Margaret Stratton, to Mrs. F. D. Brooks, Mrs. Lina Brooks, Mrs. L. H. Lohr,; Misses Mamie and Lida Lohr, Mrs. John Schmidt, Mrs. F. H. McGuire, Mrs. J. H. Houser, Mrs. E. B. Henry, Mrs. J. W. Speer, Mrs. G. W. Speer, Mrs. W. J. Thompson, Miss Florence Thompson, Mrs. W. M. McCoy, Mrs. R. T. Mansfield and Mrs. James Hepburn.

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The Atchison Daily Globe, 23 Feb 1918, Saturday

Miss Rozie Stratton gave a dinner last night at her home on Fifth and Kearney streets in celebration of the birthday of Mrs. J. A. Milne and George Washington, the father of our country. In the center of the table was a wonderful birthday cake on which candles and tiny rosebuds were arranged in the shape of a star. In the dinner Miss Stratton, who is a famous cook, outdid herself.

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The Emporia Gazette, 01 Dec 1938, Thursday

Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Milne, 1201 Lawrence, returned Wednesday evening from St. Louis, Mo., where they had been visiting before Thanksgiving with their son, R. J. Milne, and Mrs. Milne.

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Emporia Gazette, 31 May 1941

MR. AND MRS. J. A. MILNE HAVE BEEN MARRIED 50 YEARS

Monday, June 2, is the 50th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Milne, 1201 Lawrence. They will celebrate the occasion Sunday, when all of their family will be in Emporia.

The Milnes have lived in Emporia for the past 10 years and Sunday their two sons and daughters-in-law will be here to help them commemorate the event. They are Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Milne, of St. Louis, and Mr. and Mrs. George M. Milne of Oklahoma City.

This evening, Mr. and Mrs. Milne will be guests of honor of their daughter, Mrs. E. T. Lowther, and Mr. Lowther at the Lowther home, 807 Sherwood, where their friends have been invited for a reception. Sunday noon, the family will entertain Mr. and Mrs. Milne with a golden wedding dinner at the Broadview Hotel. Present will be Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Milne, Mr. and Mrs. George Milne, Miss Kathleen Lowther, who arrived today from Oklahoma City; Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Lowther and the Milne's only grandchild, Jimmy Lowther.

BOTH BORN IN SCOTLAND

The Milnes were born and grew up in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, not far from Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth on the Scottish east coast. In the 1880's Mr. Milne came to the United States, following his apprenticeship in the dry goods business in Scotland. He worked in St. Louis and then came west to Kansas, taking a job with the old Martin Dry Goods store in Hutchinson. In 1891, Miss Isabella Henderson, to whom Mr. Milne had become engaged four years before in Scotland, traveled alone to Hutchinson, where on June 2, she and Mr. Milne were married by the Rev. Dr. Irwin, of the Presbyterian Church.

Their two sons were born during the 10 years they lived in Hutchinson. In 1901 the family moved to Guthrie, Okla, where Mr. Milne became associated with the Ramsay Brothers Dry Goods Company. Their daughter, Mrs. Lowther, was born in Guthrie. They lived in Oklahoma during the days of early statehood and saw the removal of the state capital from Guthrie to Oklahoma City and the decline of the former capital as the states business center.

RETURNED TO KANSAS

When the Ramsay company moved its store to Atchison, Kan., about 15 years later, Mr. Milne soon followed and for the next 15 years he was the manager of the large Atchison store and buyer for all the Ramsay stores. After leaving the Ramsay firm, Mr. Milne was associated with Sears, Roebuck and Company in Oklahoma City and Chicago before moving to Emporia about 10 years ago to complete his active merchandising career of more than 50 years with the then newly reorganized Newman Dry Goods Company. He retired in 1930.

The Milne's oldest son, Robert, is manager of the St. Louis district for Sears, Roebuck and Company and their son, George, is merchandise manager with the John A. Brown Dry Goods Company, in Oklahoma City, formerly the Rorabaugh-Brown Store. They will return to their homes Sunday. Jimmy Lowther will go to St. Louis for a week's visit with Mr. and Mrs. Robert Milne. Miss Kathleen Lowther, who teachers in Oklahoma City, will remain in Emporia for an indefinite visit.

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The Emporia Gazette, 02 Jan 1958, Thursday

"Fir-r-st Fettin' "

The New Year is still held in high esteem in Scotland. And many years ago, says an Emporia Scotchman, it was more widely celebrated -- though not more observed -- than Christmas. Isabella Henderson Milne, now in her 93rd year, was telling friends on New Year's how the Scotch used to celebrate the day.

