He was known as a “government troublemaker” and is credited with bringing Presbyterianism to America. Although his impact was significant, few people recognize the name Francis McKamie (at the time, the spelling was often phonetic, so many variations of McKamie exist, including Makemie, McCamy, and McKimmey. There was also a trend among those fleeing persecution in Scotland to change the spelling of their names).
Francis Makemie was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1658. His parents, Robert and Ann, had emigrated to Ireland from Scotland to escape the bloody religious feuds raging in Scotland against non-Catholics at the time. He also had three siblings, Robert, John, and Ann. Each of the brothers had children whom they named Francis in honor of the work done by his brother. Even Ireland was relatively safe. There was a great massacre of Protestants in Ulster less than 20 years before he was born.
At the time, this part of Ireland was home to many Scots who had fled their homeland due to persecution. It was seen more as an extension of Scotland than a part of Ireland. Scottish immigrants never assimilated into Irish society. These transplanted Scots were often referred to as Scotch-Irish or “Ulster-Scots”. His family came from the Clan McKimmey of Scotland. This clan came from the north of Scotland. They were Presbyterians, carrying the associated baggage with them. It was a freedom-loving clan and family. They learned from their struggles not to humble themselves before any ruler or human power. Recent troubles in Scotland go back to its refusal to submit to political or religious tyranny.
This tendency towards freedom and the defense of their beliefs was strong in the members of the north of Ireland. They loved their freedoms. They sought a life unencumbered, free and pure. They knew that such a life required the sacrifice of temporary comfort along with enduring hardship and danger for their possession.
Francis returned to Scotland for his education, where he graduated from Glasgow University and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1682. His ordination was in 1682 for the Laggan Presbytery in Ireland. Presbyterianism as a religion was still relatively new, its rise to prominence occurring in 1637.
Some of the Scottish Presbyterians settled in the United States on the sites of abandoned Indian villages, which had been devastated by smallpox. The early settlers saw a need for missionaries and pastors. There were also many Scots who had been sent as slaves to the colonies as part of the brutal actions undertaken in Scotland. Neck. William Stevens of Rehobeth Maryland appealed to the Presbyterian Church to send a missionary.
Francis responded to that call and arrived in America in 1684 via Barbados with three other pastors (William Traile, Samuel Davis, and Thomas Wilson). Barbados was another area where troublesome Scots and Irish were sent as part of the British solution in those areas (Scotland and Ireland). The British tried to purge those areas of those they considered undesirable. As part of the ethnic cleansing programmes, many people deemed “undesirable” by the British authorities were sent to Barbados, where they were often referred to as “red legs”. The term red legs was considered an offensive term at the time. Another term ‘bearded’ was used to refer to being sent to Barbados as punishment for crimes committed in England with the survivors of the Drogheda massacre in Ireland. Those sent for punishment were often treated worse than the African slaves who were also imported to the island. Slaves were viewed as property that needed to be cared for. The Scots and Irish were seen as prisoners being sent there as part of their punishment.
Mckamie’s initial travels included North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and New England. In 1684, his initial work in the colonies included the establishment of the first Presbyterian congregation in America, located in Snow Hill, Maryland. He continued to preach and plant churches in the area. He established congregations along the Manokin, Pocomoke, and Wiccomico rivers. English Congregationalists established a church at the mouth of the Annemessex.
Finally, in 1687, Francis purchased land in Accomack County, Virginia, where he settled for a period of time. He named the plantation/farm where he lived “Matachank”. He started a shipping and trading business in addition to farming to earn a living, as small churches could not afford a full-time pastor. A successful local businessman, William Anderson, helped McKamie establish himself. Francis eventually married Anderson’s daughter, Naomi. The Naomi Makemie Presbyterian Church in Onancock is named after him. From that marriage they had two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth (Comfort). Elizabeth died during her lifetime, while Anne survived Francis.
In 1706, McKamie helped bring together Presbyterians from different backgrounds to establish the Philadelphia Presbytery. The formation of that presbytery was the birth of American Presbyterianism. His actions to unite the people and clear and constant preaching led to his reputation spreading throughout the colonies. He often received requests to preach to congregations in the colonies and Barbados. He made several trips to the Barbados Islands on mission trips. The message from him was often one of the need to improve morale and lifestyle. He often spoke out against the drunkenness, cursing, and general lawlessness that occurred in the communities.
