Steve Flowers: The McMillans of Baldwin County
Alabama has a treasured history of famous political families. Many of the legacies are of father and son dynasties. The most prominent being the famous and powerful Bankheads of Jasper, which included a U.S. Senator, John Hollis Bankhead, and sons, Senator John H. Bankhead and Speaker of the U.S. House William Bankhead. There is a long line of fathers and sons who both served in the state senate. We have had one father-son governor legacy. James E. “Big Jim” Folsom was governor in the 1940s and 1950s. His son, Jim Folsom, Jr., was governor in the 1990s. Little Jim was literally born in the Governor’s Mansion during his daddy, Big Jim’s first term as governor, 1946-1950. During this generation, there are two brothers from Baldwin County who have made history. John and Steve McMillan have left a mark on Alabama’s political history. Decades from now, people will look at these twin brothers and say they have contributed a lot to Alabama. Yes, John and Steve are twins, born on July 6, 1941. Steve and John McMillan have deep family roots in Baldwin County. Before Alabama was even a state, their ancestors settled in the Stockton Community near Bay Minette, which is where they call home. Their family is in the timber business. Steve represented his home area in the Alabama House of Representatives for 43 years. The Baldwin County we see today as the fastest growing suburban county in the state was not the same Baldwin County they were born into 81 years ago. It was a large, sparsely populated, agricultural county. As fourth graders, we would read that it was the potato-growing county of the state. John remembers getting out of school for almost a month in the fall to help harvest potatoes when he was in high school. John and Steve’s ancestors were not only the early leaders of Baldwin County but also the state. Their great-grandfather, John Murphy, was Governor of Alabama. John was named for him. John M. McMillan, Sr., John and Steve’s father, was an outstanding civic and church leader and also served 30 years on the Baldwin County school board. Our current John Murphy McMillan graduated from high school in Bay Minette and then went to Rhodes College in Memphis, where he graduated with honors. John was serving as county commissioner when he was elected to the state legislature in 1974. He was reelected in 1978. However, two years later, Governor Fob James chose John to serve in Fob’s cabinet as Alabama’s Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources. It was under his watch that the state created the Alabama Trust Fund, a plan that saved all revenues from leases on offshore oil operations. This fund has grown from the original investment of just over $400 million to a sum approaching $4 billion. In 1985, John McMillan became the Chief Executive Officer of the Alabama Forestry Association. He served as head of that powerful statewide association for 20 years. In 2010, John was elected the 29th State Agriculture Commissioner. He was reelected overwhelmingly in 2014. He served eight successful years from 2011-2019 in this very important statewide office. In 2018, he was elected Alabama State Treasurer. He served successfully in this post through late 2021, when he left to become the head of the newly created Cannabis Commission. Steve McMillan, being John’s twin brother, had pretty much the same childhood as John. They grew up together in Stockton and worked on their uncle’s farm and family sawmill. Steve went on to Auburn University, where he graduated with honors. He came back home and started a real estate business, along with overseeing their family timberland. When John became Conservation Director, Steve was elected to the House seat John vacated. Steve served in that seat for 43 years. Steve was a quiet effective voice for his beloved Baldwin County. He passed away in April. Steve was a very diligent and well-prepared legislator. He was extremely conservative and was always on the side of the business community. He was dignified, but if you got to know him, very witty. He was not flamboyant and would seldom go to the well and speak. Yet, when he did, people listened. He exuded class and epitomized the term gentleman. The McMillan brothers of Baldwin County have made their mark on Alabama political history. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: The Bankheads, Alabama’s illustrious political family
Since we are in the midst of an election for a U.S. Senator, let me share the story of one of the most prestigious congressional families in Alabama history. The Bankheads of Jasper would likely be the most prominent political family in Alabama political lore. More than likely there has never been a father serve as one of Americas most powerful U.S. Senators while their son, William Bankhead, served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The original founder of the famous family was John Hollis Bankhead. He was the patriarch of a family that spawned sons John H. Bankhead II and Speaker of the U.S. House, William B. Bankhead and daughter, state archivist, Marie Bankhead Owen and granddaughter Tallulah Bankhead, who became a star of stage and screen. John Hollis Bankhead was born in 1842 on his family’s plantation in present Lamar County. He was educated in local schools and joined the Confederate Army at 19. He fought in numerous Civil War battles and was wounded several times. He entered the Confederate Army as a private and rose to Captain. After the Civil War, he married Tallulah Brockman of Wetumpka and returned to farming his family land. He began his political career by serving four terms in the state Legislature. He then was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1886 and served 20 years in Congress. In 1906, Alabama did an extremely unusual thing. At that time, state legislatures still appointed U.S. Senators. Alabama’s legislature met only every four years and both of the state’s Senators, Edmund Pettus and John Tyler Morgan, were aging. The State Democratic Party held a primary to choose a successor should one or both Senators die before the Legislature met again. It was called the pallbearer’s primary. Bankhead won the primary. In June 1907, Morgan died and Bankhead took the U.S. Senate seat. John Bankhead left an indelible legacy as a senator. He was a champion of building federal highways and waterways. America’s first national highway that traverses from Washington D.C. to San Diego, California is named the Bankhead Highway after our Senator John H. Bankhead. John’s son, William, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916. Thus, he served simultaneously in the House while his father served in the Senate. He followed his father’s advice to learn the rules. He did and it earned him a seat on the powerful Rules Committee. He was joined on the committee by another southern congressman, who would also make his mark in Congress, Sam Rayburn from Texas. During William Bankhead’s 23 years in Congress, he became Chairman of the Rules Committee, Majority Leader and then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was and continues to be our only Alabamian to serve as Speaker of the House. Even though William Bankhead was Alabama’s most distinguished congressman, he was best known as being the father of the most famous and flamboyant actress of that era, Tallulah Bankhead. Tallulah, who was named for her maternal grandmother, was very close to her Speaker father, William. She was renowned for her eccentric and uninhibited behavior and for her throaty utterance calling everyone, “dah-ling.” She thrust the Bankhead name in bright lights on Broadway and in Hollywood. Senator John Hollis Bankhead had a daughter named Marie who made her mark in Alabama history. Marie Owen Bankhead was the founder of the State Archives Building. She was affectionately called “Miss Marie.” Our magnificent Archives Building across from the Capitol, was built and the funds secured by Miss Marie from the New Deal WPA Program. It did not hurt that her father was one of the nation’s most powerful senators and her brother was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Miss Marie Owen Bankhead served as director of the State Archives for 35 years, from 1920-1955. Besides the national Bankhead Highway, in Alabama, we have the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile, the William B. Bankhead National Forest, which transverses a good portion of Alabama, the Bankhead Home and Heritage Center in Jasper, and the historic Bankhead Avenue in Montgomery. The Bankhead’s of Alabama are the Deep South’s version of the Kennedy’s. See you next week. ___ Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state Legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
