Abstract of McMillan, Hamilton, 1837-1916 F229.M16 1888 1888

McMillan discusses the history and possible fate of the descendents of the Lost Colonists of Roanoke. He also tells about the ships, the people left on the island, Raleigh's attempts to find them, and the now famous account of the word Croatan carved into a tree. The most assumed theory involves a group of Indians referred to as the Croatan or Croatoan, who had invited the colonists to move with them before Raleigh returned to England. McMillan believes that the colonists willingly went with the Croatan and settled with Indians now know as Lumbee in what is now Robeson County. To support his theory, McMillan refers to narratives of Indians with gray and blue eyes and auburn hair that could speak some English. He mentions that John Lawson saw such Indians in his travels through the state. Unlike most Indians in the late 1880's, the Croatan were granted funds by the General Assembly of North Carolina to have their own schools and teachers. McMillan includes a list of surnames from the Lumbee tribe and notes those that match the surnames of the lost colonists.

Author Biography

McMillan, Hamilton (29 Aug. 1837-27 Feb. 1916), lawyer and author, described as "a full-blooded Scotchman," was born in Cumberland County near Fayetteville, the only child of William and Ann Patterson McMil1an. His earliest schooling was at local schools and under the guidance of the Reverend George Benton, but in 1853 he attended Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. The next year he entered The University of North Carolina and was graduated in 1857. Moving to Red Springs, he taught school until the beginning of the Civil War. On 17 Apr. 1861, even before North Carolina seceded from the Union, twenty-three-year-old McMillan enlisted as a private in Company F, First Regiment of North Carolina Infantry, for six months. He was mustered out in November at the end of his enlistment, having participated in the Battle of Bethel. The company's records indicate that he then enlisted in Company G, Sixth Regiment, but the records of that regiment contain no information as to his further service.

In 1868 McMillan was licensed and began to practice law in Wadesboro. He soon returned to Red Springs, however, and resumed teaching as well as practicing law. Here he became interested in the historical background of the Indians of Robeson County. His inclination towards research led him to undertake an investigation of their past, and he came to believe that they were descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh's "Lost Colony" of 1587. In 1885, the three hundredth anniversary year of the departure of the Ralph Lane colony from Roanoke Island, McMil1an published a pamphlet on the Lost Colony that presented his personal conclusions linking the Croatan Indians and the English colonies to the Robeson County Indians. His conclusion was based on what he considered to be evidence of old English pronunciations used by these Indians and the occurrence of some family names of Roanoke colonists among them.

In 1888 and 1907 he repeated his theory in editions of . Continuing his crusade, he wrote , which was printed about 1898. In 1911 (vol. 10) published his article, "The Croatans."

In 1885 the voters of Robeson County sent McMillan to the General Assembly, where he was responsible for enacting legislation to officially recognize these people as "Croatan Indians" and to establish a separate school system under their control. Returning to the house in 1887; he supported the passage of another act that established the Indian Normal School in Pembroke. His efforts on behalf of the Indians in his county greatly improved their lot and brought them increased respect - not only among themselves but from others as well.

McMillan married Elizabeth Gillespie Robeson of Bladen County on 17 Feb. 1863. They became the parents of seven children: Mary Eliza, Janie Robeson (Mrs. B. W. Townsend), John Robeson, Cornelia Spencer, David Gillespie, William Graham, and one who died as an infant. William Graham died soon after his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. McMillan died in Red Springs.

Sources:

Daniel L. Grant, (1924); Weymouth T. Jordan, comp., , vol. 4 (1973); Hamilton McMi1lan to Stephen B. Weeks, 11 Dec. 1890, bound in Weeks's copy of (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Louis H. Manarin, comp., , vol. 3 (1971); (1916); (1885). , edited by William S. Powell. Copyright (c) 1991 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher.