Born in Montville, Maine, the son of William Milliken and Lucy P. Perrigo.

She descended on her father's side from Sir James Milliken, of Scotland, who was knighted by King James for his military achievements, and on her maternal grandfather's side from one of the Counts of Perigneux, of France, whose burial place, with its elaborate tomb and monument, are at Pere Lachaise.

She possesses a clear, sweet, soprano voice, and leads the church choir at home.

Milliken was elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth and to the seven succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1883, until his death in Washington, D.C., April 18, 1897.

He served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Fifty-first and Fifty-fourth Congresses).