INTRODUCTION II. THE CAMERONIAN MacMILLANS While there is ample evidence from ancient monuments that the MacMillans were known and the name recorded as one of the Scottish clans 500 years prior to 1700, yet the branch of the family dealt with in this narrative had its beginning at this later date, with the well known minister Rev. John MacMillan, of Balmaghie, Scotland, who lived and flourished around 1700, and through his religious activity became known to fame as “The Cameronian Apostle.” John MacMillan was a close follower and successor to Richard Cameron, one of the last of the Scottish martyrs to die for religious liberty. The close connection between the two in life and work, is seen in the fact that while at an earlier period the followers of Richard Cameron were known as “Cameronians,” these same people were later to 'be widely known and spoken of as “The MacMillanites.” John MacMillan ministered to this scattered and shepherdless group of people for nearly 40 years. In 1743, with two other ministers, and two ruling elders, he organized the Reformed Presbyterian Church, often spoken of as “The Covenanter Church”— which was destined to grow not only in Scotland and Ireland, but to reach out to distant America and other parts of the world, and to number in its membership, world figures, such as John G. Payton of missionary fame, and others too numerous to mention here. This group of Presbyterians are also spoken of in Scottish religious history as “The Society People,” because after the days of persecution were ended, for strong religious convictions, they refused to return to the established church of Scotland as the great majority of their persecuted brethren eventually did. Many thousands widely scattered through the highlands of Scotland, without pastors and without churches, formed themselves into “Religious Societies,” and worshipped as best they could, often in the open, until they could establish a church of their own choice and kind. These “Society” people have been immortalized in song and story. One of the most heartmoving tributes to their religious 7
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