(Oct. 1806-16 Aug. 1884), farmer, diarist. He was known locally as “The Deacon” and “Angus MacMillan (Deacon),” and the Deacon name was also attached to his descendants to distinguish them from the many other GC MacMillans. Born on Lot 10 in the 8th Concession of Kenyon Township, GC. Parents: Alexander “The Bard” MacMillan and his wife Mary MacMillan, both of whom came to Canada in the McMillan Emigration of 1802. Angus MacMillan farmed on Lot 9 in the 7th Concession of Kenyon Township, west of Laggan, and probably earlier on Lot 10 in the 8th Concession of Kenyon Township. He was an elder and deacon of his Presbyterian church at Kirk Hill.
From January 1862 until his death 22 years later, he kept a valuable diary, recording deaths, births, marriages and other notable events, together with the daily activities of his own life. The entries are of the line-a-day kind, with many days receiving no entries at all, but the diary is still a praiseworthy compilation not just for genealogical purposes but as a record of how Glengarrians of the time thought and felt about the world they lived in, and especially of the system of values by which they judged the importance of events. His last entry was made on 8 August, a week before his death. After his death, the diary was continued, on the same principles, by his daughter Katie and his sons Archie and Donald. The original booklets of the diary, as written in the diary pages of printed almanacs (which included a ready-for-use diary page for each month) are preserved in the National Archives of Canada, with a typescript covering the years 1862-1889 made by the well-known GC genealogist Mrs Mary C. Beaton of Ottawa. The typescript includes an analytical index, based on places of residence, of the persons named in the diary.
Angus MacMillan was married about 1832 to Mary McMillan (6 or 7 April 1808-9 Oct. 1902), daughter of Ewen McMillan of Lochiel Township. She died on the family farm, on Lot 9 in the 7th Concession of Kenyon Township, by that time the residence of their son. She was survived by six of her eleven children. There are many descendants of Angus (Deacon) MacMillan and his wife. Their daughter Kate or Katie (Deacon) MacMillan, who was born on 4 Feb. 1838, lived to celebrate her 100th birthday, and died at her home on Lot 9, in the 7th Concession of Kenyon Township in Dec. 1938. She never married. Her obituary says she was “In her early days a student at the grammar school at St. Elmo.” If this is a reference to the Bethel Hill Seminary of the Rev. Daniel Gordon and Colin McKercher, then it is evidence that the seminary or academy had at least one woman student. Angus MacMillan the diarist and his wife were the grandparents of Angus McMillan of Saskatoon.
Probably line-a-day diaries of the MacMillan kind, often kept in old patent medicine almanacs, are not uncommon in GC families, but are kept secret less for reasons of privacy than from the fear that a relative or friend will borrow the collection and never return it. The Glengarry Historical Society recently acquired a diary, interesting but not as detailed as the Deacon diary, which was compiled during the years 1894-1954 on Lot 11, 9th Concession of Kenyon Township, at Fisk Corners, in the farm household of Dougal N. MacDonald (2 June 1855-19 March 1940), a GC farmer and a one-time California gold miner whose descendants include Joan MacLeod who won the Governor General’s Award for drama in 1991. A rather similar diary which remains in private ownership was kept during roughly the same years by Dougal’s nephew, Rory William MacLeod (1872-1950), a farmer just north of GC in Caledonia Township.
Mrs Mary C. Beaton (21 Jan. 1913-19 Dec. 2006), already mentioned (née MacMillan) was distinguished for her historical collections, knowledge, and clear-minded marshalling of her evidence, but in terms of her resources and capability wrote relatively little.
Diary: NAC, Montreal Gazette 25 G 150 (includes biog. note in handwriting evidently that of Mrs Beaton) * MacGillivray & Ross 673 (on GC diaries) * geneal. information in MacMillan: Compiled by Glengarry and District Branch of Clan MacMillan Society, two booklets (1977?-1979) * obituary of wife, Glengarry News 17 Oct. 1902 (portrait) * 100th birthday, obituary, of Katie (Deacon) MacMillan, GN 4 & 11 Feb. 1938 (with portrait), 30 Dec. 1938 (with portrait), Standard Freeholder 28 Dec. 1938, Vankleek Hill Review 29 Dec. 1938 * Dougal N. MacDonald diaries: Peggi Calder, “Trapping a Cabin,” Timelines (Glengarry Pioneer Museum, Autumn 2005); Kenyon Church Report 1940; private information, personal knowledge; Lochinvar to Skye 307, 445 * Mrs Mary C. Beaton: death notice GN 27 Dec. 2006; Bibliography of Glengarry: index