The Journals of Martha E. McMillan

The MacMillan Journals: A Place to Comment and Space to Gain Intellectual Agency (1894) Austin C. Becton 2015 For over 40 years, Cedarville resident Martha MacMillan ensured that every day of her married life was recorded and safely kept. Not only does she consider the mundane details of farming life in Cedarville, but also she records her many reflections and curiosities about religion, parenting, and community life. The first four months of 1894, in particular, consist of more than the complicated daily activities of her family and farm. She embeds thoughts and emotions into her entries—small insights into the character of herself and her community. Her longest entries usually consist of her thoughts about the Sermon at Church, or what was considered at prayer meetings and Bible study. For MacMillan, religion is not simply an activity to take part in once-per-week, but an intellectual process and a dedication to sacrifice for others. Because spiritual matters influence almost every part of her life and routine, she bases the entirety of her intellectual life on Church membership. MacMillan’s personal faith and membership to the Church, then, grant critical insight into contemporary readings of her journal, her community, and her own identity as a person. In the contemporary era, both the university and village of Cedarville have become symbolic of Baptist heritage. Yet their religious and ancestral roots lie deeply entrenched in 19 th century Presbyterianism. Baptists maintained a significant presence in the village’s history but did not become a dominant ideological force or population until much later, when the college merged with the Baptist Bible Institute of Cleveland (History 3). Instead, many citizens could trace their history to Scottish Covenanters, a sect of Presbyterians who rejected the establishment of state religion and moved to America. These ancestors first moved to Kentucky or South Carolina and 98