| Alex would return to Hendrix for another term as president, and his brother-in-law, John Hugh Reynolds, who married Lizzie’s sister Margaret, would succeed him, taking the next steps toward making the college a center of intellectual life. |
George’s death seemed to take the heart out of Alex. He chalked up several victories in 1901-1902: his book Twentieth Century Education Problems was published, and the United States Bureau of Education declared that Hendrix had higher standards than any other college in the state of Arkansas. But Alex was at odds with the Board of Trustees, and the challenges of the presidency began to seem insurmountable. Lizzie was pregnant again. Money was still a problem. And so Alex resigned. The whole family, parents and all, moved to Fayette, Mo., where Alex took a job teaching history at his alma mater, Central College. His youngest son, George Dana Millar, was born there, named for George and his tragic bride. Charlie entered Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained a Presbyterian minister.
Alex would return to Hendrix for another term as president, and his brother-in-law, John Hugh Reynolds, who married Lizzie’s sister Margaret, would succeed him, taking the next steps toward making the college a center of intellectual life. Alex would go on to influence church and state politics as editor of the Arkansas Methodist, where he finally found a way to reach a large public audience. But for me, his greatest achievement by far was the transformation of what amounted to a backwoods high school into an institution of higher learning.
Some of the facts in this article are drawn from Robert Meriwether’s useful and entertaining book Hendrix College: The Move from Altus to Conway (Little Rock: Rose Publishing Company, 1976). I would also like to thank George and Caralou Millar, Dana Millar, Elizabeth Millar Rush, my parents, Paul and Margaret Ann Millar, and my sister, Cathy Millar Woods, for their help in reconstructing this story.
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