Abstract
John McMillan (1752–1833) was an industrious Presbyterian official who moved to the Pennsylvania backcountry during the revolutionary era, and his journal helps us understand an important Presbyterian prac-tice during those days: the sacramental gathering. McMillan was known for his leadership in churches, presbyteries, ministerial education, revival-ism, war, and politics. The son of immigrants from northern Ireland, McMillan was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After receiving a Presbyterian revivalist education (which included a stint at the College of New Jersey), he moved west over the Allegheny Mountains to Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he arrived in 1776 to pastor two congregations, Chartiers Creek and Pigeon Creek. McMillan and several Presbyterian ministers who moved to that area formed presbyter-ies and educational institutions that trained frontier ministers and created ministerial networks for cooperative endeavors.
