However, at the age of eighteen his sister wrote to him from Batavia, New York, urging him to emigrate to America, which he did the following year.

Though he was initially denied entrance to the bar because he was not an American citizen, several influential acquaintances successfully petitioned the New York State Legislature for an exception based on his intention to seek citizenship.

[1] In 1876, the newly married Milburns moved to Buffalo, New York, which was developing as a major industrial city.

After the president was fatally shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Exposition on September 6, 1901, he was treated at the hospital and brought back to Milburn's home.

There, Milburn represented many high-profile clients, including Standard Oil, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Metropolitan Street Railway.

[1] In 1875, he married Mary Patty Stocking (d. 1930), a teacher at Bryan's Seminary and the daughter of farmers in Wyoming County.