Thomas McMillan was born 20 April 1847 in Argyleshire, Scotland. He first served an
engineer apprenticeship with William Simons & Co. Shipbuilders and left home at
the age of 17. At the age of 22 he became a journeyman on trans-Atlantic steamers
visiting Canada, the U.S., and South America. During a visit to his sisters near
Rockford, Illinois in 1873, he decided to stay in the United States and finally
settled in Milwaukee later in that year. He married in 1874 and worked for E.P.
Allis Co., spending his first years working with the engines and pumps at North
Point pumping station. By 1880, he had become chief engineer of Power Plants for the
City of Milwaukee. He retained that job and title until his death on 1 April 1920.
