Biography of Lieut. Richard Mingay, Jr.
FROM OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
A DESCRIPTIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK
PREPARED AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE
AUSPICES OF THE SARATOGIAN
THE BOSTON HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 1899
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Mingay, Lieut. Richard, jr., is a descendant of an ancestry, every generation of which has produced men who
have made their mark, both in the walks of peace and the ranks of war. His remote ancestors, who spelled the name
Mingnette, were Huguenots in France, and were men of spirit who fought for their cause, but who with thousands
of other Huguenots emigrated to England after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, which sent so many artisans and
gentlemen across the channel to benefit the English realm. A direct descendant of one of these is the subject of
this sketch, who was born in Filby. county Norfolk, England, September 4, 1848. In 1850 his parents came to this
country and settled in Saratoga Springs, where he was reared and educated, and where he has long been an active
and enterprising citizen, taking an intelligent interest in the progress and welfare of the village and county
and actively participating in some department of its mercantile and public life. While yet a boy the war of the
Rebellion broke out and aroused the fighting blood in his veins, which his warrior ancestors had bequeathed to
him, and he enlisted in March, 1865, was assigned to the quartermaster's department under Captain Moore, and served
until October of the same year. He enlisted twice subsequently, first in 1866, when he was rejected because of
his youth, and again in 1867, when he resigned because he was assigned to the drum corps, although he enlisted
for the ranks in the 6th U. S. Cavalry. He was one of the organizers of the Saratoga Citizens' Corps and has been
connected with it since 1878, when the corps was accepted by the State and mustered in. During these twenty years
he has ever been indefatigable in his efforts to make and keep the corps a splendid military organization, and
his zeal and. worth are fully recognized and appreciated. He was made sergeant in 1884 and so remained until the
breaking out of the Spanish-American war in the spring of 1898, when he was elected second lieutenant, passed his
examination and received his commission; he also served as battalion quartermaster for several years, and was a
member of Company A, 64th Regiment for two years. three months and twenty-three days. As a boy Mr. Mingay began
the printer's trade, alternating with railroading in the summers, and after the war resumed his chosen occupation,
which he has since pursued. For five years he conducted a large job printing office in Saratoga Springs, and for
the past nine years has been foreman in the job department of the Saratogian, the office in which he learned his
trade. Mr. Mingay is a prominent Mason, a member of Rising Sun Lodge No 103, Rising Sun Chapter No. 131, Washington
Comxnandery No. 33, Knights Templar. In politics Lieutenant Mingay is a Democrat, and while never desiring office
has been water commissioner for Saratoga Springs, and is assistant chief of the fire department, in which he has
served for thirty years. Mr. Mingay married Harriet Augusta Bullard, whose ancestors were among the earliest in
this county. Mr. Mingay's parents, Richard and Ruth (Corp) Mingay, are still living in Saratoga Springs, his father
at the age of eighty-three and his mother at eighty-eight. Mr. Mingay's great-grandfather was a soldier in the
Duke of Wellington's army and, every generation of the family for three hundred years has produced successful and
honorable men.
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