[p. 394] county commisioner of Lawrence County and a prominent agriculturist of Scott Township, has been a leading factor in county politics for a number of years and he is also a veteran of the great Civil War. He was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Archibald and Jane (Aiken) McMillan.
The McMillin family is an old one in Pennsylvania and for generations has been given to agricultural pursuits, its members living and dying on their own lands. The grandfather of James A. McMillin was Edward McMillin, who was born in Pennsylvania. In 1820 he settled in Beaver County, having resided previously in York and Westmoreland Counties. He married Agnes Lamont. Archibald McMillin, father of James A., was the first born of their children. He was reared to farm pursuits and in early manhood taught school. He purchased a fine farm in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, and he developed into a very prominent citizen of his community. Being a practical surveyor, he was employed in this capacity by the county, served as a justice of the peace, and before the division was made which separated Beaver and Lawrence Counties, he served as county commissioner. Archibald McMillin married Jane Aiken, who was born in Wayne Township, and they had six children, five of whom reached maturity, namely: James A., Mary, who married Anderson Gardner; Catharine, who married James A. Ray, of New Castle; Edward M., residing in Illinois, who married Sarah Johnson, and Martha, deceased, who married John E. Forbes, residing in Slippery Rock Township. Edward M. McMillin of the above family, was a soldier in the Union army in the Civil War and was captured and incarcerated in Libby Prison. Archibald McMillin died in 1889, crowned with eighty-two years of honorable living. His widow survived until 1894, dying the age of eighty-four years. In their passing, the community lost people of real worth.
James A. McMillin secured his educational training in the district schools and to such an extent that he was fitted for teaching. He was reared to agricultural pursuits and prior to enlisting for service in the Civil War, he alternated farming and teaching. On August 6, 1862, Mr. McMillan entered Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served faithfully in every position to which duty called him. He resumed his former pursuits upon the close of his military service, acquired a good farm in Scott Township, and has devoted much attention to its development and improvement. Like other intelligent young men, he early took an interest in public matters and soon identified himself with the Republican party, which he has actively supported ever since. For ten years he served as a justice of the peace, and during this long period he won the confidence of his fellow citizens, who universally recognized the excellence of his judgment and the disinterested motives that ruled every decision. In 1900 he was appointed supervisor of the census. In 1902 he was first elected a commissioner of Lawrence County, being re-elected in 1905, and to this office he gives the attention which its importance demands.
Mr. McMillin married Sarah Emery, who was born in Scott Township. They have two children, Jennie and John L., now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio. He married Eleanor McMillan and they have one son, James Ellsworth. From far back the McMillin family has been connected with the United Presbyterian Church.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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