Makemie, Francis

Makemie, Francis

(c. 1658–1708) Protestant clergyman; born in County Donegal, Ireland. He was ordained about 1682 and sent to America as a missionary. He evangelized in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Barbados before settling down as a successful merchant and pastor at Rehobeth on Maryland's eastern shore; he founded the first presbytery in America in 1706. Regarded as the main founder of the Presbyterian Church in America, he encountered much official opposition in an era of religious intolerance and was arrested for his activities on at least two occasions.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.