James McMillan
United States Senator fromMichigan
In office March 4, 1889 – August 10, 1902
Preceded by	Thomas W. Palmer
Succeeded by	Russell A. Alger
Personal details
Born	(1838-05-12)May 12, 1838 Hamilton,Upper Canada
Died	August 10, 1902(1902-08-10) (aged 64) Manchester, Massachusetts (present-dayManchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts), U.S.
Party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Lucy Wetmore
Children	William Charles McMillan Grace Fisher McMillan James Howard McMillan Amy McMillan Philip Hamilton McMillan Francis Wetmore McMillan
Signature

James McMillan (May 12, 1838 – August 10, 1902) was an American politician and businessman who was aRepublicanU.S. senator fromMichigan, as well as the chair of theMcMillan Commission.

McMillan was born inHamilton,Upper Canada, to William and Grace McMillan, both Scottish natives. He attended Hamilton public schools before moving toDetroit, Michigan, in 1855 to embark on a career in business. McMillan's first position was as a clerk for Buhl, Ducharme & Co., a wholesale hardware firm. At the age of 20, he left to become the purchasing agent for theDetroit & Milwaukee Railway. In 1863, he helped, along withJohn Stoughton Newberry, to organize theMichigan Car Company for the manufacture of freight cars. This business grew very rapidly, and in ten years it was one of the largest in the United States. Its success led to the formation of the Detroit Car Wheel Co., the Baugh Steam Forge Co., the Detroit Iron Furnace Co., and the Vulcan Furnace Co. He was also a major shareholder in theDetroit City Railway.^[1]

McMillan later built and became president of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway. He was largely interested in shipbuilding and lake transportation companies. He was one of the largest owners of the Detroit and Cleveland Steam Navigation Co., and the Detroit Transportation Co., and was a director of several banks in Detroit. For three years he was president of the Detroit Board of Park Commissioners and for four years a member of the Detroit Board of Estimates. In 1886, he joined with John S. Newberry in contributing $100,000 each for the maintenance of a hospital in Detroit.

McMillan was the only person to be elected Chairman of theMichigan Republican Party three non-consecutive times (1879, 1886 and 1890). He was apresidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1884. He was elected as a Republican to theUnited States Senate in 1889 and was reelected in 1895 and 1901, serving from March 4, 1889, until his death. He was a dominant figure in the party, leading the business interests especially in opposition toProgressive reformer GovernorHazen S. Pingree in 1897–1900.

He was chairman of the Committee on Manufactures in the51st and52nd congresses, and of the Committee on the District of Columbia in the54th through57th congresses. He is also remembered for his chairmanship of the Senate Park Improvement Commission of the District of Columbia (better known as theMcMillan Commission), which recommended the redesign of theNational Mall to better reflectPierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant'splan for Washington, D.C. TheMcMillan Reservoir and theMcMillan Sand Filtration Site in DC also bear his name.^{[citation needed]}

McMillan died inManchester, Massachusetts, and is interred inElmwood Cemetery in Detroit. He was survived by his wife Mary and their six children: William Charles, Grace Fisher, James Howard, Amy (wife of Sir John Lane Harrington, British ambassador to Ethiopia),^[2][3] Philip Hamilton and Francis Wetmore.^{[citation needed]} Through his son James Howard McMillan, James is the great-great-grandfather of BaronessSybille de Selys Longchamps, the mother ofPrincess Delphine of Belgium (Delphine Michèle Anne Marie Ghislaine de Saxe-Cobourg; born February 22, 1968),^[4][5] known previously asJonkvrouw Delphine Boël, is a Belgian artist and member of theBelgian royal family. She is the daughter of KingAlbert II of Belgium with BaronessSybille de Selys Longchamps, and the half-sister of KingPhilippe of Belgium. Before October 1, 2020, she belonged to the Belgian titled nobility and was legallyJonkvrouw Boël. On that date, she was lawfully recognised asPrincess of Belgium with the style "Her Royal Highness".^[6]

• McMillan Fountain
• McMillan Plan
• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1900–1949)
• List of United States senators born outside the United States

• American National Biography
• Dictionary of American Biography
• Drutchas, Geoffrey G."Gray Eminence in a Gilded Age: The Forgotten Career of Senator James McMillan of Michigan."Michigan Historical Review 28 (Fall 2002): 78-113
• Drutchas, Geoffrey G. "The Man With a Capital Design."Michigan History 86 (March/April 2002): 36–38.
• Heyda, Marie. "Senator James McMillan and the Flowering of the Spoils System."Michigan History 54 (Fall 1970): 183-200
• Michigan. Legislature.In Memory of Hon. James McMillan, Senator in the Congress of the United States from Michigan. Lansing: R. Smith Printing Co., 1903.
• Moore, Charles. "James M’Millan, United States Senator from Michigan."Michigan Historical Collections 39 (1915): 173–87.
• U.S. Congress.James McMillan: (Late a Senator from Michigan). Memorial Addresses Delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives. 57th Cong., 2d sess., 1902–1903. Washington: Government Printing Office.

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• United States Congress."James McMillan (id: M000567)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard
• Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J., eds. (1900)."McMillan, James" .Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
• James McMillan late a senator from Michigan Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1903

• Media related toJames McMillan (politician) at Wikimedia Commons

• 1838 births
• 1902 deaths
• Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario
• Emigrants from pre-Confederation Ontario to the United States
• Michigan Republicans
• Republican Party United States senators from Michigan
• Politicians from Detroit
• Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit)
• 19th-century American businesspeople
• 20th-century United States senators
• 19th-century United States senators

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