In January 1707 his preaching was interrupted. At that time, he was arrested on orders to save Lord Cornbury (also known as Edward Hyde), the first royal governor of New Jersey and New Jersey. The charge was for preaching without a license. Anglicanism (Church of England) was the official religion and the rest were persecuted in that colony. Despite the threats, there were many dissenters in New York who preached different doctrines, including Puritan, Quaker, and Presbyterian. McKamie had been invited to a private home where he began to preach.
Lord Cornbury assigned the sheriff to arrest Francis and another minister traveling with him as soon as they entered Queens County. Although Cornbury claimed that he was championing the cause of the Anglican Church, he had a reputation for moral licentiousness.
He was originally sent to the colony to keep him away from his creditors in England, as he was a cousin of Queen Anne. While serving as royal governor, he developed a reputation for bribery and extravagance. He opened the New York Assembly of 1702 dressed in a hooped skirt. He was also known to pounce on others while wearing the skirt and then yell out loud. When asked about her unusual attire, she replied in a dismissive tone, “You are all very stupid not to see the ownership of all this. In this place and occasion, I represent a woman (the Queen), and in all aspects I must represent it as faithfully as I can”.
Cornbury issued the warrant to personally arrest McKamie. Although McKamie had been invited by some New York-based congregations to speak before them in private, the governor was a relative of the royal house in England and reacted strongly to McKamie’s presence in his colony. He referred to McKamie as a “Jack of all Trades: he is a preacher, a Ph.D. in Physics, a Merchant, a Lawyer or a Law Counselor and, what is worse, a Troubler of Governments.It was as if the conflicts that had torn Scotland apart were reaching America as well.
Following his arrest, McKamie was brought before the governor for a face-to-face meeting. Cornbury was outraged that McKamie would dare to preach in “his” government without license from him. McKamie had preached in a house belonging to a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, for which Cornbury wanted to punish him.
Cornbury wanted everyone to address him as “His Might”. The Governor required McKamie to post a bond to ensure his compliance with the Governor’s decree. In addition to being charged with preaching to more than five people without a license, McKamie was jailed.
McKamie was licensed to preach as one of those mavericks in Virginia and Maryland. Although he was allowed to preach in those colonies, his liberties did not extend to New York. Some saw the dissenters as ‘troublemakers’ as they saw the Bible and God as their authority rather than the authority of kings or their appointed cronies. It was common to hear “No king but Jesus” in Presbyterian circles.
McKamie responded to his arrest by appealing to the New York Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus. The court then released the minister on bail with the understanding that he would return to New York for his scheduled trial 18 months later. While awaiting trial, Lord Cornbury’s wife died. She attended her funeral attracted once again by a hooped skirt. Cornbury’s supporters tried to pass off his extravagant behavior as drunk, but according to one account, he spent half his time attracted to women’s clothing.
McKamie returned to New York. During the course of the trial, he was defended by three of the best lawyers in the colony. When the defense finished his arguments, Makemie spoke in his own defense. As with his preaching, he spoke loud and clear. He knew the Bible so well that he often quoted it from memory. His defense was based on the English Toleration Act. His position was that the Anglican message was not superior to the message he brought as a Presbyterian. McKamie did not apologize for his opinions or lectures. He also knew that home preaching was not grounds for such a lawsuit.
The court vindicated him of all charges. Despite being vindicated by the court, the chief magistrate bade the minister farewell by demanding that he pay the court costs of the trial which found him ‘not guilty’.
The decision aroused the people of New York, who found Cornbury’s action unreasonable. His influence led to the passage of a law in New York forbidding such a scandalous practice to occur in New York in the future. The court case in which McKamie defended himself is considered a landmark religious liberty case in the United States. Although the McKamie case ended in dismissal, the suppression of religious thought continued in some of the colonies, with ministers sometimes being hemmed in at bayonet point when preachers presented ideas that did not agree with established views. The harsh way in which the McKamie situation was handled led to Cornbury being removed from his position. Shortly after being called, Cornbury himself was imprisoned for a period of time.
McKamie continued to preach and farm. Over time he became one of the largest landowners in the area in which he lived. He is known as the father of American Presbyterianism. Francis died in the summer of 1708. He was buried on his farm on the east coast. There is a monument erected to his memory in Only Virginia on the eastern shore of Accomack County. Francis died in the summer of 1708. He was buried on his farm on the east coast. Nearly 200 years later, a monument to him was erected in Temperanceville, Virginia, on the eastern shore of Accomack County. The monument consists of a bronze statue on a granite base. The base has an accompanying inscription. The statue, by Alexander Stirling Calder, marks the spot where McKamie is believed to be buried. It was erected in 1906, to celebrate the bicentennial of Presbyterianism in America.