The Journals of Martha E. McMillan

Monmouth College and Martha McMillan (1894) Allison Jensen 2015 “I will not write on this page how sad and lonely I feel this night….The brightest day has its close—change and passing away is part of our belongings. Let even this inspire us to something nobler, better. How long I watched and waited for their coming home—but they have come and gone—and all has passed away just like a dream. And thus it is and ever will be.” Martha McMillan wrote this entry on Wednesday June 20 th , 1894 at the end of an event-filled day. This entry is a rare expression of the tension she feels between her desire for her children to live an upstanding, profitable life and the loneliness she experiences when they leave home. During 1894, her sons, Fred and Homer, were attending Monmouth College in Illinois, approximately four hundred and fifty miles from Cedarville. This distance made travel to and from home an infrequent occurrence, though travel was possible by train. As mentioned in earlier journals, McMillan intentionally set an example for how to live the Christian life and instructed her children in the Bible, both in the home and at Sunday School. By 1894, most of her children are venturing into the world to gain knowledge outside of the home and “either bless or curse the earth,” as she writes on September 23 rd , 1894. Martha McMillan’s influence extends beyond the home and Cedarville, Ohio; her ideas and instruction are shared with others through her children’s education at Monmouth College. Monmouth College was originally founded in 1853 as an academy before it become a university in 1856. The location was chosen based on several factors: agriculture, proximity to water, and transportation. The rich, dark soil of Northern Illinois is ideal for farming, and the town of Monmouth is not far from the Mississippi River. Most significantly, the new railroad 110