Francis Makemie

1658-1708. Regarded as the founder of American Presbyterianism, he was born of Scotch-Irish parents in County Donegal, but received his education at the University of Glasgow. He was ordained in 1682 for missionary work in America and arrived there in 1683. He labored as an itinerant evangelist in North Carolina, Maryland, the Barbados, and Virginia. He was the moving spirit in the organization of the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1706. When he preached in New York colony in that year, Governor Cornbury had him arrested for preaching without a proper license. Makemie ably defended his right to free speech and was acquitted, but Cornbury forced him to pay over £83 for the costs of the trial.