Biography

Joseph Milward was a successful Lexington, Kentucky based furniture and cabinet maker. He became a leader in casket construction and founded the Milward Funeral Directors Company which is still in existence as of 2022. He is referenced in a letter written by Henry Onderdonk Chesebro to then-acting Secretary of State William H. Seward, dated March 30, 1864, where he is named as serving on a Board of Investigation for damages suffered by Mrs. Elizabeth Vertner to her home in Lexington by Union forces. Milward assisted in assessing these damages.