A look at the region's history

REGIONAL HISTORY. Hugh MacMillan has 'always been fascinated with the history of Glengarry County.' Nepean This Week

Whether it was writing about the last fatal duel in Perth or the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada Nepean resident Hugh MacMillan roamed libraries and attics for hidden gems of the region’s past.

Born in Fitzroy Harbour in 1924, the 85-year-old retired archivist was involved in the founding the Glengarry Historical Society, the Dunvegan Pioneer Museum and the Loyalist Museum.

“I have always been fascinated with the history of Glengarry County,” MacMillan said. “So much so that there was no position for archivist when I started. I was one of the first to be paid for going through old records.”

In 1964, MacMillan persuaded the Ontario Archives manager to hire him as a “roving archivist.”

He describes himself as a paper pirate, searching through old junk to find what he needed.

“Before I started working, if you wanted some record saved you would take it to an archivist and they would decide if it was worth it,” MacMillan said. “A lot of great tales got lost that way.”

An example of this is a story in his book. The Benjamin West painting Death of General Wolfe hangs in the National Gallery. It almost didn't. According to MacMillan there was a race to acquire that work and, in 1906, the Dominion Archivist, Arthur Doughty, travelled to Halifax to buy it. There he discovered he was late, the piece having been bought by the director of the newly formed National Gallery.

MacMillan considers himself lucky to have found a profession where he was able to be paid for something he would be doing anyway.

That was after working as a sailor, a farmer, a soldier and as an assistant to a hypnotist in the circus.

In 1984, MacMillan was honoured with a Doctorate of Letters by Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.

MacMillan loves to tell a story and will happily spend hours fishing old articles he has written out of a mason jar on his desk.

Now, he works from his home with the aid of personal secretary as he is legally blind. That hasn’t stopped him from publishing a collection of his work though, which will be in its second printing by the end of the month.

MacMillan has a few copies of the first printing, and expects the second and revised printing from Penumbra Press in a few weeks. Meanwhile, he handles his own sales at 613-726-7588. The cost is in the $25-to-$30 range.