McMILLAN, John Boone
Husband of Mary Gustina nee SEBILLE – m. 8 Oct 1871 in Chicago, Cook Co. IL
B. 15 May 1850 in Bucks Co. PA
D. 19 Nov 1943 in Arthur, Arthur Co. NE at 93y 6m 4d
Burial – 23 Nov 1943 in Ogallala Cemetery, Ogallala, Keith Co. NE
Find A Grave Memorial #41468131

The Arthur Enterprise Th, 2 Dec 1943
"The Official Paper of Arthur County" Arthur, Nebraska
Vol. 32, No. 36, p. 1, c. 3
(In this same paper, p. 1, c. 3, the obituary of John's son, Leon, appeared. Leon died 26 Nov 1943 - a week later.)

"John Boone McMillan"
"Was born in Penn. May 15 1850 and passed away Nov. 19 1943 at the age of 93 years 6 months and 4 days. In early youth he moved to Ill. where he received his education after which he took up evangelistic work and for years he traveled over several of the Middle West states. In Oct. 1871 he was married to Mary Seible. To them were born 10 children, five of whom survived his death, viz Leon who has since passed away. Joseph of Arthur, Wm. of Denver Colo., Mrs. Mary Dwiggins of Columbus Ohio and Thomas of Arthur. In his early-married life the family moved to Topeka Kans. where the children were born. In 1901 they moved to Arthur County where he lived with his sons Joe and Tom until time of his death. Left to mourn his loss are his wife, now 90 years old, 3 sons and one daughter and a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren, also a host of friends and neighbors."

Unidentified source:
"John B. McMillan Dies at Age of 93"
"Funeral services for John B. McMillan, 93, Arthur county's oldest resident, were held from Stone's Funeral home in Ogallala Tuesday afternoon. Rev. C.E. Hamilton of Arthur officiated. Everett Yates, William Spahn, Ralph Emerson, Elzie Treanery, Lawrence Dustrude and Berta Wiseman served as pallbearers. Interment was made in the Ogallala cemetery."

John Boone and Mary Gustina Sebille McMillan and had ten children, six boys and four girls:
Alexis Ulysses (Rosa Vogel); Emma Arminna; John Ellsworth (Angela Lazare); Daisy May (George Brandon); Jennie Lind (Charles Jepson); Leon Francis ("Dick" or "Lynn") (Freda Landon); Joseph Frederick Sr. (Mary Norden), William Cleveland (Kate Norden); Mary M. (William A. Dwiggins) and Thomas Franklin (Mary Jane Penny).


Family Memories

John Boone McMillan, an evangelistic circuit-riding preacher, carried sermons by horseback throughout Kansas and Nebraska. When he made visits, he knocked on doors and loudly proclaimed, "Behold the lamb of God is here." His grandson, Joe McMillan Jr., said, "He wasn't much of one for workin'. But he did preach every day. He claimed to be asthmatic and that made him unfit for hard labor. He always wore a white shirt."

Joe Jr. added, "He was kind of a peddler along with being a preacher. He sold honey which was supposedly a cure-all for lots of ailments. Once he went to the meat packing house in Denver where his sons worked and he met a German fellow who was having problems with arthritis in his shoulder. Grandpa sold the fellow a jug of honey and told him to use it twice a day. The guy didn't understand him and didn't realize he should take it by mouth. He went home and rubbed it all over himself and then crawled between the sheets with his wife. She got plenty mad. Next day the German went to the Packing house and told the McMillan boys that he wanted to see their Dad – so he could kill him."

Mary Gustina Sebille McMillan, John Boone's wife, often said, "He was the handsomest man who ever rode into town and I was the fool who caught him." They probably met in Taylor County Iowa and they married Sunday, October 8, 1871 in Chicago. Mary was not quite 18 and he was 21. They had been married for 72 years when he died in 1943. She lived another three years.
(Coincidentally the Great Chicago Fire started around 9 o'clock on their wedding night.)

Mary was of French descent and John was Scotch-Irish. Their daughter, Mary McMillan Dwiggins, said, "It was a good thing my father rode the circuit so much, because Grandfather Sebille came to live with us for awhile and he and my mother spoke only in French. My father couldn't understand a word they said and he assumed they were talking about him. I think they did it on purpose just to annoy him."

Most of the family agreed that it was difficult to get along with John. John particularly disliked a neighbor named Mr. Goslin. When Mr. Goslin died, John climbed to the top of the hill behind their sod home and shouted to the sky, "Praise be to the Lord – Goslin's dead!" Maxine Dwiggins Neff, his granddaughter, said that he carried on like this for quite a while – all the time waving his arms and bellering over and over – "Praise be to the Lord!" The kids liked Mr. Goslin and had nicknamed him "The Goose Man". She found her grandfather's behavior both frightening and hypocritical.

Maxine also remembers dinners getting cold as they waited for him to eat. She said, "Grandfather McMillan always thought someone was trying to poison him, so he made us kids taste the food first, and then if nothing happened for awhile, he'd finally eat it."

Maxine can still hear her Grandfather singing "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage".

She's only a bird
In a gilded cage,
A beautiful sight to see,
You may think she's happy
And free from care,
She's not
Tho' she seems to be,
‘Tis sad when you think
Of her wasted life,
For youth cannot mate with age,
And her beauty was sold
For an old man's gold,
She's a bird in a gilded cage.

Joe Jr. said, "Grandpa got Alzheimer's as he aged. He'd get mad at the family and walk across the sand hills, over 10 miles, into the closest town, Arthur (Nebraska). He'd stay with someone there for two or so days until the sheriff finally brought him home."

For McMillan Family researchers:
John Boone McMillan had at least four siblings Ben, Gideon, Mary and Mrs. J.E. Barton. Maxine Dwiggins Neff visited Mary in Topeka. When Aunt Mary died she left $250 to Maxine's mother, Mary McMillan Dwiggins. Ben and Gideon were bachelors who lived together. Geraldine Dwiggins Kitchen thinks Gideon was a teacher.
In an 1880 U.S. Census for Gay Twp., Taylor Co., IA, a 35 year old sister, of John Boone McMillan, and her 3 year old son are listed as living with the family. Her name was J.E. Barton, and the son's name was B.C. Barton. His birthplace was Kansas. These leads may provide clues to the McMillan line. [J.E. Barton was born in Pennsylvania, as was John Boone McMillan. Family records say that he was born in Bucks County Pennsylvania. John's obituary says that he moved to Illinois as a youth where he was educated.]