McMillan

 

                Gilchrist, son of Cormac, Bishop of Dunkeld ('Ille Maol Mor), 1107-1147, was the first MacMillan and from his descendents are thought to come the Buchanans and Munroes.  Cormac was of the Royal House of Kenneth MacAlpin and great-great grandson of Macbeth, King of Scots.

 

                The clan leaders sat in the councils of the Lord of the Isles and were represented in the clergy of the Western Isles and the Highlands.  In 1452 Sir Duncan Macmolane, Pope's Knight, is found as Chaplin at Kilmun.  In 1540, Sir Fing on Makmulane, Pope's Knight, became Chaplain of Tobermory and later Dean of the Isles.  The Galloway Branch became prominent in the activities of the Covenanters.

 

                In 1472, Alexander MacMulen was made Keeper of Castle Sween by John, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles.  The MacMulens and other supporters of John were in conflict with the Scottish crown and locally with the Earl of Argyll through 1505 when the forfeit of lands was enforced.  During this period, Alexander erected in Knapdale the famous Kilmory Cross and perhaps Kilmory Chapel.  These now stand as National Monuments memorializing our McMillan ancestor and symbolizing their origins.  On one side of the cross is inscribed in Saxon, "Haec est crux Alexandri MacMillan".

 

                Our branch, as a consequence of Covenanter persecutions, fled to Rasharkin, County of Antrim, Ireland, and are related to the John McMillan, of Balmaghie, Scotland, of Covenanter fame in 1706.

 

                As a result of correspondence with Philip J. Graham and his research into another branch of the McMillans, we have been able to reasonably ascertain the parentage of our Hugh McMillan, born 1750 in Portrush, County Antrim, Ireland.  Notes appear below regarding the new information.

 

                The Philip J. Graham information established that a Daniel McMillan, born 1752, Rasharkin, County Antrim, Ireland, ran away from home at age 16 because of his father’s second marriage.  Daniel lived after his marriage in Kershaw, SC, where he had a cotton plantation and followed the occupation of weaving.  Daniel served in the Revolutionary War, and his pension papers, executed October 24, 1834, (at which time he was a resident of Chester District, SC) stated that he had lived there about 16 years (therefore, coming to Chester District in 1818).  In 1835, he stated he had lately moved from South Carolina to Morgan County, IL.

 

                The Clan McMillan book (The McMillans 1750-1951) states  “The parents of Hugh McMillan are not known.  The family were probably members of the parish of Rasharkin, County Antrim, Ireland...”  “Hugh McMillan was born in Portrush, County of Antrim, in 1750.  In 1775, he married Jane Harvey, who was born in 1750.  They came to Chester District, South Carolina, in 1786...”

 

                Therefore, Our Daniel and the Graham Daniel are not the same - the Graham Daniel was born in 1752, while our Daniel was born in 1776.

 

                The  McMillan book also states ”About the year 1784 a number of families of Reformed Presbyterians determined to come to America, of which Hugh McMillan was one.  He, with four other men, left their families and sailed for the United States.  After nine weeks spent on the ocean, they landed at Charleston, South Carolina.  They made their way on foot, 100 miles to Camden, Kershaw District, that State and remained there some time.  Learning that there were some families of that Church located in Chester District (the Rev. Martin fleet of December 1772) about thirty miles north, there they decided to locate.  They sent for their families, who arrived safely, after a voyage of six weeks on the sea.”

 

                The Chester District Genealogical Society Bulletin states that both Hugh and his brother (un-named) came to Chester District after 1785.  However the McMillan books give no reference to a brother of Hugh, perhaps because the lineages were of those settling in the Greene County, Ohio region (Cedarville/Xenia Ohio)

               

                Our Daniel states in his autobiography  “...August 1st A.D. 1786 set sail in summer and arrived in the City of Charleston, SC September.  Same year arrived in Chester District, Rocky Creek, and lived with my father on a farm belonging to John Rock...” 

 

                We can assume that the Graham Daniel (still in Kershaw District) then joined his brother Hugh in Chester District in 1818.  Hugh then migrated to Greene Co., Ohio in March of 1832, (with the Stormonts and Chesnuts) while the Graham Daniel didn’t follow until 1834 (with his married children, since his wife died in 1805), going on to Henderson Co., and Perry Co., IL.

 

                Mr. Philip J. Graham’s ancestors (descendents of his Daniel McMillan) were  Grahams (arriving on Rev . Martin’s ship Pennsylvania Farmer, settling in Chester District, and marrying Chesnuts, McDills and Maybins there); Coulter (settling in Chester District in 1764 and marrying Grahams, Stevensons and Chesnuts there); McKees (said to have accompanied Maybins to Todd Co., KY in 1809, where Chesnuts later arrived, some settling there while others moved on to Ohio); and Elders (arriving in Chester District in 1791 and marrying the Graham Daniel’s son Daniel there in 1817, as well as marrying McQuistons - who had also married Stormonts).

 

                No records exist concerning brother James, except that he married a Boyd (Boyds are also found in Chester District) and died in South Carolina in 1808 (so perhaps he accompanied the other brothers).

 

                Nor do many records exist at all concerning brothers Martin and William.  But an Alexander McMillan is found dying in North Carolina in 1817.  Rocky Creek, and Chester District, South Carolina, are just across the border from North Carolina.

 

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