Author: James T. Callender
Thomas Millan was born March 1, 1750 in Millstone Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. He died April 27, 1828 and was originally buried in Fairfax County, Virginia. Urban sprawl necessitated relocation of his grave. His body was re-interred in Fairfax City Cemetery in 1965. A Department of Veterans Affairs headstone has replaced the original.

Thomas Millan received his appointment as Ensign in the Loudoun County, Virginia Militia on November 8, 1779. The ranks of Ensign, along with Lieutenant, were subaltern officers to their company commander, who was appointed as Captain.

Ensign Millan did not limit his support of the Revolutionary cause to his militia service. In 1780, the Virginia Assembly passed “An act procuring a supply of provisions and other necessaries for the use of the Army”. This act authorized the governor of the state to appoint commissioners in each County to acknowledge receipt of materials and services for later reimbursement. Under the provisions of this act, Thomas Millan donated his time as a wagoneer, 1,100 pounds of beef, 50 bushels of rye, and cash payments of L900 sterling. In today’s equivalent, that L900 sterling would amount to nearly $144,000.

Little personal information is available from the first two decades of his life. Thomas Millan arrived in Loudoun County in 1772, and married his first wife, Elizabeth Shedd in 1774. His first child, son William, was born in 1775. He was named guardian of his wife’s younger brother, Jonathan, in 1776 when Elizabeth settled the estate of her father (who died in 1774). Five more children followed in the next fourteen years, the last born in 1790. Elizabeth died in 1791. Thomas was appointed Captain in the newly organized Loudoun County 57th Militia Regiment in 1793, and married his second wife, Susannah Summers in 1794. Their first child, Abraham, was born in 1795. Four more children were born over the next eleven years. Susannah passed away in 1808.

Thomas Millan owned over 900 acres of land at the close of his life, and had been present for the birth of several of his grandchildren. He was a shareholder in both the Alexandria to Little River and Fauquier to Alexandria Turnpike Companies. Today’s Little River Turnpike (Virginia State Highway 236) exists in part due to his foresight. His household clearly fostered a spirit of public service and enterprise both inside and outside of his family. Accomplishments of the Millan family and their descendents include deputy sheriff,38 fire company co-founder, lumberyard partner,40 militia Colonel, school commissioner, tavern owner, justice of the peace, member of Mosby’s Rangers, and President of the Palmyra (Missouri) to Hannibal Railroad.

By William W. Price, Fairfax Resolves Chapter, VASAR, 11 Nov 2010