Francis Makemie

Francis Makemie (born c. 1658, County Donegal, Ire.—died 1707/08, probably near New York City [U.S.]) was a colonial Presbyterian leader at Accomack, Va., who joined in forming the first American presbytery (1706) that united the scattered Dissenting churches in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. During the 1680s and ’90s Makemie had preached and traded in Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas while also seeking to unite the various struggling Protestant churches of these areas in...