Mrs. Milne recalls that one festivity of the day was known as "fir-r-st fettin' " -- you have to be Scotch to say it with the proper burr in your "R's. In English it is "first footing" or "first foot in." Mostly the younger lads and lassies in many a town in Scotland half a century and more ago carried on the custom.

Parties were common then each New Year's Eve. As the hour of midnight came, the young people at each gathering would bundle up in tams and scarfs and go "first fettin.' " They would make the rounds of the homes of their friends, singing and shouting, to be the first to cross the threshold in the first hour of the New Year. As they literally put their feet inside the home, they would call out a Happy New Year to all the older people inside, probably wake up the children who had been put to bed earlier, drink a toast with a warming bit of Scotch, enjoy refreshments of Scotch shortbread, currant bun, cheese and crackers, and be on their way to the next cottage.

Mrs. Milne's eyes sparkle as she remembers those old New Year's eve gatherings. Eventually the children would be brought down to join in the fun, drink some ginger cordial, eat some fruit and cheese, and then be bundled back into bed. Someone would sing a song or quote Bobby Burns and offer a last toast--"a wee doch an' doris as we gang awa' " and perhaps the life of the party would shout at the back door, "And lang may your lum' reek!" Meaning, says Mrs. Milne, long may there be smoke rising from your chimney and your warm home and fireside.

Americans have their way of celebrating the New Year, and maybe it is more fun, but you can't make an old timer from County Fife and Kirkcaldy (the Lang Toon) believe it. Mrs. Milne, who will be 94 this February 22nd, still lays great store on those old Scottish New Year's when the young people went "fir-r-st fettin.' " -- E. T. L.

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The Emporia Gazette, 03 November 1958

From "About Town"

Robert J. Milne, of Snohomish, Wash., and George Milne, Of Oklahoma City, were in Emporia over the weekend to visit their mother, Mrs. J. A. Milne, who is confined in Newman Memorial Hospital with a broken leg. Mrs. Milne is reported recovering slowly.

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The Emporia Gazette, 29 Dec 1958

MRS. J. A. MILNE DEAD

Mrs. James A. Milne, 1201 Lawrence St., widow of the late J. A. Milne, early-day Kansas and Oklahoma dry goods merchant, died this morning at Newman Memorial county Hospital. Death came from complications of old age and a broken leg suffered in a fall at her home late in October. Isabella Henderson Milne was born Feb. 22nd, 1864, in Kirkcaldy, in the County of fife, Scotland. She came to the United States in 1891 to be married to her girlhood sweetheart, James A. Milne, in Hutchinson, Kan., where he was in the dry good business. A few years later they moved to Guthrie, Okla., then the state capital. Then in 1912 to Atchison, Kan. The Milnes moved to Emporia in 1934 when Mr. Milne became associated with the reorganized Newman store. He died in 1952.

Mrs. Milne is survived by three children--Robert J. Milne, of Snohomish, Wash., George Milne of Oklahoma City, and Mrs. E. T. Lowther, of Emporia; and by one grandson, James E. Lowther and great-granddaughter, Rebecca Lowther, of Grand Island, Neb. She was one of a family of 13 [11] in Scotland and also is survived by her oldest brother, James Henderson, of Edinburgh, Scotland. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Emporia.

Funeral services will be held Thursday at 10 a. m. at the McVey Funeral Home. The services will be conducted by the Rev. Addison Lawton, pastor of the church. Burial will be in Memorial Lawn Cemetery.

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The Emporia Gazette, 30 Dec 1958

MRS. J. A. MILNE

The casket of Mrs. J. A. Milne, 1201 Lawrence St., who died Monday, will be open this evening and Wednesday at the McVey Funeral home, but not at the funeral service, which will be conducted Thursday morning.

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The Emporia Gazette, 02 Jan 1959

RITES FOR MRS. MILNE

Funeral services for Mrs. J. A. Milne, 1201 Lawrence St., who died Monday, were held Thursday morning in the McVey Chapel, conducted by the Rev. Addison C. Lawton, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Harry W. Richmond played organ selections. Pallbearers were P. R. Woodbury, Everette R. Barr, T. F. McDaniel, A. W. Musgrave, Warren Morris and Calvin H. Lambert. Burial was in Memorial Lawn Cemetery.

Relatives attending from out of town were Mrs. Milne's sons, George Milne, of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Robert J. Milne, and Mrs. Milne, of Snohomish, Wash.