What was simply part of research into her MacMillan ancestors grew into a gathering which will welcome some of Glengarry’s far-flung MacMillan descendents home on October 22 at the Kirk Hall United Church Hall.

When Melissa MacPhee was doing some genealogical research into MacMillans in Montana (USA), she learned that the person she was researching had passed on. But her search didn’t stop there. MacPhee contacted the Montana funeral home listed in the obituary and soon found herself connected to five other MacMillan family members.

An 86-year-old Montana connection called MacPhee back and MacPhee says she learned that the caller’s grandparents had left Glengarry in 1884, relocated to Montana and ultimately a community named Glengarry was created there.

When the railroad was being built near where the Montana MacMillans lived, it was to pass through a field east of their home. Their house was large enough to host boarders. The engineers associated with the railroad project were staying at the MacMillans’ home, which was eight miles from Lewiston. Because Angus (Beaver) McMillan and his wife Annie (Angus Ewen Ban) MacMillan ultimately donated land for the railroad and town, the engineers told the MacMillans they could name the town.

They called it Glengarry.

MacPhee, whose mother was a MacMillan, (her grandmother on her father’s side was also a MacMillan) has organized a Glengarry welcome for the MacMillan descendants on October 22 and she will be taking them to see some historic points of interest while they are here.

Genealogy enthusiasts Harold MacMillan, Anne Neuman, Susan Drinkwater and Sarah Marie Sutton will be at the October 22 event.

All MacMillan descendants are invited to Kirk Hill United Church on Sunday, October 22, 2023 to share family photos, history and memories. The event begins at 1 pm and will, of course, include music from Glengarry musicians. There will be pipers, organized by Chris MacPherson, some of the Quigley Highlanders Pipes and Drums, and Ian MacLeod will be there with some of fiddle students. Refreshments will be served.

For information or questions about the event, contact MacPhee at: 613-872-1561.