Francis Makemie

Francis Makemie , c.1658-1708, American clergyman, considered the founder of Presbyterianism in America. Born in Ireland, he studied in Scotland and c.1682 was ordained a missionary to America. In 1683 he arrived in Maryland. He traveled and preached from the Carolinas to New York. Makemie organized Presbyterian churches at Snow Hill and Rehobeth, Md. In 1704 he went to England for funds and men to strengthen Presbyterianism in America; in 1706, through his efforts, the first presbytery in the country was organized in Philadelphia. Makemie was arrested and imprisoned (1707) by Governor Cornbury of New York on the charge of preaching there without a license. Though acquitted, he had to pay heavy costs. He died in Virginia.

Bibliography: See biography by I. M. Page (1938); biographical study ed. by B. S. Schlenther (1971); C. A. Briggs, American Presbyterianism (1985).

Makemie, Francis (c.1658–1708),Presbyterian clergyman born in Ireland, emigrated to Maryland (1683) and eventually settled in Virginia. His missionary work and preaching throughout the colonies has sometimes caused him to be considered the founder of Presbyterianism in America. He was opposed in a controversy by George Keith, to whom he replied in An Answer to George Keith's Libel (1694), and also by the Church of England, to which he replied in Truths in a True Light (1699). While in England to obtain funds and workers for the Presbyterian cause, he published A Plain and Friendly Persuasive to the Inhabitants of Virginia and Maryland for Promoting Towns and Cohabitation (1705). In 1707 he was fined for preaching without a license in New York, and his pamphlet A Narrative of a New and Unusual American Imprisonment (1707) helped to do away with such intolerance.