James Miller McKim
James Miller McKim | |
---|---|
Born | Carlisle, Pennsylvania | November 10, 1810
Died | June 13, 1874 West Orange, New Jersey | (aged 63)
Education | |
Occupation | Clergyman |
Spouse |
Sarah Allibone Speakman
(m. 1840) |
Children | Charles Follen McKim Lucy McKim Garrison |
Signature | |
James Miller McKim (November 10, 1810 – June 13, 1874) was an American
Biography
McKim was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on November 10, 1810. He was educated at Dickinson College and Princeton.[1]
In 1835, he was ordained as pastor of a
In 1840, he moved to Philadelphia to work for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society as lecturer, organizer, and corresponding secretary. That same year, he married Sarah Allibone Speakman.[1] At times, he also served as the editor of the Pennsylvania Freeman.
In 1849, he was on the receiving end of an unusual and historic shipment, when
McKim's labors frequently brought him in contact with the operations of the Underground Railroad, and he was often connected with the slavery-related cases that came before the courts, especially after the passage of the
In 1859, Reverend McKim and his wife Sarah escorted Mary Brown, the wife of abolitionist
In the winter of 1862, immediately after the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, he was instrumental in calling a public meeting of the citizens of Philadelphia to consider and provide for the wants of the 10,000 slaves that had been suddenly liberated. One of the results of this meeting was the organization of the Philadelphia Port Royal Relief Committee. He afterward became an earnest advocate of the enlistment of colored troops, and as a member of the Union League aided in the establishment of Camp William Penn, and the recruiting of eleven regiments. In November 1863, the Port Royal Relief Committee was enlarged into the Pennsylvania Freedman's Relief Association, and McKim was made its corresponding secretary.[1]
As the Civil War dragged on, and, after President Lincoln announced the emancipation of enslaved people in the South in 1863, McKim joined the Freedmen's Aid Commission and provided valuable services to that body.
He travelled extensively, and labored diligently to establish schools in the South. In 1865, he joined the American Freedman's Union Commission and used every effort to promote general and impartial education in the South. In July 1869, the commission, having accomplished all that seemed possible at the time, decided unanimously, on McKim's motion, to disband.[1]
His health having meantime become greatly impaired, he soon afterward retired from public life. In 1865 he assisted in founding The Nation of New York. McKim saw the publication as a way of continuing the work of the abolitionist movement.[2]
Death
McKim died in West Orange, New Jersey on June 13, 1874.[3][4]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Brown, John Howard, ed. (1903). Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. Vol. 5. James H. Lamb Company. p. 271. Retrieved July 30, 2020 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 1560253843(p.3)
- ^ "Rev. James M. M'Kim". The New York Times. June 15, 1874. p. 4. Retrieved May 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Obituary". Chicago Tribune. June 14, 1874. p. 16. Retrieved July 30, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
References
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.